USA > New York > Saratoga County > Our county and its people : a descriptive and biographical record of Saratoga County, New York > Part 24
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1 After having been used by this society for thirty-five years, the first house of worship was abandoned and a new one dedicated September 3, 1873, during the pastorate of Rev. Thomas Cull, Rev. John Peddie preached the dedicatory sermon. The pastors of the church have been: Revs. Isaac Westcott, from organization to January 12, 1851; M. G. Hodge, June 7, 1851, to March 25, 1854; A. A. Sawin, May 26, 1855, to February 1, 1856; J. I. Fulton, April 26, 1856, to March 1, 1859; J. O. Mason, July 31, 1859, to August 1, 1860; J. C. Stevens, November 3, 1860, to May 1, 1865: Charles J. Shrimpton, June 24, 1865, to October 30, 1869; Thomas Cull, November 5, 1870, to May 10, 1874; Dr. Thomas MacClymont, September 20, 1874, to October 1, 1877; Dr. Isaac Westcott, supply March2, 1878, to September 6, 1879; Daniel Corey, November 1, 1879, to September 26, 1881; Albert P. Brigham, August 27, 1882, to September 6, 1885; Edson J. Farley, April 29, 1889, to January 19, 1893; Rolland J. Thompson, May 1, 1893, to October 1, 1895; Harvey W. Choller, April 1, 1896, to the present time. In 1885 a parsonage was erected at a cost of $3,000.
2 Montgomery chapter was instituted by a dispensation granted November 28, 1870; but the charter was not granted until February 8, 1871. The first officers of the chapter were : D. Van Wie, H. P .; P. Van Veghten, K .; C. S. Ensign, scribe; J. G. Lansing, treasurer ; L. Vandemark, secretary.
3 The plant of this company is a very extensive one, employing hundreds of hands. In 1897 its real estate holdings alone were assessed at $270,500.
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lished an iron foundry in 1832. This became one of the most impor- tant foundries north of Albany.1
The rapid and substantial development of the manufactures of Schuy- lerville and Victory Mills resulted in a demand for home banking facilities. Therefore, in 1853 William Wilcox opened a private bank having a capital of $50,000. Three years later it was merged into an organized institution known as the Bank of Old Saratoga. This con- cern had a capital of $100,000. William Wilcox was president and Giles S. Brisbin was cashier.
Among the local organizations formed in this period was Battle Ground Division No. 247, Sons of Temperance, organized April 19, 1847, numbered several prominent men among its members. George Strover was the first presiding officer. The other charter members were Walter Mott, Richard S. Sheldon, Joseph T. Smith, John A. Clapp, James G. Stebbins, Joseph Darby, John B. Brisbin and William Be- ment. This society suspended its meetings after a career of three years.
St. Stephen's Protestant Episcopal church of Schuylerville dates from 1838, when Rev. Reuben Hubbard began conducting services from house to house. From 1844 to 1850 services were held in the academy building. The society was formally organized March 2, 1846, when these officers were chosen : Wardens, Jesse Finne and James Pick- ering; vestrymen, John Finne, Joseph Finne, Benjamin Losee, James Pickering, George N. Gates, James E. Stebbins, John R. Preston and Henry W. Merrill. The cornerstone of the house of worship was laid Tuesday, June 2, 1868, Dr. Charles H. Payne having donated the amount required for its construction. The stone was laid by Rev. P. B. Gibson, and Rev. J. Ireland Tucker of Troy preached the dedicatory sermon. The ground on which the church was erected was the gift of the Victory Manufacturing Co. The edifice was opened for worship Christmas day,2 1868, and consecrated by Rt. Rev. William C. Doane, bishop of Albany, February 24, 1870.
The Church of the Visitation (Roman Catholic) was established dur- ing this period. A congregation existed as early as 1850. Father
1 Mr. French retired in 1865, being succeeded by David Craw & Co.
2 The society was without a rector from 1850 to 1867, when Rev. George Fisher began a two years' pastorate. The subsequent rectors have been : Rev. John H. Babcock, who came April 20, 1870; Rev. John Walker, June 5, 1870; Rev. Dr. George W. Deane, October 19, 1875; Rev. H. C. E. Costello, September 18, 1880 ; Rev. George L. Neide, 1881-1884 ; Rev. H. C. Hutchings, 1884- 1886 ; Rev. Allan B. Clark, June 27, 1886, to July 1, 1888 ; Rev. J. F. Esch, January 1, 1890, to July 1, 1892; Rev. W. F. Parsons, July 1, 1892, to 1896 ; Rev. Eleutheros Jay Cooke, Dec. 1, 1896, to present time.
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MILTON, 1831-1861.
Roach was the first resident priest the parish had. The first land was purchased in 1850, being two lots, from Hugh Thorp and Deborah, his wife, by deed, dated March 4, 1850. These lots were purchased in the name of Bishop McCloskey. The second two lots were purchased by Father Tull September 13, 1854, from Michael Kelly and wife of Schuy- lerville. A temporary church had been built in 1850. The parish had no resident priest till 1860. These lots purchased by Father Tull, were, on December 27, 1859, deeded to Bishop McCloskey. Father Tull re- mained but two years and was succeeded in 1861 by Father H. B. Fin- negan. He remained till his death, October 18, 1883.1
In the town of Milton there was considerable industrial development during the three decades from 1831 to 1861. In 1840 Rowland & Kil- mer built a large paper mill at Rock City Falls, on the bank of the Kayaderosseras. This mill was burned in 1844, and was rebuilt the following year, by Kilmer & Ashmun. This firm was almost imme- diately succeeded by Buchanan & Kilmer, and later by Harlow, Kilmer & Co. Upon the death of Mr. Kilmer it was sold to George West of Ballston Spa. About 1846 Isaac Rowland, jr., remodeled the old grist mill at Rock City Falls and converted it into a paper mill. The enter- prise did not succeed at first and was sold soon after its establishment to Buchanan & Kilmer. It subsequently became the property of Chauncey Kilmer & Son. This was the second mill in the United States which entered upon the manufacture of straw print. For many years Samuel Haight conducted an extensive tannery at Milton Centre, employing about a hundred hands.2 At Craneville a paper mill was established about 1860. It subsequently became the property of Hon.
1 The old church was burned in 1870, and all the old records were destroyed. The cornerstone of the present structure was laid in 1872 by Bishop Conroy of Albany. Father McGuire of St. Patrick's church of Albany delivered the sermon. In 1873 Rev. Father McNierncy of Albany and Rev. J. J. Swift of Troy succeeded in raising $50,000 towards paying for the new edifice. Father Finnegan died October 18, 1883, and was succeeded by Rev. Francis McGuire, now rector of the cathedral at Albany. He remained four years, namely, to 1887, when Rev. J. J. Heffernan, on March 4, 1887, came to the parish.
The congregation of Notre Dame church (French Roman Catholic) was formed by seventy- five or eighty families from Victory Mills, Thomson's Mills and Schuylerville, in 1889. Many of them had formerly been members of the Church of the Visitation. The new congregation was greatly encouraged by the Victory Manufacturing Co., which donated a lot on which to erect a house of worship. Work upon the church was begun in the fall of 1889 and the structure was ded- icated by Rt. Rev. Francis McNierney, bishop of Albany, May 30, 1890. Father Peneaux was then the priest in charge. He has been succeeded in turn by Father Patreau, Father Vellevue and Father Prud'homme.
2 This industry is now located at Ballston Spa, where it is conducted by Theodore S. Haight and Vassar Haight, sons of the founder of the business. Matthew Vassar, for many years a mem- ber of the firm, retired in 1898.
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George West. The manufacturing plants at Bloodville and Factory village, in operation during this period, have been referred to in a pre- ceding chapter.
March 2, 1844, a number of persons who affiliated with the Methodist Episcopal denomination met at Rock City Falls and organized a church there. March 9 the following were chosen as trustees; Seth Whalen, Charles R. Lewis, Joshua Swan, James McIntosh and Harlow Kilmer. A house of worship was begun in May of that year and completed in time for occupancy in the fall. This house of worship was the suc- cessor of an older one built at Swan's Corners in 1811.
Ballston has always been an agricultural town principally, and there is little to be said of its history during these thirty years. In 1848 a paper mill was established at Burnt Hills. The employes were princi- pally Englishmen, most of whom were members of the Church of Eng- land, and soon after their arrival they organized Calvary Protestant Episcopal church. This society was incorporated May 7, 1849, princi . pally through the efforts of Rev. Edward Davis and Cady Hollister, the proprietor of the paper mill. The house of worship was completed in the summer of 1849 at an expense of $2,500, a large part of which sum was given by Rev. Mr. Davis, and the first service therein was held on Christmas day of that year. July 11, 1850, the church was consecrated by Rt. Rev. William R. Whittingham, bishop of Maryland. It was considerably enlarged and improved in 1858. The rectory, built in 1856, was presented by the family of Mr. Davis. The first wardens of the parish were Daniel K. Smith and William Wheeler.1
The Christian church at East Line was founded about 1858. The celebrated Rev. Josiah G. Holland preached the dedicatory sermon.2 The society died out after an existence of about fifteen years, when the church was abandoned. This society originated among members of the Christian church at Burnt Hills, which was established about 1848.
The tremendous water power furnished by the falls in the Hudson river where it passes along the northern boundary of the town of Cor- inth was utilized for manufacturing purposes at an early day; but, as has been told in earlier pages, from 1830 to 1859 the early mills built at that point were not operated. In the latter year Thomas Brown of Niagara Falls purchased the property, built a large raceway to con-
1 Rev. Edward Davis served as the rector of Calvary church until a short time before his death in 1863, acting as rector of the church at Charlton at the same time.
2 Mr. Holland was an editor of the Springfield, Mass., Republican at this time. He afterward became editor-in-chief of Scribner's Monthly, of which he was one of the founders.
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EDINBURGH, 1831-1861.
duct the water to his works, and then constructed a plant for the manufacture of edged tools. He began to operate this plant in 1860, but the Civil war causing a great rise in the price of iron and labor, the concern was closed, and no further industrial development took place there until the close of the war. In 1855 Powell & Co. built a small tannery at South Corinth, on the Kayaderosseras creek.
The Methodist Episcopal church of Corinth was not erected until the summer of 1858, though a class had been formed there as early as 1830 and meetings held in the meanwhile. In September, 1858, the church was dedicated, Rev. Mr. Robinson preaching the sermon. Rev. P. M. Hitchcock was pastor at that time. The Sunday school connected with the church was established in 1850.
Corinth lodge No. 174, I. O. O. F., was chartered August 7, 1853, the first officers being: N. G., Darling P. Mallery; V. G., Zina Mallery ; R. S., Luke C. Bartlett; F. S., William Ide; warden, Silas Allen; con- ductor, John M. Ellsworth.
Charlton always has been essentially an agricultural town, with few manufactures. Among the churches of the town the Methodist Epis- copal society was organized about 1838. Among the pastors have been Rev. John H. Coleman, Rev. S. S. Ford and Rev. David T. Elliott.
Galway's principal industry being agriculture, little is to be said of the development of the town in the middle period. The manufactures have always been few and not very important. At Mosherville a foundry and plow shop was established about 1847. There is the usual complement of saw mills, grist mills and wagon shops. The Methodist Episcopal church at East Galway, organized in 1858 as a class by Rev. J. B. Wood, was an offshoot of the church at Rock City Falls. Philip Smith was the first class leader, and he and William Cole, F. Walter, W. T. Crouch, S. V. R. White, Enos Mead, John Tubbs, Peter P. Smith and Pardon Allen constituted the first board of trustees. The house of worship was erected and dedicated in 1859, the dedicatory sermon being delivered by Rev. Taylor Lewis of Troy.
Three wooden ware factories located at Batchellerville were the prin- cipal industries established in the town of Edinburgh before the war. That village at one time was quite prosperous and gave promise of be- coming a village of considerable size and importance. In 1833 the place consisted of a saw mill, a grist mill and two dwellings. In that year Ambrose Batcheller bought the mills, and the place became known
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OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.
as Batchellerville. In 1837 Sherman and Samuel Batcheller built a shop for the manufacture of wooden ware. This shop was burned and rebuilt in 1851, and again in 1859. In 1848 a saw mill which stood on the site occupied by the wooden ware factory of Lucien De Golia was torn down and the latter establishment erected. This building was burned about 1888. Sherman Batcheller built another factory in 1853, which became the property of Mr. De Golia five years later. In 1865 Samuel Batcheller sold his factory to Benjamin R. Jenkins, who in turn sold it to Noyes & Early, Mr. Jenkins removing to Conklingville. In 1860 Henry C. Whitney purchased of Sherman Batcheller the fac- tory the latter had built in 1853. In 1864 it was sold to Cyrus Sumner, in 1868 to George S. Batcheller, in 1869 to King, Steers & Person, and in 1870 to King, Snow & Co. In 1858 Levi Porter and Lucien De Golia began the manufacture of washboards in the old factory bought of Sherman and Samuel Batcheller. The dam and shop were destroyed by a flood in 1863. Immediately afterward Mr. De Golia built a large establishment a short distance farther down the stream. This was burned in 1876, but immediately reconstructed. All these buildings have since been burned.
Malta's industries have always been small, excepting farming. Grist mills and saw mills have existed since the early settlement of the town, but little attempt at other manufactures has ever been made. The Presbyterian society organized at Malta in 1843 was the outgrowth of the Presbyterian society of East Ballston, founded in 1793. The old Union church at Maltaville is said to have been built and dedicated in 1806. A number of men were out working on the road, and while they were resting some one proposed that they build a church. Before they left the subject that day they had laid their plans where to build, of what size and style, and that they would get what oak timber they needed from an oak grove that stood some distance north and west of the spot where they built. There was also plenty of yellow pine in the place then, so that they did not lack for material of the best sort; the small timbers of the floor, braces, etc., were sawed at the mill close by. The first existing record of the church was made March 8, 1821. The members, differing very little in their discipline, agreed to come under the Presbyterian rule. They were mostly Congregationalists from New England and descendants of the old Dutch called Dutch Reformed. In 1837 Rev. Clark Lockwood became pastor. In 1842 he was suc- ceeded by Rev. Thomas Rawson of Albany. He was followed the next
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MOREAU, 1831-1861.
year by Rev. Prentice W. Marsh, under whose pastorate a Presbyterian church at Dunning Street was built and under the control and integral part of this society at Malta, till, according to this record, the society divided February 15, 1845, and the old church took the name of the Congregational society of Malta. The new church was made ready for use previous to 1844. The house of worship, upon the disbanding of the Presbyterian society, was occupied for several years by the local Methodists. The building is now in ruins.
In Northumberland the Methodist Episcopal church of Gansevoort was erected in 1839 and the Reformed church of the same place the year following. The Methodist Episcopal society had then been or- ganized for several years. The corner stone of the Reformed church was laid in June, 1840, and the edifice was dedicated February 4, 1841. Rev. John Birkley was the first pastor.
Home lodge No. 398, F.& A. M., was organized June 28, 1856. The first master was Gilbert Purdy, and the other charter members were Robert Washburn, P. D. Esmond, H. Reynolds, M. D., Jeremiah Ter- hune, John Terhune, John Burke, Payne K. Burt, George W. Lincoln H. D. Curtiss and David De Garmo.
The history of the industrial development of the town of Hadley dur- ing this period is practically a history of the village of Conklingville. This village was founded in 1848 by Gurdon Conkling, who, beginning that year, built there a large tannery, a store, a hotel and several resi- dences. Twenty years before a dam and two saw mills had been built, but it was left for Mr. Conkling properly to develop the resources of the locality. The first dam, with the mill at the south end, built in 1831 by Isaac Barber, was carried away by a flood in 1848, when the new industries were at once established by Mr. Conkling. Within a dozen years the place had grown to considerable proportions, and sup- ported a variety of manufacturing industries. Gurdon Conkling's tan- nery, built in 1848, subsequently was operated by several different pro- prietors. It employed a large number of hands from the beginning, tanning hides which came from all parts of the world.
The Wesleyan Methodist church of Hadley was organized in 1844, when Walter R. Sutliff was chosen class leader. The house of worship was built in 1845.
Aside from agriculture, the industrial development of Moreau during this period was confined principally to the village of South Glens Falls and vicinity, where a number of lumber mills were established. The
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OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.
village was laid out in 1837. Folsom's cotton factory, which burned in 1832, for many years was an extensive plant.
In 1843 a Methodist class was organized at South Glens Falls, but it was 1869 before a chapel for worship was erected. The Methodist Episcopal church at Fortsville was founded during this period.
The manufacturing industries of Greenfield have never been very important. At Porter's Corners Asahel Porter had a distillery and tan- nery, which long since were burned. In 1836 John W. James built a dam across the Kayaderosseras creek at Jamesville (which was named in his honor) and erected a paper mill-the first mill built in this county for the manufacture of paper by machinery. He also built several residences for the use of his employes. About twenty years afterward he failed in business and returned to New York, where he previously had been in business. Soon afterward the mill was rebuilt, but was again burned, when the vacant power was purchased by West & Brown. A glass factory was also established in the northwestern part of the town about 1850, and about it sprang up a little village named Mount Pleasant. This industry subsequently was removed to a point on the Delaware & Hudson railroad just south of Saratoga Springs, and Mount Pleasant was abandoned.
Among the churches of this town, the Methodist Episcopal church of Greenfield Centre was built in 1840, and dedicated by Rev. Charles Sherman December 22 of that year. Class meetings had been held for many years prior to that date. In 1836 a class was formed at South Greenfield, and the year following a house of worship was erected, be- ing dedicated in August, 1837, by Rev. Noah Levings of Schenectady. This church ceased to exist in 1847. In 1850 the building was sold to a Unitarian society, which moved it to the town of Milton. The Meth- odist Episcopal church at Porter's Corners was formed in 1840. The site for a house of worship was donated by General Isaac I. Yates, and the structure erected in 1845. The Baptist church of Jamesville, which sprang from the society which worshiped in the old stone church at Milton, was organized April 4, 1846. The house of worship was built by the united society in 1839. Rev. Samuel R. Shotwell was the first pastor.
In the town of Day, a tannery was built at Croweville in 1856 by William Fowler, who sold it three years later to Crowe & Kyne. It gave employment to from fifteen to twenty hands. In 1833 a woolen factory was built on Paul creek by John B. Yates, but it went to decay
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CLIFTON PARK, 1831-1861.
nearly half a century since. Lumbering for many years was one of the principal industries of the town.
Though its house of worship was not erected until 1845-1846, the First Christian church of Day was organized by Elder H. V. Teal November 18, 1833. Rev. Elias Sloat was the first pastor. The Re- formed Protestant Dutch church of Day was organized by Rev. Dr. Andrew Yates, at Day Centre, November 14, 1842. A stone church was built two years later, at a cost of $3,000. Upon the completion of the structure the Board of Domestic Missions of the Reformed Presby- terian Dutch church installed Rev. J. A. Lansing as pastor.1 The Second Christian church, afterwards called the Christian church of West Day, was formed December 19, 1857, by Revs. Elias Sloat and Latham Coffin. The house of worship was commenced in 1861, but was not completed until December, 1865, when it was dedicated by Rev. W. B. H. Beach.
Wilton being an agricultural town little is to be said of its industrial or commercial growth. It is worthy of note, however, that an attempt was made in 1859 to found a permanent academy in town. In that year Stephen Fradenburgh of Moreau came to Wiltonville and erected a building west of the village. In it he opened a school in the fall of 1859, calling it Wilton academy. After a precarious existence of about two years the enterprise failed for want of financial support.
The Loudon Protestant Methodist church of South Wilton, an offshoot from the Methodist Episcopal church, built a house of worship in 1833. Deyoe Esmond was an early preacher.
Clifton Park, too, is an agricultural town principally, its other indus- tries being unimportant. The town formerly supported an excellent educational institution, known as the Jonesville academy. This insti- tution was founded by Roscius R. Kennedy. It originated in a small select school opened in 1836 by Mrs. Roger King. In 1840 the school was removed to the premises where the academy was finally located, where John Oakley of New York opened it for boarding pupils. In that year a brick building was erected, suitable for the accommodation of fifty boarding pupils. In 1841, with Prof. Hiram A. Wilson? as
1 From 1857 to 1867 the church was without a pastor. In June of the latter year it was decided to change the society into a purely Presbyterian one, and to join the Albany presbytery. Rev. David Edgar became the first pastor of the reorganized society.
2 Hiram A. Wilson, son of Abijah Wilson, was born in Winchester, Conn., December 19, 1812 ; graduated from Wesleyan university at Middletown, Conn., in 1838 ; sailed the same year for Buenos Ayres, where for two years he conducted the first missionary school in that city. He
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OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.
principal, it was formally opened as an academy. He remained in charge until 1860. In 1849 the academy was incorporated and passed under the protection of the Regents. Upon the retirement of Prof. Wilson these persons acted as principals: Rev. Messrs. B. M. Hall, Austin, Fenner, King, Brino, Kempton and Savage. The institution became financially embarrassed in 1870 and was compelled to give up its charter, and six years later closed its career. Roscius R. Kennedy, the founder, who became sole trustee upon its incorporation, was for many years the principal support of the academy.
October 8, 1836, the M. E. Church at Rexford's Flats, in Clifton Park, was organized, the first officers being William Shepherd, Roscius R. Kennedy, Nathan D. Garnsey, Henry M. Hayner and Luther B. Orcutt. The house of worship, erected the following year, was ded- icated December 9, 1840.
Half a dozen saw mills and grist mills and one or two tanneries com- prised the bulk of the industries of Providence up to the time of the war, aside from farming. Two churches were organized in the town during the period under discussion. One of these was the Protestant Methodist church at West Providence, which was formed in 1841-1842. Rev. Peter Esmond was the first pastor. The church was built about one and one-half miles northeast of Hagedorn's Mills.' The other church was the Christian church at Barkerville, an offshoot of the Gal- way church, and was organized May 3, 1845. The house of worship was built that year and dedicated in the spring of 1846, Rev. Allen Hayward preaching the sermon.
The Saratoga County Agricultural society was organized in the court house at Ballston Spa June 24, 1841, in accordance with a law passed May 15, of that year, providing for the formation of agricultural so- cieties in the various counties of the State. At this meeting Howell Gardiner of Greenfield was appointed chairman and Archibald Smith
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