THE POT BELLY STOVE ROOM

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HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY WITH ILLUSTRATIONS AND BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF SOME OF ITS PROMINENT MEN AND PIONEERS, continued ...

EDITED BY H. P. SMITH

1885

CHAPTER XXV. HISTORY OF THE PATENT AND TOWN OF QUEENSBURY., continued ...

He (William Robards) is buried in the little enclosure at the Round Pond.

In his docket is a record which goes to show that he looked with little favor upon the evil of intoxication.

It reads as follows: "Washington county."

"Be it remembered that on the 10th day of September in the year of our Lord 1805 * * * * was convicted before me Wm. Robards one of the Justices of the Peace in and for the County aforesaid on my view for being drunk in the town of Queensbury in said county on the day aforesaid."

"Given under my hand and seal the day and year above written."

This was followed by other entries of a similar character.

The convictions become of some importance when we remember that they were adjudged at a time when intoxication was not considered the exception to general good conduct, as at the present time.

It will have been seen by the foregoing pages that with the opening of the century, settlement had rapidly progressed in this town; and before the end of the first decade, the tide had turned to a great extent from the fiat, alluvial lands of the "Genesee country," which were gaining a reputation for unhealthiness, northward along the old military road and the newer forest pathways, where not half a century before armies were marching and countermarching, leaving battle-fields behind them as mementoes of their sanguinary strife.

Glens Falls was then a thriving hamlet and settlers had located in many other parts of the town, while the sites of the now populous cities of Syracuse, Rochester, Cleveland and Cincinnati were almost uninhabited wastes.

The vast pine forests hereabouts offered irresistible attractions to hardy lumbermen, and the almost unlimited water power turned the numerous wheels of mammoth sawmills on every hand. 39

Spafford's Gazetteer of New York, published in 1813, says in reference to Glens Falls at that time: "On the north shore [of the Hudson] are 2 saw-mills, the one a gang mill with 21 saws, a trip hammer, and a very valuable grain mill, with 4 running stones is now building on the site of the old one, by Gen. Pettit, the enterprising proprietor of the other mills."

And the same work further says upon this topic, that there were twenty-three saw-mills in active operation in the town of Queensbury in 1810, six of which were located on the outlet of the "Great Pond."

Large quantities of lumber were also manufactured at that date in Luzerne and Hadley, which was drawn around the "Big Falls," rafted down to the Bend, taken out and drawn overland to Fort Edward, where it was again made into rafts and floated to market; all of this created an era of activity unusual in settlements no older than this.

39 Rev. Dr. Dwight traveled through this region in 1798, and thus expressed himself: "Thursday, Oct. 4, 1798, we left Sandy Hill, and rode two miles and a half up the Hudson, to see the cataract, called, from a respectable man living in the neighborhood, Glen's Falls. . . Almost immediately above the cataract is erected a dam eight or ten feet in height for the accommodation of a long train of mills on the north, and a small number on the south bank.'' In contrast with this is what the same observer wrote in 1811: "At Fort Edward, Sandy Hill and Glen's Falls, there are three handsome villages, greatly improved in every respect since my last journey through this region."

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Re: THE POT BELLY STOVE ROOM

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HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY WITH ILLUSTRATIONS AND BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF SOME OF ITS PROMINENT MEN AND PIONEERS, continued ...

EDITED BY H. P. SMITH

1885

CHAPTER XXV. HISTORY OF THE PATENT AND TOWN OF QUEENSBURY., continued ...

In all new communities the principal business of town officers is the laying out of roads and improving those already opened.

Highways are almost the first and prime necessity of the pioneers.

The town records of Queensbury for the first quarter of a century after its existence as a town are largely comprised of road statistics — too voluminous for us to attempt their reproduction.

Reference has already been made to the several earliest roads.

In 1796 we find record of a "road beginning at the north end of a piece of land sold by James Ferriss to Nehemiah Platt, beginning upon the town line between Kingsbury and Queensbury, and running south," etc.

In the same year is recorded the opening of a "road beginning at the center of what is called the four corners by Benjamin Wing's store, and running," etc.

This was surveyed by Reuben Beck.

Another began "at the crotch of the roads south of Josiah Vernor's store."

In 1806 the road districts were somewhat altered by Joel Winship and Henry Spencer, as commissioners, and a new district formed.

Three new roads were opened in that year, while in the year 1802 there were about twelve roads laid out; in 1803 fifteen, and so on.

In 1808 there were twenty-seven road districts; in 1842 thirty-nine.

In 1813 the first newspaper in Warren county, always the accompaniment of industrial enterprise and vigorous growth, was started at Glens Falls, as the reader has already learned in the pages devoted to the press of the county.

In that year the county was organized, and general prosperity and thrift prevailed on every hand.

Other industries sprang into existence; a cotton factory was established, of which John A. Ferriss and a Mr. Gould, of Albany, were proprietors.

Here cotton yarn was merely spun at first and distributed to the busy housewives, who wove it into cloth.

With the war prices of that period, "factory cloth" commanded from fifty to seventy-five cents a yard.

About 1830 looms were introduced and cloth was made for exportation.

The factory, which stood on the south side of the river, was burned in 1832.

Dr. Bethuel Peck had charge of this business for a number of years. 40

A distillery, also, was in operation at this early day.

It was run by a man named Pease, who subsequently removed to Vermont, according to the memory of early inhabitants.

Such an establishment was needed in olden times, when whisky was consumed in a large majority of families, and no public occasion was considered as properly conducted without a supply of spirits.

Wool-carding and cloth-dressing were carried on "on the east side of the north end of the bridge," by Forbes & Gookin, Messrs., White & Winston being proprietors.

All this indicates clearly the general thrift and progress, when the country was again stirred by mutterings of war.

It was but natural that this region should be affected by the approaching struggle, and enlistments began in the county, while general industrial progress and the advancement of settlement was for a time checked.

40 Bethuel Peck was son of Daniel Peck, who was originally from New Hampshire and was a Revolutionary soldier. Dr. Holden says: "It is not known with certainty what causes led the subject of this sketch to Glens Falls, but it is believed that he was brought along by some of the return gangs of raftsmen, who, in the early days of the settlement here, rafted the lumber to market down the Hudson River. He acted for a time as office boy for Dr. Levi Rugg, with whom he then continued the study of medicine, and after attending lectures at Fairfield, N.Y., he received his diploma. He was elected to the State Senate in 1839 for a term of four years. He afterwards erected a brick building in Glens Falls, to which he gave the name of 'the Glens Falls Druggist,' and, associated with Dr. Mr. R. Peck, carried on that business for a number of years. He died July 11th, 1862."

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Re: THE POT BELLY STOVE ROOM

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HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY WITH ILLUSTRATIONS AND BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF SOME OF ITS PROMINENT MEN AND PIONEERS, continued ...

EDITED BY H. P. SMITH

1885

CHAPTER XXV. HISTORY OF THE PATENT AND TOWN OF QUEENSBURY., continued ...

A fac simile of one number of the early newspaper mentioned is in existence.

It consists of four pages, each about four by seven inches.

The subscription price was $1.50 a year.

In this number (dated September 23d, 1813) is a call for volunteers (as detailed in the preceding general county history of that period); a sheriff's writ against the personal property and title to lot 19, in the town of Athol, belonging to David Cook; the announcement that the first and second squadrons of cavalry (Seventh Regiment) would parade at Fort Miller Falls on the 28th; the marriage notice of Jonathan M'Comber, of Queensbury, and Lydia Newton, of Kingsbury, by Daniel D. Scott, esq.; and several advertisements.

Miss Rice returns thanks for the liberal support of her school at Glenns Falls and announces its removal to the second floor of the academy.

"Terms of tuition, two dollars per quarter.''

Forbes & Gookin advertise "cotton carding done at the cloth factory of White & Winston, on the east side of the bridge at Glenns Falls."

Avery Benedict advertises his drug store, and adds that "Saratoga and Ballston Mineral Waters are constantly kept."

The regular meeting of the Mechanical Association is announced to be "held at John Derby's hotel; H. Spencer, 2d, secretary."

Other marriages noticed were those of Joseph S. Winston to Jane Ann Lewis; William Tierce to Sally Stewart; John Velie to Hannah Brown, and Joel Dean to Susan Brown.

The only editorial is devoted to a bitter criticism of the war.

The following is a characteristic extract from it: "What then is at this moment our real situation?"

"At the end of two campaigns, which have been attended with an expense of more than $80,000,000, and of more than 10,000 lives; at the expiration of two years of war — of a war whose avowed object was the conquest of the Canadas, of a Country containing less than one-fourteenth our population, we find ourselves, through the valor of our generous seamen, in possession of Lake Erie and of two inconsiderable forts."

Notwithstanding "war prices'' and the general effects of a war era, local improvements were not neglected and settlement soon regained its former activity.

The lumbering interest was developed to a marvelous business and furnished a majority of those who became prominent and wealthy citizens with the means for their material advancement.

Mercantile establishments multiplied and domestic manufactures increased as the demands of the town grew in extent, and few localities in the State gave better promise for the future.

At the time when the resources of the State were so materially advanced through the building of the Erie and the Northern, or Champlain, Canals Glens Falls was one of the most populous and thrifty villages in northern New York, and the town at large partook of the same prosperity.

The construction of the Glens Falls Feeder was a source of congratulation and satisfaction not only in this town, but throughout the county; it brought cheap and convenient means of transportation directly to the doors of the village and gave an impetus to all industries.

Boats passed through the feeder in 1830; but it was not finished in its present dimensions until 1832. 41

41 "It affords us much gratification to announce to the inhabitants of this county, that a canal boat passed safely through the thirteen locks in the Glens Falls Feeder; a number of gentlemen from Sandy Hill and this place availed themselves of a passage on the boat, to witness a sight which had long been desired but which they had almost relinquished the hope of beholding. The prospect of this work being finished cannot fail of proving a matter of much rejoicing to this county, as a navigable feeder is of deep importance to its present as well as its future prosperity. From an examination of the locks we confidently expect in a few days to have the pleasure of announcing an uninterrupted passage from and to this place, which, if finally accomplished, cannot but reflect credit on Colonel Sherwood, under whose superintendence it has been effected." — Warren County Messenger, Nov. 4, 1830.

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Re: THE POT BELLY STOVE ROOM

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HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY WITH ILLUSTRATIONS AND BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF SOME OF ITS PROMINENT MEN AND PIONEERS, continued ...

EDITED BY H. P. SMITH

1885

CHAPTER XXV. HISTORY OF THE PATENT AND TOWN OF QUEENSBURY., continued ...

So important was this water-way considered that weekly arrivals and departures of boats were chronicled in the press, and there was a general feeling of relief from the former restricted commercial situation.

Transportation companies were formed and a heavy business transacted in this line.

It was about this time, also, that the inhabitants of the county first had their hopes raised by the project of building a railroad from Saratoga Springs to Glens Falls.

It is quite probable that this enterprise was a direct result of the building of the feeder; one successful project of this character is very apt to lead to others.

Under date of January 25th, 1831, the following notice appeared in the Messenger:

"Notice of application to Legislature to incorporate the subscribers and their associates as a company to make a railroad from Saratoga Springs to Glens Falls with the privilege of extending the same to the head of Lake George and also from the outlet of Lake George to Lake Champlain." "John Baird, Peter B. Threehouse."

It was more than thirty-five years later before Warren county was given railroad communication with the distant world; but the community was continually awakened during that period with announcements similar to the above.

In the absence of swifter transportation, a line of stages was put on about this time to run between Glens Falls and Troy.

The stages made trips on alternate days for some time.

During this same period and, indeed, for some years later, wolves and panthers were still being slain within the limits of the county, if not in this town.

The newspapers chronicled in 1837 the destruction of an old panther and two young ones in Johnsburgh, and another was killed on the shore of Lake George in Bolton about the same time.

The financial crisis in 1837 was greatly felt in this region and many were brought from wealth to penury, through the weakness of commercial credit and general depreciation of every kind of security.

Prices of the necessaries of life advanced enormously; money was very scarce and a period of financial distress ensued from which recovery was the process of several years.

From this time on to the present, the annals of the town reflect a steady, healthful growth in all material directions, as will be seen, with only the shadow of the great Rebellion, which for five years overwhelmed the entire country.

Of this momentous struggle we have given a general account, as it relates to the county at large; and fortunately, before it became impossible, Dr. Holden accumulated most valuable statistics of the part taken in the war by the town of Queensbury, which here find their appropriate place.

"With the tidings of the fall of Fort Sumter, a call was made, numerously signed by citizens of the village, irrespective of party, for a public meeting at Numan's Hall, a building which stood on what is now mostly a vacant space, between Cosgrove Music Hall, and the Glens Falls Opera House."

"A large and enthusiastic meeting, presided over by the Hon. Keyes P. Cool, resolved that this community should do its share and be fully represented in the coming struggle."

Two persons, namely, the writer of this book 42 and Mr. George Clendon received authorizations from the adjutant-general of the State to raise companies in response the first call of the president for volunteers.

The ranks were speedily filled and the companies mustered for service by Colonel H.K. Colvin of the Thirty-first New York Militia.

They were joined by another company (I) of stalwart men from the north part of Warren and Essex counties.

These three companies received the honors of an ovation given them by the citizens of the village, a purse was made up and given to each company, and they were escorted to Fort Edward by the fire department of the place.

The same day they reached the military rendezvous at Troy, where in due time they consolidated, as Companies E and F, with other companies from the neighborhood and formed the Twenty-second Regiment N.Y. Vols, under the command of Colonel Walter Phelps, jr., of Glens Falls.

It subsequently formed a part of the famous Iron Brigade of the First Division, and First Army Corps. 43

42 Dr. A. W. Holden.

43 "With the first enlistment of two years' volunteers, as there was no bounty, either local, State or general, offered, recruits were backward in offering their services, until guarantees were given that in case of their death or disability their families should be provided for. This assurance was met by two subscription papers amounting to about ten thousand dollars each. Of this sum nearly one-half was collected and disbursed; the bounty system then coming in, dispensed with the need of any further assessments or collections."

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Re: THE POT BELLY STOVE ROOM

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HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY WITH ILLUSTRATIONS AND BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF SOME OF ITS PROMINENT MEN AND PIONEERS, continued ...

EDITED BY H. P. SMITH

1885

CHAPTER XXV. HISTORY OF THE PATENT AND TOWN OF QUEENSBURY., continued ...

"From that time forward, scattering recruits from Queensbury were continually pouring to the front, filling the ranks of the regular army, supplying deficient quotas from other sections of the State and county at large."

With the progress of the war, 44 and its prospective continuance, new calls were made, new levies demanded.

The question was no longer one of patriotism, the claim was obligatory, its effect compulsory; month by month new regiments were raised, and new companies furnished.

Nearly an entire company of Glens Falls boys was recruited for a District of Columbia regiment.

"The Ninety-first, Ninety-third, Ninety-sixth, One Hundred and Fifteenth, One Hundred and Eighteenth, One Hundred and Twenty-fifth, One Hundred and Fifty-third, One Hundred and Fifty-sixth, One Hundred and Sixty-ninth and One Hundred and Ninety-second Regiments were represented by companies or detachments of Glens Falls volunteers, while scattering representatives might have been found in half the regiments of the State, and every branch of the service.

After the boys in blue began to return home from expired enlistments, many of them reentered the army, resolved to see the thing through.

In this way what was known as the veteran regiments were speedily filled out and returned to do good service in the war.

In this way the Second New York Veteran Cavalry, and Sixteenth New York Heavy Artillery received large accessions from this vicinity.

The volunteer system of 1861 was found on brief trial to be entirely inadequate to the exigencies of the war.

It took, however, a long time before all the machinery incidental to a new and hitherto untried system worked itself into thorough and harmonious operation.

No quotas were assigned, and no records, coming within the scope of this article, were kept either by the State, or general government in that or the following years.

It was not until March, 1863, that the general government made an enrollment, and through its provost marshal in each Congressional District began its assignment of quotas.

The following statistics appear on the files of the adjutant-general's department at Albany for the year 1862:

Population of the town of Queensbury 7,146
Number enrolled liable to military duty 1,107
Number of exempts embraced in above return 86
Number liable to draft 1,021
Quota of Queensbury under the calls of July and August, 1862, 221 [45]
Number furnished to fill quota as above 208
Deficit carried forward 13

44 1 "One of the early efforts of the war was the issue of vast volumes of paper currency which speedily became known as greenbacks. A counter result was the almost immediate withdrawal from circulation of the specie of the country even to the copper and nickel issue. The consequence was, a great temporary distress for the want of small change. The country was flooded in a few weeks with a bogus brass currency, composed of tradesmen's cards. Postage stamps for large and small amounts were temporarily used, and one enterprising manufacturer of nostrums went so far as to enclose them in metalic cases bearing the stamped names of the remedies. In this emergency, the corporate authorities of Glens Falls issued in the fall of 1862, what were known as corporation shinplasters, to the amount of $5,000, in denominations of fifty, twenty-five, ten and five cents. With the issue of postal currency by the general government, came a general law forbidding corporations or individuals from circulating such money, so it was called in and cancelled the following year." Statement (October 20th, 1864) of the amount of fractional currency issued and redeemed by the village of Glens Falls and the expenses incurred in issuing the same:
Whole amount of fractional currency issued $5,129 10
Interest accrued and deposits $74 30
Total $5,203 40
Bills redeemed $4,703 05
Expense printing, etc $390 15
Total $5193 20
Balance $101 20
Leaving unredeemed $326 05

45 "The call in July was for three hundred thousand three years' men. The call in August was for three hundred thousand nine months' men. These two amounts were consolidated in one assignment and equalized, so that an enlistment for three years represented and was equivalent to four enlistments at nine months. There were but very few nine months' troops mustered from this State. The large proportion were three years' men."

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Re: THE POT BELLY STOVE ROOM

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HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY WITH ILLUSTRATIONS AND BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF SOME OF ITS PROMINENT MEN AND PIONEERS, continued ...

EDITED BY H. P. SMITH

1885

CHAPTER XXV. HISTORY OF THE PATENT AND TOWN OF QUEENSBURY., continued ...

During that dark period of the Rebellion which preceded the emancipation proclamation, Governor Morgan appointed in each Senatorial District a committee of three gentlemen, who, in conjunction with sub-committees designated by them in each county, were known as the war committee, whose business seems to have been, without any specifically defined duties, to assist in making up the complement of troops required of each locality.

The late Halsey R. Wing was the member who represented Queensbury on that committee, and very efficiently and patriotically did he discharge that duty, for, besides his time, his labor and his money, he gave his two sons, Edgar Murray and George Henry, as an offering upon the altar of his country.

There at length came a time in our history when money had to be raised to pay bounties, in order to save the trouble and reproach of a draft.

A special town meeting for this purpose was called on the 26th of July, 1864 (less than three months after the great fire which had burned out the heart of our village, and destroyed upwards of one million dollars worth of property) at which one hundred thousand dollars were voted to pay the volunteers. 46

Bonds were issued representing this sum, and twice to its credit be it said, that these securities were all quickly taken at home, and have long since been canceled.

At the town meeting referred to, the following gentlemen were chosen as a permanent war committee of the town, whose services, onerous, arduous and responsible, were continued to the end of the war, viz: Jerome Lapham, Halsey R. Wing, William A. Wait, I.J. Davis, George Conery, Lifelet Harris, F.A. Johnson, jr., Stephen Brown, R.M. Little.

Most of these gentlemen gave a large percentage of their time to this undertaking.

They offered bounties, and expended money to pay volunteers, sent agents both north and south to procure substitutes and fill the quotas required by the draft; looked after the soldiers' families at home, and superintended the investment and liquidation of the town bonds.

46 Of this amount the Glens Falls Bank took shares amounting to $13,225, the Commercial Bank $16,400. The balance was taken by private parties, the Hon. Jerome Lapham alone bearing upwards of ten thousand dollars of the amount. The bonds were so apportioned that an equal proportion matured each year until they were all cancelled. Besides the amount already specified other sums were appropriated during the same year as appears by the following resolutions passed at the annual town meeting:
"'Resolved, That there be raised $109.60 for to pay expenses in recruiting Capt. Fassett's company.'"
"'Resolved, That there be raised $108.87 to pay expenses in recruiting Capt. Arlin's company.'"
"'Resolved, That there be raised $106.42 to pay expenses in recruiting Capt. D. Cameron's company.'"
"'Resolved, That there be raised $109.80 to pay George Conery and William Cosgrove for taking up a note drawn by M.W. Coville for recruiting purposes.'"
"'Resolved, That there be raised $1,354.73 to pay a note dated Dec. 20, 1862.'"
"'Resolved, That there be raised $7,015 to pay a note drawn for bounty money.'"
"'Resolved, That there be raised $1,890.12 to pay a note held by Jerome Lapham.'"
"'Resolved, That there be levied and raised $4,845 to pay note in the Commercial Bank drawn by citizens for bounty of $300 each.'"
"'Resolved, That there be raised $612.32 to pay note given to pay expenses of reception of 22d Regiment.'"
At a special town meeting held December 19th, 1864, the following resolutions were passed:
"'Resolved, That the sum of $30,000 be raised by the town for the purpose of paying bounties into the military and naval service of the United States.'"
"'Resolved, That this money be collected in five equal installments of $6,000 each with the amount of interest unpaid thereon.'"
"'Resolved, That $2,467.76 be raised for the purpose of paying bounties.'"

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Re: THE POT BELLY STOVE ROOM

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HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY WITH ILLUSTRATIONS AND BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF SOME OF ITS PROMINENT MEN AND PIONEERS, continued ...

EDITED BY H. P. SMITH

1885

CHAPTER XXV. HISTORY OF THE PATENT AND TOWN OF QUEENSBURY., continued ...

At the termination of the war there remained a considerable balance in the treasury, and chiefly through the active agency of the late Halsey R. Wing, it was decided after due deliberation to appropriate it to the erection of a soldiers' monument.

The subject was submitted to the action of the annual town meeting held 6th March, 1866, when the following resolutions were submitted to the people and adopted:

Resolved, That to commemorate the services and sacrifices of the soldiers of Queensbury, who during the war of 1861—65 fell in battle or died from wounds received or disease contracted in defense of the Union; and in memory of our late fellow citizens Daniel V. Brown and Edward Riggs, who, while going to South Carolina as agents of the town under the directions of the town war committee, were lost at sea on the eighth day of January, 1865, the sum of eight thousand dollars be and the same hereby is appropriated by this town meeting, towards defraying the expense of erecting a suitable monument or cenotaph in such appropriate place as can be procured in or near the village of Glens Falls.

Resolved, That the sum of five thousand two hundred and sixty-four dollars and thirty-nine cents, military funds, in the hands of the supervisor, be appropriated toward the monument.

Resolved, That Jerome Lapham, R.M. Little, Wm. A. Wait, Lifelet Harris, Stephen Brown, I.J. Davis, George Conery, H.R Wing, the members of the town war committee now residing in town, and M.B. Little in place of F.A. Johnson, jr., no longer a resident here, be and they are hereby appointed a committee to receive the said funds and according to their discretion disburse the same for the purpose of this appropriation.

Resolved, That the Legislature be and hereby is requested to legalize by law the appropriation made by the foregoing resolutions and that a copy of them be transmitted by the town clerk to our Member of Assembly, the Hon. David Aldrich, for presentation to the Legislature.

Resolved, That there be raised two hundred and sixty dollars and seventy-eight cents to indemnify the loss of Edward Riggs to be paid to his sister Ellen Riggs.

Resolved, That there be raised three hundred and twenty-nine dollars and five cents to indemnify Daniel V. Brown for the loss of his private property, the same to be paid to Mrs. D.V. Brown.

Resolved, That there be raised one hundred and twenty-five dollars to indemnify William Cosgrove for a gold watch, lost with D.V. Brown at the time of his death.

The committee above named, after examining several designs and exerting careful and mature deliberation in the premises, adopted a plan (with some alterations) which was submitted by R.T. Baxter, at that time a resident of the village, a dealer in and manufacturer of marble and monumental work and entirely familiar with the business in all its details, and having made his specification and propositions, he was at length commissioned to erect the monument.

He at once embarked in the enterprise con amore, traveled far and wide to secure durable and suitable stone for the work, and employed special first-class workmen, part of whom were hired from the cities at great expense, to execute its finer details.

The work was commenced in the spring of 1867.

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HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY WITH ILLUSTRATIONS AND BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF SOME OF ITS PROMINENT MEN AND PIONEERS, continued ...

EDITED BY H. P. SMITH

1885

CHAPTER XXV. HISTORY OF THE PATENT AND TOWN OF QUEENSBURY., continued ...

The foundation or substructure is fourteen feet square, and eight feet deep, built of massive blocks of marble from our own quarries, embedded in cement, and whose interstices are filled with grout and cement.

Upon this is laid a base of Sprucehead granite from Maine.

This is ten feet square, cornered, and eighteen inches thick.

Upon this rests a plinth sixteen inches in thickness, eight feet square and cornered.

This in turn supports a moulded plinth whose height is eighteeen inches and whose diameter each way is six feet and six inches, and also cornered, as is the entire shaft in all its pieces and additions to the capstone.

The second plinth is surmounted by a die five feet and six inches square, with four raised tablets, one upon each face.

Upon three of these are inscribed the roll of honored dead.

The remaining face, together with a raised wreath of oak and laurel on the die above, contains the dedicatory inscription.

On the corners of the lower die are wrought out in relief four cannon.

The material of the entire monument, above the granite base, is Dorchester freestone, fine in grain, dark brown in color, obtained at great cost from New Brunswick.

Upon the lower die rests a moulded cap eighteen inches in thickness, and six feet six inches square, which supports the upper die or shaft proper, one of whose faces has already been described.

On the north and south aspects of this die are niches, containing statues life size, cut from the same material that composes the monument, representing the one an officer, the other a soldier in the attitude of reversed arms.

Next follows four sections of the shaft, all gradually tapering toward the top which is twenty- two inches in diameter.

The three lower of these contain raised bands with the names of battle fields, chiseled in relief.

On the corners of each section also appears a star cut in relief.

The whole is surmounted by a capstone, cut from a block five feet square and three feet thick, representing the American flag drooping in graceful folds, upon which rests an eagle, in the art of springing into flight.

The spread of the eagle's wings is about five feet.

The entire monument is estimated to weigh about one hundred tons.

It was completed at a cost of about twelve thousand dollars, of which amount its unfortunate, though public-spirited architect, was left to meet and make up an unprovided deficit of about four thousand dollars.

The monument was dedicated with suitable and impressive services, attended by a large concourse of citizens, on Decoration day, May 30th, 1872.

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Re: THE POT BELLY STOVE ROOM

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HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY WITH ILLUSTRATIONS AND BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF SOME OF ITS PROMINENT MEN AND PIONEERS, continued ...

EDITED BY H. P. SMITH

1885

CHAPTER XXV. HISTORY OF THE PATENT AND TOWN OF QUEENSBURY., continued ...

MUNICIPAL HISTORY.

Glens Falls. This village is beautifully situated on the north bank of the Hudson River near the extreme southeast corner of the county.

With the early settlement of this historic locality the reader has already been made familiar.

The place was known in the first years of its settlement as the "Four Corners," which title, so familiar to hamlets in different parts of the State, it received from the corners now fronting the Rockwell House.

It was given the name of "Glenville," also, as appears from early books of travel in this region.

A little later and for a number of years in the early part of the century, a persistent attempt was made to fasten the name of "Pearlville," or "Pearl Village," upon the place; for what reason does not appear.

Fortunately, the effeminate and inappropriate title was displaced by the present name.

It has already been discovered that this point was adapted by nature for the site of a ponderous business and manufacturing center, and its selection by the early pioneers as the site of a hamlet is proof of their sagacity.

The region immediately surrounding the falls cannot be excelled for building purposes, while the unlimited water power gave promise of great value to those who might avail themselves of its use.

The manufacture of lumber was the first industry to engage the energies of the inhabitants, and it has always been an industry of great importance.

Before the War of 1812 put a temporary check upon the growth of the village, there were between twenty and thirty sawmills in operation in the town, many of which were near Glens Falls, and there were thirty buildings constituting the village; they were all wood.

Of these the principal ones were "The Tontine," before alluded to, the Glens Falls Hotel, a wooden structure erected by John A. Ferriss, in 1808-10, and kept by John Derby in 1813; the New Union Church, and a large, unfinished two-story house built by General Warren Ferriss on Park street (burned in 1818).

The mercantile interests of the village when the first number of the Warren Republican was issued, in 1813, comprised the drug store of Daniel Peck, on the site occupied in later years by his son Charles; the general store of John A. Ferriss; and that of Micajah Pettit in the same line, which was in a small wooden structure in rear of the old stone store under the hill, where he had traded since 1793; Roberts & Goodman's store, "under the hill;" L.I. Van Kleeck's store, of which his announcement says he "kept an assortment of dry goods, groceries, hardware, and crockery in the building near the meeting house" (this was on the site now occupied by William Cronkhite & Son); and a store kept by the firm of Fox & Little.

This shows that at that early date Glens Falls, or "Pearl Village," as it was called, was already the center of considerable trade.

And there were other mercantile establishments in the town then and for many years previously.

David Sanford kept a store at Sanford's Ridge before 1810, which he subsequently sold out to John H. Hitchcock; Thomas Hammon had a store at the Oneida in 1808, and a few years later William McDonald established his prosperous mercantile business at the Ridge, on the site now occupied by Harris Haviland, and what was known as Osborne's store (1797) was also at the Ridge.

Robert Wilkinson, William Hay, L.I. Van Kleeck and Abraham L. Vandenburgh, attended to the legal business of the place, and Dr. Levi Rugg was the leading physician, with Dr. Asa Stower in the north part of the town.

TO BE CONTINUED ...
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HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY WITH ILLUSTRATIONS AND BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF SOME OF ITS PROMINENT MEN AND PIONEERS, continued ...

EDITED BY H. P. SMITH

1885

CHAPTER XXV. HISTORY OF THE PATENT AND TOWN OF QUEENSBURY., continued ...

MUNICIPAL HISTORY., continued ...

Glens Falls, continued ...

As we have already said, the early manufacturing interests, both at the village and throughout the town, was comprised largely of saw-mills.

Some of the first ones were that of Thomas Scribner, which was probably located on the Big Pond Outlet, and as early as 1786; on the same stream Phineas Austin had a mill in 1808, and the Moon brothers, elsewhere mentioned, had both a saw-mill and a grist-mill there at about the same period; the remains of their grist-mill were visible down to a few years ago; one Odell, also, had a saw-mill before 1810, on the Outlet; Micajah Pettit had a saw-mill near his store on the west side of the road near the river bridge, in 1802; these mills rapidly increased in number until at the opening of the War of 1812 there were nearly thirty in the town, and at least six on the Outlet of Long Pond.

Other manufactures of the first decade in the century embraced a tannery at the bridge, which was conducted by a Mr. Kimball; it stood near the site of the present school-house; a distillery, operated by one Pease, who came here from Poultney, Vt., which, it is said, did a good business; he also kept a tavern where the Glen House afterward stood; an ashery worked by David Sanford, at the Ridge, and perhaps other minor industries.

Abraham Haviland carried on blacksmithing on the site of the George Ferguson store as early as 1795.

For the lumber business and what other carrying trade was connected therewith, Glens Falls was the outlet; this fact was the cause of the establishment of numerous taverns of all grades of importance; these old county inns have nearly all disappeared before the oncoming railroads, which enable the traveler who leaves the great hotel of one city or village in the morning to take his next meal in a similar house at his next stop; taverns where travelers could obtain rest and refreshment, with the unfailing accompaniment of ardent spirits, followed close upon the heels of settlement in all new communities, not only in the young villages and hamlets, but at intervals on the country roads; and these were sufficiently patronized to make them not an unprofitable investment.

We find that John Mallory kept a tavern in 1802 on the site of the present Glen Park Hotel at the corner of what was called in the early surveys, "The New Road."

Peer's Tavern was a wayside inn about two miles north of the village at an early day.

Jonathan Pitcher kept a tavern in a log building at Half-way Brook, which was known as the Pitcher Tavern; and others were soon opened in various parts of the town.

In 1812 the old Union Hotel was built by Dr. D. McNeill; it originally consisted of a story and a half lean-to and adjoined the Henry Crandell premises.

For a long time a swing sign bearing the legend, "Coffee House — 1812," commemorated the date of its erection.

This original structure was enlarged to a commodious hotel, in 1814, by Samuel G. Skinner, who kept it for many years as a popular house.

John A. Ferriss then kept the Glens Falls Hotel (built in 1802), on the site of the Rockwell House, and considerable rivalry existed between the two houses.

At the time Skinner opened his reconstructed house, a sort of an "infair" was held, and in order to surpass any and all efforts of a similar nature that ever had been or were likely to be made in the future by the rival house, Mr. Skinner sent to Albany for a professional cook.

The entertainment is said to have been a sumptuous one and was remembered by old inhabitants for many years.

This house was kept soon after 1834 by Porter S. Chapman, and burned about the year 1842.

TO BE CONTINUED ...
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