The growth of a century: as illustrated in the history of Jefferson county, New York, from 1793-1894, Part 118

Author: Haddock, John A., b. 1823-
Publication date: 1895
Publisher: Albany, N. Y., Weed-Parsons printing company
Number of Pages: 1098

USA > New York > Jefferson County > The growth of a century: as illustrated in the history of Jefferson county, New York, from 1793-1894 > Part 118

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Judge Ellis always retained the respect of the people among whom he resided. One, who was in his family 14 years, speaks of him as "Always a gentleman, upright and honorable, doing all the good he could. Every one who had trouble came to him for advice or help, and he was a benefactor and friend to all." Lyman Ellis was born in the town of Mendon, Mass, He was supervisor of Ellisburgh eight years, and also held the office of magistrate. He continued to make Ellis village his residence until his death, March 13, 1847, at the age of 87 years.

A post-office was established here about 1805, with Lyman Ellis postmaster. One who when a child, used to go to the home of Mr. and Mrs. Ellis-a model of neatness- for mail, spcaks of Mrs. Ellis bringing out a small basket, in which the mail for the office was kept, and which contained a dozen or two letters and a few papers.

Dr. Dresser was the first physician here, and Geo. Tibbetts, a land agent, gave him 59 acres of land as an inducement for him to settle here. Dr. Alfred Ely and Dr. Wm. T. Fiske were among the early physicians.

The first school house was built in 1805, where the seed store of W. A. Denison now stands.

Lyman Ellis, at an early day, gave an acre of land near Ellis village for a cemetery; afterwards an addition to the ground was needed, and the cemetery has the name of Riverside. The southerly portion of the old part presents the trace of a trench enclosure, and with the aid of the natural bank on which it was built, enclosed almost two acres, which extended into the lot adjoining below. Arrow heads and earthern vessels were at one time found there.

Stafford's Gazetteer for 1813 says: "In 1810 Ellis village contained a grist mill and a saw mill, a fulling mill, distillery, school house, and about 14 or 15 houses and stores."

From the school district records we copy as follows: "At a school meeting at the house of Gad Ackley, August 16, 1813, it was voted that Elijah Woodworth serve as moderator; Ezra Stearns, clerk; Lyman

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ELLISBURGH.

Ellis, Luban Dalu and Shubael Lyman, trustees; John Otis, collector."

An oil-mill was built at a very early day, where the Bear Creek works of Col. L. F. Hudson stands, by Lyman Ellis, William - McCune and Joseph Bullock. The mill was burned about 1818.

The stone grist-mill was commenced by Peter Robinson about 1826 or 1827, after- ward purchased and finished by Samuel Cook. It contained three run of stone, same as at present. Benjamin F. Wilds quarried the stone of which the mill was built, and also built the dam which took the place of the spar-dam Lyman Ellis had erected. The present dam was built by George and Henry Millard about 1854. Following Mr. Cook, the owners have been Henry Millard, Stephen Martin and Henry Hyde, L. P. Gillett, Hop- kinson & Denison and A. P. Denison. One of the mill-stones used by Lyman Ellis lies near the Stone Mills.

Noah M. Green was a general merchant here as early as 1820, and among the early merchants may be mentioned John Shaw, Peter Robinson, Theodore Dickinson, New- ton Mann and Daniel H. Fiske, E. D. Sher- wood, James and William T. Searles, George M. Hopkinson, Franklin Waite, Theron Holley, Jr., Edward Denison, and at a more recent date Horace M. Wilds, Adele Albro and W. S. Bushnell.

The Central House was built as early as 1812. Among the proprietors have been Ezra Stearns, Joseph Bullock, W. T. Fiske, Franklin Waite, Thomas Davis, Mr. Pat- ridge, Mr. Edgett, Benjamin Bemis, Robert Proctor, Chas. Gibeau, Henry C. Harrington.

The Empire Hotel was at one time known as the "Cottage," and Albro & Nash the first landlords. J. M. Huffstater is the present owner, and took charge in 1881. For 12 years he was proprietor of the Central.

The first distillery was built about 1819 by Andrew Scott and Seneca R. Soles. The second distillery by Liberty Bates and Isaae Burr, about 1824. Many years afterward Samuel Cook erected a distillery. This was made into a malt house and run by Michael Tining.

Shubael Lyman was the first clothier, and Joseph Bulloek was also in this business.

Gen. Gad Ackley had potash works.

About 1825 Andrew Scott and Thomas Davis built a grist-mill where the furniture manufactory of George S. Hudson now stands on South Sandy ereek. It came into possession of Turner & Maltby, who changed it into a plaster-mill; they were succeeded by Franklin Waite, and afterwards B. F. Wilds purchased the property. George S. Hudson became the owner in 1870, and the building is used by him for the manufacture of eabinet-ware.

Thomas Crandall, from Petersburg, N. Y., started the first tannery about 1825, near the stone grist-mill. After this, Hiram Morley was in the same business, perhaps 50 years ago. The first one who started a furnace was

John Hildreth, about 1830. He was suc- ceeded by Simeon B. Griffin, N. Palmer William E. Whitney, and Loren D. Palmer, who was in the business perhaps 25 years, until about 1870, when the furnace was given up.

Carding-machine works were run by Benj. Bemis about 1825-30, and was afterward changed into a chair manufactory, and oper- ated by Samuel and C. C. Comee, from Massachusetts.

Amos Hudson was born in Oxford, Mass., in 1876, a scythe-maker by trade; settled in Ellis Village in 1820. He built a shop on Bear creek for the manufacture of edged tools, where the Ellis oil-mill stood, and was in business there many years. He died in 1830. In 1833 his son, Lucian F., born in 1810, established a shop at the same place for the manufacture of agricultural implements, now known as the Bear Creek Works, Col. L. F. and E. H. Hudson, proprietors. Colonel Hudson has been in business 61 years, re- taining much vigor, and is a man of discrim- inating mind and moral worth. For 16 Presidential elections, commencing in 1832, he has voted at the Central House. He was long connected with the State militia, and during the Patriot War was at French Creek, Captain of a company of Light Infantry ; after this he was promoted to the rank of Colonel. He was married, in 1835, to Ade- line, daughter of Ezra and Polly Stearns, and four sons and three daughters were born to them. Mrs. Hudson died in 1894.

A grist-mill a mile above the village, on South Sandy creek, was built by John Shaw, from Cooperstown, N. Y., about 1827, and at the same place, soon after, Alfred and Daniel Sterns erected a distillery, which was run a number of years by the latter. Carding-ma- chine works stood here as early as 1820, built, it is thought, by Elam King. Only the grist-mill is standing. Col. James A. Rey - nolds, from Oriskany, a millwright by trade, carried on the mill for many years. At a very early day he was the bearer of a letter from Mr. Constable to Lyman Ellis, coming from Utica on horseback. Col. Reynolds died in 1864, aged 76 years. J. C. and L. B. Allen were at one time proprietors of the mill, and John Grow was the owner a num- ber of years. The ereek has a fall here of 24 feet. In the bed of the creek, near the mill, are numerous pot-holes, varying in size from a small, cup-shaped hollow to a pit 15 feet in depth and 8 or 10 feet in diameter. Such holes are not rare, but are apt to escape no- tiee. There are two very large ones in Eel Bay, near Thousand Island Park, several near Gen. Bradley Winslow's farm on Star Island, one at the western base of Mount Me- Quillan, near Carthage, and a remarkable one at the river bluffs at Theresa, where it has been cut transversely through by the water's erosion, leaving only one-half ex- posed to view.

About 1820 Isaiah Cheever, in company with several others, was in Kingston,

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THE GROWTH OF A CENTURY.

Canada, and came in possession of an iron swivet gun, three-pounder, and made it a present to the citizens of Ellis Village. For many years the "Little Isaiah," as it was called, was in use at celebrations, and shared by all alike. As a result of party feeling, in 1863 the cannon was secreted, and its hiding place unknown for a period of 11 years. Missing since 1880-perhaps for reasons other than partisan-the "Little Isaiah " will again be brought home to the villagers, who still retain an especial pride in its owner- ship.

There was a " general training " at Ellis Vil- lage one day in September, about 1824, and a notable event were three regiments, which took part. The artillery was com- manded by Col. Elisha Camp ; the infantry by Gen. Gad Ackley, and the riflemen by Gen. Clark Allen, of Lorraine. The day was fine and there were thousands present. "It was a grand time," says Col. Hudson, who well remembers the day.

THE CHURCHES.

THE FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH of Ellisburgh was formed by Daniel M. Dixon and Oliver Leavitt, January 1, 1817, with six members. The first pastor was Rev. Joshua A. Clayton, installed November 9, 1826. A society was formed Novemer 11, 1823, with Amos Hudson, Hiram Taylor, Daniel Ward- well, John Otis, Wm. T. Fiske and Wm. Cole, trustees. A church edifice was erccted about 1824. The building was taken down in 1843, and the organization discontinued in 1844.

THE UNIVERSALIST CHURCH of Ellisburgh was formed August 26, 1821, with 19 mcm- bers. Among those instrumental in its forma- tion were Rev. Cornelius G. Person, Isaac Men- dell, Silas Emerson and John Clark. The society was formed September 2, 1833, with Isaac Meudell, Edmund M. Eldridge, Daniel Stearns, Edmund Palmer and Richard Cheever, trustees. A church edifice was creeted in 1843, at a cost of $1,500, and dedicated August 24, of the same year. Among the carly Universalist clergymen who preached here were Rev. N. Stacy and Rev. M. Wins- low, who was perhaps the first clergyman of that faith to visit the place. Arthur Roberts is the present minister.

THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL SOCIETY Was formed March 5, 1832, with Lyman Ellis, Oliver N. Snow, Benjamin Chamberlain, Jeremiah Lewis and Hiram Morley, trustees. A church edifice was built in 1833 on the site of the present residence of John Rury. In 1849 the building was removed, and in the steeple was placed a musical, decp-toned bell, purchased by the citizens at a cost of $400, and owned by the village. In 1877 a parsonage was built to take the place of the old one erected in 1836. The present mcm- bership is 45. From 1833 to 1854 the Ellis village and Mannsville congregations were in one charge. In 1857 the pastor was M. M. Rice. C. J. Middleton is the present pastor.

CHRIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH was organized Sept. 3, 1879, by Rev. John Muir, John P. Houghton, Alva J. Smith, John J. Brown and others, with ten members. A church edifice was erected in 1879, at a cost of about $2,500. It was consecrated June 2, 1880, by Bishop F. D. Huntington. The pastor of Zion Church, Pierrpont Manor, has charge of the parish, Rev. A. J. Brockway succeeding Rev. John Muir in 1891.

Ellis Village contains: Two hotels, three churches, two general stores, one clothing store, one drug store, one hardware store, one variety store, one grocery store, one seed store, one grist-mill, one saw-mill, one furni- ture factory, one jewelry store, one harness- shop, one cooper, two markets, two black- smith shops, one shoemaker, one cider and vinegar factory, one wagon and agricultural implement factory.

The Calvin P. Burch G. A. R. Post, No. 375, was organized about 1866; its present membership is about 60.

Ellis Village is a good business place, lo- cated in the midst of a rich agricultural dis- trict. It numbers about 400 inhabitants ; is situated 23 miles south of Watertown, and four miles west of Pierrepont Manor, the nearest railway station, and with which it is connected by stage.

Among the business concerns at Ellisburgh we name the following :

L. F. & E. H. Hudson, manufacturers and dealers in carriages, wagons, road-carts, cut- ters.

G. S. Hudson & Son, manufacturers of stands, tables, desks, etc.

H. M. Wilds, justice of the peace, convey- ancer, collecting attorney, pension and in- surance agent ; dealer in carpets, butter, wool, eggs, lumber, shingles, cedar posts, etc.

A. P. Denison, dealer in flour and feed.

BELLEVILLE.

THIS place was begun as a farming settle- ment ahout 1802-03 by Metcalf Lee, Bradley and Joshua Freeman, Martin Barney, James Benjamin and Jedediah McCumber, and a few others. Elder Edmund Littlefield, a minister of the Baptist faith, settled soon after. This place being favorably situated for mills, gradually grew into a village. Soon after the War of 1812-13, a meeting was called at the suggestion of Calvin Clark, a merchant, to select a name for the place. A committee was appointed who chose the present name, said to be taken from Belle- ville, in Canada. Previous to this time it had been known as Hall's Mills, from Giles Hall, who, in 1806, purchased of J. McCum- ber a hydraulic privilege here, and resided in the place for many years. Mr. Hall was a man much esteemed. He built a grist-mill here, and also erected the first blacksmith- shop and the first trip-hammer. His mill stood in the upper part of the village. He also built a saw-mill, which is yet standing.

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ELLİSBURGH.

Belleville was incorporated in 1860, and an election for trustees was held on May 29, at which time the following corporation officers were elected : De Alton Dwight, A. Dick- inson, D. Hall, A. M. Durfee and Calvin Littlefield, trustees ; Arthur J. Brown, clerk ; W. R. Pennell, C. F. Armstong and H. F. Overton, assessors; James E. Green, treasurer; Cyrus N. Rowe, collector, and P. W. Stevens, pound-master. The village is located principally on the north bank of Big Sandy creek, although the corporate limits extend to some distance on the south side. At one time the Sackets Harbor and Ellis- burgh Railway passed through the village, and at that time it bid fair to be a place of some considerable size and importance; but now that the road has been taken up, it is left to depend chiefly upon the trade of the surrounding country for its support, together with its local manufacturing interests, and its school, which will be fully described hereafter. Belleville is located in the midst of a fine agricultural country, is three miles dis- tant from Woodville, three miles from Ellis Village, six miles from Adams and the same distance from Pierrepont Manor. It has three churches, Methodist, Baptist and Roman Catholic.

THE CHURCHES OF BELLEVILLE.

THE BAPTIST CHURCH is the oldest church in the village, having been organized as a regular Baptist church on August 22, 1807. The first promoters of this church were Joshua Freeman and Amos Noyes. Martin E. Cook began to preach here in 1810, and labored in the ministry for 24 years. The present pastor is Rev. J. Niles Bacon. The membership numbers 184, of which 25 are studying in academies, and three are in college. The Sabbath school has 144 pupils and 20 teachers. W. B. Doane is superinten- dent. The societies are the Senior and Junior Christian Endeavor societies, the offi- cers of which are: Fred E. Lee, president ; Ora Taylor, vice-president; Hattie M. Ed- wards, secretary ; Sadie Lewis, treasurer; Grace Boomer, organist; Winifred Rians, assistant ; D. M. Kelsey, corresponding secretary.

METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH .- The first M. E. Society in Belleville was formed in 1841, May 5th, and Edward Boomer, Elias Dickinson, Thomas Ellis, Edward B. Hawes, Jesse Hubbard, Riley Chamberlain, Hall W. Baxter, Nelson Boomer and John R. Hawes elected trustees. The first church was built near the Wardwell Settlement, and after- ward removed to Belleville. It was after- ward sold to the Catholics, and the building, which was erected by the Presbyterians, was purchased. A new parsonage adjoins the church. The value of the church property is assessed at $5,800. The membership is 125. There is a flourishing Sabbath school of 100 pupils, with 10 teachers. The super- intendent is Mr. Fred A. Fulton. The church societies are : Ladies Aid, Mrs. O. B. Veits,

Pres .; Epworth League, Perrin H. Crandall, Pres., with a membership of 100 ; Women's Foreign Missionary, Mrs. W. M. Holbrook, Pres., membership 32. The society is in a flourishing condition and increasing.

PRESBYTERIAN SOCIETY .- This was formed August 28, 1820; it finally dwindled away, but in 1830 was re-organized by Rev. Jedediah Burchard, uniting with the Water- town Presbytery, February 11. In 1853 the society erected a very fine church building, at a cost of $2,800, but in time the society again became disorganized, and the church building was sold to the Methodists, since which time no meetings have been held.

CATHOLIC .- St John's R. C. Church was organized and held its first meetings in the old Methodist Church, which it had pur- chased, in 1875. Rev. Father Hogan, of Watertown, to whose parish the church be- longed, conducted the services. The society is very small and is attended by Rev. Father Leon, of Watertown.

SOCIETIES.

Rising Light Lodge, No. 637, F. A. M., was organized A. D. February 20, 1867, with the following officers : William Jenkins, W. M .; D. H. Cole, S. W .; Beston Dexter, J W .; Fred Edwards, Sec .; C. Littlefield, Treas,; A. W. Kilby, S. D .; H. Cooper, J. D .; S. Vogel, Tiler. In 1872, July 2, the lodge was burned, with considerable loss to the frater- nity. The lodge, however, soon recovered, and is now in a healthy and flourishing con- dition. Its membership covers Ellisburgh, Woodville, a part of Henderson and Belleville village. Its present officers are : E. A. Chap- man, W. M .; J. B. Basinger, S. W .; B. Dex- ter, J. W .; J. H. Carpenter, Sec'y ; W. Mar- tin, Treas .; F. E. Bonner, S. D .; George Remington, J. D .; George W. Bigelow, C .; J. F. Leonard, Marshal ; J. O. Davis, S. M. C .; Fred Thompson, J. M. C .; S. Vogel, Tiler. The lodge was chartered in 1867, to date back to issue of dispensation.

ODD FELLOWS .- Collins Lodge, 421, I. O. O. F., was the first scoret order established here. It was instituted on the 4th day of February, 1852. For some reason not clear the lodge has dwindled down until just work enough is done to retain the char- ter. The lodge has a splendid room, all the regalia and paraphernalia for work, and all paid for. It is much regretted that so useful and beneficial an order should be permit- ted to die out, with everything on hand nec- cessary to its continuance.

BELLEVILLE GRANGE, No. 5, P. of H., was organized in the fall of 1873, one of the earliest formed in the State ; it is in a splendid con- dition, and.one of the most important and in- fluential Granges in the county.

Belleville has an excellent common school and a commodious building. There are two departments under the charge of Frank M. Littlefield and his wife, both teachers of ex- ceptionable qualifications. The school num- bers about 70 pupils in both departments.

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THE GROWTH OF A CENTURY.

The manufacturing interests of Belleville are limited. Mr. J. H. Carpenter carries on cabinet-making to some extent, turning out some fine work, and Mr. Jason Ray is about to start a saw and planing mill, in connec- tion with which he will carry on carpenter- ing and building. Wm. Mott owns a grist- mill, near the village, and at the old site of "Mather's mills," W. H. Phillips operates another. The principal business houses are : Hardware and agricultural implements, by A. M. Durfee & Son, and a similar store by L. J. Waite. Chapman & Doane and S. H. Keyes conduct general stores, as also do Kelsey Bros. Frank E. Wright carries on a harness and harness hardware and supply store, and W. B. Wright a variety store. E. Brown looks after the boot and shoe trade, and in the way of watches and jewelry, B. Barney caters to the public wants. Meat markets and millinery goods, a harber shop and some minor crafts are represented.

The only hotel inthe place, the "Belleville House," is managed by its able proprietor, Mr. C E. Thomas, who for nearly four years has catered to the public needs ; and if the people are not fully suited, it is because they are hard to please. If clean, well furnished rooms, first-class beds, an excellent variety of dishes, well cooked and well served, are any recommendation, then Comrade Thomas' hostelry should be highly spoken of, for it has all these, in addition to order and quiet, of themselves no small recommendation. Comrade Thomas, is a veteran of the late war, serving in the 24th N. Y. Infantry, and participating in many of the severest engage- ments of the war. Those who favor him with their patronage will be able to verify the old saying, "I will take mine ease in mine inn."

OVERTON CO. CHEESE FACTORY

This is one of the oldest cheese factories in the county, having been established nearly 30 years ago. It uses the milk of from 600 to 700 cows, producing only cheese in the summer months, and both cheese and butter during the winter. Its output of cheese is about 225,000 lbs., and of butter 25,000 lbs. The company comprises J. W. Overton, C. A. Eastman, John Eastman and Edgar Lewis, the latter being the maker, and having had an experience of 25 years in the business, is sufficient to account for the exceptional good quality of the products of this factory, which is fitted with all the modern improvements. The milk is taken in on the Burbank test, and is paid for on same. The salesmen are Ed- gar Lewis, W. H. Greene and C. B. Ken- nedy.

SAW AND PLANING MILL.

Mr. Ray was born in Belleville in 1840. He was the son of William Ray, who came into Belleville from Connecticut at a very early day. Mr. Ray learned the carpenter and joiner trade with his father, and has al- ways followed it. He is the builder of a great number of the houses and barns of

Belleville. He married Miss Elizabeth Ram- sey, of Henderson ; they have one son, Eph- raim, who is in partnership with his father. They have a good saw-mill, and at this writing are getting in the machinery for planing, matching, scroll and re-sawing, and also the manufacture of doors, sash and blinds ; in short everything pertaining to the building trade. Having an excellent water- power, they cannot fail in doing a much needed business in Belleville.

BELLEVILLE UNION ACADEMY.

BY the efforts of Rev. Joshua Bradley, a Baptist clergyman, in 1824, the Union Liter- ary Society at Belleville was formed. His labors to interest the public in the cause of education were untiring, and finally met with success by the subscription of stock, and an act of incorporation on April 13, 1826. A lot was given by Giles Hall, and Jotham Bige- low, Orrin Howard, James W. Kennedy, John Hagadorn, Amos Heald, Peter N. Cush- man, W. Thomas, Pardon Earl, S. S. Hawes, E. Boomer, Sidney Houghton, Benjamin Barney, S. Boyden, E. Webster, Israel Kel- logg, Jr., Jesse Hubbard, Hiram Taylor, Henry Green, Rufus Hatch, C. B. Pond, Calvin Clark, John Barney, Samuel Pierce and Godfrey W. Barney were constituted a "body corporate" to have perpetual suc- cession, and limited in their powers to the support of an academic school. It was at first planned upon the manual-labor system. The act of incorporation decreed that trustees to the number of 24 to 30 might be chosen annually, elections to be held on the first Wednesday of November in each year; the payment of $5 entitled to membership and one vote. Preparations for building went rapidly forward, and the school was removed to the Baptist Church, then standing on the corner where the hotel now stands. The stone building was erected in 1828, and dedi- cated January 2, 1829, and received under the visitation of the Regents on the fifth of the same month in 1830.

Charles Avery was principal in 1829, and during the summer term of 1830, assisted the first year by Isaac Slater. Mr. Avery was then called to a professorship in Hamilton College. The school at first gave abundant promise of being all that had been antici- pated, and a building was erected for a shop, and tools provided; a few students availed themselves of it as a means of lessening their expenses, but it was soon given up; the building sold and converted into a dwelling, and the plan of a manual-lahor school aban- doned. In the light and experience of the present day, Rev. Joshua Bradley, with his plans for a manual labor school, though they may have been crude and imperfect com- pared to those of to-day, was far in advance of bis contemporaries. The second principal of the school was George W. Eaton, who re- signed to accept a professorship in Miami University. He was succeeded by M. La- Rhu Reine Thompson, who in 1832 resigned

ELLISBURGH.

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to become pastor of a church in Buffalo, and later in Cincinnati. Joseph Mullin, of Union College, then became principal for one year, and was succeeded by Hiram H. Bar- ney, a graduate of the same college.

Next came Lyman E. Bonner, a graduate of Union College, class of '36, son of Joshua Bonner, a resident of the village. He was followed by Truman C. Hill, also a graduate of Union. Mr. Bonner became a lawyer, and Mr. Hill a clergyman. Both are long since dead. At this time a reaction had set in. The number of pupils had become small, and the trustees were largely in debt, and finally in the fall of 1837, the Academy was closed by the mortgagee.

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The growth of a century: as illustrated in the history of Jefferson county, New York, from 1793-1894, Part 118

Author: Haddock, John A., b. 1823- Publication date: 1895 Publisher: Albany, N. Y., Weed-Parsons printing company Number of Pages: 1098

Author: Haddock, John A., b. 1823-
Publication date: 1895
Publisher: Albany, N. Y., Weed-Parsons printing company
Number of Pages: 1098