The growth of a century: as illustrated in the history of Jefferson county, New York, from 1793-1894, Part 95

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 95

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R. M. Flaherty, ten cent store, south end Chapin block, established in 1893.

John Pogue, tailor, basement of Foster House.

E. E. Proctor, news room, Chapin block. Mrs. George Snell, millinery, at residence, Main street.

Dr. G. H. Wood, office over Marsh's.

Dr. William Hay, office over Flaherty's.

Dr. F. F. Hutchins, office in P. O. block.

M. H. Donald, insurance, office in P. O. block.

F. N. Odbert, wagon making ; at Deven- dorf's blacksmith shop.

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THE GROWTH OF A CENTURY.

J. R. Welch, wagon making.

O. G. Devendorf, blacksmith, south of bridge.

Robert Cochran, blacksmith, Williams building ; opened 1894.

J. D. Burtis, restaurant and saloon, next to Bank.

Dr. G. H. Lathan, dentist, established here 1877. Office over Perley's.

John C. Trolan, attorney, established in 1872; office over McAllaster's store.

H. J. Foote, attorney, office at residence, Madison avenue.

J. A. Faichney, photographer established as Faichney & Bent in 1887; Williams building. John D. Radigan, livery.

Spears & Richner, livery ; established 1890 by Spears & Lynde.

Bank of Antwerp, a private bank, estab- lished in 1872 by Cassius M. Coolidge, John D. Ellis, president; Albert Hoyt, cashier; capital and surplus, $200,000. The business was resumed by them in 1874. The old bank building was erected by Coolidge, and was destroyed by the fire of 1889, and an elegant new one of brick and stone, on same location, opposite post office, took its place.

The Antwerp Gazette, a weekly news- paper, was founded September 1, 1873, by J. M. Beaman, and was continued by him until February 1, 1875, being then bought by J. W. Van Slyke. It passed into the hands of Myron H. Bent on December 12, 1888, and on February 15, 1892, into the pos- session of Duane W. Fuller. Circulation, 2,500 copies. At first the outfit consisted of

a hand-press and an old Ruggles job press and but few fonts of type; it is now heated and run by steam, with three presses and a full complement of type.

The Antwerp News was started in the summer of 1870 by Miss M. M. Smith, but was discontinued January 1, 1873.

Van Buren street was extended from the cemetery around to Depot street in 1886, and Hoyt avenue was laid out in 1884. New streets are at present contemplated.

The present dam in Antwerp village was built by Mr. Munro in 1861-33 years ago. It must have been well built to have stood so long, and passed over its breast so many million feet of lumber.

THE 75th anniversary of the organization of the First Congregational Church of Ant- werp, was celebrated December 28, 1894, in an appropriate manner. It was a most in- teresting and important event in the history of the church, and for the village of Ant- werp. The church was beautifully and ar- tistically decorated for the occasion. After the opening exercises, the Rev. Duncan Mc- Gregor offered a fervent prayer and Mr. Morgan Augsbury made an address of wel- come. Then followed a most interesting paper prepared and read by Albert Hoyt, for many years its clerk, on the history of the church, which was most judicious and elicited the closest attention. Then followed letters of regret and congratulation from former pastors. The happy occasion ended with an informal reception.

THE BENTONS.

MRS. CAROLINE C. BENTON, wife of Colonel Z. H. Benton, formerly of Antwerp, who died at Richfield Springs some years ago, was a natural-born niece of Napoleon I., she being the daughter of Joseph Bonaparte, King of Spain. Though so near a descend- ant of a family that helped so greatly to make history, she seldom made any allusion, save to her intimate friends, to the fact that she was the only descendant in America of that distinguished house. It may not be altogether unbecoming for an historian to make mention of some well-known facts con- cerning people who have passed away, for sometimes such allusious may help to "point a moral or adorn a tale." In such a light we present a few remarks :

When Joseph Bonaparte, who had been King of Spain when his great brother had thrones and crowns to give away, took up his residence in Bordentown, N. J., he met and loved a beautiful Quaker girl. Her family were eminently respectable, and it was a great blow to their just pride to see their daughter contract a mesalliance with au acknowledged French roue like Joseph Bonaparte, then an old, corpulent man. Outside of her own friends and acquaint-

ances, no one knew the family name of this fair Quakeress, nor do we here give it, although well known to the author of this History. This union resulted in the birth of two children, both daughters. The younger died in infancy, and the other was she who married Colonel Benton. Her mother came to Watertown in the thirties, under the name of Madam de la Folie, and resided for a long time on Arsenal street, in the brick double-house later owned by the DeLongs, and demolished to make room for the Opera House. There Mrs. Benton grew to woman- hood, and there she was married to Col. Benton early in the thirties, the ceremony being per- formed early in the old Trinity Church on Court street, destroyed in the great fire of 1849.

Shortly before the year of this marriage, Joseph Bonaparte spent a large part of his time in this northern country, having 240,- 000 acres of land in Northern Jefferson and Southern St. Lawrence, the Natural Bridge heing his headquarters, and there he erected quite a pretentious dwelling, a picture of which is shown on page 108c of this History. He also built a hunting lodge on the high rocky hill that forms the eastern shore of

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Bonaparte Lake, but only the foundation walls are now traceable. It is a lonely, bleak place, the trees all cut down, and the naked rocks adding to the desolation.

During his residence in this northern section, he chose to be called the Count de Survilliers. He finally disposed of his lands to the Antwerp Company, we believe, though not positive. In the fall of 1830, having heard of the French Revolution of the previous July, he departed for France.

Mrs. Benton received a pension of $1,200 a year from France up to the time of the Franco-Prussian war. After that she taught French for a living. She was a beautiful and accomplished lady, and in no way ever violated the rules of conventionalism. She left several children; one of her sons is a summer resident upon the shore of Bona- parte Lake, where he has a fine cottage. In 1879 Mrs. Benton wrote an interesting book about France and the French people. She visited Paris, and is said to have been re-

ceived by Napoleon III., but we have no authority for the statement that she was acknowledged as a legitimate Bonaparte. She is represented as having been a splendid girl, with beautiful eyes, and a manner that was charming. Her residence in this remote section is not so remarkable when we con- sider that the very first efforts at a settle- ment of the Black River country were made by emigres from France, driven out by the Revolution of 1793, as the Bonapartes were in turn driven out by the returning Bour- bons, after Waterloo- they, too, seeking this northern section for a home. At Cape Vin- cent there were Frenchmen who entered Moscow with Napoleon I., and survived the awful horrors of that campaign. They even hoped to see "L'Emprere " himself among them at Cape Vincent, after he should have escaped from St. Helena. Vain hope! His restless ambition left him, as it should have done, to die a prisoner upon a lonely island in a distant sea.

JOHN D. ELLIS.

AMONG the best known and most respected business men of Jefferson county is Hon. John D. Ellis, of Antwerp. John Davis Ellis was born in 1834, in the town of LeRay, being the youngest and now the only sur- viving son of Joseph Phinney and Almira (Steele) Ellis. His education was acquired in the Academy at Carthage, and at a private school in Evans Mills ; but at an early age he was obliged to leave his books to enter the store of his father at Antwerp, where Mr. Ellis senior added the duties of post- master to the demands of a large general country trade, making his son's services great- ly needed. At the age of 21 he was admitted to full partnership, and upon his father's re- tirement a few years later, reorganized the business under the firm name of John D. Ellis & Co., the other partners being Her- cules Weston Ellis (his brother, now de- ceased), and Albert Hoyt, his brother-in-law. Under this firm's management, a steady, growing and thriving trade was established, it being a well known fact that very few country stores of the present day cover any- thing like so large a range of territory in their customers. It was here, indeed, that the foundation of Mr. Ellis' fortune was made-a fortune which he owes almost wholly to his own untiring industry and business ability. The retail sales of J. D. Ellis & Co. reached $100,000 in a single year, and in addition they handled farm pro- ducts to the amount of $250,000 per annum. It was at this time, also, that Mr. Ellis began to deal in real estate, a line of activity which has broadened until to-day he pays one of the largest realty taxes in this section.

The Bank of Antwerp, a private banking institution owned by Mr. Ellis, with Albert Hoyt as cashier, was established under its

present ownership in December, 1872. The Bank of Antwerp has been a successful institution, enjoying the confidence of the community, by reason of conservative busi- ness methods and sound financial practices. The great fire of 1889 destroyed the old bank building, a frame structure, and it was re- placed by the present one, of brick and stone, with modern vault and time-lock pro- tection, which is one of the finest banking offices in the county. Mr. Ellis was active in the establishment of the Antwerp Liberal Literary Institute (now Ives Seminary), an institution which has incalculably contribu- ted to the educational interests of the town ; and was a trustee, and for several years president of the board of trustees thereof.

All his life an earnest and consistent Democrat, in foul weather and in fair, Mr. Ellis has nevertheless enjoyed the respect and support of his strongly Republican town, and has held many public offices, both elective and appointive. His first election was as supervisor, the only Democrat chosen to that office from the town of Antwerp since the organization of the Republican party-a period of nearly 40 years; he has also filled many other local offices. In 1879, a year almost paralleling 1894, as one of Democratic dissension and defeat, Mr. Ellis was never- theless elected member of the Assembly from the second Jefferson district, a Republi- can district, and was thus one of the very few Democrats who have represented this county at Albany since the war. Mr. Ellis carried the district by the substantial majority of 268. His own town, ordinarily Republican by 300, gave him for the Assem- bly 169 majority. While a member, he in- introduced and secured the passage of several local measures of great importance.

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THE GROWTH OF A CENTURY.

JOHN D. ELLIS.

But the most important public office ever held by Mr. Ellis was that of State Assessor, to which Governor Cleveland appointed him in 1883. The Board of State Assessors, of which he was for nine years a leading mem- ber, was always regarded by authorities as an exceptionally able one, and its decisions in equalization contests have invariably been sustained by the Court of Appeals. Mr. Ellis was especially known as a repre- sentative on the Board of the great farming interests of the State, which had not, until his appointment, been similarly recognized since the creation of the office in 1859.

During the war Mr. Ellis was a "War Democrat" was active with his influence and his means in aiding the Union cause, and, as treasurer of the funds for raising troops, became personally holden for large sums of money. During recent years he

has been active in the movement which has culminated in the erection of the Soldiers' Monument at Antwerp, and is vice-president of the Association that has reared this beautiful tribute to the soldier-dead.

He is a member of the First Congregational Church of Antwerp, and a liberal contribu- tor always to the cause of religion and to worthy charitable objects. Still in the prime of life, he is an excellent type of the successful American business man, the archi- tect of his own fortune.

In 1861 he married Mary J. Buell, daughter of the late Almon Buell, one of the pioneers of the town of Antwerp, and a man of upright and respected Christian char- acter. Their children are: Mary (wife of Willard S. Augsbury, of Antwerp), and Marion Josephine (wife of Ira M. Beaman, of Westboro, Mass).

Du. U.ENG. 10. SYA. A.Es

MR. AND MRS. LE ROY S. ROGERS, ANTWERP, N. Y.

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ANTWERP.

LEROY S. ROGERS.

LEROY S. ROGERS was born in Hebron, Washington county, N. Y., in 1819. His parents were John and Polly (Eggleston) Rogers, who were married in 1816, a season remembered as extremely cold. Polly Eggles- ton was the daughter of Asa Eggleston, of Washington county. John Rogers bought a farm near Antwerp in 1828, where he resided until his death, in 1870, aged 77 years.

LeRoy S. is the eldest of five children. He married Pamelia M. Burtch in 1846, and their family is as follows : Emogene P., wife of E. B. Perley, a leading druggist of Antwerp; Allen L., who married Mattie, daughter of Giles Bannister, of Watertown, where they reside and have one daughter, Bertha; Will J. Rogers, who resides on the

homestead, near Antwerp, and married Maud L., daughter of Hiram A. Mix, of Richville, St. Lawrence county ; George P., a druggist at Canton, St. Lawrence county, who mar- ried Jennie McLaren, of Heuvelton, St. Law- rence county; they have one daughter, Marga- ret G. LeRoy Rogers retired from the farm in 1876, and built the house in Antwerp village where he still resides. He has always been a Republican, and for 13 years the assessor of the town. He is a substan- tial, honored citizen, enjoying the respect of his neighbors and friends. On another page are the faces of this good man and his estimable companion, and we are sure they will be appreciated and remembered by their neighbors and townspeople.

WILLIAM McALLASTER.

WILLIAM MCALLASTER was born in Ant- rim, N. H., March 6, 1792. The family was respected in that community, and, until William was 13 years of age, in easy circum- stances. Then misfortune came and swept away the results of years of industry and frugality. At the age of 18, finding himself at liberty and on the world, with only a small amount of money in his pocket, Wil- liam packed his scanty wardrobe in a bundle, and taking it on his back, set out upon a march through the wilderness. Of the length of time consumed upon this journey we can say nothing ; but we know that upon reaching Antwerp he found little or nothing to do, and so continued his journey to Ogdensburg. He obtained employment for one season with Mr. Ford, the builder of the State road. Returning to New Hampshire, he again came to Antwerp, bringing with him his parents and one brother and five sisters. The journey was performed with a yoke of cattle and a two-wheeled cart. On arriving at Antwerp, Richard, the father, im- mediately set about the erection of a house, on a site now within the limits of Hoyt street, just in the rear of the Congregational Church. Richard and Susan died in 1813, their graves being among the first dug in the old burying-ground on the hill. In the meantime, William was laboring hard at small wages on the turnpike, which was then being built from Antwerp village to the Ox- Bow. Subsequently he was elected constable and collector. As collector he compelled Parish to pay his taxes in Antwerp instead of Albany, somewhat against that gentle- man's inclination, but William's energy and promptness in the matter pleased the wealthy land-owner, and he subsequently made the young man his agent.

In 1828 he married Nancy Stowell, a lady who came to Antwerp in 1809 from New Hampshire, and who was born January 6,

1804. Of this marriage were born four chil- dren, William P., George D., Oliver R. and Major. Of these only George D. is now living. Major died while young, and Wil- liam P. and Oliver while serving in the Union army in the Civil War. The Grand Army post at Antwerp bears the name of " Oliver McAllaster." Hon. George D. Mc- Allaster has served one term in the Legis- lature, and has been several times supervisor of his town.

William McAllaster continued as Parish's agent until his land was all sold, and he ceased to do business in the town. He was elected to the Assembly in 1840, and for one year was supervisor of his town. He died May 5, 1870, probably the best known and respected of any man in that northern section.

The peculiar hardships endured by these early settlers are well described in a number of places in this History. But their lives were not all hardship. They raised families, founded homes, and what more do we ac- complish now ? On page 435 will be found the reminiscences written by Mrs. McAlaster, and they are particularly interesting and in- structive. She is certainly a remarkably well preserved and intelligent lady.

The life and labors of Mr. McAllaster are fitting Illustrations of the benefits progressive and active men are able to receive from being connected with a new country. It is prob- able that were he living to-day, under the greatly changed conditions which now pre- vail, he would scarcely have done better than his descendants have done, who, left with large possessions, have no more than kept the patrimony they inherited. Such is often the case where men of considerable ability and prominence achieve success upon a small theater, when, if compelled to grapple with the conditions of a later era, they would scarcely have been successful, or risen above mediocrity.

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THE GROWTH OF A CENTURY.

JAMES B. HARRIS

WAS born in Glasgow, Scotland, August 12, 1825. When seven years of age his parents removed to Canada, arriving at Montreal in the fall of 1832, where they remained until the following spring, when they removed to the township of Dalhousie, county of Lan- ark, Ontario. His father not liking the country, went to Toronto, where he died in 1837, leaving James B., the subject of this sketch, with Mr. Charles Brown, with whom he lived until October, 1842, when he came to Jefferson county, N. Y. Up to this time he had never attended school, and he imme- diately sought a place to do chores for his board and go to school. He worked sum- mers on a farm and went to district school winters for five years, and then he attended the Gouverneur Wesleyan Seminary for three terms. After leaving school he travel- led through several of the Western States, lecturing on mnemonics, a subject he had

become familiar with. From 1847 to 1854 he was captain of a boat running on the canal and river, from Oswego and Buffalo to New York.

April 24, 1854, he was married to Miss Rachel L. Emmons, of Somerville, N. Y. Five children were born to them : Agnes P., John H., Isabell J., George B. and Lydia Maria.

He farmed it for 10 years, and in 1864 moved to the village of Antwerp, where he now resides. October 19, 1865, his wife died, leaving five small children, which he kept together. July 4, 1866, he married Mrs. Levi D. Fairbanks, who assisted him nobly in bringing up the children, who were all educated at the Academy in Antwerp, and are now all good business men and women. In January, 1867, he was appointed deputy sheriff by James Johnson, and continued to discharge the duties for 12 years,

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In 1870 he purchased one-half interest in the cheese factory at Antwerp, and went in company with H. H. Bent, continuing in that business until 1880, when he was en- gaged by the Dairy Association of Eastern Ontario to instruct the cheese makers of that Province, and so continued for four years, when he went to Scotland, in the spring of 1884, to instruct the cheese makers of his native country at a salary of $10 per day for six months. At the end of the season the Scotch Dairy Association re-engaged him for the next season, at $12.50 per day, and paid his passage home and return, and presented him with a gold watch and chain, costing $250, in appreciation of his valuable services. While there he visited London, Liverpool and several other cities.

In the winter of 1884-5 he wrote the "Cheese and Butter Makers' Hand Book," and on his return to Scotland, in March, 1885, had it printed in Glasgow, and it was widely circulated among his Scotch pupils. The University of Edinburgh purchased over 200 copies, and used it as a text book in the

Agricultural Department. The visit to Scotland was attended with much good to the Scotch cheese-makers, as they had very crude implements. There was not a vat in the whole of Scotland-all using round tubs ; no curd knives, they had used the same tools in use for the past 200 years.

Before leaving for home, in 1885, he visited Belfast, Dublin and other cities in Ireland, arriving home in December. Since then he has been called to Western Ontario for two seasons to instruct the cheese-makers; and has been often called to factories in St. Law- rence, Jefferson and Lewis counties.

The perseverance of Mr. Harris in his efforts to obtain an education, is an example which may be safely followed by the young people of the present day, who have far greater facilities for learning than were obtainable in his youth, even if he had had friends and means behind him. He rose, without these advantages, to be an author and an honored citizen, and displayed an energy and a determination in a good cause, that is as commendable as unusual.

THE BENT FAMILY.

THE family of Bents in this country are all related, to a greater or less degree-more than through the common medium of Adam. It is of English extraction, and sprang from two brothers who left the mother country before the Revolution to seek their fortunes in the New World, and settled in Vermont. From this centre the scions of the family have radiated into nearly every State of the. Union, being more numerous in the old Com- monwealth, New York and Illinois, and it is perfectly safe for each one bearing that name to greet the other as a relative, wherever found. The family may be said to be con- spicuous for none of its members having ever been hung or convicted of crime; at least none has ever been heard of, but no doubt some of them ought to have been. At any rate, this virtue would generally be consider- ed of a negative character. Nevertheless there have been members of the family who have worthily held positions of trust and re- sponsibility-who have possessed positive virtues. Some of them became pioneers in that great section even so recently known upon the geographies of our fathers as the Great American Desert, out of which, rich enough for an empire in itself, science, civilization and progress have wrought several productive and wealthy States.

Over this vast section, two or three de- cades ago, the solitude was unbroken, except by the shrill cry of the wolf and the rattle of a prairie "schooner," following westward the star of empire, and roaming over nothing but cactus and sage brush, but which is now dotted with thriving towns and populous cities. Two brothers, Charles and William Bent, the latter better known as Colonel

"Bill" Bent, were intimately connected with the early history of a large portion of this region, especially Colorado and New Mexico, the former State having one county named in their honor. "Bill " was the first Governor of New Mexico. He married a squaw, moved to Kansas, raising a family, out of which only one daughter married a white man, the entire family, except father, abandoning the follies and foibles of civili- zation and returning to their nomadic state. Thus again was illustrated the futility of attempts to civilize the red man, even by assimilation.

The family is now prominent in the affairs of the old Bay State. Hon. William H. Bent, of Taunton, Mass., is president of the Home Market Club, of Boston, an organiza- tion of national prominence and importance, and presided at its recent banquet in honor of ex-Speaker Reed.

The head of the family in this section was David Bent, one of the two brothers first mentioned, the great-great-grandfather of Myron H. Bent, and there being two gener- ations younger, makes seven from the origin to the present time. The grandfather, Dal- manutha Bent, came from Vermont in 1830 and settled in Philadelphia, this county, re- moving thence to Denmark, and again to Antwerp in 1848. An uncle, Hartwell H. Bent, youngest son of D. Bent, and father of Roy H. Bent, has been the most conspicuous representative of this region. He was a man of public spirit, of the strictest integrity and signal worth of character. He was active in business, having established, with many others, the cheese factory in this village, which has grown to the present

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THE GROWTH OF A CENTURY.

MYRON H. BENT.

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The growth of a century: as illustrated in the history of Jefferson county, New York, from 1793-1894, Part 95

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