USA > New York > Essex County > Elizabethtown > Pleasant Valley : a history of Elizabethtown, Essex County, New York > Part 22
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Elizabethtown's Supervisor from 1842 to 1845, inclusive, was Orlando Kellogg.
March 17, 1843, James Bishop was hung in the Essex County jail yard for the killing of his wife at Port Kent. "Jim." Bishop was a stone mason by trade and during his trial was lefended by Augustus C. Hand, Gardner Stow, District At- orney, conducting the prosecution. The day before the exe- cution Mrs. Nancy Wall, wife of William Wall, made an old
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fashioned English blood pudding for the condemned man. After Mrs. Wall had tasted of the pudding in the presence of the jail authorities, Bishop was allowed to partake of the treat. The scaffold was arranged so that the body went up suddenly after the cutting of a rope, the cutting being done by Alanson Wilder, then Sheriff of Essex County.
Bishop's corpse was turned over to Dr. Safford E. Hale who separated the flesh from the bones, putting the skeleton to- gether and preserving it.
Joseph Francis Durand died April 10, 1843, his remains be- ing buried in the Boquet Valley cemetery. He was 78 years of age at the time of his death and had served as a soldier during the American Revolution. The following letter will be read with interest by his numerous descendants in Elizabeth- town and throughout the west :
"DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, BUREAU OF PENSIONS, Washington, D. C., March 2, 1898.
Madam :- Replying to your request for information concern- ing Joseph Durand, a soldier of the Revolutionary War, you are advised that he made application for pension on Septem- ber 28, 1832, at which time he was 68 years of age and resid- ing at Elizabethtown, N. Y., and his pension was allowed for six months actual service as a private in the New York troops, Revolutionary War; a part of the time he served under Capt. Lewis and Col. Canfield. He enlisted at Bedford, N. Y.
Very respectfully,
MRS. A. B. HEWITT, Lake Forest, Ill.
H. CLAY EVANS, Commissioner."
Mrs. Hewitt is a descendant of Calvin Durand.
JAY COOKE, World Famed Financier.
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In 1842 and 1843 Cabot Clark was engaged fixing over the Perry house on the Plain. About the same time or a little later Hand & Marks were serving as a committee to fix over the Court House. They raised the Court House to a two story building. The Court House remained, substantially, as Hand & Marks arranged it till 1880.
At this time Cabot Clark was superintending carpenter work. The Livermores, brothers of Mrs. Cabot Clark, came here from Hinesburgh, Vt., to work as masons.
In September, 1844, a great Whig Convention was held in Elizabethtown. The Court House had just been completed and a great demonstration was held on the Common in front of it. Colonel Edmund F. Williams, who was still Essex County Clerk, was one of the master spirits of that occasion. Milo Durand played the tenor drum, while William Wall, who had served as fifer under Wellington at Waterloo, manipula- ted the fife. Old men say "Uncle Billie" played the fife so loud upon that occasion that it was heard a mile away.
According to all accounts ginger bread, doughnuts and noise were plenty upon that occasion and a large portion of the population of Essex County lunched in Elizabethtown that day, the provision for delegates, etc., having been cooked up by the fair Whig women.
At this period in the history of Elizabethtown the hamlet named New Russia by Col. Edmund F. Williams in 1845 was a lively place. In addition to the old time forge there were two saw-mills, one on the east and one on the west side of the Boquet River, both owned by Lucius Bishop. There was also a grist-mill and a whiskey distillery owned by Lucius Bishop, these standing on the west side of the river. Rum from maple sugar was made in the Bishop distillery.
Speaking of Lucius Bishop's operations at New Russia his son, Dr. Midas E. Bishop, says in a letter to the author of
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Pleasant Valley : "When my father sold out to Sherwood & Co. in 1845 it (the old distillery building) was moved and made into a store and afterwards when a large store was built on the main road, it was rebuilt for a dwelling house. When my father came to man's estate he took upon himself the care of his old father, built a grist-mill with three run of stones in it. It was interesting to hear him tell of the difficulties he had in doing it. Two of the sets of stones were from Mt. Discovery in Lewis and it took a month's work for a man to cut and shape one set. One set of stones, French burr, ground wheat. *
* * He learned the blacksmith trade and did all the iron work for the grist-mill that a blacksmith could do and in those days there were no machine shops to do it and all the small shafting was made by a blacksmith. The heavy shafting was of wood with wrought iron bearings."
Lucius Bishop was twice married, his first wife being Relief Flagg. His second wife was Anne Sheldon, by whom were born the following children ; Miletus, Lucy Anne, Boliver, Annette, Midas Elijah, Amy Anne, Bainbridge, Thetis. Of this large family only two are now living, Dr. Midas E. Bishop of South Haven, Mich., and Thetis, now Mrs. Elbert H. Putnam of Bennington, Vt.
In 1843 Robert Safford Hale arrived in Elizabethtown and at once took high rank in town and county affairs. In 1849 he married Lovina Sibley Stone, daughter of Captain Jere- miah Stone. Their children were Abby Laura, Harry, Mary Eddy, Elizabeth Vashti and Marcia Ellen. Abby Laura Hale died April 29, 1888. Elizabeth Vashti Hale married Prof. Robert P. Keep and lives (a widow) at Farmington, Conn. Harry Hale married Cora M. Putnam, youngest daughter of Herbert Asa Putnam, and lives in Elizabethtown. Mary Eddy Hale and Marcia Ellen Hale occupy the house into which their father moved in 1849, the building having since been materially repaired and enlarged.
In 1845 Basil Bishop sold his Split Rock forge property to the Wyman brothers from Schroon and went to Marquette, Mich., where he lived 20 years, dying in September, 1865.
The Wyman brothers-Charles, George and Darius-oper- ated the forge at Split Rock a few years and then went to
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Ohio and settled first on farms near Cleveland and from there some of them went to Michigan.
Jacob Southwell of Elizabethtown died in 1845, being bur- ried in the Black River Cemetery.
Nov. 5. 1846, several ladies met at the residence of Mrs. H. R. Noble in Elizabethtown village and organized a "Sewing Circle." This Society met every Thursday at 2 P. M. to sew, knit or engage in any work to advance its interests, the object being to aid in benevolent purposes.
Following names of Members of the Elizabethtown "Sewing Circle" are taken from preserved records, thanks to Mrs. Richard L. Hand : Mrs. R. W. Livingston, Mrs. P. Reynolds, Mrs. Ira Marks, Mrs. S. Hinckley, Mrs. S. E. Hale, Miss M. E. Churchill, Mrs. J. Stone, Miss L. Stone, Miss C. Judd, Mrs. D. Judd, Miss S. Brydia, Mrs. E. Marks, Mrs. C. Clark, Miss F. Morse, Mrs. A. Finney, Mrs. A. C. Hand, Mrs. E. F. Wil- liams, Mrs. A. Evans, Mrs. H. R. Noble, Mrs. G. H. Wilson Mrs. G. S. Nicholson, Miss Sherman, Miss T. Ruggles, S. Nichols, Mrs. M. A.Furman, Mrs. L. D. Brown, Miss H. Knee- land, Mrs. C. H. Brainard, Miss S. Bishop, Mrs. E. S. Cuyler, Miss C. G. Parkill, Mrs. O. Kellogg, Mrs. Gray, Mrs. Hodg- kins.
The young gentlemen who joined this "Sewing Circle" were Amos Barrett, Charles Barrett, A. P. Brainard, W. S. Judd, William Higby, Edward S. Cuyler, William Root, Byron Pond, T. H. Richards, Robert S. Hale, F. C. Brainard, Charles Wil- iams, Clifford A. Hand, Edmund C. Williams, A. M. Finney, G. S. Nicholson, L. D. Brown.
Myron Durand served as Elizabethtown's Supervisor in 1846 and 1847.
In 1847 Alonzo McD. Finney embarked in the mercantile business. He put a stock of groceries, dry goods, etc., into the Marks store, so-called. This store stood where the Lam- son house now stands. At this time Ira Marks lived in a house which has since been built on to and made over into what is now the E. E. Wakefield hardware store. It was shortly after this that Ira Marks built the substantial house now owned and occupied by Mrs. Sarah K. Livingston, widow of the late A. C. H. Livingston.
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In the winter of 1847 and 1848 the canal was dug from the dam on the Boquet River just east of Elizabethtown village to the Valley Forge, around which there had clustered a little settlement. The Whallon & Judd store and the old "board- ing house" still stand, all the other buildings of the Valley Forge settlement having succumbed to the mutations of time. Col. Edmund F. Williams had superintended the construction of the Valley Forge, a man named Theodore Olcott furnishing the funds.
Shortly after the erection of the Valley Forge the Separator building was erected on the Ladd Brook, just above Fisher Bridge, so-called. Barney Mee superintended the construc- tion of the Separator, in which a 40 ft. overshot wheel was ar- ranged, the water coming in a cylindrical wooden flume from a point in the brook a few rods below what is now the entrance to "Garondah." This large building was put up at a cost of $7,000 for the purpose of separating ore brought from the Steele bed a short distance above it. However, it proved to be one of the most complete failures in the history of Eliz- abethtown, there not being water enough to run the big wheel, so but little ore was ever separated. And thus the big building with its mammoth wheel (an attractive place for boys) stood for 30 years, bearing mute but indisputable witness to the folly of its progenitors, of whom William S. Judd was foremost.1
In the year 1848 there appeared a new and stirring figure in Elizabethtown business affairs. Reference is here made to Preston Singletary Whitcomb, who was born Nov. 19, 1819, in New Hampshire, and came to Keeseville in 1826. In 1847 he
I After the dam was built just below where the Little Boquet empties into the Boquet, the farmers in the Bouquet Valley signed papers that no action would be brought against Whal- lon & Judd in case of damage from setting back and overflowing of water. The wives of the farmers of course signed the papers and received their reward. The reward consisted of a new dress (pongee) for each. Mrs. Lovina (Kneeland) Brown, mother of the author of Pleasant Valley, is now the only woman living who received a dress from the new Whallon & Judd store upon that occasion.
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was in Willsboro acting as agent for the Kingslands. At the age of 29, a man of fine physique and distinguished bearing, he arrived at New Russia and for about three years was en- gaged in business there, Oliver D. Peabody being associated with him, the firm name being P. S. Whitcomb & Co. Mr. Whitcomb built the store still standing at New Russia and also built over the grist-mill. He eventually sold out to David W. Morhous, whose wife was Mary Putnam, sister of Herbert Asa Putnam. Mr. Whitcomb went from New Russia back to Keeseville, where he still resides, being remarkably well pre- served for one in his 86th year. Mrs. P. S. Whitcomb died in 1873 and for 32 years Mr. Whitcomb has continued along the journey of life alone, having no relatives in Northern New York. He is one of the pioneers whose acquaintance and friendship the author of Pleasant Valley appreciates and en- joys.
At this time Orlando Kellogg was in Congress serving his constituents faithfully and capably and forming that strong friendship with Abraham Lincoln which lasted till the assas- sination of the latter in April, 1865. The children of Orlando Kellogg and Polly Woodruff, his wife, were Cornelia A., Or- lando, Sarah, Rowland Case, Robert Hale, Rosa, who died young, William Roger, and Mary, who married Adelbert W. Boynton, the well-known Keeseville lawyer.
David Judd served as Elizabethtown's Supervisor in 1848.
In 1848 John E. Mc Vine of Elizabethtown was elected Essex County Judge and at the same time Dr. Safford E. Hale be- came Essex County Treasurer.
In 1848 George S. Nicholson of Elizabethtown was elected Essex County Clerk. George S. Nicholson's wife was Louisa Drowne. Their children were George Henry, Stella M., Wal- ter N., Mary L., Katharine K., John Drowne, Frank H., Sarah Frances, Charles, Lynn J., Matthew H., and Robert H. Of
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this large family only four are now living, Mrs. Mary L. Rawson of Port Richmond, N. Y., John Drowne Nicholson, Esq., Postmaster of Elizabethtown, Mrs. Lynn J. Fuller and Miss Sarah Frances Nicholson of Los Angeles, Cal.
In 1848 Jesse Gay and Jonathan Tarbell were in Eliz- abethtown. Just when these men came here I am unable to state. John Geary, King of the Irish, was also a resident of Elizabethtown village in 1848. And it may be added here that Matthew Hale, brother of Safford Eddy and Robert Saf- ford Hale, arrived here shortly after 1848.
In 1849 Elizabethtown's Supervisor was Levi De Witt Brown.
The Elizabethtown and Westport Plank Road Company.
It has been stated on the pages of history that a plank road was built from Westport to Elizabethtown in 1845. This statement is incorrect, as the meeting to organize the Eliz- abethtown and Westport Plank Road Company was held Oc- tober 30, 1849, at the inn of David Judd in Elizabethtown, just a little south of the Maplewood Inn of to-day. Accord- ing to the original papers on file in the law office of the late Judge Byron Pond, Deacon Harry Glidden acted as Chair- man of that meeting and Robert S. Hale served as Secretary. Articles of Association were filed in Albany February 15, 1850. The Directors were David Judd (President) James S. Whallon, William D. Holcomb and Brewster M. Hodskins. The stock was limited to $13,000, 260 shares of $50 each. Upon the organization of the Co. Byron Pond was elected Secretary, which position he held continuously till his death, over half a century.
The following list of stockholders, showing number of shares held by each, will be of interest to many of the present generation :
A. C. Hand 20, David Judd 20, Ira Marks 10, Orlando Kel-
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logg 5, George W. Phelps 2, W. E. Marshall 2, S. E. Hale 2, Charles A Wakefield 2, P. S. Whitcomb & Co. 10, S. W. Smith 2, J. & J. H. Sanders 2, Lucius Bishop 2, H. S. Deming 2, E. Lobdell 2, W. S. Furman 2, Leander Abel 2, Marcus Storrs 2, N. H. Person 2, Glidden & Partridge 4, R. S. Hale 2, G. W. Rice 2, E. C. Williams 2, R. Nichols 2, J. A. Woodruff 2, Whallon & Judd 20, B. M. Hodskins 8, H. R. Noble 10, F. H. Cutting 6, R. A. Loveland 1, W. D. Holcomb 1, Jas. W. Eddy 2, D. L. Allen 5, Jesse Sanders 2, A. B. Mack 2, H. J. Person 5, J. H. Low 2, Miles M'F. Sawyer 2, Alembert Pond 2, Byron Pond 2, George S. Nicholson 4, A. H. Wilder 1, L. D. Brown 4.
A list of those "not yet paid up" included D. Clark 1, C. B. Hatch 2, H. Pierce 1, J. Post 2, W. F. Deming 1.
The round wood seal of the Company was made by Alonzo McD. Finney and is still in existence.
The plank road was actually built in the spring and sum- mer of 1850. P. S. Whitcomb & Co. furnished hemlock plank for a mile of the road, hauling them from their New Russia saw-mill.
Deacon Harry Glidden also furnished some plank, the first sawed at his new mill, erected on or near the site of the old mill built by Robards Rice in early days.
Henry R. Noble also furnished over $500 worth of plank used in the construction of this road.
There were two toll-gates on the Elizabethtown and West- port Plank Road Company line, one standing near Elizabeth- town village, where Robert Dougan now lives, and one near where the D. & H. R. R. now crosses the highway.
This plank road was a great improvement and while the planks were new worked well but eventually the road was turnpiked again, one of the toll-gates being thrown up.
Another paper was commenced at Elizabethtown, in Jan. 1849, by D. Turner, and removed to Keeseville in about four
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months .- Footnote on page 297, Gazetteer of the State of New York by J. H. French. Richard Lockhart Hand informs me that the paper referred to in the Gazetteer was printed in the second story of a house which stood until 1887 just south of where the Judge Byron Pond law office stands. Mr. Hand says he remembers going to the printing office one day to get a copy of the paper for his father and that it was quite a treat for a boy 10 years old to see the workings of a country printing office.
David Turner was a native of England, his wife being Eliza Jane Cameron of Keeseville. Their children were Ross Sterl- ing, born in Westport June 29, 1847, Charles B. R., born in Keeseville February 23, 1850, Mathias Guy, born at Rouses Point July 8, 1853, Byron Pond, born at Rouses Point Janu- ary 27, 1855, Jasper Curtis, born in Elizabethtown May 21, 1859, Cornelia Melvina born in Burlington, Vt., August 9, 1861, Lewis Mckenzie, born in Alexandria, Va., in 1863.
Ross Sterling Turner of Boston, Mass., is now one of the best known American artists. Byron Pond Turner is con- nected with the Civil Service Commission at Washington,D.C.
July 25, 1848, Abijah Perry made out a list of the ordnance, ammunition and all other property of the State of New York entrusted to his keeping, presumptive evidence of his appoint- ment to be superintendent of the Arsenal. The list included 1130 American muskets, a lot of pistols, rifles, swords, scab- bards, knap sacks, bayonets, powder kegs, a cannon, etc., etc. He was the last man in charge of the Arsenal and two years after his appointment the muskets were auctioned off, Mr. Perry acting as auctioneer. After selling all the guns for $1 a piece that could be sold for that price, a lot were sold for 50 cts. each and finally the price dropped to 25 cts. and then every boy in town got a gun. These were all flint locks and for the next few years Captain Jeremiah Stone was kept busy
RICHARD LOCKHART HAND, President of the New York State Bar Association.
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fixing them over into cap lock guns. The Arsenal building and ground was purchased by Ira Marks. It has since been occupied by Almon Stevens, John Simmons, John Gowett, Vinal Denton and Ed. Longware, present occupant. The brick walls of the building are 18 inches thick. Of course the tak- ing down of the high board fence and various improvements made have changed the appearance of the place materially during the past 50 years.
The Essex County Agricultural Society was organized in 1849, the first Fair being in Keeseville. From 1850 to 1865 the annual Fair was held on the eastern side of the Plain in Elizabethtown village. Since 1865 the annual Fair has been held in Westport.
The year 1850 must have been a busy one in Elizabethtown. During this year Judge Augustus C. Hand and family moved into the new brick house, now the home of his son Richard Lockhart Hand. Ira Marks completed his new house and Milo Durand built the fine farm house which to-day adorns "Durand Farm" and shelters summer sojourners from all parts of the country, the new Congregational Church (now the front part of the Village Hall) was completed, being dedicated in July, 1850. The last named edifice stood on the corner just across the street from the old Arsenal building until 1888, when it was moved to its present location to give place to the new stone church, one of the most artistic buildings in North- ern New York. The Valley Forge (five fires) was running full blast, P. S. Whitcomb & Co. were booming at New Russia, Guy Meigs was getting into gear in the little hamlet on the Black River which has since been called Meigsville, being named in honor of the active operator of the early 50s. Guy Meigs was a son of Captain Luther Meigs (War of 1812) of Highgate, Vt., and was a pioneer to California in 1849. His wife was Lavina Walbridge, of P. Q. For a few years Guy
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Meigs did an extensive iron and lumber business at Meigsville, going west again about 1855. He died in 1885. Guy Meigs was a brother of Captain Henry Benjamin Meigs of Baltimore, Md., author of the Meigs Genealogy, a book of nearly 400 pages.
The building of the new plank road and the increase of ac- tivity incident thereto is well remembered by old residents of both Elizabethtown and Westport. Then too the Essex County Fair made its appearance in Elizabethtown in 1850, at which time and place John Brown, the great abolitionist, ap- peared from the wilds of North Elba (the town having been set off from Keene in 1849) with "a number of very choice and beautiful Devons."
Amos Barrett and William Higby left Elizabethtown in 1850, going to California ere the echoes of the "gold cry" had scarcely died away. Poor Amos Barrett died by his own hand after a few years residence in California. And thus while the mortal remains of his twin brother Charles rest in our old cemetery here, the body of Amos became a part of the soil of the great Pacific State to which he emigrated with so much hope.
William Higby rose rapidly in California, finally going to Washington, D. C., as Congressman. He died at Santa Rosa, Cal., in the latter 80s.
William Whitman Root and George S. Nicholson, under the firm name of Root & Nicholson, succeeded Amos Barrett in the old grist-mill block in 1850, enlarging the store to double its former capacity. In the early 50s the Post Office was kept in this block, Mr. Root being Postmaster.
In the spring of 1851 the Peak sisters gave an entertain- ment in the Baptist Church. Shortly afterwards several per- sons in Elizabethtown and vicinity came down with small pox, among the number being Harry Jones, who was taken to an
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improvised pest house which stood in the lot a few rods north- east of Fisher Bridge. At this time the road went up over the hill where the "Garondah" garden is now located.
In October, 1851, The Elizabethtown Post was started by Robert Wilson Livingston and Sewell Sergeant, both of whom had been students in Middlebury College. Strangely enough both of these men had taught school in Elizabethtown and both had studied law in Judge Augustus C. Hand's office. The Post started its career in what is now the H. A. Putnam barn, which building then stood end to the road, being occupied for school purposes, offices, etc. Samuel C. Dwyer had his law office in this building and afterwards kept the Post Office in it. The Post had lots of advertising in 1851, the lawyers, mer- chants, hotel keepers, tailors, and even the blacksmiths, all carrying "Ads." The present home of The Post was erected 1857 and the paper has, with the exception of a few months in 1858, been issued weekly. Just before the civil war David Turner edited The Post. In the early 60s Richard L. Hand served as editor of The Post. In the 70s The Post was owned in turn by John Liberty and Alva Marvin Lewis. With these exceptions The Post has remained in the Livingston family, the late A. C. H. Livingston owning and editing it the last twenty years of his life. February 1, 1900, just after A. C. H. Livingston's death, George L. Brown became editor and manager, in which capacity he still serves. Alva Marvin Lewis is the nestor among "typos," having commenced in 1860. Charles H. Palmer is foreman, the other "typos" being Frank H. Durand, Earle A. McAuley and Virgil S. Clark. Fred E. Milholland, a graduate "typo," is foreman of the New York Tribune composing rooms. The Post is a Democratic paper and is widely read by "old timers."
During the eventful year 1850 and also during 1851 Eliz- bethtown's Supervisor was another farmer-Jonathan Post-
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who lived on his farm just north of New Russia, the same place to-day occupied by his daughter, Miss Adeline Post.
In November, 1851, Elisha A. Adams of Wilmington was elected Essex County Clerk. He married a daughter of Major Reuben Sanford of Sanford's Battalion fame and brought a most interesting and eminently helpful family to Elizabethtown. His son Henry J. and daughters Mary, Annie and Hester were prominent socially and Mr. Adams and wife, being Meth- odists, were a great help to the poor struggling M. E. Society of that time.
In 1852 John E. McVine was re-elected Essex County Judge.
In 1852 Orlando Kellogg, though an ex-Congressman, served as Elizabethtown's Supervisor.
Father Comstock died at his Lewis home Jan. 8, 1853.
In 1853 Byron Pond served as Supervisor and the next year Alonzo McD. Finney ran on a stump ticket and beat Colonel Edmund F. Williams for Supervisor. This was probably the most exciting contest for Supervisor ever known in the history of Elizabethtown and the defeat of Col. Williams who had so long been "it" not only in Elizabethtown but in Essex County, made him feel sore. In after years Col. Williams went down into the wilds of Minerva and founded a settlement, naming it "Aiden Lair," meaning a place for wild beasts. Aiden Lair Lodge now stands a few rods from the wildwood home of Col. Williams and the Sage cottages on Hewitt Lake are but a mile distant, the Superintendent of the latter being John S. James, an Elizabethtown man.
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