USA > New York > Oswego County > Landmarks of Oswego County, New York > Part 37
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The waves which made this breach were closely observed at the time by Wm. Pierson Judson, U. S. civil engineer, and the record of the observations is considered to be a valuable addition to knowledge of the subject of wave forces, as their measurements were found to exceed those of any previously recorded fresh-water waves, showing that Oswego's location on the lake is such that an excessive wave force must be pro-
358
LANDMARKS OF OSWEGO COUNTY
vided for. A leveling instrument was so placed upon the slope of the lake bluff that the level of still water within the harbor could be seen for reference, and also that the approaching waves could be observed before they reached, or were affected by, the northwest angle of the breakwater. The instrument was then gradually moved up the slope of the bank until it was found to be on the same level with the tops of the maximum waves. The solid tops of the waves which actually made the breach, as well as of many hundreds of others which were observed, proved to have a height, exclusive of their foam crests, of nineteen feet above the still water level within the harbor. The wave valleys were twelve feet below this level, making total wave fronts of thirty-one feet which moved at a speed of thirty-four miles per hour before a northwest gale of seventy-eight miles per hour. A set of three dynamometers was also used to register the actual force of impact of the waves, but it was doubted whether the full force was recorded, though 940 pounds per square foot was indicated at eight feet above water level. The maximum force appeared to be about five to six feet above still water level. It was considered that the increased height of the parapet reflected the waves in such a way as to make the entrance more difficult, and in 1885 a spur-crib was built and sunk outside the breakwater and 250 feet westward from the eastern end. This spur was 100 feet long and forty feet wide, and was placed with a ten-foot opening between it and the breakwater, so that driftwood should not lodge in the corner and batter the works to pieces. It is still in place and in good condition, although wave action has undermined its west face which has sunk seven to eight feet lower than the east face.
Up to 1887 the draft of vessels passing the Welland Canal had been limited to twelve feet, and no greater depth was needed in any Lake Ontario harbor. But in 1887 the canal depth was made fourteen feet and a similar increase was needed in the inner harbor at Oswego. In 1887 it also became necessary to rebuild the superstructure of the shore arm of the outer breakwater. Although it was the oldest part of the work it was not rebuilt in 1884, because it had received such extensive repairs annually as to have been partly renewed thereby.
Experience had given repeated proofs that the previous methods of construction were unequal to the demands, both the original method and also that adopted in 1884 having been extensively damaged. A design entirely different from any before used was made by Assistant Engineer Wm. Pierson Judson and adopted by Capt. Carl F. Palfrey, of the Corps of Engineers, U. S. A., who was then in charge, and upon this model the shore arm was rebuilt in 1887. It consisted of a parapet nine and one-third feet high above extreme low water for one-third the width, with the inner two-thirds five and one-third feet high. Its timbers were held together by screw-bolts and vertical oak posts, instead of by drift-bolts and tie-heads.
Deck joists were omitted, and four-inch pine deck plank were laid longitudinally and tight together upon the top set of cross ties. It cost no more than the work which it replaced, and it has neither needed nor received any repairs whatever during the eight years which have passed since it was built.
In 1889 a second spur-crib was designed and built by the same assistant engineer, and was sunk midway of the length of the lake arm of the breakwater. Its size was greater than the first spur, being 150 feet long, forty feet wide and thirty feet high.
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MAPS of HARBOR OF OSWEGO, NEW YORK. From surveys by Um. Pierson Judson, Measurer . y. C. 1891.
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at miami beach
RWEORY
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OSWEGO ACHT CLUB SE & ANCHORAGE
7 miles
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359
OSWEGO AS A VILLAGE AND CITY.
It was built entirely within the harbor and calked water-tight like a vessel. It was then loaded with 1,200 tons of ballast stone and towed to its place, where it was sunk in twenty minutes by admitting water through gate valves. The valves were at once closed again, so that a gale which occurred as soon as it was sunk and before it could be filled with stone, did not displace the crib, the waves keeping the superstructure filled with water-ballast to its top, twelve feet above the water level, until weather permitted the stone filling to be finished and the deck to be laid. The crib continues in good condition and breaks up the heavy sea outside the breakwater ; but in doing so it has directed an excessive force against the breakwater just abreast of it; waves so directed striking so violently as to be thrown 150 feet into the air, and wrecking the crib which formed the breakwater at this point so that it was renewed in much stronger form in 1894. In 1890-91 the superstructure was renewed in parapet form upon the the remainder of the lake arm about 1,500 feet in length. A special design was made for this by Assistant Engineer William Pierson Judson, which marks a new result in breakwater construction at Oswego. A portion of the work was left incomplete and without stone filling through the winter of 1890-91 without any damage whatever re- sulting from the violent gales which occurred. Since this section was completed it has neither needed nor received any repairs, in marked contrast with the other parts of the same work built in 1884 and before that date. The freedom from annual need for re- pairs will result in a great saving in the future cost of maintenance of the harbor.
The demand for deeper water in the inner harbor, occasioned by the increase in the Welland canal, was met in 1890 and 1891 by excavation of submerged rock at private cost, giving sixteen feet depth at extreme low water up to the Kingsford elevator and the N. Y. O. & W. R R. coal trestle. Large upper lake steamers came to use it before the work was fully completed.
In 1891 Captain Dan C. Kingman, Corps of Engineers, U. S. A., who, since Novem- ber, 1890, had been in charge, took the first steps towards recognition by the govern- ment that the inner harbor, within the original river mouth, was worthy of improve- ment. A dredge was employed during 1891 in removing two to three feet of loose rock, gravel and stone which covered the ledge forming the bed of the river, upon which ledge there was a depth of thirteen to fifteen feet at Schuyler street, decreasing to seven to eight feet at Cayuga street. This preliminary work was followed in 1893 and 1894 by the removal of the bed rock to fifteen feet depth by the government as far up stream as eighty-three feet north of Seneca street; the owners of the elevator on the west side and of the coal trestle on the east side removing at their own cost the rock within fifty feet of the wharf lines. In this work the most approved methods were employed and high explosives were used. Perfect results were thus obtained at one-fourth the cost per cubic yard of the old methods.1
It has been recommended by Captain Kingman and is undoubtedly for the best in- terests of the harbor, that the government shall extend the deep water further up stream to Cayuga street as soon as money shall be available for the purpose.
In 1893 the official harbor lines were determined and defined by a Board of Engi-
1 Detailed report with illustrations at page 3161 of Report of the Chief of Engineers for 1893 : Also in " Engineering News " of Feb. 15, 1894.
360
LANDMARKS OF OSWEGO COUNTY.
neers upon a detailed map and survey, made for the purpose by Assistant Engineer , Wm. Pierson Judson, of the lake front and the harbor and river up to the dam. This map is to be published by the government, and will be the basis for all future construc- tion both public and private along the water front ; it being provided by Act of Con - gress that no construction of any kind shall be allowed to encroach upon the " harbor line." Under the influence of the improvements made in the harbor during the charge of Captain Dan C. Kingman, there has been a marked gain in the size and character of the vessels using it, and western grain has again been received in large quantities, while coal shipments have also increased.
For 1894 the following are the commercial statistics taken from the reports of Capt. Dan C. Kingman, which are given in a much better form than previously and in a man- ner which, if continued, will enable instructive comparisons to be made from year to year as to the changes which may occur in the size, character, ownership, etc., of the vessels engaged in the Oswego trade :
Barges.
Steamers.
Sailing vessels
On lake.
On river.
Trade engaged in.
No.
Registered tonnage.
No.
Registered tonnage.
No
Register ed tonnage.
No.
Registered tonnage.
Home, on lake
337
86,980
209
25,619
I14
25,908
Home, on river .
IO2
11,118
Foreign, on lake
413
93,727
620
125,366
391
103,215
Total .
852
191,825
829
150,985
505
129 123
590
82,600
American owned
573
138,016 53.809
569
49 763 IOI.222
224 281
46,434 82 689
590
82,600
Canadian owned
279
Sum total, 2,776 arrivals ; 554,533 registered tonnage.
Arrivals, 1892, 2,791 ; tonnage, 516,960. Arrivals, 1893, 2,697 : tonnage, 543,023.
Greatest draft of vessel.
feet __ 15.4
Greatest tonnage of vessel
.registered tonnage 1,319
Greatest load of vessel. net tons 1,798
The canal commerce is given under the head of " Home trade on river." Among the property received was 111,000,000 feet B. M. of lumber, and 1,800,000 bushels of grain, while the shipments included 620,590 net tons of coal. The duties collected were $
The following is a record of all the appropriations which have been made for the im- provement and maintenance of Oswego harbor :
March 20, 1826. $ 200.00
June 28, 1834. $30,000 00
March 2, 1827
33-348.64
July 2, 1836 20,000.00
May 19, 1828.
9.583 39
March 3, 1837
15,000 00
March 3, 1829
July 7, 1838 46,067.00 7,472 00 March 2, 1831.
2,812.92
June 11, 1844. 20,000,00
March 2, 1831 . 18,600.00
August 20, 1852.
40,000 00
March 2, 1831
519 00
August, 1860, allotment trans
March 2, 1831.
84.92
ferred from Lighthouse. 30,000,00
February 24, 1832
19,000,00
June 28, 1864, allotment 25,000.00
March 2, 1833
8,400.00
June 23, 1866. 45,000.00
590
82,600
258
361
OSWEGO AS A VILLAGE AND CITY.
March 2, 1867.
$60,000.00
March 3, 1879.
$90,000 00
July 25, 1868, allotment.
$ 20,000.00
June 14, 1880.
90,000.00
April 10, 1869, allotment.
22,275.00
March 3, 1881
50,000.00
April 10, 1869, allotment.
6,000.00
August 2, 1882
80,000.00
July 11, 1870
50,000.00
July 5, 1884. 80,000.00
March 3, 1871
100.000.00
August 6, 1886
71,250.00
June 10, 1872.
100,000.CO
August 10, 1888
100,000.00
March 3, 1873
100,000.00
September 19, 1890
30,000.00
June 23, 1874.
75,000.00
July 13, 1892
40.000.00
March 3, 1875 .
90,000.00
August 17, 1894.
37,000.00
August 14, 1876
90,000.00
June 18, 1878 .
90,000.00
Total $1,842,612.87
It will be noted that each of the appropriations made since 1882 have been at late date after the best portion of the working season had passed; as nearly two months longer is required before material can be contracted for and delivered, the reason is obvious why the necessary works of repair are repeatedly deferred to their great dis- advantage until the stormy season has begun.
The following list gives the names of the various officers of the U. S. Corps of Engi- neers and of officers of Artillery detailed on engineer duty (all who are named are graduates of the West Point Military Academy), who have had charge of the improve- ment of Oswego harbor, and who have (with the exceptions of those marked "non- resident ") made Oswego the headquarters for the improvement of other harbors on Lake Ontario. From 1878 to 1885 the officer stationed at Oswego also had charge of the harbors on Lake Erie, River St. Lawrence and Lake Champlain.
September, 1826, to May 11, 1827, Capt. John Lind Smith, Corps of Engrs., non-resi- resident. (General superintendent of construction of breakwater, planned upon origi- nal survey made September, 1826, by Augustns Ford, C. E. Construction locally di- rected by a resident superintendent under a commission of three residents until June 6, 1831).
1826, (examination), Capt. Theodore W. Maurice, Corps of Engrs., non-resident. June 6, 1831, to February 14, 1833, Lt. D. D. Tompkins, Ist Artillery, U. S. A.
February 14, 1833, to April 22, 1833, Capt. H. Smith, 6th Artillery, U. S. A.
April 22, 1833, to October 11, 1838, Lt. R. C. Smead, 4th Artillery, U. S. A. .
October 11, 1838, to September, 1852, John W. Judson, C. E., U. S. Agent. 1839, survey, Capt. Augustus Canfield, Corps of Engrs.
September, 1852, to March, 1853, Lt. Wm. B. Franklin, Corps of Engrs.
July 29, 1853, to December 11, 1856, Major Wm. Turnbull, Corps of Engrs., non- resident.
December 11, 1856, to April 20, 1864, Lt. Col. James D. Graham, Corps of Engrs., non-resident.
March 14, 1855, to November 16, 1866, Capt. Jared A. Smith, Corps of Engrs.
November 16, 1866, to March, 1867, Lt. David Porter Heap, Corps of Engrs.
March, 1867, to January, 1869, Major Charles E. Blunt, Corps of Engrs.
-, 1868, to July, 1870, Capt. Wm. A. Jones, Corps of Engrs.
January, 1869, to April 23, 1869, Major Miles D. McAlister, Corps of Engrs., non - resident.
April 23, 1869, to June, 1869, Major Franklin Harwood, Corps of Engrs., non-resident,
46
362
LANDMARKS OF OSWEGO COUNTY.
June, 1869, to November 23, 1870, Major Nicholas Bowen, Corps of Engrs. June 23, 1870 to January 25, 1871, Lt. Benjamin D. Greene, Corps of Engrs. January 25, 1871, to December 1, 1875, Major John M. Wilson, Corps of Engrs. December 1, 1875, to April 30, 1883, Major Walter McFarland, Corps of Engrs. April 30, 1883, to January 28, 1885, Lt. Col. Henry M. Robert, Corps of Engrs. January 28, 1885, to June 30, 1886, Capt. Edward Maguire, Corps of Engrs. June 30, 1886, to March 8, 1890, Capt. Carl F. Palfrey, Corps of Engrs.
March 8, 1890, to November 12, 1890, Major Milton B. Adams, Corps of Engrs. non- resident.
November 12, 1890, Capt. Dan C. Kingman, Corps of Engrs., incumbent.
Manufactures and Commerce .- The saw mill of Bradner Burt1 (son of Daniel), erected in 1802, was the first attempt to make useful the water- power of the Oswego River and was the pioneer-par excellence-of the manufacturing industries of the locality. It stood near the site more recently occupied by the old Exchange Mills, and now by Perot's malt storehouse, on the west side of the river. This mill was a small, rude affair, but it gave to the few inhabitants of that time what they greatly needed-sawed lumber for the buildings that were beginning to spring up around the harbor. As early as 1806 a tannery was operated by Judge Edmund Hawks on the west side, while Alvin and Edward Bronson, Thomas H. Wentworth, Matthew McNair, Henry Eagle, T. S. Morgan, and some others were engaged in forwarding.
In that year Forman & Brackett built the first grist mill and the second saw mill in the place. In 1810 Alvin Bronson,2 representing
1 The part taken by the Burt family in the very early settlement of Oswego has already been referred to. The actual residence of Daniel Burt in the village began in the summer of 1803, when he came with his sons Joel (the first postmaster and the first collector of the place), George W., and Daniel, jr. His son Bradner had preceded him. Another son, William, soon afterward settled in Scriba and died April 16, 1868. Joel Bnrt, whose name has frequently been mentioned in the foregoing pages, died January 8, 1837, aged sixty-three years. His son, Samuel William Burt, born in Oswego September 4, 1815, died May 30, 1892. He followed the busines : of carpenter. George W. Burt, son of the pioneer Daniel, married Amelia Benedict, and their oldest child is Bradley Benedict Burt, born in Oswego November 19, 1814, who is now at the age of eighty years, the Nestor of the Oswego county bar and not yet wholly divorced from his profession.
2 Hon. Alvin Bronson was a son of Josiah Bronson, and was born in Waterbury, Conn., May 19, 1783. Before attaining the age of seventeen he taught district school and afterward engaged as a clerk in New Haven. He was then associated with Joseph M. Clark and Isaac and Neland Townsend, merchant tailors, and Gillett & Townsend, West India shippers and extensive and pros- perous merchants, continuing four years. He then became connected with Mr. Clark in West India shipping, and afterward with Jacob Townsend and Sheldon Thompson "as shipmasters in the lake coasting trade. Proceeding to the Oswego River, he cut a frame for a schooner at the falls and first visited Oswego village, which then had a population of 300 souls. With a capital of $1,400 he built two vessels and established a store at Oswego and another at Lewiston. He held the position of military and naval storekeeper during the war of 1812, in which he was captured by the British and taken to Kingston. After the war closed he formed other business
363
OSWEGO AS A VILLAGE AND CITY.
the firm of Townsend, Bronson & Co. erected a warehouse on the corner of West First and Cayuga streets and began a large forwarding busi- ness.
In the spring of 1817 the first steamboat that ever floated on the lakes -The Ontario-appeared in the harbor, as hereinbefore described. The Oswego River had now become an important carrying route from Salina and the east, the principal commodity from that direction being salt, which was shipped westward in large quantities. In 1818 36,000 bushels came to Oswego, of which 26,000 were sent west by the lakes.
In 1820 the first grist mill intended for the manufacture of flour on a large scale was erected by Alvin Bronson and Theophilus S. Morgan 1 It had five runs of stone, and stood on the site of the flouring mill of the late Benjamin Doolittle.2 At first it manufactured a poor quality of flour, but it was nevertheless considered a wonderful institution for those days. Later on its product was greatly improved until it was
connections at Black Rock, which continued until 1822. He was an ardent supporter of the Oswego Canal through a period of twenty-five years, and was also prominently identified with procuring the treaty of reciprocity with Great Britain. During the remainder of his life he was extensively interested in commerce. From 1835 to 1858 he was a member of the firm of Bronson & Crocker, one of the most important commercial and forwarding firms on the lake, they having at one time a fleet of twelve vessels. Mr. Bronson was elected to the Senate under the Constitution of 1821, taking his seat January 23, 1822, and being elected again in 1829 for four years. He was the first president of the village in 1828, and the first president of the Board of Trade in 1848. He died April 2, 1881. At the time of his death it was said of him: " After his retirement from public life his time and energies were devoted to commercial pur- suits, and in the advocacy of projects of general interest, and more particularly to those measures promising advantage to the local interests of our city. Among his fellow-citizens he has always stood high-none higher. A man of unusual intellect on all questions of public concern and politically conversant with commercial principles and the laws and relations of trade. His personal integrity was never questioned. His life was a long one and what is better, an honorable and blameless one. Great events were produced on the world's theater during that lifetime; events never to be repeated. their like never before witnessed in one man's lifetime. Three essential requisites are taken into calculation in making up the substance of his most estimable character-superior intelligence, unswerving integrity, and uniform kindness of heart. These will surely secure their possessor a desirable and honest fame."
1 Col. T. S. Morgan was the first member of assembly from Oswego village, serving during this same year (1820).
2 Benjamin Doolittle was born in Madison county, N. Y., in December, 1825, and settled in Oswego in 1847, where he soon afterward engaged in the hardware trade. In 1863 he purchased the Empire mills and elevator, which he operated many years. In 1858 he was chosen a member of the Board of Education, continued thus nine years and in 1866 was president of the board ; he was a member of the Common Council in 1867-8, and in 1869 was elected to the Legislature. He was one of the Police Commissioners 1870-74, and in the latter year was elected mayor. In 1875 he was elected to the State Senate. Mr. Doolittle died February 6, 1895.
Charles Doolittle, born in Madison county in 1830, came to Oswego with his uncle, Sylvester, and was subsequently a partner with his brother Benjamin in the hardware trade; he held the Office of alderman, and died February 15, 1884.
364
LANDMARKS OF OSWEGO COUNTY.
considered the best in the country. The establishment was burned in 1835.
From 1820 until 1830 manufacturing and transportation advanced slowly but steadily. The great water-power was beginning to attract attention and projects were set on foot to permanently utilize its force. As yet not a bushel of grain had found its way from the west to the shores of Lake Ontario. A comparatively small quantity of lumber was transported, but a large business was done in carrying staves from the head of the lake down the St. Lawrence. One strange feature of this time was the frequent transportation of goods by the Inland Navigation Company's Canal to Oswego and thence down the St. Lawrence River, to save portage from the Hudson River to Lake Champlain.
In December, 1822, William Dolloway 1 and associates petitioned the Legislature to incorporate, with a capital of $10,000, for the purpose of diverting "a portion of the water of Oswego River at the head of Oswego rift by a dam or wing and conduct it in a canal down either bank of the river to the villages of East or West Oswego for mill pur- poses and other machinery." On April 23 of the next year the Oswego Canal Company was incorporated for the purpose of constructing a canal for manufacturing purposes on the east side of the river, and afterward the State built a wing-dam to throw the water into the chan- nel and used it temporarily as a part of the State canal. The con- struction of this channel was begun in 1824. It was one and one- fourth miles long, extending from the rift along the east bank to Seneca street, at an elevation of about sixteen feet, and offered a con- tinuous line of excellent mill sites, besides allowing the shipment of freight without portage. Its average breadth was forty feet. Edward Bronson was treasurer of the company and Orlo Steele was secretary. In 1825 the directors were Rudulph Bunner, T. S. Morgan, Joel Turrill, Orlo Steele, and P. D. Hugunin. For a time the channel also formed a part of the Oswego Canal, but the scheme was found impracticable and a separate canal was built for boats.
1 William Dolloway settled in Oswego in 1811, and was one of the earliest prominent mer- chants in the place. His first store was on the corner of West First and Cayuga streets. and in it was kept just before the war of 1812 the customs office. He was a man of great energy and enter- prise, and died March 23, 1860, aged seventy-six.
365
OSWEGO AS A VILLAGE AND CITY.
In 1823 the first steamboat line was instituted, its steamers consisting of the Ontario, the Martha Ogden, and the Sophia. According to Capt. W. S. Malcolm,' the vessels owned in Oswego in 1826 were as follows: Schooners, Hunter, Capt. Aaron Bush ; Traveler, Capt. John Larrabee ; Betsey, Capt. Tyler,-all owned by Matthew McNair ; Schooner Niagara, Capt. King, and the Oswego, Capt. Johnson, owned by Bronson & Co.
During the years from 1820 to about 1828 few manufacturing indus- tries, outside of flouring mills, were established in the place, the energies of the leading business men being largely devoted to purely commer- cial pursuits.
In 1826 the Oswego Canal was begun and was completed in 1828. The old method of river navigation was thereupon abandoned. Com- merce increased rapidly and projects for the improvement of the harbor were inaugurated. A little prior to this, or in 1826, Jehiel Clark2 came to Oswego. He purchased the water power on the west side of the river, which then carried only a saw mill, and which he finally sold to Abram Varick,3 the builder of the Varick Canal. This old mill was supplied by water through a raceway running northward about on the line of the present canal. Mr. Varick constructed the canal sub- stantially as it exists to day. The work was done under the manage- ment of Richard L. De Zeng ; occupied two years (about 1833) in construction : and cost $75,000. The wall between it and the river was ten feet thick at the bottom, about four feet thick at the top, sixteen feet high, and 3,000 feet long. The canal is sixty-two feet wide and eight feet deep, and has an average fall of fourteen feet.
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