History of Montgomery and Fulton counties, N.Y. : with illustrations and portraits of old pioneers and prominent residents, Part 57

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 57
USA > New York > Montgomery County > History of Montgomery and Fulton counties, N.Y. : with illustrations and portraits of old pioneers and prominent residents > Part 57

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).

The formation of Fulton county, as already intimated, was caused chiefly by the natural dissatisfaction felt by the people of the northern part of Montgomery upon the removal of the county courts and offices from their ancient capital to an upstart village, as it seemed to them, with no adequate claims to the honor. Historic Johnstown had been the county seat for nearly seventy years, some of them the most momentous in the nation's annals, and was a settlement of some importance and much promise four- score years before it was proposed to transfer its honors and advantages as a judicial centre to a rival just springing into existence. The agitation re- sulting from such natural considerations was powerful enough to procure the organization of a new county, which has been amply vindicated by the development of the district so incorporated, especially by the prosperity of Johnstown and the notable growth of Gloversville, Fulton having now within its picturesque and fertile domain but a trifle less population than the parent county.

The act creating Fulton county became a law April 18, 1838. The county has an area of 544 square miles, and the population at the census of 1875 was 30, 155, over half of it in the town of Johnstown. The assessed valuation of real estate was $3,753,666, and of personal property $460.328 ; total, $4,216,199. The first law-suit tried in the county under its present organization was a case of ejectment, brought in the Court of Common Pleas, by Jaber K. Phillips against Stephen Chase, April 1, 1839. Joseph Grant, a Scotchman, was the first foreigner who applied for naturalization in the county, which he did January 1, 1839. . \. Lamont pledged himself solemnly under oath, in April, 1845, to perform to the best of his ability the duties of the office of inspector of sole-leather-no laughing matter in a region where tanning has been such a staple industry. The details in the

annals of the county not already given will be found in full in the town and village histories following.

ASSEMBLYMEN FROM THE DISTRICT.

The first election for the new county was held in the autumn of 1838. The Assemblymen chosen from this district (now consisting of Fulton and Hamilton counties) at that time and since, with the dates of their election, have been as follows :

James Yanney, 1838 | Henry W. Spencer, 1858

Langdon I. Marvin, 1839

James Kennedy, 1859

Jenison G. Ward, 1840

Jas. H. Burr,

1860

John Patterson, 1841

1861

John 1 .. Hutchinson,

1842

Willard J Heacock,

1862

James Harris,

1843

William A. Smith,

1863

Garret A. Newkirk,

1844 Walter M. Clark,

1864

Clark S. Grinnell,

1845

Joseph Covell, 1865

Darius Moore,

1846

1866

Isaac Benedict,

1847 Samuel W. Buell,

1867

John Culbert,

1848 W'm. F. Barker,

1868

Cyrus H. Brownell,

1849 John F. Empire,

1869

John Stuart,

1850 Mortimer Wade,

1870

Alfred N. Haner,

1851 Samuel W. Buel,

1871

W'm. A. Smith,

1852 Willard J. Heacock,

1872

1853 John Sunderlin,

1873

Isaac Lefever,

1855

John J. Hanson,

1875

Patrick McFarlan,

1856

Geo. W. Fay,

1876

John C. Holmes,

1857 || John W. Peek,

1877

SHERIFFS OF FULTON COUNTY.

The following gentlemen have served as sheriffs of the county, heing elected at the dates attached to their names:

David I. McIntyre, 1838 { Austin Karson, 1859

Knapthalee Cline, 1841 Jacob P. Miller, 1862

Michael Thompson, 1844 James Purson, 1865

1868

Amasa Shippee,

1850 Oliver Getman,

1871

Elisha Bentley,

1853 John Dunn,

1874

Bradford T. Simmons,

1856 | Hiram Praim, 1877

Wesley Gleason,

1854

Geo. W. Fay,

1874

Daniel l'otter, 1847 William P. Brayton,

CLERKS OF THE COUNTY.

The following is a list of County Clerks of Fulton county, with dates of election :

173

174

THE HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY.

Tobias A. Stoutenbergh,

Stephen Wait,

1841

1844

1865

1847

1868

Peter W. Plants,

1850

1871

Archibald Anderson, =

1853

William S. McKie,

1874

1856 |

1877

The following gentlemen have been incumbents of the several county offices mentioned, the dates of their election being specified in connection with their names:

JUDGES OF THE COUNTY COURT.

John Wells,

1847 || McIntyre Fraser, 1871

Nathan J. Johnston,

1851 |A. D. L. Baker,

1875

John Stewart, 1855

JUSTICES OF THE COURT OF SESSIONS.

Charles A. Baker, }

1847

Peter W. Plantz,

Wm. Spencer,

David Kennedy, }

1849

Seth Cook,

Aaron Nellis,

1850

Wim. Spencer.

1866

Peter R. Simmons,

1851

Morgan Lewis, 1

Lucius Rice,

1852

Rules Eastman, 1 1868

Lucius Rice, 1

Daniel Lassell, y

Henry C. Jones, /

1854

Alonzo J. Blood, I

1870

Wm. Spencer,

James Stewart, )

Henry W. Spencer, }

1856

Watson Turner,

John L. Hutchinson, )

Wm. S. Ingraham, )

1857

David Kennedy, {

Jeremiah S. Austin,

1858

Wm. J. Robb, Jeremiah S. Austin, S

1874

James Stewart,

Seth Cook,

1859

W'm. J. Robb, / Wm. Spencer, }

1875

James Creighton, Seth Cook,

1860

Ephraim Bronk,

1876

Emanuel Thumb, )

1863;

Daniel B. Whitlock, )

DISTRICT ATTORNEYS.

John W. Cady.

1840 | John S. Enos, 1853

Clark S. Grinnell,

1840 . J. M. Carroll,

1859

John W. Cady,

1846

1865

Thos. I .. Wakefield,

1847

1868

A. Hamilton Ayers,

1848

1871

William Wait,

1849 Jerry Keck, 1874

I. H. H. Frisbee,

1852

IS77

James M. Dudley,

1853

SCHOOL COMMISSIONERS.

William Wait,

1855 | Lucius F. Burr. 1866

E. B. Towner,

1857 Cyrus Stewart, 1869

Ira It. Van Ness,

186c | John M. Dougal, 1872

Lucius F. Burr,

1863], James H. Foote, 1875

COUNTY TREASURERS.

Daniel Stewart,

1845 h lingene Bertrand, 1857

Burnett Il. Dewey.

1840 ; D vid \ Wells, 1800

Rodney Il Johnson,

1847 , Burnett 11, Dewey, 1863

Archibald Anderson,

1848 ; Jamies l'. Agersinger, 1872

Daniel l.dwards,

1854 1

1875

SUPERINTENDENTS OF THE POOR.

Morgan Lewis,

1844 Collins Odell, -

A. H. Van Arnam, 1847

John P. Claus,

1845 Aaron Nellis,

John P. Claus, George Beach, 1848

Morgan Lewis,

1846

John R. Mitchel, George Beck, 1849

The alms-house at West Bush was established in 1853. Since that date the superintendents have been J. B. Levitt, Richard Fancher, J. D. Foster, W. W. Washburn, J. H. Washburn, and Lubin S. Capron, the last-named having been elected in 1874. The alms-house stands on a farm of nearly 100 acres, which is made to yield a considerable revenue, and has generally some fifty or sixty inmates. The children attend a public school.

RAILROAD ACCOMMODATIONS INTRODUCED.

The first organization for building a railroad into Fulton county was effected in 1865. The road was to run from Fonda through Johnstown and Gloversville to Caroga. Considerable engineering was done and some stock subscribed, assurances being held out that enough capital could be obtained to build the road. The project fell through, however, for want of means, and the balance of subscriptions after the expenses being paid was refunded to the stockholders.

The second organization was made in 1866. Considerable stock was sub- scribed for, but not enough to warrant the company in commencing the work, and it was abandoned.

A third organization was brought about in the autumn of 1866 by a series of meetings held in the court-house at Johnstown, which were largely attended, and at which a good deal of interest was manifested. As the result of these meetings the Fonda, Johnstown and Gloversville Railroad Company was organized on the 16th day of June, 1867, and its articles of association placed on file in the secretary's office on the following day. One of the resolutions was to the effect that the road was to be built mainly by bonds on the town of Johnstown. The town was finally bonded for 8275,600. The commissioners were Daniel Potter, Edward Ward and John Wells.

A contract was made with Aaron Swartz for constructing the road, Sep- tember 30th, 1867, and the work was begun soon after. Swartz continued the undertaking for a time, but finding the material to be moved much harder than expected, he assigned his contract to Shipman and Middaugh. who continued the work until November 21st, 1868, when they abandoned it. The work was continued by the company, hiring hands until the funds which were obtained by subscription and from the sale of town bonds were exhausted, when the work stoped, late in the autumn of 1869. An act was passed during the winter of 1869-70, allowing the town of Johnstown to sell its mortgage of $275,600 on the railroad for $roo,oco. which was accomplished in the spring of 1870. On the proceeds work was again resumed on the 5th of July, 1870, and prosecuted with vigor until the road was finished and ready for the rolling stock. The line was ready and trains started on the 29th of November, 1870. Means for finishing the work were obtained from the sale of bonds on the road to the amount of $300,000.

The Gloversville and Northville Railroad Company was duly organized on the 26th of June. 1872, and articles of association field with the Secre. tary of State that day. The surveys began as soon as possible, and were finished, and a map and profile filed in the office of the clerk of Fulton county, on the 25th of September. The contract was let for grading and fencing the road on the 19th of September, and work began soon after The means for constructing the line were obtained by stock subscription. and by bonds on the road, the latter to the amount of $200,000. 'The town of Northampton was also bonded in aid of the enterprise, and took stock therefor. Work progressed slowly, on account of the difficulty in ob. taining the money on stock subscriptions, The track was laid and the road ballasted and ready for the trains on the 28th of November, 1875, and trains commenced running that day. The length of the line from Glovers ville to Northville is sixteen mules, and that of the l'onda, Johnstown and! Gloversville Railroad is ten miles. The officers of both companies have

Robert Whitlock, }

1862

Emerson Brown, 1

1877

Wyant Lepper,

1855

Jeremiah S. Austin, 1

1871

James Stewart, Ira Beckwith,

1853

Jeremiah S. Austin,

David Kennedy, I 1869

Morgan Lewis, 1

Aaron Nellis, 1

David Kennedy, 1

John J. Hayes, 1

1872

Harvey 1). Smith, ) 1873

David Getman,

David Kennedy,

1861 Ephraim Van Slyke, f

William Coppernoll,

Aaron Bartlett,

Harley Bartlett, (

1865

David Kennedy,

Henry G. Enos,

Henry G. Enos, } 1867

John P. Cline, )

Jenison G. Ward, } 1864

William G. Wait, -

Ephraim A. Campbell,

Samuel R. Dudley,

J. B. Yost,

1838 | Mortimer Wade, 1859 1862 =

845 |R. H. Rosa, 1862

175

FULTON COUNTY ORGANIZATIONS-ORIGIN OF THE GLOVE TRADE.

been and are, W. J. Heacock, president ; D. A. Wells, vice-president ; and John McNab, treasurer. L. Calen was engineer during the construction of the roads and has been superintendent since they came into operation.

THE COUNTY AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY.

An agricultural fair was held in Johnstown as early as Oct. 12, 1819, by a society organized in that year, of which Henry F. Cox was president, and James McIntyre secretary. Jacob Boshart won the society's first premium for the best milch cows exhibited §8 ; the best heifer ($7), and the best pair of two-year old steers (§8). Each premium was accompanied by a testimonial, gotten up in better style than many similar documents of the present day. Fairs have been held in most of the years since this first one.

In 1865 the society bought about eighteen acres of ground, near Johns- town, for a permanent fair ground, on which a half mile race-course was laid out. The necessary fencing. building, ete., at the time, cost between $2,000 and $3,000, and a show building was erected in the autumn of 1877. at an additional expense of about 81,000. At the time of the purchase of the fair ground Elisha Briggs was president of the society, Isaiah Yauney (to whom we are indebted for these facts) secretary, and Mortimer Wade treasurer. The present officers are : President, Nicholas H. Decker ; secretary, John P. Davidson; and treasurer, James 1. Younglove ; with a number of vice-presidents and directors.

THE FULTON COUNTY COAL COMPANY.

This organization was incorporated May 12, 1871, and its articles of as- sociation filed three days later. It has a paid-up capital of $18,000, in shares of Sico each, and six trustees, namely : A. Judson, Gloversville, president ; L. Calen, Gloversville, secretary and treasurer ; W. A. Heacock, Gloversville ; D. A. Wells, Johnstown : L. Veghte, Johnstown ; and D. B. Judson, Kingsboro.

THE COUNTY MEDICAL SOCIETY.

The Fulton County Medical Society was organized June 16, 1867. by Drs. W. H. Johnson, Francis Burdick, P. R. H. Sawyer, P. R. Furbeck, Jehiel Lefler, W. L. Johnson and Eugene Beach.

An election of officers was had, which resulted in the choice of Dr. W. H. Johnson as president; Dr. Sawyer, vice president; Dr. Lefler, treasurer; Dr. W. L. Johnson, recording secretary, and Dr. Burdick, corresponding secretary.

Annual, and latterly more frequent meetings have been held, usually at Johnstown or Gloversville, for professional discussion and social inter- course.

CHAPTER II.

ORIGIN, GROWTH AND METHODS OF THE GLOVE AND MITTEN MANU- FACTURE OF FULTON COUNTY.

A stranger entering Gloverwille or Johnstown cannot fail to notice im- mediately that he is in the presence of a remarkable development of the glove and mitten manufacture. Sign boards, advertising this business, con- front him at every turn and almost every step, even among private resi- dences and out of the business portions of these villages. A considerable proportion of the persons and vehicles he meets are carrying gloves or mittens. in some state of their progress from the whole hide to the market : while the most imposing industrial establishments are the skin mills, with their odoriferous product flapping on trellises in the yards, and the ex- tensive factories, of which illustrations may be seen on other pages. The material for this chapter was chiefly taken from a recent number of the Fulton County Republican.

The origin of this great mannfacturing interest of the county, which has grown to such proportions as to overshadow all its other industries, is shrouded in some uncertainty. Authorities differ as to the person to

whom is due the greater portion of the eredit fur establishing the business, owing to the variance in tradition, and family rivalry ; but the following account is believed to be as correct as can be obtained. The business started first, as such, at Kingsboro, in the year 1809. That village and the surrounding country were originally settled by people from New England, many of whom were skilled in the manufacture of tin. They were of the genuine Yankee stock, cute and industrious, and unlike their Dutch neigh- bors along the Mohawk, took more naturally to manufactures aad trade than to farming. Hence they were accustomed to manufacture tin, bad a horse with it, and leading the beast up the Mohawk and "Chenango country," as it was then called, would exchange the tin-ware for wheat, peltry, and almost any products which they needed or could readily sell. The deer skins, one of which they generally bought for a meditan sized tin basin, were sometimes rather a burden, for they were not used for much else than jackets and "breeches," being prized more partie darly for the latter purpose, because of their lasting qualities, no small consider- tion in those days of comparative poverty, economy and hard work.

The inhabitants had learned to tan the skins for clothing, according to the Indian process, using the brain of the deer itself, when convenient, but at this time often substituting the brains of hogs for that purpose. It is said that the brain of a deer will tan the hide, containing as it done . the same elements as the soda ash "fat liquor" in use at the present day. Occasionally a little of what purports to be the genuine Indian leather strays into Gloversville and is cut into gloves, which sell at fancy prices, more as a curiosity than anything else, as the material is really much in- ferior to the leather produced by modern and civilized processes. Ezekiel Case, and perhaps others, made mittens from this " Indian tanned " leather. as it was called, which must not be confounded with the leather bearing the same name of which large quantities are now made.

About 1809, Tallmadge Edwards, father of Daniel Edwards of Johns- town, formerly a leather-dresser in England, once well-to-do but then i reduced circumstances, moved from Massachusetts to Johnstown. In that year James Burr father of H. L. & I H Burr and W. C. Mills father of D. C. Mills hired Edwards to come to Kingsboro and teach them his art of dressing leather. Mr. Burr in 1809 made up a few pair of mittens, which he took up the Mohawk and bartered off. In the following year he made a considerable number and sold at least part of them by the dozen, the first transaction of the kind. He subsequently made material improve- ments in the process of dressing skins, the most noticeable of which was the invention of the "bucktail," for which he received a patent. The .Ip- paratus is still in use, but the invention, like many others, proved rather a loss than otherwise to the inventor,

At this time, and much later, no gloves were manufactured, but only rough heavy mittens, which were needed to protect the hands of farmers and woodmen in cold and heavy labor. Even the leather, which was pro- duced up to quite a recent date was unit for the manufacture of gloves. being too heavy and stiff. As lately as about thirty years ago, it is watd. gloves were seldom cut, except an occasional pair, taken from the thinnest and most pliable parts of the skins. . Gloves. were originally uut, it, is said. by laying a pasteboard pattern on the leather and following it with the shears. But very indifferent progress could.be made in that way with the elastic leather now in use, and this fact shows the difference in quality quite distinctly. E. P. Newton started, in 1859, the first general machine works in Fulton county for the manufacture of glove and mitten cutting machines. He is at present engaged in die business at Gloversville The goods made in earlier days, however uncouth, furnished a good means of disposing of surplus deer akins, which, instead of being a drug in the m'r ket, were eagerly sought for, and when made up, were returned, with the next parcel of tinware, to be re-bartered to parties from whom the 's as had been obtained, besides being put upon the market for sale to any sim wished to purchase. Elisha Judson, father of D. B. Judson, it is saal, For- ried east, about 1825, the first load of gloves ever driven into Boston The trip took six weeks ..

Up to quite a recent date the merchants were accustomed to receive gloves and mittens in payment for their goods, very little money, pass ..; in exchange. At length, when accounts came to be settled with, cash. .. year's credit was established, and the manufacturers only made a, final at- tlement for the year, when they had turned, their goods and rescued their paya Meanwhile they, and. all of their employees traded with the lypal uter- chantaupon the trongfacture', credit, and thenes pose the well ingen

176

THE HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY.

for the convenience of the manufacturers. The war of the Rebellion gave the glove interest a wonderful impetus, as the price of skins for a time did not advance in the same ratio as the price of gloves. Scarcity of stock, however, raised the price of skins to very high rates, and a fall in prices entailed losses.

A history of Gloversville and the glove business, published by Horace Sprague in 1859, ascribes an earlier date than we have given to the origin of the trade. Mr. Sprague says: "In the year 1806, Ezekiel Case brought from Cincinnati a knowledge of manufacturing leather from deer skins, and was engaged for some time in the business, on a limited scale, at Kingsboro. In the year 1805, William C. Mills commenced his annual trips to the Holland purchase to buy wheat for flouring purposes, and also deer skins for manufacturing. From four to five hundred skins consti- tuted his yearly purchase. Tallmadge Edwards, of Johnstown, and Eze- kiel Case were first employed to dress them, from whom William F. Mills, the son, and James Burr, the son-in-law of William C. Mi Is, learned the art of manufacturing. For many years subsequent thereto, Mills and Burr were the most extensive and noted manufacturers. Mills died early in life, while Burr continued to extend his operations, to invent and adapt ma- chinery, to simplify and improve the various processes, and to give the busi- ness that character and currency which have conferred upon him the distinction of being considered the true founder of the buckskin manufac- ture in this region of country. About the year 1810, John Ward, of Kings- boro, engaged in the business. He made annual trips to Pennsylvania for skins, and became a manufacturer on a scale nearly as extensive as Mills and Burr. He, however, died in early manhood, in the year 1815." The writer of this work estimated the capital invested in the business in 1859 at from $500,000 to $1,000,000 in Gloversville and Kingsboro alone. It is judged at this date to be four or five times that amount in those places. The rapid extension of the business throughout the country, and the im- mense proportions it has attained since Mr. Sprague wrote, are facts fami- liar to most of the people of this section.

It must be remembered that the making of gloves and mittens is not ai! of the trade in this county. There are tanneries, and skin-mills and box- factories in operation, employing many workmen, and involving a large amount of capital, all of which are subservient to the one great leading pursuit. Nor is the business confined to Gloversville and Johnstown. In private houses throughout the county sewing-machines stare one in the face, with their packages of gloves near by, sewed or unsewed. That a branch of industry which had its origin here in the small dickering of Yankee tin-pedlars should have attained so much importance in a little more than half a century, is, perhaps, without a parallel in the history of the great American industries. "Thousands of laborers are employed, millions of dollars are invested, a great continent is supplied with a needed article of wearing apparel, and all this is the result of an exchange of a few tin-pans for a few paltry deer skins."

It has been stated that the early manufacturers gave their exclusive at- tention to heavy work, and that fine work for a time was not thought of. This order has, however, been reversed in late years, and in no direction is greater progress made than in the attainment of as delicate workmanship as can elsewhere be produced in this or other countries. The success of the effort is believed to be at hand.

THE RAW MATERIAL OF THE TRADE.

The leading varieties of skins used in the manufacture of gloves and mittens are the deer skin and domestic sheep skin, though several other kinds work in, partly as a curiosity, partly as a matter of accident, and perhaps partly from occasional scarcity. The manufacturers are sometimes charged with substituting sheep skin for buck, on the ground that there are apparently not enough deer skins obtained to produce all the alleged buckskin gloves .. But there are really a great many more deer skins pro- duced than the uninitiated suppose. Fulton county draws a supply of deer skins from the entire United States, Mexico, Central and South America. It is believed that about 1,000,000 pounds of deer skins annu- ally come to the New York market, and that the United States produces about one quarter of this amount, with an average weight of three pounds per skin. Of these, the larger part, of course, comes to the glove manu- facturers of this section, though not all ; some of them, for example, find- ing their way to the piano manufacturers, where they are used to cushion

the little hammers used in those instruments, while a portion of these skins also go to the shoe manufacturers. A comparatively few skins are also purchased by the Fulton county glove-men from the Boston market. The hides are usually known by the name of the State or country from which they are gathered, the port from which they are shipped, or the name or trade-mark of the dealer. For instance, "domestic deer skins "-a term applied to distinguish them from imported stock-are known as Wisconsins, Michigans, Missouris, etc., and these again divided into general classes, indicating the time of year the animal is killed, which makes a great dif- ference in the value of the skins. Thus there are western "reds " and " grays," the former being skins taken in summer, quite thick, but having short, thin, reddish hair, while the latter, taken in winter, are thin skins, with very long thick hair. It is the rule in regard to all skins, that the warmer the climate where or season when the skin is taken, the thicker will be the skin, and the shorter, thinner and more worthless the hair. The heaviest and most valuable skins, therefore, come from under the equator. A large number come from the mouth of the Amazon, and are commonly known as "Jacks." From nearly every port between Texas and the Ama- zon, and even further south, skins are sent, named from the port at which they are shipped. From the Central American ports, or "Mosquito coast," are obtained skins, hence called " Mosquitos." The surface of many of these hides, when dressed, has a pitted appearance, much resembling that produced on the human skin by small-pox. These pits are said not to effect the wear of the leather, but they seriously impair its appearance. All deer skins come to market in a hard, dried state, folded together with the hair inside, and pressed in bales of from too to 300 pounds weight.

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History of Montgomery and Fulton counties, N.Y. : with illustrations and portraits of old pioneers and prominent residents, Part 57

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