USA > New York > Lewis County > History of Lewis County, New York; with...biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 76
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(7) Obadiah Allen, son of Deacon Obadiah Allen, married November 23, 1699, Dorcas, daughter.of James Wright. Their children were :-- (15) Obadiah, and (16) Dorcas.
(15) Obadiah Allen, son of (7) Obadiah
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HISTORY OF LEWIS COUNTY.
married June 1, 1727, Elizabeth, daugh- ter of Samuel and Lydia Cotton. He lived in Middletown. Children :- (17) Obadiah ; (18) Ebenezer, born April 1, 1730; (19) Daniel, born August 28, 1732; (20) Ebenezer, born February 5, 1738 ; (21) Lydia, born August 26, 1742.
(19) Daniel Allen, son of (15) Obadiah came to Southington Conn., when a
died when an infant; (32) Lydia, born May 9, 1779.
(20) Ebenezer Allen, son of (15) Oba- diah, married Elizabeth Powsley, in 1766. Children :- (33) Ebenezer, born February 15, 1769; (34) Elizabeth, born July 8, 1770; (35) Willard, born May 10, 1773 ; (36) Samuel, born January 24, 1775 ; (37) Lydia, born November 24, 1777: (38)
LITTLE
[EMORY ALLEN.]
young man, and married March 31, 1765, Huldah Clark, daughter of David and Hannah Woodruff. He was a mer- chant, and also kept a hotel. He died February 15, 1793. Children :- (22) Joel, born September 21, 1755 ; (23) Elizabeth, born December 18, 1757; (24) Philothea, born July 5, 1761 ; (25) Philothea, born March 5, 1764 ; (26) Huldah, born Octo- ber 30, 1766; (27) Sabrina, born July 29, 1769 ; (28) Phebe, born April 16, 1773; (29) Nancy, born April 12, 1776; (30) Daniel born April 12, 1776; (31) Lydia,
Sarah, born January 29, 1780 ; (39) Jona- than, born January 10, 1782 ; (40) Icha- bod, born August 1, 1783.
(34) Elizabeth Allen, married Caleb Merriman, June 1, 1801. She died Jan- uary 1, 1814, aged 44 years, and her sister (38) Sarah Allen, married Caleb Merriman, October 10, 1814. She died April 10, 1849.
(22) Joel Allen, son of (19) Daniel born September 21, 1755, married Lucy New- ell, who died May 2, 1783. He then married Diadamia Newell. Children :-
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(50) Octavia, born October 31, 1779 ; (51) James, born August 4, 1781 ; (52) Au- gustus, born October 14, 1787 ; (53) Joel, born January 15, 1795 ; (54) Lucy, born August 4, 1799.
(51) James Allen, son of (22) Joel mar- ried Lucena Bradley, daughter of Hem- ingway Bradley. He was a merchant in Southington, Conn., and died Septem- ber 15, 1825. Children :- (55) Adeliza, born in 1809, died May 18, 1826; (56) Harriet, born in 1811, died February 23, 1812 ; (57) Amon, born in 1813, died October 5, 1827.
Emory Allen was born February 2, 1810, in the town of West Turin. He is the sixth in descent from Samuel Allen, the English immigrant from Brain- tree, Essex county, England. His father, Ebenezer, born February 15, 1769, in Middletown, Conn., removed from there, with one ox team and cart in company with James Miller, to West Turin, in the spring of 1796. General Ethan Allen, of Ticonderoga fame, was a branch of this original stock.
Emory Allen married Sally, the third daughter of James Miller, above men- tioned. His early life was passed in the town ot his birth, where he received the education of the common schools of that day. He afterward adopted the occupation of farmer, which he has fol- lowed with success, and his genial nature and kindness have won for him numerous friends.
His children are: Richard, Kate S., Nancy G., and James M.
CHAPER XXXIX.
APPENDIX.
T the time when the note upon page 38, of this volume was printed, promising a further notice of the " Cas- torland Colony," it appeared probable
that we might be able to include a somewhat extended account of that romantic enterprise. This having been prevented, by the unexpected extent to which the work has run, we can only present a very concise summary, and a letter from the late Vincent Le Ray, written at the time when the first edition of the History of Lewis County was in course of preparation, in 1859, in which he gives an epitome of the title, and the transactions under it.
On the first of August, 1792, an agree- ment was entered into in Paris, between William Constable, and Pierre Chassanis, (the latter representing a company to be formed,) for the sale of 630,000 acres of land, to be held in trust for the former, and to be sold in shares of 100 acres each, at the rate of eight livres tournois, (about $1.25) the acre, certain formali- ties being specified, concerning the pay- ment of money, and the confirmation of title.
The purchasers immediately began measures to perfect a scheme of settle- ment, and in October, 1792, issued a programme of colonization under the name of "LA COMPAGNIE DE NEW YORK," entitled " Association for the Purchase and Settlement of 600,000 acres of Land granted in the State of New York, and situated within that State, between the 43d and 44th Degrees of Latitude, upon Lake Ontario, and 35 leagues from the City and Port of Albany, where Vessels land from Europe."
This prospectus recounted the origin and guarantees of the title, and set forth in terms of glowing eulogy, the oppor- tunities offered. It was found however before concluding the purchase, that the Black river which was to bound the tract on the west and south, instead of running in a nearly direct course from the High Falls near the mouth of Moose river to the lake, made a wide divergence towards the east, before finally turning
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HISTORY OF LEWIS COUNTY.
west-in fact, instead of giving them one great body of land in a solid block, it cut across the line in several places, and gave them several detached pieces, some of but very small extent.
This first prospectus having failed to secure purchasers to meet the first pay- ment, Constable instructed Samuel Ward, his agent, to withdraw the lands from sale ; but upon further representa- tion, consented to allow some 2,000 shares to be sold upon the basis first proposed.
A new programme was then drawn up, and published in quarto form, em- bracing a constitution and divided into titles, articles and clauses, with all the formalities of a Fundamental Statute Law. The company adopted a seal, in
DE
COMPAGNIE
NE
YORK
.
. CASTOR . LAND
which was represented a Beaver in the act of gnawing down a tree, and at the bottom was the word "Castorland," [Beaverland,] perhaps suggested by an inscription found upon an ancient col- onial map, which run across all this re- gion of Northern New York, informing that " this marshy tract is full of Beav- ers and Otters." From this name being thus mentioned, the tract came to be known as " Castorland," in all the writ- ings and upon all the maps of an early period ; and the settlement attempted under it, was called " The Castorland Colony."
This constitution is given in full in the County History of 1860. It provided that each shareholder should receive a deed for fifty acres at once, and fifty acres at the end of twenty-one years, when the
whole should have been vastly enhanced in value by their common industries. There was to be a city on Black river named Basle (near where Dexter now is) and another city at the head of naviga- tion on Beaver river, to be called Castor- ville. Each shareholder was to have two city lots in each city, one immedi- ately, and the other at the end of twenty- one years, when the company was to be dissolved, and every shareholder would be rich and happy.
The name "Castorville" has been given on many maps ever since, and so late as 1876, a costly map of the United States, published by the general govern- ment, bore this name, as if such a city still existed. The few log huts built on its site were in fact rotting down when the first settlers came in from the New England States, for permanent occupa. tion of the region west of the river, and as for " Basle," so far as we know, there was never so much as a shanty built, or a survey begun.
The affairs of this company were to be managed by a director [Pierre Chas- sanis] and by a Board of Commissioners, four of whom were to reside in Paris, and two upon the tract. There was to be a meeting in Paris monthly, and all operations were to be ordered and con- trolled from that place. To secure attendance, a silver jetton was ordered to be struck, and two copies were to be given to each member of the Board at each meeting.
HAM
MAG
FRAN
COLONIA
SALVE
CASTORLAND. 1796
(OBVERSE.)
(REVERSE. )
We here give an engraving of this piece, which was of about the size and
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APPENDIX.
value of a half dollar. The obverse bears the head of Cybele, personifying the earth as inhabited and cultivated, with the words "Franco Americana Colonia " on the margin, and "Castor- land, 1796" below. The reverse bears the figure of Ceres, the goddess of husbandry, standing by the side of a maple tree which she has tapped. She bears in one hand a bit-stock used in tapping the tree, and the sap is flowing in full stream from a faucet into a classic vase. She bears on her left arm a cornucopia of flowers; at her feet is a sheaf of wheat, and the tree is in full leaf-all in the sap-season ! The legend "Salve magna Parens Frugum," is a quo- tation from Virgil and with its context reads as follows :-
" Salve magna parens frugum. Saturnia tellus.
" Magna virum; * GEORG. ii, 173.
" Hail Saturnian land, great Parent of Fruits, great Parent of heroes!"
This apostrophe to Italy appeared equally applicable to Castorland, which being in at least as warm a latitude, must of course be as well adapted to the vine and the olive.
This beautiful piece-not a coin, be- cause not authorized by law, nor a token, because it was not to be redeemed, was engraved by the Duvivier Brothers, coin engravers (one of whom became a shareholder,) and the dies are still pre- served in the French mint. We have seen impressions in gold, silver, white metal and bronze, and they are not un- common in coin cabinets.
It was provided in Article 10, of the Constitution as follows :-
" The Commissioners in America shall keep a JOURNAL of all their operations, and shall transmit annually to the Di- rector of the Company, a duplicate copy of this Journal. They shall send at least once in three months to the Di- rector, the State of the labors done dur- ing the three months preceding, and
they shall maintain a frequent corres- pondence with him."
We knew thus far about the require- ment as to the keeping of a journal when the History of Jefferson county was published in 1854, and the History of Lewis county, in 1860, and had seen many letters of the correspondence ; but the journal itself, so far as we could ascertain did not exist, and it had ap- parently been lost.
But some years after the publication of 1860, a citizen of Boston, then in Paris, had his attention attracted by a large bound volume, partly printed and partly written, which contained in French, an account of some part of America, he knew not what, and bought it. It had been no doubt thrown out for paper stock, and had been saved, in the junk-shop or the paper-mill, because it was thought worth more than its weight in old rags. It had been placed on a stand by the way-side in Paris for sale, and had found a purchaser in one, who if he did not happen to know what it really was, had the good sense to forward it to America, where it evi- dently belonged, and to place it in a public library where it is sure of being preserved-the Library of the Massa- chusetts Historical Society.
Our attention having been called to this volume, we took an early oppor- tunity for examining it, and having ob- tained permission from the Society, em- ployed a clerk to copy it entire. This work was very neatly and faithfully done; including various little pen-and-ink sketches of novel objects in natural history and various structures which had attracted notice. It proved indeed as extraordinary in historical interest as its rescue from oblivion had been re- markable. We have made a careful translation into English and have pre- pared copious notes. We were very desirous of including some part of this
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HISTORY OF LEWIS COUNTY.
journal in the present volume, but find it necessary to omit the whole. If printed entire, with accompanying ma- terials, it would make a volume of about the size of this, and we earnestly hope to see it some day in print. Its minute descriptions of places, (for the most part easily identified,) from their first depart- ure from Havre and landing in New York, in 1793, to the end of the season's work in 1796, are extremely interesting as illustrative of the period to which they relate, and there is a touch of the humorous appearing here and there, that proves how keenly the authors must have enjoyed a droll event, or a good joke.
The agents sent out by the company were Simon Desjardins, formerly an officer under the unfortunate Louis XVI, King of France, and Pierre Pharoux, an engineer and architect. With the former came his wife and children, and. a younger brother Geoffrey Desjardins who is often mentioned in the journal as their clerk, and as temporarily in charge.
These agents had as a fellow passen- ger, Mark Isambard Brunel, then a young French naval officer, just narrowly escap- ed with life from the French Revolution, who accepted their invitation to accom- pany them on their first journey to the tract, in the autumn of 1793. This jour- ney was made by water, up the Mo- hawk, and by way of the Oneida lake and Oswego river to Oswego, then still garrisoned by a small British force. They then crossed the lake, entered Henderson Harbor, and after a long search found the mouth of Black river. They ascended along the north bank of the river to about the place of the present village of Black River, or "Lockport," and returned by the same route, just as winter was closing in.
Brunel came up as far as Fort Schuy- ler [Utica] the next year, but never came again to Castorland. He became
engaged in canal surveys and other enterprises, and in 1799 went to Eng- land, where he became one of the most distinguished of engineers and inventors that that country has ever known. Mr. Pharoux was drowned in September 1795, by being carried over the falls in what is now the city of Watertown. The journal ends with the season of 1796, when Simon Desjardins was superceded by Rodolph Tillier, and the rest may be learned from the letter of Mr. Le Ray, which will close this account of Castorland.
SUMMARY OF THE HISTORY OF CASTOR- LAND BY VINCENT LERAY.
While preparing the first edition of the History of Lewis County, the author received from Mr. Vincent LeRay, of Paris, upon request made by his agent, Mr. Patrick Somerville Stewart of Carthage, a synopsis of the history of the title, and some incidents in the settlement, in a letter replete with interest throughout. We have already used small portions of this letter, in con- nection with our account of the titles, and the history of Croghan, but deem it of such interest that it is here presented entire, excepting that in one instance we refer back to a page where a portion has been already used.
The writer of this letter resided many years in Jefferson county, while the northern part was filling up with set- tlers, and was well acquainted with every fact and incident connected with its titles, and its settlement. He might have made his summary more complete, had it been longer. It could not now be made with as much intelligence, by any person now living, for during the period of near a quarter of a century that has elapsed since its date, very many of those who knew most of these events have passed away. Even the let-
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APPENDIX.
ter itself had faded until it was scarcely legible, and this fact alone presented a motive for rescuing it from the oblivion, into which it was slowly passing.
It may be proper, before giving the letter, to briefly notice the LeRay family, whose names are so profusely inscribed on the map of Jefferson county. We have " Chaumont," "Cape Vincent," "Alexandria," "Theresa," "Le- Ray," and "LeRaysville," directly from the names, and " Wilna," " Plessis," and "Orleans," as souvenirs of their choos- ing in the northern part of that county.
James Donatien LeRay de Chaumont, was born at a place named Chaumont on the Loire, between Blois and Tours, in France. He received a liberal educa- tion, and while still a young man became much interested in the success of the American Revolution. When Benjamin Franklin was in France, he occupied a house at Passy, between Paris and Ver- sailles, which belonged to Mr. LeRay's father, and he had many opportunities of becoming acquainted with Ameri- cans whom he met there, among whom was Gouverneur Morris.In 1785, Mr. LeRay came to America, and remained until 1790. During this period he be- came acquainted with Miss Grace Coxe, daughter of Charles Coxe, of New Jer- sey, whom he married. Her brother, Richard Coxe, afterwards became the first County Clerk of Lewis county.
After his return to Europe, he par- ticipated in the purchase by Pierre Chassanis, his brother-in-law, and sub- sequently participated largely in the transactions of the Castorland Com- pany, of which he in a few years ob- tained complete control. He was also the principal proprietor of Great Tract No. 4, of Macomb's purchase, embra- cing the town of Diana, in Lewis county, and a large part of Jefferson county north of the Black river. In 1806, he sent Dr. Bawdry, as his agent, to build
a house for his residence, and in 1808 he settled with his family at LeRays- ville. In 1810, he returned to France, leaving his business in charge of his son, Vincent, and of Moss Kent, as agent, and was successful in turning the attention of many persons emigrating to America, which led to their settlement upon his lands. In 1816, he returned to America and resided a year, and once or twice afterwards, but in 1836 he re- turned finally to his native country, and died there on the last day of 1840. To- wards the end he became involved in losses, and in 1840 became insolvent, the titles passing into the hands of his son.
Vincent LeRay de Chaumont, upon whom his business devolved, became better known to the early settlers of this county than his father. He devot- ed himself strictly to his private affairs, sought no public offices, and took little or no interest in political questions or other measures, other than those tend- ing to public improvements as they concerned the settlement and prosperity of the region where his interest lay.
He returned to France for residence, leaving his business in the hands of Patrick Somerville Stewart, his agent, and died in Paris, January 11, 1875, aged 83 years.
Mr. Stewart was born in Edinburgh, in August, 1791 ; came to America as a soldier in the War of 1812, and in 1815, became a resident at LeRaysville, where he was employed in the land office of Mr. LeRay, at first as clerk and drafts- man, and afterwards as agent. In 1837 he removed to Carthage, as general agent of the estate, and held this position until 1875, when he resigned, and was succeeded by his son-in-law, Lawrence J. Goodale. The business of the estate was, however, largely closed up before he left the office, and the lands had mostly passed into the hands of private owners. He died in Carthage, November 1, 1874,
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HISTORY OF LEWIS COUNTY.
aged 83 years. Mr. Stewart was a man of excellent reputation and standing in society, honorable and exact in his deal- ings, indulgent and liberal in his transac- tions with settlers upon his lands, and enterprising in whatever concerned the welfare of the county. In 1859, he represented one of the districts of Jeffer- son county in Assembly, but otherwise he held no public office, and in a great measure he stood aloof from political affairs. He was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church in Carthage.
We will now present the letter of Vincent LeRay de Chaumont, above mentioned, and with this, close the pres- ent edition of the History of Lewis County :-
Letter from Vincent LeRay de Chaumont.
PARIS, 16 Nov., 1859. Rue St. Florentin, 2.
" FRANKLIN B. HOUGH :-
Dear Sir-I received yesterday a let- ter from Mr. Stewart, in which he tells me your wish to have some details about the part of Castorland, which lies in Lewis county. As he says you go to press in December, I hasten to write you by the return mail.
" From an act passed 28th June, 1793, before M. Lambot, Notaire a Paris, it results: By letters patent dated 10 Jan- uary, 1792, the State of New York, con- veyed to Alex'r Macomb, 1,920,000 acres. A. Macomb conveyed the same to Wm. Constable, 6 June, 1792, who authorized Mr. Chassanis to sell for him, 630,000 acres, divided into shares. The sale not having been effected, Constable with- drew the authorization and left for sale in France, 200,000 acres, divided in 2,000 shares.
"The 12th April, 1793. Constable con- veyed to Peter Chassanis these 200,000 acres, with 5 p. c. for Public Works, and 10,000 acres to facilitate the sale of the 200,000 acres. A company is therefore formed of these 2,000 shares at 800 Livres Tournois each, (which had been paid to Constable) ; said company to be called The New York Company, and
their territory Castorland, (Castor means Beaver.)
" The property of the Company shall consist of two parts, one undivided, in- cluding 100,000 acres, and of 2,000 lots for a town, to be founded by the Com- pany. The Company to last 21 years. A Director, and four Commissioners re- siding in Paris, and two Commissioners in America. The first named of these last, is Mr. Pharoux, whose sad fate has been related in the History of Jefferson County. Then come most minute de- tails about the formation and the admin- istration of this Company.
" One disposition among others, will show the manner in which these Paris- ians at their chimney-corner managed their property. The 100,000 acres to be divided were to be entirely composed of good, and middling good land, with- out any part unfit for cultivation.
" I come now to the History of this ill- fated Company. Castorland was divided in two parts ; one above the Great Bend of Black River, called Upper Castorland, and the other below the Bend, Lower Castorland. The latter has been gener- ally known in the office of Mr. LeRay de Chaumont, as Beaver-Land. These tracts were divided in Ranges running East and West, North and South of two Cardinal Lines. The consequence was, that the boundaries being irregular, a series of unequal lots exists along these boundaries-some lots being fractions of acres, and some lots on the Black River particularly having no existence but on the paper.
" The regular lots contain 450 acres. To conform with the provisions of the Notarial act, these lots were divided on the map into nine lotsof 50 acres each. These are numbered from I to 4,828. Lower Castorland contains 964 lots, and 40,522 acres ; Upper Castorland 3,864 lots, and 182,695 acres-together 223,417 acres. Lower Castorland, and a small triangular part of Upper Castorland- part of Wilna, are in Jefferson county. Another small triangle in the east part, lies in Herkimer county, and the rest in Lewis.
" The Parisian administration, ruled by some large shareholders who had unreasonable expectations, managed the concerns of lands which they knew
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APPENDIX.
nothing about, as they would have done estates in France. Everything was to be regulated at home, and even roads were laid out on the maps, without any knowledge of the localities-but it is true, in beautiful straight lines. I would hardly dare state such a fact, if a sample of this folly was not known in the coun- try, where the traces of a road once opened, but of course never travelled, were visible a few years ago, in the south part of the tract, which among other obstacles, was to cross an almost impassable precipice ; but orders were imperative, and the road was made on both sides, leaving them to be connected when the thing became feasible.
" These gentlemen were so obstinate, that they were deaf to the remonstrances of two persons who had every right to be listened to,-Mr. Gouverneur Morris, Minister to France from the United States, and Mr. LeRay de Chaumont, who owned together 200,000 acres, bounded upon an extent of 60 miles by the lands of the Company. They had the greatest interest in the success of the Company, since the lands of the latter lay between theirs and the old countries. Besides, they had bought a large number of their shares in order to have an influence in their deliberations. For that reason, Mr. LeRay de Chaumont was named one of the four Commissioners, and as such he caused to be adopted in the Committee the sale of 12,000 acres to an American company, in which he was himself interested, and of which he had the direction. This company was to make improvements; build and establish vari- ous works, etc.
" In reading the debate on this motion, persons conversant with land concerns will perceive that the New York Com- pany, instead of the ruin that overtook them, would have derived considerable benefits,-but no reasoning would do :- the proposal of the committee was re- jected in the General Assembly, and the opposite system was only persisted in. Senseless works were undertaken, and brought the recourse to loans. An ad- ditional misfortune was the choice of Mr. Rodolphe Tillier, as commissioner in America. The difficulty of sending the French people to America, turned the views towards Switzerland. Tillier was
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