USA > New York > Saratoga County > Our county and its people : a descriptive and biographical record of Saratoga County, New York > Part 18
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1 The first church was repaired and remodeled in 1836. Since 1857 the church has been con- nected with the society of Calvary church at Burnt Hills, both being served by one rector.
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OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.
That the inhabitants of Galway in the early days were a deeply religious people is evident from the fact that, though sparsely popu- lated, there existed at least half a dozen churches in town by the end of the period under consideration-1800 to 1831-three of which were organized between 1807 and 1820. The first of these was the First Associate Presbyterian church of Galway, which was duly organized February 24, 1807. This body at first assumed the Congregational form of government, but was allowed to become attached to the Albany presbytery. Some time before this the Presbyterians had started the construction of their house of worship, which was begun in 1804 and finished in 1806. The original membership was but seventeen, but in two years this had increased to one hundred and thirty three. The first governing committee, appointed February 6, 1808, consisted of Joel Smith, Avery Starkweather, Earl Stimson, Justus Harris, Joseph Mather, Nehemiah Conde, Jehial Dean, Daniel Dean, Israel Phelps and Ezra Kellogg.1 The second church was the First Christian church of Galway, organized July 11, 1814. The year following Reuben Wait and Jacob Capron were elected deacons. Rev. Maxson Mosher was the most prominent of the early pastors of the church. He was or- dained to the ministry April 30, 1820, and served the church as pastor for about a quarter of a century. The first house of worship was built in 1814 at Mechanic Street, about three miles north of Galway. It was the first Christian church erected in the State of New York.2
In the town of Edinburgh there is little to record for this period. The building of the necessary saw inills and grist mills were practically the only industries in the town. Little is known of the early schools. In 1812 a school was taught by Titus Andrews in the house of Abijah
1 In 1834 the church assumed the Presbyterian form, the first session consisting of Elders Perez Otis, Platt B. Smith, Benham Smith, George Davidson, Calvin Preston, William Beers and William Cruttenden, and Deacons Enoch Johnson and Stephen C. Hays. A new church edifice was erected in 1853 at an expense of about $6,000, being dedicated April 18, 1854. A parsonage costing $2,400 was erected in 1874. The pastors of the church have been : Revs. Syl- vanus Haight, Noah M. Wells, William Chester, Samuel Nott, R. Deming, James Harper, Dun- can Kennedy, Henry Lyman, J. L. Willard, Laurin E. Lane, -- McFarlane, William H. Mill- ham, Oliver Hemstreet, 1872-1880; William C. McBeth, 1880-1881; James P. Bryant, 1881-1888 ; J. A. B. Ogliver, 1888-1889 ; Charles E. Herbert, 1889-1894; Lewis R. Webber, 1894 to present time. For many years the pastors of this church have had charge of the Presbyterian churches at Galway and West Galway jointly.
2 Many of the members of this church having embraced the doctrines of Second Adventism, the society was reorganized August 25, 1855, by the election of Restcome Hall as deacon, Daniel T. Hart, Reuben Wait and Hiram Wait as trustecs, and Samuel G. Rider as clerk. In 1845 thirteen members of this church organized the church at Barkersville. The house of worship was repaired in 1861.
153
EDINBURGH-MALTA, 1800-1831.
Stark. About the same time the Sandy Hill school was in existence. In 1816 another school was started on Liberty Hill. The school in the Anderson neighborhood was one of the earliest in town.
The first church established during this century was the Presby- terian church at Batchellerville, which was started as a Congregational church by the Edinburgh Congregational society, organized September 5, 1808, by Rev. Sylvanus Haight of Galway. The first house of wor- ship, erected in 1815, was located at Fish House (Northampton), but in 1824 another was erected in Edinburgh, near the old cemetery be- tween Beecher's Hollow and the bridge over the Sacandaga. In this year the society divided, part going to the church at Northampton and part remaining in Edinburgh. Soon after its organization the society became Presbyterian, but in 1831 it again became Congregational, though still remaining under the care of the Albany presbytery.' Two Methodist churches were established in the town during these years. The first of these was the Methodist Episcopal church at Beecher's Hol- low (Edinburgh), which was organized about 1820, and the "Edin- burgh Hill " M. E. church, organized a year or two later.2
Agriculture having been almost the sole occupation of the inhabitants of Malta since the settlement of the town, little remains to be said of the early industrial pursuits. The people have always been progressive, and early in the history of the town maintained good schools. Among the school commissioners who served from 1812 to 1831 were such prominent men as Richard Dunning, Thomas Hall, John B. Hall, Elliot Green, Zadock Dunning, Reuben Doolittle, David Everts, William Baker, Dennis Marvin, Stephen Valentine, Peter Fort, Robert Hunter, Palmer Cady, Gould Morehouse, Zalmon Olmstead, Moses Dunning, Thomas Collamer, Daniel A. Collamer and Alford
1 The church built in 1824 was abandoned and torn down in 1866, when the society again be- came purely Presbyterian and erected a house of worship in the growing village of Batcheller- ville at a cost of $8,000. There the society has been located ever since, but most of the time the pastors have supplied the church at Northampton in connection with the Batchellerville society. The pastors of the church since 1814 have been : Revs. N. M. Wells, Lebbeus Armstrong, -- Will- iams, Joseph Farrar, Halsey A. Wood, --- Monteith, M. Donalds, Benjamin H. Pitnam, Royal A. Avery, P. R. Burnham, H. Rinker, S. P. Rollo, L. H. Pease, Isaac De Voe, B. P. Johnson, Henry Lancashire, H. C. Stanton, Jaincs R. Bryant, 1877-1881; H. R. Rundall, 1881-1832; W. B. Stewart, 1882-1883; James B. Campbell, 1883-1885; D. M. Countermine, 1886-1889; William H Hudnut (supply), 1889; Rev. Mr. Renshaw, 1889-1890; John G. Lovell, June 1, 1890, to the present time. Mr. Lovell's pastorate has been the longest in the history of the society, since it became a Presbyterian church in 1867, when the present house of worship was dedicated.
2 The latter church had no house of worship until about 1835. This was razed in 1871 and a new one erected, being dedicated in 1822 by Rev. J. K. Wager. In 1888 the interior of the church at Beecher's Hollow was remodeled. In 1897 a parsonage was purchased.
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OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.
Scribner. School inspectors serving during this period included, besides some of the men already mentioned, Philo T. Beebe, Mataliah Lathrop, jr., Luther Hulbert, Samuel Hunter, Jared Seymour, Isaac Andrews, David Powers, Henry Doolittle, Lewis Waterbury, Bockes Barrett, Stephen Thorn, Abner. Carpenter, Danforth Shumway, Moses Landon, Barzillai Millard, Daniel A. Collamer, William Marvin and Roswell Day.
The Methodist Episcopal church at East Line, now extinct, was built in 1809 by the first religious society in town. Many of its mem- bers, however, lived in the town of Ballston, and the house of worship was erected on the town line for the convenience of all. The building is now used as a school house. It is believed that this pioneer society of the town was the M. E. church of Stillwater, incorporated March 26, 1800, as the original town of Stillwater in that year embraced the town of Malta. Services were discontinued here in 1870, the members being transferred either to Ballston or Jonesville. Another church of this denomination was organized about 1827 at Malta Ridge. 'For many years it has been supplied by the pastors at Round Lake and elsewhere. In 1829 the Methodist Protestant church of Malta Ridge was organized, and three years later a house of worship was erected at a cost of $1,000.
Northumberland, too, has been principally an agricultural town, though it had some manufactures in the early days of the century. These were mainly saw mills, grist mills and flour mills, with at least one tannery and a wagon shop. Stores were numerous. Charles Car- penter had the second store in the town, at Northumberland village, in 1800. Three years later another was opened by Mr. Van Tuyl of New York. The first store at Gansevoort was not opened until 1831 or 1832, when Morgan Lewis was established in business. Several lawyers lo- cated in town at an early date. The most important law firm was that of Cowen & Gansevoort, of which Esek Cowen was the head. This firm was in business at Gansevoort as early as 1807. John and William Metcalf had a law office at Northumberland village four or five years earlier. All had extensive practice. At Northumberland village, which afterward was known as Fort Miller Bridge, an incorporated company erected a wooden bridge in 1803. This was superseded by a a new bridge in 1845.
The first church in Northumberland, the Reformed church, was not organized until November 30, 1820. It sprang from the pioneer church
155
HADLEY, 1800-1831.
at Schuylerville, and was organized at Bacon Hill. At the institution of the church, John Terhune and Carruth Brisbin were ordained elders and Andrew Johnson and Jonas Olmstead deacons. Rev. Philip Dur- yea, pastor of the Schuylerville church, was engaged to preach part of the time for the new church.
The early industries of the town of Hadley were unimportant. Jeremy Rockwell built a grist mill at Hadley village in 1803, and opened a store in 1807. Soon after two saw mills were erected at Conklingville, one each side of the Sacandaga river. In 1828 Johnson & Wait built a dam across the Sacandaga at that point, and in 1831 another was built by Isaac Barber. Both were carried away by a flood in 1848. A bridge at the mouth of that river was built by Obadiah Wilcox in 1813. Of the early schools almost nothing is known.
About the year 1825 the first religious meetings in Hadley were held at the house of John Loveless. The following year an open commun- ion Baptist society was organized, with Rev. - - Chandler as pastor and John Loveless and John Jenkins as deacons. The society had no house of worship however for many years.1
Of Moreau there is little to be said as bearing on this period. Almost the sole industries of these times were such as were necessary to the existence of the inhabitants. In 1813 a ferry was established by one Tillottson at the great bend in the Hudson. At this time saw mills and grist mills were about the only enterprises in the town.
In 1802 Amos Hawley, who had removed to Hadley from Connecti- cut, became instrumental in the organization of a Congregational church, of which he became one of the first deacons. Rev. Lebbeus Armstrong, the first pastor, was installed in 1804. Internal affairs in the church appear to have been far from harmonious, and dissensions were almost continuous; even to such an extent that one faction left the society and built a separate church. The church finally became so weak, and there were so many other churches of essentially similar faith in adjoining towns, that it became extinct in 1859.
An important event in the history of the town was the organization of "The Moreau and Northumberland Temperate Society " in 1808, mainly through the efforts of Dr. Billy J. Clark, an early physician. This society is referred to more in detail in a preceding chapter.
1 This society was reorganized in 1841 as the Free Will Baptist church of Hadley, and in 1844 Elder David Hyde built the first house of worship, a cheap frame structure for temporary use. A new church was built in 1869 at a cost of $2,600, and dedicated January 20, 1870, by Rev. George T. Day of Dover, N. H. The first pastor was Rev. John H. Loveless.
156
OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.
Several events of more than passing interest transpired in the town of Greenfield in the early years of the century. One of the first, as well as the most noteworthy, of these, was the organization of St. John's Lodge No. 22, F. & A. M., which was chartered by the Grand lodge February 20, 1802, as No. 90. Upon the reorganization of Ma- sonry in this State in 1839 after the great anti-Masonic agitation, the lodge was given the number 22. June 2, 1802, the lodge was duly in- stituted and the following officers elected and installed: John St. John, W. M .; Jeremy Rockwell, S. W .; Potter Johnson, J. W .; Joseph Blackleach, secretary; James Vail, treasurer; Benjamin Worden, S. D .; Daniel Hicks, J. D .; Frederick Weed and Asa Chatfield, stewards. From the time of its organization until 1870 the lodge continued to meet at Porter's Corners, but in that year the headquarters were changed to Greenfield Centre, where about $2,600 were spent in pur- chasing and refitting the Ingerson store at that place. The masters of St. John's lodge from its institution up to the present time and the year of their election have been :
1802, John St. John; 1803, Jeremy Rockwell; 1804, Asahel Porter; 1806, Oliver C. Comstock; 1807, Daniel Hicks; 1808, John St. John; 1809, Lewis Scott; 1811, Abner Medbery: 1812, Joseph Blackleach; 1813, Nathan Medbery; 1814 Lewis Scott; 1815, Nathan Medbery; 1818, Simeon Gray; 1819, Nathan Medbery; 1822, George Sax ; 1824, Rensselaer Sax; 1828, Hiram Medbery; 1830, Rensselaer Sax; 1832, John E. Harris; 1834, George Riddell; 1836, William Burnham; 1837, George Riddell; 1838, Rensselaer Sax; 1842, John Gifford; 1844, John S. Weed; 1847, Daniel Wing; 1848, John S. Weed; 1849, John Gifford; 1853, Daniel Wing; 1854, John Gifford; 1857, John S. Weed; 1860, Morgan H. Chrysler; 1861, Truman E. Parkman; 1863, Ianthus G. Johnson; 1864, Gideon W. Scofield; 1875, Edward A. Rood; 1876, Gideon W. Scofield; 1877, Albert G. Wing; 1887, Charles W. Spaulding; 1888, Ianthus G. Johnson; 1889, Albert G. Wing; 1892. Clifford E. Cady; 1893, Arthur W. Johnson; 1894, Clarence E. Latham; 1895-1897, Charles B. Mallory.
February 7, 1805, a mark lodge was chartered there, in connection with St. John's lodge, and called "St. John's Lodge, Mark Master Masons, No. 26," with John St. John as master, Asahel Porter as senior warden and Beroth Bullard as junior warden. This lodge con- tinued until February 3, 1825, when St. John's Chapter No. 103, R. A. M., was chartered, with these officers: High Priest, Elihu Wing; king, Lewis Scott; scribe, Abner Medbery. The high priests of St. John's Chapter since its organization have been :
1827, Lewis Scott; 1828, Rensselaer Sax; 1829, Woodruff Gibbs; 1830-1833, Rens- selaer Sax; 1834-1835, William Burnham; 1836-1842, Rensselaer Sax; 1843, John S.
1
157
GREENFIELD-DAY, 1800-1831.
Weed; 1844, Rensselaer Sax; 1845-1848, John S. Weed; 1849, John Gifford; 1850- 1853, John S. Weed; 1854, Samuel Eddy; 1855, Daniel Wing; 1856, John E. Com- stock ; 1857, Matthew Owen; 1858, John S. Weed; 1859, John Gifford; 1860, William L. Putnam; 1861, Daniel Wing; 1862-1863, Truman E. Parkman; 1864, Alonzo Russel; 1865, Truman E. Parkman ; 1866-1871, Ianthus G. Johnson ; 1872, Truman E. Parkman; 1873-1875, Ianthus G. Johnson; 1876-1888, Elihu Wing; 1889, Albert G. Wing; 1890-1893, Elihu Wing; 1894-1898, William H. Harris.
At the organization of St. John's Chapter there were eighty three chapters in this State, and the total number in the State now working is one hundred and eighty-eight.1
In April, 1809, several of the representative citizens of the town met and organized the Greenfield Temperance Society by electing Rev. Elias Gilbert president and secretary, and Howell Gardiner, Salmon Child and Jonathan Wood an executive committee. In 1829 it was re- organized on total abstinence principles.
The third event in mind was the organization of the Universalist church of Porter's Corners. The church edifice was constructed in 1816, but the society was not organized until 1819. It was called the First Universalist Church and Society of Greenfield. The first board of trustees was composed of Frederick Parkman, Abner Medbery and John W. Creal. Rev. Hosea Parsons was the first pastor.
For many years after its settlement the principal industry in the town of Day was the development of the lumber interests. One of the most noted lumbermen there was Eliphaz Day,? after whom the town was named. His business furnished employment to a number of men. In 1804 Thomas Yates, an Englishman, came from Schenectady and taught school during the winter of 1804-5. Sanders's mill, on Daly's creek, was built about 1808. In the fall of 1825 a dam was built across the Sacanadaga at the mouth of Bell brook, and a saw mill was built there. It was owned by Eliphaz Day, Abner Wait and John Johnson. The dam was torn out in 1828 and the mill was moved further down the stream, into the town of Hadley. Rev. Dr. Wellman, a Methodist minister, preached at the house of Daniel Hines as early as 1807, but no church was organized for many years. A Baptist society was or- ganized in 1812 by Elder Simmonds, who, with Daniel Corey, preached
1 The author is indebted to Ianthus G. Johnson, M. D., of Greenfield Centre, for this complete history of St. John's lodge and St. John's Chapter.
2 Eliphaz Day partially cleared thousands of acres along the Sacanadaga, floating the logs down that river and the Hudson to market. April 19, 1827, he was drowned while passing through the " horse race " at Conklingville in a row boat. The name of the town was changed from Con- cord to Day, in his honor, a short time after his death.
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OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.
at private houses for several years. No church was ever built, and the society finally became extinct.
Nothing is known of any industries of importance, excepting agri- culture, which existed in Wilton in this early period. Most of the inhabitants were farmers, and that they were God-fearing men and women is shown by the fact that churches were organized while the population of the town was yet quite small. Probably as early as 1805 a meeting-house was erected at Emerson's Corners, and here Rev. Lebbeus Armstrong, pastor of the Congregational church of Mo- reau, used to preach. The church was opened to all denominations. About 1815 the Baptist church of Wilton was organized, and some of the early preachers were Elders Blakeman, Fletcher and Carr. A brick church was built in 1854, but the society has been extinct since 1874. The Methodist church was also organized during this period, but little can be learned of its history.
Agriculture has been the principal occupation of the inhabitants of Clifton Park since the settlement of the town, and the manufacturing industries, as a rule, have been small. The history of the town is little more than the plain story of the development of farm lands, the estab- lishment of schools and churches and such other features as are com- mon to other rural communities. Of the first schools, however, the records fail to tell anything very definite. Among the early business enterprises, we learn that in the year 1800 an ashery, a distillery and a general store were established in Amity, and operated by Benjamin Mix. At Rexford's Flats the year 1818 marked the construction of the first bridge. Upon the opening of the Erie canal other stores were opened to accommodate the increasing population. Among them were that of Isaac Howard, who was succeeded by Curtiss & Wakeman. Lack of water power prevented the building of mills, as a rule.
The first church in the town was the Baptist church, referred to in a preceding chapter, which was organized in 1795. The second society formed was the Reformed church of Amity, which was organized in 1802 as the " Reformed Protestant Dutch church of Amity." The first elders were Jacobus Van Vranken and John Miller, and the first dea- cons were Daniel F. Fort and Evert Van Vranken. The first house of worship was erected in 1803, with Rev. Mr. Hardenburg as the first pastor. In 1805 the churches of Amity and Niskayuna engaged Rev. Thomas Romeyn as pastor, building a joint parsonage at Amity. Mr.
159
THE CANALS.
Romeyn's ministry extended over a period of twenty-one years.1 The Methodist church at Groom's Corners was one of the first of that de- nomination founded north of the Mohawk river. The Methodist Epis- copal church at Jonesville was built in 1825. The society formed a part of a circuit comprising Halfmoon, Clifton Park and Galway .? The M. E. church at Clifton Park village was formed about 1830. Services were suspended for a while, but preaching was again begun in 1842 by Rev. Henry Williams, and a house of worship built at an expense of $1,200.
Little can be said of the town of Providence in these days. The principal fact of historical interest appears to have been the building of the old Quaker meeting-house in 1815, to take the place of the original edifice, which had been abandoned. The chief and almost sole occupation of the inhabitants has always been farming.
THE GREAT WATERWAYS.
By far the most important enterprises undertaken in Saratoga county during this period-and the most important in the State of New York, from a commercial standpoint-were the construction of the great Erie and the Champlain canals. It was Governor George Clinton who first officially proposed, in 1792, that canals be constructed between the Hudson and Lake Ontario and the Hudson and Lake Champlain. Upon his recommendation legislative acts were passed organizing two canal companies-the Northern Inland Navigation Company and the Western Inland Lock Navigation Company. These companies were authorized to improve the navigation of the Hudson and Mohawk rivers, and to form connections between the upper waters of the Mo- hawk river, and Oneida and Ontario lakes, as well as between the Hudson river and Lake Champlain. Such were the first steps toward a grand system of canals. The disaster which overtook the first named company has been described in a preceding chapter. In later years it became the general belief that no enterprise of such magnitude could succeed without either State aid or complete State control, with the public moneys back of the project.
It is entirely uncertain who originated the first idea of constructing a chain of water communication through the State. All of the early efforts were directed to
1 A new church was erected in 1871 and dedicated January 18, 1872.
2 This society organized as a separate church in 1842. In 1855 a new church was built at a cost of $1,000. This was considerably repaired in 1897,
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OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.
effecting a passage through the Mohawk, Wood creek, Oneida lake and Oswego river to Lake Ontario. The western connection was sought by locking around Niagara Falls. In 1800 Gouverneur Morris first suggested the idea of a direct canal from Lake Erie to the Hudson, through the centre of the State. His plan was to tap Lake Erie, and have a continuous slope from the lake to the high land that borders upon the Hudson and a series of locks thence to the river. In 1803 he stated the outline of his plan to the Surveyor-General, Simeon De Witt, who looked upon it as chimer- ical. The next year Mr. De Witt, in a conversation with James Geddes, then a land surveyor of Onondaga county, stated the plan of Mr. Morris as one of the impracti- cable schemes which had been advanced. Mr. Geddes, however, looked at the mat- ter in a different light, and, after some little reflection, he concluded that the plan, with some modifications, was by far the best that had yet been suggested. He counseled with Jesse Hawley upon the subject and the latter, convinced of the feasi- bility of the project, wrote a series of papers which were published in the Genesee Messenger from October, 1807, to March, 1808. These essays were signed " Her- cules," and were the first ever printed in favor of the Erie canal. In 1808, Joshua Forman, then a member of the Assembly, introduced a resolution for the survey of a canal route, to the end that Congress might be led to grant moneys for the con- struction of a canal. The sum of $600 was granted for the surveys under the direc- tion of the Surveyor-General. James Geddes was intrusted with this service, and was directed to level down from Oneida lake to the mouth of Salmon creek, to ascer- * tain whether a canal could be opened from Oswego Falls to Lake Ontario and to survey the best route for a canal around Niagara Falls. He was also directed to survey a route eastward from Lake Erie to Genesee River, and thence to the waters flowing east into Seneca Lake. He finished this work and made a report showing the practicability of the last-named route and its great superiority over the others which had been proposed. This report at once excited general attention, and se- cured the influence of De Witt Clinton, then a member of the Senate, and many other prominent men. In 1810, commissioners, at the head of whom was De Witt Clinton, were appointed to explore a canal route through the centre of the State. On the 8th of April, 1811, an act was passed to provide for the improvement of the internal navigation of the State, and efforts were made to obtain aid from the General Gov- ernment, but without success. The report of the commissioners stated the impor- tance of this measure with such force and eloquence that a law was passed the next year continuing the commissioners, and authorizing them to borrow and deposit money, and take cessions of land, for the proposed canal, but the war suspended active operations. The project, however, continued to be discussed, and an act was passed on the 17th of April, 1816, providing for a definite survey. The canal was begun at Rome, July 4, 1817, and on the 23d of October, 1819, the first boat passed from Utica to Rome.
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