Our county and its people. A descriptive work on Jefferson County, New York, Part 61

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 61

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577

THE TOWN OF ELLISBURGH.

the north and south branches of Sandy creek, of which he made a drawing and described in detail. It lay on both sides of a small ereck, just above the confluence with a smaller brook, and was of irregular shape, but built with a good deal of art. The ditch in many places was

8 Squares contains 2acres. cut in solid Rocks 4 Ft. deep. 4 Foot wide Entrenchment

LAKE

20 Rods.

3/2 miles

690 Rods.

3 miles

North Sandy Creek,

ONTARIO.

souly sandy creek .

four feet deep. Standing in the ditch, a man could just over see the land in the fort The work was, on an average, one hundred by fifty rods in size, and had a number of gateways. The walls were peculiar on both sides of the creek. Some parts of the walls were double, or rather there was an outer and inner wall. On the east side was a re- doubt, about eight rods from one of the gateways.

The ground appeared to be very much broken on the northeast corner and looked as if there had been works within works. Within the walls on each side of the creek were wells, or peculiar springs which answered for wells, but may not have been the result of art. On the west side of the creek was a well at the corner of the fort (about nine rods in cir- cumference) which descended to a point in the bottom, having in the corner of the basin a living spring out of which the water rises and passes again into the ground. The land in this spring hole was so soft that a pole could be run down about fifteen fect. 73

578

OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.

This fort was situated on Taylor Brook and was on the old Silas Emerson farm now owned by Austin Dickinson. It was advantage- ously located on a commanding bluff, and in the immediate vicinity of the famous cold spring. To the settlers (both D. E. Taylor and Ed- ward Dickinson well remember the site) the adjoining land was known as the "old fort lot." Some distance north of the fort was found a

burial ground, where numerous skeletons were found, and near the place was another spring, of less volume than cold spring, but associ- ated with which was a tradition among the children of the early settlers that "if you once got in the spring, you could never get out," doubtless arising from a knowledge of the quicksand in the bottom, as described by the missionary in 1802.

The burying ground is thought to have extended over on the Durfee or Eastman place, hence the impression that this locality had its distinct Indian history. Accompanying is the diagram of the work made at the time of Mr. Taylor's visit. While the plan presented is undoubtedly a correct representation of the work as it then appeared, the points of the

579

THE TOWN OF ELLISBURGH.

compass are not accurately stated, as the point indicated as north is more nearly in the east. This discrepancy, however, is not surprising when we consider the difficulties which must have attended the produc- tion of a drawing of the work by a stranger at that early day.

Other forts were visited, plotted and described by the traveler. He does not definitely state their location, and as all traces of some of them long ago disappeared the exact locality of these works cannot be given. Suffice it say that they were in the northeasterly part of the town and about four or five miles from the work described as located in the vil- lage of Ellisburgh. These forts were about one hundred and fifty yards apart, and one of them consisted of a breast-work and intrenchment about half a mile in length. Drawings of them were made by the reverend traveler which are here reproduced.

He also visited and described another fort about 21/2 miles northwest- erly of those last mentioned. This work is about 112 miles out of Belleville on the farms of James E. Green 2d and Calvin Littlefield. It was regularly built and enclosed about ten acres of ground. An excellent spring of water is found in close proximity, showing that the natives in selecting this site were not unmindful of the importance of an ample and convenient supply of water. No diagram of this work was however made.

Upon and within all of the works above described stood trees of an equal size with those surrounding, indicating not so much the age of the fortifications as that they were entrenched encampments built in the woods without cutting the trees away. Fragments of pottery, broken briek pipes and all other phenomena of Indian habitations were found scattered about all of these works. The art of glazing was un- known to these primitive potters and the earthen ware found was of the rudest kind, externally smooth except where marked by lines and dots in ever varying combinations of figures, and internally rough from the admixture of coarse sand and gravel. They however possessed a cer- tain degree of taste and skill, and frequently attempted on their pipes and jars imitations of the human face and fantastie images of serpents and wild animals.

Father Taylor also records the finding of hewed and square timbers, and a bateau (about one-half mile from the lake), in the marsh. It was covered to some depth with drifted earth, and was doubtless some relie of De la Barre's ill starred expedition to Le Famine, in 1684.

This territory was again visited in 1849 by Mr. E. G. Squier, in the

580

OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.

nterest of the Smithsonian institute. He found near the village of Pierrepont Manor the site of an ancient town indistinguishable from a fortified village, except by absence of an embankment and trench. Large quantities of relies have been found at this place.

This visitor examined and plotted several works in the town which he describes in the following narrative :

" There is a work in this town three miles northwest of Pierrepont Manor, it is protected in the usual manner and has the usual relics and traces of occupancy within its walls."

This work is believed to have been on the Eastman and Hungerford farms, as now known. A diagram of it was made at the time, which is here reproduced :

Acres

Continuing his narrative Mr. Squier says:

" There is another work in this town three-fourths of a mile eastward from that given above and about two and one-half miles northwest of Pierrepont Manor. This is a larger work but has been very nearly obliterated by the plow. The sec- tions indicated in the engraving are yet very distinct, nor can the parts supplied differ materially from the original lines. Perhaps no work in the state has more dis- tinct evidence of aboriginal occupancy. The entire area is covered with traces of ancient habitations and with relics of art pottery ornaments and implements. Ex- terior to the walls in all directions, but particularly on the level ground between the two works the same indications are abundant.

. Indeed the artificial aecumnlatons are so great as to materially augment the fer- tility of the soil. Caches1 have been observed here, in some of which a number of bushels of parched corn was found carbonized by long exposure. It was scattered over the surface, and after rains could be collected in considerable quantities. Here,

1 For full description of a cache see note to history town of Adams.

581

THE TOWN OF ELLISBURGH.

too, have been found skeletons buried according to the usual custom. The aboriginal population must have been very large at this spot, which both in aspect of soil and close proximity of springs and pure streams affords a most beautiful site for an Indian village."

This work is also believed to have been on the Eastman farm, form - erly owned by Peter Durfee. The accompanying diagram was made by Mr. Squier at the time.

Area about 8 Acres

About a mile south of this last group, upon the land of Mr. Mendall (now owned by L. B. Martin) was another work upon which the old Mendell house and garden were located. The outlines of this work were descernible for many years, and the usual relies of Indian occu- paney were exhumed by the plow. No plan of it has been preserved, and all traces have long since disappeared.

There were, according to early authorities, many other fortified places and remains of encampments in this town, but unfortunately no record

582

OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.

of their location has been preserved, and it is now impossible to furnish detailed descriptions of the same. Notwithstanding the many difficul- ties attending an attempt to locate and describe all these various works at the present time, recent investigators have succeeded in discovering remains of fortifications or villages which were unknown to the earliest settlers. Louis F. Hudson, within a very recent time, has discovered one of these on the south bank of Sandy creek, but has not made a sufficient examination to determine its true character. Dr. Chapman, another interested student of the aboriginal occupation, mentions an Indian village south of the Lake View house, on Wood's Point; another between Rural Hill and Belleville, on Col. Littlefield's farm; another northeast of that last mentioned, on the J. E. Green place; another between Belleville and Taylor settlement, in a tract of woodland on the Hungerford farm, the outline being still discernible; another (a fort) between that last mentioned and the Taylor settlement, which was un- doubtedly a large structure.

In the early days of the town there was a tradition that Capt. Kidd's treasures were buried in these aboriginal mounds along the north branch of Sandy creek, resulting in much digging by weak-minded people for their recovery.

The proprietors of these speculations with divining rod in hand would pretend to locate the treasures, and then silly dupes would dig for them, and just as the coveted prize was almost within their grasp would be frightened away by ghosts and demons, leaving their tools behind. The digging was always done at night and not a word was to be spoken, as the slightest cough was suppposed to bring on demons and goblins and to be fatal to success.

Among the other evidences of aboriginal occupation which are found in this town is a bonepit, which stood on the bank of South Sandy creek near a house formerly occupied by J. W. Ellis. Here, in excavating for a cellar in 1818, a large number of human bones were discovered buried in a common grave, after the fashion prevalent among the In- dians. A full description of the origin of these accumulations of bones has already been given in a note to the history of the town of Brown- ville, hence need not be repeated here.

Having thus traced the evidence which is furnished of previous ab- original occupation, let us now turn to the period of settlement and development of this town by the indomitable whites.

The history of pioneership and early life in Ellisburgh is not unlike

583

THE TOWN OF ELLISBURGII.

that of other towns in the Black river country. As the story is told on a preceding page, Lyman Ellis purchased much of the land comprising the town, and in the spring of 1797 he, with his brother, Marvel Ellis, came and made an improvement with a view to permanent settlement on the site near where now stands the pleasant little village of Ellis- burgh.1 If local tradition be true pioneer Ellis was an enterprising and worthy proprietor, and before the close of the first season had built a dam and saw mill about three-quarters of a mile below the village site. The brothers also prepared land for cultivation and sowed it with wheat, this being claimed to be the first event of the kind in the county. In- deed, it has been asserted that (with the possible exception of the Brit- ish settlement on Carlton Island) the brothers Ellis were the first per- manent settlers within the limits of the county, although Noadiah Hub- bard made an improvement in Champion during the same year. Caleb Ellis, who became acquainted with Lyman Ellis while the latter was passing through Rome, also came to the town in the latter part of 1797 and made a purchase of land on the south branch of Sandy creek, select- ing for his abode the site whereon stood the log cabin or hut of one Waldo, who was a hunter and squatter in the region.

Thus the settlement in the town was founded. In building the dam and mill Lyman Ellis employed a number of workmen, for he was a man possessed of some means and brought mechanics to perform neces- sary work ; but unfortunately the names of the employees have not been preserved, and few of them became permanent residents of the town. However, after the beginning was fairly made, other settlers were induced to come to the locality, and in the winter of 1794-98 William llicks, B. Pierce, Isaac Wodell' and a Mr. Butler were added to the little community on Sandy creek. Early in the following spring there came the first disaster in the partial destruction of the dam and saw mill by high water, but the damaged structures were at once repaired.

The next settlers, all of whom located on the Ellis purchase during the spring of 1798, were the family of Caleb Ellis, Robert Fulton, Elijah Richardson, William Root, Hezekiah Pierce, Chauncey Smith, Vial Salisbury, Isaac Wodell, Abraham Wilcox, and two others named Thornton, the latter being brought to the town to repair the injured

1 The Ellis cabin was built on the Marshall J. Bemis place, just below the village.

2 Well informed members of the Wodell family now living say their ancestor, Isaac Wodell, settled in this town in 1797.

584

OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.

dam and saw mill and also to build a grist mill. The settlement was now considerably increased, but during the year much sickness pre- vailed among the pioneers, hence but little work was accomplished. A beginning was made on the grist mill, but until it was completed the settlers had recourse to the primitive method of grinding grain in the hollow stump, using a pestle and spring-pole attachment, after the fashion of the device used for the same purpose in Watertown in later years, the "contrivance" standing at the west end of the public square. However, the year 1798 was not without its good results, and in Sep- tember proprietor Ellis wrote again to Constable that "we have a good dam across the creek, which has been expensive; a good saw mill well finished and running, and have done considerable towards a grist mill. We have on the same lot (76), a large and handsome improvement ; have had a fine crop of wheat, and have very fine corn, " etc.

The worthy proprietor further reported to Constable that the inhab- itants then in the town had good improvements and were an industrious people. He also rendered an account of lands sold, the price paid and amount of cash payment. At the same time Ellis asked the indulgence of his mortgage creditor, not being able to make the payment due, and also asked that the mortgagee give some assurance that he would re- lease the lands from the lien of the mortgage on receiving payment, for it was now discovered that the large incumberance caused some anxiety among the settlers and was keeping still others from coming to the town. This was the weight which eventually worked the downfall of Lyman Ellis. The mortgage was so large that prospective purchasers were distrustful, and while they were willing to make contracts with Ellis they did not feel safe in making large payments without some assurance of a release from the mortgage. The result was the subse- quent insolvency of Ellis, the foreclosure of the mortgage, and the vesting of title in other owners, as has been mentioned. Nevertheless, pioneer Ellis made some good sales, and in the report above referred to he inclosed an account of lands sold by him, from which we learn that the owners in the town in the fall of 1798 were as follows: Joseph Caldwell (60), Elijah Pettibone (100), John Paddock (50), Isaac South- erland (130), Asahel Humphrey (419), Elisha Phillips (100), Levi Root (140), Hezekiah Pierce (149).

Notwithstanding the objections against which the settlers in the town were compelled to contend, its early development appears to have begun almost as favorably as elsewhere, for the lands were far more

585

THE TOWN OF ELLISBURGII.

fertile and productive than the average in the county south of Black river. The winter of 1798 .99 was remarkably severe. Snow fell Oct. 29, 1798, and lasted until April of the next year, and the spring flood again swept away the dam and injured the mills. Ellis thereupon built a new dam at the village site and soon afterward removed both mills to the place, the grist mill in 1803.

During the years 1803-6, James Constable, agent for the proprietary, made an extended tour through the northern counties of the state, in which his brother William (then deceased) had an interest, for the pur- pose of determining the character and progress of settlement. He kept a journal of his travels and noted in detail the work accomplished by settlers. On September 6, 1803, Constable reached Ellisburgh and the mills built by Lyman Ellis, which were unfinished though substantial buildings. He found the settlers well pleased at his arrival, for he could give them some assurances regarding the titles, but what greatly moved the traveler was the sickness which prevailed in the community, and no doctor within twenty miles. He at once proposed to induce one to settle here by donating to him a 50 aere tract of land, and also sug- gested the desirability of a "parson" in the settlement. Constable found about 40 families then in the town, most of whom were poor, "but of that description of people fit to settle a new country; few com- forts about them, and they seem to have few wants; no liquor is to be had, and they have not begun to distill, nor are there any apples to make cider, so that their only drink is water, with which they seem content." After casting about the settled portions of the town for a few days, and visiting the lake shore, Constable left the settlement and proceeded up the creek five miles to Capt. Boomer's log house and im- provement, but which has recently been sold for $900. This was on September 8, and on the next day the agent went into Adams.

In August, 1804, Constable again visited the town, coming from the south, but found the road so bad that he at once determined to build a new one from Rome to Ellisburgh, a distance of 13 miles. After a couple of days he went down the creek to the lake, and found the marsh lands in the vicinity of "Le Famine " covered with hay stacks, "the contents of which had grown spontaneously, and many houses, and cattle at pasture, which proves that this place is of consequence." (Nearly a century of development and constant tillage have proved the accuracy of James Constable's observations, as Ellisburgh has ever enjoyed the enviable prominence of being the richest and most productive town in

586

OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.

all the Black river country.) When in this locality, Constable visited the house of Christopher Edmunds, on the north side of the creek, where he found a fine farm and the best corn produced in the town. Edmunds came into the region in 1798, with his brother Eliphalet, the latter settling in Adams. Both were Vermont Yankees, and were among the foremost men in the county in its early history. As a sum- mary of the result of his observations, Constable reported 60 families in the town in 1804, about twenty having come since his last visit. In the early part of August of the next year the agent came again and on the way to Ellis village found many new settlers making improvements, but also found that the last spring freshet had done considerable damage to property on Salmon river and Sandy creek. He at length arrived at Ellis' and found the mills in "tolerably " good order, but the water in the creek exceedingly low. The mill was doing a large business, "grists" being brought in boats from Oswego and places still more dis- tant. (At that time Sandy creek was navigable for flat-bottomed boats as far up as the Ellis dam). A school house was also in course of erection, and the town had "subscribed " toward a fund with which to build a bridge across the creek. (The agent contributed $20 for this purpose). Dr. Dresser, who had been induced to locate here, now had two patients, and there appeared to be less sickness now (1805) in the town than in any previons year.

In August, 1806, Constable again visited the region and found the roads in very good condition ; also in the Andrews (Andrus) settlement a considerable improvement, and that the erection of a saw mill there had enabled the inhabitants of the southeast part of the town (the Mannsville neighborhood) to build frame dwellings and barns. Ar- rived at Ellisburgh settlement, the agent found the mills had been rent- ed; that the doctor was still in the town and would soon require a deed for the 50 acres of land promised him. But what most surprised the agent was the sight of 150 militiamen in line on the day of general training (Sept. 2, 1806). He was told that not more than one-third of the entire force was present, from which Constable concluded that the country was settling very rapidly, and that the population had greatly increased since his last visit. Such indeed was the case, as after the lands were released from the lien of the Ellis mortgage, George Tib- bits and James Dole were appointed agents for the town. At the same time Benjamin Wright became general agent for the Win. Constable estate, and from his home in Pulaski was instrumental in sending many

587

THE TOWN OF ELLISBURGH.

worthy settlers to this region. He also introduced in the town (as he did elsewhere) the practice of granting certificates of purchase, by which permission was given to examine the land before concluding the bargain. This custom, however, led to abuses in the way of specula- tions by persons who selected only the very best lands with no inten- tion to settle on them. After a short time this system was abolished.

In some respects the early settlement of Ellisburgh was peculiar and seemed to begin at the established centers, of which the town has sev. eral, and then work out into the surrounding and more remote terri- tory toward the boundaries. Of the centers of settlement and milling operations, Ellisburgh was of course the oldest in the town, and owed its existence to the beginnings made in 1797-8. The earliest settlers in each of these localities will be recalled in our allusion to the villages themselves, but of those who came and shared the privations and hard. ships of pioneer life in the town at large a brief mention is appropriate. Isaac Wodell, whose surname has ever since been preserved in the town by representative citizens, worked for a time for Lyman Ellis and then removed to a farm tract of 340 acres a short distance west of Ellisburgh village. lle was a worthy developer, building up a fine farm and prop- erty for his thrifty descendants. In his family were five sons and four daughters. Gideon Howard located about half a mile south of the vil- lage and was one of the first settlers in the town (179; or '98). Paul Diekinson settled in the town about 1800. Among the other pioneers and settlers not before mentioned, may be named

Ebenezer Wood (from whom Woodville was named), Mosley Wood, Edward Boomer (the first town supervisor), Elder Joshna Freeman (1801), Jonathan Dealing (in the northeast part of the town), John Miner (near Ellis village), Philip Martin, Benj. Martin, Daniel Rounds, Matthew Boomer, Edward Barney (an old revolutionary patriot), Joseph MeKee (for whom McKee's landing was so called), Gny Harris, Will- iam Williams (grandfather of Judge Pardon C. Williams, and who settled between Mannsville and Ellisburgh previous to 1812), Pardon T. Whipple (a Rhode Islander. who settled near the landing on Sandy creek in 1803), Samuel Bemis (one of the pioneers of Wardwell settlement), Benjamin Bemis (a prominent man in the town for many years), Simeon Daggett, Stephen Lindsay, Jonathan Matteson (an old revolu- tionary soldier), Chester McLean, David Holley, Samuel Dean, John Kibling, Avery Downer. Truman Steele, Clement Tubbs, Henry Green, Paul Dickerson (a cooper), Wm. Ellsworth, Theron Holley, Thomas W. Kennedy, Enos Eastman, John Otis, John Tifft (an old hotel keeper). Ephraim Wood, Ozias Lee, Capt. Fairchild, Ben- jamin Grenell, Amaziah Fillmore and perhaps others, all of whom are believed to have settled in the town previous to the war of 1812-15, and nearly all of whom took part in that eventful struggle at Sandy creek, which was fought within the limits of this town.

588

OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.

Among others and perhaps later settlers, whose names may not be mentioned in the village history, yet are worthy of preservation in these annals, were John Wilds, Amos Hudson, Willard Alverson, Benjamin Waterman, Ethni Fillmore, Ira Good- enough, Henry Washburn, James Converse (about 1818), Benjamin Jackman, Joseph Haskins, Salmon, John and Aaron Blanchard, Rufus Richardson (who was said to have been one of Washington's "life guards" during the revolution), William W. Walker, Zephaniah Penny, George Reed, William Rury, Daniel and Samuel Ward- well, David Smith, Charles Hollister, Benjamin Durfee, Calvin Harrington, Deme- trus Davis, Aaron Eastman, Ira Caster, John Decker, Dr. Roswell Kinney, and also the Masons, Hosingtons, Nobles and Scofields, all of whom were in some manner identified with the town in its early history and development, but not one of whom now lives to tell again the story of early hardships and successes in the new and then somewhat unhealthy region bordering on the Sandy creeks.

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Our county and its people. A descriptive work on Jefferson County, New York, Part 61

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