USA > New York > Franklin County > The north country; a history, embracing Jefferson, St. Lawrence, Oswego, Lewis and Franklin counties, New York, Volume 1 > Part 38
USA > New York > Jefferson County > The north country; a history, embracing Jefferson, St. Lawrence, Oswego, Lewis and Franklin counties, New York, Volume 1 > Part 38
USA > New York > Lewis County > The north country; a history, embracing Jefferson, St. Lawrence, Oswego, Lewis and Franklin counties, New York, Volume 1 > Part 38
USA > New York > Oswego County > The north country; a history, embracing Jefferson, St. Lawrence, Oswego, Lewis and Franklin counties, New York, Volume 1 > Part 38
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 38
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"The First street front is ornamented with a handsome, iron bal- cony, with large windows of the French Gothic style, opening out upon it .... The French plate show windows in front are six feet by four, and of the most superior and costly description. The building contains twenty-five rooms, admirably arranged both for convenience and beauty. This stately edifice has cost about $20,000 and is not only an honor to the enterprising proprietor, but an ornament to the city."
And again-
"Among the many new buildings now in progress, the dwelling house of Mr. S. Johnson, on the corner of Bridge and Fifth streets, is one of the most conspicuous. It is a beautiful and elegant model, and occupied one of the most desirable and sightly locations in the city. Adjoining it at the north is the stately residence of Mr. Lyon, one of our princely Millers, and a partner of Mr. Johnson, and across the street on the south side is the elegant mansion, and beautiful, spacious grounds of Mr. G. Mollison."
They used plenty of adjectives in the journalism of the fifties.
And then the British steamer, "Comet," blew up in the harbor and Oswego forgot all about her new buildings and future greatness in the tragedy which had occurred at her front door. The steamer
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was just leaving the harbor for Kingston on the afternoon of April 20, 1851, when the boiler exploded with a report that startled the whole countryside. Everyone in town rushed to the waterfront just in time to see what was left of the "Comet" disappear under the surface of the water. Six members of the crew were killed and a number of others badly scalded and burned. The City Hall was converted into a temporary morgue and flags on all the shipping in the harbor were at half mast. It was one of the worst marine disasters that Oswego ever experienced.
THE WATERTOWN OF THE FIFTIES
Sixty miles to the northward, partly by stage and partly by rail- road, was Watertown of which an Oswegoian, who was visiting there in the early fifties, wrote The Oswego Palladium: "I unhesitatingly pronounce this the most flourishing place in the Empire State." And then he goes on to justify this rather sweeping appraisal: "The First Presbyterian and the Episcopal churches were both completed this spring, and are surpassed by magnificence of style and structure by few edifices of the state. The frame for a new Methodist church is up already, and the Universalist society, I am told, is contemplating the speedy re-erection of their church. These are but a few of the im- provements going on in Watertown. It contains a vast amount of wealth, and those who possess it are determined to consult their true interest by employing it in building up their village. As a consequence all is life and animation. The sound of the hammer and anvil are heard from Monday morn to Saturday eve, and the saw and the jack plane mingle their mechanical notes together."
There was good reason for this epidemic of building in Watertown. In 1849 Watertown had experienced its most disastrous fire. Prac- tically the whole business section of the city had been wiped out and hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of property destroyed. It was probably the most spectacular blaze in the annals of Northern New York and for a time threatened the entire village. Many build- ings closely identified with the history of early Watertown, including the old American Hotel on the site of the present Woolworth building, old Trinity Church on Court street and the old Woodruff Block, were burned in this fire.
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At two o'clock on Sunday morning, May 13th, 1849, the driver of the late stage from Utica who had just left two of his passengers on Clinton street and on his way to the stage barn on Arsenal street, discovered the fire in the rear of the old American House. He sounded the alarm but before the villagers could reach the scene of the blaze an explosion occurred which sent blazing embers, burning timbers and cinders high in the air, covering the shingle roofs of the Ameri- can House and the old Paddock buildings with sparks and coals. Al- most in an instant these buildings were on fire.
The fire crossed Court street within a few minutes. A brisk wind drove the flames down the street and in an instant Wooster Sher- man's Bank was ablaze. Many years after Wooster Sherman de- scribed how he carried the bank's assets out of the bank in a wheel barrel, singeing his beard in the process. Soon after the Safford, Hayes and Peck blocks were aflame. The old, stone Fairbanks Block on the site of the present Flatiron Building, at the corner of Arsenal and Court streets, soon caught and the flames started to eat their way down the west side of the street.
Court street was arched with flame. On either side of the narrow street tongues of fire leaped to the sky, until the street was literally a gauntlet of flame. Old Norris M. Woodruff, who later built the Woodruff House, was then chief of the fire department and mounted on his horse he galloped up and down the lane of fire which was Court street, giving orders to his volunteer firemen, instructing merchants to bring out their goods and discouraging panic. Even when his own building, the new Woodruff Block, roofed with tin and as fireproof as a building could be constructed in those days, caught, the sturdy, old fire chief did not falter.
Every structure on Court street to the old county clerk's office, at the corner of Jackson street, was burned, the fire being stayed at this point by the foresight of the volunteers who literally lifted the wooden roof off the building and hurled it to one side. The flames licked the stone walls of the jail-like building and then stopped. As the flames enveloped the high steeple of old Trinity Church, standing on the site of the present City Hall, the clock in the tower struck four. A half hour later the great steeple crashed into the burning mass of the church.
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The fire ate its way up Arsenal street burning the old Columbia House to the ground and every building on either side of the street. It burned everything between Arsenal and Court streets and com- pletely burned over the territory now covered by the Arcade and Ar- cade street. All down the Square to the point where the Woodruff House now stands was burned. The extent of the fire may be seen from the fact that 100 buildings were destroyed, including about thirty stores, both newspaper offices, the post office, three banks, one church and the surrogate's office, as well as the two most important hotels. Four drygoods stores remained to open for business Monday morning.
The water supply of the village at the time of this fire consisted of a cistern sunk in Public Square and fed by a living spring. The engines soon drained this reservoir dry. Soon private wells and cis- terns gave out until practically no water remained with which to fight the fire. The fire raged until nearly noon Sunday. No services were held in any of the churches. Everyone, including the clergy, worked fighting the flames. It is related that as day broke Sunday people in the Square looking aloft saw what appeared to be sparks of fire speed- ing southward and against the wind. They proved to be great flock of wild pigeons attracted by the fire, their breasts reflecting the flames as they flew over the village.
Soon after daybreak it started to rain, the steam rising from the smoking ruins. Public Square was piled high with all manner of mer- chandize hastily taken from the stores as the flames threatened. These great piles were covered with oil cloth when the rain started and guards set to protect the goods from thieves.
But scarcely had the bricks cooled when Watertown started to rebuild. Temporary quarters were erected everywhere as the debris was cleared away. Masons and other workmen were procured from Oswego and Rochester. The Paddock building, the Iron Block and several other buildings on both sides of Court street were erected during the summer and fall of 1849, while the Arcade and several others were erected the year following. The buildings which had burned were in the main ugly, squatty structures which had sur- vived from pioneer days. They were replaced by fine, handsome structures, many of which stand to this day and are still a credit to the city. Present grades in the business section were largely estab-
L
HIGH SCHOOL, WATERTOWN, N. Y.
FLOWER MEMORIAL LIBRARY, WATERTOWN, N. Y.
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lished at this time and the appearance of Public Square was immeas- urably improved.
As a result of all this building the Watertown of the early fifties was an attractive and prosperous looking place. True it was not as large as Oswego. Watertown had about 7,000 people in 1850 as com- pared with Oswego's 12,000. But it had many people of means and they spent their money freely in the improvement of the village. The new Woodruff House was the wonder of the North Country. Indeed it was said at one time to be the largest hotel in the United States west of New York City. And even the far-famed Astor House in New York never had a dining room which in height and beauty rivaled the dining-salon of the Woodruff. The Woodruff was built by Norris M. Woodruff in the early fifties. This was the Mr. Woodruff who gave a plot of land for a railroad terminal in the rear of his hotel on condition that the chief passenger station of the railroad be forever maintained there. It always has been.
And the Watertown papers never tired of speaking of The Arcade. When in 1850, it was nearing completion the New York Reformer, Watertown's leading newspaper, said: "When finished it will be a small city in itself of stores, offices and saloons." And the paper con- tinued : "The Arcade is ultimately to be lighted by gas in the eve- ning and by the sun in the daytime. The cost is estimated at $15,000." Paddock's Arcade, as it is known today, has continued all these years to be one of Watertown's best business sites and proved to be a valuable investment for Loveland Paddock who built it.
The people of Watertown were just beginning to appreciate their Public Square and it was during this period that the Square was filled and leveled. A village trustee, Mr. Keelar, suggested that trees be planted in the parks in the center of the Square with a result that in a few years these parks were shaded by numerous trees. Court street was being built up but was still muddy in wet weather. The merchants remedied this to a degree by constructing plank roads opposite their places of business.
In 1852 the first gas station was built in Watertown on the site of the F. A. Empsall company's storehouse. That same year the Wa- tertown Gas Light Company was incorporated, the incorporators be- ing J. O. Morse, Fred T. Story, Albert M. Hutley, George A. Bag- ley and Oliver A. Morse. The charge for gas then was $7 per 1,000
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cubic feet and it was not until 1868 that the rate was reduced to $5. Gas lights were mainly confined to Public Square and its immediate vicinity and a few miles of mains were sufficient to furnish all the customers. The light was poor and flickering and sometimes disap- peared altogether, much to the dismay of the merchants, and there was much complaining. However, the gas lights were a great im- provement over the big kerosene lights which had previously illu- minated the stores and soon gas came into general use in the village. On Dec. 15th, 1856, the gas works burned down and James Sullivan, night watchman, was burned to death. Now there was no gas and the streets were dark as pitch at night. Merchants brought out again their old kerosene lights and complained even more than they had over the faulty gas. For several weeks the village was without lights save for kerosene and candles.
The first message over a telegraph line came to Watertown No- vember 27th, 1850. Strangely enough, it was the New York produce market and the dispatch came to the New York Reformer which proudly published it the next day. Representatives of the Morse and O'Reilly telegraph companies came to Watertown early in 1850 and took up the matter of a telegraph office with Watertown business men. A committee was appointed of which J. Mullen was chairman to investigate the claims of the rival companies. A decision was finally made in favor of the O'Reilly company which promised to have a line constructed to Watertown in forty days and to Ogdensburg be- fore winter. The first telegraph office was located at No. 2 Paddock Arcade.
If Watertown was justly proud of its great Woodruff Hotel and the splendid, new Paddock Arcade, it was Washington Hall which was always pointed out first to the visitor. Washington Hall, con- structed at this time, was located on the site of the present Y. M. C. A. Building where Perkins Hotel, which burned in 1852, had stood for so many years. It was to Washington Hall that the resident of Watertown of the decade before the Civil War flocked nightly for his entertainment. Sometimes it was Sliter and Wood's Ethiopian Minstrels and at other times Signor Jerome Blitz, the magician. The Bohemian Glass Blowers were periodical visitors. They blew beauti- ful ships to be presented to those in the audience who gave correct answers to conundrums propounded by the chief glass blower. The
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plays which had formerly been produced in Appolo Hall now came to Washington Hall. There was Ada Gray's Camile and Shakespeare productions galore. There was Mckean Buchanan who used to spout Skakespeare nightly. The story is related of how Buchanan stopped in the middle of "The Merchant of Venice" to dart down into the audience, grab a small boy by the coat collar and chuck him out of the door, making the announcement when he got back on the stage that "the next boy who cracks a peanut will get the same medicine."
But Watertown had its more serious entertainments as well. This was the golden day of the lecturer and Watertown heard the best of them. Among them were Dr. E. P. Chapin, the naturalist, Thomas P. Meagher, the Irish patriot who had been one of the leaders in the Irish rebellion of 1847, Dr. L. P. Hitchcock, Rev. T. Starr King, Sena- tor Thomas Hart Benton of Missouri, Wendell Phillips, Susan B. An- thony and Frederick Douglas, the noted negro orator. Douglas lec- tured in Watertown on November 6th, 1857, his subject being "The Equality of the Races." A Mr. Dorsey, who was then manager of the Woodruff House, apparently did not take this talk of equality seriously for he refused to give Mr. Douglas accomodations at his hotel. Several Watertown friends of Douglas appealed to the hotel manager to yield and finally Dorsey agreed to give Douglas quarters in the hotel on condition that he would not present himself at the public table, would receive his meals in his room and would not cause his name to be inscribed on the register of the house. The negro refused to do this and took up his residence, while in Watertown, at the home of a pri- vate citizen. Writing of this incident afterwards, Douglas said: “I asked him (Dorsey) how far he differed from me in color. He frankly admitted, 'not much,' adding that he was a very dark man, a fact which I am not disposed to dispute."
When Mr. A. F. Edwards, a railroad official, visited Watertown in 1852 he referred to it as "the most modern, city-like built, inland town in the Union." Truly Watertown had all the earmarks of a lit- tle city long before it assumed city status. There were nine churches. The old, stone First Presbyterian church on Washington street had just been replaced by a fine, new edifice which was dedicated in 1851. On Factory street was the Second Presbyterian Church which moved to Stone street in 1864 and became the Stone Street Presby- terian Church. The First Methodist Church was still located in the
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little, stone structure at the corner of Arsenal and Massey streets and not until 1859 was it replaced by a new and larger building. The Second Methodist Episcopal Church, now Asbury, was located on State street, near Mechanic. Old Trinity Church had been burnt in the fire of 1849 but a new and much finer structure had been erected on Court street to replace it. The present Trinity Church on Trinity Place was not built until 1887. The Baptist Church was located then as now on Public Square. The old church had been destroyed in the fire of 1849 and had been replaced by a fine, brick structure which continued in use until 1891. The Universalist Church was also located on Public Square on the present site of the Light and Power Building. This, too, was a new structure, the old building having been burnt in the fire and its two, great towers gave it an imposing appearance. The Wesleyan Methodists maintained a small chapel on the east side of Academy street near Clay, the Rev. Fay- ette Sheppard being the pastor in 1855 at the time one of the first directories of Watertown was published. The Roman Catholic Church was located on Factory street, occupying the old edifice of the Bap- tists. This was the church which was later to become St. Patrick's. The formation of the church dates back to 1830 when Father O'Reilly said mass in a private house. The Baptist church was purchased in 1838 and was occupied by the Catholics until 1855. At that time beau- tiful St. Patrick's Church was built. Father P. McNulty was pastor of the church at the time the new church was erected.
The Watertown of the fifties had eight flouring mills, as they were then called. They were the Union Mills, Farwell, Salisbury & Hanchette, proprietors, with a capacity of 600 bushels a day, the Cata- ract Mills, S. D. Mack & Brother, proprietors, with a capacity of sev- enty barrels of flour a day, the Globe Mills, P. S. Howk & Son, pro- prietors, with a capacity of 1,400 bushels a day, Lashar's Grist Mill, William A. Loomis, proprietor, grinding 900 bushels a day, the Phe- nix Mill, Fisher & Pease, proprietors, grinding 300 bushels a day, the Eagle Mills, Lepper & Pattridge, proprietors, with a capacity of 100 barrels of flour a day, and the Pearl Barley Mill, V. P. Kimball, proprietor, a small mill.
Watertown's largest industry of the period was the Portable Steam Engine Manufactory, the proprietors in 1855 being Charles Brooks Hoard and his two sons. At that time the concern, which had
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started operations in 1849 with four employes, employed between eighty and 100 men and shipped engines to every state in the union and to Canada. The plant was located at the corner of Moulton and the present Mill, then North, streets. So great was the demand for the Hoard engines that it is said the company was never able to catch up with their orders until 1861. In 1854 Mr. Hoard purchased the interest of his partner, Gilbert Bradford, for $26,000 and there- after operated the concern with his sons. This shop was a pioneer in the building of strictly portable engines. Mr. Hoard and his family made a fortune and Mr. Hoard was sent to congress as a Republican. During the Civil War the concern turned its attention to the manu- facture of Springfield rifles under a government contract. The con- tract nearly ruined Hoard and he sold out his business at a great loss, but the company continued to be one of Watertown's major industries for many years to come.
Another important Watertown industry of this period was Gould- ing, Bagley & Sewall's, which was then engaged in the manufacture of lathes, planers and machinist tools, and employed about fifty men. This industry is still a major one in Watertown. William Smith's ma- chine shop and foundry, which had been established in 1825, was still in operation in the fifties, at the foot of Beebee's Island. There was also Lord, Delong & Lewis' Plow Manufactory, doing the most extensive business of its kind in Northern New York, the Black River Woolen Mills on Huntington street, and the Watertown Manu- facturing company, which produced ready-made clothing, especially for the western market. About 400 hands were employed in this mill in 1855.
Unfortunately Watertown lost many of its leading citizens in the fifties, men who had contributed much to the growth of the village and could be ill spared at this time. Such a man was Dr. Adelphus S. Greene, who had been for many years a Democratic leader and prominent physician. His death occurred in 1851. He had been prom- inently identified with Judge Perley Keyes in the old "Watertown Regency," had been a delegate to many state and national Demo- cratic conventions, county judge for two terms, a member of the state legislature, a member of the constitutional convention of 1846 and postmaster of Watertown, his commission having been signed by Andrew Jackson.
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Deacon Oliver Bartholomew died June 18th, 1850. He had come to Watertown with the first pioneers and had been a veteran of Wash- ington's army. The same great broad-axe which he had used at Val- ley Forge he used to clear his farm and also to build the first Bap- tist meeting house at Watertown. He remained until the day of his death a devoted attendant and member of the Watertown Baptist church.
Orville Hungerford, one of the most prominent Democrats in the state, died in Watertown April 5th, 1851. Something has been said of his political career in the chapter, "The Reign of Silas Wright." He had been a member of congress, a leader in the "Hunker" wing of the Democratic party, president of the Jefferson County Bank and prominent in the organization of the Rome, Watertown & Ogdens- burg railroad. Mr. Hungerford had succeeded to the leadership of the Democratic party in Jefferson county upon the death of Judge Perley Keyes.
One of the prominent figures of the Watertown of the fifties, was Levi H. Brown, who had been born in 1818 and was one of the most able lawyers in Northern New York. He was a law partner of Allen C. Beach, who was later elected lieutenant governor of the state. Mr. Brown was one of Watertown's early mayors. Another prom- inent lawyer was John Clark, who was a noted orator and had been surrogate of the county, and Judge George C. Sherman, who had been district attorney, judge of the court of common pleas, state sena- tor and founder of the Watertown Bank and Loan Company. His law partner at one time was Judge Robert Lansing, who had also served as district attorney, state senator and judge of the county. Charles E. Clarke was another well known Watertown lawyer, who had served in both the state assembly and congress.
Edmund Q. Sewall was one of the best known of the manufac- turers, although he was a lawyer by profession. He was a member of the firm of Goulding, Bagley & Sewall. James F. Starbuck was a well known lawyer and had been district attorney. Eli Farwell was a merchant, contractor and miller who had early represented the county in the assembly and for many years was prominent in the business and public life of Watertown. Talcott H. Camp was just coming into prominence as a merchant, and later was to be as prominent as a banker, financier and railroad director. Lysander H. Brown,
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prominent lawyer and Democrat, had held many political offices, among them assemblyman and surrogate. Joseph Mullin was on the supreme court bench and had been district attorney and member of congress prior to that. Willard Ives was one of Watertown's most prominent citizens at this time. He was a bank director, was elected to congress, a prominent Methodist and largely responsible for the erection of Ives Seminary at Antwerp. The veteran, Jason Fair- banks, was still active and prominent in all the affairs of the vil- lage. He had been a deputy United States marshal during the War of 1812 and later served as sheriff and county treasurer. Loveland Paddock it was who erected the Arcade. He was reputed to be one of Watertown's wealthiest men. Norris W. Woodruff was another wealthy citizen who contributed much to early Watertown. As we have seen he built the Woodruff House and prior to this for many years he conducted a hardware business.
WATERTOWN BECOMES A CITY
Watertown did not become a city until 1869, twenty-one years af- ter the time when Oswego became a city. At that time it had ap- proximately 10,000 inhabitants. The first mayor was Col. George W. Flower, the recorder, Laban H. Ainsworth, city chamberlain, Edward M. Gates, treasurer, Louis C. Greenleaf, street commissioner, Jacob Hermes; overseer of the poor, Clark Wetherby ; assessors, A. Palmer Smith, Hiram Converse and William Howland.
The Watertown of the fifties was a quiet, peaceful village center- ing about Public Square with its tree-shaded parks. It had its new Woodruff House, a never ending source of pride to its inhabitants, with a stove in every room along with the inevitable wash stand and big, white pitcher of water. The Great Wardrobe was there with its two lions standing sentinel in front of its doors, even as today they guard the gate of a well known summer residence at the Thou- sand Islands, and to its counters flocked the people of the entire county to do their trading. On a Saturday Watertown was quite a busy mart, with the farmers' horses tied to the hitching posts along Public Square and Court street, and the farmers, themselves, stalk- ing through Paddock's new Arcade to see the telegraph office and the daguerreotype studio. Cows were grazing over what is now the most thickly populated section of the north side and upper State street was
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