USA > New York > Franklin County > The north country; a history, embracing Jefferson, St. Lawrence, Oswego, Lewis and Franklin counties, New York, Volume 1 > Part 42
USA > New York > Jefferson County > The north country; a history, embracing Jefferson, St. Lawrence, Oswego, Lewis and Franklin counties, New York, Volume 1 > Part 42
USA > New York > Lewis County > The north country; a history, embracing Jefferson, St. Lawrence, Oswego, Lewis and Franklin counties, New York, Volume 1 > Part 42
USA > New York > Oswego County > The north country; a history, embracing Jefferson, St. Lawrence, Oswego, Lewis and Franklin counties, New York, Volume 1 > Part 42
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 42
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"Long time have I loved thee, Ne'er will I forget thee."
And who is there who has not read Tom Moore's Boat Song with its swinging rhythm :
"Faintly, as tolls the evening chime, Our voices keep tune, and our voices keep time;
Soon as the woods on the shore look dim We'll sing at St. Ann's our parting hymn. Row, brothers, row, the stream runs fast,
The rapids are near, and the daylight's past."
But of all the songs which have been written about the Thousand Islands it is doubtful if any are quite equal to that written by Caleb Lyon of Lyonsdale, an early North Country poet :
"The Thousand Isles, the Thousand Isles, Dimpled, the wave around them smiles, Kissed by a thousand red-lipped flowers, Gemmed by a thousand emerald bowers, A thousand birds their praises wake, By rocky glade and plumy brake, A thousand cedars' fragrant shade Fall where the Indians' children played; And fancy's dream my heart beguiles, While singing thee, the Thousand Isles."
The Thousand Islands number from 1,500 to 1,700. They vary in size from a few square feet to Wolfe Island, entirely in Canadian territory and the largest of the group, and Wells Island, containing some 10,000 acres. At the Thousand Islands, the St. Lawrence river is 400 feet above tide water. The Thousand Islands proper extend from Tibbits Light, four miles above cape Vincent, to Morristown, covering a distance of some sixty miles. The leading islands, how- ever, are found from a point about sixteen miles below Alexandria Bay and covering a distance of thirty-odd miles.
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Original title to the islands was of course in the state, which acquired ownership through treaties with the Indians. The first private owner was Elisha Camp of Sackets Harbor. In 1845, how- ever, Azariah Walton and Chesterfield Parsons acquired the north- west half of Wells Island and all the islands in American waters from the foot of Round Island near Clayton to Morristown, a distance of thirty-five miles. They paid $3,000 for these islands which are today worth millions. Walton bought out Parsons and continued as sole owner until the firm of Cornwall and Walton was established in 1853. This firm purchased practically all the rest of Wells Island and thereby became the owner of about all the islands in American waters. They sold the islands for comparatively small prices but many of the deeds contained the provision that a cottage must be erected within three years. Take the case of Hart Island, the name being often incorrectly spelled Heart Island. This is one of the more famous of the Thousand Islands, containing, as it does, the beautiful Boldt Castle. Cornwall and Walton originally sold it to Sisson and Fox for $100. They in turn sold it to E. K. Hart of Albion for $500 and he sold it to the late George C. Boldt for $20,000. After his death it was sold to the Thousand Island Estates, Inc., at an undisclosed price. The price brought by Hart Island, at its original sale, $100, was exceptional. Most of the islands sold for $50 or less each.
In 1826, only twenty-two years before Charles Crossman started his hotel, Lieut. Frederick De Roos of the Royal Navy, passing down the St. Lawrence river, had this to say regarding Alexandria Bay :
"In the evening as we passed an opening we came in sight of a new settlement on the American shore. Five or six log huts formed the only habitation of the infant colony. The thick wood was cut down in the immediate vicinity, and a few wretched looking indi- viduals were assembled around the blaze of a fire which burned in the center. Never did I contemplate so dreary and hopeless a pic- ture, nor a scene of such desolation; but even this place is already named Alexandria, and bids fair to become a prosperous village."
Lieutenant De Roos spoke truer than he knew. Summer prop- erty, alone, located in the towns of Orleans, Alexandria and Clayton, is assessed at upwards of a million dollars, and it is estimated that tourists expend annually $5,000,000 at the Thousand Island resorts.
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Alexandria Bay had made some progress, it is true, when Charles Crossman, veteran of the Patriot War, came there to establish his hotel. It was the depot for the back-country merchants who sent there their lumber and potash for shipment to the Quebec or Mon- treal market. The village contained perhaps a dozen frame houses, a store near the steamboat landing and a weather-beaten tavern kept by a man by the name of Smith, with an open shed behind. No one then dreamed of Alexandria Bay as a summer resort. It is true it attracted some local fishermen, but the roads were atrocious and the elite went to Saratoga Springs, the Catskills, Niagara Falls or some of the fashionable watering places along the coast.
It was the Smith tavern, referred to above, which eventually became the first Crossman. Charles Crossman married Edther Smith, daughter of the tavern keeper. He took actual possession of the hotel in 1848 and conducted it continuously until his death in 1892. The hotel was enlarged first in 1860, again in 1872, the year that the Thousand Island House was built, and again in 1880. Since that time, of course, it has been thoroughly modernized. It was after Mr. Crossman entered the hotel business at Alexandria Bay, that the Thousand Islands began to attain a reputation as a resort for fisher- men. Silas Wright and his political ally and friend, Preston King of Ogdensburg, were frequent visitors in those early days. The still debonair and wily Martin Van Buren, now in his old age but no less an enthusiastic sportsman, came to try his luck with the bass. It is recorded that Millard Fillmore was also a guest at the Crossman for a time. People began to come from New York, Utica, Chicago and St. Louis, mostly by the big side-wheelers that stopped at the steamboat dock but sometimes by stage or private carriage. At the Crossman the rate was not high. The old registers tell the story. "Eight breakfasts, $1" "two beds, 50 cents," "tea for four, 50 cents," -these are random entries taken from the register of the fifties. The era of high prices had not yet struck Alexandria Bay.
In 1851 a correspondent from the Rochester Times wrote his paper from Alexandria Bay as follows :
"A few miles below French Creek, where the river is most thickly studded with islands, is a little hamlet by the water side, called Alex- andria Bay. Here the Bay State landed several passengers, in pur-
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suit of sporting pleasure, including Mr. Van Buren (the former president), his friends and your humble servant (a Mr. Cooper) .
"The only public house at this place is kept by Mr. Crossman, who is particularly attentive to his guests. His house is not large, but it is kept in a neat and orderly manner. Among the guests here were Rev. Dr. Bethune of New York, Preston King, Senator Dart, and those I have before mentioned.
"At an early hour of the day following our arrival, all was in commotion among the sporting gentlemen, making ready for the excursion of the day. Most of those who prefer angling employ an experienced man to row them among the islands. Mr. Bryan of Rochester and myself, however, preferred the pleasure of exploring for ourselves. So we put off in a small skiff and were soon among the islands. We spent the day in fishing and returned to headquar- ters at night, after rowing some twenty miles, with forty-five pickerel and bass, some of the former weighing eight pounds each. As the different parties came in their prizes were examined, and it was found that Mr. Van Buren had taken the greatest number of fishes, while the two Rochester gentlemen above mentioned had taken the greatest amount in bulk. We should have been quite willing to have yielded the entire palm to the 'Sage of Kinderhook,' had it not been generally considered that Rochester sportsmen are considered 'some.'
"The ex-president never looked better-I passed him several times while among the islands, as he sat erect in his skiff, eagerly watch- ing his line, always ready for a bite, and always quick to distinguish a bite from a nibble."
Francis P. Blair, the well known editor, was a guest of Mr. Van Buren on this occasion.
Among the Northern New York people of prominence whose names appear on the Crossman register during the fifties were Egbert Ten Eyck, E. Q. Sewall, J. F. Starbuck, Isaac Munson, Joseph Mullin, G. F. Paddock, N. W. Woodruff and Orville Hungerford.
It was during the Civil War and immediately afterwards that the Thousand Islands began to gain fame as a summer resort. Prior to that time ardent fishermen had been attracted to Alexandria Bay, it is true. They received the sort of accommodations which sports- men of that time expected. It was possible to hire a skiff and employ a villager to row it. The Crossman House catered to the visiting
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fishermen in the summer and its barroom kept it going through the winter. But the wise provision that purchasers of islands must agree to erect a cottage began to have its effect. The first cottage erected on any island was said to have been the hut built by Seth Green on Manhattan Island. Some time after his death the island was sold to John L. Hasbrouck of New York City.
Welcome Island, where the Thousand Island Yacht Club is now located, was owned originally by S. C. Pope of Ogdensburg. A num- ber of wealthy men who wanted a restful and quiet place, where they could enjoy good fishing, gradually located on the various islands. E. K. Hart of Albion, already mentioned, was one. George Pullman was another. Later the Pullmans built Castle Rest, now the property of former Governor Frank O. Lowden of Illinois. Steam yachts made their appearance on the St. Lawrence, not many but a few quite speedy ones as for example the Lancet, owned in Ogdens- burg. It became quite the fashion to light the islands at night with Japanese lanterns. Each island has its emblem, some a star, others a crescent and others a crown. These emblems, lighted by colored lanterns, were hauled to the tops of flagpoles at night. Sunday night for many years it was the custom of cottage owners to display a lighted cross from their flagpoles.
The Thousand Islands were becoming the fashion. Every sum- mer brought more guests. The villagers suddenly began to realize that they had wealth at their very doors. In vain did Mr. Crossman enlarge his hotel. There was a demand for more hotels. The Cross- man House was again enlarged, but in the meantime two men had appeared on the scene with an idea for a hotel that would rival the famous hotels at Saratoga and other watering places. These men were Oren G. Staples and Claude Nott. Originally Staples and Nott had planned to erect their hotel at Clayton, but found no encourage- ment with waterfront property held at prohibitive prices. Then they tried Fishers Landing but experienced the same difficulty in buying land there.
So they came to Alexandria Bay, where Cornwall and Walton sold them the site for their hotel at a price so low as to be almost a gift. Even in Alexandria Bay there was skepticism. The people could not believe that the summer business would ever be large enough to support such a hotel as Staples and Nott contemplated. Every
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obstacle was put in their way. Their credit was questioned and their lumber shipments held up. But despite all this the hotel was finished and on July 1, 1872, the grand opening was held. Alexandria Bay had the greatest crowd in its history. There were a dozen brass bands, a balloon ascension, horse, boat and tub races, greased pole and pig contests, swimming and diving, while the steam yacht, Shoe- craft, towed a line of fishing skiffs a mile long up and around War- ner's Island. Hundreds were fed at the Thousand Island House. The balloon went up at five o'clock in the afternoon, the ascension being made by a man by the name of Thurston, fifty years or more ago a well known attraction at county fairs. It came down at Bentley Corners in the town of Antwerp after ripping down some rods of rail fence. That night hundreds of kerosene lanterns lit the water front and there was a brilliant display of lights from the boats in the river. An exhibition of fire works climaxed the celebration. The Thousand Island House was formally opened.
PRESIDENT GRANT'S VISIT
A month after the opening of the Thousand Island House, the Thousand Island region entertained a distinguished guest, no other than General U. S. Grant, president of the United States. Three presidents have visited the Thousand Islands during their terms of office, Grant, Arthur and Cleveland, and two others, Van Buren and Fillmore, after their retirement from the White House. Grant came to be the guest of George Pullman at his summer home not far from Clayton. All Northern New York was excited. No president had visited the Northern section of the state since the tour of the suave Van Buren in 1839. Grant was at the height of his popularity. He had served as a young officer at Madison Barracks at Sackets Harbor. Watertown was determined to have the distinguished visitor stop off in that city and to that end sent a formidable delegation to Carthage to meet the president's train.
The Watertown delegation was headed by Mayor Lord and con- sisted, in addition to the mayor, of Judge Mullin, James F. Starbuck, Gen. Bradley Winslow, Alexander Campbell, William Dewey, Alder- man Scott, Bingham, O'Brien, Kitts, Adsit, Muldoon and Bragger. Mayor Lord extended the invitation in behalf of the City of Water-
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town and the president accepted. The party boarded a train consist- ing of two coaches and a baggage car, drawn by the locomotive, L. D. Doolittle, beautifully decorated with flags. Engineer Reese was at the throttle and Fred Maynard was the conductor. In the presi- dential party were the President and Mrs. Grant; Senator and Mrs. Roscoe Conkling of Utica; Alexander S. Johnson of Utica; Frederick Dent Grant, Washington; Gen. Horace Porter, United States army ; John P. Gray, Utica; J. R. Grant, Washington; Mr. and Mrs. John Thorn, Utica; W. H. Comstock, Utica; S. N. D. North, Utica; Tim- othy Griffith, Utica; J. M. Denel, Utica; E. Norris, Utica; and J. F. Maynard, Utica.
At Watertown a huge crowd was on hand to greet the president. So was the Davis Sewing Machine Company band, playing martial airs. The presidential party had difficulty in getting through the crowd to their carriages. There was much handshaking to be done. A veteran of the Mexican War was recognized by the president as an old comrade in arms amid much applause. At the Woodruff House, the president was persuaded to step out on the balcony. Pub- lic Square was black with people and carriages. The crowd was estimated at from 10,000 to 15,000 people. General Grant spoke briefly, making a pleasant reference to his service at Madison Bar- racks twenty years before. He said he had long wanted to return to Jefferson county. Senator Conkling spoke next. James F. Star- buck acted as master of ceremonies. Then the band played again, the presidential party proceeded to the Rome, Watertown and Ogdens- burg station where the Cape Vincent train was waiting to which was attached a special car.
At Cape Vincent there was another crowd, more cheers and more handshaking. But Mr. Pullman's steam yacht, Ida, was at the wharf and soon the party was en route for the Pullman cottage, gayly dec- orated with flags and Japanese lanterns. Gen. Phil Sheridan was one of the guests on Pullman Island. Mr. Pullman arranged daily programs. There were private theatricals and a masquerade ball to which all the summer residents of the Thousand Islands were invited. A few guests were invited to luncheon and dinner to meet the presi- dent and the other distinguished guests. Among those from North- ern New York were General and Mrs. Hungerford, Miss Lottie Brad- ner and Miss Kate White, all of Adams, and Mr. and Mrs. George R.
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Hanford, C. C. Frost and W. C. Plumb of Watertown. The villagers of Clayton decided that if they were to meet the president they must go to him, so ninety of them hired the steamer, Midge, and paid a visit to Pullman Island. When the boat drew up to the island, every- one joined in singing "Marching Through Georgia," with which in- troduction they formed in line and proceeded to shake hands with President Grant and General Sheridan. It is recorded that the presi- dent was so impressed with the song that he asked his guests to sing it for him again, which they did with a will. On August 7th, five days after his arrival, the president and his party left by government boat for Ogdensburg.
THE VISIT OF PRESIDENT ARTHUR
Ten years later another president paid a visit to the Thousand Islands. Chester A. Arthur, in an effort to secure relief from the malaria from which he suffered, was advised by his physician to take a vacation at the Thousand Islands. September 28, 1882, President Arthur, described as dressed inconspicuously in a gray suit and gray felt hat, arrived in the North Country with only one companion, his friend, R. G. Dunn. Of course there were the usual ovations all along the line. Gen. N. M. Curtis of Ogdensburg and many other Northern New York politicians were on the train with the president. At Clayton a crowd of 200 was waiting. So was Mr. Charles Cross- man with his steam yacht, Minnie, Captain William Wescott com- manding. The president was soon safely located at the Crossman House from whose cupola the stars and stripes floated. The season was over and there were no other guests at the hotel, save some news- paper men from New York who had come up with the president. Mr. Arthur occupied a suite of six rooms and astonished the villagers by staying up most of the night reading and dozing much of the day. But the president was a democratic sort of individual and became personally very popular at Alexandria Bay. He loved to sit on the dock alone in the early evening reading his newspaper. There were no secret service men or guards. Apparently the president never dreamed of being molested.
Mr. Arthur charted the steam yacht, Minnie, for ten days. He also engaged an oarsman, William Comstock. He fished every day
MT. BAKER IN WINTER, SARANAC LAKE, N. Y.
-
VIEW OF SARANAC LAKE, N. Y.
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and was moderately successful, catching many bass and two musca- longe. Although President Grant had scrupulously avoided leaving American waters, apparently the matter gave President Arthur little concern. He fished in Canadian waters at least twice, and seemed to be more successful there than in the American channel. Also he enjoyed shore dinners which were held on beautiful, uninhabited islands. There was no formality about anything. The president was frankly having a good time and made no secret about it.
But he entertained some, nevertheless. Occasionally he invited people to dinner. Among those entertained one evening were Sidney Cooper, Gen. Bradley Winslow, Postmaster E. M. Gates and Richard Marcy of Watertown and William M. Thompson and E. Campbell of Alexandria Bay. On his fifty-second birthday, October 5th, 1882, he gave a reception at the Crossman House. Most of those present were from Alexandria Bay but there were many, too, from Clayton, Cape Vincent and Ogdensburg. A gigantic fruit cake was imported from Rochester and on it in red icing were the dates, "1830-1882." Boatmen were drafted by the hotel management to help out the waiters. Dr. Brownlow's Lancet, the speediest boat on the river, made the run from Ogdensburg. The president stood in the parlor before draped flags and cut flowers and greeted everyone cordially. Ezra Grinnel of Alexandria Bay, 92 years old and a veteran of the War of 1812, was the first to be introduced.
PRESIDENT CLEVELAND'S VISIT
Five years later a third president paid a brief visit to the Thou- sand Islands, Grover Cleveland, but he confined his stay to a day's tour of the islands and much to the disgust of the villagers and sum- mer guests never went ashore once. It was on July 16th, 1887, that President Cleveland and his party came to the Thousand Islands. There were Rev. William Cleveland, the president's brother, and his wife; Mrs. Grover Cleveland, wife of the president; Railroad Com- missioner and Mrs. John D. Kernan; Miss Rose Elizabeth Cleveland; Mr. and Mrs. L. L. Youmans and Miss Carrie E. Hastings and Miss Mary Hastings, the president's nieces. The train slowed down at Boonville and Port Leyden and crowds assembled to cheer the presi- dent. At Glendale a stop was made to take on water and the people
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surged forward to shake hands. At Carthage a large crowd was assembled and the depot was draped with flags. Watertown was reached at 10:40, the run of 66 miles being made in one hour and forty minutes. There were 500 people at the station at Watertown to greet the president but Mr. Cleveland, not feeling well, did not leave the car. However, a party of Mr. Cleveland's friends from Oswego got aboard the presidential train at Watertown, among them being Miss Kingsford, Mr. and Mrs. Theodore Erwin, Mr. and Mrs. Edwin Allen, Mrs. Palfrey and Mrs. Burbank and daughter. Mayor W. E. Hart, Postmaster John C. Streeter, S. B. Upham and Attorney George O'Brien, all of Watertown, boarded the president's car and were cordially greeted.
At Cape Vincent the steamer St. Lawrence, especially chartered for the occasion, was waiting. Over 1,000 people greeted the presi- dential party at tht village. The president and his party immediately boarded the steamer and started on an extensive tour of the Thousand Islands. Salutes were fired at Clayton, Round Island and Thousand Island Park, but the captain of the St. Lawrence, acting under orders, simply swung his craft near the villages and did not stop. Contem- porary newspaper accounts described the president as wearing a Prince Albert coat and a high, drab hat, while Mrs. Cleveland was garbed in a light traveling suit and what was known then as a "peak- a-boo bonnet." The boat spent about four hours in Canadian waters. A thunder storm broke out and the president, Mrs. Cleveland, Secre- tary Fairchild and Mrs. Fairchild engaged in a game of "seven up." During the evening the cottages along the river were illuminated and fire works were set off in honor of the president, who continued to cruise among the islands in the darkness.
Republican papers in Northern New York severely criticized the president for leaving American waters and said that for four hours the United States was without a president. One paper said the president was not to blame as he did not know any better. It con- trasted the action of Cleveland with President Arthur who, accord- ing to this paper, was careful never to cross the territorial limits of the United States. This was of course a misstatement. President Arthur fished several times in Canadian waters as we have seen and none of the Republican papers found anything to criticize in it.
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On the return trip of the president and his party from the Thou- sand Islands region, an unfortunate accident occurred. It was cus- tomary at that time for the engineer of a train carrying a distin- guished person to try to make a record trip. The president's special was thundering between Lowville and Glendale at high speed when a connecting rod broke, hurled the engineer from the locomotive, kill- ing him instantly, and almost wrecking the train. The presence of mind of the fireman, a man by the name of Perrigo, prevented what might have been a serious wreck. The engineer was W. J. Riley of Carthage and his body was later found along the tracks. The presi- dent took the tragic news of the engineer's death calmly. "I thought it was serious," he is reported to have said, "when I saw the steam escaping." Mrs. Cleveland was more disturbed and Miss Elizabeth Cleveland suggested that the fireman be given a drink of brandy. None could be found on the train, however, so the fireman drank water with a dash of aromatic spirits of ammonia. The president requested his secretary to look after the family of the dead engineer and inquired for the address of the fireman.
OTHER THOUSAND ISLAND RESORTS
In the eighties and the nineties the Thousand Island region probably experienced its most prosperous era. Thousand Island Park, established as a sort of religious summer colony by the Meth- odist Episcopal Church on the southwesterly end of Wells Island had a great vogue. It was established largely through the efforts of Rev. J. F. Dayan. The original capital of the association was $15,000. The first trustees were Chancellor E. D. Haven, president ; Willard Ives, vice president; Col. Albert D. Shaw, John F. Moffett, J. F. Dayan, E. C. Curtis, E. Remington, James Johnson and M. D. Kinney. Re- strictions imposed on the cottagers hindered development for a while and there was a long period of litigation, but eventually a prosperous colony came into being and the religious courses continued until this day and which each summer bring many prominent churchmen to Thousand Island Park have won for the resort national prominence in religious circles.
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