Historical sketches of Franklin county and its several towns, with many short biographies

Front matter

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Table Of Contents

Page Foreword xi

CHAPTEK I

Not on a Natural Highway, and Therefore Late in Settlement — Not Inhabited Early Even by Indians — "The Siberia of New York" — The First White Settlers Indian Captives — The Founding of St. Regis — The Story of Sir John Johnston's Flight Through the Adirondacks — The Old Military Tract and the Macomb Purchase — Sketches of Some of the Early Land Owners, a Group of Remarkable Men — Character of the Pioneers — The Erection of the County — Population at Various Periods — Apprehension of Indian Massacres — Geographical and Climatic — Pioneer Conditions — Money Scarcity — Potash Making a Principal Industry — How the Pioneers Lived

Chapter II

The County Erected in March, 1808, and Site for Court House Fixed in 1809 — Cost of the Structure, which was also Jail and a House of Worship — Proceedings of the Supervisors 1808-1813 — The Jail Condemned — Salaries Increased — Excise — Civil War Burdens — A New Poor House — Supervisors' Sessions More Protracted — A Company of the State National Guard Formed and an Armory Bought — A New Court House, Clerk's Office and Jail — Officials Refund Unlawful Fees — The Influx of Chinamen — Cost of Supporting the Poor — Town Meetings in the Fall — Improvement of Highways — Breaches of Trust — Increase in County Expenses.

CHAPTEK III

Original Grouping of Parties — Early Party Names; Federal, anti-Federal. Republican, National Republican, Clintonian-Republican, anti-Masonic, Whig and Democratic — The anti-Masonic Movement Fiercely Bitter — The Abolition Party — Little Interest in Politics in Franklin County until after 1822

— Elections Formerly Continued for Days — Franklin County Generally Federalist or Whig until 1843, and Then Until 1859 Usually Democratic — A

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Table of Contents

Campaign Story — The Campaign of 1840 the First with Spectacular Fea-. tures — The Democracy Disrupted — The Knownothing Party — Political Rancor — The Campaign of 1860 — A Union Party During the Civil War — Features of Some Campaigns — A New Ballot Law — "Dandelions" and " Snowshoers " • — Malone's Glee Club — Caucus Systems and Practices — Lists of Public Officials.

CHAPTER iy

Town Erected 1890 — Reservoir Dam Built in 1870, and Broke in 1871.— The Windfall of 1845 — Earliest Settlers — Mart. Moody, Guide and Fabricator

— The First Wedding, on " Sally's Rock " — The Northern Adirondack R. R. Made Tupper Lake — Early Saw Mills — A Big New Industry Locates Just as the Town Seemed to be " Going Back " — An Experiment in Scientific Forestry — Derrick — Moody— Litchfield Park and Chateau; the Latter a Medieval Castle — Tupper Lake Village — An Error in the Census — The Big Fire of 1899, Followed by Great Improvements — Church Organizations and Other Societies — Murders.

CHAPTER V Bangor

Town Erected 1812 — Early Settlers of a Superior Type, with Many Descendants Still Living in Bangor — Early Industries Included , a Linseed Oil Mill and an Axe Factory — A Beneficent Bequest — Manufacture of Starch and Tanning Extract — Fruit Raising — A Remarkable Dream — The Town's Butter Product — The Jewett Milk Pan — Town Houses the First Churches

— Societies and Church Organizations.

CHAPTER VI n Erected 1833 — Its Development Slow, and Its Timber Practically Wasted

— Its Summer Resorts — Early Settlers and Early Industries — Iron Mines and Forges — Chateaugay Lake Almost » Deserted Hamlet — Two Murders

— Churches.

CHAPTER VII Bombay

Town Erected 1833 — The Hogans — The First Settlers Largely Irish; Others Came from Vermont and New Hampshire — First Religious Movements — A Convent and Indian Mission School — Eminent Sons of Bombay — Some of the Town's Industries — Railroads — Dairying.

CHAPTER VIII

Town Erected 1828 — Early Settlers Frugal and Sturdy — Few Farms, and Lumbering Operations Simall Until Recent Years — Reynoldston the Only Hamlet — Voting Under Difficulties — A Murder — Churches.

Table of Contents v

CHAPTEE IX Brighton

Town Erected 1858 — Early Settlement — The Town Made by Adirondack Summer Resorts — Gabriels — Pigeon Flocks and Roosts — Churches.

CHAPTEE X

Town Erected 1844 — A Town of "Hollows" — Settlement Began Earlier Than 1800 — Burke Hollow Formerly a Tough Place, but now Eminently Respectable — Personal Sketches of Some Residents — Two Exciting Days — Societies and Churches.

CHAPTEE XI

Erected as a Clinton County Town 170© — Chateaugay the Mother Town of all of Franklin County — Derivation of the Name — The Chasm and an Intermittent Spring — The Old Military Turnpike — A Good Town Agriculturally — The First Settler and His Hardships — Other Pioneers — Irish Came in 1850, at First a Rough and Turbulent Element; Now Among the Best Citizens — Many Pioneer Families Extinct — Gates Hoit a Spy — Slaves Once Owned in the Town — An Important Point in the War of 1812

— Two Block Houses — General Hampton's Army Camped in Town, and the British Seized the Place for a Day — Wolf Bounty Scandals — Tragedies

— The Village — The Churches and Other Organizations — The Story of a Circuit Rider — Newspapers, Creameries, etc.

CHAPTEE XII Constable

Town Erected 1807 — More. Populous in 1810 than Malone — Trout River Once a Lively Hamlet — Smuggling and Informers — Market Gardening — Indications of Indian Occupancy — First White Settlers — Early Taverns and Stores — Liquor License Fees $5 — The Canadian Rebellion and the Fenian Movements — Churches.

CHAPTEE XIII

Town Erected 1808 — Named in Compliment to General Philemon Dickinson of New Jersey — Northern Part of Town First Settled — Pioneers Exceptionally Strong Men — How a Debt Was Paid — A Mighty Hunter — How One Pioneer Went to School — Sketches of Prominent Citizens — A Man of Eccentricities Who Believed in Witchcraft — A Noted Horse Thief — An Episode of California Life — A Murder — Merchants and Landlords — Industries — Churches and Other Societies — Mormon Proselyting.

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OHAPTEE XIV

Town Erected 1828 — The Duane Family — Major Duane Located in Order to Help: Stamp Out Wolf Bounty Frauds, and Operated in Duane Along Big "Line's — Iron Works — The Schroeder Activities — Hotels and Summer Resorts — Alonzo R. Fuller — Religious Movements.

CHAPTER XV

Town Erected 1817 — Military Reservations Leased by the State to Individuals

— The Present Village, Formerly Known as French Mills, Part of an Indian Reservation — The Town's Farmers Progressive and Successful — Some of the First Settlers — Fort Covington and the War of 1812 — Fort Covington and Malone Compared — Business Enterprises — Sales of Lands by the State — Industries ■■ — Hotels — Newspapers — The Academy — Transportation Conditions — An Agricultural Society — Murders — Foj4 Covington Office Holders — Arrested for Driving on Sunday — Former Prominent Residents, Including " Old Grimes " — Churches and Societies — Some Unfavorable Conditions.

CHAPTER XVI

Town Erected 1836 — A Sizable Town — A Refuge for Escaped Slaves — A Bribe : Turned Down — A Destructive Fire — A Former Adirondack Gateway — Early and Later Mills ■ — Old Taverns and New Hotels — Stony Wold Sanatorium— A Notable School — Railroads — Many Small Settlements — Churches.

CHAPTER XVII Harrietstown

Town Erected 1841 — Principal Waters — Summer Camps — Railroads — Early Politics and Practices — Settlement and Growth Slow Until 1880 — First Settlers — First Hotels — Industries — Saranac Lake Village and Lake Clear — " Adirondack " Murray and Doctor Trudeau — Their Influence on the Growth of Saranac Lake — The Trudeau Sanatorium- — Village Growth and Improvements — Newspapers — The Philosophers' Club — Churches — Murders.

CHAPTER XVIII

Town Erected 1805 — Derivation of Its Name — Some of the Pioneers — Curiosities of Old Assessment Rolls — The Old Pound — Taxes Paid by Notes — Pen Pictures of the Early Village — Prices from an Old Merchant's Books — Some Early Industries — Community Achievements — Franklin Academy — Other Educational Institutions — War Influences — 1815 an Important Year

— Olla-Podrida — Local Industries — Titusville, Glen Hope or Chasm Falls

— Whippleville — Other Industries — Industries Now in Operation — Water- • Works — The Hotels, Past and Present — Banking — Newspapers — Malone's

More Serious Fires — Murders and Other Homicides — Churches and Other Organizations — The Farrar Home for Deserving Old Ladies — The Alice Hyde Memorial Hospital — Malone in War Times — War Prices — Confederate Raids Apprehended — Malone's Part in the Present War.

Table of Contents vii

OHAPTEE XIX

Town Erected 1828 — Earliest Settlers — Long a " Lawrence Town " — The Hamlets of Molra and Brushton — Railroads — Moira the Mecca of Democratic . Pilgrims — An Old Postmaster's Accounts — Quality of the Town's Citizenry High — A Thompsonian Doctor — Industrial Enterprises — The County's First Sanatorium — A Chalybeate Spring — An Agricultural Society — Murders — Newspapers — Early Hotels — Churches and Church Discipline — Fraternal Organizations.

CHAPTER XX

Town Erected 1888 — Origin of Name — First Settlers — Traces of Military Occupancy — The First Mill and Tavern — An Iron Mine — Humphrey's Landing Now Santa Clara — Upper Saranac — Brandon — Fires at Santa Clara — Patrick A. Ducey and John Hurd — Everton — New Lumbering Methods — Hamlets Almost Deserted — The Rockefeller Private Park — Churches — Vacation Home for Working Girls — Facts and Conjectures about Military Occupancy — Fatal Fires — Murders.

CHAPTEE XXI

WaVEKLY

Town Erected 1880 — Character of Soil and Adaptability to Agriculture — Other Natural Resources and Reforestation — Beginning and Growth of St. Regis Falls — A Murder — Some of the Leading Men of the Town — Churches and Societies — Population.

CHAPTER XXII

Town Erected 18291 — Population — Adapted to Market Gardening — First Settlers and Their Activities — Giant Pine for Ships' Masts — An Iron Forge — Grist and Saw Mills. — Lime and Brick Making — Early Merchants — . Hptels — A Destructive Forest Fire — Societies and Churches.

CHAPTER XXIII

The Saint Regis Reservation and the Saint Regis Indians

The Reservation; How It Was Established — Basis of Indian Claims — Prowess and Ruthlessness of the Mohawks — The State's Contention as to Ownership — The Price the Indians Received — Parts of Reservation Ceded Later to the State — Annuities — The Canadian Saint Regis Reservation ■ — Timber Wasted and Now Scarce — Tha Indians — Adoption of the Name Saint Regis — The Saint Regis Church and the Story of Its Bell — Gifts from France and Rome to the Church and How They Were Lost — The Indians in the Revolutionary War and in the War of 1812 — Indians Who Were Outstanding Figures — The Number of American Saint Regis Indians — Indian Clans and Present Form of Government — Improved Condition of the Indians, with a Better Inclination to Work — The Squaws Better Treated — Benefited by "Kansas Money" — What of the Indians' Future?

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CHAPTEE XXIV Franklin County and the War of 1812

Early Local Military Activities — Operations at Fort Covington and Saint Regis

— General Hampton and General Wilkinson's Operations — The Former Defeated North of Chateaugay, and the Latter at Chrystler's Farm — General Hampton Ran Away — The Campaign Against Montreal Abandoned and the Wilkinson Army Quartered at Fort Covington — An Epidemic of Sickness — Insufficient Medicines, Food and Clothing -^Malone a Hospital Point — Horrible Destitution and Suffering • — General Wilkinson's Abortive Plans — French Mills, Chateaugay and Malone Abandoned by the American Army, Followed by a British Invasion — Malone Panic Stricken — Extracts from the Tompkins Papers — Minor Notes — Pay-Rolls of Franklin County Militia Companies.

CHAPTEE XXV Scandals of an Early Period

The Embargo Act of 1807 More Injurious to the United States Than to England or France — The Act Violated — New England and Northern New York Sentiment Antagonistic to the War of 1812 — Potash Flagrantly Smuggled into Canada — Vast Fraudulent War Claims — " Old Times " Not Better Than the New — Wolf Bounties and the Frauds Perpetrated by the Hunters

— The State and County Robbed — Exposure of the Frauds, and New Bounty Laws.

CHAPTEE XXVI

Arsenal Green, Malone

Boundaries of the Property — Given by Cone Andrus to the State and a Part Lost Under Mortgage Foreclosure, but Recovered — Formerly No Lanes or Driveways, and Those Now Existing Belong within the Park — The Old Arsenal Lot — An Arsenal Built in 1812 — The Arsenal Lot Sold in 1853 — A Political Celebration — Early Militia Conditions — Stories of Old " Training Days " — Some of the Militia Officers — " The Chateaugay Infant " — The Green Quitclaimed by the State to the Village of Malone in 1917.

OHAPTEE XXVII

The Underground Eailroad

Date of Establishment Uncertain — It Flourished Between 1840 and 1860 — Purpose of the Movement, and Methods of Operation — " Stockholders ". " Conductors " and " Station Agents " — Where the Lines Ran ; One Through Malone — Some of the Fugitives — Some of the Franklin County Abolitionists and " Station Agents " and " Stockholders."

OHAPTEE XXVIII

How the First Settler Came to Chateaugay — Early Journeys Required More Days Than They Now Take Hours — Wretched Mail Service — Character of Early Highways — The St. Lawrence Turnpike — The Northwest Bay Road

— The Old Military Road from Plattsburgh to Chateaugay — The Hopkinton and Port Kent Turnpike — Effort to Have a Canal Constructed — Former Navigation Facilities — Agitation for a Railroad, with Success after Twenty Years — Other Movements to Secure Railroad Facilities — Railroads Finally Built — The County Spends Half a Million Dollars for Improved Highways Large Numbers of Automobiles — Horses Disappearing.

Table of Contents ix

OHAPTBB XXIX

The Fenian Eaids

Malone a Rendezvous in 1866 and 1870 — Derivation of the Word "Fenian" — Organization of the Fenian Society — Original Purpose of the Organization — Spread of its Branches or Circles — A New Scheme of Operation Formed and Announced — Preparations in Canada to Repel an Apprehended Invasion— Arrival of Large Numbers of Fenians at Malone — Canadians Believed to Be Spies, and Roughly Handled — Advance upon Canada Abandoned, United States Authorities Having Interfered — Another Movement in 1870 — An Engagement Near Trout River, Resulting in ■ a Fenian Rout — The United States Again Interfered — Fenians Arrested and Imprisoned — Informers and Spies.

OHAPTEE XXX

* The Title, " Dauphin " — Story of the Son of Louis XVI., Known as the " Lost Dauphin " — Over Forty Claimants, of Whom Eleazer Williams Was One — Known Facts about Williams — The Hanson Claim of Williams's Royal Descent — Williams's Own Story of His Life — Assertion of an Amazing Offer — Rev. Mr. Robertson's View — Other Glimpses of Mr. Williams's Life and Personal Appearance — The Mother Declared1 Him to Be Not an Adopted Son, but Her Own Child.

OHAPTEE XXXI

Luther Bradish

An Associate of Thurlow Weed, Millard Fillmore and William H. Seward — Identification with Franklin County — Elected to the Assembly — Speaker of That Body — Then Twice Lieutenant-Governor — Defeated for Governor — An Extensive Traveler — Closing Years of His Life.

OHAPTEE XXXII

William Almon Wheeler

CHAPTEE XXXIII Many Biographical Sketches