Our county and its people. A descriptive work on Jefferson County, New York, Part 7

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 7

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The commissioners appointed to establish the boundary line under the treaty of Ghent comprised General Peter B. Porter and Samuel Hawkins, the latter acting in the capacity of agent for the United States, while John Ogilvie represented his majesty. The work was begun in 1818 and was completed the next year. After this the islands were dis- posed of as follows:

A patent was issued February 15, 1823, to Elisha Camp, carrying title to all the islands " between a line drawn at right angles to the river from Morristown village, and a meridian line drawn through the west- ern point of Grindstone island," containing an aggregate of 15,402.9 acres. The area of Grindstone island was 5, 291 acres; Wells's island, 8,068 acres; Indian Hut island, 369 acres. The patent also included several smaller islands without names. At the same date Elisha Camp was granted patents for Stony island, 1,536 acres; Calf island, 31.8 acres; Little Galloup island, 48. 8 acres; Willow island, half an acre, and also 2,216.2 acres of the larger Galloup island.

"OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.

The United States acquired title to about 35 aeres (30.25 and 5 acres, says lough), on Galloup island by patent, or deed of cession, dated December 11, 1819, to be used for lighthouse purposes. At Tibbet's Point, on the main land, the government was also ceded three acres, January 25, 1821; Horse island, April 26, 1821, and a part of Carlton island, June 21, 1853.

On November 3, 1823, Gull island (6.5 acres) and Snake island (1.4 acres) were patented to Melaneton 1 .. Woolsey. In the same manner, October 1, 1824, Hezekiah B. Pierrepont and others received a patent for Cherry island in Chaumont bay, 108.4 acres: Grenadier island, 1,200 acres, and Fox island, 257.5 acres. These owners were Pierre- pont, Joshua Waddington and Thomas L. Ogden, who, on November 10, 1824, executed a partition deed by which the former acquired title to Grenadier and Cherry islands. On February 19, 1824, Pierrepont sold them to William and Gerardus Post, of New York. The western part of Carlton island, 500 acres in extent, was patented to Charles Smyth, October 2, 1828.

CHIAPTER VIII.

Division of the State into Counties -- Tryon Connty Created -- Counties Formed from Tryon-Jefferson and Lewis Counties Erected from Oneida -- Thomas Jefferson -- Brief Topographical and Geological Description of Jefferson County -- The Glacial Period-Towns Formed -- The Convention at Harrisburgh Discusses the Two County Project-Locating the County Buildings -- History of the Court House, the Jail and the County Clerk's Office-The County Poor Farm-Several Changes in the Superintendency.

Under the Dutch rule the only eivil divisions were the cities and towns. The Netherlands comprised a region that extended from New Amsterdam to Albany, thence over to the Battenkill, and also up the Mohawk toward Schenectady. Counties were first erected under the act of 1683, and were twelve in number: Albany, Cornwall, Dukes, Dutch- ess, Kings, New York, Orange, Queens, Richmond, Suffolk, Ulster and Westchester. From Albany county Cumberland was formed in 1666, Gloucester in 1:10, and Charlotte and Tryon in 1722. The first two and part of the third were within the limits of the present state of

CREATION OF COUNTIES.

Vermont, while Tryon county comprised the country west of a north and south line extending from St. Regis "to the west bounds of the township of Schenectady; thence running irregularly southwest to the head of the Mohawk branch of the Delaware, and along the same to the southeast bounds of the present county of Broome; thence in a northwesterly direction to Fort Bull, on Wood creek, near the present city of Rome."

Previous to the creation of Tryon county (March 21, 1222) all the territory within its boundaries was Indian country, so regarded, while the Dutch had no knowledge of it through any other source than Indian narrative. Thus, the first civil division of the State which included what is now Jefferson county, was old Tryon, veritable mother of coun- ties in central and western New York. However, after the close of the revolution the name Tryon was so distasteful to the people of the state that in 1981 an aet was passed changing it to Montgomery; so called in honor of Richard Montgomery, the brave American general who fell before the walls of Quebec.

The first territorial reduction in Montgomery county was made in 1489 when Ontario was created, including within its boundaries all that part of the state west of Seneca lake, in the aggregate more than two million acres. In 1791 it was again reduced in area by the creation of Hamilton, Herkimer, Otsego and Tioga counties, leaving to the parent county only the territory which it now includes with that of Fulton, the latter having been set off in 1838.

Oneida county was formed from Herkimer March 15, 1498, and in- cluded all that is now Jefferson and Lewis, with parts of Clinton, Madi- son and Oswego. On March 5. 1788, the legislature created a new town, called " Whitestown," one of the divisions of Montgomery county, which included an indefinite extent of territory in this part of the state, and therefore all this region was within its boundaries; but no jurisdiction was exercised over what is now Jefferson county as no white occupant was then known to live within its borders. However, after the creation of Oneida county, and after settlement in this region was begun, Whitestown was divided (April 10, 1792) and Steuben and Mexico were formed, including all that is now this county. The town of Leyden was formed from Steuben and included all the territory within its present limits and as well all east and north of the Black river in this and Lewis county. From this it will be seen that at that time all the territory south of the river was part of Mexico, and all north a part of Leyden.

OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.

Jefferson and Lewis counties were created by an act of the legisla- ture passed March 28, 1805, the effective portion of which relating to this county was as follows:

"Be it enacted, &c, That all that part of the county of Oneida contained within the following bounds, to wit: Beginning at the southwest corner of the town of Ellisburgh, on the easterly shore of Lake Ontario, and running along the southerly line of said town; thence along the easterly line thereof to the southwest corner of the town of Malta; thence along the southerly line of the said town of Malta, and continuing the same course to the corner of townships number two, three, seven and eight ; thence along the east line of the said town of Malta aforesaid to the northeast corner thereof; thence in a direct line to the corner of the towns of Rutland and Champion ; thence along the line between the said town of Champion and the town of Harrisburgh, to Black river; thence in a direct line to the bounds of the county of St. Lawrence, to intersect the same at the corner of townships numbers seven and eleven. in great tract number three, of Macomb's purchase; thence along the west- erly bounds of the said St. Lawrence county to the north bounds of this state. thence westerly and sontherly along said bounds, including all the islands in the river St. Lawrence, in Lake Ontario, and in front thereof, and within this state, to the place of beginning, shall be and hereby is erected into a separate county, and shall be called and known by the name of Jefferson."

Thomas Jefferson, third president of the United States, in whose honor this county was named, was one of the most conspicuous apostles of original democracy in America. He was born at Shadwell, Albe- marle county, Va., April 2, 1:43, and was the son of Peter Jefferson, one of the earlest settlers in that part of the country. In 1167, after a thorough elementary and legal education, young Jefferson was admitted to the bar and soon became a distinguished lawyer. He was elected to the house of Burgesses in 1768, and served with that body until the office closed at the beginning of the revolution. On June 11, 1216, he was appointed with Adams, Franklin, Sherman and Livingston, com- missioner to prepare the declaration of independence; and he prepared the draft at the request of his associates. In 1719 he was elected gov- ernor of Virginia. In 1782 he was summoned by Congress to act as one of the plenipotentiaries to negotiate the peace treaty with Great Britain, but was recalled from that service. In 1184 he was commis- sioned to assist Franklin and Adams in negotiating treaties with Euro- pean powers. In 1:85 he was appointed minister to France, and in 1789 returned home and in the next year was appointed secretary of state under Washington. On March 4, 1801, he entered upon the dis- charge of the duties of the office of president of the United States; was re-elected and began a second term March 4, 1805. He declined an

NATURAL FEATURES OF THE COUNTY.

offered renomination, and retired to private life after almost forty years of public service. Thomas Jefferson died July 1, 1826, the same day on which John Adams, his predecessor in the presidential office, also dicd.

Jefferson county, when created in 1805, included parts of eight towns of Oneida county, as follows: Adams, formed from Mexico, April I, 1802: Brownville, from Leyden, April 1, 1802; Champion, from Mexico, March 11, 1800; Ellisburgh, from Mexico, February 22, 1803; Lorraine, originally Malta, from Mexico, March 21, 1801; Rodman, as llarrison, from Adams, March 21, 1804; Rutland, from Watertown, April 1, 1802; Watertown from Mexico, March 14, 1800. (Sec Chapter 1X for permanent town boundaries established in 1813).

The boundaries of Jefferson county have been changed three times ; first, February 12, 1808, when Pinckney was included in Lewis county ; second, April 5, 1810, by setting off a portion of Rodman to Lewis county; and again in 1813' when a part of Lewis county was annexed to Wilna. As then and now constituted the county contains a little more than 1868 square miles, or its equivalent in acres, 1,195,320. Therefore, in area Jefferson is one of the largest counties in the state.

The natural physical features of the county are so well known and understood that hardly more than a passing allusion to that element of its history is necessary. In this region of the state nature has provided wonderfully and beautifully; and in some respects the county stands withont a fellow. In that grand and vast region (comprising many lo- calities and several towns) known as the Thousand Islands the most lavish display of nature is everywhere noticeable, and that very fact has given the county a peculiar prominence throughout the land. How- ever, this subject will be found more fully treated in the town chap- ters, and present attention may be devoted to a brief geological and topographical description of the region, the results of rescarches and deductions of a cotemporary writer.

" The rocks of the county belong to the primary formation and the lower strata of the New York system. Gneiss is the underlying roek in the castern localities, along the border of Wilna and Antwerp, also of the Thousand Islands, the shore of Alex- andria bay, and of two strips of land extending from the eastern border, one toward Theresa Falls and the other toward Evans Mills. Above this is a deposit of Pots- dam sandstone, which prevails throughout Wilna, Antwerp, Philadelphia, Theresa,

) In Chapter IX will be found the fixed boundaries of this county established by the lexis- Jature in 1813.

OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.

Alexandria. Orleans and Clayton. The soil covering this rock is thin and is com- posed chiefly of drift deposits. The rock itself is exceedingly dense and tough, and preserves diluvial scratches and marks with great distinctness. Next above this is a thin deposit of calciferous sandstone, extending through parts of Cape Vincent. Lyme, Clayton, Orleans and Le Ray; and covering this is a deeper soil, the results chiefly of disintegration. The Black river limestone overlies this, and forms the sur- face rock in many parts of the county north of the river, and also in parts of Cham- pion and Rutland. Above this is the Trenton limestone, appearing on the lake shore at Cape Vincent and extending in a southeast direction through Lyme, Brownsville, Watertown, Rutland and Champion. This rock is of great thickness and forms the principal declivities of the plateau in the south part of the county. About midway in this strata is found the ancient lake ridge, while the caves near Watertown are in the lower strata of the same formation. Next above appears the Utica slate and the Lorraine shales, forming the summit of an irregular table land which covers the south peak in Champion, the south border of Rutland, the greater part of Rodman. a corner of Adams, the east part of Ellisburgh and the whole of Lorraine and Worth. These shales decompose easily and produce a deep, rich soil. Along the streams which flow from this formation the water has worn deep and often highly picturesque ravines, at times miles in length, and almost through the soft and yielding strata. Alluvial deposits are found where the streams from the slate flow out upon the lime- stone; and drift deposits are scattered promiscuously over the entire county. One of the most remarkable of these is the ' Pine plains, 'a sand barren several miles in extent in Wilna and Le Ray. The lake shore in Ellisburgh consists of drifting sand. behind which are marshes. From Stoay Point to Cape Vincent the shore is bordered by the level edges of the Trenton limestone, but farther down the river it presents the alternation of rounded ridges of rocks, intervales and marshes which mark the primary formation."

The most elevated lands are found in Champion, Wilna and Worth, Champion Peak being 1.100 feet above the lake, while the highest point in Worth is about 1,400 feet above the same level. Mt. McQuillan in Wilna can be seen from almost any point in the eastern part of this cr the western portion of Lewis county.

The principal watercourse of the county is the St. Lawrence (Gano- wogeh and Gahunda, as known to the Indians) which connects Lake Ontario (Neahga or Tecarneodi, in the Seneca dialect) with the ocean. Second in size, but of much importance to the county, is the Black river (Ka-hu-ah-go, meaning great or wide river) which has its source in the Adirondacks and thence by an exceedingly devious course enters the county on the east. between Wilna and Champion, thence flows a generally west course and discharges into Black river bay. Indian river drains much of the northern portion of the county, and is the principal waterway of the towns of Antwerp, Philadelphia, Theresa and the north part of Le Ray. The remaining streams of the county

EVIDENCES OF GLACIAL ACTION.

worthy of mention are Perch and Chaumont rivers, the two Sandy ereeks (called by the natives Tekadaogahe, "sloping banks "), Stony, French, Mill, Pleasant and Black creeks, and the numerous tributaries of each of them. In the north part of the county is the system of small lakes, nearly all in Theresa with two or more in each of the towns of Antwerp and Alexandria, nearly all being tributaries of Indian river. Ilungry bay, including Henderson, Black river and Chaumont bays, has a coast line of considerable length; and the Thousand Islands far- ther down offer numerous attractions from their charming scenery and historie associations. In the early history of the county iron ores were found in several towns, particularly in Antwerp, and this valuable dis- covery led to the founding of several important manufacturing indus- tries, notably at Carthage where the unlimited water power offered by the long falls attracted iron producers. There has also been found traces of lead and copper in the primary region. while limestone, sus- ceptible of a variety of uses, and water limestone and barytes have been abundant.

The level country bordering on the St. Lawrence has at times been subject to periods of severe and long continued drouth, a condition seldom experienced on the uplands; but the latter are and from the time of earliest settlement have been noted for the great depth of snowfall in winter. In the lake and bay localities waterspouts, accompanied with clark clouds have occasionally been seen, and with this phenomenon have been heard loud and roaring noises, the source of much alarm to the early settlers.

The intervale lands in the primary region have always been remark- ably fertile, while the ridges are often naked rock. The soil over part of the sandstone is quite thin for successful cultivation, but the barren region is comparatively limited. The limestone and slate districts are very fertile and especially adapted to dairying and the production of spring grains, the former being, perhaps, the staple agricultural in- dustry of the county.

EVIDENCES OF GLACIAL ACTION AND PHYSICAL FEATURES OF JEFFERSON COUNTY. 1

There are some things, that while we cannot go back and actually prove them to the ocular sense, are nevertheless well substantiated as

' Contributed by Frank A. Hinds, of Watertown.

OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.

facts, by the results and evidences that are themselves now plainly be- fore us.

One of these things, is the existence at a remote period of the earth's history of a great ice age, when from the continuons deposits of snow upon the colder portions of the earth, without the annual occurrence of a warm season of sufficient length to melt it, a great accumulation of snow and ice was formed, covering portions of the earth's surface to a great depth. This period must have extended over long ages of time, while the relations between the earth and the sun were undergoing, by a slow process, a sufficient change in relative position, to make such a refrigeration possible. After this accumulation became very great and deep, owing partly perhaps to the semi-fluid characteristics of even solidly frozen ice, the mass acquired a slow but very positive motion, in a direction away from the locality of its formation; and it is this motion of the great mass of ice, that has made the marks, and left the evidences, that now disclose to us its former existence.

Jefferson county has some very interesting features of this nature; but before taking up the evidences of its occupation by the ice, if we glance at some of the physical peculiarities of the continent, and notice the relation and repetition of them, in the surface configuration of the county, we may be better able to understand the peculiar direction of the ice motion of this locality.

The eastern portion of our continent, as a glance at any good map of North America will show, is formed with characteristic lines in a north- easterly and southwesterly direction, for instance, the coast line from Newfoundland to Florida lies northeast and southwest and is in line with the peninsula of Yucatan; the Appalachian range of mountains, con- sisting of the Alleghanies, Blue Ridge and Cumberland mountains with their northern extensions, the Catskills and Adirondacks, are almost exactly parallel with each other and with the coast; the St. Lawrence river, with its lakes, Ontario and Erie, and the lower Ohio and Missis- sippi rivers form a line of water courses almost exactly northeast and southwest; all these are examples on a large scale and show that this portion of the continent was formed on lines lying northeasterly and southwesterly.

Jefferson county exhibits the same characteristic peculiarity in a very marked manner, though in comparatively minute detail. Throughout the towns of Alexandria, Antwerp and Orleans, the numerous granite ridges and valleys have a general trend from the northeast to the south-

EVIDENCES OF GLACIAL ACTION.

west; the rocky Thousand Islands in the St. Lawrence river are all long and narrow, with their major axes northeast and southwest; in the town of llounsfield along the road between the villages of Brownville and Dexter are a number of limestone ridges, emerging slightly above the surface of the soil, and showing the same trend; a number of valleys to the northward of the Black river, in the towns of Pamelia, Brownville and Lyme also lie in the same direction; the Indian river in the northerly part of the county flows southwesterly to a point near the village of Evans Mills, where at the confluence of two of these nearly parallel valleys, it suddenly turns back and flows northeast to its outlet; the Oswegatchie river, farther to the north and partly in St. Lawrence county, does precisely the same thing at the oxbow; the nu- merous small lakes in the towns of Theresa, Alexandria and Antwerp are drawn out long and narrow in the same direction; the channel of the Black river, from Great Bend to Huntingtonville, is in the same direction, and the line is continued through the low swamp westward of the city of Watertown, near Fields Settlement, Sulphur Springs and Bedford Creek, to the lake near Campbell's Point. The present Black river channel through the city of Watertown and the town of Brown- ville is probably of comparatively recent development and the result of some violent disturbance of nature. Much of the latter distance the river flows through deep rifts in the rocks which show more evidence of rending or splitting open, than of a naturally worn river bed; this latter course also crosses the general trend of the valleys, and is prob- ably the result of seismic action, giving the river a shorter and lower channel to the lake.

The deep valley through the town of Rutland, known as Rutland Hollow, with its southwesterly extension through the valley of Brook- side cemetery to North Adams, Smithville, Henderson, and following Stony creek to the lake, furnishes another line of continuous valleys lying northeast and southwest; while the creek and valley from Rut- land center through Burrville to Adams village, uniting with the nearly parallel valley of the Sandy creek from South Champion through Tyler- ville, Whitesville and Rodman, in still another double system, lying just to the southeast, but maintaining the general parallelism of the system ; all this goes to show that the natural features of Jefferson county are peculiarly faithful copies of the general physical outlines of the entire eastern portion of the continent.

Taking the foregoing into account, we are not surprised when we

OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.

come to look at the indications of the ice movement of the Glacial period, to find that the groovings of the rocks show the general direc- tion to have been northeast and southwest, or in the direction of the valleys. And while many of the streams, including the St. Lawrence river itself, now flow toward the northeast, the fact that the ice moved from the northeast toward the southwest is proven by finding the de- tritus left by the moving glaciers always on the southwesterly sides of hills or rocky ledges, which afforded protection to it under the moving ice.

At many points about the city of Watertown the limestone rocks are smoothly polished, and where denuded by nature or by artificial ex- cavations, frequently show deep groovings and markings, showing plainly the direction of the moving glacier which polished and ploughed it out. The limestone ridges heretofore mentioned in the town of Hounsfield show very plainly the groovings and furrows made through them by the ice, or by the boulders of harder rock which were moved along by the ice and frozen into it as they ground their way along ; and even the hard granite ridges of the northern towns show distinct fur- rows, all in the same general direction, while the surfaces of all the granite hills show a rounding off, and smoothing over of the surface, which plainly points to the serubbing and polishing of glacial action.

At Huntingtonville, just east of, and up the river from the city of Watertown, is a wide area of denuded rock along the river shore of Huntington island. This rock is the hard and durable Black river lime- stone, and its surface shows on a large scale the smoothly worn furrows and polished grooves of glacial erosion, and all in parallel lines and northeasterly and southwesterly in direction. Here, also, just above the dam, and now partly covered with water by the pond, are a very interesting group of pot holes, sharply and deeply cut, and in many instances, having the original pieces of hard stone in them, which prob- ably made them when, thousands of years ago, the water poured down through holes in the ice and kept them constantly moving in their place until the rounded holes were made as we now see them. The annexed cut, made from a photograph taken when the water was out of the pond, shows the work wrought by this kind of nature's play, as well as the lines and furrows in the smoothly polished rock.

Other examples of glacial grooves are found crossing the Black river just below the city and near the large manufactory of the Watertown Steam Engine Co .; these also lie northeast and southwest.

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Our county and its people. A descriptive work on Jefferson County, New York, Part 7

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