THE HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY

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Re: THE HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY

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THE MILITARY AND CIVIL HISTORY OF THE COUNTY OF ESSEX, NEW YORK; and a GENERAL SURVEY OF ITS PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY, ITS MINES AND MINERALS, AND INDUSTRIAL PURSUITS, EMBRACING AN ACCOUNT OF THE NORTHERN WILDERNESS; AND ALSO THE MILITARY ANNALS OF THE FORTRESSES OF CROWN POINT AND TICONDEROGA., continued ...

By WINSLOW C. WATSON.

PART III.

NATURAL HISTORY.
, continued ...

MINERALOLOGY AND GEOLOGY

Quarries.

I have adverted elsewhere to the hyperstene rock of the Adirondacs, as peculiarly adapted, by its durability and exceeding beauty, for building purposes and ornamental work.

If art can succeed in subduing the hard and intractable properties of this stone, and we have seen that experiments have been highly successful in approaching that result, few materials exist more beautiful than portions of the hyperstene, by its rich and glowing texture and by the exquisite coloring, so deeply variegated and singularly blended in its appearance and formation.

The hyperstene, after appearing in a wide range, through various sections of the county, abruptly terminates on the lower An Sable, in contact with the Potsdam sandstone.

The latter, for several miles, formed the walled banks of the Au Sable, and expands widely through the valley.

TO BE CONTINUED ...
thelivyjr
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Re: THE HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY

Post by thelivyjr »

THE MILITARY AND CIVIL HISTORY OF THE COUNTY OF ESSEX, NEW YORK; and a GENERAL SURVEY OF ITS PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY, ITS MINES AND MINERALS, AND INDUSTRIAL PURSUITS, EMBRACING AN ACCOUNT OF THE NORTHERN WILDERNESS; AND ALSO THE MILITARY ANNALS OF THE FORTRESSES OF CROWN POINT AND TICONDEROGA., continued ...

By WINSLOW C. WATSON.

PART III.

NATURAL HISTORY.
, continued ...

MINERALOLOGY AND GEOLOGY

Quarries, continued ...

Keeseville Quarries. The Postdam sandstone is largely quarried in the vicinity of Keeseville, and is exported to a considerable amount.

Lying in a perfect lamination, it may be excavated in large slabs or blocks.

Those sixty feet square are easily obtained.

The strata are so clearly defined and separated, that the only power requisite in raising the stone, is the wedge and lever.

Mr. S. E. Keeler, the occupant of one of the most extensive deposits, informs me, that in the experience of many years, he has never had occasion to use a blast, in excavations on his quarry.

The stone presents, on the horizontal side, a smooth and plane surface.

The stone at Keeseville has usually a yellow-gray coloring, and is found admirably adapted to flagging and building purposes.

It may be procured in slabs or blocks, from an inch to nearly a foot in thickness.

It is asserted that this sandstone is impressed in different sites by very dissimilar qualities, and I am assured, that in some instances, where the Potsdam sandstone has been procured in other localities, and has proved defective, the deficiency has been supplied by stone taken from the Keeseville quarries.

In a recent official paper addressed to the commissioners of the new Capitol, it is stated that "the Potsdam sandstone, in many parts of Clinton county, is too friable for any economical use, beyond furnishing sand for glass making."

I am not prepared to dissent from these strictures in reference to the stone taken from some quarries, but they are not just, if intended to apply to the Keeseville stone.

When first raised, it is slightly soft, not friable, but after exposure to the atmosphere becomes exceedingly hard.

Edifices are now standing, which furnish proof of the firmness and durability of this stone, after an exposure of more than half a century, to storms and the action of the elements.

The material which forms these buildings does not exhibit the most remote appearance of decay or disintegration.

In another passage of the same report, which may be constructed as a general application to the Potsdam sandstone, it is remarked: "Its commonly striped or variegated color offers an objectionable feature for a general use in building."

A solitary specimen of the Keeseville stone occasionally shows a stain from iron, but it is never striped or variegated.

It forms, when care and judgment are exercised in a selection, a soft, warm and beautiful building material in its coloring, that is at once ornamental and enduring.

A quarry of marble is situated upon the premises of Mr. J. N. Macomber in Chesterfield, near Keeseville, and apparently of large extent.

Its coloring is light brown, variegated by white, with a shelly combination, and receives a brilliant polish.

The uncommon appearance and coloring of this marble will probably render it a valuable deposit.

TO BE CONTINUED ...
thelivyjr
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Re: THE HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY

Post by thelivyjr »

THE MILITARY AND CIVIL HISTORY OF THE COUNTY OF ESSEX, NEW YORK; and a GENERAL SURVEY OF ITS PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY, ITS MINES AND MINERALS, AND INDUSTRIAL PURSUITS, EMBRACING AN ACCOUNT OF THE NORTHERN WILDERNESS; AND ALSO THE MILITARY ANNALS OF THE FORTRESSES OF CROWN POINT AND TICONDEROGA., continued ...

By WINSLOW C. WATSON.

PART III.

NATURAL HISTORY
, concluded ...

MINERALOLOGY AND GEOLOGY, concluded ...

Quarries, concluded ...

Clark's Quarry, in Willsboro', is on the margin of Willsboro' bay and is worked by S. W. Clark & Co.

The rock is the Trenton limestone, and embraces two varieties, the Black river and the Birdseye.

The dip of the strata is so slight, that the stone is raised with great facility. 40

A commodious wharf has been erected on the premises, which enables the stone to be shipped at the quarry.

The operations of this concern are very extensive, and usually give employment to from forty to sixty laborers.

The stones frequently excavated at this quarry are of enormous size.

They are exported to various points for material in the construction of public edifices, and for ornamental works, including door steps, columns,, sills and monuments.

In the spring of 1869, the proprietors of this quarry effected a heavy contract with the commissioners for supplying stone to the new Capitol.

They now (autumn, 1869) employ nearly three hundred laborers, and load a canal boat daily from their wharf.

A massive rock from this quarry forms the first foundation stone of the new edifice.

Near the scene of these operations, another quarry of similar stone is worked by the Messrs. Frisbie, for the manufacture of lime.

A large amount of this material is annually burnt at these kilns and exported.

In the town of Essex, another primitive limestone kiln is owned and worked by Messrs. William Hoskin & Co.

Another large and productive quarry of limestone has for many years been worked in Westport.

A quarry of black clouded marble of rare beauty and softness occurs upon the old garrison grounds at Crown Point.

Although nearly a century and a half ago the entrenchments of Fort St. Frederic penetrated a section of this quarry, it has excited no interest, until the attention of the Messrs. Hammond a few years since, was directed to it.

The texture of the stone is firm and consolidated, but so soft and free from grit, that it may be easily carved by a pocket knife.

It opens in large slabs and blocks, receives a high polish, and is adapted for the most delicate fabrics.

This quarry has not been worked.

Another deposit of dark stone, near the river, in Ticonderoga, is extensive and probably valuable.

Harder and less delicate than the marble at Crown Point, it is darker, and appears to be susceptible of a very high finish.

Near the marble deposit in Crown Point, an excellent quarry of limestone is successfully worked.

Many quarries of various kinds of rock not embraced in the above description are worked in the county for local convenience, and the production of lime and others are known to exist, but at present are undeveloped.

40 Rev. A. D. Barber.

TO BE CONTINUED ...
thelivyjr
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Re: THE HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY

Post by thelivyjr »

THE MILITARY AND CIVIL HISTORY OF THE COUNTY OF ESSEX, NEW YORK; and a GENERAL SURVEY OF ITS PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY, ITS MINES AND MINERALS, AND INDUSTRIAL PURSUITS, EMBRACING AN ACCOUNT OF THE NORTHERN WILDERNESS; AND ALSO THE MILITARY ANNALS OF THE FORTRESSES OF CROWN POINT AND TICONDEROGA., continued ...

By WINSLOW C. WATSON.

PART IV.

INDUSTRIAL PROGRESS AND RESOURCES.


The earliest business associations of northern New York were connected with the markets of the St. Lawrence.

The illimitable forests of Essex county presented the first field to the settler for the efforts of industry, and has continued to their successors an inexhaustible source of enterprise and wealth.

The lumber trade with Canada commenced soon after the permanent occupation of the country subsequent to the revolution.

It enlisted for many years almost the whole energies of the population.

The public lands yielded a rich and free harvest to those who entered upon them, while the rights of private owners of wild lands were regarded with exceeding laxity.

Norway pine and oak were at that time principally esteemed for the Canadian trade.

White pine had little comparative value.

The oak sticks, prepared for the northern market, were hewn.

The pines were designed for the navy of England, and were transported to Quebec, round, and of any length exceeding twenty feet.

Spars of vast dimensions were exported from the shores of Lake Champlain, and sold to the agents of the British government, probably to form "The mast of some tall admiral."

The winter season was chiefly devoted to preparing and collecting these materials, and the whole force of the teams and labor of the country was put in requisition for the object.

The timber was gathered in coves or low marshes, protected from the winds and floods of early spring, and there formed into immense rafts.

Deals or thick planks of pine, and oak staves were ultimately manufactured, and exported to the same market.

TO BE CONTINUED ...
thelivyjr
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Re: THE HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY

Post by thelivyjr »

THE MILITARY AND CIVIL HISTORY OF THE COUNTY OF ESSEX, NEW YORK; and a GENERAL SURVEY OF ITS PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY, ITS MINES AND MINERALS, AND INDUSTRIAL PURSUITS, EMBRACING AN ACCOUNT OF THE NORTHERN WILDERNESS; AND ALSO THE MILITARY ANNALS OF THE FORTRESSES OF CROWN POINT AND TICONDEROGA., continued ...

By WINSLOW C. WATSON.

PART IV.

INDUSTRIAL PROGRESS AND RESOURCES
, continued ...

These articles were arranged in cribs, and transported with the rafts or piled upon its surface.

The rafts were often of great size.

They were propelled through the lake by sails and oars, and were borne by the current and tide down the Sorel and St. Lawrence river.

In passing the rapids of the former, the rafts were partially taken asunder.

The strong currents of the St. Lawrence impelled them rapidly down that stream, but the turbulent tides near Quebec often swept them beyond the havens of that city, with great danger, and at times a total loss.

These catastrophes were not unfrequent.

The average price at Quebec, of oak timber, was forty cents per cubic foot, and that of pine, about twenty cents.

The timber cost, delivered upon the shores of Lake Champlain, from six to eight cents, and the transportation from thence to Quebec, was about two and a half cents in addition, per cubic foot.

The profit of this traffic seems to have been exorbitant, yet singularly, it proved to most who engaged in it, unfortunate and disastrous.

The magnitude and activity of this business rapidly exhausted the masses of timber contiguous to the lake, and spars and timber were eventually transported from forests fifteen miles in the interior, to the place of rafting.

Small rafts of spars and dock stick, formed of the scattered relics of the original forests, are still annually collected and carried to the southern market.

No decked vessel, it is stated, navigated Lake Champlain seventy years ago.

The insignificant commerce which at that period existed upon its waters, was conducted in cutters, piraguas, and bateaux.

Few wharves had then been constructed.

TO BE CONTINUED ...
thelivyjr
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Re: THE HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY

Post by thelivyjr »

THE MILITARY AND CIVIL HISTORY OF THE COUNTY OF ESSEX, NEW YORK; and a GENERAL SURVEY OF ITS PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY, ITS MINES AND MINERALS, AND INDUSTRIAL PURSUITS, EMBRACING AN ACCOUNT OF THE NORTHERN WILDERNESS; AND ALSO THE MILITARY ANNALS OF THE FORTRESSES OF CROWN POINT AND TICONDEROGA., continued ...

By WINSLOW C. WATSON.

PART IV.

INDUSTRIAL PROGRESS AND RESOURCES
, continued ...

The emigrants desiring to land their stock, were often compelled to approach some favorable position, and throwing the animals overboard, swim them to the shore.

In the more sparsely settled districts, vessels freighted with salt would anchor in same adjacent cove, and announce its presence to the inhabitants, who were often compelled to haul their grain on sleds through the woods, to barter for the salt.

In this interchange, a bushel of wheat usually purchased a bushel of salt. 1

The merchant visiting the southern market for goods, before the introduction of steamers upon the lake, which occurred in 1809, consumed generally a month on the journey.

The return of the merchandise was still more protracted.

This journey was often performed on horseback, and occasionally by a chance vessel.

The goods were transported in winter by sleighs, and at other seasons by water, from Whitehall.

The village of Essex, for a series of years, was the important business mart of this entire region.

The construction of the Champlain canal gave a different direction, and imparted a new character to the lumbering operations of northern New York.

Norway pine became subordinate in value to the white pine.

The Quebec trade yielded to the new avenues opened to our own marts.

Finer articles of lumber were prepared for the southern markets.

The lumber business in its changed aspect again became the paramount occupation of the country.

Innumerable saw-mills were erected, and the forests of white pine were demolished with as much rapidity as the Norway pine had been at an earlier day, to supply the Quebec market.

1 Norman Page, Esq.

TO BE CONTINUED ...
thelivyjr
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Re: THE HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY

Post by thelivyjr »

THE MILITARY AND CIVIL HISTORY OF THE COUNTY OF ESSEX, NEW YORK; and a GENERAL SURVEY OF ITS PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY, ITS MINES AND MINERALS, AND INDUSTRIAL PURSUITS, EMBRACING AN ACCOUNT OF THE NORTHERN WILDERNESS; AND ALSO THE MILITARY ANNALS OF THE FORTRESSES OF CROWN POINT AND TICONDEROGA., continued ...

By WINSLOW C. WATSON.

PART IV.

INDUSTRIAL PROGRESS AND RESOURCES
, continued ...

The amount and value of the various fabrics, the produce of the forest, which have been transported by the Champlain canal from Essex county, are almost inappreciable.

The exhaustion of the forests accessible from Lake Champlain, has constrained the lumber manufacturer to seek his resources in the wilds of the interior.

Logs are now floated from the most remote districts of Franklin county down the Saranac river and through a portion of Essex county, to supply the mills on that stream.

State bounty has been extended with munificence to aid in opening that wilderness to this policy, by important improvements in the navigation of the Saranac, Raquette, and other rivers, which penetrate that territory.

A large and valuable tract of timber land lying in the confines of Wilmington and North Elba, spreads along the acclivities and for many miles around the base of the Whiteface mountain.

This is the only district of extent or value occupied by the primitive forest of pine, spruce, and hemlock, now remaining of Essex county and accessible.

Environed by lofty mountain barriers, it is impracticable to export manufactured lumber from this region.

It is estimated that this tract may yield one million of saw logs.

The numerous and widely diffused branches of the Hudson have annually appropriated for the transit of a very large amount of logs.

Insignificant mountain rivulets swollen by the spring freshets, are converted into valuable mediums for this purpose, by the adroit management of the experienced lumberman.

TO BE CONTINUED ...
thelivyjr
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Re: THE HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY

Post by thelivyjr »

THE MILITARY AND CIVIL HISTORY OF THE COUNTY OF ESSEX, NEW YORK; and a GENERAL SURVEY OF ITS PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY, ITS MINES AND MINERALS, AND INDUSTRIAL PURSUITS, EMBRACING AN ACCOUNT OF THE NORTHERN WILDERNESS; AND ALSO THE MILITARY ANNALS OF THE FORTRESSES OF CROWN POINT AND TICONDEROGA., continued ...

By WINSLOW C. WATSON.

PART IV.

INDUSTRIAL PROGRESS AND RESOURCES
, continued ...

Whiskey.

In the early part of the century numerous distilleries existed in the county, but the business was the most active in the town of Wilmington.

The tillage of the town was almost wholly devoted to the production of rye, to supply these works.

During the war of 1812, the manufacture of whiskey was an extensive and highly lucrative occupation.

I am not aware that a single distillery now exists in the county of Essex.

TO BE CONTINUED ...
thelivyjr
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Re: THE HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY

Post by thelivyjr »

THE MILITARY AND CIVIL HISTORY OF THE COUNTY OF ESSEX, NEW YORK; and a GENERAL SURVEY OF ITS PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY, ITS MINES AND MINERALS, AND INDUSTRIAL PURSUITS, EMBRACING AN ACCOUNT OF THE NORTHERN WILDERNESS; AND ALSO THE MILITARY ANNALS OF THE FORTRESSES OF CROWN POINT AND TICONDEROGA., continued ...

By WINSLOW C. WATSON.

PART IV.

INDUSTRIAL PROGRESS AND RESOURCES
, continued ...

Potashes.

While the county was passing through its transition from a primitive state to cultivation, the forest yielded a highly lucrative and available resource, in the manufacture of potash.

Prohibited exportation by the non-intercourse policy of our own government, this traffic was illicit; but, stimulated by the exorbitant prices which the exigencies of the British affairs attached to the article in the Canadian market, an immense quantity found its way from northern New York into Montreal.

This manufacture occupied a large portion of the population in its various connections, while the excitement existed, which was alone terminated by the final declaration of war in 1812.

As a distinct business it is now nearly abandoned.

A conflagration of the woods presents a scene in the highest degree imposing and terrific, and often inflicts destructive ravages upon the pursuits of the manufacturer, as well as the products of agriculture.

In certain periods of the year, the dried leaves and other combustible materials of the forest form an inflammable mass, which spreads a flame with inconceivable celerity.

Impelled by the wind, which constantly accumulates in vehemence, its progress is so rapid that neither man nor beast is secure of safety in flight.

It spreads widely its column of flame as it advances.

It seizes upon tops of the loftiest trees, and leaping from object to object, it laps up every combustible substance, far in advance of the body of the conflagration.

Sparks borne by the whirlwind for furlongs, start new fires.

Immense amounts of property, comprising timber, lumber, wood, dwellings, fences, crops of grain and grass are often in a few hours consumed by these inflictions.

The intense heat of these fires, by consuming all the organic elements of the soil, frequently destroys for many years the fertility of the earth.

TO BE CONTINUED ...
thelivyjr
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Re: THE HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY

Post by thelivyjr »

THE MILITARY AND CIVIL HISTORY OF THE COUNTY OF ESSEX, NEW YORK; and a GENERAL SURVEY OF ITS PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY, ITS MINES AND MINERALS, AND INDUSTRIAL PURSUITS, EMBRACING AN ACCOUNT OF THE NORTHERN WILDERNESS; AND ALSO THE MILITARY ANNALS OF THE FORTRESSES OF CROWN POINT AND TICONDEROGA., continued ...

By WINSLOW C. WATSON.

PART IV.

INDUSTRIAL PROGRESS AND RESOURCES
, continued ...

Iron Manufactories.

The progress of the iron manufacturing interests of Essex has not been commensurate with the resources indicated by its immense mineral wealth.

In the comparative infancy of a country, this advance could not be expected.

Specific causes, however, have exerted an influence which has largely tended to arrest the general manufacturing prosperity of northern New York.

The great absence formerly of capital, which is the essential basis of extended manufacturing operations, the remoteness of the district from the centre of business, and the want of all artificial channels of intercourse, were very obvious reasons for this depression.

Lake Champlain has furnished the only medium for transportation to markets, and the closing of that navigation for nearly six months of the year suspended all transit, and left the productions of the manufactories for that long term upon the hands of the producers.

In all these aspects the changes are most auspicious.

Capital is more abundant, and the rail roads now in progress of rapid construction will soon open this sequestered region to a certain and ready intercourse with the world, and animate its slumbering resources.

In pursuing my contemplated plan, I propose, in the succeeding pages to present a brief outline of the origin, progress and existing condition of the iron manufactories of Essex county with an incidental view, of all its industrial interests.

While the magnitude and prominence of the iron interest will demand particular consideration, I design in noticing the more prominent localities, to embrace an account of other important manufactories connected with them, either in business or by territorial affinities.

The numerous affluents of the Au Sable, descending impetuously from high and often mountainous sources, form in their course an infinitude of water privileges.

The river itself, for a considerable extent, is the boundary line between the counties of Clinton and Essex.

In treating of the valuable manufacturing works situated in the Au Sable valley, I find it impracticable to separate those essentially located on the north side of the river, from those standing specifically on the soil of Essex county.

The dams usually rest upon the territory of each county; the interests of these establishments directly affect, and are intimately associated with both counties, and their immense business movements extend their operations widely through all the adjacent territory on either side of the stream.

In describing, therefore, the manufacturing interests, of Essex county, I am compelled, in this view, to include all that belongs to the Au Sable valley.

TO BE CONTINUED ...
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