History of Montgomery and Fulton counties, N.Y. : with illustrations and portraits of old pioneers and prominent residents, Part 21

Author: Beers, F.W., & co., New York, pub
Publication date: 1878
Publisher: New York : F.W. Beers & co.
Number of Pages: 664

USA > New York > Fulton County > History of Montgomery and Fulton counties, N.Y. : with illustrations and portraits of old pioneers and prominent residents > Part 21
USA > New York > Montgomery County > History of Montgomery and Fulton counties, N.Y. : with illustrations and portraits of old pioneers and prominent residents > Part 21

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A variety of work then went on in-doors as well as out, which long ago generally ceased to be done in private houses. Households of that age were in wide contrast with those of the present. Every good mother taught her daughters a broad range of domestic duties, from washing dishes and log-cabm floors to weaving and making-up fine linen. For the home was also the factory, and to none of the good wife's mulnfarious duties dil her industrious spirit and proper ambition incline her more strongly than to the making from flax and wool of the fabrics which she and her- might need. For weeks and months the house resounded with the melody of spinning-wheel and loom and other simple machinery, with which every family answered for itself the question wherewithal it should be clothed. Mother and daughter were proud to appear, even at church,

THE FRUITS OF PEACE-IMMIGRATION-CONSTRUCTION OF ROADS AND BRIDGES.

in homespun, if they had made it well, and father and son were not ashamed of the suits which loving hands had fashioned for them.

This was the period when the disciples of St. Crispin "whipped the cat "-a term applied to the practice of itinerant shoemakers, who spread the implements of their craft for a day, more or less, in private dwellings, repairing old and making new equipage for the feet that had so many steps to take in rough ways. Common brogans were worn by both men and women, who were better pleased with the rude style of the log- cabin age, than modern ladies and gentlemen of fashion are with the finest slipper and grandest gaiter that the art of the day can produce. Such was the life that thrived along the Mohawk after the long and wasting war, and which laid the foundation of the wealth and refinement that reign in the valley to-day.

Not only was it found necessary to organize new towns and counties for the convenience of the increasing population, but improvement in the means of transit and communication was demanded. In April, 1790, the Legislature voted "one hundred pounds for the purpose of erecting a bridge across the East Canada Creek, not exceeding three miles from the mouth thereof, upon the road from the Mohawk river to the Royal Grant." Three years later, commissioners were appointed by the Legislature with directions to build " a bridge over the East Canada Creek nearly opposite Canajoharie Castle, on the public road leading from Tribes Hill to the Little Falls."

In 1795 a very important bridge was built over the Schoharie Creek at Fort Hunter, under the supervision of Maj. Isaac Dupuy. The tide of emigration up the Mohawk necessitated the improvement of the thorough- fares in the valley, and the principal result of efforts in that direction was the Mohawk turnpike, from Schenectady to Utica. The charter for its construction was granted April 4, 1800. In 1802 or 1803, Seth Wetmore and Levi Norton came from Litchfield county, Conn., and intending to take up land in the valley, interested themselves in the turnpike enter- prise. They, with Ozias Bronson, Hewitt Hills and three others, formed the first board of directors. Wetmore being a surveyor and civil engineer, superintended the construction of the road. He afterwards sold his stock and with the avails bought of the Kane brothers, for about $5 per acre, a farm of 200 acres at Ames, in the town of Canajoharie, where he lived until his death in 1836. He served as judge of the county court, and two terms as sheriff of Montgomery county, while it contained the present Fulton county and the eastern tier of towns in Herkimer. He was the last sheriff named by the council of appointment, and the first elected by the people. Ozias Bronson bought a farm near Amsterdam, and his grandsons, James, Edward and George, now live at Amsterdam village, in successful business connections. It will be interesting here to read Thurlow Weed's account of staging over the famous turnpike in 1824, though serious errors in Mr. Weed's location of various landmarks will be detected by those conversant with the towns to which his notes apply. In describing the journey from Rochester to Albany in his auto- biography, Mr. Weed speaks as follows:

" From Little Falls we come after an hours ride to a hill by the bank of the river which, several years before, Gen. Scott was descending in a stage when the driver discovered at a sharp turn near the bottom of the hill a Pennsylvania wagon winding its way up diagonally. The driver saw but one escape from a disastrous collision, and that to most persons would have appeared even more dangerous than the collision. The driver, however, having no time for reflection, instantly guided his team over the precipice and into the river, from which the horses, passengers, coach and driver, were safely extricated. The passengers, following Gen. Scott's example, made the driver a handsome present as a reward for his courage and sagacity.

" We dine at East Canada Creek, where the stage house, kept by Mr. Couch, was always to be relied on for excellent ham and eggs and fresh brook trout. Nothing of especial interest until we reach Spraker's, a well known tavern that neither stages nor vehicles of any description were ever known to pass. Of Mr Spraker, senior, innumerable anecdotes were told He was a man without education, but possessed strong good sense, consid- erahle conversational powers, and much natural humor. Most of the stories told about him are so Joe-Millerish that I will repeat but one of them. On one occasion, he had a misunderstanding with a neighbor, which provoked both to say hard things of each other. Mr. Spraker having re- reived a verbal hot shot from his antagonist, reflected a few moments and replied, "Ferguson, dare are worse men in hell dan you ; " adding after a

pause, " but dey are chained."

" At Canajoharie a tall handsome man with graceful manners, is added to our list of passengers. This is the Hon. Alfred Conkling, who in 1820 was elected to Congress from this district, and who has just been appoint- ed Judge of the United States District Court, for the Northern District of New York, by Mr. Adams. Judge Conkling is now (in 1870 the oldest surviving New York member of Congress. In passing Conyne's Hotel, near the Nose, the fate of a young lady who 'loved not wisely but too well ' with an exciting trial for breach of promise, etc., would be related. Still further east we stop at Failing's tavern to water. Though but an ordinary tavern in the summer season, all travelers cherish a pleasant remembrance of its winter fare ; for leaving a cold stage with chilled limbs, if not frozen ears, you were sure to find in Failing's bar and dining-rooms ' rousing fires ' ; and the remembrance of the light lively 'hot and hot ' buckwheat cakes, and the unimpeachable sausages, would renew the appetite even if you had just risen from a hearty meal.

"Going some miles further east we come in sight of a building on the west side of the Mohawk river, and near its brink, the peculiar architecture of which attracts attention. This was formerly Charles Kane's store, or rather the store of the brothers Kane, five of whom were distinguished merchants in the early years of the present century. They were all gen- tlemen of education, commanding in person, accomplished and refined in manners and associations. *

* Here Commodore Charles Morris, one of the most gallant of our naval officers, who in 1812 distinguished himself on board the United States Frigate ' Constitution ' in her engage- ment with the British frigate ' Guerriere ' passed his boyhood. In 1841, when I visited him on board of the United States seventy-four gun ship ' Franklin,' lying off Annapolis, he informed me that among his earliest recollections, was the launching and sailing of miniature ships on the Mo- hawk river. On the opposite side of the river, in the town of Florida, is the residence of Dr. Alexander Sheldon, for twelve years a member of the Legislature from Montgomery county, serving six years as Speaker of the House of Assembly. The last year Dr. S. was in the Legislature, one of his sons, Milton Sheldon, was also a member from Monroe county. Anoth- er son, Smith Sheldon, who was educated for a dry goods merchant, drifted some years ago to the city of New York, and is now the head of the ex- tensive publishing house of Sheldon & Co., Broadway.

" The next points of attraction were of much historical interest. Sir William and Guy Johnson built spacious and showy mansions a few miles west of the village of Amsterdam, long before the Revolution, in passing which, interesting anecdotes relating to the English Baronet's connection with the Indians were remembered. A few miles west of Sir William Johnson's, old stagers would look for an addition to our number of passen- gers in the person of Daniel Cady, a very eminent lawyer, who resided at Johnstown, and for more than fifty years was constantly passing to and from Albany. At Amsterdam, Marcus T. Reynolds, then a rising lawyer of that village, often took his seat in the stage, and was a most companion- able traveler."

Mr. Simms, commenting on this sketch, indorses the author's reference to circumstances "which compelled the male passengers at times to get out into the mud, and with rails appropriated from the nearest fence, to pry the wheels up so that the horses could start anew, Two miles an hour was not unfrequently, in the Spring and Fall, good speed at certain locali- ties .**

Correcting Mr. Weed's errors as to locality, Mr. Simms says : "Conyne's Hotel was three miles east of Fonda, he says near the Nose ; if so there may have been two keepers of the same name, and * * * Failing's tavern was at St. Johnsville, and some twelve miles to the westward of the Nose, and more than twenty miles to the westward of Conyne's. At Palatine Bridge was one of the most noted stage houses in the Valley. It was built and first kept by Shepherd, and afterwards by the late Joshua Reed, and was as widely and favorably known as any other public house within fifty miles of it."

The charter of the Utica and Schenectady Railroad Company, granted .in 1833, required it, before beginning transportation, to purchase the rights of the Mohawk Turnpike Company, at the rate of $22.50 per share, and assume the responsibilities of the latter. One of these responsibilities was that of keeping the turnpike in repair. It was provided, however, that the railroad company might abandon the turnjake, giving notice to the com- missioners of highways, and after such notice it should be kept in order in the same manner as other highways. The railroad company for a time

THE HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY.

took toll on the turnpike and kept it in repair, but subsequently removed the gates, and is now responsible for the maintenance of only a part of the old highway.

The Legislature in 1802 authorized the opening of certain roads in the State, and in pursuance of this act the highway denominated the State Road, leading from Johnstown in a northwestern direction to the Black River country, was opened it; was subsequently much used while that part of the country was being settled by emigrants from the east. The improvement of the road leading from Schenectady to Utica along the south side of the Mohawk was deemed expedient, and commissioners were appointed in 1806, to direct the work, their instructions being to straighten the existing road and open it to a width of fifty feet. The towns through which it passed were required to repair and maintain it if their population was not too small.

The original towns of Montgomery county were soon subdivided. March 12, 1793, Caughnawaga was divided into Johnstown, Mayfield, Broadalbin and Amsterdam, and Mohawk into Charleston and Florida, their dividing line being Schoharie creek. In 1797, Salisbury, now in Herkimer county, was taken from Palatine, and the next year part of Canajoharie went to form Minden.

CHAPTER XVII.

THE MOHAWK RIVER-ITS IMPROVEMENT AS A HIGHWAY BY THE INLAND LOCK NAVIGATION COMPANY.

The Mohawk river seems to have taken its name from the English appel- lation of the tribe of Indians inhabiting its banks. They were called Ma- quaas by the Dutch, who according to Ruttenber learned that name for them from the Mohicans, and were generally mentioned by that desig- nation during the seventeenth century ; being aiso spoken of as the Ma- quas, Makwaes, Maquaes, Maquese, and Maques, and in Courcelle's report of his expedition against them, as the Mahaukes, Mauhankes and Mohau- kes. The French also called them Agniers. They styled themselves Ka- yingehaga. In the latter part of the seventeenth century they were occa- sionally mentioned by the title which they subsequently bore, and which was prevalent throughout the last century. Sir William Johnson wrote the name of the nation Mohock, and the tribe are called Mohocks on Guy Johnson's map 1771 of New York, and the adjoining parts of the country whereon, however, the river is called the Mohok. The stream was com- monly named the Mohawks' river in the early part of the last century, but during that century the present spelling became universal.

From the early settlement at Albany, and that soon after made sixteen miles north-west, the Mohawk river and valley inevitably became the common route to still further western settlements, and to the magnificent chain of lakes so early explored. To facilitate navigation on the Mohawk by removing obstructions, was therefore an object of prime importance, and plans to this end were proposed as early a> 1725, but nothing was done until near the close of the century. The cataract of Cohoes necessi- tated a portage from Albany to Schenectady : from there the placid river offered its easier pathway, and the craft called batteaux came into general use. These boats were of much greater capacity than the Indian's birch bark canoe, or the useful, but precarious dugout, which for ages had danced to the gentle breezes on the bosom of the river. They were of different grades and were rated by the strength of their crews as three and six handed batteaux. They were flat bottomed boats of sufficient dimensions to carry several tons, and were propelled by setting-poles, which were kept for sale at convenient points along the shore. With backs to the prow the bateaux men thrust the poles to the river's bed, and bearing hard upon them and walking aft, gained for their craft toilsome headway against the current. A sort of harmony of movement was secured by the captains. " Bowsmen up !" and "Second men up !" \ tiller oar sufficed for guid- ance. Such was the mode of transporting merchandise and Indian com- modities to and from the West for more than half a century; such, too, the method of conveying munitions of war during the Revolution. Captains in this latter service were, under the pension law of 1832, entitled to the same pensions as captains in the Continental army. A list of them still ex- tant includes the following names : John Vernon, Jacob C. Peak, William Peters, Rynier Van Evera, Tunius Visscher, Cornelius Bartmyst, William Davis, Stephen Ball, Simeon De Graff, James Dickinson, and John Leffler. Dennis Flander also ran a supply boat on the Mohawk during the Revolu

tion ; he was ambuscaded by the Indians several times, and fired at, but passed through without a wound.

The earliest boatmen were troubled by the Indians, who took toll for the navigation of their river and seem to have believed in high rates. The navigators thus stated their grievances to the Lieutenant-Governor under date of June 1, 1754."

"We, the Traders or Handlers' to Oswego, most humbly beg leave to remonstrate to your Honour, the many hazzards and Difficulties we are subject to in our passage thither from the ill treatment we meet with from the Indians .. .. in passing the Mohawks and canojohary castles, they Board our Battoes with axes knives &c and by force take what Rum they think proper hooping and yelping as if they had Gloried in their depradations and threatening murder to any that oppose them, and on our arrival at the great carrying place, the Oneida Indians force our Goods from us at pleasure to carry over, and not content with making us pay a most exorbi- tant price for each Freight, but rob us of our Rum, stores and other Goods with a great deal of invective threatening language and are generally so Numerous that we are Obliged to submit to those impositions or run the risk of being murdered and Robbed of everything we have; and to put their schemes the better in Execution they force away the High Germans who generally attend with their Horses. that we may be under a necessity of employing them and paying whatever they please to demand."

The chief obstacles to this primitive and simple means of commerce were the rifts or rapids in the river between Schenectady and Little Falls -so called in contradistinction to the great falls at Cohoes. These rapids were known by such names as Fort Hunter rift, Caughnawaga rift, Keetor's rift (at Spraker's), Brandywine rift, at Canajoharie , etc. Much labor was required to force the batteaux over these spots, and at such places in the river the crews were assisted by men on shore with ropes. At Little Falls, there being a descent of forty feet in half a mile, a portage became neces- sary. The goods were transported around the falls on wagons with small, wide-rimmed wheels, and a guard set over them while the boats were brought up in the same way, when the latter were launched and reloaded and proceeded. From Little Falls the river was the commercial artery to Fort Stanwix Rome , whence another portage to Wood creek gave access to the grand chain of lakes through that stream, Oneida lake and river, and the Oswego river.

After the Revolution public attention was drawn to the consideration of plans for facilitating the navigation of the Mohawk. To this end the In- land Lock Navigation Company was incorporated, March 30, 1792. Gen. Philip Schuyler was elected president. In the same year a committee of the company examined the stream and reported the result of their investi- gations. In their report the bed of the river, at intervals from Schenec- tady up, is minutely described, and each rapid or rift laid down. The impediments were found to be many, and for the improvement of the rifts it was suggested by the committee that "several of the rapids might be deepened by erecting small stone dams nearly across the river, leaving a passage for boats; but this, while it would give a sufficiency of water, would so increase its velocity as to render an ascent with a half-loaded boat of a size to carry three or four hundred bushels of wheat extremely difficult without the aid of machinery to draw up the boat, and such ma- chinery it would be difficult permanently to erect, on account of the vast quantity of ice which suddenly descends whenever the Schoharie creek breaks up in the Spring of the year, and which would destroy such ma- chinery. Some of the rapids may be deepened by removing the stones in the bottom; but this can only be successfully executed when the water above the rapid is deep; for if it is not, another rapid is formed immedi- ately above by deepening the existing one. But the improvement of this part of the river, although difficult, yet it is feasible, and would be easily so without any extraordinary expense if the bed of the river was a solid rock: for then four or five dams at proper distances would create a series of ponds covering the immediate rapids, and hence, by means of a lock and guard-gates at each dam, boats would ascend or descend from the one to the other in succession. But to drive piles to secure all the dams from blowing would be so arduous and expensive an operation, that a canal and locks in the adjacent grounds would be infinitely preferable."

It was, moreover, suggested that a more effectual accommodation would be obtained by the erection of a dyke of timber and stone parallel to the north bank of the river, above Schoharie creek, "until it shall descend the river as far as to gain height sufficient to enter the bank below the rocky part, which would be at the distance of about ttoo yards ; and as the fall

NAVIGATION OF THE MOHAWK-THE WAR OF 1812

then would be about 9 feet, a lock might be constructed there, and thence a canal might be carried through good ground on the low lands, having the uplands on one side until just below Clyne's tavern, where it would again enter the river, continued and confined by a dyke or embankment, for about 300 yds, and then again through the low lands, along the foot of the uplands, to the river, near the house of the late Guy Johnson, where it would enter the river with one or more locks."

It was not thought necessary to do more than to remove the rocks and other obstructions from the bed of the river at Caughnawaga and the rifts above. At Little Falls a canal was considered indispensable, and another from Fort Schuyler (Stanwix) to Wood creek. The main part of the work for the improvement of navigation was put upon these carrying places. At Little Falls the portage was obviated by a canal with five locks, and a length of 4.752 feet, cut for more than half its extent through solid rock. The work began at this place shortly after the report was submitted, but it was not until late in the autumn of 1795, that the canal was ready for the passage of boats. Portions of this work yet remain, serving as an import- ant feeder for the Erie canal by the substantial aqueduct across the river. The work throughout the whole extent cost $400,000, about one-fourth of which expense was borne by the State.

After these improvements were made the Durham boat was substituted for the clumsy and unwieldly batteaux, which had so long been in use. It was of sufficient capacity to carry from ten to fifteen tons, and had the bow sharpened to a cut-water. An oilcloth awning was used when neces- sary. Along the sides cleats were nailed down for the boatmen to rest their feet upon while propelling the craft with poles. A small caboose was the crew's store-house, and the cooking was done on shore, where fuel was always at hand.

Although delay occasioned by the portages was obviated, yet the rifts were not so far overcome but that it was found very difficult and required a great amount of labor to force these larger boats over them. It was cus- tomary for a number of boats to make the voyage in company, and the one in advance when a rift was reached waited for the others to come up, so that the crews could avail themselves of each others assistance. Often even their united efforts failed, and after a boat had remained stationary for some time upon a rift it would be necessary to let it drift back again and take a new start.

The upward voyage was necessarily slow and tedious; coming down was far easier, a simple sail often aiding the current. It is related that a Cap- tain Larabee left Utica in the morning and arrived at Schenectady in the evening of the same day, which was regarded as quite a feat. Though ac- cidents sometimes occurred by oversetting or otherwise, loss of life seldom happened. A boat, however, was once capsized at the Fort Hunter rift and two of its occupants drowned, the third escaping by swimming.

The expense of transportation from Albany to Schenectady was sixteen cents per hundred pounds, from Schenectady to Utica seventy-five cents, and from Utica to Oswego one dollar and twenty-five cents. The great outlay incurred in the improvements made the cost of transportation so much that the enterprise did not prove lucrative, and the company in 1818 - relinquished their right west of Oneida Lake, and in 1820 sold out to the State for $152,718.52, In 1822 notice appeared of the building of a steamboat at Schenectady to run between that city and Amsterdam. A second notice mentioned, "unavoidable delay in its completion." Thence- forward there is no record or any traditional knowledge of the enterprise, or the cause of its failure. Mr. David Cady, of Amsterdam, who fur- nished a large share of our account of the enterprises for the utilization of the Mohawk, finding consolation for their failure in the quiet beauty of the famous river, adds:

"And while at times one could almost regret that our Mohawk is not navigable for even light craft, we mayhap may congratulate ourselves. Commerce with its noisy din, the shriek and scream of the steam whistle, the murky clouds of heavy smoke, would have robbed our wayward river of much of its witching beauty and romance. Tom Moore has sung its praise, Harriet Martineau has admired its gentle flow, and our own Whit tier claims to

" Have seen along its valley gleam The Mohawk's softly winding stream.

" And we dwellers along its shore love well the lovely river in all its moods and phases; we love it in its glassy depths, we love it in its rippling hallows; we love it in its purple tints of morning; we love it in its amber hues of evening: we love its sedgy banks; we love its rock-ribbed ridges;

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History of Montgomery and Fulton counties, N.Y. : with illustrations and portraits of old pioneers and prominent residents, Part 21

Author: Beers, F.W., & co., New York, pub Publication date: 1878 Publisher: New York : F.W. Beers & co. Number of Pages: 664

Author: Beers, F.W., & co., New York, pub
Publication date: 1878
Publisher: New York : F.W. Beers & co.
Number of Pages: 664