USA > New York > Warren County > History of Warren County [N.Y.] with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 71
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Of the present business interests of Stony Creek, the most important is the tannery of John P. Bowman at Creek Center. Mr. Bowman erected this tan- nery in 1852, and has operated it without cessation ever since. The tannery will turn out 40,000 sides of sole-leather per annum. About twenty-five men are employed in and about the building, besides the men in the woods. Mr. Bowman has 6,000 or 7,000 acres of timbered land from which to take his bark. He has done business with the firm of Allen, Fields & Lawrence, or its predecessor, for thirty-three years. He has built a boarding-house which will
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TOWN OF STONY CREEK.
provide for twenty-five men, and houses for sixteen families, in which the tan- nery men and their families reside.
Mercantile Interests. - Charles Gill is proprietor of a general store at the Center which his father, Columbus Gill, started in 1858. In 1872 Charles Gill acquired an interest in the concern, and in 1882 bought his father out. G. N. Yarrington began dealing in merchandise at the Center in 1875; A. J. Aldrich, in 1884, and formerly from 1867 to 1872. W. R. Clayton started his drug store at the same place in 1882. In 1884 M. L. Messenger succeeded D. M. Dunlap, who had kept a general store here for about six years before.
The wooden ware manufactory of H. L. Hall, in which are made peck meas- ures, four-quart measures, barrel covers, etc., was started about four years ago. Before that Mr. Hall manufactured brush backs there, and originally he was a wagon maker. He has been a manufacturer here for about twenty-five years.
Hotel. - The Creek Center House was built in the winter of 1869-70, by William H. Lewis. After keeping it a short time, Lewis rented it to C. H. Nims for two years. George Kathan kept it a year and was succeeded by John J. Winslow, who remained two years. Albert N. Day kept the house a year, and was followed one year by Richard Rhodes. From the spring of 1877 to the spring of 1879, D. M. Dunlap was proprietor. His successor, M. L. Messenger, after keeping it a year associated with himself Dudley Gill, who, however, remained in the business but one year and withdrew. D. M. Dun- lap, the present proprietor, succeeded Messenger in the spring of 1884. He sets a very good table and has neatly kept and neatly furnished rooms for the thirty guests which he can accommodate.
There are no attorneys in town, and but one physician, who, however, is reputed a man of unusual ability and skill in his profession. Dr. G. H. Al- drich was admitted to the practice of medicine in 1877, when he was'graduated at the Dartmouth Medical College. He came to Creek Center in the winter beginning the year 1878.
At Harrisburgh Oscar Ordway keeps a hotel and store. He has been there about a year. They were built by Thomas Wakeley in 1877. Wakeley also started a large saw-mill and wooden-ware factory there in 1877, but it was destroyed by fire in March, 1885, and has not yet been rebuilt.
Churches .- There are five churches in town, three of the Methodist Epis- copal denomination, one Baptist and one Wesleyan Methodist. One Methodist Church, besides the Wesleyan, is in Creek Center. The Methodist Episcopal Church of Creek Center was organized about 1855. Among the first members were Freeman Holmes, Alexander Kennedy, James Kathan, John A. Cam- eron and Benoni Aldrich. The first regular pastor was Rev. Z. C. Pickett, who was succeeded in 1856 by H. M. Munsee; 1858, Rev. Edward Turner ; 1860, Rev. Joel Hall; 1862, Rev. E. A. Blanchard ; 1863, Rev. A. Champ- lin ; 1866, Rev. J. Baxley ; 1868, Rev. R. Washburn; 1870, Rev. F. K. Pot-
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HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY.
ter; 1872, Rev. William H. Tiffany ; 1873, Rev. J. W. Coons; 1875, Rev. D. C. Hall; 1877, L. W. Rhodes and F. Cameron, local preachers, and Rev. J. S. Gould, pastor; 1878, Rev. A. J. Haynor ; 1880, Rev. J. C. Walker; 1881, Rev. W. W. Whitney ; 1883, Rev. J. W. Coons; 1885, Rev. S. W. Snow. The edifice was erected about 1857. The present value of the church prop- erty is about $1,200. The Sunday-school was organized at the same time as the church. Wallace Hemstreet is the present superintendent. The church trustees are E. M. Black, Wallace Hemstreet and James W. Wait.
Post-Office .- The first postmaster at Creek Center was Thomas Apley, who was replaced in 1863 by Columbus Gill. In 1867 his son, Charles Gill, succeeded him, and still retains the position.
The supervisors from Stony Creek have been as follows: 1853, James Mc- Donald; 1854, '55, Thomas Ackley ; 1856, '57, James Fuller; 1858-60, Ly- man T. Fuller; 1861, '62, Columbus Gill; 1863, John A. Cameron ; 1864,'65, Columbus Gill; 1866, '67, David Potter; 1868, '69, A. J. Aldrich; 1870, '71, James McDonald ; 1872, '73, Charles Gill; 1874, '75, William D. Aldrich; 1876, Wallace Hemstreet ; 1877, Almon Swears; 1878, '79, Dudley Gill ; 1880, James McDonald ; 1881, '82, Henry A. Brooks; 1883, '84, Gilbert H. Aldrich ; 1885, Dudley Gill.
The present town officers are : Supervisor, Dudley Gill ; town clerk, James H. Gray ;1 justice of the peace, Joseph White; assessor, Charles Murray ; commissioner of highways, Alvin Winslow; collector, John Glassbrooks ; over- seers of the poor, Joseph E. Fuller, William E. Baker; inspectors of election, James E. Stearns, John J. Clayton, Charles Robinson ; constables, Frederick Corlew, Jonathan W. Nolton, Elroy Tripp, Titus Codner, Frank Cudney ; game constable, Martin U. B. Coon ; excise commissioners, Samuel Robison, Wm. H. Walsh.
The population of Athol in 1850 was 1,590: of Stony Creek in 1855, 913 ; in 1860, 960; in 1865, 935 ; 1870, 1, 127 ; 1875, 1,253 ; in 1880, 1,253.
CHAPTER XXXVI.
1 BIOGRAPHICAL.
CHARLES HENRY FAXON .- Thomas Faxon, ancestor of the Faxon family in the United States, born in England about 1601, came to Amer- ica before 1647 with his wife, Joane, and three children. His first purchase of land was made May 14th, 1656, in Braintree, Suffolk county, Mass., the tract
1 May 6th, 1885, M. L. Messenger was appointed Town Clerk vice James H. Gray resigned.
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CHARLES HENRY FAXON.
consisting of about 450 acres, which, to the present time, after many divisions and subdivisions, has continued in part in the family possession, and till recently in the family name. A portion of this tract is still known as the "Faxon Meadows." The esteem in which he was held by his fellow-citizens is suffi- ciently attested by the fact that he was often appointed to transact business of importance for the town of Braintree.
When it became necessary to secure from the Indians a deed, extinguishing their title to some of the land of the town, he was one of the commissioners for that purpose. He was a representative from Braintree in 1669, and one of the selectmen in 1670-72. George L. Faxon, in his History of the Faxon Family, closes his notice of him as follows :-
" If the record of Thomas Faxon does not place him above a respectable mediocrity in wealth and social standing, it gives him a life without reproach, an ability capable of success in worldly affairs, and a character adapted by its worth and quality to secure the esteem of men."
He died November 23d, 1680. The children of Thomas and Joane Faxon were Joanna, Thomas and Richard. The latter born in England about 1630, married, about 1644, Elizabeth- Thirteen children were the issue of this marriage, of whom Josiah was the fifth and the eldest son. He was born in Braintree, September 8th, 1660, married Mehitable (born March 20th, 1665), daughter of Edward and Lydia Adams, of Medfield, Mass. He inherited most of his father's estate, and was one of the selectmen in 1722. He died 1731; his wife March Ist, 1753. They had eight children of whom Thomas was the second, born in Braintree, February 8th, 1692, married May 22d, 1716, Ruth Webb. They had six children of whom Thomas was the fifth and eldest son. He was born in Braintree February 19th, 1724, married, August 24th, 1749, Joanna, daughter of Abijah and Joanna (Bolter) Allen. He was a man of small stature, being only five feet two inches in height, but he made up in activity what he lacked in stature. During the War of the Revolution he was private in Captain Joseph Stebbins's company of Colonel David Wells's regi- ment in an expedition in the Northern Department, from September 28th to October 18th, 1777 ; and again his name appears on a muster roll of six- months' men for pay, belonging to the town of Deerfield, Mass., agreeable to a resolution of court of October 5th, 1781. Time of marching July 29th, 1780. Time of discharge December 15th, 1780. Born in Braintree, he afterwards moved to Pembroke, Mass., then back to Braintree, in 1771 to Leicester, and soon after to Deering, where he died June, 1792. His wife died in Benning- ton, Vt., June 19th, 1814. Of their eleven children, Jacob Allen was the fourth, and their second son. He was born in Braintree September 25th, 1757. Mar- ried, February 4th, 1781, Lydia, daughter of Captain Henry and Ruth (Wells) Stiles, of "Whately, Mass. He was a mason by trade. "In personal appear- ance he was tall, fine looking, of dignified and commanding ; presence." He
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HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY.
was a Revolutionary soldier, and in his latter days received a pension from the United States government. Soon after his marriage he removed to the eastern part of the State of New York, living first at New Canaan, Columbia county, afterwards at Hoosick, Rensselaer county, and finally at Kingsbury, Washington county. He died May 5th, 1828 ; his wife two or three years prior. Henry Faxon was the second child and eldest son of their thirteen children. He was born January Ist, 1783, in Hoosick, married, March 20th, 1804, Annis (born 1779 in Bennington, Vt.), daughter of David Dodge. She died August 10th, 1857, in Chester, Warren county, N. Y. He died February 3d, 1829, in the same place. He was a mason by trade. After his marriage he removed to Hoosick and thence to Troy, N. Y., where he worked at his trade. He was licensed and ordained to preach by the First Baptist Church of Troy, and re- moved to Chester, Warren county, N. Y., in 1820. In April, 1821, he became the pastor of the Baptist Church at Schroon, where he remained until April, 1827, then returned to Chester and was pastor of the Baptist Church in that place until his death.
Charles Henry Faxon is the youngest in a family of five children of Henry and Annis Faxon. He was born in Troy, N. Y., December 26th, 1816. His education was received in the district schools of Schroon and Chester and a private school for boys in the latter place, taught by Professor Josiah Beebe. At the age of fifteen he became a clerk in the store of Ezra B. Smith, where, with the exception of intervals of attendance at school, he remained until he was of age. On reaching his majority, in 1837, he became a partner in the store, the firm name being Smith & Faxon. This copartnership continued for two years and four months. In 1840 he formed a copartnership with Alex- ander Robertson, firm Robertson & Faxon, for the purpose of carrying on a store of general merchandising, which business was conducted by this firm until 1854, at which time Robertson withdrew, and the business was continued by Mr. Faxon and his brother, Walter A. Faxon, firm name C. H. Faxon & Bro., until 1861, when W. A. Faxon withdrew and was succeeded by Horace S. Crittenden, under the firm name of C. H. Faxon & Co., and thus continued until the spring of 1865, when they sold out to Hall & Knapp. The business has been conducted in the same building by different parties to the present time (1885), the present proprietor being William H. Remington. In 1849 the firm of Robertson & Faxon united with James Crandall in - building the tannery at Chester, and tanning was carried on by them under the firm name of Robertson, Faxon & Co. from 1849 to 1856, when Crandall withdrew and Milton Sawyer became a partner, under the firm name of Sawyer, Faxon & Co., a partnership which continued until 1860, when Faxon purchased Robert- son's interest, and thereafter until 1865 the business was conducted under the firm name of Sawyer & Faxon. In order to supply their tannery with bark large tracts of timber lands were purchased from.time to time, amounting in the ag-
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CHARLES HENRY FAXON. - DANIEL PECK.
gregate to about 100,000 acres. The manufacture of lumber becomes almost a necessary adjunct to the tanning business. About 1850 the firm of Robertson & Faxon built a saw-mill on the Glens Falls Feeder, known as the " Feeder Mill," which was run by them until 1860, when a division was made between them, Faxon taking Robertson's interest in the Chester tannery, and Robertson Faxon's interest in the saw-mill. Ever since Mr. Faxon became interested in the tanning business he has at the same time been largely interested in the manufacture and sale of lumber. In 1865 Mr. Faxon purchased from his part- ners their interests in all partnership properties, real and personal, and until 1882 he carried on the entire business in his own name. Iu 1882, July Ist, his son, William H. Faxon, was admitted as a partner in the tanning business, firm C. H. Faxon & Son. The extent of the business may be gathered from the statement that an average of 400,000 pounds of sole leather per annum is produced at their works.
In politics Mr. Faxon has been a lifelong Democrat, and has been an act- ive supporter of the principles of his party. He was its candidate for Member of the Assembly in 1862 and 1863. He was supervisor of his town in the Board of Supervisors in 1869 and 1870. In 1850 he was the contractor for building the plank road from Warrensburgh to Chester and has been president of the company since the death of Charles Fowler, who had filled the office from the time of its first organization. In 1848 he built the water works of Chester village, has owned and superintended the works ever since.
Mr. Faxon married, November 18th, 1844, Caroline Adelia, born February 4th, 1821, in Schroon, N. Y., daughter of Ezra B. and Laura (Barnes) Smith. She died November 10th, 1858. He married, April 25th, 1860, Sophia Smith, born March 2d, 1829, in Bolton, N. Y., daughter of Howard and Laura (Put- nam) Waters. Children are William Henry, born August 18th, 1846. Cath- arine Elizabeth, born July 6th, 1849, ; died August 8th, 1859. Emma, born October 17th, 1863 ; died March 16th, 1865, and Alice, born February 25th, 1866.
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D ANIEL PECK .- The subject of this sketch is a representative man, and descendant of one of the oldest families of the town. He is the son of Hermon and Martha (Kenworthy) Peck, and was born in the village of Glens Falls on the 25th of February, 1831. William Peck, the pioneer of the family in this country, was born in London, Eng., in 1601. With his wife Elizabeth, his then only son Jeremiah, he emigrated to this country in the ship Hector, arriving at Boston, 26th June, 1637, in the company of Gov. Eaton, Rev. John Davenport and others, and was one of the founders of the New Haven colony, in the spring of 1638. He was a merchant by occupation, a man of high standing in the colony, and a deacon of the church in New Haven from 1659 to 1694 when he died. His son, the Rev. Jeremiah Peck, was the first teacher
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HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY.
of the Colony Collegiate School in New Haven, and afterwards settled minister at Saybrook, Conn., in the fall of 1661, in Elizabethotwn, N. J., in 1670, in Greenwich, Conn., in 1674, and in Waterbury, Conn in 1690, where he died in 1699 in his 77th year. His son Samuel settled in Greenwich, Conn., where all his children were born. His grandson Peter, son of Peter, one of nine sons, was the pioneer of the family in Queensbury. He was the oldest of six children, and was born in Greenwich, Conn., in January, 1746. The father dying in 1759, his mother with her little family removed to New Milford, Conn., where on the 7th of December, 1768, Peter married Sarah, daughter of Paul Terrill. He with his family removed to Queensbury in 1786, settled on the Ridge road about a mile from "the corners," where he remained until his de- cease, June 17th, 1813. According to the family tradition, the family were two weeks on the route ; the boys trudging along afoot, driving two yokes of oxen attached to strong, rude wagons, loaded with household stuff, while the father rode on horseback. They brought along with them a large, powerful watch dog, which one night, soon after their arrival, was destroyed and eaten by wolves, troops of which then found their covert in the big Cedar Swamp. At that time there were only three dwellings at Glens Falls, a foot path to the Ridge, and a rude wagon rode up Bay street as far as the log Quaker Church by the Half-way Brook. Peter Peck had three sons, all of whom were born in New Milford, Conn., viz: Reuben, Daniel, and Edmund. Reuben, the eldest, was born 8th February, 1772, and married Ist, Tryphena Bishop, and 2d, Jane Haight. Hermon, his eldest child, was born 19th of April, 1800, and'married Ist, Nancy Quin in 1825 ; 2d, Martha Kenworthy in 1830. Seven children were the fruit of this union of whom Daniel is the eldest. Hermon died at Glens Falls, 27th July, 1865.
A few seasons at the district school, four terms at the Glens Falls Academy, and at the early age of thirteen, we find the subject of this sketch, with true Yankee grit and perseverance, at work on a farm, for small wages to be sure, in Sandgate, Vt. At the age of sixteen he went to Union Village, where for six months he was employed in the manufacture of tin-ware. He returned home, and was sent by his father to run and manage a saw-mill of four gates on the Sacandaga River, at what is now known as Conklinville, Saratoga Co., N. Y. Here he remained for four years, during which time he had accumulated nearly a thousand dollars by overwork of the roughest kind. He th n returned to the paternal roof, and for a year or more was employed as a clerk in his fath - er's hardware store. At the end of that period, being little more than twenty- one years of age, he bought out his father's store, enlarged the business, im- porting a portion of his stock from England directly, and with characteristic enterprise, built up a large and flourishing business. To this, as is seen above, was added the cares and responsibilities of a large post-office in 1856, which continued for four years. In 1860 Mr. Peck disposed of his business to De
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DANIEL PECK. - JOHN P. BOWMAN.
Long & Son, and in the latter part of the same year embarked with his cousin, Charles Peck, in a lumber, grain and feed trade for which a new store was erected by them. They were burnt out in the great conflagration of May, 1864, when Daniel alone suffered a loss of upwards of twenty thousand dollars.
In less than a week, and while the charred ruins were yet smoking, he had bought out his partner, and established a street bazar for the sale of grain and lumber. During the season he rebuilt the store, and continued in the trade for a ycar, when he formed a co-partnership with Mr. Frank Byrne, to carry on the wholesale and jobbing grocery business on the north corner of Glen and Ridge streets. Bringing to this enterprise the same tact, energy and judgment which has characterized his efforts through life, the undertaking was attended with unprecedented success. A new store, one of the finest in the place, was erected and completed the following season. Here for eight years was conducted the largest grocery establishment north of the cities, the sales of which soon reached half a million dollars annually. In 1874 this establishment was transferred to H. F. Peck (brother of Daniel) and C. J. De Long, and Mr. Peck associated himself with Messrs. Byrne, Keenan & Wing in developing a lime business at Smith's Basin, on the Northern Canal. Two years later he sold his interest in this business to his partners and returned to the grocery house he had founded, forming, in the year 1882, with his brother, H. F. Peck, the firm of D. Peck & Brother. In 1885 Walter M. Peck, son of Daniel, was taken into the part- nership and the firm style is now D. Peck & Co.
Mr. Peck has served a term as county treasurer ; has been several times elected treasurer of the corporation of Glens Falls. He has also been chosen trustee of the village three or four times, and has served one year as president of the village. In these several positions he has fully met the anticipations of his fellow citizens. He is a man of great public spirit, liberality and energy, takes an active interest in all desirable public improvements and hence enjoys the general respect of the community.
OHN P. BOWMAN was born in the year 1816 in the town of Clar- endon, Rutland county, Vermont. His grandfather was one of three broth- ers who came to this country from England and settled near Lexington, Mass. Soon after the War of the Revolution he moved to Vermont, where the father of the subject of this sketch was born. Mr. Bowman's father was John Bow- man, and his mother's maiden name was Lorinda Hart. He received limited educational advantages, but was well schooled in the practical ways of indus- try and thrift. In the spring after reaching the age of fifteen years he went to Rutland, where for four or five years he worked at the tanning and currying trade. At the end of that time he went to Hunter, Grecne county, N. Y., for the purpose of better learning the sole leather manufacturing business. He worked there for one season at eight dollars per month. He next found em- J
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HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY.
ployment with Col. B. P. Burhans at his tannery in the town of Saugerties, Ulster county, N. Y. Mr. Bowman's habits of economy find illustration in the circumstance that while his wages for the first year at Saugerties were only twelve dollars a month, at the year's end one hundred and forty dollars were due him, he having drawn but four dollars during the whole year. The ac- quaintance formed here between his employer and himself ripened into a firm friendship which continued through after years and until the death of Col. Bur- hans.
After remaining about four years at Saugerties Mr. Bowman went to War- rensburgh, Warren county, N. Y. Col. Burhans had formed a co-partnership with Gen. T. S. Gray and they bought a sole leather tannery in that town. Mr. Bowman continued in their employment at Warrensburgh for some three years, when he moved to Cuttingsville, Rutland county, Vt. Here he carried on the business of upper and sole leather tanning and currying and dealing in rough calf-skins, occupying for the purpose the tannery now operated by Hun- toon & Son. For a time he engaged in the manufacture and sale of boots and shoes in addition to his other business.
In 1851 he was elected a member of the State Legislature and served as such with credit to himself and to the satisfaction of his constituents.
In January, 1852, Mr. Bowman having disposed of his business in Ver- mont, came to Stony Creek, Warren county, N. Y., where he has since resided and carried on business. At that time where the village of Creek Center now stands there was a small tannery, then uncompleted, a saw-mill and three houses. The surrounding country was an almost unbroken forest. Mr. Bow- man saw the advantage of the location for the prosecution of sole leather man- ufacturing and set himself with determination to conquer the difficulties of the situation and make the most of its advantages.
He at once completed the tannery and put it in operation. Hemlock bark was plenty and for years was delivered at the tannery for two dollars and two dollars and fifty cents a cord. The nearest accessible railroad point was Sara- toga Springs, thirty miles distant. All the hides and leather were carried over this road by teams. Mr. Bowman pushed on his business with the greatest energy, working early and late, and giving his personal attention to the whole work in all its details. The sole leather from Stony Creek Tannery soon came to have a reputation and none better was to be had in market. The require- ments of the growing business made necessary an increase of facilities. The tannery was enlarged and improved by the erection of additional buildings in 1856, 1864, and again in 1867. It now has a capacity of forty thousand sides of leather per year.
In 1857 Mr. Bowman built a pleasant residence, which he still occupies. For years he has carried a large stock of bark usually from five to seven thou- sand cords. When in full operation the number of men employed in the tan-
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JOHN P. BOWMAN.
nery is about twenty-five. Mr. Bowman has bought extensive tracts of land, covered largely with hemlock trees and now owns some eight or ten thousand acres. He has cut and disposed of large quantities of hemlock and spruce logs.
In addition to his residence, barns and carriage-house, he has a boarding house with accommodations for twenty persons and houses for sixteen families. He has also a convenient office building and a storehouse at the railroad sta- tion. The Adirondack Railroad now affords transportation facilities, its station being three miles from the tannery. Much has been done in grading the grounds around the buildings and making such improvements as add both to appearance and convenience. A noticeable feature of the premises with their surroundings is neatness and order. Probably no tannery in the State excels this in clean and uniformly neat appearance.
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