Our county and its people : a memorial record of St. Lawrence County, New York, Part 45

Author: Curtis, Gates
Publication date: 1894
Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y. : D. Mason
Number of Pages: 1328

USA > New York > St Lawrence County > Our county and its people : a memorial record of St. Lawrence County, New York > Part 45
USA > New York > St Lawrence County > Our county and its people: a memorial record of St. Lawrence County, New York > Part 45

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

485

THE TOWN OF POTSDAM.

or two other unimportant changes in the firm the establishment came into the sole ownership of Elliott Fay, who conducted the business until May 13, 1891, when he associated with himself his son, Ernest A. Fay, under the style of Elliott Fay & Son. The paper is now a large nine- column folio, and is devoted to Republican politics.

The St. Lawrence Herald .- This paper was started in January, 1878, by William M. Hawkins & Son (Watson S. Hawkins), as a temperance advocate. It was soon afterward changed in character to a local Re- publican journal, and in October, 1881, was sold to Rollin E. Sumner. He has conducted the business and edited the paper ever since, and with gratifying success. Beginning with about 1,000 subscribers, it has steadily increased in circulation until at present there are printed from 2,000 to 3,000 copies, while the editorial conduct has merited the re- spect of the public.

The Potsdam Recorder .- This journal was established at Hermon, under the name of the Hermon Recorder, in 1886, by P. L. Doyle. After six years of successful publication in that village, the establish- ment was removed to Potsdam in October, 1892, and the name changed to its present form. The business is now conducted by Mr. Doyle and B. G. Parker, editor of the Gouverneur Free Press. The Recorder is a four page paper, twenty-eight by forty four inches, and aims to be in- dependent on all public questions.

Reading Room .- A movement was inaugurated in 1887 for the es- tablishment of a free reading room and library in Potsdam. Its direc- tion was placed with Thomas S. Clarkson, Timothy O'Brien and George H. Sweet. After the preliminaries were settled and a liberal fund se- cured by subscription, the two stores on the ground floor of the Albion Hotel building were leased for a term of three years from March I, 1887, at $500 annually. The rooms were opened to the public April 16, leading periodicals were provided, and the attendance was encour- aging from the beginning. The expenses for the first year were about $1,500. The institution continued with increasing attendance during the second and third years and was so encouraging to those whose lib- erality had supported it, that the rooms were leased for a second term of three years. The benefits conferred upon the community by this institution are incalculable, and promise to be permanent.

486

HISTORY OF ST. LAWRENCE COUNTY.

Schools and Academy .- It is believed that the first school taught in the town was by Howard J. Pierce, on the North Canton road ; Mr. Pierce was one of the early purchasers of land. In the summer of 1810 Judge Raymond built a frame building, twenty-four by thirty-six feet, between what is now Main and Elm streets, a little east of Market street, which he intended should be used for both church and school purposes. It had a porch and a small bell, and as the question of having an acad- emy here had by that time received some discussion, this building often was called the academy. At that time no regular school organization existed in the town. This building was used for private and district schools until the organization of the old academy. Acting under the law passed in 1812, the electors of Potsdam assembled in special town meeting at the academy on the Ist day of September, 1813, and chose Benjamin Raymond, Gurdon Smith and Howard J. Pierce as commis- sioners of common schools. At the same time they elected four in- spectors of common schools : James Johnson, Liberty Knowles, Thomas Swift and Sylvester Bacon. Since the first division of the town into school districts there have been many changes. There are now thirty- three districts in the town. District No 17 has the school building on Market street ; No. 8 in the new building on Main street, and No. 30 on the west side of the river. Other schools will be noticed in the ac- count of Norwood.

The discussion of the project of having an academy in Potsdam, stim- ulated, doubtless, by the erection of the building before mentioned, by Judge Raymond, at last bore fruit. When it was finally decided to make the effort a subscription was started and a liberal sum secured during the War of 1812-14. Benjamin Raymond subscribed for a hundred shares of ten dollars each, including the building he had al- ready erected, with the lot on which it stood, and Liberty Knowles, Asel Lyman, Samuel Pease, Robert McChesney, Benjamin Burton, Anthony Y. Elderkin, Joseph P. Reynolds, William Smith, James Johnson, R. Taylor, Pierce Shepard, Lemuel Pinney, John Burroughs, Sewall Raymond, David Parish, and Jacob Redington each took ten shares. Eighteen others took lesser amounts, making in all 312 shares -$3, 120. In the month of January, 1813, a petition was sent to the Legislature for an act of incorporation, but nothing was accomplished

487

THE TOWN OF POTSDAM.

at that time. The incorporation was effected in 1816, with the follow- ing as the trustees : Benjamin Raymond, Liberty Knowles, Pierce Shepard, Asel Lyman, Joseph P. Reynolds, Sewall Raymond, Robert McChesney, David Parish, Nathan Ford, Louis Hasbrouck, Roswell Hopkins. Russell Atwater, and Ebenezer Hulburd. Benjamin Ray- mond was the first president of the board and held the office until 1819. He was succeeded by Liberty Knowles, who held the office until his death in 1839.

By the act of incorporation the lands in Potsdam reserved for literary purposes were transferred to the trustees, with power to lease, but not to sell them. At the first meeting of the trustees in September, 1816, they directed the clerk to lease the land in lots of sixty acres or less for a term of fourteen years, for a peck of wheat per acre, after the first two years. But even at this low rental it was almost impossible to find men who would clear the land under those conditions. At the same meeting a precepter was employed at $428 a year, and prices of tuition in the several branches were fixed Nathan Dixon, a graduate of Middlebury College, Vermont, was the first preceptor ; he began in the fall of 1816, but remained only one year. He and his successors for nine years taught in the building erected and donated by Mr. Ray- mond. Mr. Dixon had forty-two students. After he left the school was closed two years, when Levi S. Ives was employed and remained two years. He was succeeded by Charles Orvis, who remained one year, and was followed by Rev. Daniel Banks. He was a successful teacher, and under his administration of about five years the academy acquired a high reputation. In April, 1825, the Legislature appropri- ated $2,500 to the academy, on condition that a brick or stone edifice should be erected on ground owned by the trustees. In the same month the commissioners of highways were authorized to convey, and soon did so, a suitable lot to the trustees out of land granted by the original proprietors to the town for public purposes. The trustees then pro- ceeded to erect a stone building facing the public square, and on the site of the present north wing of the Normal School building. The cornerstone was laid by Harmony Lodge of Masons, June 1, 1825. The building was of Potsdam sandstone, sixty- eight by thirty-six feet in size, with three stories and a basement, a cupola and belfry. The

488

HISTORY OF ST. LAWRENCE COUNTY.

cost was $4,000, the surplus over the $2,500 given by the State being contributed by citizens. The building was erected by Samuel Partridge, under direction of Liberty Knowles, John C. Smith, and Joseph P. Reynolds, and was finished the same year. Soon afterward the old academy was sold to the Presbyter an church.

Rev. Mr. Banks died in 1827. and the school for the year was finished by his assistant, Joseph Hopkins. In the following year the Legislature authorized the sale of the "literature lot," the proceeds to be invested in a fund, the interest only of which was to be applied to the payment of teachers ; this was accordingly done. In the beginning of the same year Asa Brainerd, a graduate of the University of Vermont, was em - ployed as principal, and held the position until the summer of 1847, nearly twenty years. During this long period the school was exceed- ingly prosperous, and in 1835 it was designated by the Regents of the University as one of the institutions to which State aid should be given for the instruction of common school teachers. In consequence of this action the town petitioned the Legislature for an act, which was passed, imposing on the town a tax of $500 in 1836, and the same in 1837, to help in the construction of another building. The new struc- ture was erected in 1836, near the other and facing the square from the east, leaving the church between the two academy buildings. This building was seventy-six by thirty-six feet and four stories high, and built of the Potsdam sandstone, and cost $5,200. The school con- tinued to prosper and was considerably extended, and thenceforward about one hundred teachers were fitted annually to teach in the com- mon schools. In 1847 Mr. Brainerd resigned and was succeeded by William H. Parker, who remained two years, and was followed by William F. Bascom. He remained until 1852, and was succeeded by Rev. E. W. Plumb, D.D., who continued as principal until 1864, with the exception of one year, 1855, when H. B Bucknam acted in the position. George H Sweet served as principal from 1865 to the clos- ing of the academy. In 1867 the trustees conveyed all the property to the State, in trust for the new Normal and Training School, and in the spring of 1868 the two stone structures were removed to make a site for the new building. The academy, as a school, was removed across the square to the old Methodist church, and continued until

489

THE TOWN OF POTSDAM.

April, 1869, when the academic department of the Normal School was established and the old historical institution went out of existence.

STATE NORMAL SCHOOL OF POTSDAM.

The State Normal School at Albany was established in 1844, and until 1861 it remained the only school supported by the State for the education of its common school teachers. In 1861 another school of like character was established at Oswego. Their graduates demon- strating that special training for their important work enabled them the better to perform it, a public sentiment was soon created in favor of the normal system. The War of the Rebellion for a time turned the thought and energies of the people in another direction, and for four years no new normal school were organized. But April 7, 1866, the Legislature, upon the recommendation of Victor M. Rice, superintendent of public instruction, passed chapter 466, laws of 1866, naming the governor, lieutenant-governor, secretary of state, the comptroller, the state treasurer, the attorney-general, and the superintendent of public instruction, as a commission " to receive proposals in writing in regard to the establishment of normal and training schools for the education and discipline of teachers for the common schools of this State, from the Board of Supervisors of any county, from the corporate authorities of any city or village, from the Board of Trustees of any college or academy, and from one or more individuals." The commission was given the power to locate within the State four additional normal schools. The act provided for the appointment by the state superintendent of public instruction of a local board, which should have the immediate supervision and management of any school so located. The act con- templated that these schools would be deemed of such special impor- tance to the place where they might be located, that different localities would compete with each other in offering to supply the necessary site, buildings, furniture, and apparatus for their use.

This theory proved correct, and a lively competition was elicited. One of the first places to realize the importance of such an institution was Potsdam. For half a century St. Lawrence Academy had been maintained here, as before described, and had a name and reputation

490

HISTORY OF ST. LAWRENCE COUNTY.

as broad as the continent. It had, from its organization in 1816, edu- cated a large number of teachers for the common schools.

Early in the summer of 1866 the Board of Trustees of the academy passed a resolution tendering to the State Normal School Commission the grounds, buildings, library and apparatus belonging to that institu- tion for the use of a normal school, if located at Potsdam. At that time General E. A. Merritt was a member of the staff of Governor Fenton. He had assisted Superintendent Rice in procuring the passage of the normal school bill, was quick to realize the importance to any locality of securing such a school, was probably the first to suggest that Pots- dam might secure one of the four prizes permitted by the bill, and labored zealously and indefatigably until the end was accomplished.

Henry A. Watkins and Charles O. Tappan, president and secretary of the Board of Trustees, were among the most active promoters of this enterprise, and caused petitions to be circulated in the principal towns of St. Lawrence county, asking that efforts be made to locate a. normal school at Potsdam. At a special meeting of the Board of Supervisors, held June 19, 1866, the board pledged the payment by the county of the sum of $10,000, to be used in establishing said school at Potsdam, and the village of Potsdam, at a special corporation meeting, pledged $12,000 more. It its annual meeting, November 19, 1866, the Board of Supervisors voted $25,000 for the same purpose. This was subsequently modified so as to rescind the former resolution of $10,000, leaving $25,000 as the whole amount contributed by the county. Soon after this action was taken the Normal School Commission officially announced that it would locate one of the schools at Potsdam upon the condition that the sum of $72,000, in addition to the property donated by St. Lawrence Academy, should be raised to construct the necessary buildings, etc. The amount was much larger than was supposed to be needed, and must be raised by a fixed date. People in other parts of the county opposed the appropriation made by the Board of Super- visors, and for a time the success of the project seemed in doubt. The friends of the proposed school used their utmost endeavors to overcome the arguments and efforts of its opponents, who many times seemed likely to succeed, but at last all opposition was defeated. December 19, 1866, at a special town meeting, the citizens of Potsdam nobly

n.B. Stowell.

491

THE TOWN OF POTSDAM.

came to the rescue and voted the sum of $35,000 to complete the necessary amount to secure the school. The Presbyterian church lot was purchased for $10,000, with the academy lot and the $72,000 which had been pledged, as above mentioned, less the amount to be paid for the church lot, was tendered to the Normal School Commission and accepted by it, and the school located at Potsdam.

January 23, 1867, chapter 6 of the laws of that year was passed, which imposed taxes upon the county of St. Lawrence, the town of Potsdam, and the village of Potsdam to raise the money donated by them respectively, and created a commission, consisting of Bloomfield Usher, T. Streatfield Clarkson 2d, Hiram H. Peck, Henry Watkins, Erasmus D. Brooks and Charles Cox, to prepare and improve the lands donated, provide suitable buildings thereon, and furnish proper appa - ratus, books and furniture for the school. Bloomfield Usher declined to act as a member of the commission, and Charles O. Tappan was ap- pointed in his place by the other commissioners, by virtue of authority given them under the act. The moneys were raised by tax, and turned over to the commission and expended by it for the purposes mentioned in the act.

On the 29th of November, 1867, a contract was entered into with -

Joseph N. Greene for the construction of the buildings. On the 24th of June, 1868, the corner stone was laid with imposing ceremonies by the F. and A. Masons of the county, G. B. Winslow acting as Grand Master Mason of the State of New York, and in the course of that sea- son the buildings were erected. April 27, 1869, the school was organ- ized and commenced in the buildings provided for it, with Malcolm Mc Vicar as principal. Dr. T. B. Stowell came to the school in 1890.

Members of the local board of the State Normal School of Potsdam from the date of its location ; the first since the original board appointed by Superintendent V. M. Rice, August 10, 1867 :

Henry Watkins, president, appointed August 10, 1867, deceased ; Charles O. Tappan, secretary, appointed August 10, 1867, resigned January 23, 1878 ; * Dr. Jesse Reynolds, appointed August 10, 1867; Ebenezer Fisher, appointed August 10, 1867, deceased ; *John I. Gilbert, appointed August 10, 1867 ; R. G. Pettibone, appointed August 10, 1867, resigned July 3, 1890; Noble S. Elderkin, appointed August 10, 1867, resigned December 31, 1875; A. W. Deming, appointed August 10, 1867, resigned August 14, 1873; Abraham X. Parker, appointed August 10, 1867, resigned January 12, 1882 ; *Edwin A. Merritt, president, appointed August 14, 1873 ; William H. Wallace, ap-

492

HISTORY OF ST. LAWRENCE COUNTY.

pointed December 31, 1875, resigned May 6, 1878; * George Z. Erwin, treasurer, ap- pointed January 23, 1878; William A. Poste, appointed May 6, 1878, resigned July 3, 1890 ; * Absalom G. Gaines, appointed June 4, 1879; * John G. McIntyre, secretary, appointed January 12, 1882 ; * George H. Sweet, appointed July 3, 1890; William R. Weed, appointed July 3, 1890 ; * John A. Vance, appointed July 1, 1891.

Those marked with an * are members of the present board.

The State Normal and Training School at Potsdam is a finely con- structed building. The brown stone from the neighboring quarry has been utilized to make a very handsome structure. It stands in the center of a large block, and a beautiful campus covered with shade trees stretches before it.

It is a three story and basement building, containing every appliance and convenience for the instruction of the pupils. Upon the roof is a cupola which contains a deep toned bell by which the pupils are ad- monished as to their hours for study, the sessions of the school, bed time, etc. In shape it is a somewhat modified T.

Upon the lower floor are the principal's office, the faculty room, re- ception room, janitor's apartments, the offices of the principals of the primary and intermediate departments, and the class rooms of the training school. In the body of the T, on the second floor, is the assembly room of the normal department, an ample and well lighted hall. On this floor also are many class rooms, the office of the pre- ceptress, and the libraries; of these there are two, the text book and the reference library. The third floor contains the piano department, the museum, and several society class rooms.

The buildings are heated by steam and hot air, and there is a fair system of ventilation, but not a thoroughly satisfactory one by any means. The basement is dry, cemented, and suitable for manual train- ing rooms, if such are ever needed. The boilers are in a separate building.

The extreme measurements are: length of front, 232 feet ; depth, 180 feet. The body of the T is forty-five feet in width, while the other divisions average thirty-six feet.

RELIGIOUS SOCIETIES.

The early settlers of Potsdam were religiously inclined. Judge Ray- mond, the pioneer settler, conducted religious services in his home on

493

THE TOWN OF POTSDAM.

the Sabbath for the benefit of his neighbors. The community, later known as the " Union," who settled in the town in 1804, formed a society in 1806, and later, in 1815, an organization was effected by Bela Palmer, which included most of the Union members, who were of a Unitarian cast, became quite numerous at one time, and continued its organization for a number of years. The congregational mission- ary, Amos Pettengill, with others, held services in the settlement as early as 1806, which were continued from time to time. and culminated in the formation of a society. A few years later the society was organ- ized into a Congregational church. A council was called consisting of Rev. A. Pettengill, of Champlain ; Rev. A. Parmele, of Malone ; Rev. E. Wright, of Russell; J. Winchester, of Madrid, and Amasa Blanchard and Salmon Gray, delegates from Hopkinton. The church was duly organized on June 9, 1811, by the assistance of Rev. William Wright and Rev. James Johnson, with twenty members. Rev. James John- son became their first pastor, and was installed the following spring. Regular services were held in school-houses, and the church prospered for a number of years.

St. Paul's Church Society .- A Presbyterian branch was formed Au- gust 14, 18II, with Liberty Knowles, J. P. Reynolds, and Azel Ly- man, trustees. This society united with the congregational body in holding meetings, congregating in school-houses, and often in the Ray- mond building, called the old academy, that they became known as the Congregational Presbyterian Church. At length, exceptions hav- ing been taken at the name St. Paul's Church Society, and a desire to forin a union of the two bodies, when a general meeting was called for that purpose on the 16th of December, 1820. After due consultation as to the benefits of a union, a vote was taken, when the St. Paul's Society, being a trifle more numerous, the name of Presbyterian was carried and adopted by both societies. Hence the First Presbyterian Society of Potsdam dates its organization, and a frame church was erected at a cost of $4,500. The fall and winter of 1826-27 were periods of unusual religious interest, and the membership of the united bodies was greatly increased. In 1853 a brick church was erected on the old grounds (now part of the Normal School) at a cost of $10,000. In 1868 the property was sold to the commissioners of the Normal

494

HISTORY OF ST. LAWRENCE COUNTY.

School for $10,000, and in 1867 the present beautiful stone structure was erected at the intersection of St. Lawrence and Elm streets, at a cost of $37,000. The Rev. George O. Phelps is their present pastor.

The First Methodist Church .- A station of the St. Lawrence Circuit was organized in Potsdam in November, 1820, and an ancient record states that " Brothers Powell, Miles, Denning and Clark " joined on trial on the day of organization, and were received into full communion the next spring There had been Methodist preaching here probably ten years prior to the above date. Josiah Keyes and William W. Randall were preachers on this circuit at the time in question. In 1821 a small frame church was erected which now serves the village as " Firemen's Hall," on June 21, 1821, and dedicated before its entire completion, on the 22d day of January, 1822, the first church dedication in town. Potsdam Circuit was formed in 1823 with two classes, one of them being in the village. This church became an independent station prior to 1833, and in 1835 had 130 members-eleven classes which extended over a considerable tract. The first church was re- paired and enlarged in 1844. In 1859-60 the present brick church was erected at a cost of about $10,000. In 1882, during the pastorate of Rev. J. C. Darling, its present parsonage was built, refurnished, etc., at a cost of $3,500, and in 1883 over $4,000 were expended in renovating and repairing the church. The present membership (1893) is 320.

First Baptist Church .- This church was organized January 9, 1824, with thirteen members, viz. ; John Tickenor and wife, Norman Clin - ton and wife, Henry Myers and wife, Charles Grandy and wife, Silas Taft and wife, Josiah Doolittle, Phoebe Collins, and Rowena Fobes. The first deacons were Norman Clinton and Josiah Doolittle and the first pastor, R. Batchelor. The society was feeble for a number of years and had no house of worship until 1858, when a society was incorpo- rated and a frame church erected on Elm street at a cost of $5, 100. This was improved in 1875 at an expense of $2,500. Rev. A. L. Fox is the present pastor. The present membership is 168 and the Sunday school has an average attendance of ninety pupils; the super- intendent of the Sunday school is F. F. Flint. The parsonage on Elm street was erected by the society in 1867.

495

THE TOWN OF POTSDAM.

Universalist Church .- The earliest record we have of the formation of the Universalist Society was at a meeting called January 3, 1824, and was incorporated October 2, 1825, with James Whitcomb, Asher Brown, and Stewart Bannister, trustees. The early efforts failed to secure the means for building a church until 1832, the meetings being previously held in the old academy. A committee was then appointed, who in 1835-36 erected a small wooden church edifice. Rev. Jona- than Wallace was the first pastor, who was followed by Rev. William H. Waggoner, and he by Rev. Jonathan Douglass. The church was reorganized January 17, 1852, with twenty-four members, and Joseph Miller, Timothy Bacon, Solomon Parmeter and John Lucas, trustees. There were several reorganizations from that time until 1859, when the number of trustees was changed to five. In 1874 there was a marked revival of interest, and twenty-three new members were added to the church. In 1876-77 an elegant and substantial edifice was erected on the site of the old one, built of Potsdam sandstone, forty- five by sixty- five feet in size, and cost about $13,000, aside from the ground. Since the reorganization of the church in 1852 the pastors have been U. M. Fish, E. Fisher, M. Goodrich, Frank M. Hicks, Moses Marston, E. Hathaway, A. U. Hutchins, O. A. Rounds, E. J. Chaffee, Francis E. Webster, and the present pastor, W. O. Tuttle. The present Board of Trustees are General E. A. Merritt, William S. Brown, Merrill Hosmer, Dr. Oliver Bliss, and Chapin W. Hazelton.

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Our county and its people : a memorial record of St. Lawrence County, New York, Part 45

Author: Curtis, Gates Publication date: 1894 Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y. : D. Mason Number of Pages: 1328

Author: Curtis, Gates
Publication date: 1894
Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y. : D. Mason
Number of Pages: 1328