USA > New York > Essex County > Elizabethtown > Pleasant Valley : a history of Elizabethtown, Essex County, New York > Part 21
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Two Forges and a Match Factory in Elizabethtown Village.
In the early 30s there were two forges in operation on the Little Boquet, between what we of to-day speak of as the "Twin Bridges" and "Rice's Falls." Both of these forges stood upon soil now within the incorporated limits of Eliz- abethtown village. The one which stood near where the iron bridge (formerly Twin Bridges) of to-day spans the Little Bo- quet was known as the Eddy forge, called after the name of the man who operated it. The upper forge, that is the one nearest the Rice grist-mill, was known as the Brown forge, Deacon Levi Brown operating it. It was near this forge that Deacon Brown left a load of charcoal standing on his wagon just at night, being too tired to unload it then. Next morning as he went to unload the coal he was greatly surprised and chagrined to find only his wagon irons left, as there was fire in the coal, hence the trouble.1
In December, 1835, the old Valley House (then owned by Eliona Marks) burned. Landlord Marks immediately moved into the new house belonging to the Nobles and in 1836 the hotel was rebuilt by Mr. Marks who continued to run it until the spring of 1846 when he sold it to David Judd.
Bracket Johnson was an early Elizabethtown blacksmith and is said by old residents to have operated a shop along in the 30s which stood just in front of where Douglas A. Adams' house now stands on Water Street.
Elizabethtown's Supervisor from 1835 to 1838, inclusive, was David Judd.
In 1832 a true friction match was brought into use in Eng- land. Shortly afterwards the friction match was introduced
I Dr. R. J. Roscoe kindly made a map of the Little Boquet region, showing location of these two forges and he is also authority for the wagon burning story, as he saw Deacon Brown go to the forge with the load of coal and viewed the wagon irons afterwards. It might be added here that A. McD. Finney also remembers these two forges and has often talked with the author of Pleasant Valley about them.
H
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in this country, the American match being called Locofoco. It was shortly after the introduction of the friction match in New York City that the lights mysteriously went out at a political meeting in Tammany Hall. As the Democrats re-lighted the candles upon that occasion with Locofoco matches they were called Locofocos. It may interest some to know that at the time of the Tammany Hall incident referred to, real friction matches were being manufactured in Elizabethtown village, This may be astonishing news to the majority of the readers of Pleasant Valley, nevertheless it istrue. A man named Ozro Finel, said to have come here from England, brought knowl- edge of match making with him and shortly after landing in Elizabethtown commenced to make matches. His factory was in one of Jeremiah Stone's buildings on the bank of the Little Boquet, just across the stream from where the Circulating Li- brary building stands. Finel's matches were large, coarse and bungling, much more so than the modern Portland Star match and something rough like sandpaper had to be used to scratch them on. Ozro Finel worked some time at match making on the bank of the Little Boquet, the factory having stood on land belonging to what is to-day referred to as the Judge Robert S. Hale place. Alonzo McD. Finney and Alonzo M. Durand, two of the oldest residents of Elizabethtown village, remember when Ozro Finel's match factory was in operation. Finel's matches were the first made in Northern New York and were gladly welcomed by the public generally, as up to this time flint and punk, a peculiar kind of combustible fluid kept in a bottle, and coals kept over in ashes and oftentimes carried from house to house, and long distances at that, had been the only means at hand with which to make a fire. Ozro Finel married an adopted daughter of Deacon Joseph Blake and their son Egbert O. Finel is well remembered by many residents of Elizabethtown. After Ozro Finel's death his
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widow and son lived for some time with Deacon Blake. Event- ually they moved to St. Johnsbury, Vt., where Mrs. Finel again married and where her son found employment in the scale works. Egbert O. Finel died within recent years.
The advent of matches and the arrival of stoves in Eliz- abethtown must have added materially to the comfort and convenience of the people.
. In the month of September, 1834, occurred the death of Joseph Call, the strong man, concerning whose feats of strength so many stories have been told. Joseph Call died at West- port and was buried there, death having been caused by a carbuncle on his neck.
In 1834 the Essex County Academy was established at Westport, Orson Kellogg of Elizabethtown being the first Principal, holding the position for eight years, after which he went to New York where he died in the early 50s. William Higby succeeded Orson Kellogg as Principal of the Essex County Academy.
In 1836 Emily P. Gross, a young lady born and brought up in Elizabethtown, was female teacher in the Essex County Academy. She afterwards married Ransom E. Wood and lies buried in an English church-yard at Matlock, Bath, in Derby- shire, and there in the little church is a memorial window which commemorates her virtues.
Juliet Gross taught in our old brick school house in the latter 30s and afterwards married Monroe Hall. Charlotte Gross married a man named Burt, a resident of Ausable Forks.
Betsey Brown also taught in the old brick school house during the latter 30s.
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An Early Elizabethtown Temperance Society.
February 28, 1837, a meeting of the inhabitants of Elizabeth - town was held at the Brick School House for the purpose of forming a temperance society. As a result of that meeting the Total Abstinence Temperance Society of Elizabethtown was formed with the following officers :
Joseph Blake, President.
Jerah Stone, Vice-President.
Dea'n Levi Brown,
Milo Durand, 1 Managers.
Nathan Perry,
Jehiel C. Brownson,
Calvin Cady,
N. Perry, Treasurer. N. N. Person, Secretary.
Names of male members of this society included Abijah Perry, Oliver H. Perry, Henry Brownson, Chester Brownson, Aldin Spooner, Milo Durand, Orlando G. Matthews, John B. Perry, George Knox, Nathan Perry, Benj. F. Garfield, Joseph Blake, Samuel Brownson, Norman N. Person, Jehiel C. Brown- son, Jacob Matthews, Lewis Calkin, Edwin Matthews, Ivers P. Sampson, Theron Kellogg, William Gray, Orlando Durand, Carleton C. Cole, Oliver Person, Jera Stone, Daniel Jackson, Asa Post, Asa H. Post, Ozro Finel, Isaac Allen, Erastus Hig- ley, Lorenzo Kellogg, Austin L. Kibby, George Brownson, Wm. H. Rice, Levi D. Brown, Calvin B. Cady, Rowland Nich- ols, Alex. McDougal, Wm. Wall, Leonard G. Ross, Dea. Enos Wise, Orson Kellogg, Benjamin Blanchard, John H. Walden, Ebenezer Hanchett, Brewster Morgan Hodgskins, Alanson Blake, Wm. Kellogg, Richard Rogers, Henry Durand, Amos Smith, Wm. H. Tuttle, Horace W. Parkill, J. Parkill, Myron Durand, Horace Durand, Ira Kellogg, Orson Kellogg, 2d, James Stafford, Elijah Calkin, Paschal Blood, Thomas Jeffer-
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son Otis, Robert Linton, Charles Coats, John L. Allen, Alan- son Wilder, Edw. S. Cuyler, Edmund F. Williams, J. B. Stod- dard, Luther Knox, Daniel Wise, Win. Brown, John Knox, Alonzo Turner, John Stanton, A. F. Ferris, P. M. Goodrich, C. L. Blood, N. N. Blood, Monroe Matthews, Solomon Gale, Jr., C. C. Stevens, C. Fisher, Jonathan Tarbell, George B. Matthews.
Female members were Rebecca Calkin, Lovina Walton, Amny D. Morse, Phebe E. Woodruff, Marcia S. Hand, Polly Abel, Maria Ray, Nancy S. Perry, Harriet Blake, Susanna Blake, Mary Post, Sarah Post, Martha Post, Melissa Post, Betsey Brown, Achsa M. Person, Ellen Conly, Ann Gray, Abigail Person, Flavia Morse, Emily Lee, Harriet Hodskins, Sibil Bee, Polly U. Kellogg, Polly Alden, Mary Ann Post, Harriet Palmer, Arvilla Stratton, Julia Ann Holcomb, Caro- line Whitney, Vashti Stone, Rebecca B. Perry, Elizabeth Brown, Almira Durand, Mary Ann Nichols, Abigail Durand, Betsey Durand, Harriet Calkin, Nancy Johnson, Betsey Hall Louisa Gould, Cordelia Pond, Margaret M. Woodruff, Lovina Stone, Eliza Brownson, Ruth Hall, Polly Hanchett, Elizabeth Blake, Betsey Nichols, Roxalana Matthews, Rubey Kellogg, Nancy Rogers, Susanna Daniels, Julia Hall, Charlotte Jenkins, Eunice Calkin, Lucia Haasz, Lucy Allen, Nancy Merrifield, Mary Abel, Elizabeth Nichols, Lucretia McDougal, Charlotte Roscoe, Electa Wescott, Lois Ruscoe, Almira Abel, Almira Wescott, Mary Blanchard, Rebecca Otis, Mary Ann, Ware, Lucena Blood, Mary Matthews, Urana Calkin, Sally Bishop, Polly Nichols, Huldah Kellogg, Emily C. Cuyler, Evalena Wilder, Sarah Ann Williams, Lucinda Knox, Mary Brownson, Caroline Johnson, Elizabeth Brady, Lucy M. Livingston, Lovina Morse, Nancy Morse, Charlotte C. Gross, Ann M. Coats, Theodocia Knox, A. Stanton, J. Kneeland, Matilda Allen.
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Record of this organization, names, etc., is on file in the Essex County Clerk's Office.
In the winter and early spring of 1837 measures were taken to bring about the erection of a meeting house for Baptists in Elizabethtown village. In March, 1837, nearly an acre of ground just north of Nathan Perry's residence on the Plain was covered with timber to be used in the construction of the building. During the following summer people generally as- sembled and witnessed the erection of the Baptist Church frame, Carleton Cole superintending its erection. This was the first church building erected in Elizabethtown and it con- tained a generous supply of good timber. The trustees of the Baptist Church in 1837 were Asa Farnsworth, Nathan Perry, Oliver Person, David Judd, Rowland Nichols, Austin L. Kibby.
May 11, 1837, Robert Wilson Livingston married Lucy Maria Reynolds. Their children were Robert L. Livingston who became a State Senator from the Plainfield, N. J., district, A. C. H. Livingston who so long owned the Elizabethtown Post, Mary Livingston who became the first wife of Hon. Rowland Case Kellogg, Lucy Livingston who married De Witt Stafford and James L. Livingston who married a daughter of Colonel Forsyth and who is now a Vice-President of the Atlantic Marine Insurance Company, New York City.
In the year 1837 Henry Ransom Noble married Cornelia Gould of Essex. Their children were Charles Henry Noble who married Lavinia Felicia de Hass, a Virginia lady, and lives on the old Noble homestead, Mary Noble who married Richard Lockhart Hand and John Gould Noble, now a New York City physician of high standing.
In the latter 30s the forge, previously built by Frederick Haasz at The Kingdom on the Black River, had fallen into the hands of the Nobles and Henry R. Noble continued to operate
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it until his death in 1863. Henry R. Noble was fatally injured by being thrown out of a wagon while driving home from Kingdom forge July 4, 1863. He lived several weeks but never realized anything after the accident.
In the year 1837 Captain John Calkin, or "Col. John," as he was locally referred to, left Elizabethtown, going with the greater portion of his family to Lower Sandusky (later called Freemont) Ohio, where he remained one year, after which he went on to Johnson County, Iowa, where he lived up to within one year of his death. Lucy Kellogg Calkin, his wife, died in 1847. Later he married Mahala Harlan. The last year of his life was passed in Washington County, Iowa, where he died June 18, 1874. Brave, capable military officer and long time public servant though he was, John Calkin did not, as is popularly supposed, really come to be Colonel. On account of capable service in the militia he became Lieutenant Colonel, but never got to be Colonel, John Archibald's appellation "Great Colonel John, My Joe John," etc., to the contrary notwithstanding.
The Raid on the State Arsenal in Elizabethtown.
The Canadian rebellion, commonly called the Papineau War, broke out in December, 1837. On January 5, 1838, President Van Buren issued a proclamation of neutrality, warning citi- zens of the United States against taking sides in the contest or committing any unlawful acts. General Winfield Scott was ordered to assume military command on the border and the Militia of New York and Vermont was ordered out to guard the lines. Throughout this northern region there was much sympathy felt for the Canadian rebellionists and a scheme was "hatched up" to aid the latter in their struggle. The scheme embraced a raid on the State Arsenal in Elizabeth- town village. One morning early in January, 1838, Hezekiah Barber, father of Major Barber, of Barber's Point, in the town
CAPTAIN SAMUEL C. DW YER.
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of Westport, was told by his workmen that some one had stolen his team of horses during the night. Hezekiah went to the barn apparently in a great flurry, but after seeing that his horses were gone, went back to the house and ate his break- fast as though nothing had happened. Horace Barnes, (com- monly called "Hod") had borrowed the team, having had a secret understanding with Hezekiah, hence the latter's com- posure under what would ordinarily have been trying circum- stances. It seems that one night after people generally had gone to bed "Hod," Barnabas Myrick and others from West- port met John Archibald and Jonathan Post of Elizabeth- town and others in front of the State Arsenal and proceeded to raid, etc. There was a high board fence in front of the Arsenal but the raiders scaled it someway and got inside the Arsenal. They passed out the muskets which were loaded into Jonathan Post's famous sleigh box (painted green) and into a sleigh behind Hezekiah's team from Westport and away the drivers went with the stolen muskets up through Lewis Center and on through Poke-O-Moon-Shine. One of the teams stopped at the famous "Bosworth Stand," Bosworth being a brother-in-law of John Archibald, and the muskets were put in the barn and covered up with hay, to be found shortly af- terwards by William Whitman Root and Henry Ransom Noble. This was indeed the irony of fate-John Archibald, employed by Henry R. Noble and working with William W. Root, act- ing as pilot for the raiders and using his brother-in-law's barn for a hiding place, only to be outwitted by his employer and fellow workman. How this outcome must have chagrined John Archibald !
The other team went on to Keeseville and across the Ausable River and thence westward by the road leading to Hallock Hill. When the old Taylor Hill school house was reached, probably about daylight, a halt was made. At least this is
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supposable, as the muskets, etc., were afterwards found hid- den in the Taylor Hill school house. The other teams which were to take the muskets on into Canada failed to come,either because of President Van Buren's proclamation or the guard- ing of the Canadian line and consequently the muskets re- mained in the school house until discovered and reclaimed by the State of New York.' A morning or two after the raid on the Arsenal, Hezekiah found his team back in the barn all right.2 The morning after the raid a pair of mittens were found in front of the Arsenal. Upon close examination it was found that Barnabas Myrick's name was written inside the mittens and hence his connection with the raid was established beyond any doubt. That same morning a piece of wood painted green, a small chip, was found in front of the Arsenal. A man put the chip in his pocket and the next time Jonathan Post drove down with his "green box sleigh" it was found that the chip exactly fitted in where a piece had been broken out.
This circumstance pointed strongly to Jonathan and he al- lowed afterwards that he took part in the raid.
Augustus C. Hand was Superintendent of the Arsenal at the time the raid was made. Edmund F. Williams was Colonel of the 37th Regiment of infantry at that time but he was out of town. Steptoe Catlin was Lieutenant Colonel and he was also out of town. Willard F. Deming, Captain of our local
I This school house stood about one and a half miles west by north from Keeseville and perhaps twenty rods north of the barn now owned by Samuel Evans. In those days the farm was owned by Alvah Arnold and the school house was sometimes called the Alvah Arnold school house. The school house stood on the north side just where the road bends to the west as it goes up the hill. When the new school house was built on the plains nearer Keeseville the old one was bought by Alvah Arnold and used by him many years as a repair shop and now serves Samuel Evans as a hog-house or granary .- Letter from J. W. Hark- ness, Jan. 2, 1905.
2 Uncle John James, now a man past 76 years of age, informs me that he was a boy living at Hezekiah Barber's at the time the team came up missing so mysteriously. He says "Hod" Barnes drove Hezekiah's team the night the raid was made and that the horses were found back in the barn all right a morning or two afterwards.
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Company of Militia belonging to the 37th, sent word to Lieu- tenant Alonzo McDonough Finney to come down off Simonds Hill and take command. However, Lieutenant Finney was at that time teaching school on Simonds Hill and could not well get away. Lieutenant Finney had held rank from July 22, 1837, having been appointed by Governor William L. Marcy and having sworn in August 30th, 1837, before Ed- mund F. Williams, Col. of the 37th.
It was at this time that William Whitman Root of Eliz- abethtown mounted a horse and carried a despatch to General Wool on the Canadian frontier.
Of course the barn was locked after the horse was stolen. Men were put on guard nightly at the Arsenal, Levi De Witt Brown, father of the author of Pleasant Valley, being one of those who slept there after the raid.
Before the Canadian troubles were settled General Winfield Scott went north to Canada, passing through Westport, stop- ping at the hotel so long kept by Harry J. Person. General Scott's conveyance through Westport upon that wintry occa- sion was the Red Bird Line of stages previously established by Peter Comstock, after whom Comstocks in Washington County was named.
Burchard's Revival and the Organization of the First Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
It was in the autumn of 1838 that Jedediah Burchard con- ducted his famous revival services in the Elizabethtown Bap- tist Church. The building had but recently been completed at great cost and was a fit temple in which to hold such meet- ings. Burchard was, according to the testimony of those who heard him, "a preacher of great power." Ox teams drawing large loads of men, women and children came down the var-
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ious hills and mountain slopes of this entire region. All were clad in homespun garments and all were happy in attending Burchard's meetings. The greatest interest was manifested, men and women spending the daytime persuading their neigh- hors who had not attended, to turn out and hear Burchard. One man named Kellogg residing in the Boquet Valley got so excited that he let his potatoes freeze in the ground. At this time many were converted, including Mr. and Mrs. Harry H. Glidden.»
Organization of the First Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
"At a meeting of the Male persons, Members of the Method- ist Episcopal Church and those who statedly worship there- with and have formerly been Considered as belonging thereto, was held pursuant to due Notice thereof given according to the Statute in Such case Made and provided at the Court House in the Town of Elizabethtown the stated place of wor- ship of Said Church on the Twenty Seventh day of January, A. D., 1839. O. E. Spicer was Called to the Chair and Wash- ington Osgood was appointed Secretary.
Resolved that we appoint Seven Trustees for the purpose of Incorporation pursuant to the Statute in such case Made and provided.
Resolved that said Society or Body Corporate should be known and Denominated the first Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Elizabethtown and Vicinity.
Resolved that Washington Osgood, Horace W. Parkill, Robert Thompson, Jacob Allen, Horatio Deming, Winchester Blood and Abial H. Smith be and they were there Duly Elected to serve as trustees for Said Society and they and their successors in office to be known by the name of first Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Elizabethtown and Vicinity.
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Resolved that the Trustees Draw for the number of Years that they Shall Serve said Society as Trustees and the follow- ing was the Result. H. W. Parkhill and Washington Osgood, two Years Each, Robert Thompson, Jacob Allen, three Years Each, Winchester Blood, Four Years and Horatio Deming and Abial H. Smith, one Year Each.
At a Meeting of the Trustees of the Methodist E. Church in E'Town and Vicinity held at the Court House in Said Town on the 9th day of December, A. D., 1839. ·
Bro. O. Gregg was called to the chair and H. W. Parkill was appointed Secretary.
Resolved first that we Build a Church.
Second-Resolved that we appoint three persons as Build- ing Committee. Robert Thompson, Washington Osgood and Lucius Bishop were then and there Duly appointed Such Committee.
Third, Resolved that the Committee and Trustees proceed Immediately and Make preparations to Build as Soon as prac- ticable an Entirely Wood Meeting House with a Basement Story and that to be seven feet in the Clear and Constructed on the Same plan as near as practicable with the Drafts that the Committee have obtained of Chamberlain and Wilson taken from the Church at Lower Jay Village, the size of the House to be determined by the trustees and Building Com- mittee.
Fourth, Resolved that the Trustees proceed to obtain a Cite for said Church.
Fifth, Resolved that the Cite be on the Level of the Land opposite of the Brick School House in Said Town of E'Town."
It may well be stated here that Mrs. Ann Osgood, widow of Solomon Washington Osgood, is the only charter member of the Methodist Episcopal Church now living, she being in the 92d year of her age.
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Captain John Lobdell served as Supervisor of Elizabeth- town in 1839 and this is evidence that he had ere this moved down off the hill to what is now Meigsville, where he resided till 1848.
In the month of March, 1839, Simeon Kneeland and all his family, excepting his oldest son Ozias H., moved from Charles- town, Montgomery County, N. Y., to Elizabethtown, coming by way of Chester, Schroon and North Hudson. Simeor Kneeland's wife was Prudence Cady. Their children were Ozias H., Cady, Benjamin, Lovina, Huldah, Abner and Pru- dence. Simeon Kneeland kept a wayside inn on the Plain, in the office of which hung the following quaint sign :
Let my care be no man's sorrow, Pay to-day and trust to-morrow.
Simeon Kneeland lived in Elizabethtown only five years, selling the Plain property, (Cobble Hill Golf Ground, etc.,) to Augustus C. Hand February 27, 1844. Simeon Kneeland's wife died Jan. 3, 1843, and after selling out here he went west. On his return from the west he died at Lyons, Wayne County, N. Y., and there his mortal remains were buried.
In 1839 Colonel Edmund F. Williams of Elizabethtown was elected Essex County Clerk.
Henry Ransom Noble served as Elizabethtown's Super- visor in 1840 and 1841.
September 10, 1840, the death of Deacon Levi Brown oc- curred at his home on Water Street. A big delegation on the way to the Great Whig Convention at Keeseville were march- ing the streets of Elizabethtown when Col. Williams announced the death of the veteran of the Battle of Plattsburgh and im- mediately the drums were muffled. Deacon Brown was so badly deafened at the Battle of Plattsburgh that his hearing was impaired and he afterwards when attending church had a seat in the pulpit with the preacher to the end that he might
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hear better. He drew a pension as a veteran of the War of 1812 from the year 1834, his pension certificate being signed by John Forsyth, acting Secretary of War. The mortal re- mains of Deacon Levi Brown were buried in the cemetery at Lewis Center.
May 3, 1841, the Barrett brothers, Amos and Charles (twins) arrived in Elizabethtown. They were then 21 years of age and full of business. They fixed over the old grist-mill block, which had been used as a store for some years and put in a stock of goods. The Barrett brothers constituted quite a factor in Elizabethtown business and social life until the spring of 1848 when Charles Barrett died, aged only 28 years. Amos Barrett sold out shortly after the death of his brother and went to California where he died while still a young man, com- paratively speaking.
May 4, 1841, Levi De Witt Brown married Lovina Kneeland, Rev. C. C. Stevens performing the ceremony.
In 1842 Dr. Safford Eddy Hale arrived in Elizabethtown, coming here from Chelsea, Vt. Dr. Hale first lived on Maple Street, where the E. E. Wakefield hardware store stands. Shortly, however, Dr. Hale moved to Water Street. Dr. Hale's wife was Elizabeth Churchill. Their children were Frederick C. Hale, now a well-known Chicago attorney, Miss Clara Hale, who occupies the homestead on Water Street, and Joseph C. Hale, a railroad engineer operating in Colorado.
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