The growth of a century: as illustrated in the history of Jefferson county, New York, from 1793-1894, Part 9

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 9

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In this field the most important advance is the result of the discovery and investiga- tions of Dr. Samuel Hahnemann of Ger- many. In 1790 when translating from English into German Cullen's " Materia

THE GROWTH OF A CENTURY.

Medica," it occurred to him that the given explanation of the cure of ague by the use of cinchona bark was insufficient. He took a large dose bimself to try the effect of the bark on a healthy body. In a few days he experienced the symptoms of the ague, and the thought came to him that perhaps the reason that cinchona cured ague was be- cause it had the power of producing the symptoms of agne in a person in health. He then hegan the investigation of well- authenticated cures effected by single reme- dies, and found that the remedies would produce symptoms of the diseases cured by them. In 1797 he suggested in a medical journal that the new principle be applied to the discovery of a remedy for every disease. He cured scarlet fever with belladonna, but finding that common doses aggravated the disease at first, he was led to give small doses, and finally adopted the theory of diluted potencies. In 1810 he published his "Organon of Medicine," and thus launched a new practice of medicine. The practice was prohibited by law in Austria, but dur- ing the cholera in Vienna in 1831, the sys- tem was practiced with marvellous success in a hospital in charge of the Sisters of Mercy, and again in 1836. Dr. Quinn, the physician of the Belgian King, introduced it in England in 1827, and it soon found its way to America. It is now known as Hom- œopathy, and has hecome widely popular. Numerous medical colleges for teaching the practice have been founded, and the system has secured a recognized standing in all civilized countries. One of the oldest and most successful of these colleges is the cele- brated Hahnemann Medical College of Phil- adelphia, whose diplomas are recognized throughout the world as evidence of thor- ongh training in all that pertains to surgery and medicine. This has been largely due to the management of one of Jefferson county's most distinguished sons, Dr. A. R. Thomas, whose portrait and biography are given in this volume.

The sewing machine has wrought as great a change in the household as any one inven- tion of the country. In 1846 Elias Howe obtained a patent for a sewing machine having a needle with the "eye near the point.' This little difference between Howe's needle and that in common use for hand-sewing, was the fundamental device of the modern sewing machine. Mr. Howe failed to attract attention to his machine in the United States and he determined to go to England with it. He was not any more successful there. He stayed in London, living in great destitution until 1849. On his return to the United States he found sewing machines in practical use. They embodied his patent and were therefore an infringement. He began suit to defend his claims. and established the validity of his patent in the highest courts after a severe struggle in which he was assisted by generous friends. He then

engaged in the manufacture of his sewing machines, which had by that time been thoroughly advertised, and he soon became prosperous and very wealthy. During the war of the rebellion he equipped a regiment at his own expense and served in it as a private soldier so long as his health permitted. He was held in great esteem by those who knew him, and was worthy of the immortality which lie achieved by his invention. As might be expected numerous improvements on Howe's machine have been made. Perhaps the most notable are those adapting it to the shoe manufacturing business. The pro- ducts excel in beauty.

What Howe did for indoor work the reap- ing machine and mower did for farm work. The cradle and the scythe taxed the powers of the husbandman more than did any other labor. The time of the harvest is al- ways limited and demands the most exact- ing attention. In 1834 Cyrns H. McCormick patented his first reaper, but a Jefferson county boy, T. T. Woodruff, in his 18th year, had made practically the same device. It was a clumsy affair in appearance, and gave but little evidence of its power. It was, however, successful in cutting grain. Obed Hussey had invented the finger-bar cutters in 1833. After demonstrating the practica- bility of his machines, Mr. McCormick took one to the World's Fair in England. The London "Times " sneered at it, and is re- ported as saying that the machine was a cross between an "Astley chariot and a flying machine." Mr. McCormick had with him men thoroughly familiar with the machine, and knew perfectly how to man- age it. Crowds were present on the day of the trial in the open field. The reporters were ready for the fun. But the machine started and continued to go around the field turn after turn, cutting the grain in the most perfect manner The spectators were astounded. The " Yankee invention " was no longer a joke.

In 1849 Purviance made the platform re- movable, and thus changed the reaper into a mower. In 1855 William N. Whiteley in- vented a self-raker and speed gears which added greatly to the efficiency of the reaper. C. W. & W. W. Marsh, in 1858, invented the harvester called by their name. It is a de- vice for pushing the cutting apparatus in front of the team and loading the grain into wagons which travel alongside. The final improvement was added by J. F. Appleby in 1869 in the form of a self-binder. The importance of the reaper is indicated by the 5,000 patents issued for improvements on the machine in the United States. Withont the self-binding reaper, it is difficult to see how the vast grain-fields of the west could be cultivated. After the successful trial of the McCormick machine in England, the London "Times" was enthusiastic in its praise, and pronounced it the greatest boon which could be conferred on the farmers of

THE GROWTH OF A CENTURY.

England, because it rendered their grain harvest practically secure, where hitherto it had always been precarious because of the frequent rains. The American reaper has found its way into all parts of the world, and has built up a manufacturing industry of very great importance to the nation.

From the introduction of movable types a flat bed and platen press had been the machine used to make the impression until the introduction of the cylinder press. In 1790 Mr. Nicholson, editor of the "Philo- sophical Journal," of London, patented a cylinder press with inking rollers, but the invention lay dormant. Mr. Koning, a German, went to London soon after this and began to experiment with printing presses. He devised one embodying the ideas of Mr. Nicholson. He put it into the London " Times" establishment, November 28, 1814, and that journal appeared, stating that the issue was the first every printed by steam. Richard M. Hoe, of New York, greatly im- proved the cylinder press and brought out his machines in 1848, having as many cylinders as might be necessary, and print- ing from stereotype plates. For many years these were the styles of the best presses for rapid printing. William Bullock, of Phila- delphia. finally gave the rapid printing press its present form, which printed from a con- tinuous roll of paper, and is the method now adopted in all the fast presses of Hoe and others. Its capacity is 25,000 8-page news- papers per hour, folded ready for the car- riers. In no branch of mechanical progress has there been a more wonderful develop- ment than is manifested by one of these marvellous presses. A press to print pan- phlets with great rapidity was the invention of Mr. H. P. Feister, of Philadelphia, Pa., perfected and in successful operation in that city for a number of years, and is a marvel of speed, adapted as yet only to cheaper printing.

Machines to set type have been numerous, but none have been successful until recently. The hum-drum of type setting by hand is tedious beyond description, and necessarily slow. The new machines now made practi- cal are rapidly coming into use. They are of several styles. Some set and distribute common type. They are necessarily very complicated, but seem to do good work. The other styles cast either single letters and set them in their places, a letter at a time, or cast whole lines at once. The latest and most marvellous of type setting machines is the invention of George A. Goodson of Minneapolis, Minnesota. He has simply ap- plied the principle of the Ja quard loom to type setting. A type-writer is connected electrically with a small machine which makes a pattern on a strip of " ticker" paper, about one inch wide. This winds on a reel as it is made, and it is then put into a machine, small enough to stand on a sew- ing machine table, and which follows the pattern automatically, casting the types, ad-

justing them into lines, and placing them on a galley as fast as eight or ten compositors could set the type. One man can tend ten such machines. It is possible for a tele- graph operator in New York to make the pat- tern in San Francisco. The patterns can he cut into pieces and run through as many different machines as may be necessary, set- ting a dozen galleys in a half an hour. The matter in the galleys can be corrected like any ordinary type matter. The type-writer which is used to make the patterns, writes at the same time a copy from which to read to correct proof. It seems to be a wonder- ful advance on any type setting machine in use. The editor writes his copy on the type- writer and unconsciously makes the pattern for the type-casting and setting machine at the same time. There is no " intelligent compositor " to intervene between him and his proof. The machine faithfully sets it up exactly as the editor wrote it. Whatever corrections it is desired to make are made the same as usual in ordinary type set by hand. At this date (January 1, 1895), what is known as the Mergenthaler solid-line machine is being generally adopted by leading daily papers in large cities.

The knitting machine is another astonish- ing triumph of mechanical skill. Hand- knitting itself is not a very old art. The first allusion to it in history is in 1488. when a King of England had a knit cap. Stock- ings are not spoken of until 1553. Rev. William Lee, an English clergyman, in- vented a stocking-frame in 1589. This had a capacity of making about 1,200 loops a minute. In 1758. Jedediah Strutt, a Derby- shire farmer. adapted this to ribbed work. Sir Marc J. Brunel, in 1816, patented a ma- chine for knitting seamless garments, but it was not used until 1845 at Birmingham. The invention of the " tumbler" needle by M. Townsend completed the modern ma- chine. When it is remembered that a hand- knitter can only make about 100 loops a minute, and that a modern machine makes 250,000 loops of the finest texture in a min- ute, the advance of the century can be ap. preciated. It is no wonder that hand-knit- ting, once a universal home industry, has gone out of vogue.

Chemistry took its first solid step in the century under review, when Wenzel, 1740- 93, established the true idea of definite chemical combination. Richter followed the clue given, and drew up the first table of equivalents. He died in 1807, having established the law of definite proportions. In 1804 Dalton discovered the law of mul- tiple proportions. That is, if one body unites with another in more than one pro- portion, the second and subsequent cases are multiples of the first. He devised the atomic theory, because he thought the defi- nite weights with which bodies enter into combination, represented definite quantities of matter indivisible by chemical means. Gay Lussac and Humboldt, in 1805. proved

THE GROWTHI OF A CENTURY.

that water was two volumes of hydrogen and one of oxygen. Chemistry reckons 63 simple substances. It has liquefied gases, discovered new metals and the wonderful properties of coal-tar. W. H. Perkin, in 1856, laid the foundation of the vast indus- try of coal-tar dyes, which are superseding all animal and vegetable colors.

Astronomy also has made prodigious pro- gress, which would take volumes to record. The discovery of Neptune is justly regarded as a magnificent demonstration of the cor- rectness of our astronomical science. The perturbations of the planet Uranus led to the belief that there was some large body yet undiscovered which affected the planet. In 1845 John C. Adams, of Cambridge, com- pleted a calculation which indicated the orbit of the disturbing body. He commu- nicated his conclusions to an astronomer, but he thought so little of the matter that no search was made. Leverrier, of France, made a similar calculation, and in 1846, re- quested the observer at Halle to search for the new body, and it was found within a degree of the spot pointed out. It was named Neptune. Previous to this, the planet Uranus, discovered by Herschel in 1781, was the outermost planet of our solar system. The satellite of Neptune was dis- covered in 1847 by Lassele, of Liverpool.

Many asteroids have been discovered, sometimes at the rate of 5 or 10 a year. There are now 321 of these little orbs known. By means of the spots on the sun its rotation has been determined, and be- cause at its equator it revolves in 25 days, and at a point near its poles revolves in 26 days, it is concluded that the sun is gaseous or liquid. The character of the sun has been also determined. The spectroscope has revealed many of its constituents. By means of the camera, astronomers are mak- ing an almost perfect celestial map. Great expectations are raised from the progress already made.

This rapid review gives only a feeble im- pression of the situation which confronted the people of Jefferson county as they went into the wilderness to establish their homes. It is to their credit that they contributed their full share to the great progress of the century while they were pioneers. The part they have taken may be seen in some de- gree from the sketches of the men and women in these pages, and it is believed that their achievements warrant the highest encomiums possible to bestow upon them.

CHRONOLOGY OF IMPORTANT EVENTS.

BEFORE CHRIST.

The Deluge. 2348

Babylon built. 2247

Birth of Abraham. 1993

Death of Joseph. 1635

Moses horn ..

1571

Athens founded ..

1559

The Pyramids built. 1250

Solomon's Temple finished. 1004

Rome founded. 753

Jerusalem destroyed. 587

Babylon taken by Jews. 538

Death of Socrates 400

Paper invented in China 170

Carthage destroyed ... 146

Cæsar landed in Britain .. 55

Cæsar killed .. 44

Birth of Christ. 0

AFTER CHRIST.

Death of Augustus Cæsar 14

Pilate, governor of Judea. 27

Jesus Christ crucified 33

Claudius visited Britain 43

Paul put to death 67

Death of Josephus 93

Jerusalem rebuilt 131

The Bible in Gothic 373

Horseshoes made of iron 481

Latin tongue ceased to be spoken. 580

Pens made of quills 635

Organs used. 660

Glass in England. 663

Bank of Venice established. 1157

Glass windows first used for light. 1180

Mariner's compass used. 1200

Coal dug for fuel. 1334

Chimneys first put to houses. 1236

Spectacles invented by an Italian 1240

First English House of Commons 1258

Tallow candles for lights. 1290

Paper made from linen 1302

Gunpowder invented. 1340

Woolen cloth made in England. 1341

Printing invented 1436

The first almanac. 1470

America discovered 1492

First book printed in England 1507

Luther began to preach. 1517

Telescopes invented 1549

Clocks first made in England. 1568

Shakespeare died. 1616

Circulation of the blood discovered 1619

Barometer invented 1623

First newspaper 1629

Death of Galileo. 1643

Steam engine invented 1649

Cotton planted in the United States. 1759

Commencement of American Revolu-

tion .. .. 1775

Recognition of American Independence 1782 Napoleon I. crowned Emperor. 1804

Telegraph invented by Morse. 1832

Dr. Guthrie's discovery of chloroform 1832

First daguerreotype in France 1839

Beginning of American Civil War. 1861 End of American Civil War 1865

Great fire in Chicago. 1871

Lincoln assassinated.

April 14, 1865

Garfield assassinated .. July 12, 1881 Bullock, inventor of printing from con- tinuous roll of paper, died. 1867

Mergenthaler solid-line typesetting

machine introduced. 1893

Thorn typesetting machine from mova- ble type introduced. 1892

THE GROWTH OF A CENTURY.

International bi-metal money con

ference 1893

Behring sea arbitration with England

concluded. 1892

Electricity applied to propulsion of

street cars. . 1891

And in general use. 1893

Twin propeller screws used on ocean steamers. 1893

HON. CHARLES BROOKS HOARD

WAS born at Springfield, Vt., Jan. 28, 1805. Upon the title page of this History can be read what Daniel Webster said about an- cestry. Mr. Hoard was fortunate in this respect, for the family in America descend in an unbroken line from an English an- cestry, mentioned as a wealthy London banker who came to Boston with his wife and children about 1635, but died soon after. The widow and children settled at Braintree (now Quincy), Massachusetts, where she died Dec. 21, 1661. The family monuments and inscriptions were still standing and legible a few years ago. In England the family descend from Normans who accom- panied William the Conqueror to that country in the 11th century, and acquired considerable estates in England, Wales and Ireland early in the 12th century. This is not a matter of guess-work, and forcibly illustrates the value of historical records, a matter much neglected in the United States. In 1821, at the age of 16 years, young Hoard went to Antwerp, where his older brothers, Daniel, Silvius, Samuel and George had pre- ceded him and were engaged in business. Having acted as clerk for Daniel and Samuel when they went to Fort Covington, N. Y., to engage in trade, as well as receiving. at a later day, instruction under Daniel at Mr. Parish's land office in Parishville, young Hoard again returned to Antwerp, and began. with a Mr. Stevens, to learn watch repairing. This business he mastered, and then accepted a position in Mr. Parish's Antwerp land office, under Wm. McAllister. In 1828 he married Miss Susan Heald, daugh- ter of Daniel and Anna Heald. While with Mr. Parish he was elected Justice of the Peace, and was re elected for several years after he was out of the land office. He also held the office of Postmaster at Antwerp under both Jackson and Van Buren. In 1837 he was elected a member of the As- sembly from Jefferson county, and during that session (1837-38) the legislature passed the celebrated Safety-fund Banking Law, which proved of inestimable value to the people of New York, not a dollar ever having been lost by the holder of a New York safety-fund bank bill. they being always at an eiglith to half per cent premium over any other paper money then in use, and at times the premium was as high as five and six per cent. over well established New England banks. The security for issuing bills under that law was based upon mort- gages of unincumbered improved farming

land at one-half its assessed value. This part of the enactment was due to the ability and foresight of Mr. Hoard who was the author of the mortgage feature in the bill, and its operation in Jefferson county was peculiarly beneficial to such farmers as pos- sessed good unmortgaged farms, but needed ready cash for improvements or to purchase lands for their sons. This evidence of Mr. Hoard's legislative ability was remembered by the people.

In 1843 he was elected county clerk of Jefferson county, and moved his family to Watertown in 1844. Thenceforward he became a leading personality in all the affairs of the county (see the chapter upon "Political History "). He discharged the duties of county clerk with entire accep- tability, introducing many needed reforms, which gave great satisfaction to members of the bar, and all who had business with the office.

After the expiration of his term as county clerk he made a conditional arrangement with Mr. George Goulding (the originator of the machine and agricultural implement manufactory, so extensively improved by Messrs. Bagley and Sewell), to purchase an interest in that business if he elected so to do at the end of a year. At the expiration of the time he concluded not to purchase, and soon after engaged with Mr. Gilbert Bradford, a practical machinist, in the manu- facture of a portable steam engine. For many years Mr. Hoard had revolved such an enterprise in his mind, for his own ex- perience and observation had taught him the urgent need of a portable machine that could drive printing presses. lathes, or any light mechanism. Even while at Antwerp he had made some experiments with such a machine, and all the attention he had then given the matter became of value in the new enterprise upon which the firm of Hoard & Bradford embarked. As in all new applica- tions of machinery (as was strikingly illus- trated in another instance when Theodore Woodruff, a Watertown nechanic, invented the sleeping-car, and carried around his model wrapped up in a red silk handker- chief), there were many who prophesied fail- ure and loss. But Mr. Hoard was not of the "failing" kind. The acquaintance which he had formed with Horace Greeley in the legis- lature of 1837, made them friends, and when Mr. Greeley chanced to visit Watertown he called at the printing office of John A. Haddock, in the Hayes block ; and there

HON, CHARLES BROOKS HOARD.

Born at Springfield, Vermont, June 28, 1805. Died at Ceredo, West Virginia, November 20, 1886.

By unclean pelf his heart and hand unstained, Strong for the right, and turning not aside Whene'er the public weal was in debate, He justified the honors he had gained.

THE GROWTH OF A CENTURY.

examined the first engine that had ever left Hoard & Bradford's shop. It was a hand- some machine, of two-horse power, and when Greeley came in the proprietor was himself feeding his cylinder press, throwing off 1,200 sheets an hour. Greeley was de- lighted, and in a letter written for the "Tribune," he gave the new invention a first- class notice. That was the beginning of a business which proved eventually the most remunerative of any that had ever been started in that part of the State. A larger machine having been exhibited at the next State Fair. it elicited much commendation from the Fair officials as well as from the journal of the society, and orders began to pile in upon the firm as unexpected as they were gratefully received. So great was the demand for the Hoard & Bradford engine that they were six months behind in their orders within a year after starting, and were never able to catch up until 1860-61. After four years of harmonious partnership with Mr. Bradford, Mr. Hoard purchased his in- terest for $26.000-a sum which made Mr. B. an independent man, and he congratu- lated himself often and in public that he had withdrawn from the business, as he really believed it had reached its "high noon." He doubtless thought otherwise when Mr. Hoard took his two sons, who were then of age, into the business, and the new firm of Hoard & Sons began to make larger and better engines than ever before, selling them in every State of the Union, particularly in the south and south-west. It was while this business was at its height that Mr. Hoard was nominated and was elected as the Representative of the 23d (Jefferson and Lewis) District in the 35th Congress. He was so acceptable to the people that he was re-elected by an increased majority. When he first ran for Congress he was opposed by Caleb Lyon, who was so popular that he had been a member of the Assembly, State Senator, and Member of Congress all within three years ; and we again refer to the chapter upon " Political History " for more extended particulars than are called for here.

We close our notice of Mr. Hoard's con- nection with the portable engine business with mentioning these few points: his shop was the pioneer in the building of strictly " portable" engines, a business that has now become so extensive as to be conducted more or less in nearly every State, and at several different localities in some of the States. Mr. Hoard's works at one time employed 140 men, principally skilled mechanics, besides a corps of clerks and accountants. But the Civil War greatly reduced the number of orders-the south and the valley of the Mississippi having from the start been the best sections for sales As the business promised to be much less remunerative so long as the war lasted, and perhaps for several years after its close, Mr. Hoard turned his attention to some

other article which would give employment to his skilled mechanics, and keep in opera- tion his large works, which had now spread over several acres, full of the hest machin- ery money could buy. As a temporary matter, and principally to aid a brother who had been unfortunate in business, he under- took a gun contract (in 1862) with the Gov- ernment, agreeing to manufacture 50,000 Springfield rifles at $20 each, making a total of $1,000,000. This contract was made un- der Secretary of War Cameron, when guns were greatly needed; but its execution was under Secretary Stanton. The delays in- evitable in getting, such a contract under way, threw his first delivery well along into 1864, when the Government had bought many guns abroad as well as greatly en- larged its own immense works at Spring- field, Mass. Taking advantage of this con- dition of affairs, Secretary Stanton sought, by one pretext and another, to evade a fair fulfillment of the Government's part of the contract. He appointed unfriendly inspec- tors, who several times inspected each sepa- rate piece during the process of making, after which certain parts, as the barrels, locks, guards, etc., were "assembled," or put together, and again inspected. Accept- able parts were then put together as com- pleted guns, and again inspected. So criti- cal and apparently unjust did the inspection appear to Mr. Hoard, that he quietly took to pieces the model gun furnished him by the Government as a standard, and placed such of its parts as could not be detected with similar parts of his own make, which were submitted in the usual way for inspec- tion, with the result that about half of the parts submitted of the model gun were re- turned "condemned." These and other unfavorable acts, and the failure to obtain any satisfaction from Stanton, made the gun contract extremely disastrous finan- cially, and Mr. Hoard ceased to manufac- ture. He sold off his splendid machinery at any price obtainable, but at such a loss as to use up nearly his entire fortune, which had been estimated at half a million when he took the contract. The Turkish govern- ment bought most of the machinery, and it is still in use. Having discharged every financial claim upon him, and without a single law suit, Mr. Hoard began to look around for some other business in which to repair his losses. But before following him to Missouri and Ceredo, we desire to speak more extendedly of his

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The growth of a century: as illustrated in the history of Jefferson county, New York, from 1793-1894, Part 9

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