The growth of a century: as illustrated in the history of Jefferson county, New York, from 1793-1894, Part 139

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 139

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The central lot, donated for religious and educational purposes, was No. 611, embrac- ing the present village of Philadelphia and all the water-power of the river at that point.

All that is now the town of Philadelphia was at that time a wilderness, in which no blow of white man's axe had been struck, except by the surveying parties of Brod- head ; and it was to explore this and to ex- amine their purchase, that Cadwallader Child and Mordecai Taylor started northward in May, 1804. In their company came Samuel Evans, who had visited LeRaysville and vicinity in 1803. On leaving Albany they travelled on horseback to Brownville, for a conference with Jacob Brown in reference to projected roads, after which, early in June, Mr. Child, with Michael Coffeen, Solomon Parker, Robert Sixbury, the hunter, and another assistant, set out from LeRaysville to follow Brodhead's marked lot-lines towards his objective point, lot No. 611. He struck it at the south corner, then followed down Black creek to its junction with Indian river, and down the latter to the falls, where his party made a halt, and built a rude cabin as a base of operations, near the spot where the Philadelphia flour mill now stands. From here he soon proceeded to explore and survey a route for a road to the St. Lawrence, which he reached at a point above Alexandria Bay, and, passing down the river, noted the ad-

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THE GROWTH OF A CENTURY.

vantages of that place as an eligible site for a settlement and for the river terminus of the proposed road. On his way down he passed a considerable distance to the south- west of the High Falls of Indian river, but on his return he passed these falls, crossing the river where now is the lower bridge and dam in Theresa village. Here be examined the immense water-power, marked it as a favorable site for the establishment of mills and the building of a village, and so re- ported to Mr. LeRay. Returning to lot 611, he proceeded thence to continue his road- survey to the Great Bend of Black river, in accordance with the original plan agreed on between LeRay and the 13 purchasers. When this was completed, the season being then well advanced, he entered upon lot 644, which had been drawn by him in the assign- ment of tracts, and here, with the assistance of Samuel Child (his nephew) and Thomas Ward, he made the first clearing and erected the first dwelling in the bounds of Philadel- phia. This was but a small log cabin, and the clearing was about two acres, located about one and a half miles south of the present village, on the bank of the small creek now in the southern part of the farm of his son Oliver Child. Towards the end of the same year John Petty, who had settled in 1802 or 1803, in the present town of LeRay, removed thence with his family to lot 672 in Philadelphia, he thus being the first actual settler in the town, and the only one who re- mained through the winter of 1804-5. The land had been purchased by him in 1803, and was afterwards embraced in the farm of John Strickland, near Sterlingville. Daniel Coffeen commenced improvements on a tract adjoin- ing or near Petty's during the same fall, re- moving upon it early the following year.

On the 1st of February, 1805, a meeting of the persons who had been named as trustees of the central lot was held at the house of Israel Knight, in Pennsylvania, at which meeting it was agreed and directed "that a part of the said tract be laid out in lots of 10 acres each, and that any person or persons, on condition of settling or clearing the same, and building a log or frame house of 18 feet square on each of the lots within the term of four years, shall be entitled to the said lot for the term of 10 years as a compensation for their improvements ; and it is likewise agreed that the whole transaction of the business relative to the aforementioned tract, be entrusted with Robert Comfort, Cadwal- lader Child, Thomas Townsend, Johu Town- send and Jason Merrick, who are to act for and on behalf of the whole." And it was es- pecially agreed that Thomas and John Townsend should have the use for 20 years, rent free, of a tract of 15 or 20 acres, sufficient to cover the falls of the Indian river, and for the erection of the necessary buildings, upon the condition that they should erect thereon a mill for the general benefit of the prospective village and sur- rounding country.

In the spring of 1805 the Townsends ar- rived upon the lot and prepared to commence operations. With them came Robert Com- fort, Josiah Walton, Thomas Coxe, Benja- min Gilbert, Thomas Gilbert and Daniel Roberts. Walton and the two Gilberts were in the employ of the Townsends, as were also Warren Foster and his brother Andrew, who had arrived about the same time. With this force they set to work, made a clearing at ihe site of the proposed mill, built a dwelling-house on this clearing, commenced work on the dam, and built a bridge across the river, some 20 rods below where it is now spanned by the new iron bridges. During the summer and fall they completed the saw- mill and grist-mill,-both being under the same roof. The millwright employed in the construction of the mills was James Parker. The grist mill had one run of stones, manu- factured from the stone quarried in the vicinity.

Robert Comfort built a log house on the hank of Indian river, near the easterly end of Townsend's bridge, and this he opened as a house of entertainment,-the first public house in the town, -which he kept until 1807. Josiah Walton purchased on the reserved lot No. 645, upon which he employed John Hoover and John Coffeen, of LeRay, to make a clearing at a point near the north corner of the Curtis farm. Mr. Child, in addition to 440 acres, took eight acres in the center lot upon the rise of ground embracing the spot where the postoffice now stands. Upon this he caused a clearing to be made and a house of hewed logs to be erected in the spring and summer of 1805, intending to make this his residence ; but his plans were soon after changed, and he sold the improvement to Silas Walton. The block-house which he (Child) had built was sold to Thomas Town- send, who removed and re-erected it upon a spot now directly in front of the residence of George E. Tucker, Esq. To this he moved his family in the following year. Upon the improvement purchased from Mr. Child by Silas Walton, the latter erected a small build- ing from lumber cut by the Townsend mill. It was the first frame building in the town, and stood near the spot now occupied hy the store of Martin E. Aldrich. John Townsend moved his family in the same autumn, and these, with the family of Robert Comfort, Walton, Roberts, and the men in the employ of the Townsend brothers, were the only in- habitants of the center lot during the winter of 1805-6.

Jason Merrick came in 1806, and located on his lot at the westerly end, directly opposite the place to which Cadwallader Child re- moved, upon the easterly end of 644; this removal from his first clearing being on ac- count of the laying out of the road running on lot-lines northeast from Strickland's Corners into Antwerp. The families of Ben- jamin Gilbert and Stephen Rogers also came in the spring of 1806. John Strickland, Jr., came in 1807, but he did not bring his family

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until the next year. Robert Comfort re- moved from his inn on the centre lot to his farm in 1807, and in the summer of that year lost two young daughters by death from a prevailing fever. John, a son of Jason Mer- rick, died from the same cause, and these were the first deaths which occurred among the settlers.

The first births were those of Jobn, son of John and Asenath Townsend, February 14, 1807, and on the 16th of the same month, Oliver, son of Cadwallader and Elizabeth Child.

Joseph Bolton came with his family in the fall of 1806, took the house which had been built by Robert Comfort, and continued it as a place of public entertainment. In the spring of 1809, Ezra Comley settled on lot 645, his farm being that afterwards owned by Seth Strickland. John Strickland, Sr., one of the wealthiest of the settlers arrived and pur- ehased the property of the Townsends at the settlement, John Townsend removing thence to his farm, and Thomas purchasing lands a short distance south of the village, now the farm of Joshua Roberts. Mr. Strickland took possession of the mills, and made his residence in the block house built by Thomas Townsend, to which, however, he was soon obliged to build an addition larger than the original house. This was the first frame dwelling house in the settlement and town. though there were other buildings of that construction built earlier. Mr. Strickland had a family of eleven children, of whom but two are now living, though 10 reached maturity and married. He became a very large land owner, first exchanging with Le- Ray his farm of 300 acres in Bucks county, Pa., for a much larger tract here, to which he added by purchase until he became the pos- sessor of fully 5,000 acres.

MEETING HOUSE-CENTRE LOT-INCREASE.

The first meeting house of the society of Friends was erected in 1810. Its site was cleared of timber and prepared for the build- ing by Eli Kent in July, 1809. Robert Com- fort became the first minister of the society, and continued in that relation till his de- parture for the west in 1822. The new meet- ing house was built on its present site in 1828.

The settlements on the centre lot were not rapid under the system of leasing in sub- divisions, and during the first 10 years an average of less than 10 acres per year were taken up. The trustees became wearied or disheartened, and on the formation of the LeRay monthly meeting, in 1815, they re- quested that body to relieve them of their trust, which could not, however, he effected without an act of incorporation, and for this the meeting would not petition. On April 11, 1816, a committee, consisting of Daniel Child, Richard Hallock, William Barber, Joseph Child, Jr., John Strickland, Jr., and Joel Haworth, were appointed by the meet- ing to confer with and assist the trustees in the management of the lot, which was, in

reality, an assumption of the direction of its affairs by the meeting. Four of the trustees were re-appointed, and the fifth, Jason Mer- rick, who was not a member of the Friends' society, continued to exercise the functions without re-appointment. Energetic efforts were made to lease the remaining portions of the central lot, and the system of leases in perpetuity was adopted : but, notwithstand- ing this, very little was accomplished, and and it was fully thirty years from the adop- tion of the short-lease system before the last of these subdivisions was disposed of. The lands outside the central lot, however, being open to absolute purchase, were settled with reasonable rapidity, and generally with a very excellent class of immigrants, who, at the end of 17 years from the time of the first arrivals, had become ready and sufficiently numerous to assume the responsibilities of separate township organization.

THE ERECTION OF THE TOWN.

The present domain of Philadelphia, which, until April 3, 1821, had formed a part of LeRay, was erected a separate town. The name of Elizabethtown had been selected, but as there was already one of that name in the State, it was abandoned, and the name Benezet was proposed, in honor of Anthony Benezet, the distinguished Quaker ; but this in turn was dropped, when the name Phila- delphia was suggested by John Strickland, and was agreed to by the inhabitants, very many having come hither from the city of Brotherly Love or its vicinity.

The first annual town meeting was held at the public-house of Harvey Hamblin, in Philadelphia village, March 5, 1822. The first officers elected were Alden Bucklin, supervisor; John Strickland, Jr., clerk ; Thomas Bones, Alden Bucklin and Abiel Shurtliff, assessors; William Bones, col- lector ; Cadwallader Child, John Townsend and Abiel Shurtliff, commissioners of high- ways; John Strickland, Jr., David Mosher and James Bones, commissioners of schools ; James Bones, Cadwallader Child and J. B. Taylor, inspectors of schools; and William Bones, constable.

THE FRIENDS' SETTLEMENT IN 1828.

The increase in population at the " Quaker Settlement " was very slow. In 1828 its heads of families were all embraced in the following list: Edmund Tucker and Miles Strickland, proprietors of the flouring mill ; Platt Homan, their miller; Samuel C. Frey and Cyrus Dodge, both inn-keepers; Harvey Hamblin, Jobn Cross, W. Mosher, shoe- makers; James Cromwell, cabinet-maker; Stephen Roberts, Orrin Cloyse, Elijah Com- stock, John Roat, Justin Gibbs, Edmund Hall, Robert Gray, merchant, and successor of Samuel Case, who opened the first store in Philadelphia, on corner of Antwerp and Main streets; Seth Otis, the other store- keeper of the place, opposite the present postoffice; Dr. Almon Pitcher, on Antwerp

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street, where Gardner Clarke afterwards lived; and Horace Ball, who built and started the first fulling-mill and clothiery, afterwards sold to William Comstock, then to Milo Shattuck, and now the cabinet works of Mr. Potter. Mr. Gray, the merchant mentioned above, was a son-in-law of John Strickland. He soon afterwards built a distillery (the only one ever in Philadelphia) on the west side of the river, at the Settle- ment.

POST-OFFICES.

The postoffice of Philadelphia was estab- lished in 1822, with Edmund Tucker as first postmaster. He held the position until his death, January 6, 1836.

The post-office at Sterlingville was estab- lished in February. 1839, George Walton being the first postmaster. The business of this office is small.

SUPERVISORS.

The list of supervisors in the succeeding years until 1853, is as follows: Harvey Harvey, 1823-26; John R. Taylor, 1827; Benjamin Jackman, 1829-30-31; Hiram Hinman, 1832; Henry W. Marshall, 1833; Jesse Smith, 1834 35-36 and 1841; Miles Strickland, 1237, 1839, 1842; William Skin- ner, 1838 and 1851; George Walton, 1840; John F. Latimer, 1843; Azel W. Danforth, 1844-45-46; Lyman Wilson, 1847; Smith Bockus, 1848-49; George Frazier, 1850; Alden Adams, 1852-53. For list of Super- visors from 1853 to 1894, see pages 337 to 344.

The population of the town of Philadel- phia in 1894 was 1,662.

DISCOVERY AND OPENING OF ORE-BEDS.

In the northerly corner of the town, on the line of Theresa, iron ore was discovered about the time of the opening of the Sterling mines in Antwerp; and these were opened on the farms of Almon Fuller and Abiel Shurtliff, about 1836. It was worked to some extent in the furnaces at Sterling, Carthagc, Ant- werp and Redwood-a royalty of 50 cents per ton being paid to the owners of the lands from which it was taken. It was, however, a lean ore, and was not held in much favor, being used chiefly as a flux in the reduction of the Sterling and other rich orcs, for which it answered exceedingly well, on account of the lime it contained. The requirements for this purpose, however, were comparatively small, and for many years these beds were not extensively worked ; but upon reaching greater depth, the quality of the ore was found to be improving, until at the present time it ranks among the best ores of the re- gion. The mines were purchased in 1867 by the Sterling Iron Ore Company, of Syracuse, to which place, as well as to other points west, the ore was shipped for reduction. The point of shipment was Shurtliff station, on the line of the R., W. & O. Railroad system between Philadelphia and Thercsa. The excavations have been extended ncarly

to the limit of the company's lands, and the adjoining owners believe their lands to be underlaid by the same vein in cqual extent, depth and richness. The representatives of the company, on the other hand, assert that the beds are nearly exhausted. The future alone can show which of these is the correct theory.

THE STERLINGVILLE FURNACE.

The first furnace on Black creek, in Phila- delphia, was commenced by James Sterling, in 1836, for the purpose of working the ores from the Sterling bed in Antwerp, which he had then just purchased from David Parrish. It was completed in the spring of 1837, and was put in blast in June of that year. This first blast was kept on for three months, and produced about 155 tons of iron, bog ore being used with that from the Sterling mine. The Shurtliff & Fuller ores were used also in limited quantities as a flux. In the fall of that year Mr. Sterling associated with him Messrs. Orville Hungerford, George Walton, Caleb Essington and George C. Sherman, and with them organized, October 31, 1837, under the general law, as the "Sterling Iron Company," with a capital of $20,000, in 200 equal shares. A second blast was put on and continued for five months, during which the daily production was not materially in- creased over that of the first blast. The third blast, using hot air (cold air having been used in the first two trials), was com- menced on the 10th of September, 1838, and continued for the (then) unusual period of 54 weeks and two days, at the end of which the company complimented its employes by a public dinner.

In 1840 the Sterling Iron Company went out of existence, and a new one was formed upon the property under the name of " The Philadelphia Iron Company." This was composed of Ephraim Taylor, Fred. Van Os- trand, George Dickerson, William Skinner and John Gates. The date of their incor- poration under the general law was May 19, 1840. This company rebuilt the furnace, and, having operated it for some time with- out much success, ceased to exist, and was succeeded by Samuel G. Sterling, a brother of James Sterling, who was the father, and under all the different proprietorships con- tinued to be the master-spirit of the enter- prise until 1859, when he retired from active life, and died in 1863.

The furnace was destroyed by fire in 1849, and rebuilt about two years later. From 1859 to 1869 it was carried on by A. P. Sterling, of Antwerp, then sold to the Jeffer- son Iron Company, Edwin B. Bulkley, president, whose office is at Antwerp village. This company own also the Sterlingbush furnaces in Diana, Lewis county, which, when in operation, are run on the ore of the Sterling mine, of which the company is the . proprietor. The Sterlingville furnace is now cold, and there is little probability that it will again be in blast.

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PHILADELPHIA.

PUBLIC HOUSES.

About the year 1815 a tavern was built in the Friends' Settlement by Samuel Case, son- in-law of John Strickland. It was upon the site of the present Eagle Hotel, of which it forms a part.

The other public house at the village was built and opened by Mr. Crofoot about 1825. One of its first landlords was the unfortunate Cyrus Dodge, who was instantly killed in Philadelphia by the bursting of a cannon, July 4, 1829.

A hotel was opened at Sterlingville before 1840, hy Rufus Hatch, and was kept as a public house for many years. The annual town meeting was held at this house in 1852, during the proprietorship of Seth Hatch. The Sterlingville House was built and opened by Frederick Van Ostrand, in 1841. At Barber's Corners, two and a half miles east of Philadelphia, was formerly a tavern, kept by Van Ostrand ; also at Poagland, near Ant- werp line, among whose landlords were Van Ostrand and Daniel Smith. This house was destroyed by fire.

MILLS AND MANUFACTORIES.

Of mills and manufactories, which have existed in Philadelphia in times past, may be mentioned the foundry built by Aaron Baxter, and the machine shop by Henry Baxter, both located on the island at the vil- age, and both carried away by flood ; the first saw-mill built by William Strong, which stood near Farnham's tannery, now decayed and gone ; and the old white saw-mill, a short mile below the village on Indian River, upon or near the site of Otis Brooks' tub and cheese box factory. A saw-mill was built at Sterlingville as early as 1824, by Hambln & Crofoot, for Edmund Tucker, but said to have been owned by Joseph Bonaparte. An- other was built at the same place by James Sterling in 1836. No vestige of either now remains.

RAILROADS-TELEGRAPH.

The Rome, Watertown & Ogdensburg Railroad, which crosses the town from the LeRay to the Antwerp line, was opened from Watertown to Philadelphia June 2, 1855.

The Utica & Black River Railroad, which enters the town near Sterlingville, and passes thence down the Black Creek valley to Phila- delphia village, was opened to that point February 2, 1872. The Black River & Mor- ristown Road was opened for traffic hence to Theresa in the fall of 1873.

Telegraphic communication with Philadel- phia was first opened in June, 1868. The office was first in the store of John Waite, and the first operator was William J. Tait.

AGRICULTURAL

Philadelphia, like the surrounding towns, has a soil better adapted for grazing purposes than for the production of cereals, and hence the farmers here, as in the neighboring re- gion, give especial attention to the raising of

stock and to dairying. Large numbers of good cattle are sent from here by railroad and otherwise, but it is from the products of the dairy, particularly from the manufacture of cheese, that the husbandmen realizes his principal profit. There are at present several factories for cheese.

SCHOOLS.

The first school was taught by Anna Com- stock, in 1810, in the frame dwelling which John Strickland had added to the block- house purchased by him from Thomas Town- send. Miss Comstock was also the first teacher of the school in the Quaker meet- ing-house, which was built in 1810, and used for school purposes until 1827.

About 1835 a bitter controversy sprung up and continued for a long time concerning the management of the school on the centre lot. On the one side were the trustees of the lot, backed by the Orthodox Quakers, and on the other a large part of the inhabitants outside of the sect. On the part of the latter it was charged that their children, although fully entitled to all the privileges of the school, were ejected therefrom for no reasons save those of a sectarian character ; that they (the trustees) had misapplied funds arising from the rents ; that they had employed improper and incompetent teachers, and (later on) that they had abandoned the school and converted the house into a dwelling, etc The manage- ment retorted that no misapplication of the funds had been made, and that in any view of the case they were accountable to the meeting, and to that body alone, for the faithful execution of their trust ; that they had been unwarrantably interefered with by attempts to employ and install objectionable teachers; and that as regarded the exclusion of children from school, no sectarian discrim- ination had been made, nor had there been any exclusion, except for improper conduct, which, they more than intimated, was not only excused, but incited by the parents themselves. These are but a few of the charges and recriminations of that contro- versy, a correct account of which could hardly be given even by one who was pres- ent to witness the quarrel.

The number of districts is now 10, and the number of schools 11. Three terms are usually taught-winter, spring and fall-ag- gregating about 38 weeks. The school house was once the old Quaker Church.

The graded school in Philadelphia was at first taught in the old (second) Quaker meet- ing-house, which, with about five acres of land, was purchased by the district from the society in 1869, for about $1,800. A part of this lot was sold, leaving about two acres as a school lot. The old building proving inade- quate for the use to which it was put, in 1880 the present handsome and commodious build- ing was erected, at a cost of over $4,000. S. E. Scofield was the builder. It is two stories high, with a Mansard roof and tower. There are four teachers and about 170 pupils.

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THE GROWTH OF A CENTURY.

The Philadelphia Union Free School is one of the best in the county. On the ground where it stands there once stood an old Quaker church. In 1880 the present com- modious school building was erected. It was a district school until 1894, when it be- came a Union Free School.

The following are the present teachers : G. J. Peck, principal; Miss Minnie B. Olley, assistant; Miss Lena B. Nims, junior de- partment; Miss Florence Sweeney, inter- mediate department ; Miss Jennie B. John- son, primary department. The average at- tendance is ahout 200 scholars daily, The following are the trustees: Robert Adrian, W. T, Holmes, C. B. Cross, F. H. Brooks, O. F. Grapote.

THE CHURCHES OF PHILADELPHIA.

THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL .-- Philadelphia charge appears in the Conference Minutes for the first time in 1840; Herbert Graves as pastor. But as early as 1827, possibly earlier, warm-hearted Methodists were to be found in this town. Zephaniah Eddy is remem- bered as one particularly zealous and faith- ful. Squire Chase, the African missionary, was probably the first who rode the circuit, and it is said that he held a quarterly meet- ing in Zephaniah Eddy's barn as early as 1832. Previous to 1840, Philadelphia was a part of the Natural Bridge circuit. Almost as soon as there was a house built in Sterling- ville, a Methodist preacher found and util- ized it.

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The growth of a century: as illustrated in the history of Jefferson county, New York, from 1793-1894, Part 139

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