USA > New York > Saratoga County > History of Saratoga County, New York, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers. > Part 97
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107 | Part 108 | Part 109 | Part 110 | Part 111 | Part 112 | Part 113 | Part 114 | Part 115 | Part 116 | Part 117 | Part 118 | Part 119 | Part 120 | Part 121 | Part 122 | Part 123 | Part 124 | Part 125 | Part 126 | Part 127 | Part 128 | Part 129
A Palestine park, the largest and finest ever constructed, showing the general contour, the cities, rivers, and saered mountains of the Holy Land, has just been added to the other attractions, under the direction of Rev. W. W. Wythe, M.D.
Nature has made this one of the most beautiful and healthful, and the association have spared neither labor nor expense to make it one of the most instructive and attractive Christians resorts in America.
The following is a list of the camp-meetings which have been held at Round Lake:
Sept. 1, 1868 .- Conference, ten days, Rev. E. Watson, presiding. July, 1869 .- National, ten days, Rev. J. S. Inskip.
Aug. 31, 1869,-Conference, ten days, Rev. C. F. Burdiek. June 21, 1870 .- Conference, ten days, Rev. S. Meredith. Sept. 5, 1870 .- Conference, five days, Rev. E. Watson. July 4, 1871 .- National, ten days, Rev. J. S. Inskip. July 16, 1872 .- State, ten days, Rev. B. I. Ives. July 8, 1873 .- State, ten days, Rev. B. I. Ives. Sept. 3. 1873 .- Conference, ten days, Rev. S. Washburn.
July 8, 1874 .- Fraternal, fourteen days, Bishop Janes. July 1, 1875 .- Fraternal, fourteen days, Bishop Janes. June 23, 1876 .- Fraternal, ten days, Bishop Janes. Sept. 5, 1876 .- Conference, ten days, Rev. Homer Eaton. July 10, 1877 .- Union Evangelistie, ten days, Rev. S. II. Platt. July 20, 1877 .- S. S. Congress, eight days, Rev. Alfred Taylor. Sept. 1, 1877 .- Conference, eight days, Rev. L. Marshall,
X .- PLACES OF HISTORIC INTEREST.
The Mourning Kill has a name that suggests traditions of early slaughter and sorrow upon its banks, but the scenes of bloodshed from which it receives its name occurred within the present limits of Charlton. Round lake, called by the Indians Shanandhoi, was, no doubt, a place of en- campment by the aboriginal tribes. The beautiful groves near it and the placid waters were as attractive then as they are now, though the war-dance and the wild revelry of the savage were in strange contrast with the pleasure-gatherings and religious associations that now visit the locality.
In the town of Malta, then a part of Stillwater, the first court of common pleas for the new county of Saratoga was held, May 10, 1791. The house of Samuel Clark, on the present farm of Henry Van Ilyning, was the court-house. The presiding judge was John Thompson, and with him were the associate judges Jacobus Van Schoonhoven, Sidney Berry, James Gordon, and Beriah Palmer. These, with three justices, John Varnam, Eliphalet Kellogg, and Epenetus White, certainly made up a formidable bench. At this session, in the old pioneer farm-house, sixteen attor-
1 3
furryvi
ROUND LAKE €
11-
-
NDS, SARATOGA CO., N.Y.
389
IHISTORY OF SARATOGA COUNTY, NEW YORK.
neys were admitted to practice,-Cornelius Vandenburgh, Guert Van Schoonhoven, Peter Ed. Elmendorf, Myndert Everen, Jr., John V. Henry, John D. Dickinson, Gamaliel and Harmonis II. Wendall, John W. Yates, Nicholas Fonda, Abraham Hun, Peter D. Van Dyck, John Woodworth, Moss Kent, John Lovett, and Joseph C. Yates. Ilere, too, Major Ezra Buell commenced his long public career as crier ; the official " Ilear ye, hear ye," first echoing through that old house and the surrounding fickdis. The long and brilliant carcer of Saratoga courts and Saratoga judges and attorneys, traced back through a period of eighty- six years, finds its beginning May 10, 1791, at the house of Samuel Clark, in the town of Malta. Surely this is a place of historic interest.
At this same time and place the criminal jurisprudence of the county was also inaugurated by a court of " general sessions," held, as the law required, by one judge of common pleas and, at least, three justices of the peace. Here the law was certainly complied with, as James Gordon, the judge, had associated with him nine justices of the peace,- John Varnam, Epenetus White, Eliphalet Kellogg, Rich- ard Davis, Jr., Dowd J. Fonda, Elias Palmer, Nathan Douglas, John Ball, and John Bradstreet. A grand jury was also sworn, consisting of Richard Davis, Jr., Joshua Taylor, John Donald, Henry Davis, Hez. Ketchum, Seth C. Baldwin, Ezra Hallibort, John Wood, Samuel Wood, Eddy Baker, Elisha Andrews, Gideon Moore, Abraham Livings- ton, and John Bleecker.
Just how all these parties, with the throng of court at- tendants, were entertained, history does not inform us ; but as there were forty taverns in Half-Moon in 1788, perhaps we may infer they were equally plenty in the rest of the county, and in the vicinity of East Line. The one tavern near by, on the opposite side of the road, was kept by Sam- uel Smith, ancestor of the present owner, and that, no doubt, as far as possible supplied the wants of the throng of dig- nitaries gathered there.
The town of Malta was also honored in the year 1823 by the session of the New York Annual Conference of the Methodist Episcopal church. It met on the 28th of May, at East Line, in the old Methodist chapel, now remodeled into a school-house. The New York Conference then com- prised the New York district, having nine circuits ; New Haven district, sixteen circuits; Rhineback, nine circuits ; Saratoga district, nine circuits; Hudson River district, thirteen circuits; and Champlain district, cleven circuits. It included a large part of Connecticut, considerable por- tions of Massachusetts and Vermont, and extended from the Canada line on the north, to the bay of New York and the farthest point of Long Island on the south. From all this vast territory there came to East Line the hardy, self- denying itinerancy of the church, and then and there the annual business was transacted, and the plans laid that added to the growth and power of Methodist churches through all this section of country. The conference was cheerfully entertained in the neighborhood, and the delegates wel- comed to the hearts and the homes of the people. Many of the oldest citizens have pleasant memories of this eccle- siastical gathering, and relate many interesting incidents connected with it.
The following extract from JJudge Scott's address, July 4, 1876, applies to trails, antiquities, and incidents that may appropriately be included in the history of Malta :
" The territory comprised within the limits of the county of Saratoga, when first known to Europeans, formed a part of the extensive domain of the Mohawk Indians, one of the five nations composing the confederacy of the Iroquois. This territory had been reserved, and was kept by them, as their favorite hunting-ground. No one, not of their nation, whether savage or civilized, was permitted to encroach upon it. In the appropriate seasons, they would leave their vil- lages and castles up the Mohawk, and in their bark canoes glide down the river to the mouth of the Aal Plats (or Eel Place creek ), about three miles below Schenectady, row up that stream to a point near the head of Long (now called Ballston) lake, transport their canoes thither, pass down that lake at their leisure, and through its outlet to what is now the East Line Corners, and there encamp, for the purpose of hunting, trapping, and fishing.
'. Until some forty years ago there was upon the Marvin lot at that place a boulder, with an orilice on its surface in the shape of a mortar, scooped out either by artificial means or by the action of water at some remote period, which the Indians used for pounding or crushing their corn into meal. This interesting relic has unfortunately disap- peared, no one knows how or where, but it is supposed that it was broken up in the construction of the railroad in the immediate vicinity.
" From this encampment they crossed over to the Mourn- ing Kill, a short mile distant, and proceeded thence in their canoes down that stream to its confluence with the Kayad- rossera, and thence to Saratoga lake. There are still oc- casionally found upon the west shore, between the mouth of the Kayadrossera and the Narrows, traces of their en- campment. That lake was then noted, as it is yet noted, for the abundance of its fish, and contained what have un- fortunately long since disappeared, large quantities of trout. The Kayadrossera, as far up as Rock City falls, for a con- siderable time after the advent of the whites, abounded not only in trout, but shad and herring. From the lake, the Indians passed down Fish creek to the Hudson, and down that river to the mouth of Anthony's Kill, up that stream, through the Round lake, and up the Ballston outlet, to their encampment by the old stone mortar.
XI .- INDUSTRIAL PURSUITS.
Agriculture is the principal occupation of the people of Malta, and the soil and conditions favor a fair degree of success. The northeast part of the town along the Kayad- rossera is a swampy region, comprising several hundred acres of land. Some of the higher portions of it that can be drained are of excellent fertility, producing a large amount of grass per acre. In the other parts of the town the soil is principally a light sandy loam, with clay and muck in the lowlands. Some portions of the town, under persevering and judicious cultivation, have become productive, yielding abundant crops of excellent quality. Formerly, considerable fruit was raised, but like other towns in this section, the great failures of fruit have discouraged the planting of new orchards, and most of the trees are the venerable remains of
390
HISTORY OF SARATOGA COUNTY, NEW YORK.
orchards planted by the carliest settlers. Rye, oats, potatoes, and corn constitute the principal erops raised.
XII .- MILITARY.
In the War of 1812 the following were soldiers from the town of Malta. The names are furnished by Lieutenant- Colonel Shubael Taylor, of Clifton Park : Seneca Hall, Daniel D. Tompkins, Eli Dunning, Peter Dunn, Barney Vail, John Storey, Adjutant Gould Morehouse, John Van Arnam, Henry Pell.
The annexed list of those who went from this town into the army for the suppression of the Rebellion, in 1861-65, has been prepared from the printed muster-in rolls of the State, and from Colonel French's muster-out rolls of the Seventy-seventh.
Unfortunately, as in many other cases, no reeord was written up in the town elerk's office under the law of 1865. But our list, in convenient form and in alphabetical order, was left for several months with the town clerk of 1877 for eor- rections and additions. It was also advertised. The vet-
erans and citizens generally had full opportunity to make it perfeet.
WAR OF 1861-65.
Charles D. Atkinson, enl. Sept. 19, 1861, 77th Regt., Co. II ; corp.
Philip J. Austin, enl. Sept. 15, 1861, 77th Regt., Co. 11; corp.
Charles Atkins, enl. Sept. 20, 1861, 77th Regt., Co. II ; disch, for disability, May 16, 1862.
Channcey L. Beebe, enl. Jan. 4, 1804, 13th Art., Co. F.
Charles C. Clark, enl. Jan. 4, 1864, 13th Art., Co. F.
Charles S. Dunham, enl. Sept. 24, 1861, 77th Regt., Co. 11; disch. with regt. Dec. 13, 1864.
Albert Dunning, eul. July 31, 1862, 115th Regt., Co. C.
George D. Fish, enl. Dec. 26, 1563, 13th Art., Co. F.
Erastus Il. Harder, enl. Jan. 11, 1864, 13th Art., Co. F.
Wm. H. Kane, enl. Ang. 12, 1861, 115th Regt., Co. I ; corp.
Charles W. Miller, enl. Aug. 15, 1862, 115th Regt., Co. I ; corp.
Wm. McCarty, enl. Jau. II, 1864, 13th Art., Co. F.
Abner Mosher, enl. Dec. 31, 1863, 13th Art., Co. F.
Edward Olnisted, enl. Ang. 14, 1862, 115th Regt., Co. I.
Joseph Pairer, enl. Jan. 13, 1864, 25th Cav., Co. B.
Wm. Il. Rose, enl. Jan. 26, 1864, 25th Cav., Co. B.
George D. Storey, enl. Sept. 14, 1861, 77th Regt., Co. H ; 2d lieut .; pro. 1st lient., Jan. 30, 1862; resigned, May 31, 1862. .
Engene Shears, enl. Sept. 25, 1861, 77th Regt., Co. II; disch. for disability, Dec. 10, 1862.
John Stewart, enl. Sept. 25, 1861, 77th Regt., Co. II ; trans. to Vet. Bat., 77th. Sidney Smith, enl. Aug. 14, 1862, 115th Regt., Co. I.
Michael Van Horn, enl. Sept. 25, 1861, 77th Regt., Co. II; died of chronic diar- rhua, Sept. 21, 1862.
George W. Vail, enl. Jan. 4, 1864, 13th Art., Co. F.
CORINTH.
I .- GEOGRAPHICAL POSITION.
CORINTHI is one of the northern towns of the county. It is bounded on the north by Day and Hadley, east by Warren county and the town of Moreau, south by Wilton and Greenfield, west by Edinburgh.
Of the territory, twelve thousand four hundred and thirty-eight acres are improved, twenty-four thousand and twenty-one are unimproved ; and of the latter only eight thousand five hundred and ninety-eight are forest, showing a large amount of waste land. The population in 1875 was [659. The town is mostly within the twenty-second, twenty-third, and twenty-fourth allotments of the Kayad- rossera patent. A narrow strip across the western part is a portion of the patent granted to John Glenn and others.
In the revised statutes of the State this town is de- scribed and its boundary lines defined as follows :
" The town of Corinth shall contain all that part of said county beginning at the southeast corner of the town of Edinburgh and run- ning thence south along the east bounds of Providence to a point due west from the middle of a public highway south of and adjoining the late dwelling-house of George Shove, deceased, then east to the middle of the said highway, then east to the northwest corner of Wilton, then north thirty-two degrees east to a place called Flat Rock on or near the western bank of said river, then north to the houuds of the county, then westerly and northerly along the bounds of the county to a point six miles north of the south bounds of said town of Corinth, then west parallel to said sonth hounds to the cast bounds of Edinburgh, and then sonth along the same to the place of beginning."
II .- NATURAL FEATURES.
The surface of this town is rough and mountainous, abounding in wild and diversified scenery.
Its northern and western portion is occupied by the Kay- adrossera range of mountains, and the Palmertown moun- tains occupy its southeastern part. These mountains are high, rocky ranges, mostly covered with thick forests of hemlock and hard-wood timber. Mount McGregor, a peak of the Pahnertown range, is in the extreme southeast cor- ner, and lies partially in the towns of Wilton and Morean. It is becoming somewhat famous as a resort for summer visitors at the watering-places in the vicinity, the lovely landscape seen from its summit amply repaying the trouble incurred by a visit to the top of the mountain. A pleasant valley about four miles in width separates these two ranges of mountains. In the northwest part are several small lakes ; among the largest are Efnor, Hunt, and Jenny lakes, and Black pond. The secnery around these lakes is very picturesque, and the waters abound with bass, while the brooks leading into them are all fine trout streams, furnish- ing a fine scene for lovers of the piscatorial art to try their wiles upon the finny tribes.
The principal streams are Early's creek, running along the base of the Kayadrossera range; Daily's creek, the outlet of the lakes above named, running northward across the west end of the town ; Clothier's creek, running along the north- western base of Mount McGregor; and the Kayadrossera ercek, which rises in the southern part. The Hudson river flows along the eastern houndary in a generally south and easterly course. The great falls of the Hudson lie about the middle of the castern boundary. They form a scene of remarkably grand and picturesque beauty. The river from Jessup's Landing runs swiftly in a series of rapids between high banks until it reaches the falls. The southern bank is a sheer, rocky precipice about one hundred and twenty feet high, fringed with pine, cedar, and hemlock at the top. The northern bank, though less abrupt, is a steep ascent, thickly wooded. The river-bed is rocky and broken, and the waters of the river, for fifty rods above the falls, rush through a narrow channel, descending some thirty feet in the distance, and hurl themselves over with irresist- ible force, dashing themselves to foam and spray as they descend the ragged, broken, and shelving rocks that form the face of the fall. The brink of the fall is in the shape of an are, and in very low water can be crossed on foot dry- shod. To the left of and above the fall stands a high, dark, sternly-silent pile of rocks, looking down with solemn grandeur upon the turbulent waters dashing themselves fret- fully and impotently against its immovable base. Below the falls the bank takes a wide curve to the north, and in the broad basin thus formed the great river calms its agitation, smooths its ruffled surface, and resumes its onward course to the sea. For beauty, and picturesque and grand effects, the scenery of Palmer's Falls may well rank with any in the States. At one point, a few rods above the falls, the river passes through a narrow channel worn in the rocks, and a fourteen-foot plauk will spin from one side of it to the other. Here tradition says that several years previous to the Revolution a white trapper was pursued along the eastern bluff, and, dashing down the steep banks close to the falls, he made for this spot; and reaching it, in order to escape what was certain capture and certain death, nerved himself for the effort and vaulted over the foaming flood, alighting safely on the other side. None of his sav- age pursners dared to venture the leap, and he plunged into the forest and escaped.
A half-mile above the falls a deep ravine runs down to the river. Its sides are steep and thickly wooded with pines. It is called " Indian Hollow." Many years ago it was a summer camping-ground for a tribe of northern Indians, who came there to fish and hunt.
The town is generally considered as possessing a very healthy climate, the air and water being pure and refreshing.
391
392
IHISTORY OF SARATOGA COUNTY, NEW YORK.
III .- EARLY SETTLEMENT.
The first settlements were made near Mount McGregor and at Jessup's Landing. There is some doubt regarding the exact date. While it is usually asserted that 1790 was the earliest date of settlement, there were evidently a few settlers prior to and during the early part of the Revolu- tionary struggle. Ambrose Clothier came into the town in 1775 and settled near Mount MeGregor, in the southeastern part of the town. He had three sons and three daughters. The old gentleman and all his sous were noted " fiddlers" in their vicinity. It is said that when the old gentleman was over eighty years of age he heard, one evening, one of his sons playing a hornpipe. He crossed the road and, with nimble steps and unwonted vigor, danced a hornpipe and ran back home before the sou got out of the house to see who was making the racket. Mrs. Alma Hikok, Morgan L. Clothier, Ebenezer Clothier, Mrs. Lincoln, Mrs. Woodward, and Miss Clothier, grandchildren of his, are still living in Corinth.
Samuel Eggleston, another early settler, came here before the Revolution. He settled near the Clothiers. He had a large family, consisting of seven sons and two of three daughters. Two of the sons are still living in Corinth. Two grandsons have became men of note in the west, where most of his descendants are living. Benjamin Eggleston, of Cincinnati, who has served several terms in Congress, and General Eggleston, a brigadier-general in the Union army and a prominent politician in Illinois, are the grandsons of Samuel Eggleston.
Benjamin Ide came from Jonesville, in what is now the town of Clifton Park, about 1777, and settled in the Clothier neighborhood. He had six children, Thomas, Benjamin, Jr., Timothy, Ebenezer, Patience, and Hannah. None of these are now living. Four grandchildren and a number of great-grandchildren are living in the town. The four grandchildren are William Ide, a son of Thomas Ide, and Mrs. Uriah Mallery, Mrs. Jno. C. Herrick, and Mrs. Simon Heath, daughters of Timothy Ide.
Jonathan Hodges, a soldier of the Revolution, came from Rhode Island into Greenfield in 1783, and soon removed into what is now Corinth. He had six sons and one dangh- ter. One son, Claudius Hodges, is still living in Corinth. He is in his ninetieth year.
Wm. Grippen came to Corinth in 1778. Two of his sons are living,-one, Nelson W., in Corinth, the other, Alonzo J., in Ballston. One grandson, J. E. Grippen, lives at Jessup's Landing, and is now, and has been for several years, town clerk.
Lawrence Barber and Hathaway Randall were early set- tlers in the Clothier neighborhood.
Benjamin Cowles married Rosanna Boardman, a sister of Daniel Boardman, and in 1790-91 came from his former home in Sheffield, Massachusetts, and settled about one mile north of Jessup's Landing. From Jessup's Landing he was obliged to cut his own road through the woods. He had nine children, Nathaniel, Zina H., Chauncey, Orlando, B. Sedgwick, Henry E., Daniel H., Hannah, and Rosetta. Hle cleared some land and sowed and planted his erops the succeeding spring. During his life he lived on this home- stead he had carved out of the wilderness, and died May 1,
1854, aged eighty-three years. In his life he was very prominent in political affairs, and was often the recipient of official honors at the hands of his constituents. In 1801 he was elected supervisor of the town of Hadley, and held that position for eighteen consecutive years. Upon the division of the town he was elected supervisor of Corinth, and served two years. In all he was supervisor twenty-four years. In 1812 he was appointed associate judge of the court of common pleas. In 1815 he was made master in chancery, and also elected to the Assembly. He also held the office of justice of the peace for many years. Two of his children, Elisha H. Cowles and Mrs. Rosetta Parmenter, are still living in Corinth.
Daniel Boardman eame to Jessup's Landing with his sis- ter and her husband. He lived in a house on the site now occupied by Mr. Brewer. He built a grist-mill aud a store as early as 1793. He was an energetic business man and generally successful in his ventures. ILc accumulated prop- erty fast, an I became the most wealthy man of the vicinity. Hle furnished most of the means to build the Baptist church, of which society he was an ardent and exemplary member.
Stephen Ashley was an early settler at Jessup's Landing, and kept the first inn there, about 1800.
The settlement at South Corinth was commenced about 1790, though some of the settlers in the near vicinity came a few years earlier. Among these we name a few of the most prominent oues.
Adam Comstock was born in Warwick, Rhode Island, in the year 1740, and in 1763 married Margaret McGregor. They had a family of seventeen children, the youngest of whom was born in Ballston, afterwards, by successive alter- ations, changed to Milton, Greenfield, Hadley, and Corinth. Entering the American army at the commencement of the Revolution, he became a colonel, and served in Washington's army. Ile was with the army during the winter of' priva- tion, hardship, and suffering at Valley Forge. At the bat- tle of Red Bank, New Jersey, he distinguished himself by his valor, and at the defense of Mud fort (now Fort Mifflin ) Ire, alternately with General Smith, of Maryland, commanded the American forces. Before the close of the war he re- signed his commission, on account of the serious illness of his wife, and hastened to her bedside. Soon after his re- turn to his native State he was elected a member of its Legislature. In 1785 he removed to this State, locating at Schenectady, where he remained one year, and in the spring of 1786 removed to this town, settling on the farm now occupied by Frank Angell, near the south boundary. In 1788 he ereeted the first frame builling in the town. It was for many years used as a dwelling, but is now used as a corn-crib. He was appointed one of the first justices of the peace of Greenfield in 1794. Was associate judge of the court of common pleas in 1793. Elected a member of Assembly, from Milton, in 1792, he was successively re- elected to that office for twelve years. He was a State sen- ator from 1805 till 1808, and held a seat in the council of appointment. during that time. In 1804 he was a presi- dential elector from Hadley, and had the honor of casting his vote for the immortal Jefferson. The descendants of this legislator have for three generations woru the mantle of official life. Oliver C. Comstock, a son, was a member
393
HISTORY OF SARATOGA COUNTY, NEW YORK.
of Assembly from Seneca county in 1810 and in 1812, and a member of Congress from that distriet for three terms, beginning in 1813. Oliver C. Comstock, Jr., a grand- son, has served several years as a member of the Legis- lature of the State of Michigan ; and Noah D. Comstock, a great-grandson, has served four years in the Wisconsin Legislature. Thus four generations of law-makers have sprung from this one family. Adam Comstock was a man of good education, of good ability, and of irreproachable character. He died in Corinth, April 10, 1829, and was buried in the family burial-ground. One grandson, William Comstock, and six great-grandchildren are living in this and neighboring towns. One of these, Thomas J. Com- stock, now has in his possession the sword carried by his great-grandfather during his military career. His eldest surviving child, a daughter, died in 1869, aged ninety-one years. When he first came to this vicinity, he at one time got out of meat, and hearing that a man in Wilton (at that time Saratoga) had some pork, he took a bag and went after some. On his way back night overtook him, and soon the wolves, scenting the meat, began to congregate around hin. Ascending a large rock, he armed himself with a heavy club, and spent the long hours of the night in a battle with his eaniue foes. With the dawn of day his tormentors fled, and he reached home in safety with his supply of provisious. While engaged in clearing the land, he and his sons one day heard a noise of distant chopping. Marking the di- rection, they took the first opportunity to search for their new neighbors, and, after entting a path through a long stretch of unbroken forest, found a small clearing, where a man named Benjamin Carpenter had settled. Of this man, Carpenter, but little is known, save that he was an early settler.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.