USA > New York > St Lawrence County > Our county and its people : a memorial record of St. Lawrence County, New York > Part 15
USA > New York > St Lawrence County > Our county and its people: a memorial record of St. Lawrence County, New York > Part 15
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In 1832 the distinction between the town and county poor was abol- ished. In 1842 fifty acres of land were added to the farm at a cost of $1,066, and new buildings erected and other improvements added. In 1846 an addition was made to the poorhouse, constructed of stone. In 1861 a resolution looking to the erection of a new poorhouse was passed by the supervisors, and A. B. James and Edwin W. Foster were ap- pointed a committee on plans, but no further action was taken in the matter until the fall of 1865, when the board voted to purchase the Her- riman farm containing 330 acres at a cost of $50 per acre, situated two and a half miles north of Canton village, and to build a poorhouse there- on costing not to exceed $40,000. The building committee were M. D.
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HISTORY OF ST. LAWRENCE COUNTY.
Packard, Seth G. Pope, and T. S. Clarkson. They advertised for pro- posals on the plans given, but no one made a bid. The committee then proceeded to make the brick, quarry the stone, and cut timber for the building, and at the annual meeting of the supervisors in 1867 the ap- propriation was increased to $50,000. The building was finished by the committee in 1869, and accepted by the Board of Supervisors in No- vember of that year. The cost of the building was $48,788.58; of the barn and repairs on the outbuildings $2,348.05 ; of the farm $16,500. Total expenditure $67,636.63. The old poor-farm and buildings sold for $6,500. In 1872 twenty wards were fitted up for the confinement of the insane poor at a cost of $1,400.
The actual cost of keeping the fifty six paupers who were provided for in the first year of the operation of the poorhouse system, was $1,055.53, 869 weeks of board being furnished. The second year 1, 329 weeks board were furnished, costing $2,731.87. There were fur- nished during the year ending November 1, 1877, 8,046 weeks of board, at a cost of less than one dollar per week, or $8,021.54. Below is given a report of the superintendent of the poor for the year ending November 1, 1877, which shows what has been and is still being done for the poor of this county. The farm and buildings cost, including twenty wards for the insane, $81,636.63. The products of the farm for the year were valued at $4,285 ; the implements on hand at $1,231; the furniture in the house at $1,659; the improvements made on the farm during the year at $190; and sundries on hand at $1, 143. There were received during the year 155 persons, and 146 were discharged, eleven absconded, twenty-two died, and there were eight births in the house. Four children were bound out, leaving at the end of the year seventy males and seventy one females. Of these unfortunates, twenty- five were insane, five were blind, nineteen were idiotic, and three were deaf mutes. The temporary relief supplied by the superintendent in the several towns in the county amounted to $35, 167.68, which, to- gether with the expenses of the poorhouse, $8,021.54, and children's home, $2,984.24, makes $46,173 46 expended on charity, besides the appropriation for the State charities. And the amount of appropria- tions for relief of the poor in this county by the Board of Supervisors the first year of the adoption of the poorhouse system (1827) was
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INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS.
$1,918.51. This amount has gradually increased, with slight variations from year to year, until it reached in 1876 the sum of $35,265.64. During the fifty years inclusive the total amount expended is $752,- 714.25. To these figures may be added the amount expended for that other charity to give homeless waifs the comforts of a temporary abiding place. $5,450, which makes the sum $758, 164.25, exclusive of private charities, which have also been liberally bestowed on the poor in the mean time Could these amounts be gathered that have been given to indigent friends by individuals, churches and benevolent insti- tutions, it would no doubt swell the grand aggregate to upwards of $1,000 000. This speaks well for the liberality of the people of the county.
CHAPTER XIII.
INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS.
Various Plans for Internal Navigation-State Roads-Plank Roads-Steamboat Navigation-Marine Railway-The Northern Transportation Company -- The Ogdens- burg Transit Company -- Port of Transfer -The Northern Railroad -- The Rome, Water- town and Ogdensburg Railroad -- The Utica and Black River Railroad -- The Gouverneur and Oswegatchie Railroad -- Street Railway.
F 'ROM an early period attempts were made to improve the naviga- tion of the St. Lawrence along the south shore, from St. Regis up to Indian Point in Lisbon. Several acts were passed authorizing` sur- veys, and privileges granted to build locks. By an act passed April 9, 18II, R. Atwater and R. Hopkins were appointed commissioners, and authorized to expend $600 in building a tow-path on the shore along the rapids from St. Regis to Lisbon, which is supposed to have been carried out.
Another project was started in 1833, and endorsed by a convention held at Canton that fall, to cut a canal from the head of " Long Saut " to Grass River, and a subscription was raised to procure a survey. Also a petition was circulated to be sent to Congress asking suitable appropriation to carry out the project. The north shore had always
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HISTORY OF ST. LAWRENCE COUNTY.
been preferred by voyagers to ascend the rapids, but on account of the fact that the Canadian government had undertaken to improve naviga- tion by building canals and locks on the north shore, this enterprise ended.
Another scheme was agitated to build canals, locks and dams on the Oswegatchie and Grass Rivers, in order to navigate Black Lake, and to extend the same to Gouverneur and by the way of Natural Canal to Canton. A company was incorporated April 25, 1831, for that pur- pose, the capital to be $15,000, and the work to be accomplished within five years. In 1835 the capital stock was raised to $100,000. In the petition which procured the passage of the above act, it was stated that at Heuvel locks had been begun and might be completed at small expense ; that the expense of dams and locks to improve the natural channel of the Oswegatchie would not be to exceed $12,000, and that steamboats might be built for $5,000 sufficient to meet the business of the proposed company. The fall at Canton Falls is eighty feet, and at Cooper's Falls in De Kalb about six feet, which being over- come by locks, would render the river navigable as far as the Ox-bow in Jefferson county. A dam across Grass River and a short channel near the eastern end of Natural Canal would bring Canton in navigable communication with the St. Lawrence at Ogdensburg. It is evident that no actual improvements were ever undertaken under these acts.
The plan of extending the Black River Canal to Ogdensburg was brought forward in 1839, and a survey executed by E. H. Broadhead, which embraced the several improvements above proposed, but no further action was taken.
Several acts have been passed for preventing the obstruction of the channels of our rivers by declaring them public highways. Racquet River from its mouth to Norfolk, and St. Regis from the province line to the east line of Stockholm were so declared April 15, 1810; the Oswegatchie was made a highway April 16, 1816, to Streeter's Mills in Rossie, and its obstruction forbidden under penalty of $100. By a recent act this limit has been extended on the East Branch to Cran- berry Lake. An act was passed April 10, 1850, declaring Racquet River a highway from its mouth to the foot of Racquet Lake in Ham- ilton county, and an appropriation of $10,000 was made to be ex-
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INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS.
pended in removing obstructions and improving the channel, by shut- ting up lost channels and straits around islands, also creating piers, dams and booms.
The want of a cheap and direct communication between the navi- gable waters of the St. Lawrence and the seaboard was felt from the first, but more especially during the War of 1812. Shortly after the close of the war, plans for uniting Lake Champlain with the Connecti- cut River were discussed and attempted.
Judge Raymond and Benjamin Wright, while surveying the country before its settlement, had formed projects for improving the natural channels of the river, and to them belongs the merit of the idea of in- land navigation. A meeting of the citizens of Clinton, Franklin and St. Lawrence counties convened at Ogdensburg August 28, 1823, to adopt measures for a canal to reach Lake Champlain from Ogdensburg. They appointed B. Raymond, of Norfolk; S. Partridge, of Potsdam ; J. A. Vanden Heuvel, of Ogdensburg; William Hogan, of Covington ; Thomas Smith, of Chateaugay ; and Asa Hascall, of Malone, who pre- pared and published a lengthy report for distribution in the sections to be most benefited by the work. The preliminary survey made by Judge Raymond was to use Oswegatchie Natural Canal and Grass River to Canton. The petition and the friendly influences towards these works led to an act for a survey under the direction of the canal com- missioners. The expense was limited to $1,500. The summit was found to be 811 feet above the St. Lawrence at Ogdensburg and 966 feet above Lake Champlain. This work was commended to the Legis- lature by De Witt Clinton in his annual message in 1825, but the work was found to be impracticable and the idea was abandoned.
State Roads .- Attention was early directed towards opening roads from St. Lawrence county to various places in the State. After the State road leading from Ford's Mills on the Oswegatchie to Carthage was authorized and worked, as mentioned in a preceding chapter, vari- ous other roads were built. By an act passed April 1, 1808, a road was made from Canton to Chester in Essex county, the land through which it passed being taxed for the purpose. Further appropriations were made by acts passed in 1810 to 1814. On the 19th of June, 1812, a road was directed to be opened from near the foot of sloop navigation
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HISTORY OF ST. LAWRENCE COUNTY.
on the St. Lawrence to Albany, and again in 1815 a further tax was laid with which a road was opened from Russell southward and made passable for teams, but like the ones before mentioned, it soon fell into decay. A law passed April 5, 1810, imposed a tax on the adjacent land to repair and construct a road from the Northwest Bay to Hopkin- ton. Further tax was laid for the road in 1812 to 1824. The several towns were also to be taxed four years for its support, when it was to be assumed as a highway. In April, 1816, commissioners were ap- pointed to lay out a road from Ogdensburg by way of Hamilton to Massena ; from Massena through Potsdam to Russell; and from there to Columbia village, on to Hamilton, at the expense of the adjacent lands. On the 16th of April, 1827, commissioners were directed to survey and level a route for a road from Lake Champlain to Hopkinton, and in 1829, $25,836 were applied for its construction, and a toll col- lected for its support. In 1833 a line of stages started between Port Kent and Hopkinton. An act passed April 18, 1828, directed a road to be opened from Canton to Antwerp at the expense of the adjacent lands. The first turnpike was made by the St. Lawrence Turnpike Company, incorporated April 5, 1810, which ran from Carthage to Malone ; in 1813 it was relieved from the obligation of finishing it be- yond the line of Bangor. After the war the road was abandoned by the company.
The Ogdensburg Turnpike Company was formed June 8, 1812, was incorporated with $50,000 and built a road from Wilna to Ogdensburg by way of Rossie. In April, 1826, the road was abandoned to the public.
The Parishville Turnpike Company was incorporated February 5, 1813, with a capital of $50,000, running from Ogdensburg through to Canton, and Potsdam to Parishville. In March, 1827, the road was given up to the towns through which it passed. In April, 1831, the part between Ogdensburg and Canton was directed to be improved by a tax upon the three towns of $500 for two years. With this sum and tolls collected for its support, an excellent road was kept up for several years. In 1850 the road was directed to be planked at the expense of the three towns, when at length the route was abandoned to the public.
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INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS.
Plank Roads .- The plank road craze struck St. Lawrence county about the year 1848 and covered all the available territory within a short time. By a special act the Ogdensburg and Heuvelton Plank Road Company with a capital of $5,000 was incorporated, with the privilege of raising their capital to $20,000. The road was opened in September, 1849. The earnings at first were about $2,000 per year. After the first planking gave out the company was permitted to gravel its road bed and thus was enabled to hold its charter until it expired by limitation.
The Gouverneur, Somerville and Antwerp Company was formed under the general law December 30, 1848, and finished its road in 1.850. The length was twelve miles and 124 rods; the capital $13,000. Six miles of this road were in Jefferson county.
The Gouverneur, Richville and Canton Plank Road Company was formed July 6, 1849; length of road sixteen miles; capital $16,000.
The Canton plank road, extending from the village of Canton to the town line of De Kalb, was built under a special act passed March 27, 1849, which authorized a tax on the town of Canton of $6,000 for the first year and $1,500 annually for three successive years after, the road to be owned by the town.
The Canton, Morley and Madrid Plank Road Company was formed in January, 1851, and its road finished in August of that year ; length eleven and a quarter miles.
The Potsdam Plank Road Company was formed October 17, 1850; length of road five miles and 154 rods, from Potsdam village to the Northern Railroad; cost $6,439.43; finished October 8, 185 1.
The Hammond, Rossie and Antwerp Plank Road Company was formed January 13, 1850, and the road finished in December following ; the length twenty miles; capital $35,000. Seven miles of this road were in Jefferson county. The Rossie Hill cut was forty-one feet deep and the deepest rock cut was twenty-two feet.
The Morristown and Hammond Plank Road Company was organized in July, 1851 ; length of road ten miles and a quarter. Capital, $10,- 000; finished in May, 1852. This with the preceding formed a con- tinuous plank road communication with a route leading to Utica, Rome, Watertown, etc., and terminating on the St. Lawrence River in the vil- lage of Morristown.
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HISTORY OF ST. LAWRENCE COUNTY.
The Heuvelton and Canton Falls Plank Road Company, originally organized, had a length of about ten miles; it was continued to the road from Canton to Hermon by the same company, and designed to be continued to Edwards.
The Hermon Plank Road Company was formed March 1, 1851; capital, $4,000 ; length of road four and a half miles, extending from Marshville to the town line of Canton, connecting with Canton Falls road leading to Ogdensburg. It was finished in July, 1852.
Heuvelton and De Kalb Plank Road Company was organized Feb- ruary 6, 1849, the road extending to intersect the Gouverneur and Canton road about three miles east of Richville. Its length was thir- teen miles, to be completed in 1853.
The Norfolk, Raymondville and Massena Plank Road Company was organized February 14, 1851, and the road finished in the following year. Length, ten miles and forty-four chains ; capital, $8,500. It was a continuation of the Potsdam road.
Steamboat Navigation .- Sailing craft had been in use more or less on the river and lakes since the discovery of these waters by Jacques Cartier. The first attempt at steamboating on the river and lakes was made by a company composed of C. Smith, D. Boyd, E. Lusher, A. Van Santvoord, J. I. De Graff, and several others, who made an unsuc- cessful attempt to incorporate the Lake Ontario Steamboat Company with a capital of $200,000. They claimed to have purchased of the heirs of Robert R. Livingston and Robert Fulton the right to the ex- clusive navigation of the St. Lawrence. The Ontario was built in 1816 under the direction of Hunter Crane, one of the owners, the place not stated, but supposed to have been Sackett's Harbor. Her length was II0 feet, width twenty-four feet, depth eight feet, and measured 237 tons. She had one low pressure engine of thirty-four inch cylinder and four feet stroke. She was modeled after the Sea- horse, then run- ning on the Sound near New York. The first trip was made in the latter part of the summer of 1817, and her arrival was celebrated at all the ports on the lakes and river with the most extravagant demonstra- tions of joy, and hailed as a new era to the commerce of our inland seas. In every village that could muster a cannon, and from every steeple that had a bell, went forth a joyous welcome, and crowds of
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INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS.
eager citizens from the adjoining country thronged the shores to salute its arrival. Bonfires and illuminations, the congratulations of friends, and the interchange of hospitalities signalized the event. The trip from Lewiston to Ogdensburg required ten days. The cabin fare was $16; deck fare, $8. The Ontario seldom exceeded five miles an hour. She continued to run on the route till 1832, and was finally broken up at Oswego.
The Frontenac, a British steamer at Kingston, and The- Walk-in- the- Water on Lake Erie followed soon afterward. The Martha Ogden was built at Sackett's Harbor before 1819; she was lost in a gale off Stony Point, but the passengers and crew were saved ; the engine was recovered and placed in the Ontario. The Robins was a schooner built over into a steamer. The Black Hawk was built at at French Creek (now Clayton), was used several seasons as a packet, sold to Canadians, and name changed to the Dolphin. The Paul Pry was built at Heuvelton in 1830, and ran for a time on Black Lake to Rossie. In 1834 she with great difficulty was passed down the Oswe- gatchie to the St. Lawrence and used as a ferry between Prescott and Ogdensburg until the affair at the windmill in 1838, when she became obnoxious to the Canadians, and was run on Black River Bay after- wards. The Lake Ontario Steamboat Company, capital $100,000, was incorporated January 28. 1831, to expire in 1850, having fifteen direc- tors with head offices at Oswego. The company built their first boat, the United States, at Ogdensburg, and launched her in November, 1831. She was finished and made her first trip July 1, 1832, under com- mand of Elias Trowbridge ; length 142 feet ; width twenty-six feet beam, fifty -five feet over all; depth ten feet; engines, two low pressure ones of forty inch cylinder and eight feet stroke ; cost $56,000, and was the finest steamer at the time on the lake; she ran on the through time till 1838, when, having become obnoxious to the Canadians on ac- count of the use made of her in the affair at the windmill, she was run upon the lake only afterwards, and was finally broken up at Oswego in 1843, and her engines transferred to the Rochester. This was the first and only boat owned by this company. The Oswego was built at that place in 1833 of 286 tons; was used several seasons on the through line, when her engine was transferred to the steamer St.
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HISTORY OF ST. LAWRENCE COUNTY.
Lawrence and her hull changed to a sail vessel and shortly after lost. The Brownville was built on Black River, below the village of that name. In moving her down to the St. Lawrence she took fire and was burned. She was afterwards rebuilt and ran a while, and subsequently lengthened at Sackett's Harbor and her name changed to the William Avery, and ran between Ogdensburg and Niagara ; she was dismantled in 1835. The Charles Carroll was built at Sackett's Harbor and ran between Kingston and Rochester in 1834. Afterwards she was length- ened and her name changed to the America, and ran from Ogdensburg to Lewiston. The Jack Downing was a small steamer built at Carthage in 1834, taken to Sackett's Harbor on wheels, launched and fitted up for a ferry, and ran at Waddington, also from Fort Covington to Corn- wall. Her engine was in 1837 transferred to the Henry Burden, a boat on a novel principle, being supported on two hollow cylindrical floats and a wheel between them. It was used a short time on the ferry at Ogdensburg. The Oneida, of 227 tons, was built at Oswego in 1836. She was employed by the government from 1838 to 1840, after which she made regular trips from Ogdensburg to Lewiston until 1845, when her engine was used in the British Queen and her hull fitted up as a sailing vessel. She was lost on Lake Erie. The Telegraph, a steamer of 196 tons, was built near Dexter and came out in the fall of 1836. She was employed by the government in the fall of 1838, the whole season of 1839, and a part of the spring of 1840. The St. Lawrence, of 402 tons, was enrolled at Oswego in 1839, but was rebuilt in 1844 and the tonnage increased to 434 tons, costing $50,000. She was run most of the time on the through line, and dismantled at French Creek in 1851. The George Clinton and the President were small boats, built at Oswego in 1842 ; the former was lost in 1850. The Lady of the Lake, of 432 tons, was built by a company in 1842. She was used on the through lines until 1852, when she was chartered as a ferry in connec- tion with the railroad from Cape Vincent to Kingston. This was the first American boat that had state rooms on the upper deck. The Rochester, built at Oswego in 1843, of 354 tons, was run on the lake and river until 1848, since which she ran from Lewiston to Hamilton. The Niagara, of 473 tons, built at French Creek in 1845; length 182 feet ; beam twenty-seven and a half feet; total breadth forty- seven feet ; hold
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INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS.
seven and a half feet. Her engine was forty inch cylinders, eleven feet stroke ; wheels thirty feet in diameter. The British Queen was built on Long Island, opposite Kingston, in 1846, using the Oneida's engine. The British Empire was built at the same place. The Cataract came out in July, 1837 ; her tonnage 577 ; length of keel 202 feet ; breadth of beam over all forty-eight feet ; forty-four inch cylinders, and eleven feet stroke, and cost $60,000. The Ontario was built in 1847 ; length of keel 222 feet ; deck 233 feet, and over all 24012 feet ; breadth of beam over all fifty-four feet eight inches ; depth of hold twelve feet ; cylinders fifty inches, and eleven feet stroke ; tonnage 900 ; cost $80,- 000. Bay State came out in 1849; tonnage 935 ; length 222 feet ; breadth of beam over all fifty-eight feet; depth in hold twelve feet ; cylinders fifty-six inches; eleven feet stroke ; wheels thirty- two feet in diameter. The Northerner was built at Oswego and came out in May, 1850 ; has a tonnage of 965 ; length 232 feet; beam over all fifty-eight feet ; depth of hold twelve and a half feet ; cylinders sixty inches with eleven feet stroke, and cost $95,000. The New York was the largest American steamer on the lake. She was built and came out in August, 1852, with R. B. Chapman, master ; cost $100,000; tonnage 994 ; length 224 feet ; beam over all sixty-four feet ; cylinders sixty inches, with twelve feet stroke, and wheels thirty-four feet diameter. There were also built and run on the river and lake the John Marshal, Utica, Caroline, Prescott, Swan, Express, Gleaner, and a few others, mostly small. It is a singular fact that since the first steamer was started on the line in 1816, down for forty years, not a single accident has ever oc- curred on any American steamer on the lake or river which has caused the death or injury of a passenger. This is not due to chance so much as to skillful management.
Marine Railway .- The want of some convenience to take vessels and steamers out of the river for repairs had long been felt, but no definite action had been taken until the 29th of September, 1852, when a party of Ogdensburg capitalists met and organized a company named "The Ogdensburg Marine Railway," with a capital of $15,000, to be enlarged at pleasure. The following officers were then chosen: Henry Van Rensselaer, E. N. Fairchild, E. S. Allen, Edwin Clark and Allen Cheney, trustees ; H. Van Rensselaer, president; W. B. Allen, secre-
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HISTORY OF ST. LAWRENCE COUNTY.
tary. The plan for the machinery was made, and the materials re- quired gathered during the winter, and work was begun early in the following spring. The plant is situated on the bank of the St. Law- rence, about half a mile above the mouth of the Oswegatchie River at the southwest corner of the city limits. The bank is low and gradually slopes into the water, which is sufficiently deep a short distance from the shore to float the largest vessel on the lakes. The plant was fin- ished in the fall of 1853, and was of sufficient capacity to take out the largest vessel then made or likely to be made. Connected with the railway is an extensive shipyard, with all the necessary shops and ap- purtenances for building and repairing all classes of craft. The com- pany operated the plant successfully until 1860, when it was leased to E. B. Allen & Son, who continued building boats and propellers for two years The property was then sold to H. C. Pearson, who oper- ated it until 1870, when it was again sold to the Northern Transporta- tion Company. This company built a number of their large propellers there, and repaired vessels of all kinds, doing a good business until they went into bankruptcy about the year 1879. The works were run on repairs only until they were burned in the fall of 1883. In 1884 a stock company was formed under the name of the St. Lawrence Marine Rail- way Company, with a capital stock of $25,000. The property of the old company was purchased, the plant rebuilt, and it has since contin- ued to do repairing of all kinds.
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