History of Lewis County, New York; with...biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 72

Author: Hough, Franklin Benjamin, 1822-1885
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Syracuse, New York : Mason
Number of Pages: 712

USA > New York > Lewis County > History of Lewis County, New York; with...biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 72

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Returning the same day from Martin's he adds :-

" Wednesday, September 14. Arose and breakfasted by 5 o'clock, that we might go by Shaler's new road through No. 3 and 2. The former appeared in this part rough and hilly, the soil not very good and no settlers, but the road being only just cut, there has not been time for them to sit down. The travel- ling rather bad, there being no bridges or causeways to cover the mud holes. Passed on 7 miles without seeing a house till we come to Ininan's Triangle. I was sorry to find No. 2 so indifferent.

The timber was mostly beech and hem- lock, which denotes a very poor soil, and the country is rough and uneven without being relieved by intervale."

In the year following, Constable notes under date of September 11th, that after leaving Collins for Rome the wind blew very hard, and they heard and saw the trees falling in every direction. One dropped in the wood just before them and obliged them to go around it ; and in several places they leaped their horses over trees newly fallen. In 1805 he remarks, September 4th :-

"Passed on to Coxe's at the High Falls, or rather 11/2 mile west of them, where he lives and is finishing a house he bought. He is Clerk of the new county of Lewis but has not yet got the books for the papers, and the records are in a very insecure place."

Township No. 2, or Flora, was first opened for settlement under Shaler as agent, who was authorized June 13, 1803, to lay out a road, and sell at not less than $2.50 per acre. Abraham Scranton was appointed agent Decem- ber 15, 1804, through the aid of Shaler. On the 25th of August, 1804, Hamlet Scranton,* his son, was associated in the agency, and the rule, hitherto in- variable, of requiring a quarter pay- ment down was relaxed by the execu- tors of the Constable estate. The terms allowed were 2, 3, 4, and 5 years, in equal installments. The diary, under date of August 6, 1806, says of this agency :-

" Left Rome and arrived at Scranton's in Turin towards evening, having trav- elled through the old road from Deacon Clark's in Western, through town No. 2, which appeared a good soil, though not a little hilly. Saw no settlers, and the road requires a good deal of working,

* In Martinsburgh, No. 4 of the Boylston tract.

+ Executors of the estate of Wm. Constable, then re- cently deceased.

* Mr. Scranton was from Durham, Ct. The family removed to Rochester in April, 1812, where they be- came early settlers. Hamlet Scranton died of apo- plexy, April, 1851, aged 78 years. Memorial of the Scranton Family, p. 61 ; Lives of Pioneers of Roches- ter, p. 9. Hamlet D. Scranton, was in 1860 the mayor of Rochester.

563

HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF WEST TURIN.

which Mr. Scranton informed me was to be done in about two weeks, the people from Leyden having undertaken to meet them and do their part. We find Mr. Scranton (the son) not so san- guine of settling this town as the father was last year, at $5, tho' he thinks settlers will come forward at a less price. We therefore authorized him to proceed in the business on the best terms he could, without adhering to $5. He had a frame prepared for a saw-mill, which was to be raised to-day. The other business re- mained as last year. The grist-mill was at a stand both for a want of water and itself appearing to be worn out."

The names of voters living in this town in 1807, will be found in our ac- count of the town of Turin.

The attempt to settle No. 2, except along the direct road to Rome, which crosses the northeast corner, failed, as from its great elevation, grains did not thrive, and its value for grazing was un- known. In 1826, some Germans came to the office of Hezekiah B. Pierrepont, in Brooklyn, to buy lands, and selected portions of this town. Among these were Joseph Kochly, Captain Wider and others, chiefly from Alsace, on the Rhine. Kochly was himself from Lorraine, in France. They were joined by others from the borders of France and Ger- many, and from Switzerland; and in 1834, Kochly counted seventy-five Ger- man families, on 3,400 acres in No. 2. In 1836, 2,000 acres were under contract, and as much more deeded, and in 1839, 5,000 acres were contracted. These foreigners were chiefly Catholics and Lutherans. They proved a hardy, laborious, patient and well disposed class of people, and mostly became citizens as soon as the legal forms could be complied with. Settlement was be- gun on Fish creek by one Wright, who was supported for some time by Pierre- pont's agent, on condition of his remain- ing. Others were induced to venture in, and a permanent settlement was

formed. Many Irish from the canals settled in 1841, and at present the greater part of the township is settled.

The names of some of these European immigrants and the dates of their death, will be seen from the following dates taken from two of their grave-yards :-

[In the German Reformed Church burial ground.]

Martin Bostader, died December 24, 1863, aged 78.

Charles A. Geigler, died September 14, 1861, aged 57.

Andrew Hays, Sr., died January 1, 1863, aged 79.

Frederick Haas, died October 1, 1875, aged 66.

Peter Haller, died March 19, 1855, aged 87.

Peter Kropp, died September 8, 1859, aged 49.

Henry Lanfer, died January 31, 1867, aged 64.

Erhard Marcy, died August 19, 1868, aged 76.

George M. Meder, died May 22, 1862, aged 70.

Jacob Ruffy, died February 19, 1867, aged 76.

Jacob Sadler, died June 25, 1878, aged 71. Jachas Siegler, died September 14, 1861, aged 54.

Gottlieb Steinbrenner, died November 3, 1853, aged 78. George Trager, died July 2, 1868, aged 71.

George Weber, died June 11, 1873, aged 76.

[In the Catholic Burial Ground, Mohawk Hill Church. ]

Frederick Gasaker, died May 17, 1867, aged 65.

Jacob Jacobs, died August 3, 1851, aged 83.

Andrew Kapper, died September 29, 1869, aged 89.

Nicholas Ripp, died January 21, 1879, aged 78.

George Scharlach, died September I, 1876.

Henry Sins, died March 18, 1877, aged 74. Peter Zimmer, died January 12, 1871, aged 70.

564

HISTORY OF LEWIS COUNTY.

The first birth in Mr. Shaler's settle- ment at Constableville was that ot Rich- ard, a son of Joshua Rockwell, and the second that of Julia, daughter of John Ives. The second male child born in town was Seth Miller, Jr. " On the sec- ond summer of settlement, a young man named Coe was brought to Shaler's house to be nursed, and died. In 1799 a sickly season occurred, and two men named Platt died of a putrid fever. About thirty persons who came to attend them sickened with the fever. In the early settlement a child of Sam- uel Hall was drowned at Constableville. The first school was kept by Miss Dorothy Wadsworth, daughter of Tim- othy Wadsworth and afterwards wife of Willard Allen. A school house was built in 1798, near the house formerly occupied by Horace Johnson, in Consta- bleville.

In 1805, an act was procured allowing Shaler to make conveyances in the same manner as if William Constable, Sr., were still alive. It was vetoed by the Council of Revision for the following reasons :-

" Ist. The bill not only enables Na- thaniel Shaler, therein named, to com- plete the contracts of sale which he had made prior to the death of William Con- stable, by virtue of attorney from him, but to proceed under the said power and sell the residue of the said lands therein specified, and which are stated in the bill to William Constable, a son of the said William Constable, deceased, and who is now an infant under the age of twenty- one years, thereby absolutely disposing of the estate of the said minor, contrary to the just rights of property and the general principles of law.

" 2d. Because if it is deemed neces- sary that the real estate of the said minor should be sold, it ought to be done under the direction, and at the dis- cretion of the Court of Chancery so that the respective interests of all parties concerned might be duly examined, ad- justed and secured."

The bill in a modified form passed on the last day of the session,

WILLIAM CONSTABLE, THE PURCHASER.

We may in this connection record a notice of the family so intimately associ- ated with the land titles of Northern New York.

William Constable was born in Dublin, January 1, 1752. His father, Dr. John Constable, was a surgeon in the British army, and came to Montreal during the French war, and brought his son Will- iam, then an infant, with him. In 1762 Governor Cadwallader Colden granted him a commission as surgeon in the first regiment, in the pay of the province of New York. He then removed to Sche- nectady, where his daughter married Mr. James Phyn, who was there engaged in the Indian trade, in correspondence with Colonel Sir William Johnson.

Dr. Constable sent his son William to Dublin for his education, to the care of his paternal aunt, Mrs. White, with whom he resided while a student at Trinity college. By inheritance he be- came possessed of a valuable estate near Dublin. On his return to America his kinsman, Mr. Phyn, associated him in his business at Schenectady. On the breaking out of the war of the Revolution Mr. Phyn and his friend Mr. Alexander Ellice, removed to England under a pass from the Committee of Safety, in conse- quence of which their property was not confiscated. These gentlemen estab- lished in England the firm of Phyn, Ellice & Inglis-a firm which gave two members to the Privy Council in the persons of their sons, Sir Robert Inglis and the right honorable Edward Ellice. Dr. John Constable died in New York April 17, 1785, aged 57 years.

Mr. William Constable went to Eng- land a little before the Revolution and returned while the British were in

565

HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF WEST TURIN.

possession of Philadelphia, in 1777. The following correspondence between Gouverneur Morris and Governor Clin- ton, will show his position, as it was then regarded :-

Letter from Gouverneur Morris to Gov- ernor George Clinton concerning William Constable,

Philadelphia, 2d March 1779.

" Sir-Mr. Constable, a son of Doctor Constable, of Schenectady, left this country in the year 1773, and went to England on private business. The war prevented his return for some consider- able time, but finally, as the continuance of it took away the prospect of being able speedily to revisit America, he came out to this city in the winter of 1777. Upon the evacuation he remained, and hath taken the oath of allegiance. At present he wishes to be placed in a situation to visit the State of New York with propriety, and become an inhabitant and subject. Having never done any act prejudicial to the interests of the United States, I am led to imagine that no objection can lie to this measure. But I pray your Excellency to write me fully on this subject, and to point out the steps which may be necessary for him to take, which will much oblige

" Your most obedient and humble servant,

GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. [Clinton Papers, 2121.]"

[Answer to the foregoing.]

Poughkeepsie, 22d March 1779.

" Sir-From the account you give of Mr. Constable, I do not conceive there can be any reasonable objection to his revisiting Schenectady and becoming a subject of this State. It will be ad- visable for him to bring with him a certificate of his having taken the oath of allegiance to the state of Pennsylvania, and such other evidence of his friend- ship to the cause of America as he may be able to procure.

" After all, his reception in the town of Schenectady will depend on the political character of his father and friends there,

if they are on the right side, it cannot fail of being friendly.

"I am with great regard yours, etc., GEORGE CLINTON.

Gouverneur Morris. [Clinton Papers, 2121.]"

We have no further information upon the subject referred to in the above cor- respondence, but infer from the fact of his appearing in New York not long af- terwards, that no objections were made to his return. From the intense sus- picion attached to the private conduct of individuals of that period, it is fair to infer, that there existed no reason for regarding his absence and return, as in- fluenced by any other motive than his own private business.

In the trial of General Arnold for mat- ters growing out of his civil adminis- tration in Philadelphia, which led to a sentence of reprimand from the Com- mander-in-Chief, Mr. Constable is men- tioned as one of the owners of a cargo of goods that had been captured by the Americans on the New Jersey coast. From this it appears that he was en- gaged in commercial pursuits at New York at a later period in the war.

As soon as the war was over, oppor- tunity was given for expanding this busi- ness in extraordinary degree, and as Philadelphia and Charleston were at that time the chief commercial ports of the country, Mr. Constable associated himself with Mr. James Seagrove and established a commercial house at Phil- adephia, while his partner settled in Charleston. Their trade was mainly with the West Indies, and Mr. Consta- ble, in the course of his business, visited Havana, and there took the yellow fever, of which he nearly died. He married in 1782, Ann White, daughter of Townsend White of Philadelphia; a lady of beauty of person, and of charac- ter, who had been a school friend of Miss Dandridge, and who afterwards

566

HISTORY OF LEWIS COUNTY.

became Mrs. Gen. Washington, whose friendship she retained, After the peace, Mr. Constable, in 1784, removed to New York, and established the firm of Constable, Rucker & Co. On the death of Mr. Rucker, shortly afterwards, the firm of Constable & Co., in which Robert Morris and Gouverneur Morris were partners, contributed £50,000 as their share of the capital. The National debt, and that of the several States, not being yet funded, offered great field for speculauon, which the firm was largely concerned in, as they were also in furnishing supplies to Europe. Mr. Robert Morris, who was the chief finan- cial agent of our government, remained in Philadelphia, while Gouverneur Mor- ris, who was sent Minister Plenipoten- tiary to France, aided by procuring contracts, and by his advices from thence. The war between France and England threw the carrying trade into the hands of neutrals. The firm of Con- stable & Co. took early advantage of this, and in 1786 sent the ship Empress to India and China, and made a very profitable voyage. In 1788 the ship America, of 600 tons, which was the finest ship that had been built at New York, was built by Mr. Constable for that trade. In 1790 he proposed to build a ship of one thousand tons, but the de- mand for China goods in this country did not warrant it, and he abandoned

the enterprise. He fulfilled a large con- tract with the British government for the supply of their troops in the West Indies. Through the agency of Colonel Jeremiah Wadsworth of Hartford, and Joseph Howland of New London, he shipped seventy-eight cargoes of cattle from Connecticut.

Europe continuing to draw supplies of provisions from this country, raised the price of wheat here to two dollars per bushel and even higher, which in- duced Mr. Constable to establish a

flouring mill. For this purpose he pur- chased the confiscated estate of Phillips' manor, at Yonkers, nineteen miles from New York, consisting of 320 acres. Here he resided and built a large mill, which he continued in operation for many years. He sold this estate for $65,000 and bought a country seat at Blooming- dale, six miles from New York. His residence in the city was first in Great Dock street, afterwards in Wall street, till 1797, when he sold to the Bank of New York for $27,000 for their banking house. He then leased the dwelling of the Hon. Rufus King, in Broadway, where the Astor House now stands.

Mr. Constable at an early day had had his attention turned to land speculation. His first purchases were in Ohio, associ- ated with companies, who, with mili- tary protection, commenced settlements, mainly of French settlers, on the Mus- kingum and the Scioto. As the British still retained their outposts, which they did not finally surrender till more than ten years after peace was declared, they instigated the Indians to harass these settlers. Besides these lands he made extensive purchases in Kentucky, Vir- ginia and Georgia. Mr. Constable was interested in the grant of two million of acres made by the State of Massachu- setts in the Genesee country, which was sold to Mr. Bingham, of Philadelphia, the person after whom the present city of Binghamton was named. He, in 1787, associated with Alexander Macomb, with whom he had been intimate since boy- hood, in the purchase of the 640,000 acres on the St. Lawrence river called the Ten Townships. His share of this purchase was Madrid, Potsdam, the half of Louisville, and the half of Stock- holm, in all 192,000 acres. In the year 1791 he associated with Alexander Ma- comb and Daniel McCormick in the purchase from the State of New York of the great tract known as Macomb's

567

HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF WEST TURIN.

Purchase, estimated to contain four mill- ions of acres, being one-tenth of the State of New York, and comprising the whole of the present county of Lewis, and the greater portion of Jefferson, St. Lawrence and Franklin, with parts of Oswego and Herkimer. In this purchase, each of these gentlemen was jointly interested one-third, but the contract with the Commissioners of the Land Office was made in the name of Macomb, and the first patent taken out in his name, while the remain- der of the tract was patented in the name of Daniel McCormick. The price paid was eight pence per acre, which at that time was deemed very advanta- geous to the State, as Massachusetts had sold at that price two millions of acres of land in the Genesee country, which was deemed far superior in quality to this land. The clause inserted in the patents, requiring settlements to be made within a specified time, had been usual in all grants previously made by the Provincial Government and by the Land Office. It had, however, never been fulfilled and never enforced. When in 1791 the law granting power to the Commissioners of the Land Office "to sell the waste and unappropriated lands of the State " was under discussion, Mr. Macomb (a member of the Legislature,) had this clause, by an unanimous vote, stricken out. It was inserted in the patents by inadvertence, and when at- tention was drawn to it by foreign pur- chasers, Mr. Macomb procured a certifi- cate of the nullity of the clause.

Immediately after the contract was made with the Land Office, Mr. Consta- ble embarked for Europe to sell, where he was joined by his family. He re- mained till the fall of 1795, and had two children born in Europe. He left his commercial house in charge of his brother, James, whom he took into part- nership, having dissolved his connection

with the Messrs. Morris. In 1792 the patent for Great Tracts 4, 5 and 6, con- taining 1,920,000 acres, was taken out, and the title immediately transferred to Mr. Constable, who, with the aid of his agents, Colonel Samuel Ward and Colo- nel William S. Smith, succeeded in sell- ing the whole, in large tracts, to Messrs. Inman, Chassanis, Angersteen, the Ant- werp Company, and Thomas Boylston, at prices varying from two to four shil- lings per acre.

The surveys, which were not comple- ted till after these sales were made, loca- ted the Black river further north than it was supposed to be. A tract was sold to Thomas Boylston, bounded by the Black river on the north and by the line of the patent on the south, as four hundred thousand acres, more or less. The subsequent surveys showed this tract to be valuable, and to contain 817,- 155 acres ; whereupon Mr. Constable re- purchased it at an advance of £60,000 sterling, and then sold the northern part of it, containing 305,000 acres, for one dollar per acre to Messrs. Low, Hen- derson, Harrison and Hoffman. This tract was called the "Eleven Black River Towns.'

The remainder of the Boylston Tract, containing 512,155 acres, Mr. Constable retained for himself, having bought out the interests of his associates in it. It was subdivided into townships, called the Thirteen Towns, which, with the town of Ellisburgh, and Nos. 1, 2, 3, and 4 of Turin, called Constable's Four Towns, constituted the whole of it.

If the surveys of the 640,000 acres of Ten Townships, and the Great Tracts of Nos. 1, 2, and 3, containing 1,800,000 acres, could have then been obtained, Mr. Constable would have succeeded in selling the whole in Europe. The St. Regis Indians, instigated by the Gover- nor of Canada, Lord Dorchester, drove off the surveyors, and finally did not

568

HISTORY OF LEWIS COUNTY.

cease their opposition, till the Jay treaty, after which the British posts at Oswego and Oswegatchie were given up.

On his return to America, Mr. Con- stable exerted himself to make improve- ments in roads, so as to open his lands for settlement. He also took an active interest in forming a water communica- tion between the Hudson and Lake On- tario, by improving the navigation of the Mohawk river and Wood creek. The company formed for the purpose was called the Northern Inland Lock Nav- igation Company. This company, after succeeding in conveying boats of ten tons from Schenectady to Lake Ontario, with one portage, was bought out by the State, when it was determined to construct the Erie canal. The first township sold was Ellisburgh, which subsequently reverted. Afterwards Nos. 3 and 4, now Turin, were placed in the hands of Mr. Shaler, of Middletown, as we have already noticed.

The next township sold was No. 5, to Walter Martin. For this township there were many competitors; but Mr. Con- stable made it an invariable rule, not to sell but on receiving one-quarter of the payment in money. If he had departed from this determination, he might then have sold all his townships at two dol- lars per acre, so great was then the rage for land speculation. The only other township sold was No. 12, called Red- field, which was sold for two dollars per acre. The consequence of the European war was then severely felt in our com- mercial community, from the course taken by belligerents in seizing our ves- sels. France, dissatisfied with an act of neutrality, and under a disorganized government, made seizures of our ves- sels under various pretexts. Claims for damages arising from these spoliations have long been pending, and remain still unpaid. They were for more than half a century subjects of discussion in Con-

gress, but the great events in modern times, had done much to obliterate the memory of the past, and although the evidence may remain, and the justice of the claims is the same now as then, it becomes every year less probable that they will ever be paid. Among the ref- ugees from France, driven to this coun- try in 1797, were the Duke of Orleans and his brothers Monpensier, and Beau- joli. The Duke brought a letter of credit from Gouverneur Morris on Mr. Constable, for one thousand dollars. This money, with interest, was repaid by Louis Phillippe to the son of Mr. Morris.

The patents of Great Tracts Nos. 1, 2, and 3, were not obtained until 1798. Mr. Macomb had failed in 1793, for one mill- ion of dollars, in consequence of a wild speculation in stocks, with Colonel Will- iam Duer and Isaac Whippo. He there- upon assigned his third interest in these tracts to certain creditors, and conveyed his contract with the Land office to Daniel McCormick, who took out the patents in his name, and made a parti- tion with Mr. Constable for his one-third interest. On his second visit to Europe, Mr. Constable narrowly escaped being taken by a privateer. He succeeded in France in making some large sales of land to Mr. Le Ray, Mr. Parish, and to Neckar. The commercial distress that prevailed in England prevented any suc- cess in that country. It was in Paris that he first became acquainted with Mr. Hezekiah Beers Pierrepont, who in 1802 became his son-in-law.

Hearing that his brother James had involved his commercial house by en- dorsements, Mr. Constable returned to New York in 1801. Though under no legal obligation to do so, he paid these large obligations, which consumed most of his personal property. The scatter- ing lots in townships Nos. 1 and 13 in Lewis county, already mentioned in our

569

HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF WEST TURIN.

account of the land titles were given to some of the holders of these obligations. His health, which had always been delicate, was much impaired by this misfortune. He endeavored to visit his lands, but after going to Rome, he found the road could not be traveled except on horse-back, which he was un- able to do. He thus never saw an acre of his extensive possessions in this county. He appointed Mr. Benjamin Wright his general land agent. Mr. Wright, who resided at Rome, had been previously employed by Mr. Constable in surveys for the improvement of Wood creek, when he was interested in the Inland Lock Navigation Company. He had also been his principal surveyor in subdividing Macomb's Purchase into townships and lots. He continued his valuable agency for the family, till his services were required by the State in the construction of the Erie canal. Under the agency of Benjamin Wright, Nathaniel Shaler, and Isaac W. Bost- wick, the sale and settlement of this land progressed satisfactorily.

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History of Lewis County, New York; with...biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 72

Author: Hough, Franklin Benjamin, 1822-1885 Publication date: 1883 Publisher: Syracuse, New York : Mason Number of Pages: 712

Author: Hough, Franklin Benjamin, 1822-1885
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Syracuse, New York : Mason
Number of Pages: 712