USA > New York > Franklin County > The north country; a history, embracing Jefferson, St. Lawrence, Oswego, Lewis and Franklin counties, New York, Volume 1 > Part 21
USA > New York > Jefferson County > The north country; a history, embracing Jefferson, St. Lawrence, Oswego, Lewis and Franklin counties, New York, Volume 1 > Part 21
USA > New York > Lewis County > The north country; a history, embracing Jefferson, St. Lawrence, Oswego, Lewis and Franklin counties, New York, Volume 1 > Part 21
USA > New York > Oswego County > The north country; a history, embracing Jefferson, St. Lawrence, Oswego, Lewis and Franklin counties, New York, Volume 1 > Part 21
USA > New York > St Lawrence County > The north country; a history, embracing Jefferson, St. Lawrence, Oswego, Lewis and Franklin counties, New York, Volume 1 > Part 21
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tention. Moses Eames was a guiding spirit in the erection of this school. The Congregationalists first organized a church society in 1808. Most of the residents of the town were from New England and brought with them the uncompromising attitude of their Puritan ancestors. One Amos Mallory was objected to for deacon because he had no wife. The first church was erected in 1819.
Theresa was not erected into a town until 1841 but the Falls on Indian river, now the village of Theresa, was marked as a good place for a settlement as early as 1810. A saw mill was erected there by M. LeRay and lumber sent down the river to Rossie and Ogdensburg. Settlement started at Theresa about 1819 and among the first settlers were James Shurtliff, Anson Cheeseman, Dr. James Brooks and Nathan M. Flower.
Worth, too, was a late town, not being erected until 1848. It was named from Gen. W. J. Worth of the United States army. Set- tlements were made in 1802 and 1803, the pioneer coming into the territory from Redfield over the state road. The first settlement was made on the site of Worthville and some of the first settlers were Leonard Bullock, John Griswold, Asa Sweet and John Hough- tailing.
The town of Wilna was erected in 1813 and Thomas Brayton was the first supervisor. From the time the first pioneers came into the Black River Country no point was better known than the Long Falls, now Carthage. At an early date, as we have seen, Jean Bap- tiste Bossuot established his inn at Long Falls and kept the ferry across the river. James D. LeRay de Chaumont soon acquired most of the land in the town from the estate of Henry Boutin, the original owner. Early settlers were Elihu Stewart, Caleb Fulton, Enoch Griffin, Robert C. Hastings and Henry Lewis. An important polit- ical center in the early days of Wilna was the old Checkered House, about four miles from Carthage. Later town meetings were held at Fargo's, near where the St. Lawrence Turnpike joined the Black river road. The village owed its early growth to the forge which M. LeRay established in 1816 at the same time as he completed the building of the dam started by David Coffeen some years before. Later a number of tanneries were established. Carthage was a port on the old Black River Canal and this added greatly to the commercial importance of the place, especially in the 1850s. The
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village was incorporated in 1841 and the first village president was Virgil Brooks. The first board of trustees consisted of Virgil Brooks, Suel Gilbert, Ebenezer Hodgkins, Amos Choate and Walter Nimocks.
FRANKLIN COUNTY
The population of Franklin county in 1820 was 4,439. At that time it consisted of six towns, Dickinson with a population of 370, Chateaugay with a population of 828, Constable with a population of 637, Dickinson with a population of 495, Fort Covington with a population of 979 and Malone with a population of 1,130. By 1830 four more towns had been added, Brandon, erected in 1828 from Bangor; Duane, erected in 1828 from Malone; Moira, erected in 1828 from Dickinson; and Westville, erected in 1829 from Constable. Of the other towns in the county, Altamont was not erected until 1890, Bellmont until 1833, Bombay until 1833, Brighton until 1858, Burke until 1844, Franklin until 1836, Harriestown until 1841, Santa Clara until 1888 and Waverly until 1880.
Malone, as we have seen, was first erected from Chateaugay as Harison, named after Richard Harison, the land owner. The name of the village became Ezraville in 1808, and about 1812 Malone, the same as the town. The name, Malone, seems to have been given by Mr. Harison in compliment to his friend, Edmond Malone, the Irish Shakespearian scholar. The first settlers in the town seem to have been Enos, John and Nathan Wood, who came about 1802. Set- tlement was fairly rapid and in 1804 James Constable found between thirty and forty families residing there. In 1807 Malone had 113 voters. Some of the pioneers were Cone Andrus, Nathaniel Blanch- ard, Oliver Brewster, Ebenezer Brownson, first supervisor of Hari- son, first judge of the county, surrogate, county clerk and member of Assembly; Jesse Chipman, one of the Green Mountain Boys and a veteran of the Revolution and Lemuel Chapman, later sheriff of the county. The village of Malone was usually spoken of as "The Cen- ter" in the early days. When the Rev. Ashbel Parmelee arrived in 1810 to assume the pastorate of the Congregational Church, there were only a dozen frame houses and five or six log ones in the village. All was then dense forest on both sides of Main street. Mrs. Mary Ann Lowell, describing the village as it was in 1824,
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writes: "Malone was a queer, little, backwoods village. The people were colonists from Vermont, so cut off from all communication with seaboard cities that their manners and standards were quite their own. There was but one carpet in the place." An early landmark of Malone was the Harison Academy, erected at a very early date, and built from timber, cut and hewn on the spot. Malone had a newspaper in the twenties, the Malone Telegraph, which continued until 1830 when it was succeeded by the Northern Spectator. An early Malone tavern was that of Appleton Foote, which stood on the site of the Armory and was used as a hospital during the War of 1812. The Miller House, standing on the site of the Glanagan House, was long a leading hotel. The first church society was that of the Congregationalists, organized in 1807. A few months later a Baptist church was formed and about 1811 a Methodist society.
Benjamin Seeley was the first settler in Bangor, coming in 1806, and was followed the same year by Joseph Plumb. Other early settlers were James and Jehiel Barnum, Chester Tullar, Robert Wil- son and Joel Griffin. Joshua Dickinson operated an axe manufac- tory, ran a hotel, store and a starch mill. Joseph Plumb was the first supervisor and continued to hold office for four years. He was succeeded by Noah Moody. West Bangor was known originally as Pottersville, probably named after Levi Potter, who kept a tavern there. The first mills were built there by Samuel Silsbee and Joseph Ross. Bangor and West Bangor developed first, because of the fact that the Ogdensburg-Plattsburgh stage passed through these vil- lages. North Bangor developed later when the stage route was changed.
Although the town of Bombay was not erected until 1833 when Wilson Randall was elected supervisor, there was considerable set- tlement there before that time. The town, of course, belonged to the Hogans and William Hogan resided there at various times. Probably it was due to the Hogans that a large number of the early settlers were of Irish birth. Samuel Sanborn was one of the earliest settlers, but the tide of settlement did not really commence until about 1822. James Luther had an early store at Bombay Corners and John Diggins kept a tavern there. Congregational and Baptist societies were formed early but became broken up. A Roman Cath- olic church was formed at Hogansburgh in 1827 following a visit
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to that place by Bishop Dubois. It was the first Catholic church in Franklin county and Rev. John McNulty was the first pastor.
Chateaugay is not only the oldest town in Franklin county in point of erection but also in actual settlement. As we have seen Benjamin Roberts and Nathan Beman came into this territory from Plattsburgh in 1796. Before 1800, a number of settlers had followed the trail of blazed trees into the town, among them being Lewis Ramson, Silas Pomeroy, Peleg Douglas, Thomas Smith, David Mal- lory, Aaron Beman, Gates Hoit, and William Bailey. In 1799 the population was sufficient to warrant the erection of the town and in 1800 there were 443 residents of that town. In these early days Chateaugay village was the most important settlement in the county. Gates Hoit was a prominent man and later became county clerk and member of assembly. William Bailey, land owner and slave owner, was also a prominent figure in the early days, holding many public offices. The first Presbyterian service in the town seems to have been held at his house in 1801. Rev. Henry Ryan, a Methodist cir- cuit rider, preached in Chateaugay in 1802 and in 1805 a "class" was formed. The Congregational society was organized in 1816 and a Baptist society in 1817. The old Franklin House was one of the first hotels and was kept by Col. Thomas Smith.
The town of Constable when erected in 1807 included Westville, Fort Covington, Bombay and the St. Regis Reservation. By 1810 Constable was the most populous town in the county, but through the erection of Fort Covington it had a smaller population in 1820 than in 1810. Christopher Austin and Jonathan Hapgood were probably the earliest settlers, coming about 1800. In the house of Mr. Hapgood, the first town meeting of Malone was held. Other early settlers were Dr. Solomon Wyman, the first physician in town, James Welch, Oliver Bell, with his sons, Samuel and Freeman, Cap- tain Asaph Perry. It was Freeman Bell who kept F. Bell's Inn, a headquarters for American troops in the War of 1812. Albon Mann was the first supervisor, serving from 1807 to 1810 and again from 1814 to 1823. The first church was Congregational, formed in 1817. The northern part of the town, near Trout River, was settled later, probably about 1820.
Dickinson when created in 1809 included all of what is now Ban- gor, Brandon, Moira, Santa Clara, Altamont, Waverly and a part
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of Harrietstown. The first town meeting was held in the hamlet of Brushton, then in the town of Dickinson, and S. Pease was elected supervisor. The first permanent settlers came about 1810 and included Jesse and Jotham Rice, Enoch Irish, Solomon Ross and Reuben Cady. Other early settlers were Reuben Cady, later a super- visor, Samuel Foster, an inn-keeper, Erastus Hutchins, Benjamin Heath and Samuel Foster. Thomas Meacham, who was known all over the North for his prowess as a hunter, came about 1808. He killed during his life, according to his own records, 2,550 deer, 214 wolves, 210 bears and 77 catamounts. Lake Meacham is named after him. The Christian Church at East Dickinson, organized in 1815, was the first religious organization in the town.
LEWIS COUNTY
The population of Lewis county had increased from 6,433 in 1810, to 9,227 in 1820. When Lewis county was erected it consisted of five towns, Leyden, erected in 1797; Harrisburgh, erected in 1803; Lowville, erected in 1800; Martinsburgh, erected in 1803, and Turin, erected in 1800. Denmark and Pinckney were the first two towns erected after the creation of the county, Denmark in 1807 and Pinck- ney in 1808. In 1821 Watson was erected, in 1828 Greig, in 1830, West Turin and Diana, in 1841, Croghan, in 1844, Osceola and in 1848, New Bremen. Highmarket, Lewis and Montague were all erected after 1850, Montague in 1850, Lewis and Highmarket both in 1852. Lyonsdale was erected later.
Silas Stow, as has been before mentioned, was the first land agent of Lowville, representing Nicholas Low, the owner. At the time he took up his residence in the present town of Lowville, before 1800, he was only twenty-four years of age. Among the other early settlers were Daniel Kelley, Jonathan Rogers and his children, Ehud Stephens, Jesse Wilcox, Philemon Hoadley, Zebulon Rogers, William Darrow, Ela Collins and Daniel Gould. Others were Jonathan Rogers, Benjamin Hillman, John Schull, Zuriel Waterman and Mather Bosworth. Mr. Stow first built a log cabin but by 1802 he had constructed his "mansion," a beautiful residence a little south of Lowville village. By 1805 when the county was erected Lowville village was quite a hamlet with several framed houses, of which
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Captain Rogers' was said to be the first, Preserved Finch's inn, a grist mill, a saw mill and a couple of stores. The village was not incorporated until 1854. The first bank, the Bank of Lowville, came into existence in 1838, with Isaac W. Bostwick the first president. The first religious society organized was the Congregationalists who organized a church at Stow's Square near Lowville. The Presby- terian society was formed in 1818 and a church edifice constructed in Lowville that same year. It is believed the Methodists built the first house in the town exclusively for religious purposes in 1805 and this little chapel continued in use until 1822. The Methodists replaced this with a brick church in 1823. In 1825 the Baptists con- structed a church, a society having been formed the year before. Trinity Church, Episcopal, was not built until 1838, although Bishop Hobart visited Lowville as early as 1818 and confirmed several persons.
Martinsburg was prosperous from the first under the guiding hand of Col. Walter Martin. Besides Col. Martin, Levi Adams, Ehud Stephens, Truman Stephens, Elijah Baldwin, Asa Brayton, Chullus Doty, John and Orin Moore, Silas Conkey, William Miller, John At- water, Joseph Sheldon and Stephen Root were among the early set- tlers. By 1805, much progress had been made. Col. Martin's big house, modeled after Johnson Hall, which stands to this day, was completed that year. There was a school, grist mills, saw mills and a tavern. By 1807 Martin had built a paper mill, the first in all Northern New York, and that same year the Black River Gazette, the first newspaper in Northern New York, was established at Mar- tinsburg. The year before, 1806, the first church north of the Mo- hawk river was built in Martinsburg. In fact, no section of the North Country moved forward with such rapidity as did Martins- burg in these early days. It was, of course, the first county seat of Lewis county and the old clerk's office still stands there. A Baptist church was erected in 1825. Asa Brayton was the first supervisor, being succeeded by Col. Martin.
The first town meeting of Pinckney, held in the house of Stephen Hart, elected Ethan Green as the first supervisor. Settlement began here in 1803. The earliest permanent settlers were Ethan Russell, John Lucas, Levi and Elisha Barnes, Stephen Hart, James Hart, Silas
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Slater and Joel Webb. David Canfield was the first settler in the vicinity of New Boston.
Turin was one of the oldest towns in the entire North Country and was well settled when many other towns had but a scattering of inhabitants. The early history of Turin had already been well con- sidered, but it may be said that among the more important of the early settlers were Jonathan Collins, whose name has often been men- tioned in this history, John Ives, Samuel Hall, Zaccheus Higby, Seth Miller, John Salmon, Nathan Coe, William Rice, Stephen and Levi Hart, Major Oliver Bush, Giles Foster, Zaccheus Bush, Judah Barnes, Eleazer House, the first coroner north of Utica and the man who gave his name to Houseville, Ezra Clapp, who kept a well known inn for thirty years, and Levi Benedict. The first church society was Con- gregational, formed in 1802. The Rev. James Murdock was prob- ably the first pastor. The Methodists organized a society in 1818 and the following year built a church edifice about three miles north of Turin village. The Baptists organized about 1812 under Rev. Stephen Parsons.
Although Watson was not erected until 1821, settlement was begun there as early as 1798 by Eliphalet Edmonds and Jonathan Bishop. Isaac Puffer, who later became a well known Methodist circuit rider and was known all over the north as "Chapter and Verse," was also an early settler and built the first saw mill. James Talcott Watson, son of James Watson, the original proprietor, settled on the lands himself but was supposed to be mentally incompetent and made a failure of his venture. The first town meeting was held at the home of John Beach, who had settled in 1814, and Caleb Lyon was chosen supervisor.
In considering West Turin one at once thinks of Constableville, originally Shaler's, where one of the first settlements in the North Country was made. Major John Ives, his brother Levi, Nathaniel Shaler, the early proprietor, Elisha Scoville, Daniel Higby, Levi Hough, James Miller, Ebenezer Allen and William Hubbard were among the first settlers. Elder Stephen Parsons, James T. Ward, William and Abner Rice, Ebenezer and Elijah Wadsworth, Richard Coxe, the brother-in-law of James D. LeRay de Chaumont and the first clerk of Lewis county, Roswell Woodruff and Josiah P. Ray-
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mond. Constableville with its great mansion, Constable Hall and the little church, St. Paul's, the first Episcopal church north of the Mo- hawk, only a mile away, became early an important settlement. Col- linsville was also quite a prosperous little hamlet in the early days, with Jabez Foster, Levi and Homer Collins and Richard Coxe early settlers. Lyons Falls, known as High Falls to the pioneers, was a settlement from the days of the Castorland colonists. The Baptists organized a society early in the town and under the Rev. Stephen Parsons their church was the most thriving in the town. A Pres- byterian church was formed in 1803. The first Catholic church was St. Michael's, built four miles south of Constableville in 1843.
ST. LAWRENCE COUNTY.
In 1820 St. Lawrence county had already attained a population of upwards of 16,000 and was rapidly growing. The construction of the St. Lawrence Turnpike had opened up the back country but the settlements along the St. Lawrence river with their nearness to the Canadian villages and their accessibility to Montreal were still the largest and most prosperous. Lisbon was of course the earliest town, having been taken from the Ten Towns in 1801. From Lisbon, Oswe- gatchie was erected in 1802, Massena, in 1802, Madrid, in 1802, and Canton in 1808. In 1820 St. Lawrence county had sixteen towns. In addition to those mentioned they were DeKalb, erected from Oswe- gatchie in 1806, Fowler, taken from Rossie and Russell in 1815, Gouverneur, taken from Oswegatchie in 1810, Hopkinton, erected from Massena in 1805, Louisville, taken from Massena in 1810, Parishville, erected from Hopkinton in 1814, Pierpont, taken from Russell in 1818, Pottsdam, taken from Madrid in 1806, Rossie, erected from Russell in 1813, Russell, taken from Hopkinton in 1807, and Stockholm, taken from Massena in 1806. Other towns erected soon afterwards were Brasher in 1825, Colton in 1843, DePeyster in 1825, Edwards in 1827, Fine in 1849, Hammond in 1827, Hermon in 1830, Lawrence in 1823, Macomb in 1841, Morristown in 1821, Norfolk in 1823, Pitcairn in 1836. St. Lawrence county has now thirty-two towns. Those in addition to the ones listed above are Clare, Clifton, Piercefield and Waddington.
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Considering first the older towns along the St. Lawrence river, much has already been said about the settlement of the town of Oswegatchie and the villags of Ogdensburg under the energetic lead- ership of Nathan Ford. Ford was the first supervisor of the town and continued to serve in that capacity for several years. He was also, as we have seen, the first judge of the county and indeed a leading citizen until the day of his death. In 1804 Ogdensburg had but four families. There was an inn, the American House, kept by George Davis, and the store maintained in the old barracks by Mr. Ford. The history of Ogdensburg as a place of commercial importance may be said to date from 1808 when David Parish purchased the village from the Ogdens. Soon after boat building started there, Mr. Parish erected his store and warehouse and then his fine, brick house, long the show place of the countryside. Ogdensburg was incorporated as a village in 1817, the same year that President James Monroe visited there and a fire department was organized in 1820. The com- pletion of the Oswego canal reacted greatly to the benefit of Ogdens- burg and the village developed into an important port. The village of Heuvelton early was known as Fordsburgh from Nathan Ford. Jairus Remington, a former clergyman, kept the first tavern there about 1806. Jacob A. Vanden Heuvel of New York bought the vil- lage in 1820 and commenced numerous improvements.
Madrid was one of the four towns created when the county was incorporated in 1802 and at first included also Potsdam. Joseph Edsall, who surveyed a goodly portion of the county, was the first supervisor and a prominent citizen. Although the locality had started to settle as early as 1793 it was not until 1798 when Edsall was appointed land agent that settlement started in earnest. Some of the early settlers were John Tuttle, Godfrey Myers, Jacob Red- ington, Cyrus Abernathy, Reuben Field, Henry Erwin, Solomon Lins- ley, Asa Freeman and Jonathan Allen. The village of Waddington was originally Hamilton, as we have seen, and was early developed into an important point by the proprietors, the Ogdens. In 1813 Hamilton contained 135 houses with five mills and a few years later the building of St. Lawrence county's first church, St. Paul's, was started in the village. In 1820 the town of Madrid had a population of 1,930, being at that time the largest town in the county in terms
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of population but by 1830 had dropped to third, both Oswegatchie and Potsdam outranking it.
Massena was also settled early, the first pioneers apparently ap- pearing there in 1792. In 1798 Amos Lay surveyed large tracts of the town for the proprietors and real settlement started that same year. Henry Child was an early land agent but he was soon suc- ceeded by Amos Lay, the surveyor, and some of the early settlers were Matthew Perkins, Calvin Hubbard and Stephen Reed, who built a saw mill on the site of the present village of Massena, Gilbert Reed, who became the first school teacher, Leonard Herrick, John Bullard, Elijah Bailey, Daniel Robinson and David Hutchins. Amos Lay was the first supervisor. Massena Springs early came into prom- inence for its waters and in 1822 the first hotel was erected there.
Although the town of Morristown was not organized until 1821, the locality was settled as early as 1804 under the leadership of Major David Ford, brother of Nathan Ford, who erected the first house. Arnold Smith kept the first tavern. Other early settlers were David Hill, Horace Aldrich, Henry Hooker, John Canfield, Alexander B. Miller and George Couper, said to have been the first teacher. Gouverneur Morris was the principal owner of lands in the town and both town and village were named after him.
Lisbon, as we have seen, was the mother town of St. Lawrence county, being erected in 1801. Alexander J. Turner was the first supervisor coming into the town in 1800 as agent for the proprietor, John Tibbets of Troy. Mr. Tibbets came into the tract and settled there with his family. He was the first town clerk and his son, John Tibbetts, Jr., one of the first assessors. Andrew O'Neal of Canada, who crossed the St. Lawrence into the town in 1799, is said to have been the first settler. Other early settlers were Peter Sharp, Reuben Turner, veteran of the Revolution, Lemuel Hoskins, William Lyttle, Matthew Perkins and Captain John Lyttle, who served in the war of 1812.
The early settlement of Canton by Stillman Foote and Daniel W. Church has already been discussed. The early growth of the town, despite its unfavorable location before roads were opened, was remarkable. Stillman Foote conducted the first tavern and an extremely high class of settlers was attracted to the village of Can-
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ton. Silas Wright, who later became one of the nation's best known statesmen, settled in Canton and started the practice of law prior to 1820. In 1828 Canton became the county seat and from that time on forged rapidly forward. The location of St. Lawrence University in the village during the 1850s added further to the prestige of the community.
The first settlement in Canton village was largely along the west side of the river where Foote's tavern was located. In 1828, when Canton became the county seat, it had about 400 population and the town of Canton about 1,800. The old Presbyterian church, a two- story building with square tower from which a steeple rose, stood on the site of the present church. The old brick Universalist Church was built about 1830. The Harisons, who had a county seat at Morley, had a town house in Canton surrounded by a high hedge where they entertained the village gentry at their English garden parties. It was the Harisons who were largely responsible for the building of the white, wooden Episcopal church, which Bishop Onderdonk dedicated in 1836.
Rensselaer Falls, named after the land owner, Henry Van Rensselaer, was not settled until 1839, and originally was called Tateville. Morley, originally known as Long Rapids, was first settled in 1810, the name Morley being given by the Harisons about 1835. There the Harison country seat with cobbled court was located.
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