USA > New York > Essex County > Elizabethtown > Pleasant Valley : a history of Elizabethtown, Essex County, New York > Part 11
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Sophronia Reynolds married Milo Sheldon and moved to St. Lawrence County, N. Y.
Betsey Reynolds married for her first husband a man named Wilder, her second husband being Isaac Shaw. Mrs. Shaw came back from the west a few years ago to visit the home of
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her childhood, being then beyond fourscore but remarkably well preserved for such an old lady. While Mrs. Shaw was visiting the scenes of her childhood it was the writer's good fortune to have several long visits with her, pleasant memo- ries of which will remain so long as hours of mental clearness last.
Daniel Reynolds, one of the pioneer blacksmiths of Simonds Hill, was a peculiarly deformed man, having two club feet. He married and moved to Ohio, several children being born of the union.
Thomas Little, another early blacksmith on Simonds Hill, settled a half mile east of the school house on the road to what has since been known as the "Kingdom." A large clearing in that neighborhood is still referred to as the "Little Field."
Anson Finney was born at Spencertown, Columbia County, N. Y., July 14, 1786, and came into the Boquet Valley with his brother Captain Heman Finney in the spring of 1794 and lived on a farm during his minority, teaching school some when a young man. In 1809 Anson Finney married Esther Shelden, daughter of Isaac Shelden of Essex and shortly after- wards settled on Lot No. 109, Iron Ore Tract, Simonds Hill. The children by this marriage were : James Madison, Russel Abel, Alonzo McDonough, Betsey Shelden, Isaac Shelden, Adeline Miranda, Aretas Loveland, Philemon Hunt and four others who died in infancy.
James Madison Finney was born March 23, 1810, and died March 6, 1832.
Russel Abel Finney was born March 4, 1811. He married Elmira Sanders, a daughter of the late John Sanders, Sr., and raised two sons, Solon Burroughs Finney, who married for his first wife Marcia Root, a daughter of the late Col. Samuel Root of Westport, his second wife being a Postville, Ia., lady, and John A. Finney, who lives in California.
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Solon B. Finney's children are Ross, (M. E. preacher of ability and standing in the west) Myra, Esther and Harry.
Russel Abel Finney left Simonds Hill in 1868, going to Iowa. He died at Postville, Ia., May 14, 1876. His widow still sur- vives, being in her 90th year, and living at Fayette, Ia., with her son Solon B., who has kindly aided in the preparation of this book."
Alonzo McDonough Finney, born Feb. 20, 1816, unmarried, lives in Elizabethtown village, which has been his home most of the time for 65 years.
Betsey Shelden Finney was born Jan. 31, 1818, and died Sept. 14, 1836, unmarried.
Isaac Shelden Finney was born Aug. 5, 1820, and died Dec. 7, 1902. He married Almira Nichols. Their children were Llewellyn C., who married Letetia Marlow ; Alice, who died at the age of 15 and Minnie, who married Lewis N. Adkins.
Adeline Miranda Finney was born June 22, 1822, and died Jan. 3, 1879. She married Charles D. Nichols, this marriage and the children born of it having been before mentioned.
Philemon Hunt Finney was born Aug. 18, 1826, and died Aug. 21, 1829.
Aretas Loveland Finney was born Sept. 9, 1828, and died in Chicago, Ill., Feb. 22d, 1876. He married Harriet A. Rowley, by whom a daughter, Katharyn, was born.
Anson Finney's first wife was born Dec. 25, 1791, and died March 15, 1830. His second wife was Rebecca French.
The Finney family trace their ancestry back to Mother Finney who emigrated to America from England and settled at Plymouth, Mass., before 1631. John Finney, a son of Mother Finney, married Elizabeth Bailey. Joshua Finney, son of John and Elizabeth, was born at Barnstable, Mass., in 1665, and married Mercy Watts. Joshua Finney, Jr., son of Joshua and Mercy, born at Bristol, R. I., married and had a son John.
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John Finney married Rachel Woodward in Lebanon, Conn., in 1743. Letters of administration granted on his estate to his son Eleazer, "late of Warren, Conn.," Nov. 10, 1788. Joel Finney, son of John and Rachel, was born at Lebanon, Conn., in 1744. Joel Finney married Anna Sackett. They lived at Kent, Conn., at Spencertown, N. Y., and Monkton, Vt., in which latter place Joel Finney died about 1798. Of Joel Finney's children there is record of Heman, Joel, Anna Rachel Hunt, Elijah, Belinda Lathrop, Miranda Burroughs, Sackett and Anson.
Anna (Sackett) Finney survived her husband nearly 46 years, dying at Addison, Vt., Feb. 6, 1844, being in the 93d year of her age. She was married but once and had given birth to 14 children, 6 of whom were living at the time of her decease.
At the time of her death 57 out of 82 grandchildren were living, 188 out of 240 great grandchildren, and 21 out of 22 great-great grandchildren, thus leaving a line of descendants to the 5th generation amounting in all to 358, of whom 270 were living at the time of her decease.
Anson Finney and many of his family, all having been reared on a farm, in after life engaged in other occupations. In addi- tion to their farm duties Russel A., Alonzo McD., Isaac S., and Aretas L., each at different periods, held the office of Jus- tice of the Peace, and Alonzo McD. that of Supervisor. Alonzo McD. and Aretas L. each served as Deputy County Clerk of Essex County for many years and their handwriting on the records reflects creditably upon their workmanship.
The Anson Finney family seems to have had a decided pen- chant for school teaching, as six members of his immediate family were teachers and six others of his descendants of the name were also teachers and four descendants of other names, making sixteen altogether who have been engaged in that line of work.
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Ebenezer Hanchett married a Pangborn for his first wife. His children by the first wife were William F. and Alma.
William F. Hanchett married Eliza Ferris. Their children were John, Levi, Walter, Harriet, Josephine and Sarah J., the latter being the widow of the late George Spaulding. William F. Hanchett was killed by being cut in two by a circular saw in Charles N. Williams' saw-mill when the writer was a small boy.
Alma Hanchett married Davis Durand.
The children of Ebenezer Hanchett by Mary Collins, his second wife, were Silas Howard, Milton, Electa, Fidelia, Alzina, Zada Ann, Rachel and Roxy Ann.
Silas Howard Hanchett married a Crown Point woman whose given name is said to have been Jane.
Milton Hanchett married Mary Shandreau for his first wife, his second wife being Lucy E. Clark.
Electa Hanchett married Leonard Tisdale.
Fidelia Hanchett married David Smith.
Zada Ann Hanchett married Benjamin Warner.
Rachel Hanchett married and moved west.
Roxy Ann Hanchett married Robert F. Odle.
Squire Hanchett, brother of Ebenezer and Jonah, Jr., mar- ried Anna Wait and lived several years just south of the Judd farm and afterwards moved to Black Pond where he remained till about 1835. He eventually moved to Ohio.
Squire Hanchett's children were Wait, Lydia Minerva, Phebe, Laura, James and Eli.
Wait Hanchett married for his first wife Mahala Wise, his second wife being Sybil Wolcott. Wait Hanchett's children were Jerome, George and Loretta.
Jerome Hanchett married a woman named Pratt from Lewis,
George Hanchett married Addie Nichols, daughter of Charles D. Nichols.
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Loretta Hanchett married Amon Bosley of Ausable Forks.
Lydia Minerva Hanchett married Wm. Simonds, as before mentioned, and Phebe Hanchett married Leland R. Simonds, also previously mentioned.
Laura Hanchett moved west.
James Hanchett was killed by the kick of a horse when about 18 years old.
Eli Hanchett went west with his father's family.
Willis Gates came from New Hampshire and settled on Si- monds Hill after most of the families already named had lo- cated there. He married Almira Hulett, daughter of Mason Hulett of Hampton, N. Y. Mr. Gates purchased the farm originally cleared by one Gregory, afterwards occupied by a Hanmer, also by John Hamilton, who claimed to be of Indian extraction.
The Gates children were Reuben, Edson, Mason, Chester, Silas, Irvin, Albert, Oscar, Willis, Jr., Mary, Hannah, Almira, Celintha and Frances.
Reuben Gates married Eliza Wakefield, a daughter of Deacon Jonathan Wakefield.
Edson Gates married Milly Braisted of Essex.
Mary Gates married Edmund B. Nichols.
Hannah Gates married John Heaton.
Almira Gates married George Slosson of Chazy.
Celintha Gates married Herbert Asa Putnam who for many years did an extensive iron, lumber and mercantile business at New Russia, also ran a saw-mill and coal kilns at Euba Mills.
Frances Gates never married. She died in early woman- hood, of consumption, generally lamented.
Willis Gates, Jr., remained on the home farm all his life, dying only a few years since. His widow and her children occupy the farm to-day.
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Several of the sons of Willis Gates, Sr., went west.
Willis Gates, Sr., built a saw-mill on the Black River at a point afterwards called the "Kingdom." An ore bed was also opened on the Gates farm and is to-day known as the Gates bed.
Moses Kidder, another early dweller on Simonds Hill, had a family consisting of a wife and the following children : James, Burr, Angelina and Nancy Ann.
Moses Kidder lived near the bridge at the outlet of Black Pond for some time but moved away many years ago.
Besides the families named there were several settlers who located on the Simonds Hill road, so-called, between what is now known as Fisher Bridge and the Ezra Nichols farm, later known as the John Otis place. A man named Brownson oc- cupied what is to-day referred to as the old Brownson farm, having children as follows : Ashbel, Samuel, Roman, Selah, Dorcas, Lydia. Many descendants of the children of "old man Brownson" still live in Elizabethtown and vicinity.
William Gray occupied a farm just above the Brownson place.
A man named Carr also lived for a time on a lot back from the main highway and a clearing he made is still referred to as the "Carr lot."
Simonds Hill once had a resident preacher, the noted Rev. John Stearns, who occupied his spare time in tinkering watches and repairing clocks.
At the time of the early settlement of Simonds Hill all the dwelling houses, the school house at the four corners, and the barns were built of logs. Alonzo McD. Finney says he remem- bers well when the first frame house was erected on Simonds Hill. The first frame house in that neighborhood was built by Anson Finney during the summer of 1828. At that time Anson Finney's son Alonzo McDonough was 12 years old and he re-
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ABIJAH PERRY, One of the Greatest Detectives Northern New York Ever Produced.
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calls that he went with his father after the lime to be used in plastering the new house. The lime was procured at the then famous Felt lime kiln near Felt Mountain. This was one of the first lime kilns operated in Elizabethtown. No one now living knows when it was first opened. Probably it was in use shortly after the Felts moved from the Wadhams Mill section about 1809. However, suffice it to say that it was running when Anson Finney went there after lime with his ox team in the summer of 1828, accompanied by his 12 year old son Alonzo McDon- ough who recalls the prominent fact that "Mother Felt" at- tended to measuring the lime herself, notwithstanding that her son-in-law, David Benson, was standing by.
The second frame house erected on Simonds Hill was put up on what is to-day known as the John Otis farm, then owned by Ezra Nichols.
The first trail leading from Captain Gardner Simonds' at the top of the hill was located several rods west of the modern road. The first vehicle drawn through to Moriah over the present course of the road was a tin peddler's cart. The road from Black Pond up the mountain through the dense woods was built by one Bugbee whose shanties erected to accommo- date his workmen were standing for many years, being recog- nized as the half way mark in going through the woods.
During the period of the early settlement of Simonds Hill and in fact throughout the township of Elizabethtown, there being very little money in circulation, nearly all kinds of business was done by exchange of commodities usually termed "barter," the most common in use being cattle, bar iron and
grain. Professional men, laborers and even the "school marms" had to take their pay in "barter," with no thought or expectation of receiving money.
The general custom on Simonds Hill was to employ a male teacher for the winter term of three months at about $10 per
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month of 28 full days and a female teacher for the summer term of four months at $1 per week of 6 full days, teachers to "board round" with the patrons of the school in each family in proportion to the number of days of pupils attendance. At the close of each day's session there was a roll call in order to know the attendance of each pupil from which to compute the liability of each of the patrons of the school. At the close of the term the school bill was made out pro rata from the num- ber of days attendance and the collector was started out with his team to gather up and bring in whatsoever each chose to make payment in, be it iron, wheat, corn, buckwheat, beans or other commodity, money being out of the question. When collected it was taken to some store where the teacher could get his or her, as the case might be, "store pay," or else get a due bill payable in goods "at our usual charging prices."
During the first half century of the history of Simonds Hill the character of the society of the neighborhood was fully up to the standing attained in any rural community in those early days. The pioneers of Simonds Hill were industrious, law abiding citizens and their counsel in the conduct of town af- fairs was often sought and freely given, there being no blight incident to "graft" in those early times. Would that as much could be said to-day.
However, the old families once so proudly pointed to on Si- monds Hill have all succumbed to the mutations of time. To- day new people, comparatively speaking, occupy the old farms cleared by the pioneers mentioned on preceding pages of the history of Simonds Hill. Only one old name-that of Gates- remains in occupation of a farm on Simonds Hill, most of the new comers being either of Irish or French descent and it may truly be said of these latter occupants that they are industri- ous and progressive.
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Northwest Bay Church.
Robert Thompson, Sr., and his sons Robert Thompson, Jr., and James Thompson movedinto Elizabethtown and settled up west shortly after 1805. Robert Thompson, Sr., was a native of Scotland and is said to have been a Revolutionary soldier. He is also said to have attained the greatest age on record in this section. He died in 1829 at the advanced age of 130 years, his mortal remains being buried in the Roscoe cemetery. Robert Thompson, Jr., became the father of James Edwin Thompson, so well known to the present generation of Eliz- abethtown dwellers.
The names of Elders Brown, Babcock and Chamberlain ap- pear on the records of the Elizabethtown Baptist Church in the beginning of 1806.
From 1806 to 1808, inclusive, the Supervisor of Elizabeth- town was none other than Dr. Alexander Morse.
Dr. Alexander Morse, Simeon Frisbee, Joseph Jenks, Zadock Hurd and Nathan Hammond served as Inspectors of Election in 1806.
March 17, 1807, there was, according to preserved records, "A Meeting appointed by a number of Baptist brethren on Morgan's Patent in Elizabethtown." This meeting was the be- ginning of the "Northwest Bay Church" as it was called. Mrs. Caroline Halstead Royce concludes, on page 207 of Bess- boro, that it is no improbable guess that the meeting "was on the Hoisington place, where three roads come together, near
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the headwaters of the Hoisington brook." "Here," continues Mrs. Royce on the same page, "the church was formed with six members-four men and two women." Elisha Collins was leader and kept the record. There were also Rupee Bachel- lor, William Denton, James Hoysington, Sarah Ellis and Tri- phena Bachellor. At the next meeting two more women joined-Anna Loveland, wife of Enos Loveland, who joined soon after, and Phebe Fish. At another meeting Peter N. Fish, "Sister" Fish and Avis Hoysington joined. Joel Finney joined in September and a meeting was appointed at his house "at Northwest Bay." In November, 1807, was held the "coun- cil of sister churches," always necessary for the recognition of a newly formed Baptist Church. The council was formed of delegates from four churches already established, those of Pleasant Valley and Jay on the west side of Lake Champlain and of Panton and Bridport in Vermont. The council was held at John Halstead's.
Elizabethtown's Inspectors of Election for the year 1807 were Dr. Alexander Morse, Hezekiah Barber, Isaac Knapp, Simeon Frisbee, Zadock Hurd.
Stephen Cuyler was Member of Assembly from Essex County in 1807.
Invention of the Steam Boat.
September 4, 1807, there occurred a notable event in the history of civilization, the place being upon the Hudson River. It was the first successful navigation by steam power ever ac- complished. The Clermont, built by Robert Fulton, with the assistance and encouragement of Chancellor Livingston and many of the business men living in towns along the Hudson, made the trip from New York to Albany in 32 hours. One of the men on board the Clermont that day and one who had been interested in every detail of the new invention from the
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first, was John Winans of Poughkeepsie. One of his brothers, James Winans, married for his second wife Ida, daughter of Platt Rogers, and came to live at Basin Harbor. John Win- ans married a Dutch woman, Catrina Stuart, and seeing great possibilities in the application of the new steam power to the means of transportation between New York and Canada, moved to Lake Champlain and built the second steamboat in the world, calling it the Vermont. The Vermont was built in Burlington, Vt., being launched at the foot of King Street in the spring of 1808. The Vermont was larger than the Cler- mont, being 120 feet long, 20 feet wide and 8 feet deep, with speed of four miles an hour. The Captain was John Winans himself, the pilot being Hiram Ferris of Panton, Vt., said to have been a descendant of that Ferris who entertained Ben- jamin Franklin and the other Commissioners on their way to Canada in the spring of 1776. The Vermont ran for seven years, being sunk near Isle Au Noix in October, 1815. John Winans lived some years at Ticonderoga but was buried at Poughkeepsie. He had a son Stuart and two daughters, Sarah, who married a Bingham, and Joanna Stuart, who mar- ried Thomas, son of Ebenezer Douglass, and passed her early married life in that part of Elizabethtown known for the past 90 years as Westport. A daughter of Thomas Douglass and Joanna Winans, Kate, born in Westport in 1825, became the wife of James A. Allen.
The first trip of the Vermont along Lake Champlain must have caused some excitement and as the men, women and chil- dren pressed near the lakeshore at Northwest Bay to see the wonder go by they were standing on the soil of what was then Elizabethtown.
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An Act to Establish Court House and Goal in Essex County.
CHAP. CXX.
An Act to establish a court-house and goal in the county of Essex, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the people of the state of New-York, rep- resented in senate and assembly, That Peter Sailley, of Platts- burgh, in the county of Clinton, David Thomas and John Savage, of the county of Washington, Esquires, are hereby appointed commissioners for designating a place for a court- house and goal for the county of Essex, and for that purpose the said commissioners shall, as soon as may be, after the pas- sing of this act, and before the first day of August next, repair to the said county of Essex, and after exploring the same, as- certain and designate a fit and proper place therein for erect- ing said court-house and goal, having respect or reference to a future alteration of the boundary line or division of the said county, if, in their opinion, any such alteration or division may be necessary : Provided always, That in case the commis- sioners above named, or any two of them, shall not be able to agree upon a place for the said court-house and goal, it shall then be their duty to nominate an additional commissioner to associate with them in discharge of the said trust, and the de- termination of any two of such commissioners, in case of the non-attendance of the other, on due notice being given for that purpose, shall be competent to discharge said trust; and the concurrence of any two of such commissioners shall be conclusive in the premises.
And be it further enacted, That the said county of Essex shall allow and pay to each of the said commissioners, so as aforesaid appointed to designate the scite of the said court- house and goal, at and after the rate of three dollars per day, for each and every day they shall be employed in executing
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the trust enjoined on them by this act, which allowance shall be levied and paid as part of the contingent charges of the said county of Essex; and the treasurer of the said county of Essex is hereby required and directed to pay the same out of any monies in the treasury, an account of which he shall exhibit to the board of supervisors of the said county at their next meeting.
And be it further enacted, That the supervisors of the sev- eral towns in the county of Essex, for the time being, or a majority of them, shall be and are hereby authorized and re- quired to direct to be raised and levied on the freeholders and inhabitants of the said county of Essex the sum of three thous- and dollars, for building the court-house and goal as aforesaid, and for purchasing so much land as shall be sufficient for the said court-house and goal and a yard thereto, with the addi- tional sum of five cents on each dollar for collecting the same, and one cent on each dollar to be paid to the treasurer of the county ; which said sum shall be raised, levied and collected in the same manner as the other necessary and contingent charges of the said county are levied and collected : Provided however, that nothing herein contained shall be held or con- strued to authorize the said supervisors to raise and levy more than one thousand dollars in one year.
And be it further enacted, That it shall be lawful for the supervisors in the said county of Essex, or a majority of them, to appoint three commissioners, who shall be freeholders in the said county, to superintend the building the court-house and goal to be erected in the said county of Essex, at such place as may be fixed and determined upon by the commission- ers for that purpose in this act before appointed ; and the said commissioners, or a major part of them, shall and may con- tract with workmen and purchase materials for erecting the said court-house and goal, and if necessary, for the proceeding
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with the building of the said court-house and goal, may expend monies in and about the same, which shall be repaid and set- tled out of and from the sum so as aforesaid to be levied and raised for the building the court-house and goal, whenever the same shall be levied and collected, and shall, from time to time, draw upon the treasurer of the said county for such sums of money for the purposes aforesaid, as shall come into the treasury by virtue of this act ; and the treasurer is hereby re- quired, out of any monies aforesaid, to pay to the order of the said commissioners the several sums of money to be by them drawn for ; and it is hereby made the duty of such commis- sioners, so to be appointed, to account with the supervisors of the said county of Essex for the monies which they have re- ceived from the treasury when thereunto required by a ma- jority of the said supervisors.
And be it further enacted, That the building, so to be erected for the court-house and goal at the place which shall be des- ignated as aforesaid, shall be the goal of the said county of Essex, and as soon as the same is completed in such manner as to confine prisoners, it shall and may be lawful for the sheriff of the said county of Essex to remove his prisoners, either upon civil or criminal process to such goal, and confine them therein, and such removal shall not be deemed an escape in such sheriff.
And be it further enacted, That it shall and may be lawful for the courts of common pleas and general sessions of the peace, in and for the said county of Essex, as soon as the said court-house and goal shall be finished so as to accommodate the same courts, to adjourn to the said court-house, and there- after to continue to hold the terms of the said courts at the said court-house, and no action or prosecution depending in the said courts shall be abated, discontinued, or in any man- ner prejudiced in law by such adjournment.
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