Our county and its people. A descriptive work on Jefferson County, New York, Part 57

Author: Emerson, Edgar C., ed
Publication date: 1898
Publisher: [Boston] Boston History Co.
Number of Pages: 1368

USA > New York > Jefferson County > Our county and its people. A descriptive work on Jefferson County, New York > Part 57

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Eli Church (appointed justice in ISO4;, Timothy Pool, Daniel Coffeen, William HIadsall, Timothy Townsend. Ephraim Chamberlain, Benjamin Pike, Heuber Rock- wood, Amaziah Parker, Elihu Jones William Crowell, Moses Goodrich, Levi Barnes, Matthew Kemp, Peter Woerner, Joseph Crary, John A. Eggleston, Zebulon Rock- well, Abner White, Michael Fisher, Comfort Ward, Isaac Collins, Asa Harris, Cal- vin Collins, Thomas Brooks, Amos Colburn, Joshua Stearns, Darius North, Harrison Moseley, Constant Miller, Levi Barnes, Abner Hubbard, Fairchild Hubbard, John Durkee, Jonathan Miller, Ozias Holcomb, Steven Johnson, William Davis, Jacob Simmons, Allen Kilburn, Enos Rice, John Canfield, Benjamin Saunders, Arnold Lewis, Laomi Holcomb, Solomon Perkins, jr., David Starr, Joseph Martin, Daniel Barber, David Stone, Joseph Tifft, Joseph Hopkins, Asa Carter, Jonathan Loomis, George Thomas, Freedom Wright (innkeeper), Asher Williams (appointed justice in 1801), Stoel Warner, Joseph Paddock, James Brown, James McNett, Reuben Whit- ney, Jacob Crook, Nathan Brundage, Isaac Brizzil, Asher Wilmot, Daniel Jackson, Gardner Chapin, Rowland Hall, Daniel Rood, Roger Phelps, Sprague Perkins, Da- vid Coffeen, James Thompson, Miner Merrill, James F. Chamberlin, Daniel Buell. Lewis and Cornelins Wheeler, Samuel Loomis, William Rockwood, Thomas Francis, Joshua Martin, John Parks, Dorastus Wait, John Hastings, Nathan Rudd, Simeon Butler, Joseph Townsend, John Pardee, Andrew Warner. Wilkes Richardson, Har- vey Mustin, Roswell Hayes, Otis Earl, Joseph Goodwin, Andrew Dorain, Constant Crandall, Jared Miller, Thomas Hopkins, Henry Gardner, Elijah Fulton, John Preu- tice, Amos Graves, Moses C. Merrill, David Young, Jabez Reed, Simeon Stewart, Armissa Barber, George L. Coughlin. John JJadsall, William Derbyshire, Elam Brown, Thomas Studley, Ethan Newton, John Wood, Nicholas Lewis, Eliphalet Smith, Jeptha Wilcox, John Henderson, Eliphalet Alby, Eseck Lewis, Samuel Max- ham, Adam Boshall, Philip Crowner, Amos Dorwin.

These settlers were all located in the town previous to the outbreak of the second war with Great Britain, and it is believed that few indeed

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OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.

who were then here are omitted from the list, or from a previous men- tion in this chapter. They were chiefly Yankees, showing that the proprietors were energetic in disposing of their lands and inducing set- tlement. Indeed, in the very early years of the town's history Noadiah Hubbard's log house was turned into a tavern to accommodate the con- stant stream of settlers and prospectors from New England who came to find a place of location in the new region; and during the first ten years of history in Champion no less than four of the settlers had turned their dwellings into taverns, and the town granted them license to dispense liquors as well other comforts to .the weary stranger. In 1800 there were about twenty heads of families in the township, or about 15 actual inhabitants exclusive of the few Indians who still re- mained in the vicinity, hence it was not surprising that in view of the fact that a county seat was contemplated by the settlers that a new town organization was sought to be effected.

Organisation .- On March 14, 1800, the legislature passed an act creating the town of Champion from the older town of Mexico, and in- cluding within its boundaries all that part of Denmark lying north of Deer river. A part was set off to Harrisburgh in 1803. In accord- ance with the creating act the first town meeting was held at the house of Joel Mix, on April 1. 1800, at which time officers were elected as follows:

Supervisor, Noadiah Hubbard; town clerk, Eli Church; assessors, Timothy Pool, Daniel Coffeen, William Hadsall; constable and collector, Ephraim Chamberlain ; overseers of the poor, John Ward, Heuber Rockwood; commissioners of highways, Salmon Ward, Amaziah Parker, Elihu Jones; overseers of highways, William Crowell, Daniel Coffeen, Timothy Pool, Moses Goodrich ; fence viewer, Levi Barnes; poundkeeper, Bela Hubbard.

The officers' charged with the duty of laying out highways found the work which fell to their lot to be indeed burdensome and much time was required to be spent by them in constructing roads leading from the center to the remote localities of the town, yet within two or three years suitable highways were provided for the settlers. It was found, however, that persons coming to the town were more inconvenienced by lack of roads outside the town, and particularly by the fact that all were compelled to travel from the east through the Mohawk valley thence up Black river to Long Falls, whereas by a road built from the

1 In this town wolf bounties of $5 were paid in 1417 13. In 1-12 a panther bounty of $5, and a :ox bounty of 50 cents was offered. In 1-15 the panther bounty was $10, and the fox bounty $1.

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THE TOWN OF CHAMPION.

Long Falls direct to Albany, and parallel with the Mohawk route, set- tlers from all New England would be greatly convenienced; therefore a petition was presented to the legislature, dated July 3, 1801, praying for the construction of a state road from the lligh Falls to Johnstown, thence directly to Albany, lessening the old route by about 10 miles. The settlers in Champion who signed this " memorial " were Noadiah Hubbard, Benjamin Pike, jr., Eli Church, Harrison Moseley, Timothy Townsend, Joel Mix, Samuel Foster, Abner White, Matthew Kemp, Bela Hubbard, jr., Elisha Jones, William Davis and William Crowell. Notwithstanding this earnest appeal by the inhabitants of Champion in the interest of a new state road, the desired end was not attained until several years afterward, but in the meantime settlement in the towns east of Champion had increased rapidly and through the com. bined efforts of all settlers good roads were built all through the Cas- torland region and to the country further south.

The special interest in the shorter line of travel so zealously advo- eated in this town was in a great degree occasioned by the fact that the people here hoped that Champion was to be the county seat, and the in- terests of all land owners naturally prompted the petition. The lottery act of 1803 provided for a highway through the town, but as the avails of the scheme were only $10,000, where $41,500 had been expected, Champion was not directly benefited by the measure. However, in 1798, Jean Baptiste Bossnot established a ferry and tavern at the Long Falls and thus afforded ready access to this town from the east side of the river.

From all that is stated on preceding pages, the reader will discover that the early settlers of Champion were men of determination and energy and in fact possessed all the native traits of the typical New England Yankee. They were earnest and rapid colonizers and in all their acts were required to " build from the stump," but they also built firmly and permanently, and the institutions founded by them during the earliest history of the town have endured to the present day. True, during the last score and more of years all interests in towns like this have suffered from general depression and the other disturbing causes prevailing in purely agricultural districts in the east, yet statis- tics confirm the statement that in this town, whatever depreciation in values may have been experienced by property owners, there has not been the noticeable reduction in population suffered in other localities where conditions and surroundings are similar to those in Champion.

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OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.

In witness of this we may have recourse to the federal and state census reports and note the growth in population in the early history of the town, and then the stability of population and institutions when both were fully established.

In 1801 there were 76 legal voters, with property qualifications, in Champion, and in 1807 the number had increased to 182. From that to the present time the changes in number of inhabitants as shown by the census reports have been as follows: In 1810 the number was 1,481; 1814, 1,691; 1820, 2,080; 1825, 2,028; 1830, 2,342; 1835, 2,490; 1840, 2,206; 1845, 2, 146; 1850, 2,085; 1855, 1.046; 1860, 2,132; 1865, 2,062; 1870, 2,156; 1875, 2.237; 1880, 2,259; 1885, no count; 1890, 2,191, and according to the unofficial enumeration of 1892, the town's population was 2,199.

After the settlers in Champion had become reconciled to the fact that the town would not be the seat of justice of a new county, they turned themselves quietly to the work of clearing the land for agricultural purposes and developing its natural resources, and the disappointments of the period passed away with no more serious loss than a number of inhabitants who preferred to live in the shire town. But hardly had the events been forgotten than the people were agitated by rumors of a second war with Great Britain, and when Gov. Tompkins notified Noadiah Hubbard that the legislature had designated Champion as a depository for arms and ammunitions of war, public excitement was again aronsed and Champion village promised to become a central point of military operations. This was in 1808-9, but before the sup- plies were brought an order changed their destination and they were delivered at Watertown. However, the war period furnished much interest for Champion, and while no hostile foot was set on its soil, many of the enrolled militia were armed and sent to the front, and all the other able-bodied men of the town were prepared for immediate service.

The period passed with little loss or injury to its interests, and with peace restored there followed a long and uninterrupted era of progress, during which the town took equal rank with the foremost of the county's divisions; and when in 1837 the Patriot war with all its amnsing in- cidents was begun along the Canadian frontier, the event only furnished a subject for discussion at the accustomed resorts. However, in 1861 the loyalty and patriotism of the town were tried, and were found true. The old martial spirit of the revolution which so strongly dominated the New England settlers was revived in the great struggle and was transmitted from the pioneer sire to the son and grandson, in the war

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THE TOWN OF CHAMPION.

of the rebellion. The record of the town's soldiery need not be re- peated in this place, as the story is told at length in another chapter, where regiments and companies and their services are treated as an entire body. From the close of the war to the present time no unusual event has disturbed the progress of the town. Indeed, during this time little change has been noticeable other than the gradual passing of the oldl generation and the succession of the new.

Energy and thrift have made Champion a leading agricultural town in the county. Long before the war it was noted for the quality of domestic cheese made to a limited extent only, but with an increasing demand several factories were built, and cheese making soon became and has since continued a fixed industry and a source of profit to the farmer and the manufacturer. In 1862 the Babcock cheese factory, one of the first in the county, was built about two miles north of Cham- pion village. Two years later George C. Freeman built a similar fac- tory at the village, and in the same year (1861) Nathaniel Whitney started a similar industry at South Champion. In 1870 the MeNitt brothers built a good factory in the south part of the town, and in 1871 the famous ladsall & Moore factory was started three miles west of the centre. The "O. K." cheese factory was erected in 1889 by E. 11. Olmstead and F. A. Knapp.

In the department of this work devoted to personal chronology will be found a record of the old and many of the more recent families of the town, wherefore this branch of the present chapter may appro- priately be closed with a list of town officers for the year 1897, followed by the succession of supervisors from the year of organization.

Officers, 1897 .- Supervisor, Edward H1. Olmstead; town clerk, Leander E. Bos- suot ; justices of the peace, Edward Payne. Obed W. Pearce, Oliver Dodge, George W. Wood; assessors, Wesley Briggs, Emerson Peck, Fred HI. MeNitt; commission- ers of highways, Chauncey A. Loomis, Herbert H. Arthur, William Pennock ; over- seer of the poor, Orville L. Cutler.

Supervisors .- Noadiah Hubbard. 1800-14; Wilkes Richardson, 1815; Stoel War- ner, 1816-17; Noadiah Hubbard, 1818-20; Eseck Lewis, 1821; Noadiah Hubbard. 1822-26; Samuel Dean, 1827; Eseck Lewis, 1827; Henry D. Cadwell, 1828 -29. Otis Loomis, 1830-33: Richard Hulbort, 1834-38; David Smith, 1839-40; John Pool, jr., 1841-13; Eseck Lewis, 1814; James C. Lynde, 1815; David Smith, 1846; John Pool, jr., 1847; William Van Hoesen, 1848; David Smith, 1849, William Van loesen, 1850; Benajah A. Lewis, 1851 53; A. S. Babcock, 1854-55; Nelson Rulison. 1856-58; Joel A. Ilubbard. 1859; William J. Bentley, 1860; Daniel Potter, 1861-63; Wesley Barr, 1864-67: John F. Peck, 1868; Fred HI. MeNitt. 1869-70; Albert W. Hladsall, 1871; Miner C. Merrill, 1872-71; James Sterling, 1874 (vacancy); James Sterling, 1875 79;

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Marcus P. Mason, 1890; George D. Hewitt, 1881-82; 1). A. Goodrich, 1883; George D. Hewitt, 1884-87; Wesley Briggs, 1888-90; George D. Hewitt, 1891; Charles A. Beyer, 1892-95; Edward H. Olmstead, 1896-99.

Champion Village .- Just one hundred years ago Noadiah Hubbard first came to Champion and made an improvement near the center of the town, and the next year (1:98), he laid the foundation for a perma- nent village settlement. For almost half a century following the worthy pioneer was closely identified with the growth and development of both town and village, holding many offices of trust and responsibility. He was both merchant and innkeeper. There were others, too, whose names are mentioned on preceding pages who also contributed to the village settlement, and by their united efforts Champion early became a conspicuous point in county history. Salmon Ward, David Starr, Wolcott Hubbell, Moss Kent, Drs. Baudry, Durkee and Farley and several other prominent persons were well established here about 1800, when it was confidently hoped to make the little hamlet the seat of jus- tice of a new county. In that year preparations were made for erect- ing a school house, and the building was in fact completed as early as 1806. In 1805 a Congregational society was formed, and about the same time pioneer Hubbard opened his dwelling for the accommoda- tion of travelers. On March 26, 1802, Champion lodge, No. 146, F. &- A. M., was organized at the house of Zelotus Harvey. The first offi - cers were Mr. Harvey, master; John Pardee, S. W .; Reuben Tread. way, J. W .; Noadiah Hubbard, T .; Jinson Clark. S .; William Coffeen, S. D. ; Timothy Jackson. J. D .; Asa Harris and Aaron Palmer, stew- ards; Daniel Coffeen, tyler. The organization of this lodge had an im- portant relation to the early history of the village, and was one of its substantial institutions for many years; and through the influence of the leading members, and with lodge funds, an academy was built in 1834, under the supervision of brothers Noadiah Hubbard, John P. Johnson, Levi Ellis, Solomon Hopkins and Ilubby Dorwin. The lodge was rechartered in 1836, and numbered 29, showing it to be one of the oldest masonic bodies in the state. The meetings were held in the second story of the academy building. However, the old academy as an institution of learning has passed away, and the lodge, too, as a local organization is numbered among the things of the years long gone. The business interests of fifty and more years ago are also gone, and now the village lives almost wholly in history. True, three church societies have places of worship here, but the members are few and

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THE TOWN OF CHAMPION.

with difficulty keep up their organization and support a pastor. A small store is kept here, a temperance hotel offers shelter to the occa- sional traveler, and a district school stands in the neighborhood.

The Congregational church of Champion was organized May 2, 1805, and inchided nearly all the families then living in the vicinity. The first trustees were Jonathan Carter, Abel Crandall, Joel Mix, Joseph Paddock, Noadiah Hubbard and John Canfiekl. In 1807 Gen. Cham- pion and Col. Storrs gave to the trustees two acres of land for a meet- ing house, on which, in 1816, Mr. Ihubbard erected an edifice. Gen. Champion donated a bell to the society as a token of respect shown him in naming the town. The old house of worship stood many years on the hill, a bleak, dreary location in winter, hence the society removed the building to the village proper in the summer of 1841. This was the mother of churches in this part of the county, and the societies formed from it so sapped its strength that the few who remain can ill afford to pay a resident pastor. Rev. Nathaniel Dutton founded the church and was its pastor until his death, in 1852.

The Methodist Episcopal church of Champion was organized as a class and society, December 30, 1825, and then included nearly all the families of that faith in the central part of the town. The meeting house in the village was built in 1853, and a separate society for its occupancy was formed a short time previously. In 1893 the editice was materially repaired. This is now a large and strong church in the Adams district, numbering 185 full members and 30 probationers. The pastor is Rev. S. G. Carley.

St. John's church ( Episcopal) of Champion was organized in 1868 and occupied for several years the old academy building The present chapel was erected in 1888. The first rector was Rev. Jedediah Wins- low. The parish is small, the number of communicants few, and ser- vices are held irregularly. The parish is now supplied from Copen- hagen.

Great Bend is a pretty little hamlet in the extreme northern part of the town, on Black river, and was so named in allusion to the some- what unnatural course of the stream at that particular point. In this locality Egbert Ten Eyck and Olney Pearce were among the earliest settlers, and to them is also given the credit of having made the first improvements here, laying the foundation for the hamlet by construct- ing a dam across the river, the work being done in 1806 by Mr. Tubbs. also an early resident. A saw mill was built the same year which was 69

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OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.

carried away by high water, but was at once replaced. Henry G. Gard- ner built the second mill. A distillery was erected in 1809, and by still other improvements and milling enterprises built between 1815 and 1824 by Watson & Gates and Charles E. Clark, Great Bend became a place of considerable importance even in the early history of the town. However, the village suffered seriously by a destructive fire March 5, 1840, but the industries then burned were soon replaced with others more substantial and modern.

Among the other early prominent residents in this part of Champion were several members of the Martin family, who were associated in various ways with its best history. There were also James Colwell and Samuel Fulton, likewise early settlers. The first bridge across the river was built in 1804, carried away in 1807, and replaced with the old covered bridge which was burned in 1840. Among the several past and present industries of this hamlet perhaps the most important was the pulp and paper mill, now owned by Watertown capital but never- theless an important factor in local prosperity. The merchants are Chauncey Clark, feed store; H. H. Clark, general store, and Bignall & Reynolds, also general dealers.

The Baptist Ecclesiastical church at Great Bend was organized in 1842, in which year a church was erected, but a society of this denom- ination was in existence in the town as early as 1818; and the Ecclesi- astical society itself was formed in October. 1826. The meeting house was erected in 1842 by members in both this town and northern Rut- land. The church has no regular pastor at this time.

Trinity chapel, Episcopal, at Great Bend was built in 1875 chiefly through the liberality of Mrs. M. B. S. Clark, and is virtually an out mission from Watertown, having no resident rector.

West Carthage Village .- In 1798 Jean Baptiste Bossuot came to the Long Falls and very soon aferward built a ferry and maintained himself by carrying passengers across the river and keeping a tavern. Six years later, David Coffeen came to the place and built a mill on the west bank of the river, and for the purpose of best utilizing the water power he constructed a dam from his mill diagonally up and out into the stream. This was the beginning which led to founding a settle- ment on the west side of the river, but the splendid water power here was not fully developed until 1834, when Joseph C. Budd, William Bones and Benjamin Bentley erected a blast furnace and began the manufacture of iron and a few small implements from iron. The en-

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THE TOWN OF CHAMPION.

terprise proved unsuccessful and in 1836 the plant was abandoned In the meantime the proprietary soll to New York capitalists a 320-acre traet of land along the river, including all that is now West Carthage, and caused it to be laid out into lots for village purposes, for by this time Carthage, east of the river, had become a hamlet of some note and many business men there preferred to live on the high lands on the west side, while at the same time the water power here was equally valuable though perhaps not as extensive in its possibilities of develop- ment as on the east side. The land speculators, however, failed in their scheme. The property reverted to General Champion and by him was sold to Vineent Le Ray de Chaumont. About this time Henry 1. Cadwell opened a general store on the west side and later comers in- creasing the population and business interests of the hamlet the name of West Carthage was adopted. In 1856 the district trustees secured a lot and built a schoolhouse. Twelve years later the building was en larged and remodeled. While fully warranted in such action the trus- tees have never sought the supervision of the state regents, yet the local school has ever been generously supported by district tax. The present trustees are Wilbur A. Porter, Wesley Briggs and James 11 Burhans, to whom much eredit is due for the present high standing of the West Carthage school. The village has no separate post-office, as a majority of the business men are daily engaged in Carthage, hence prefer to receive mail at that place. The Park house, built in 1859 by Guy C. Early, with several other buildings, was burned November 15, 1895, since which time no hotel has been kept in the village.

Incorporation .- In April, 1889, a majority of the electors of the second election district of Champion voted in favor of a proposition to incorporate the village, and after all preliminaries had been settled, officers were elected as follows:

President, Marcus P. Mason ; trustees, L. W. Babcock, Philip Hull and S. G. Van Pelt. The other officers were W. B. Van Allen, clerk ; Philip Hull, assessor. Charles Jones, collector ; Charles A. Beyer treasurer ; Harry Depuyster, street commissioner, E. T. Austin, police constable.

The village presidents, in succession, have been as follows Marcus P. Mason. 1889, George D. Hewitt, 1890. Samuel E. Rice, 1991; Lysander W. Babcock, 1592. George D. Ilewitt, 1893 91. Scott M. Gibbs, 1895; W. B. Van Allen, 1896; R. S. Hillman, 1897.

The municipal history of West Carthage village from the time of in- corporation has been substantially as follows: June 21, 1889, and again March 15, 1892, the electors rejected a proposition to light the

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OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.

streets with electricity. On the first Tuesday in August, 1891, at a special election the voters refused to dissolve the corporation. At the annual village election March 15, 1892, a resolution asking that $1,500 be raised for a village hall was voted down, and at a similar meeting held in March, 1896, a proposition to purchase the Philip Hull lot for village purposes was likewise rejected. At the same meeting the sum of $2,:00 was asked for a village and fire department building, which was also refused by the voters. At a special election held July 2, 1892, to vote on a proposition to raise $17,546 for a water supply system, the electors voted 49 for and $? against the measure, but at a meeting of the trustees held August 14, 1895, the proposition was so modified as to read $14,200 for water works, $300 for a lot, $2,700 for a fire depart- ment building, and $1,000 for hose carts and apparatus; and at a special election held August 29 the measure was adopted. Later on it was discovered that an error had been made in giving notice of the election, therefore another election was necessary. It was held November ?, 1895, and again the proposition prevailed. In the meantime a contract for constructing the water works had been made, and in January, 1896, the system was completed and accepted by the board of commissioners. The water supply is obtained from Carthage, the main pipe being ex- tended across the river and through the village streets. For the water the local board pays the Carthage commissioners $500 annually.

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Our county and its people. A descriptive work on Jefferson County, New York, Part 57

Author: Emerson, Edgar C., ed Publication date: 1898 Publisher: [Boston] Boston History Co. Number of Pages: 1368

Author: Emerson, Edgar C., ed
Publication date: 1898
Publisher: [Boston] Boston History Co.
Number of Pages: 1368