USA > New York > St Lawrence County > Our county and its people : a memorial record of St. Lawrence County, New York > Part 66
USA > New York > St Lawrence County > Our county and its people: a memorial record of St. Lawrence County, New York > Part 66
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The first town meeting was held in a school house owned by the Clif- ton Iron Company, in accordance with the provision of the act, on the first Tuesday in June, 1868, and the following officers elected : Justice, Eneas Ingerson ; assessor and collector, John Negus; constables, John Baker and Alexander Ellwood ; poormaster, Wm. R. Bishop; inspec- tors of election, Walter Robb, P. H. Kennedy, and Wm. R. Bishop.
On account of a tie vote a full board of officers was not elected, and on June 30, 1868, a meeting was held for the appointment of the re- maining officers. The following justices were present at the meeting : Benjamin Smith and Wm. E. Boyd, of Russell ; and Eneas Ingerson, of Clifton. They appointed the following officers: Charles C. Snell, supervisor ; Hugh M. Gordon, town clerk ; Charles C. Snell, Wm. D. Murray, and Chas. R. Brundage, justices ; John Lalancett and Chas. R. Brundage, commissioners of high ways.
The first white settlers in the town were brought in by the Clifton Iron Company in 1866, to work their iron mines The first to take up farms were Joseph Carlyle and Charles Gotham in 1866, and the first frame house was built in that year. The first saw mill was also built in that year on Grass River near the furnace, having fifty feet head and fall. The first iron furnace was built by the Clifton Iron Company in
90
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HISTORY OF ST. LAWRENCE COUNTY.
1866, and was operated until 1870, when it was shut down on account of business depression. The operations of the company were confined largely to the production of iron from the ore which is found in large quantities on or near the surface of the ground of the magnetic charac- ter.
In the mean time a large quantity of iron was made. The company built a wooden railroad from East De Kalb to their mines, which was completed in 1865, but proved a failure. There is a small village at the furnace called Clarksboro, from which the post-office is named. The first stores were kept by H. M. Gordon (who now keeps a hotel), Hub- bard & Snell, and Charles R. Thompson & Co. The first hotel was kept by Guy Dunham. The first blacksmith shop was built by the Myres Steel and Wire Company. The first physician was Dr. L. B. Baker. There has always been a good school kept most of the years since the district was organized.
The plant passed to the Clifton Mining Company, and within the past five years extensive operations have gone forward for the production of iron at what are known as Benson's mines, from the name of the proprietors. The business has been carried on by the Magnetic Iron Ore Company. Just at the present time operations here are suspended, but it is believed they will be resumed. Around the mines a little ham- let has sprung up, which is situated on the line of the Carthage and Adirondack Railroad ; this road has in 1893 passed into control of the New York Central. A post-office named "Benson's Mines " exists, with H. E. Esler as postmaster. Charles Bellinger and the Iron Com- pany have stores here and a hotel is kept. There are also two saw mills, operated by James Rhodes and William Humes. The only other hamlet in the town is Clarksborough, which is a post-office. Alva Al. len is postmaster and a merchant, and Charles Burt conducts a hotel. There is no organized church of any kind, but religious services are fre- quently held in the school house by the Methodists, and occasionally by others.
The supervisors of the town from its organization to the present, with years of service, are as follows :
Frank S. Bond, 1869 ; C. R. Thompson, 1870 ; James Sheridan, 1871-82; Charles R. Brundage, 1883-86 ; James Sheridan, 1888-91 ; Charles R. Brundage, 1892-93 ; James L. Humes, 1894,
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THE TOWN OF CLARE.
CHAPTER LI.
THE TOWN OF CLARE-ORGANIZED IN 1880.
T HIS was the thirty- first town erected, which was authorized by the Board of Supervisors, December 2, 1880, pursuant to Chapter 194, laws of 1849, an act amendatory thereto, section 1, All that part of Pierrepont, in the county, known as the township of Clare, situated be- tween Pierrepont, Clifton, Russell and Colton, containing 30,295 acres. The first town meeting was ordered to be held at the school house in said territory, nearest the dwelling of George Billings, on the second Thursday of February, 1881, and William Dean, James Colton, and Franklin Gill were appointed to preside at the meeting, when a full set of town officers were elected. The new town was to assume and pay a proportionate share of the indebtedness then existing in the town of Pierrepont, and all the funds of said town unappropriated at this date of organization shall be proportionally divided.
Most of the history of Clare previous to the date of its erection is comprised in the town from which it was taken. A large part of Clare is still forest covered, and in the southeastern part it is hilly and moun- tainous. A road extends along the western part north and south, and on this most of the earlier settlers lived. Two branches of the Grass River flow across the town, and a tributary drains Horse Shoe Pond, which is nearly in the center of the town. There is almost no business of any kind carried on within the town limits, nor is there, so far as known, a church organization. Among those who have lived in the town are C. Fountain, J. Fountain, W. H. Brown, H. Gallinger, J. Er- win, J. Bartleman, E. Martin, C. Dewey, L. and C. Simmons, A. H. Griswold, N. Isham, H. Sharpstine, G. Billings, H. Barber, and others of later times. The only post office is Clare, where there is a little ham- let ; Mrs. H. C. Miles is postmistress and has a small mercantile busi- ness, as also has Matthew Bird. There are four school districts in the
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HISTORY OF ST. LAWRENCE COUNTY.
town. There were but nineteen votes polled at the fall election of 1881, and in 1882 there were forty-five votes cast.
The supervisors of the town have been as follows :
1881-86, Franklin Gill; 1887-88, Charles H. Isham ; 1898-91, James Colton; 1892- 94, John Bird.
Following are the officers of the town for 1893 :
Supervisor, John Bird; clerk, Luther J. Adamson ; assessors, William Bird, Charles Isham, and Mathew Farley ; justices, Munson W. Russell, Alfred H. Dewey, William M. Dean, and John Bird; commissioner of highways, Charles Isham ; collector, Jere- miah Leyhan.
ADDENDA.
[Omitted from history of Lisbon.]-St. Philip and James Catholic Church was erected of brick in the summer of 1874 at Lisbon Centre, at a cost of $3,500. The first trustees were Bishop Wadhams, Rev. James Mackey, V. G., and Rev. E. O. Hare (pastor) of Ogdensburg, also John McCarrier and Owen Meehan, laymen of Lisbon.
The membership is about 200, who are supplied by Father Varrelly, of Madrid, most of the time.
[Bench and Bar.]-J. M. Kellogg was born in Cortland county, N. Y., August 28, 1851. He was educated in the common schools in Cin- cinnatus and at Cazenovia Seminary, then taking a course in Cornell University and a law course in the Albany Law School, where he grad- uated LL.B. in 1873. In 1874 he began the practice of his profession in Ogdensburg as partner with Stillman Foote, which partnership con- tinued until 1883, the date of Mr. Foote's death. In 1881 Mr. Kellogg was elected city recorder, and was appointed county judge by Gover- nor Cornell in January, 1882. He still holds the office of county judge. In 1875 Judge Kellogg married Henrietta Guest Matthews. They have one son, Walter Guest Kellogg. Judge Kellogg is vice- president of the Ogdensburg National Bank.
E. L. Strong was born in Detroit, Mich., December 17, 1859. He was educated in Ogdensburg, and studied law here in the office of A.
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ADDENDA.
E. Smith. In 1882 he was admitted to the bar and has practiced in this city since that time. He has been United States commissioner since 1885. Mr. Strong's mother was Elizabeth Fine, daughter of Judge Fine. His father was Edward K. Strong.
Nathaniel Wells was born in Pierrepont, August 26, 1837, and was educated in the Canton Academy. He studied law with W. H. Saw- yer, of Canton, and was admitted to the bar in 1859. In 1869 he came to Ogdensburg and has conducted a law practice here since that time. In 1862 he married Tirzah C. Flack. They have two sons: Leslie Wells and J. F. Wells, the former an attorney and partner with his father in the firm of Wells & Wells.
Frank L. Bell, born in Crown Point, Essex county, N. Y., October 8, 1867. Parents were Philo H. and Elizabeth (Bemis) Bell. Early edu- cation at Sherman Academy, Moriah, N. Y., afterwards Middlebury Col- lege, Vt. Read law with Waldo & Mclaughlin, Port Henry, one year, and in 1891 entered the office of Swift & Sanford, Potsdam. Admitted to the bar in December, 1894, and at once entered into partnership with Theodore H. Swift, which partnership still continues under the title of Swift & Bell. Married, February 14, 1894.
William M. Hawkins, of Potsdam, born in Vienna, Oneida county, July 8, 1852. 'Parents were Rev. William H. and Prudence (Miles) Hawkins. Early education at Potsdam State Normal School and Michi- gan University at Ann Arbor. Graduated in 1875. Read law with Hon. John A. Vance and Judge Henry L. Knowles, of Potsdam. Ad- mitted to the bar in 1879. Was in partnership with William H. Faulk- ner about one year, until Mr. Faulkner's death in 1881. Since then he has practiced his profession alone. He has been justice of the peace of the town of Potsdam two consecutive terms and declined a third nomi- nation. He served as one of the trustees of the village in 1881. Mr. Hawkins has taken a prominent part in politics of the county, and is an earnest and forcible speaker on the Republican side.
Edward A. Everett, was born in the town of Lawrence, September 18, 1860, son of George and Mary (Abram) Everet. He received his education at Lawrenceville Academy, the State Normal School at Pots- dam, and pursued his legal studies at Albany Law School. He read
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HISTORY OF ST. LAWRENCE COUNTY.
law in the office of Dart & Erwin, was admitted to the bar in 1889, and formed a partnership with William A. Dart. Since the death of Mr. Dart in 1890, Mr. Everett has continued the practice of law alone, al- though associated at times with Hon. George Z. Erwin. Mr. Everett is a Republican in politics. He was married, December 28, 1890, to Susan T. Weed, daughter of W. W. Weed of Potsdam, and they have one child, a daughter.
A. Z. Squires, Canton, was born in Canton, May 17, 1847, and was educated at St. Lawrence University. He was mathematical professor in his alma mater for eight years. He studied law in the offices of Mr. Sawyer and Judge Russell and was admitted to the bar in 1869. He was special surrogate for ten years. In 1874 he married Emma M. Moxley. They have one son, Robert Squires.
James F. Aiken was born in Ogdensburg, February 5, 1869, and was educated in the schools of the city. He studied law with Mr. O'Brien and L. Hasbrouck. In the spring of 1892 he entered the law school of Albany, N. Y., was admitted to the bar May 10, 1893, and graduated on the 17th following, and has since followed his profession in Ogdens- burg. In the fall of 1893 he was nominated for district attorney by the Democratic convention. He was five years in the 35th Separate Com- pany, and is now a member of the 40th, just organized.
James H. Martin was born in the town of Waddington, September II, 1863. He attended the public schools and during vacations assisted his father on the farm. He completed his education at the St. Law- rence University at Canton, and graduated in the class of 1890. He studied law with C. A. Kellogg, was admitted to the bar in September, 1892, and commenced the practice of law in Ogdensburg. Mr. Martin was a delegate to the Democratic State convention at Saratoga in 1891, was elected city recorder for two years in May, 1893, and the following fall he was the Democratic candidate for member of assembly. His father, Patrick Martin, died about fourteen years ago, leaving him alone to work his way up to his present position. His mother now resides with him in Ogdensburg.
Charles G. Idler was born in Ogdensburg, February 3, 1850, and was educated in the schools of the city. He studied law with Brown &
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ADDENDA.
Hasbrouck, and was admitted to the bar in 1871. He opened an office in Ogdensburg, where he has followed his profession most of the time since. He has been a member of the board of education for the past nine years, is now supervisor of the Second ward, an office which he has filled for several terms, and was special deputy collector in the cus- tom house here for two years, under Cleveland's first term.
Martin O'Brien was born in Ogdensburg, December 6, 1852, and was educated in the public schools and the academy in this city. He studied law in the office of Hon. D. Magone, and was admitted to the bar in 1879, and has since followed his profession in Ogdensburg. He has been a member of the board of education for the past twelve years.
A. T. Johnson was born in Colchester, Vt., March 12, 1859. He was educated in Gouverneur and studied law with Conger & Gleason. He was admitted to the bar in 1886 and in the same year the law firm of Gleason & Johnson was formed. In 1889 Mr. Johnson married Car- oline Gleason, daughter of G. M. Gleason.
H. G. Aldrich was born in Luzerne, Warren county, Ohio, December 3, 1860. He was educated in Hamilton College and at the Harvard Law School from which he graduated in 1888. He read law in Canton and was admitted to the bar in 1889, since which time he has been practicing his profession in Gouverneur. In 1890 he married Jennie A. Louks of Lowville.
Vasco P. Abbott was born in Fowler, May 20, 1847. He was edu- cated in the Gouverneur Seminary, St. Lawrence University and the Albany Law School, from which he graduated in 1868. He was ad- mitted to the bar in 1868 and has practiced continuously since. He was elected special county judge in 1875, sitting on the bench five years. In 1880 he was made surrogate and served until 1893. Dec- ember 21, 1872, he married Anna E. Farmer. They have two sons and one daughter.
C. Arthur Parker was born November 7, 1851, and was educated in the schools of Gouverneur, his native place. He studied law with his father, Cornelius A. Parker, and was admitted to the bar in January, 1875. He is in partnership with his father in the law firm of Parker & Parker.
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HISTORY OF ST. LAWRENCE COUNTY.
P. R. McMonagle was born in New Brunswick, May 10, 1856, and studied law in Ogdensburg and in Judge Russell's office. He was ad- mitted to the bar in 1881, since which date he has been official stenog- rapher of the St. Lawrence County Court. For the past two years he has been official stenographer of the Supreme Court also. He was jus- tice of the peace for a time. He resides in Canton.
George H. Bowers is a native of Vermont and studied law with Led- yard P. Hale in Canton. He was admitted to the bar in September, 1862, and on October I in that year the present partnership of Hale & Bowers was formed.
A. W. Orvis was born in Jefferson county, February 18, 1859. He was educated in the Watertown High School and the Albany Law School, from which he graduated in 1886. He studied law with Judge Conger and was admitted to the bar in May. 1886, the partnership of Conger & Orvis being formed in June of that year. Mr. Orvis was deputy county clerk from 1889 to 1892. In 1889 he married Hattie Church.
Cornelius A. Parker was born in Gouverneur, May II, 1821, and was educated in the seminary here. He studied law here and was admitted to the bar in January, 1847, since which time he has been practicing his profession in Gouverneur. They have two children, C. Arthur Parker and Sarah Helen Adams Parker.
G. M. Gleason was born in Pitcairn, September 16, 1829. He taught school and worked at farming for some time, and in 1861 enlisted in Company D, 60th N. Y. Vols., serving fifteen months. He returned to farming and in 1865 was elected to the Legislature, serving six years. In 1869 he came to Gouverneur. In 1875 he commenced the study of law and was admitted to the bar in 1878. In 1881 he organized the National Bank and has been its president ever since. He has been a member of the board of supervisors seven times and a magistrate for twelve years ; was delegate to the national convention that nominated Harrison and was collector of the port of Oswegatchie from 1890 to 1892. Few men in the county have been honored with public prefer- ment as much as Mr. Gleason.
PART II.
BIOGRAPHICAL
BIOGRAPHICAL.
EDWIN A. MERRITT.
EDWIN ATKINS MERRITT, the subject of this sketch, traces his ancestry back to Henry Merritt, who was born in Kent county, England. Henry had a son John, who was born in New England about the year 1635 and died in Scituate, Mass., after 1679, succeeding to his father's estate. John had a son of the same name, who was born in Scituate in 1669 and died there June 5, 1749, leaving a son Jonathan, born in 1702 and died at Hebron, Tolland county, Conn., October 27, 1758. Noah was son of Jonathan, born at Scituate in 1739 and died March 24, 1814, at Templeton, Worces- ter county, Mass. He settled there as early as 1753. He left a son Noah, born in October, 1758, at Templeton, who died August 21, 1843, at Sudbury, Rutland county, Vt. He married Eunice Metcalf, removing to Brandon, Vt., about 1785. He was father of Noadiah, the father of General Edward Atkins Merritt. Noadiah was born in Templeton, December 3, 1782, and died at Pierrepont, N. Y., January 1, 1854. His wife, mother of the subject, was Relief Parker, daughter of Jeremiah and Relief Parker, who came to Leicester from Roxbury, Mass., before the Revolutionary war.
Noah Merritt, the great-grandfather, was one of the minute men who went to Lexington at the first call of arms. On the morning of the 19th of April, 1775, Mr. Merritt, according to tradition, was harrowing in the field, when the courier arrived soon after noon, with the news of the incursion of the British troops, and before night a company of thirty-seven men started for Cambridge. A tablet inscribed with the names of this company has recently been presented to the town of Templeton, by Hon. C. C. Merritt, of Springfield, Mass. His grandfather, Noah Merritt, jr., served as a soldier during the Revolutionary war, and participated in the battles of Bunker Hill and Saratoga; he was at one time an orderly for General Washington and was present at the execution of Major Andre, the British spy.
Taking up the life record of Edwin Atkins Merritt, who was born in Sudbury, Vt., February 26, 1828, we learn that he left Vermont when he was ten years of age and went to live with a married sister who resided at Westport, Essex county, N. Y. In 1841, with his father's family, he emigrated to St. Lawrence County, where he has since resided. He taught school several years, and having resolved to become a sur- veyor and civil engineer, he qualified himself for that business and pursued that profession for several years, mainly in the Adirondack wilderness. He published the first map to guide tourists to this great resort. He also as engineer had charge
A
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HISTORY OF ST. LAWRENCE COUNTY.
of the location and construction of the eastern portion of the Rome, Watertown and Ogdensburg Railroad.
In 1858 he married Miss Eliza Rich, and by her had five children, all of whom died young except Edwin A. Merritt, jr., a graduate of Yale College of the class of 1884, now of the firm of Merritt & Tappan Potsdam Sandstone Company. In 1854 General Merritt was unanimously elected supervisor of the town of Pierrepont, and re-elected the two following years. In 1857, '58, '59 and '60 he was clerk of the Board of Super- visors, and in 1859 was elected member of assembly from the Second District of this county by 1,302 majority, and re-elected in 1860 by 2,259 majority.
In that body his directness and honesty of purpose, his sound judgment and prac- ticability gave him a commanding place and large influence. At the opening of the war General Merritt became actively interested in raising troops and went to the field as quartermaster of the 60th N. V. Vols. He was for some time with the army of the Potomac, and after the battle of Gettysburg went west and participated in the battles about Chattanooga and in Sherman's "march to the sea," as far as the Altoona moun- tain, near Marietta, Ga. While in the field at this point he received from President Lincoln a commission as commissary of subsistence with rank of captain, and was order- ed to Washington, D. C., and stationed on the Potomac River, north of Washington, to supply reinforcements proceeding to join Sheridan s army. At the close of the campaign he was stationed at Annapolis, Md., to pay commutation of rations to the soldiers returning from rebel prisons. While on this service he was appointed quartermaster-general on the staff of Governor Fenton, and entered upon the duties of the office January 1, 1865, and held the position during the governor's two terms, until January, 1869.
In 1867 he was elected a member of the Constitutional Convention, in which body he held the important position of chairman of the Committee on Organization of the Legislature. He was also a leading member of the Republican State Committee, for several years.
In March, 1869, he was appointed Naval officer of the port of New York, by Pres- ident Grant, and held that position sixteen months. He was removed to make room for Moses H. Grinnell, who was previously a prominent merchant and was collector at the time. In 1875 the Republican State Convention, without solicitation, nomi- nated him for state treasurer, with Frederick W. Seward for secretary of state, Gen- eral Spinner for comptroller, and Judge Danforth for attorney-general. Though beaten at the election, it was indisputably one of the strongest tickets ever made in the State.
In 1877, there being a vacancy in the office of surveyor of the port of New York through the expiration of General Sharp's term, General Merritt was nominated to that office by President Hayes and unanimously confirmed by the Senate, Roscoe Conkling reporting favorably on the nomination and voting for confirmation. At the same time the nominations of Messrs. Roosevelt and Prince for collector and naval officer, in place of Arthur and Cornell, were rejected, principally for the reason that there was not a vacancy in those offices as there was in the surveyorship.
General Merritt's administration of the surveyor's office was so successful that the president determined to promote him to the collectorship, which was done July 11, 1818, and he was confirmed by the Senate February 3, 1879. It may be noted that
bo E Sanford
3
BIOGRAPHICAL.
General Merritt is the only man who ever held the three offiees of surveyor, naval offieer, and eolleetor of the port of New York. Among the first nominations made by President Garfield on assuming the duties of his office in 1881 was that of General Merritt for eonsul-general at London. The nomination was unanimously confirmed by the Senate, and the reeord made by him was the same there as it had been in all the positions he had previously held. He was superseded after the election of Presi- dent Cleveland in 1885 by Thomas M. Waller, ex-governor of Connecticut.
By his untiring industry, aeeessibility, impartiality, sound sense and firmness of eharaeter, he earned not only in many cases the gratitude of his eountrymen visiting the British metropolis, but also the approbation of the United States government.
General Merritt is a man of great ability and possesses a large store of practical sense. He rarely makes mistakes, as he does not assume a position until he thoroughly un- derstands it, when in his mind there is but one eourse to pursue, and that is to move onward.
General Merritt was for many years an intimate personal friend of Horaee Greeley, and earnestly supported his eandidacy for the United States Senate in 1861, as well as that for the presideney in 1872.
After his retirement from the Naval Offiee in 1871, he was offered the position of United States Minister to Brazil; this was done through Hon. William A. Wheeler, then a member of Congress, and afterwards viee-president of the United States. The position thus tendered he felt constrained to deeline. His intimate association with Hon. John Sherman, while the latter was seeretary of the treasury, made him a warm friend and supporter of that distinguished statesman.
General Merritt has always taken an active interest in the cause of education, and especially was influential in the location and management of the State Normal and Training Sehool at Potsdam. He is at present (1894) president of the Local Board, as well as president of the corporation of the St. Lawrence University, located at Canton, N. Y.
Sinee his retirement from publie life he has led a quiet one at Potsdam, and enjoys the esteem of his fellowmen. His publie eareer has been an exeeptionally aetive one and has no doubt been sharply antagonized by those who did not agree with him as to men and measures. It has not, however, interfered with friendly and personal relations with those with whom he has beeome associated in the ordinary affairs of life. His reeord is one of which he may be proud and his friends unqualifiedly approve.
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