USA > New York > Franklin County > The north country; a history, embracing Jefferson, St. Lawrence, Oswego, Lewis and Franklin counties, New York, Volume 1 > Part 35
USA > New York > Jefferson County > The north country; a history, embracing Jefferson, St. Lawrence, Oswego, Lewis and Franklin counties, New York, Volume 1 > Part 35
USA > New York > Lewis County > The north country; a history, embracing Jefferson, St. Lawrence, Oswego, Lewis and Franklin counties, New York, Volume 1 > Part 35
USA > New York > Oswego County > The north country; a history, embracing Jefferson, St. Lawrence, Oswego, Lewis and Franklin counties, New York, Volume 1 > Part 35
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 35
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1. "The instruction of pupils attending such school in agricul- ture and all allied subjects."
2. "The giving of instruction by means of schools, lectures and other university extension methods, for the promotion of agri- cultural knowledge."
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3. "The conducting of investigations and experiments for the purpose of ascertaining the best method of fertilization of fields, gardens and plantations, and the best modes of tillage and farm management and improvement of live stock."
4. "The printing of leaflets and dissemination of agricultural knowledge by means of lectures and otherwise, the printing and free distribution of the results of such investigations and experi- ments, and the publication of bulletins containing such information as may be deemed desirable and profitable in promoting the agricul- tural interests of the state; such work to be conducted so far as practicable in harmony with the College of Agriculture at Cornell University."
The bill declared that the Board of Trustees of St. Lawrence University should have the general care, supervision and control of such school and all its affairs. The Board of Trustees functioned as such until changed to a Board of Visitors in 1926.
The school opened in September, 1907. The staff consisted of Kary C. Davis, Dean and Professor of Agronomy; Dr. James M. Payson, Professor of Academic Subjects; and Merton L. Fuller, Pro- fessor of Farm Economics. Beginning with five students, a total of fifteen enrolled during the first year. Following the resignation of Professor Davis in June, 1908, a new Dean was secured in the person of Herbert E. Cook, a successful farmers' institute conductor for many years and favorably known to the leading agriculturists of the state. He took charge of the work with characteristic energy. In June, 1909, the school graduated its first class, consisting of nine young men.
Under Dean Cook's able administration practically all of the present buildings were constructed, namely : main building, Payson Hall, farm mechanics building, greenhouse, poultry house, dairy barn, garage and tool shed. The approximate construction cost of these total $225,000. The only new construction since Dean Cook's administration is the new poultry house built in 1924 and the re- modeling of the dairy barn in 1926.
The school prospered famously from the start, attaining a maxi- mum registration of one hundred eighty-seven in 1915-16. Due to war conditions and the agricultural depression, the enrollment de- clined after this period until about 1925. Since then the enrollment
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of agricultural students has increased. The school is particularly proud of the fact that in 1930-31 90% of its boys actually came from farm homes. In the large registration of early years were many students from the city.
The course in agriculture was begun in 1907 as a two-year course. In September, 1912, this was changed so that only high- school students were allowed to graduate in two years and those without a high school diploma were graduated in three years. This plan continued until September, 1919, when all students were put on the three-year basis, spending six winter months in school and six summer months on approved farms. The fact that during the war, students had been allowed to leave on May first each year influenced this change in policy. Furthermore, it was thought that the require- ments of the Smith-Hughes Law, requiring six months of super- vised farm work, could be best met in this way. This plan of teaching continued until September, 1929, when the course was changed to a regular two-year course of nine months each with the intervening summer spent in practical farm work. This allows the student to graduate one year sooner. Having separate registration and graduation dates for the Agriculture and Home Economics De- partments weakened the school spirit. Since making this change, there has been a noticeable improvement in it. The introduction of more student activities, notably in athletics, is permitted under the present plan. Formerly, basketball was the only major sport; now there are three, namely: basketball, cross-country and base- ball. It is interesting to note that the alumni who graduated under the three-year system were practically unanimous in favor of the school's changing to the present two-year course.
An institution is but the lengthened shadow of its outstanding men and women. Above all others in the hearts of the student body is Dr. James M. Payson who was its first instructor and gave the school over twenty-two years of devoted service. In his work as instructor of academic subjects, Dr. Payson came into contact with all the students of both departments, particularly in his courses in public speaking. As a tribute to him, the State School Alumni have raised a fund the income of which provides prizes of $75 and $25 in gold to the winners of the Dr. James M. Payson Prize Speaking
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Contest which is held each year as a part of the commencement exercises.
In his influence in bringing the school to the favorable attention of the North Country and securing adequate appropriations for its upbuilding, Dean Herbert E. Cook stands preeminent. Without his wide acquaintance among farm people and his ability as an organizer, the school would not have grown so rapidly. As long as Dean Cook remained, the school had a splendid yearly enrollment. The decrease under later administrations was due to the agricultural depression and other conditions which were in no way controllable by the school itself. Following Dean Cook's retirement in June, 1917, Dr. James M. Payson acted as director for one year. He was succeeded by Mr. H. L. White, who began his duties in September, 1918. Follow- ing his resignation in 1919 to become head of the Department of Horticulture, the trustees secured Mr. Roland H. Verbeck who served as director until July, 1924. He was succeeded by the present director.
In the words of Dr. Payson, "The school has never had the sym- pathy and the support of the North Country farmers in such large measure as it has today. The increase in the number of farm- reared young men enrolled and the fact that the majority of the graduates are engaged in agricultural pursuits demonstrate that the school is meeting the purpose of its founders more completely today than ever before."
CHAPTER XV.
THE IRON HORSE REACHES THE NORTH
THE OLD NORTHERN RAILROAD-THE OSWEGO & SYRACUSE RAILROAD, THE FIRST TO BE CONSTRUCTED IN THE NORTH COUNTRY-THE ROME, WATERTOWN & OGDENSBURG-THE POTSDAM & WATERTOWN-THE BLACK RIVER & UTICA-THE SLAVERY ISSUE AND THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD-THE BIRTH OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY-HADDOCK'S BAL- LOON VOYAGE.
The railroad did not reach Utica until 1836, but four years be- fore that date the Watertown & Rome Railroad Company had been incorporated, and ambitious plans were under way to connect the thriving shire town of Jefferson county with the Mohawk Valley by rail. But nineteen long years were to pass before the first, little, wood-burning locomotive was to puff its way into Watertown, despite all the fine hopes and plans of the promoters. In the meantime Oswego, as befitted the largest and most prosperous of the North Country villages, was the first to be connected by rail with the out- side world, and a year before the tracks of the Rome & Watertown Railroad reached Watertown, St. Lawrence and Franklin counties had their first railroad, the Northern, with stone shops and a great, covered depot at Malone and fine wharves and warehouses at Ogdens- burg. But perhaps this was as it should be, because the first rail- road in the United States had been in operation scarcely a year when at Ogdensburg, Malone and Montpelier, Vermont, meetings were held looking towards the organization of a railroad to run across the northern tier of counties from Rouses Point to Ogdens- burg.
But although the railroad idea had early grasped the imagina- tion of the "solid" men of Franklin, Clinton and St. Lawrence counties, it was not until 1836 that the Lake Champlain and Ogdens-
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burg Railroad Company was incorporated and such men as S. Gil- bert and S. Stillwell of St. Lawrence county, Benjamin Clark and Jonathan Stearns of Franklin, with two each from the counties of Essex and Clinton, together with one James H. Titus of New York, were empowered to sell stock for the undertaking. The little vil- lage of Malone subscribed $21,150 the day the books were opened but despite all that could be done, a total subscription from Frank- lin county of only $50,200 could be secured. Other counties did bet- ter and eventually $600,000 of the $800,000 needed was subscribed. But there it stopped and after a while failure was recognized and the subscriptions cancelled.
Nothing daunted the advocates of the railroad, who set them- selves to gathering statistics and finally succeeded in getting a bill through the legislature appropriating $4,000 for a survey. Two routes were mapped out, one from Port Kent through Saranac Lake, Parishville and Potsdam, and the other from Plattsburgh through Chateaugay, Malone and Moira. Finally in 1845, sixteen years after the first railroad meetings had been held, the Northern Railroad was incorporated with a capital of $2,000,000, the act of incorpora- tion being largely due to Assemblyman Hiram Horton of Franklin county. David C. Judson and Joseph Barnes of St. Lawrence county and S. C. Wead of Franklin county, together with others from Essex and Clinton counties and from New York were authorized to receive and distribute stock.
The way was now clear for the building of the long awaited railroad. A survey was made and the railroad company organized in 1846. George Parish, the millionaire landowner of Ogdensburg, was elected president and the directors were J. Leslie Russell of Canton, Hiram Horton of Malone, Anthony C. Brown of Ogdens- burg, Lawrence Myers of Plattsburgh, Charles Paine of Northfield, Vermont, S. F. Belknap of Windsor, Vermont, Isaac Spalding of Nashua, New Hampshire, and Abbot Lawrence, J. Wiley Edmonds, Benjamin Reed, T. P. Chandler and S. S. Lewis of Boston, directors. S. S. Walley was treasurer and James G. Hopkins, secretary. A contract for the construction was let in 1847 and work started both at Ogdensburg and at Rouses Point in 1848.
It is interesting to note that the first passenger train reached Chateaugay, drawn by an engine of that same name, June 1, 1850,
COURT HOUSE, CANTON, N. Y.
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STATE SCHOOL OF AGRICULTURE, CANTON, N. Y.
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and the first train arrived at Malone September 19, 1850. Within a week trains were running from terminus to terminus. Every- where the coming of the railroad was received with the most ex- travagant demonstrations. Malone was beside itself with joy when the first locomotive came puffing in from Chateaugay. September 20th, the first locomotive arrived at Ogdensburg from the east. John Scharier was the engineer. An immense crowd from all over the county was gathered in Ogdensburg to welcome the train and the new station was covered with bunting and flags. As the train pulled into the depot yard, cannon were fired, bells pealed and bands played. It was a gala occasion. A great parade was formed and marched through all the principal streets and later a supper was served free to all who desired it. At night there were speeches and a display of fireworks.
The building of the Northern Railroad gave a tremendous impetus to business all through the northern tier of counties. It is said that in some instances property in Ogdensburg advanced 500 per cent in value as a result and farm lands near the railroad 100 per cent. The railroad, itself, was not niggardly and spent money lavishly. Wharves, docks and piers were built at Ogdensburg and a fine grain elevator erected, containing forty-two bins, each capable of holding twelve tons of wheat. Also at Ogdensburg was a freight and pas- senger station, a fireproof engine house and numerous other build- ings. At Lisbon, Madrid, Potsdam, Stockholm, Lawrence, Moira, Bangor, Champlain, Hoyle's Landing, Brush's Mills, Chateaugay, Rouses Point, Knapp's, Burke and Malone stations were erected. Henry Van Rensselaer and George N. Seymour, both wealthy citizens of Ogdensburg, were early added to the directorate of the Northern Railroad. Later, however, the railroad came upon evil days. Its revenues failed to justify the high hopes of its founders. It was reorganized and reorganized. At one time it was the Ogdensburg Railroad, at another the Ogdensburg and Lake Champlain, then a branch of the Central Vermont, and finally, as it is today, a branch of the Rutland.
THE OSWEGO & SYRACUSE RAILROAD
The railroad came to Syracuse in 1839. Trains from Utica to Syracuse were run free the first week but after that the average
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daily receipts were upwards of $600, while the company's stock advanced ten per cent a week after the railroad started operation. This was enough for Oswego. The first plan had been to make the Oswego railroad a spur from Utica but this was now abandoned for a rail connection with the less remote city of Syracuse. So on April 29, 1839, the Oswego & Syracuse Railroad Company was in- corporated and by 1847 a company had been fully organized and work started that same summer. In October, 1848, the railroad was completed, two trains a day each way being run between Syra- çuse and Oswego. That same year Oswego became a city and started a decade of progress probably unequalled in its checkered history.
The railroad era in New York state followed very closely in its development the earlier canal era. In the early 1840s there was a line of connecting railroads all the way from Albany to Buffalo. Then came the agitation for feeder roads, even as there had been agitation for feeder canals after the Erie was completed. The Oswego railroad was the first of these feeder roads. There was talk of a railroad to Watertown to open up the rich Black River country even as there had been the talk which culminated in the construction of the Black River Canal not many years before. The Northern railroad, as we have seen, followed the general route of the proposed Champlain-St. Lawrence canal and had the same object, the connection of Lake Champlain with the St. Lawrence river.
THE ROME & WATERTOWN
The history of the Rome & Watertown railroad, which later became the Rome, Watertown & Ogdensburg, is an interesting chap- ter in North Country history. It is not the purpose of this writer to trace all the ramifications which finally led to the actual construc- tion of this road. The student interested in a detailed discussion of this subject is referred to the interesting book by Edward Hun- gerford, "The Story of the Rome, Watertown & Ogdensburg Rail- road," as entertaining as a book of fiction and written by one of the great railroad authorities of the country. It is necessary to know, however, that it was April 17, 1832, four years before the locomotive reached Utica, that the Rome & Watertown Railroad was incorporated, the incorporators being Henry H. Coffeen of Water-
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town, Edmund Kirby of Brownville, Orville Hungerford of Water- town, William Smith, Hiram Hubbell, Caleb Carr, Benjamin H. Wright and Elisha Hart, all of Oswego county; and Jesse Arm- strong, Alvah Sheldon, Artemas Trowbridge and Seth D. Roberts, all of Oneida county. Later George C. Sherman of Watertown was added as a commissioner.
Three times the act incorporating the Rome & Watertown rail- road was repassed, so that the charter was never allowed to expire, even though the years went on with the actual building of the rail- road seemingly no nearer. William Dewey was employed to make a survey of the route and so impressive was the report which he presented that Cape Vincent, alarmed at not being included in the route, proceeded at once to incorporate the Watertown & Cape Vin- cent railroad. The only result was to include Cape Vincent in all further plans for the construction of the Rome & Watertown rail- road. Finally in 1847 a great mass meeing was held in the Univer- salist Church in Watertown and from this meeting actual construc- tion of the railroad came about. True it was not until the following April that the organization was accomplished with Orville Hunger- ford, banker and statesman, president, Clarke Rice, secretary, O. V. Brainard, treasurer, and R. B. Doxtater, superintendent. All of these men were from Watertown. The directors were S. N. Dexter, New York, William C. Pierrepont of Brooklyn and Pierrepont Manor, John H. Whipple of New York, Norris M. Woodruff of Watertown, Samuel Buckley of Watertown, Jerre Carrier of Cape Vincent, Clarke Rice of Watertown, Robert B. Doxtater of New York, Orville Hungerford of Watertown, William Smith of Water- town, Edmund Kirby of Brownville and Theophilus Peugnet of Cape Vincent. Daniel Lee soon succeeded Mr. Brainard as treasurer of the company at an annual salary of $800.
Four second-hand locomotives were bought and Horace W. Woodruff of Watertown was given the contract for the construc- tion of the cars. He built them in his shop on the site of the J. B. Wise & Co. plant in Watertown and hauled them to the tracks with oxen. This was the Horace W. Woodruff who later won fame as a constructor of sleeping cars. By September 10th, 1850, construction of tracks had proceeded so far that passenger service was inaugu- rated between Rome and Camden and fares were fixed at three
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cents a mile. On May 22nd, 1851, the railroad finally reached Jef- ferson county and that important event was duly celebrated at Pierrepont Manor, the summer home of William C. Pierrepont, the landowner and railroad director. It is recorded that this Mr. Pierre- pont was accustomed for many years after to post himself on the railroad tracks at certain times in the day and watch for the ap- proaching train through his spy glass.
On July 4th, the railroad reached Adams and was the occasion for a particularly enthusiastic Fourth of July celebration. And then came September 6th, 1851, when the iron horse pokes its nose into Watertown. It was a memorable day in the history of that village, the culmination of years of waiting and planning and hoping. Several thousand people had gathered by the old railroad station on Stone street and on the hillside nearby to witness the event. A delegation of firemen were included. A pole had been erected and an American flag hoisted. Then, according to a newspaper account of the time, "the shrill, startling, but welcome voice of the steam horse was heard in the distance and its breath could distinctly be seen rising above the intervening rise of ground."
When the cars came to a stop there was a great shout. The Utica brass band, the Rome firemen and several passengers were aboard. A procession was formed under the direction of Norris M. Woodruff, chief of the Watertown fire department, and in front of the American House, the Rome fireman, who had come by the train, were welcomed to the village by President Joshua Moore. The first train in the morning under this early schedule left Watertown at 5:30 a. m. and the second at 1 p. m. The first train left Rome for Watertown at 11:15 a. m. and the second at 4:30 p. m.
It was a schedule which was not always maintained, however, especially in the winter time, when trains were sometimes held up for days by snow blockades. Wrote a wag in a Watertown news- paper of 1865:
"But my advice to folks who go, From Watertown to Rome, Is pay your debts, and make your wills, Or better-stay at home."
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Watertown was not content with this, however, and a formal celebration was staged on September 24th. A salute of thirteen guns, one for each director, ushered in the day, and then a parade was held with Gen. Abner Baker as grand marshal. The parade, led by a band and a company of militia, marched to the old rail- road station where a special train from Rome was met with a salute of seventy-two guns and then, augmented by the new arrivals, marched about the village and back to the station where a dinner was served. Watertown's day of greatness had indeed arrived. A citizen could leave Watertown at five in the morning and be in New York City that same evening at six o'clock if he had good luck. Yet only five years before it had taken Governor Silas Wright and his wife two days to go from Utica to Canton in a mud-wagon. The tragedy of it all was that six months before the railroad reached Watertown, the president of the road, Orville Hungerford, died. William C. Pierrepont succeeded him.
THE POTSDAM & WATERTOWN RAILROAD
With the completion of the Northern Railroad and the Rome & Watertown, some of St. Lawrence county's most promising villages found themselves without a railroad connection. Canton and Pots- dam and Gouverneur began to feel their isolation, among other villages, and as early as 1850 a meeting was held in Potsdam to organize the Potsdam Railroad as a branch of the Northern. The connection was made at a place called Potsdam Junction but now Norwood, and at this early date Norwood's fame as a railroad junc- tion town began. But this did not satisfy Canton and Gouverneur. Neither did it satisfy such Jefferson county villages as Antwerp, Philadelphia and Evans Mills. There was a demand for a railroad between Potsdam and Watertown. Such a railroad would open up all southern St. Lawrence county. It would be a connecting link between the Rome & Watertown and the Northern. So it was that a meeting was held at Gouverneur Jan. 9, 1852, and the Potsdam & Watertown railroad was then and there organized. The following directors were elected: Edwin Dodge of Gouverneur, Zenas Clark of Potsdam, Samuel Patridge of Potsdam, E. Miner of Canton, A. M. Adsit of Colton, O. V. Brainard of Watertown, W. E. Sterling of
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Gouverneur, Joseph H. Sanford of Potsdam, William W. Goulding of Potsdam, Barzillai Hodskin of Canton, H. B. Keene of Antwerp, Howell Cooper of Watertown and Hiram Holcomb of Watertown. Edwin Dodge was elected president, Zenas Clark, vice-president, Henry L. Knowles, secretary, and Daniel Lee, treasurer. A petition was filed asking that Watertown permit the railroad to extend its line into the village by way of Factory street and after some con- troversy the petition was granted. Then and there the fate of Factory street, up to that time one of Watertown's leading resi- dential streets, was sealed. Today it is a grimy artery of com- merce, only its ancient stone houses testifying to its former grandeur.
The first train passed the full length of the Potsdam & Water- town February 5th, 1857, leaving Watertown at nine o'clock and arriving in Ogdensburg about four o'clock in the afternoon. It re- turned to Watertown the next day. In June, 1857, a passenger schedule was put in operation. Trains were operated out of a station in the rear of the Woodruff Hotel in Watertown, where the present New York Central station stands, and passengers from the north wishing to transfer to the Rome & Watertown Railroad, took stages at the Potsdam & Watertown station, to the old Rome & Watertown station on lower Stone street.
The Potsdam & Watertown was never successful financially. In this way it differed from the Rome & Watertown which was suc- cessful from the first. It was inevitable that the two railroads merge and so they did in 1861, three months after Fort Sumter had been fired upon, and thus was born the Rome, Watertown & Ogdens- burg, a name which to this day is continued as a division of the New York Central Railroad.
OLD RAILROAD DAYS
Some years ago Mr. P. E. Carney of De Kalb Junction wrote some interesting reminiscences of old days on the Rome, Water- town & Ogdensburg. "Those were the days when all wood-burning engines were used," Mr. Carney wrote. "They were all Taunton engines, made in Taunton, Massachusetts, size ten by twenty cylin- der, capacity ten cars of ten tons each. All engines were named as well as numbered. Some that I remember were as follows: No. 1, Watertown; No. 2, Rome; No. 3, Adams; No. 4, Kingston;
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No. 5, Orville Hungerford; No. 6, Kirby; No. 7, N. M. Woodruff. This engine was used on the work train in summer and on the snow plow in winter and was run by J. B. Cheney, engineer, and A. V. Huntress, fireman; No. 8, Camden; No. 9, J. L. Grant; No. 10, Cola- mer; No. 11, Jefferson; No. 12, Doxtater (this engine was run be- tween De Kalb Junction and Norwood ten years, George Schell, en- gineer) ; No. 13, O. V. Brainard; No. 14, Moses Tyler (number later changed to No. 35) ; No. 15, T. H. Camp; No. 16, Silas Wright; No. 17, Antwerp (run by Jeff Wells) ; No. 18, W. C. Pierrepont; No. 19, St. Lawrence; No. 20, Potsdam; No. 21, Ogdensburg; No. 22, Gen- eral Kirby ; No. 23, Parlow; No. 24, J. W. Moak (run by Sam Purdy who used a board with cleats on one side to get up in his cab, and smooth on the other side to slide out) ; No. 26, D. DeWolff; No. 27, Utley; No. 28, W. M. Massey; No. 30, Comstock (run by James Simonds) ; No. 31, S. F. Phelps (run by Samuel Clark) ; No. 32, W. M. Lord (run by Homer Phippon) ; No. 35, Alexander; No. 36, Charles E. Pill; No. 38, Gardner Colby; No. 39, Zabruskie; No. 40, Theodore Irwin; No. 41, Denny ; No. 42, White.
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