USA > New York > Essex County > Elizabethtown > Pleasant Valley : a history of Elizabethtown, Essex County, New York > Part 4
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Levi, born June 5, 1818, married Jane Goodale.
James, born Oct. 12, 1820, married Jane Knapp.
Jacob, born Feb. 18, 1823, never married.
Nancy, born Aug. 8, 1826, married Julius Vaughan.
Caroline, born Sept. 12, 1828, married Calvin D. Pratt.
Rosamond, born Feb. 4, 1833, never married.
Jerome Theron, born Feb. 19, 1835, married Helen Deyoe.
Of this large family of children but two survive-Rosamond and Jerome Theron Lobdell, who own and live on the old Joseph Francis Durand farm in the Boquet Valley.
When the Lobdells first came into the Boquet Valley they ground their corn in an old stone mortar by means of a lever arrangement, the peculiar primitive outfit being located under the ledge just north of the present residence of Winslow R. Partridge. About 20 years ago the late Jacob Lobdell pointed out the place and explained the process to the writer.
About the same time the early settlers were flocking into the Boquet Valley Stephen Roscoe came acoss Lake Cham- plain from Vermont, built a saw-mill and settled on the Branch or Little Boquet where Lobdell Brothers (sons of Jerome T. and grandsons of John Lobdell before mentioned) are now operating so extensively, having both a saw-mill and a grist-mill. The writer has before him a letter written by William Emmet Roscoe, the Schoharie County historian, at Central Bridge, N. Y., under date of Feb. 9th, 1903. Accord- ing to this letter Stephen Roscoe and his sons crossed the lake (Champlain) and cut and hewed the timber in the winter of 1791-2 out of which the saw-mill was built in the spring of 1792, "so that they could saw lumber for a house and barn for themselves and for neighbors who were moving in." This
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saw-mill stood just above where the Lobdell Brothers new saw-mill is located. Every stick of the timber of the frame was hewed, studs, rafters, braces, etc., and the mill irons were brought from Barber's Point on horseback. William E. Roscoe says in the letter quoted from that he often heard his father say that while they were cutting the timber for the first saw- mill ever erected on the Branch or Little Boquet "they lived on Johnny cake and put a slice, for their dinners, in their pants pockets to thaw while they were at work."1
It would seem from the Schoharie County historian's letter that the Roscoe saw-mill was the first one erected in what is now Elizabethtown, as he says : "The only mill at that time was at or near Westport."
Speaking of his grandfather-Stephen Roscoe-and the causes which led to his settlement here in the wilderness, the Schoharie County historian says :
"Grandfather was pretty well-to-do for those days and had good pluck and ambition but was averse to political troubles. The great squabble over the New Hampshire grants threat- ened another war and he chose to enter the wilderness and secure enough land for his large family instead of remaining . on the disputed territory and perhaps lose all he had."
Stephen Roscoe "took up" quite a tract or patent of land, 640 acres, a mile square. Beginning near where the old John Barton house stands, his line ran between the Nichols and Roscoe property to a point at the top of the hill south of the Nichols school house in the town of Lewis, thence west along between the R. C. Blood and George Bartlett farms to the east line of old Military Tract, thence to a point a little west of what is to-day referred to as Rice's Falls, thence east
I "Johnny-cake" was corn bread mixed hastily and baked on a board which was tilted up before a bed of coals. The name is a corruption of "journey-cake," since it was the only kind of bread which could be baked in camp, while one was on a journey through the woods, etc. The "Johnny-cake" of to-day, which is, as of old, hastily "stirred up," is baked under improved conditions and is a popular bread-stuff with natives and tourists alike.
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to the place of beginning near the Barton house. He had an exalted idea of the importance of his tract, its location, etc. When he began to operate on his tract the flat to-day owned by Friend M. Roscoe was covered with a heavy primeval forest, principally beech and maple. At that time no blow had been struck where the present village of Elizabethtown stands except what Stephen Roscoe and his sons had done up where Lobdell Brothers are now operating so extensively. Curiously enough when Stephen Roscoe and his sons cleared what is to day referred to as the Roscoe flat he thought he was starting the foundation of "the village." However, when the timber was cut off, he found numerous brooks were wind- ing their way through his village site and that in consequence the flat was wet and swampy. Such is the irony of fate, as that flat has remained moist for over a century and "the village" has grown up over a mile away from Stephen Ros- coe's cherished site.
Stephen Roscoe had a large family of children as the follow- ing list attests : Stephen, Azor, Simeon, James, John B., Esther, Ruth, Mary.
Stephen Roscoe, Jr., physician, settled in Panton, Vt.
Azor Roscoe lived in Elizabethtown for awhile.
Simeon Roscoe was twice married, his first wife being Lois Ashley. Simeon Roscoe's children by his first wife were Kaziah who married Robert Thompson, Jr., Phila who mar- ried Lyman Shepard, Lucy who married Marshall Warren, Polly who married Elisha Flagg, and James who died while young. Simeon Roscoe's second wife was Nancy Roscoe, a cousin, and their children were Simeon, Jr., who married Mary Ann Studwell, Levi who married Eliza Stockwell, Stephen who married Alvira Blood, John who married Rebecca Spauld- ing, Abbie who died while young, Lois who married Lewis Jenner and Ruth who married Nathaniel K. Jenner and became
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the mother of Mrs. Lucy Jane Pierce, widow of the late Alonzo Pierce, Miss Eliza Jenner, Levi A. and Edgar G. Jenuer.
James Roscoe married Esther Robertson. Their children were Robertson J., Nelson J., Hudson and Charlotte, all of whom are living except Hudson, and all of whom are past 81 years of age. Robertson J. married Lodisa Holt, a daughter of the late Alvah Holt of Keene, Nelson J. married Cynthia Merritt, Hudson married Abagail Hinds and Charlotte mar- ried Ira Deming and became the mother of Miss Ada V. Dem- ing and John J. Deming of this town, and two estimable daughters-Marion C. and Jennie L. Deming-who died after having reached womanhood.
John B. Roscoe was born in Connecticut in 1777 and came into what is now Elizabeth town with his father when the tim- ber cutting for the saw-mill commenced. He lived with his father, tending saw-mill, etc., until 1800. He studied medi- cine with his brother Dr. Stephen Roscoe of Panton, Vt., and with Dr. Alexander Morse of Elizabethtown, after which he married Ruth Knoulton, whose father lived a little north of where the Nichols school house now stands in the town of Lewis. The brook which flows by the Nichols school house was originally known as "Knoulton Brook," later as "Phelps Brook," the latter name being in honor of the late George Phelps who so long lived on the farm in the town of Lewis which is to-day owned by Orlando Kellogg, proprietor of "The Windsor." The building of a dam across this brook brought into being what is known to-day as "The Windsor Farm Fish Pond." John B. Roscoe's first wife (Ruth Knoulton) died in 1801 and was buried in what is now known as the Roscoe cemetery, said to have been the first interment in what is now a populous city of the dead. In 1803 John B. Roscoe was in Charlestown, Montgomery County, N. Y., practicing medi- cine and in 1805 went over the line 4 or 5 miles into Car-
OLIVER ABEL, Son of Azel Abel, Elizabethtown's First Hotel Keeper.
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lisle, Schoharie County, N. Y. After moving into Schoharie County he married twice. William Emmet Roscoe, the Scho- harie County historian, and Marshall Roscoe are sons of Dr. John B. Roscoe who lived to be over 90 years of age.
Esther Roscoe married a Squires, father of Azor Squires.
Ruth Roscoe married Stephen Ashley and became the mother of Ruth Ann Ashley who married Levit Blood and be- came the mother of Alembert A. Blood of Lewis.
Mary Roscoe married a Squires and lived in Vermont.
In winding up this sketch of Stephen Roscoe and his family, it is only fair to state that the mortal remains of the sturdy pioneer were buried in the Roscoe Cemetery, on Roscoe Street in the town of Lewis, on a slight eminence overlooking the flat where he once fondly hoped a village would "spring up." He was mistaken as to the materialization of a village, but Roscoe Street and Roscoe Cemetery are names which have been brought down to the present by a grateful posterity and will commemorate the name of the founder of the house of Roscoe in this section so long as time endures.
Inasmuch as there has been some question raised by people living in surrounding towns as to the origin of and authority for use of the appellation "Pleasant Valley" the writer quotes the wording of an original deed in the possession of Miss Alice E. Abel of Elizabethtown, which deed was drawn and witnessed December 1, 1795, being signed by Platt Rogers himself. Those people who have chosen to sneer at the appellation "Pleasant Valley" and say that it was only a modern name applied for effect by members of the present generation have a chance to learn by the wording of the following deed, which is also on record in the Essex County Clerk's office, that the name was applied to this section 110 years ago, three years be- fore Elizabethtown was set off as a town from the town of Crown Point :
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This Indenture made this first day of December in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and ninety-five Be- tween Platt Rogers of Fishkill in Dutchess County and State of New York of the one part and James Andress of Pleasant Valley in Crown Point, District, County & State aforesaid of the other part, Witnesseth that the sd Platt Rogers for and in consideration of the sum of seventy six pounds, eight shillings and nine pence Lawful money of the State of New York to him in hand paid by the sd James Andress at and before the ensealing and delivery of these presents, the receipt whereof is hereby acknowledged, hath granted, bargained, sold and by these presents doth grant, bargain, sell and release unto the sd James Andress and to his heirs and assigns forever
All and singular that tract or parcel of land lying in Pleas- ant Valley in Crown Point, District, County and State afore- said in the Patent of Pleasant Valley which patent contains three thousand seven hundred acres of Land Iving on Boquete River and is known by a subdivision of said tract by Lot No. nine of which he the said James Andress is to have one equal half or hundred acres of(f) of the north side of sd Lot which Lot contains two hundred acres of Land. Together with all and singular the rites, members, hereditaments and appurtenances to the same belonging or in anywise appertaining and the re- vertion and remainders, rents, issues and profits thereof. To Have and to Hold the sd granted and bargained premises with all the appurtenances thereunto belonging to him, the said James Andress, his heirs, executors, administrators or assigns forever.
In witness whereof the parties to these presents have here- unto Interchangeably set their hands and seals this day and year first above written. Platt Rogers [L.S.]
Signed, Sealed and delivered in the presence of
Thomas Tredwell, Chas. Platt.
The fact is the "Patent of Pleasant Valley" as mentioned in the deed quoted was constantly referred to by Platt Rogers from 1789 till his death in 1798 and the name Pleasant Valley has been applied to this section more or less for the past 115 years, the unwarranted sneers of jealous outsiders to the con- trary notwithstanding.
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It will be noted that on December 1, 1795, Platt Rogers evi- dently considered his residence to be Fishkill, Dutchess County, New York. However, as Dr. Asa Post and Mrs. Car- oline H. Royce, the latter being a descendant of Platt Rogers, have both said that the famous road-maker lived at Basin Harbor, Vt., it is undoubtedly true. Perhaps Platt Rogers, our pioneer road maker, resided during the winter season at Fish- kill, N. Y., and during the summer at Basin Harbor, Vt. If so, he was undoubtedly the pioneer summer resident of the Champlain Valley and the fact should be recorded in history.
The year 1796 was an eventful one in the Champlain Valley and contiguous territory, especially on the west side. About the first of February, 1796, William Gilliland, who was then living with his son-in-law Daniel Ross in what is now known as the William R. Derby house in the northern part of the village of Essex, went across Lake Champlain to visit his friend Platt Rogers at Basin Harbor. At least so two eminent historians-the late Hon. Winslow C. Watson and Mrs. Caro- line H. Royce-have recorded. It is supposed that Gilliland walked to Basin Harbor on the ice. After visiting Mr. Rogers he set out to return to the eastern side of Lake Champlain but so far as is known was never again seen alive after he passed out of sight from the windows of the house at Basin Harbor. He evidently lost his way upon the ice and turned off too soon, wandering about on the mountains south of Essex until he sank and perished from cold and exhaustion. After his strength failed him so that he was unable to walk, he dragged himself along until the flesh was worn from his hands and knees. Somewhere near the northern base of Coon mountain, upon soil which was once part of Elizabethtown and is now part of Westport, the great hearted pioneer breathed his last.
Such was the tragic end of a remarkable life. The pioneer of the Champlain Valley, once rich and the generous dispenser
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of munificent hospitalities, the associate and counsellor of vice royalty, then poor, piteously perished of cold and famine, far from human care, with no voice to soothe his sufferings and no kind hand to close his dying eyes. A simple stone marked his grave in the cemetery of Essex village for more than 100 years, the inscription reading as follows :
Sacred to the Memory of William Gilliland, Esq., who departed this life 2d Feb., 1796, aged 62 years. Erected by W. and H. Ross.
The remains of the ill-starred pioneer settler of Essex County remained in the Essex village cemetery for over 104 years. In the summer of 1900, however, the remains were re- moved to Lakeview cemetery in the town of Willsboro and there re-interred under the direct supervision of John Bleecker Cuyler of Willsboro, a descendant of Gilliland.
In the spring of 1796 the first recorded religious advance- ment was made in Pleasant Valley. The first Methodist preacher that is known to have visited Essex County, New York, was the Rev. Richard Jacobs. He was one of the pio- neers under the Rev. Freeborn Garretson, who first explored this region in this capacity. Mr. Jacobs belonged to a wealthy family of the "standing order," in Sheffield, Berkshire County, Mass. For becoming a Methodist he was disinherited by his father and, with his young wife, thrown out penniless upon the the world. In the spring of 1796 he left his family at Clifton Park and took a tour through Northern New York as far as Essex and Clinton counties, preaching to the few scattered in- habitants of the region.
"At Elizabethtown (Pleasant Valley) numbers were awak- ened and converted and leaving a few sheep in the wilderness, for such that whole country then was, he promised that if
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possible, a preacher should be sent them. After spending some weeks along the western shore of Lake Champlain, he started, in company with a Mr. Kellogg, to return to his family by way of the Scroon woods to the head of Lake George and thence to Clifton Park. They spent several days in the woods, meeting with almost insurmountable obstructions. Their provisions failing them, they became exhausted and, attempt- ing in that state to ford the Scroon river upon horseback, Mr. Jacobs was drowned. His family were all converted ; three of his sons became ministers and two of his daughters mar- ried Methodist preachers, one of whom was the wife of the Rev. Dr. Luckey."1
In the spring of 1796, probably about the time Rev. Richard Jacobs, the Methodist pioneer preacher, came here the prom- inent members of the community came together and organized the Baptist Church, the centennial of which organization was celebrated April 7, 1896, the writer being the historian of the latter occasion. While the records remaining of those early days are meagre, it is undoubtedly true that schools and relig- ious affairs engaged the attention of our pioneers as soon as they settled here in Pleasant Valley. It is a fact conceded the world over that the early district schools scattered through- out the States wherever a few families had located were one of the prime causes of the general intelligence that has since pervaded all our communities. It is also a fact that the pio- neers of our country communities, standing on the same plane of life, holding the same hopes and aspirations, born of pov- erty and nurtured in that privation common to all, each feeling an impulse, dictated by the humanity that was sure to develop amid such surroundings, to assist his neighbor whenever and
1 The data used above is from a reliable article in the New York Christian Advocate of May 20, 1836, and was furnished the writer by the Rev. Leigh Diefendorf, formerly of Eliz- abethtown, N. Y., now located in Williston, Vt.
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wherever assistance was needed, realizing that he might any day become the grateful recipient of similar service, were also, in the main, a God fearing people. And those of the present generation have to thank God that they grew from such a solid, enduring foundation.
In 1796 or shortly afterwards the Plattsburgh Circuit (Meth- odist) was organized. This Circuit extended from Ticonde- roga to Canada and Pleasant Valley was one of the preaching places.
Organization of the Town of Elizabethtown.
The year 1798 was also an eventful one in and around Pleas- ant Valley. In this year Platt Rogers, pioneer road maker and once well off but a poor man in his last days, died in Plattsburgh, his mortal remains being taken to Basin Harbor for burial. L
It has been stated on the pages of history that Elizabeth- town was originally part of the town of Willsboro. How ab- surd the claim is will appear from the following act copied word for word from the bound volume of Session Laws for the year 1798.
CHAP. 11. An Act for dividing the town of Crown Point. Passed the 12th of February, 1798.
Be it enacted by the people of the State of New York, rep- resented in Senate and Assembly, That from and after the first Monday of April next, all that part of the town of Crown
1 Platt Rogers was one of the 12 patriarchs who founded Plattsburgh. He served in two Dutchess County, N. Y., regiments during the American Revolution, Col. Brinckerhoff's and Col. Hopkins, and in both regiments was in Captain Brinckerhoff's Company. Rogers Pond and Rogers Brook in Schroon were named after the great road maker. It is a regret- table fact that Platt Rogers, he whose name was so inseparably connected with the early development of Pleasant Valley, was poor in his last years, so much so that the Sheriff "got after him," as early records in the Clinton County Clerk's office amply prove.
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Point in the County of Clinton, within the following bounds, to-wit : beginning at the northeast corner of a tract of land which was granted to Major Small, and then west along the north line of the said patent, and to continue in the same di- rection to the west bounds of the County, then north to the south line of the town of Jay, then east along the south line of the town of Jay and the town of Willsborough to the east line of the County of Clinton, then southerly along the east line of the said County to a due east point from the place of beginning, and then west to the place of beginning shall be and hereby is erected into a separate town by the name of Elizabeth Town, and the first town meeting shall be held at the dwelling house of David Calender in the said town.
And be it further enacted that all the remaining part of the town of Crown Point, shall be and remain a separate town by the name of Crown Point and the first town meeting shall be held at the dwelling house of Alexander Hay in the said town.
And be it further enacted, That the freeholders and inhabit- ants of the said town shall be entitled to all the privileges and be subject to all the penalties which the freeholders and in- habitants of the other towns in this state are entitled and sub- ject to by law.
And be it further enacted, That as soon as may be after the first Tuesday of April next the overseers of the poor, and the supervisors of the said town, shall after due notice be- ing given for that purpose by the supervisors of the said town, meet together and apportion the money and poor belonging to the said town of Crown-Point previous to the division thereof, in as equitable a manner as may be, and in case the supervisors and overseers of the poor cannot agree in the di- vision of the money and poor as aforesaid, then the supervis- ors of the County of Clinton at their annual meeting shall make such division of the money and poor aforesaid as shall
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appear most equitable to the supervisors or a major part of them.
Elizabethtown's first Supervisor was Ebenezer Newell.
Elizabethtown was so named after the wife and daughter of William Gilliland. It will be recalled that Mr. Gilliland's wife was Elizabeth Pbagan in her maiden days. Her eldest daughter Elizabeth married Daniel Ross and became the mother of William Daniel Ross and Henry H. Ross of Essex. Charlotte, after whom Charlotte, Vt., was named, married Stephen Cuyler. A third daughter, Jane Willsboro, became the wife of John Bleecker of Albany. The pioneer Gilliland also left one son William, after whom Willsboro was named. Willian Gilliland, 2d., who lived on the patrimonial estate at the mouth of Salmon River in Clinton County which had been named Janesboro by the pioneer, died in 1847, leaving two sons, William and Henry Phagan Gilliland. The former's son, Henry Phagan Gilliland, 2d., is well-known here in Elizabeth- town, having read law in the late Judge Robert S. Hale's of- fice in the latter 70s and being a resident of Plattsburgh at the present time. Other descendants of William Gilliland, the pioneer settler of Essex County, will be mentioned farther along in this work.
Elizabethtown at organization embraced practically all the territory comprized in the present township of that name and also that which has been known as Westport since 1815.
Shortly after the organization of the town of Elizabethtown there came in among our grand old hills a man whose family name has ever since been prominent here. Reference is here made to Azel Abel, Elizabethtown's first hotel keeper. Azel Abel had formerly lived in Massachusetts and served bravely as an officer on the side of the Colonists during the Ameri- can Revolution. Immediately after leaving Massachusetts
VALENTINE KELLOGG, Participant in the Battle of Plattsburgh and One of Elizabethtown's Pioneer Shoemakers.
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Azel Abel lived for a time at Orwell, Vt., and there his son Oliver was born in 1789.
Search in the records of the Clinton County Clerk's office, Book of Deeds B, page 184, shows that on September 11, 1798, Azel Abel bought land from Noah Ferris, (he of local Noah's Ark fame) the purchase embracing All and singular that tract and parcel of land lying and being in the town of Elizabeth in the County of Clinton and State of New York, said land is in a small patent lately granted to Platt Rogers & Co. for three thousand seven hundred acres of land and is a part of a lot known in a subdivision of said patent by lot No. 12, Bounded as followeth : Beginning at a stake nineteen chains and five links south of the northwest corner of said lot, thence running south twenty five chains and 12 links to the west branch, then south 70 degrees east fifteen rods, then north 70 degrees east six rods, then north 40 degrees 30 minutes east 12 rods, then north 10 degrees west nine rods, then north 30 degrees east six rods, then running down said branch until to or near the main river, then east to the east line of said lot, then north nineteen chains and five links to a stake, then west thirty nine chains and forty links to the place begun at, containing eighty acres and thirty eight rods of land.
The consideration for the parcel of land described on the north bank of the branch or Little Boquet was 43 pounds. Upon this piece of land, between where Maplewood Inn now stands and the Little Boquet, Azel Abel put up a rude log building which served as Elizabethtown's first hotel.
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