USA > New York > Franklin County > The north country; a history, embracing Jefferson, St. Lawrence, Oswego, Lewis and Franklin counties, New York, Volume 1 > Part 40
USA > New York > Jefferson County > The north country; a history, embracing Jefferson, St. Lawrence, Oswego, Lewis and Franklin counties, New York, Volume 1 > Part 40
USA > New York > Lewis County > The north country; a history, embracing Jefferson, St. Lawrence, Oswego, Lewis and Franklin counties, New York, Volume 1 > Part 40
USA > New York > Oswego County > The north country; a history, embracing Jefferson, St. Lawrence, Oswego, Lewis and Franklin counties, New York, Volume 1 > Part 40
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 40
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Every village that boasted of a hall held a war meeting. Large mass meetings were held in Washington Hall, Watertown, and in Doolittle Hall, Oswego. There was much fiery speaking. The village cornet band was always on hand to play stirring and patriotic airs. Flags were everywhere. The editor of The New York Reformer, pub- lished at Watertown, counted over a hundred on the Woodruff House in that village alone. Liberty poles were raised, always with appro- priate ceremonies. The Black River Corps, the Watertown militia company which included many of the young, professional and business men of the village, paraded proudly about the streets in their dark, blue uniforms, decorated with much gilt and gold braid, led by their Sax-horn band, and at their head Captain Stephen L. Potter, veteran of the Mexican war, and Lieut. Bradley Winslow, young Watertown lawyer. Later the Black River Corps was to become Company A in the 35th New York Volunteer Infantry, the first regiment from Jefferson county, to go to the war.
Then came the call to arms. In all the village papers were calls for recruits. The Black River Corps needed more men to bring it up to full strength. Over at DePeyster in St. Lawrence county young N. M. Curtis was hard at work raising a company. Down at Ellis- burg, Andrew Jackson Barney, who as a youth had sat at the feet of "Stonewall" Jackson and listened to his stories of army days, started enlisting his friends and neighbors. Captain W. N. Angle was raising a company in Copenhagen. Captain George Parker was raising one in Gouverneur. Captain John D. O'Brien was hurriedly getting his company to full strength in Oswego, anxious to lead the first North Country company to the front. Captain Joe Seaver was busy raising his company in Malone while Captain David A. Nevin's company in Ogdensburg was rapidly nearing full strength. Bands were always playing and recruiting officers were always busy. Flags were waving and Liberty Poles were being raised. Soldier's Relief committees were being organized and funds were being solicited. There was little business done in Northern New York in those stirring April and May days in 1861. Everyone was too busy presenting flags and woolen socks to the youthful soldiers, soon to leave for Washington.
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Captain David A. Nevin's company from Ogdensburg, soon to be known as Company A of the 16th infantry, was the first armed unit to depart from Northern New York for service in the Civil War. It left for Albany April 24th, 1861. Two days later Captain John D. O'Brien of Oswego marched his company to the railroad station to the cheers of all Oswego and the surrounding countryside. The Os- wego county was the first military unit to rendezvous at the concen- tration camp at Elmira and Captain O'Brien was the first officer com- missioned in New York state under President Lincoln's first call for volunteers.
May 5th, 1861, was a big day in Watertown. A flag pole 122 feet high was raised in Public Square. Fully 5,000 people witnessed the ceremonies. Captain S. J. Mendell of Adams with his company, nearly up to full strength, arrived by train. The Watertown Cadet Corps Cornet Band led the procession. Then came the Adams company and the two Watertown volunteer companies, followed by various fire com- panies. Of course there was much speaking and cheering. Two days later the war was brought nearer home to the villagers of Watertown. Captain George Parker and his company from Gouverneur passed through town on their way to the concentration camp at Elmira. Watertown turned out to cheer the company as it marched from the old Potsdam and Watertown station to the Woodruff House where din- ner was served. Three days later Captain W. N. Angle's company from Copenhagen passed through Watertown. That was the same day that the Adams and Ellisburg companies left. The Adams Center Band and a crowd of 2,000 people were at the Adams station to say goodbye to Captain Mendel's company. At Pierrepont Manor Captain Barney's company was drawn up at the station and got aboard as the Belleville band played and the great crowd cheered. A few days later Captain Stephen L. Potter's company of Watertown, the old Black River Corps, marched down Stone street, the band playing "The Girl I Left Behind Me," and boarded a train at the lower station, the first Watertown company to leave for Elmira.
In all Northern New York sent not far from 20,000 men to fight in the Union armies during the Civil War. By Northern New York is meant the five counties of Jefferson, St. Lawrence, Oswego, Lewis and Franklin. Nineteen regiments were raised almost entirely from men from these five counties and there were substantial numbers of
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Northern New York men in many other regiments. True not all of these men marched away with the same spirit as did the first recruits. Some of them received bounties as high as $1,000 and even more for enlisting. Some few were drafted, "conscripts," they called them then, but not many because most "conscripts" found a way to hire a substitute, even though substitutes held out for high prices in the last year of the war and then had a habit of departing hurriedly for Canada as soon as they collected their fee.
The nineteen regiments raised in the five Northern New York counties during the Civil War were:
16th New York Volunteer Infantry. The first St. Lawrence county regiment. Every company from St. Lawrence county, excepting one, and that from Franklin.
24th New York Volunteer Infantry. The first Oswego county regi- ment. One company from Ellisburg, Jefferson county.
35th New York Volunteer Infantry. The first Jefferson county regiment. Six companies from Jefferson county and one from Lewis.
60th New York Volunteer Infantry. The second St. Lawrence county regiment. All companies from St. Lawrence county excepting one from Franklin.
81st New York Volunteer Infantry. The second Oswego county regiment. Eight companies from Oswego county.
92nd New York Volunteer Infantry. The third St. Lawrence county regiment.
94th New York Volunteer Infantry. Organized at Madison Bar- racks. All companies recruited in Jefferson county.
98th New York Volunteer Infantry. The Franklin county regi- ment. Seven companies from Franklin county. Most of the rest from St. Lawrence county.
106th New York Volunteer Infantry. Another St. Lawrence county regiment, with two companies from Franklin county.
110th New York Volunteer Infantry. Another Oswego county regiment.
142nd New York Volunteer Infantry. Three companies from Franklin county and the rest from St. Lawrence.
147th New York Volunteer Infantry. Recruited largely from Os- wego, St. Lawrence and Franklin counties.
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184th New York Volunteer Infantry. Raised largely in Oswego county.
186th New York Volunteer Infantry. Called the Jefferson county regiment. All from Jefferson excepting one company from Lewis and one from Herkimer.
193rd New York Volunteer Infantry. Raised in Auburn but with companies from St. Lawrence, Franklin, Jefferson and Oswego coun- ties.
20th New York Calvary. Raised largely in Jefferson, St. Law- rence, Lewis and Oswego counties.
1st New York Light Artillery. Raised largely in Lewis, St. Law- rence, Jefferson and Oswego counties.
5th New York Light Artillery. Raised mostly in Lewis and Jef- ferson counties.
Tenth New York Heavy Artillery. Raised entirely in Jefferson and Lewis counties.
In addition to the above there were substantial numbers of North Country men in the following regiments : 3rd, 18th, 50th, 53rd, 57th, 59th, 78th, 93rd, 97th, 102nd, 105th, 106th infantry, 2nd (Black Horse), 6th, 11th, 12th, 13th, 16th, 18th cavalry and the 26th frontier cavalry; 13th, 14th and 16th artillery regiments.
THE FIRST NORTH COUNTRY REGIMENTS
As we have seen the first regiments to be raised in the North Country during the Civil war were the 16th in St. Lawrence and Franklin counties, the 24th in Oswego county and the 35th in Jeffer- son county. They were regiments well officered and with a particu- larly high class of enlisted personnel. They were made up of business and professional men, farmers and skilled artisans. They were mostly young men in the early twenties or even younger. Incorporated in these regiments were the various militia companies, the "Guards" or "Rifles" or "Corps" of this town and that. N. M. Curtis who went with the first St. Lawrence regiment as a captain ended the war as a major general, known far and wide as the hero of Fort Fisher. Bradley Winslow who went with the first Jefferson county regiment as a lieutenant came out of the Civil War as a brigadier general, and so it went.
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Steps were taken to organize the 16th regiment in St. Lawrence county as soon as the news was received of the firing on Fort Sumter. Company A, Captain David A. Nevin, was raised in Ogdensburg, Company B, Captain James Pomeroy, was raised in Potsdam, Com- pany C, Captain Frank Palmer, in Plattsburgh, Company D, Captain George Parker, in Gouverneur, Rossie and Fowler, Company E, Cap- tain John L. Stetson, in Plattsburgh, Company F, Captain John C. Gilmour, in Potsdam; Company G, Captain N. M. Curtis, in De Pey- ster, De Kalb, Morristown and Hermon; Company H, Captain War- ren Gibson, in Stockholm; Company I, Captain Joel Seaver, in Ma- lone ; Company K, Captain Wallace W. Wood, in Chazy. The regiment wore straw hats, such an unusual kind of head gear for soldiers, as to attract attention to the regiment wherever it went. Thomas A. Davies was the first colonel and the first casualty in the regiment was that of Sergeant John Allen of Ogdensburg. There were 480 casualties in the 16th during its service of whom ninety-one were killed in action. No other St. Lawrence county regiment suffered such losses as this.
At the same time the 16th regiment was being organized in St. Lawrence county, the 35th was being organized in Jefferson county. Company A was recruited in Watertown, Stephen L. Potter being the commander; Company C was recruited in Theresa with Captain George W. Flower in command; Company E in Watertown, Captain John Lacey commander; Company G in Adams with Captain Sidney J. Mendel commander; Company I in Redwood with Captain Edgar B. Spalsbury commander; Company K in Brownville with Captain Newton B. Lord commander. The 35th lost 130 men killed in action during its term of enlistment.
The 24th New York Volunteer Infantry was recruited in Oswego county in answer to President Lincoln's first call for troops. Com- pany A, Captain John D. O'Brien, was recruited at Oswego, Company B, Captain Edward M. Paine, Oswego; Company C, Captain Frank Miller, Oswego; Company D, Captain Melzar Richards, Parish; Com- pany E, Captain Orville Jennings, Volney; Company F, Captain Archibald Preston, Oswego; Company G, Captain W. D. Ferguson, Sandy Creek; Company H, Captain Albert Taylor, Volney ; Company I, Captain Levi Breadsley, Oswego; Company K, Captain Andrew J. Barney, Ellisburg, Jefferson county. The regiment was mustered in
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May 17th with Timothy Sullivan as colonel, Samuel R. Beardsley as lieutenant-colonel and Jonathan Tarbell as major.
The 24th was sent immediately to Washington and while it did not participate in the battle of Bull Run it was the only organized force between Washington and the victorious Confederates when the rout started. The regiment was in the battle of Federicksburg and Cedar Mountain, in Second Bull Run where Major Barney was killed in ac- tion, at South Mountain and at Antietam where Col. O'Brien lost a leg. The regiment was mustered out at Elmira May 29, 1863.
Immediately after the Battle of Bull Run it became apparent that the war was not going to be over as soon as many in the north had hoped. Steps were taken to recruit the 60th New York Volunteer Infantry in St. Lawrence county. William A. Wheeler, later vice- president of the United States, presented the regiment with its flag and Judge John Fine in behalf of the ladies of Ogdensburg with its state banner. This regiment left Ogdensburg for the front November 1st, 1861. In Jefferson county, steps were taken to recruit the 94th New York Volunteer Infantry, which was mustered in at Sackets Har- bor, and left for the front in the fall of 1861. The 81st was raised in Oswego county with Col. Edwin Rose in command. The regiment was mustered in at Fort Ontario.
While all this preparation for war was going on and the first casualty lists were being received from Northern Virginia, Northern New York had what was probably its first matched baseball game. The game was played at the Jefferson county fair grounds at Water- town June 11, 1861, between a team from Adams and one from Pots- dam. The teams must have presented a colorful appearance. It is recorded that the Potsdam club wore low crown wool hats, red collars, white shirts, blue belts and black pants, while members of the Adams club were attired in jockey caps of red, white and blue, gray blouses trimmed with red, and checkered pants. The names of these early pitchers ought to be preserved. We are informed that Partridge pitched for Potsdam and Smith for Adams. The score was 50 to 28 in favor of Potsdam.
DRAFTS AND BOUNTIES
As the months went on and recruits were being constantly needed, there was a noticeable lessening of war enthusiasm in Northern New
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York. It began to take something more than a patriotic speech and a flag raising to persuade young men to enlist. As a result the bounty system came into vogue. Men were paid a price to enlist. At first it was comparatively small but as recruits became harder and harder to get, the price increased. Towns bonded themselves to the limit to get money to pay their share of the bounties. County budgets in- creased by leaps and bounds. Early in 1864 the bounty was increased to approximately $300 in all the Northern New York counties. Within a few months it had increased again to nearly $1,000. Then came the draft, a particularly unfair one. Anyone who had money to hire a substitute didn't have to go. True some of these substitutes got a good price but many of the wealthy were willing to pay almost any price to get out of service in the army. Many others were excused for "physical disability" and it is suspected that political influence counted a great deal in deciding whether one was physically fit or not. Those who had neither money nor political influence must either serve or jump to Canada. Fortunately for them Canada was near at hand, and many took advantage of the opportunity. These were called in the vernacular of the day "skedaddlers."
As an example of how the draft worked during the Civil War, 1,910 men were drafted in Oswego county. Of these ninety-nine fur- nished substitutes and 1,754 either paid the government $300 each, were excused for physical disability or "skedaddled" to Canada. Ex- actly fifty-seven drafted men from Oswego county actually entered the army. In Franklin county approximately seventy-five drafted men served in the war, and while figures are not available for the other counties in Northern New York, the proportion was about the same. About 8,000 men were drafted in the Northern counties and probably less than 400 of them actually got into the service.
The most lurid kind of advertisements were inserted in the village newspapers to attract recruits during the last two years of the war. As an example take this advertisement from the Sandy Creek Times of January 2nd, 1864:
"Avoid the draft by enlisting in the 24th cavalry. Look at the ad- vantages you have by enlisting in this regiment. You remain at Au- burn in this state until spring. You have good board and comfortable quarters. You can have a furlough as soon as you enlist to go home and see your friends, and recruit for the regiment. You get a hand-
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some uniform, even to sabre and spurs, the very day you enlist. You get $300 in cash from the War Committee of this county the very hour you are sworn into the service, besides the state and national bounties. When you take the field you have a good horse to ride and no heavy marches. Let not your friends and fellow citizens hear you say when the war is over, 'I was a conscript from Oswego county !'" At this time the complete bounties for new recruits amounted to $677 and for veterans, $852. Despite these inducements the 24th cavalry filled slowly.
The high bounties caused the taxes to mount tremendously. In Franklin county the county budget in 1863 was $30,662 and the next year it bounded to $170,248, an increase of nearly 500 percent. The lowest tax rate of any town was in Malone where it was $18 on every $1,000 of assessed value, but in most towns of the county it ran from $30 to $50 and $60. In Franklin it was $93, or nine percent, an al- most unbelievable tax rate. Total monies paid out in Franklin county for war purposes during the Civil War amounted to a half million dollars. In Jefferson county bounties alone came to the tremendous total of $333,000, while the total amount raised by the supervisors of St. Lawrence county for war purposes was $1,008,350. In Oswego county it was over $2,000,000.
All of this was bad enough but when a class of men came into existence, known as "bounty jumpers," who enlisted, collected their bounties and then promptly "skedaddled" to Canada, even the patri- otic Daily Reformer of Watertown, thoroughly committed to the war, raised its voice in protest. Said The Reformer editorially February 10th, 1865 :
"We have always been in favor of paying reasonable bounties to substitutes or volunteers on the ground that the soldier was but poorly paid for the risks he takes and the arduous services he per- forms for his country . . At the same time we concede these facts we are pained to take note of the flagrant evils growing out of the county system as it has been conducted in all the loyal states. It has nearly killed out the patriotic spirit which furnished volunteers the first two years of the war, and has converted recruiting into a matter of barter and sale which robs it of everything but the most mercenary attempt to obtain large sums of money under pretense of serving
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one's country. We know there are many honorable exceptions to what we state, but the number who wriggle out of the service after being in for a few weeks or months to enjoy their bounties in the more peaceful avocations of civil life, to say nothing of the profes- sional bounty jumpers, compel us to make these humiliating confes- sions."
But while there were probably as many "slackers" in Northern New York as there were in other sections of the country during the Civil War, there were few cases of actual disloyalty. One of these few cases occurred in Franklin county on July 4th, 1861. Southern sympathizers raised a Confederate flag at Burke Hollow. According to Seaver, the Franklin county historian, the flag was painted by one William Hollenbeck and the ring-leader of the affair was Hiram Cartwright. After the flag was raised some 200 armed men stationed themselves at the base of the pole and dared anyone to come and take down the flag. The news reached Malone and a force was recruited there, made up mostly of employes of the car shops. A train was engaged to carry the men to Burke Hollow, but in the meantime William B. Donihee, a Malone law student, had been sent to Burke to make an appeal for peace. His appeal was successful and the flag was lowered and secreted in a drain pipe before the Malone men arrived.
The Franklin Gazette, printed at Malone, was intensely pro-South- ern during the war. The paper was refused circulation through the mails for sixteen months during 1862 and 1863. Francis D. Flanders, the editor, together with his brother, Joseph R. Flanders, were both arrested by a United States marshal on a summary warrant issued by the Secretary of War and taken to Fort Lafayette in New York, where they were imprisoned. Later they were transferred to Fort Warren in Boston. In all they were imprisoned for four months. It is said the arrest of these two men resulted from a letter from Flanders to Jefferson Davis being intercepted by secret agents of the government. Whether or not this be so, the paper was in disfavor of loyal people during much of the war. The arrest of the editor and his brother, however, does not seem to have accomplished the desired result, since Mrs. Flanders conducted the paper when her husband was imprisoned and the editorial policy does not seem to have changed in the slightest degree.
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THE LEGEND OF MAPLE ISLAND
Perhaps at this point the story ought to be told of the mystery of Maple Island. The known facts in the story seem to be this. Late in the Civil War or immediately afterwards a stranger appeared and built himself a rude home on Maple Island, not far from Clayton, in the St. Lawrence river. The man kept to himself and became known as a hermit. He was apparently a Southerner and a man of some education. Other than that no one knew who he was. One night there was a fire on the island. The log hut and all its contents went up in smoke. The hermit of Maple Island was never seen after that. His body was not found in the ruins of the cabin, yet he disappeared completely the night of the fire.
So much for the facts. Now for the theory. With no better basis apparently than the most circumstantial kind of evidence, the assumption grew that the hermit of Maple Island was no other than Godfrey J. Hyams, native of Little Rock, Arkansas, and one of the representatives of the Confederacy in Canada during the Civil War. Jacob Thompson of Georgia was Confederate high commissioner in Canada. Hyams seems to have been his principal assistant. Other agents were Clement C. Clay of South Carolina, Larry McDonald of New York, Captain Thomas Hines, W. W. Cleary, Captain John B. Castleman, Lieut. George B. Eastin, Lieut. Bennett H. Young and one Captain Cole.
There were hundreds of Confederates in Canada, mostly escaped prisoners of war. There were many thousand more in federal intern- ment camps along the border, at Johnson's Island, Elmira, Sandusky Harbor, Rock Island and other places, all within striking distance from Canada. The Confederates conceived the idea of raiding the loyal states from Canada, setting free Confederate prisoners and bringing the war into the heart of the north. Plan after plan was devised and plan after plan went wrong. It is not necessary here to recount them all. One plan was to liberate the Confederate prisoners at Camp Douglas. The day before the plan was to be executed, a large force of Federal troops suddenly appeared at the prison and the scheme had to be abandoned.
Finally after many failures the Confederate agents in Canada hit upon the scheme to burn and loot the City of New York. The plot
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was nipped in the bud. Greek fire which the conspirators had brought to New York proved to be only water. Captain Kennedy, the leader of the gang, was captured, tried, found guilty and hung at Fort Wadsworth, New York harbor. A little later Lieut. John Yates Beall, the Confederate naval officer who had attempted to destroy Sandusky, Ohio, was captured, tried, found guilty and hung at Governors Island, New York.
It was apparent that someone was selling out the Confederates. Every plan they devised became known to the Union authorities. They were outwitted at every turn. It seems that this traitor was no other than Godfrey J. Hyams, assistant to Thompson, the Confed- erate high commissioner. It is said that he informed the federal authorities four weeks in advance of the plot to burn New York and for this service received $100,000. Hyam's treason became known. A few weeks after the plot to burn New York was discovered Hyams bought a ticket at Toronto for Halifax, apparently with the intention of going to Europe. He was dogged by Confederate spies. They were on the same train with him. Hyams, terrified, sneaked from the train somewhere near Gananoque. These things are all recounted by Lieut. John T. Headley in his book, "Confederate Operations in Canada and in New York."
From this comes the assumption that the hermit of Maple Island was no other than Hyams, the traitor. According to the tradition Hyams, in an effort to throw his pursuers off the track, took refuge on Maple Island, there living the life of a hermit. But eventually the Confederate agents hunted him out, killed him, sunk his body in the water and then set fire to his cabin. That is the tradition, but although it has often been repeated, it must be remembered that it is a tradition and nothing more. The Hermit of Maple Island may have been Godfrey Hyams. He may have been killed as an act of vengeance. But there is not a particle of historical evidence to show that these things are so.
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