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 XXXIII.
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF WARRENSBURGH, continued ...
MUNICIPAL HISTORY, continued ...
Churches, concluded ...
The Roman Catholic Church Society of Warrensburgh was regularly organized by Rev. James A. Kelly, its first resident pastor, under the title of St. Cecilia in 1874.
This was Father Kelly's first mission after he was ordained in Troy Seminary.
Before that time the Catholic families in this vicinity were attended at varying intervals by priests from Glens Falls and Minerva.
The corner stone of the first church edifice was laid on the 23d of July, 1875, and the church, by virtue of the zealous efforts of its young pastor, was dedicated on the 5th of September, 1877, the cost of the building having been $6,000, and of the furniture, $2,000, making a total expenditure of $8,000, its present value.
The number of communicants is one hundred and twenty-five.
Since Rev. James Kelly resigned, after building and paying for four churches in different towns in the mission, viz.: At north Creek, Luzerne, Weavertown, and Warrensburgh, the following clergymen have had charge: Rev. James Greene attended the mission from September, 1881, to November of the same year, and was transferred to Cleveland.
Rev. James Lynch from November 19th, 1881, to February 19th, 1882.
Rev. James Muldoon, from February 19th, to June 20th, 1882.
Rev. W. O'Mahoney, the present pastor, came July 1st, 1882.
The Sunday-school attached to the church was organized in 1874, and Rt. Rev. Bishop McNierney has conferred confirmation here twice since that year.
It is stated on good authority that this is the finest and largest church edifice in the Adirondacks, north of Glens Falls and Saratoga.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
THE POT BELLY STOVE ROOM
Re: THE POT BELLY STOVE ROOM
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 XXXIII.
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF WARRENSBURGH, continued ...
MUNICIPAL HISTORY, continued ...
Attorneys and Counselors. — Thomas Cunningham, the attorney of longest standing in Warrensburgh, was born in Chesterfield, Essex county, in 1826.
He studied law with Kellogg & Hale, of Elizabethtown, and was admitted to the bar at Plattsburg, on the fourth of July, 1854.
He has practiced here ever since his admission.
Lewis C. Aldrich was born on May 13th, 1852, in the town of Thurman.
He was admitted to the bar on April 9th, 1875, at Albany, after passing a clerkship with Thomas Cunningham of Warrensburgh, which he commenced in the spring of 1871.
He was town clerk of Warrensburgh in 1874-77, 1881-85 inclusive; supervisor of Warrensburgh in 1878, and clerk of the Board of Supervisors of Warren county in 1875, '80, '83 and '84.
When Mr. Cunningham came here in 1854, George Richards was a practicing attorney here.
He had always been here, he and his brother, Samuel T. Richards, being extensively engaged in lumber interests.
George Richards lived here until 1866 or 1868.
He is now is the custom house at Rouse's Point.
About 1870 Randolph McNutt did a little legal practice here.
He moved away about 1880.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
EDITED BY H. P. SMITH
1885
CHAPTER XXXIII.
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF WARRENSBURGH, continued ...
MUNICIPAL HISTORY, continued ...
Attorneys and Counselors. — Thomas Cunningham, the attorney of longest standing in Warrensburgh, was born in Chesterfield, Essex county, in 1826.
He studied law with Kellogg & Hale, of Elizabethtown, and was admitted to the bar at Plattsburg, on the fourth of July, 1854.
He has practiced here ever since his admission.
Lewis C. Aldrich was born on May 13th, 1852, in the town of Thurman.
He was admitted to the bar on April 9th, 1875, at Albany, after passing a clerkship with Thomas Cunningham of Warrensburgh, which he commenced in the spring of 1871.
He was town clerk of Warrensburgh in 1874-77, 1881-85 inclusive; supervisor of Warrensburgh in 1878, and clerk of the Board of Supervisors of Warren county in 1875, '80, '83 and '84.
When Mr. Cunningham came here in 1854, George Richards was a practicing attorney here.
He had always been here, he and his brother, Samuel T. Richards, being extensively engaged in lumber interests.
George Richards lived here until 1866 or 1868.
He is now is the custom house at Rouse's Point.
About 1870 Randolph McNutt did a little legal practice here.
He moved away about 1880.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Re: THE POT BELLY STOVE ROOM
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 XXXIII.
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF WARRENSBURGH, concluded ...
MUNICIPAL HISTORY, concluded ...
Physicians. — Dr. E. W. Howard, longer in Warrensburgh than any living physician, was born January 2d, 1808, in Fort Anne, Washington county.
He received his general education mainly in common and graded schools.
He began his medical studies in April, 1830, under Dr. Nelson Porter, of Fort Anne.
In the summer of 1832 and the following winter he studied in the office of Dr. Fletcher Ransom, of Glens Falls.
He attended, also, three courses of lectures at Castleton, Vt., and was graduated from that institution in December, 1833.
Thereupon he commenced practicing in the town of Queensbury, four miles north of Glens Falls.
He came to Warrensburgh in April, 1837.
From 1838 to the spring of 1867 he lived in the house now occupied by Captain F. A. Farlin.
At the latter date he removed to his present residence.
Dr. Louie Charette was born about June, 1820, at Leech Lake in Minnesota, then called the Northwest Territory.
In the fall of 1841 he was graduated at the Albany Medical College, and at once began to practice in Bolton.
He came to Warrensburgh in 1854.
Dr. Daniel B. Howard, son to Dr. E. W. Howard, was born in Warrensburgh January 17th, 1841.
He studied medicine with his father, and was graduated from the Albany Medical College on the 7th of December, 1865.
He has practiced ever since that time with his father.
Dr. W. D. Aldrich was born in Thurman on January 15th, 1851.
He received his medical education in the medical department of Dartmouth College, being graduated November 1st, 1871.
He began to practice in Stony Creek, but moved to Warrensburgh in 1878.
Dr. D. E. Spoor was born in Hartland, Niagara county, N. Y., in 1846.
He studied medicine in Medina, and received his diploma from Hanneman Medical College in Chicago in 1878.
He started his practice in Orleans county, coming from there to this county in September, 1881.
He came to Warrensburg in April, 1884.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
EDITED BY H. P. SMITH
1885
CHAPTER XXXIII.
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF WARRENSBURGH, concluded ...
MUNICIPAL HISTORY, concluded ...
Physicians. — Dr. E. W. Howard, longer in Warrensburgh than any living physician, was born January 2d, 1808, in Fort Anne, Washington county.
He received his general education mainly in common and graded schools.
He began his medical studies in April, 1830, under Dr. Nelson Porter, of Fort Anne.
In the summer of 1832 and the following winter he studied in the office of Dr. Fletcher Ransom, of Glens Falls.
He attended, also, three courses of lectures at Castleton, Vt., and was graduated from that institution in December, 1833.
Thereupon he commenced practicing in the town of Queensbury, four miles north of Glens Falls.
He came to Warrensburgh in April, 1837.
From 1838 to the spring of 1867 he lived in the house now occupied by Captain F. A. Farlin.
At the latter date he removed to his present residence.
Dr. Louie Charette was born about June, 1820, at Leech Lake in Minnesota, then called the Northwest Territory.
In the fall of 1841 he was graduated at the Albany Medical College, and at once began to practice in Bolton.
He came to Warrensburgh in 1854.
Dr. Daniel B. Howard, son to Dr. E. W. Howard, was born in Warrensburgh January 17th, 1841.
He studied medicine with his father, and was graduated from the Albany Medical College on the 7th of December, 1865.
He has practiced ever since that time with his father.
Dr. W. D. Aldrich was born in Thurman on January 15th, 1851.
He received his medical education in the medical department of Dartmouth College, being graduated November 1st, 1871.
He began to practice in Stony Creek, but moved to Warrensburgh in 1878.
Dr. D. E. Spoor was born in Hartland, Niagara county, N. Y., in 1846.
He studied medicine in Medina, and received his diploma from Hanneman Medical College in Chicago in 1878.
He started his practice in Orleans county, coming from there to this county in September, 1881.
He came to Warrensburg in April, 1884.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Re: THE POT BELLY STOVE ROOM
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 XXXIV.
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF HORICON.
HORICON is situated on the northern border of the county, east of Schroon Lake and Schroon River.
It is bounded on the north by Essex county, on the east by Hague, on the south by Bolton, and on the west by Chestertown.
The two branches of the Kayaderosseras Mountains, separated by the valley of Brant Lake, extend in a northeasterly and southwesterly direction through the town and render the surface uneven and precipitous in the extreme.
In the north and east these ranges rise in a number of sharp, rocky peaks, which attain an elevation varying from 1,600 to 2,000 feet above sea level, but in the south and west they descend into an uneven plateau.
The soil, like the entire county around it, is a sandy loam, and the surface so thickly studded with rocks and boulders as to render cultivation a labor of considerable difficulty.
Not more than one-third of the surface is arable, and there are good authorities in the town who hold that not one-tenth part of the surface is really cultivated.
The principal products are buckwheat, corn, oats and potatoes.
Among the mountains are a great many small lakes lying imbedded in more or less huge and towering amphitheatres of rocky slopes and precipices.
The largest of these, Brant Lake, is ten miles long, and has for years been a favorite resort of the hunter and fisherman.
But the most famous and the most beautiful of all the waters that indent her territory is the lovely Schroon.
We cannot do better than to insert here, almost bodily, an article written by Dr. A. W. Holden for a recent number of the Warrensburgh News:
Conspicuous among the myriad lakelets and ponds with which the northern wilderness abounds is the Schroon.
Lying partly in the town of Schroon, in Essex county, and partly in Horicon, Warren county, it forms with its associate river a beautiful contrast to the fringe of forest bordering on the great waste of woods and waters known to the Iroquois by the term Conchsachraga, "the great dismal wilderness."
It is but an expansion of the river to which it imparts its name, and lies embosomed between the sloping hillsides, once wooded to its very brink, but now, by the industry of man, changed to a civilized aspect, with tilled fields, pasture lands, and here and there an old-time farm-house, or rustic cottage, or more pretentious summer hotel.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
EDITED BY H. P. SMITH
1885
CHAPTER XXXIV.
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF HORICON.
HORICON is situated on the northern border of the county, east of Schroon Lake and Schroon River.
It is bounded on the north by Essex county, on the east by Hague, on the south by Bolton, and on the west by Chestertown.
The two branches of the Kayaderosseras Mountains, separated by the valley of Brant Lake, extend in a northeasterly and southwesterly direction through the town and render the surface uneven and precipitous in the extreme.
In the north and east these ranges rise in a number of sharp, rocky peaks, which attain an elevation varying from 1,600 to 2,000 feet above sea level, but in the south and west they descend into an uneven plateau.
The soil, like the entire county around it, is a sandy loam, and the surface so thickly studded with rocks and boulders as to render cultivation a labor of considerable difficulty.
Not more than one-third of the surface is arable, and there are good authorities in the town who hold that not one-tenth part of the surface is really cultivated.
The principal products are buckwheat, corn, oats and potatoes.
Among the mountains are a great many small lakes lying imbedded in more or less huge and towering amphitheatres of rocky slopes and precipices.
The largest of these, Brant Lake, is ten miles long, and has for years been a favorite resort of the hunter and fisherman.
But the most famous and the most beautiful of all the waters that indent her territory is the lovely Schroon.
We cannot do better than to insert here, almost bodily, an article written by Dr. A. W. Holden for a recent number of the Warrensburgh News:
Conspicuous among the myriad lakelets and ponds with which the northern wilderness abounds is the Schroon.
Lying partly in the town of Schroon, in Essex county, and partly in Horicon, Warren county, it forms with its associate river a beautiful contrast to the fringe of forest bordering on the great waste of woods and waters known to the Iroquois by the term Conchsachraga, "the great dismal wilderness."
It is but an expansion of the river to which it imparts its name, and lies embosomed between the sloping hillsides, once wooded to its very brink, but now, by the industry of man, changed to a civilized aspect, with tilled fields, pasture lands, and here and there an old-time farm-house, or rustic cottage, or more pretentious summer hotel.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Re: THE POT BELLY STOVE ROOM
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 XXXIV.
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF HORICON, continued ...
Prior to the voyages and discoveries of the French navigator, Jacques Cartier, and only forty-two years subsequent to the first voyage of discovery of Christopher Columbus, all of the great peninsula, bounded by Lakes George and Champlain on the east, and the St. Lawrence River on the west, was claimed and occupied by a powerful tribe of the great Ojibway family, known to the French as the Algonquin nation, and to the Iroquois as the Adirondack tribe.
A family of this tribe, according to tradition, had its seat on the shores of this beautiful lake.
The derivation of the name Schroon rests in obscurity.
A mythical correspondent, mentioned by Da Costa in his Schroon Lake and the Adirondacks, is credited with saying "that a few years ago a Sappho-like origin of the name was derived from Scarona, a squaw, who, like Winona and many others, had leaped over a precipice into the lake and was drowned."
Whether from blighted affections is not recorded.
Another legend, referring perhaps to the same maiden, states that the name was conferred in honor of the beautiful daughter of a distinguished Algonquin chief, the name signifying "the child of the mountains."
According to Gordon's Gazetteer of the State of New York it is a corruption of the Indian word "Skanetaghrowakna," "the largest lake."
An unauthenticated derivation is attributed to Madame Scarron, wife of the French poet Scarron, who lived in the time of Madame de Maintenon — named by a party of French officers who visited the lake.
"In an effervescence of sentimental gush the ceremony of dedication and claim of discovery has been embellished with formal declarations and the breaking of a bottle of wine on the occasion."
"It might be worth the while of some antiquarian to drag the lake in search of the bottle."
"I have not the least doubt but what success would attend the experiment if the drag was drawn near the shore of the beautiful island, and so a long, vexed question put to rest."
Whatever the conclusion, it is certain that the name is recorded as Scaron on several of the earlier maps of this region, notably Sauthier's Chronological Map of the Province of New York, published in 1779 and reprinted in the first' volume of the Documentary History of New York, and on a map engraved and published in 1777 by Matthew Albert Lottier.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
EDITED BY H. P. SMITH
1885
CHAPTER XXXIV.
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF HORICON, continued ...
Prior to the voyages and discoveries of the French navigator, Jacques Cartier, and only forty-two years subsequent to the first voyage of discovery of Christopher Columbus, all of the great peninsula, bounded by Lakes George and Champlain on the east, and the St. Lawrence River on the west, was claimed and occupied by a powerful tribe of the great Ojibway family, known to the French as the Algonquin nation, and to the Iroquois as the Adirondack tribe.
A family of this tribe, according to tradition, had its seat on the shores of this beautiful lake.
The derivation of the name Schroon rests in obscurity.
A mythical correspondent, mentioned by Da Costa in his Schroon Lake and the Adirondacks, is credited with saying "that a few years ago a Sappho-like origin of the name was derived from Scarona, a squaw, who, like Winona and many others, had leaped over a precipice into the lake and was drowned."
Whether from blighted affections is not recorded.
Another legend, referring perhaps to the same maiden, states that the name was conferred in honor of the beautiful daughter of a distinguished Algonquin chief, the name signifying "the child of the mountains."
According to Gordon's Gazetteer of the State of New York it is a corruption of the Indian word "Skanetaghrowakna," "the largest lake."
An unauthenticated derivation is attributed to Madame Scarron, wife of the French poet Scarron, who lived in the time of Madame de Maintenon — named by a party of French officers who visited the lake.
"In an effervescence of sentimental gush the ceremony of dedication and claim of discovery has been embellished with formal declarations and the breaking of a bottle of wine on the occasion."
"It might be worth the while of some antiquarian to drag the lake in search of the bottle."
"I have not the least doubt but what success would attend the experiment if the drag was drawn near the shore of the beautiful island, and so a long, vexed question put to rest."
Whatever the conclusion, it is certain that the name is recorded as Scaron on several of the earlier maps of this region, notably Sauthier's Chronological Map of the Province of New York, published in 1779 and reprinted in the first' volume of the Documentary History of New York, and on a map engraved and published in 1777 by Matthew Albert Lottier.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Re: THE POT BELLY STOVE ROOM
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 XXXIV.
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF HORICON, continued ...
Undoubtedly there have been sporodic settlements in Horicon since the earlier years of the century, but industry never was organized here before the formation of the town, and as late as 1831, as will be seen, the aspect of the territory was, even in comparison with its present condition, wild and apparently untenantable.
One of the most intelligent and well-informed of the residents of Horicon, J. N. Barton, came here in 1831 from Warrensburgh.
He was born on the 7th of October, 1820, on the mile strip that was afterward transferred from Warrensburgh to Chester.
When he first came to the territory which seven years later became Horicon, he lived in the little farming settlement called Hayesburgh.
Among those who then lived here was Bishop Carpenter, a prominent farmer and lumberman, residing at the outlet of Schroon Lake.
One of his sons, Sylvester, now lives in Horicon, and another, Thomas J. Carpenter, is a resident of Chestertown.
Timothy Bennett, another of the original settlers, lived then in Hayesburgh.
He has no descendants now in Horicon.
Howard Waters carried on a farm at Hayesburgh.
Harvey S. Waters, now living here, is his son.
Nathan Hayes, senior and junior, were also farmers at Hayesburgh, four or five miles east of South Horicon.
They leave no descendants.
Benjamin Hayes, sn, — brother to Nathan Hayes, sr., — and Benjamin Hayes, jr., were neighbors of their relatives, and have descendants here now.
James Hayes, another son of Nathan Hayes, sr., moved away from his farm in Hayesburgh thirty-five years ago.
Another resident of that neighborhood was John Robbins, farmer and laborer.
As Mr. Barton figuratively observed, "he was a moving planet."
James Frazier and Benjamin Wright were also farmers in Hayesburgh, and both have descendants still living hereabouts.
In 1831, Mr. Barton says, the country was all new.
There were only two or three frame-houses in what is now the town of Horicon.
No tavern, nor store, nor ashery, nor distillery, nor church in the whole town.
There were three school districts in the territory, and religious meetings were occasionally held in one of the log school-houses, which were then wont to serve the public in all capacities.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
EDITED BY H. P. SMITH
1885
CHAPTER XXXIV.
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF HORICON, continued ...
Undoubtedly there have been sporodic settlements in Horicon since the earlier years of the century, but industry never was organized here before the formation of the town, and as late as 1831, as will be seen, the aspect of the territory was, even in comparison with its present condition, wild and apparently untenantable.
One of the most intelligent and well-informed of the residents of Horicon, J. N. Barton, came here in 1831 from Warrensburgh.
He was born on the 7th of October, 1820, on the mile strip that was afterward transferred from Warrensburgh to Chester.
When he first came to the territory which seven years later became Horicon, he lived in the little farming settlement called Hayesburgh.
Among those who then lived here was Bishop Carpenter, a prominent farmer and lumberman, residing at the outlet of Schroon Lake.
One of his sons, Sylvester, now lives in Horicon, and another, Thomas J. Carpenter, is a resident of Chestertown.
Timothy Bennett, another of the original settlers, lived then in Hayesburgh.
He has no descendants now in Horicon.
Howard Waters carried on a farm at Hayesburgh.
Harvey S. Waters, now living here, is his son.
Nathan Hayes, senior and junior, were also farmers at Hayesburgh, four or five miles east of South Horicon.
They leave no descendants.
Benjamin Hayes, sn, — brother to Nathan Hayes, sr., — and Benjamin Hayes, jr., were neighbors of their relatives, and have descendants here now.
James Hayes, another son of Nathan Hayes, sr., moved away from his farm in Hayesburgh thirty-five years ago.
Another resident of that neighborhood was John Robbins, farmer and laborer.
As Mr. Barton figuratively observed, "he was a moving planet."
James Frazier and Benjamin Wright were also farmers in Hayesburgh, and both have descendants still living hereabouts.
In 1831, Mr. Barton says, the country was all new.
There were only two or three frame-houses in what is now the town of Horicon.
No tavern, nor store, nor ashery, nor distillery, nor church in the whole town.
There were three school districts in the territory, and religious meetings were occasionally held in one of the log school-houses, which were then wont to serve the public in all capacities.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Re: THE POT BELLY STOVE ROOM
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 XXXIV.
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF HORICON, continued ...
There was no post-office in town in 1831.
The first one was established at Hayesburgh, under the name Horicon about 1840, and Howard Waters had the honor of first distributing the mails.
Charles Osborn followed him until about 1862, when Alonzo Davis was made postmaster.
In 1865 Homer Davis was made postmaster.
In 1867 Charles W. Osborn succeeded Davis, and remained until 1869, when Oren Burge took the oath of office.
In April, 1882, the present postmaster, Scott Barton, was appointed as successor to Oren Burge.
In the mean time the post-office had been removed from Hayesburgh to South Horicon, or more familiarly "The Pit," and from there to the Emerson tannery, and soon after to its present location at Bartonville.
When Mr. Barton came here in 1831, the principal business of the inhabitants, besides farming, was lumbering.
About their only occupation winters was logging.
Glens Falls lumbermen made money by floating logs down the Schroon to the Hudson, thence direct to Glens Falls.
Pine timber grew here in great abundance, but is now about all gone.
Moses Stickney then had a saw-mill at Bartonville, on the site of Smith Barton's present mill.
All the little streams in town had one or more "mud mills" as they were called.
The practice of these primitive lumbermen was to "stock up" in winter, and saw the timber in the summer, as well as to draw logs to Ticonderoga.
Of these small mills one was owned and run by John J. Harris at the head of Brant Lake; near him was the saw-mill of Jonathan Griffin; east of The Pit were two owned severally by Arnold Young and Henry Hopkins.
The same grist-mill now operated by L. D. Waters was then the only one in town, and was the property and under the management of Moses Stickney.
In 1865 J. N. Barton bought him out and ran the mill until 1880, when Thomas J. Smith purchased the property.
His grantee and successor was Smith Barton.
L. D. Waters bought it in the spring of 1885.
Horicon was formed from Bolton and Hague on March 29th, 1838.
It is impossible to give the list of first officers because the records were destroyed by fire in 1868.
In addition to what has been incidentally given of the present business interests, may be stated the milling, mercantile and hotel interests of the town.
It has been stated that in 1831 Moses Stickney owned the grist-mill and saw-mill at Bartonville.
He built them both.
The latter, as well as the former, became in 1865 the property of J. N. Barton, who retained his title until June, 1885, when his son. Smith Barton, bought it, and now operates it.
The capacity of the saw-mill is given at 2,500 market logs a year.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
EDITED BY H. P. SMITH
1885
CHAPTER XXXIV.
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF HORICON, continued ...
There was no post-office in town in 1831.
The first one was established at Hayesburgh, under the name Horicon about 1840, and Howard Waters had the honor of first distributing the mails.
Charles Osborn followed him until about 1862, when Alonzo Davis was made postmaster.
In 1865 Homer Davis was made postmaster.
In 1867 Charles W. Osborn succeeded Davis, and remained until 1869, when Oren Burge took the oath of office.
In April, 1882, the present postmaster, Scott Barton, was appointed as successor to Oren Burge.
In the mean time the post-office had been removed from Hayesburgh to South Horicon, or more familiarly "The Pit," and from there to the Emerson tannery, and soon after to its present location at Bartonville.
When Mr. Barton came here in 1831, the principal business of the inhabitants, besides farming, was lumbering.
About their only occupation winters was logging.
Glens Falls lumbermen made money by floating logs down the Schroon to the Hudson, thence direct to Glens Falls.
Pine timber grew here in great abundance, but is now about all gone.
Moses Stickney then had a saw-mill at Bartonville, on the site of Smith Barton's present mill.
All the little streams in town had one or more "mud mills" as they were called.
The practice of these primitive lumbermen was to "stock up" in winter, and saw the timber in the summer, as well as to draw logs to Ticonderoga.
Of these small mills one was owned and run by John J. Harris at the head of Brant Lake; near him was the saw-mill of Jonathan Griffin; east of The Pit were two owned severally by Arnold Young and Henry Hopkins.
The same grist-mill now operated by L. D. Waters was then the only one in town, and was the property and under the management of Moses Stickney.
In 1865 J. N. Barton bought him out and ran the mill until 1880, when Thomas J. Smith purchased the property.
His grantee and successor was Smith Barton.
L. D. Waters bought it in the spring of 1885.
Horicon was formed from Bolton and Hague on March 29th, 1838.
It is impossible to give the list of first officers because the records were destroyed by fire in 1868.
In addition to what has been incidentally given of the present business interests, may be stated the milling, mercantile and hotel interests of the town.
It has been stated that in 1831 Moses Stickney owned the grist-mill and saw-mill at Bartonville.
He built them both.
The latter, as well as the former, became in 1865 the property of J. N. Barton, who retained his title until June, 1885, when his son. Smith Barton, bought it, and now operates it.
The capacity of the saw-mill is given at 2,500 market logs a year.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Re: THE POT BELLY STOVE ROOM
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 XXXIV.
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF HORICON, continued ...
The store now at Bartonville, under the management of Scott and John Barton, was started in 1869.
J. Barton had had for a partner in the grist-mill Albert Rand.
In 1869 they opened the store.
In 1871 E. B. Bentley succeeded Albert Rand and in 1874 Scott Barton succeeded Bentley.
J. N. Barton sold his interest, in 1882, to John Barton.
The stock which is owned by the managers, Scott and John Barton, is valued at about $4,000.
The building is the property of J. N. Barton.
The tavern now kept in Bartonville by J. B. Smith was erected by him in 1882, and is the first and only hotel in the place.
There was one at South Horicon (The Pit) soon after 1840, kept first by F. B. Coolidge, and afterwards by Walter Pritchard.
It stood on the site of R. P. Smith's residence, and was burned a short time before the war while under the management of Caroline, widow of Loren Davis.
There is now a hotel just across the road from the old one, kept by Marcus Granger, who bought a private house and fitted it up for a tavern.
In 1880 he kept a hotel where R. P. Smith now lives and moved from there to his present location.
There is no store at The Pit now.
Harmon A. Brace kept one there for about two years but stopped in May, 1885.
The place called Starbuckville derived its name from Isaac Starbuck, who started a large tannery there about two and a half miles west of Bartonville in the vicinity of 1845.
His brothers, Edward and George, were associated with him for some time.
They finally suspended the tannery and began to operate a wholesale shoe manufactory there.
In 1870 it burned.
Isaac Starbuck is now in St. Lawrence county, and Starbuckville is a name alone.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
EDITED BY H. P. SMITH
1885
CHAPTER XXXIV.
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF HORICON, continued ...
The store now at Bartonville, under the management of Scott and John Barton, was started in 1869.
J. Barton had had for a partner in the grist-mill Albert Rand.
In 1869 they opened the store.
In 1871 E. B. Bentley succeeded Albert Rand and in 1874 Scott Barton succeeded Bentley.
J. N. Barton sold his interest, in 1882, to John Barton.
The stock which is owned by the managers, Scott and John Barton, is valued at about $4,000.
The building is the property of J. N. Barton.
The tavern now kept in Bartonville by J. B. Smith was erected by him in 1882, and is the first and only hotel in the place.
There was one at South Horicon (The Pit) soon after 1840, kept first by F. B. Coolidge, and afterwards by Walter Pritchard.
It stood on the site of R. P. Smith's residence, and was burned a short time before the war while under the management of Caroline, widow of Loren Davis.
There is now a hotel just across the road from the old one, kept by Marcus Granger, who bought a private house and fitted it up for a tavern.
In 1880 he kept a hotel where R. P. Smith now lives and moved from there to his present location.
There is no store at The Pit now.
Harmon A. Brace kept one there for about two years but stopped in May, 1885.
The place called Starbuckville derived its name from Isaac Starbuck, who started a large tannery there about two and a half miles west of Bartonville in the vicinity of 1845.
His brothers, Edward and George, were associated with him for some time.
They finally suspended the tannery and began to operate a wholesale shoe manufactory there.
In 1870 it burned.
Isaac Starbuck is now in St. Lawrence county, and Starbuckville is a name alone.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Re: THE POT BELLY STOVE ROOM
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 XXXIV.
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF HORICON, continued ...
Mill Brook or Adirondack. — This hamlet can trace its origin back to about 1850.
In 1849, when Benjamin T. Wells, father of J. F. and Thomas Wells, came to the site from the south part of the town, the place was, as J. F. Wells says, a dismal wilderness.
There were no roads nor buildings here.
Benjamin T. Wells erected the first tannery on the site of the present establishment, and so fast did the community grow that in five years it had attained almost its present proportions.
The old road to Chester had not been extended to Mill Brook until about 1851.
The road connecting this place with Pottersville was constructed about 1875.
The tannery now owned by Fraser, Major & Co., of New York, was, as above stated, erected in 1849.
Benjamin T. Wells was the mechanic who built it, under the supervision of Joseph Russell and a Mr. Leet.
After numerous changes it became before 1860 the property of Thomas Fraser & Brother (James).
The individual names of the present members of the firm are James, George and William Fraser, and William K. Major.
The superintendent, E. A. Bush, has held his present position since 1860.
In 1864 the property was destroyed by fire, but was immediately rebuilt.
The tannery has now a capacity for producing 20,000 finished sides of leather annually.
The general store of J. M. Bush has been in his hands since 1872, when he bought out Thomas Wells, who had conducted the business for some time before.
Mr. Bush carries about $2,500 of stock.
The Wells House was erected in 1872, and opened on the 28th of June in that year.
The proprietor now is and always has been Thomas Wells.
The dimensions at first were three stories in height, and sixty-five feet in length by thirty-five feet in depth.
In 1875 Mr. Wells added forty feet to the length, and in 1878 erected an ell extending seventy-four feet to the east.
The house with a cottage built in 1878 will accommodate one hundred and fifty guests, and is open from June 1st to October 1st in each year.
The two other cottages are occupied each summer by Judge John K. Porter and G. W. Cotterill, of New York, who take their meals at the Wells House.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
EDITED BY H. P. SMITH
1885
CHAPTER XXXIV.
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF HORICON, continued ...
Mill Brook or Adirondack. — This hamlet can trace its origin back to about 1850.
In 1849, when Benjamin T. Wells, father of J. F. and Thomas Wells, came to the site from the south part of the town, the place was, as J. F. Wells says, a dismal wilderness.
There were no roads nor buildings here.
Benjamin T. Wells erected the first tannery on the site of the present establishment, and so fast did the community grow that in five years it had attained almost its present proportions.
The old road to Chester had not been extended to Mill Brook until about 1851.
The road connecting this place with Pottersville was constructed about 1875.
The tannery now owned by Fraser, Major & Co., of New York, was, as above stated, erected in 1849.
Benjamin T. Wells was the mechanic who built it, under the supervision of Joseph Russell and a Mr. Leet.
After numerous changes it became before 1860 the property of Thomas Fraser & Brother (James).
The individual names of the present members of the firm are James, George and William Fraser, and William K. Major.
The superintendent, E. A. Bush, has held his present position since 1860.
In 1864 the property was destroyed by fire, but was immediately rebuilt.
The tannery has now a capacity for producing 20,000 finished sides of leather annually.
The general store of J. M. Bush has been in his hands since 1872, when he bought out Thomas Wells, who had conducted the business for some time before.
Mr. Bush carries about $2,500 of stock.
The Wells House was erected in 1872, and opened on the 28th of June in that year.
The proprietor now is and always has been Thomas Wells.
The dimensions at first were three stories in height, and sixty-five feet in length by thirty-five feet in depth.
In 1875 Mr. Wells added forty feet to the length, and in 1878 erected an ell extending seventy-four feet to the east.
The house with a cottage built in 1878 will accommodate one hundred and fifty guests, and is open from June 1st to October 1st in each year.
The two other cottages are occupied each summer by Judge John K. Porter and G. W. Cotterill, of New York, who take their meals at the Wells House.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Re: THE POT BELLY STOVE ROOM
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 XXXIV.
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF HORICON, continued ...
The churches of Horicon have not been uniformly blessed with ostensible prosperity.
The first church in town was the Baptist Church in the south part of the town, organized in 1831, under the name of the Baptist Church of Brant Lake.
The original membership numbered twenty-five.
Revs. Norman Fox, of Chestertown, and William Grant, of Bolton, filled the pulpit from time to time for the first two years.
The first regular pastor was Jonathan Trumbell, a licentiate, who was ordained in 1841.
He preached here from 1840 to 1842.
Then occurred a vacancy which lasted several years, the name in the mean time being changed to the Horicon Baptist Church.
The second pastor was the Rev. D. A. Cobb.
There is no regular pastor of this church now.
They have no house of worship except the one at Mill Brook.
The Methodist Church of South Horicon was organized and the edifice erected in about 1850.
The first pastor was Rev. H. L. Taylor, then of Warrensburgh.
There is no society here now.
At Mill Brook, in 1881, an association was formed, containing members of the Baptists, and Methodists denominations, and non-sectarian members.
A board of trustees was elected comprising two Baptists, two Methodists and two of neither denomination.
The Baptists and Methodists had each a separate organization.
Under this arrangement the present union edifice was erected at an expense of $1,700.
Preaching has always been done one Sunday by a Baptist clergyman, and on the following Sunday by a Methodist — a member of some other denomination preaching also occasionally.
The preaching is now done by Rev. I. C. Hill, of the Baptist denomination, and Elder Town of the Methodist.
There are now in the society about thirty-five Baptist members, and the same number of Methodists, making, with the members from outside, a membership of about eighty.
The present trustees are Riley Nichols, S. B. Carpenter, Edgar Hawley, James Floyd, E. A. Bush and Orange B. Ingraham.
Before the present association was formed there had been for ten or twelve years both a Baptist and a Methodist church organization.
Meetings were held in the school-house.
The first preacher here was Rev. Spears, a Methodist clergyman.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
EDITED BY H. P. SMITH
1885
CHAPTER XXXIV.
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF HORICON, continued ...
The churches of Horicon have not been uniformly blessed with ostensible prosperity.
The first church in town was the Baptist Church in the south part of the town, organized in 1831, under the name of the Baptist Church of Brant Lake.
The original membership numbered twenty-five.
Revs. Norman Fox, of Chestertown, and William Grant, of Bolton, filled the pulpit from time to time for the first two years.
The first regular pastor was Jonathan Trumbell, a licentiate, who was ordained in 1841.
He preached here from 1840 to 1842.
Then occurred a vacancy which lasted several years, the name in the mean time being changed to the Horicon Baptist Church.
The second pastor was the Rev. D. A. Cobb.
There is no regular pastor of this church now.
They have no house of worship except the one at Mill Brook.
The Methodist Church of South Horicon was organized and the edifice erected in about 1850.
The first pastor was Rev. H. L. Taylor, then of Warrensburgh.
There is no society here now.
At Mill Brook, in 1881, an association was formed, containing members of the Baptists, and Methodists denominations, and non-sectarian members.
A board of trustees was elected comprising two Baptists, two Methodists and two of neither denomination.
The Baptists and Methodists had each a separate organization.
Under this arrangement the present union edifice was erected at an expense of $1,700.
Preaching has always been done one Sunday by a Baptist clergyman, and on the following Sunday by a Methodist — a member of some other denomination preaching also occasionally.
The preaching is now done by Rev. I. C. Hill, of the Baptist denomination, and Elder Town of the Methodist.
There are now in the society about thirty-five Baptist members, and the same number of Methodists, making, with the members from outside, a membership of about eighty.
The present trustees are Riley Nichols, S. B. Carpenter, Edgar Hawley, James Floyd, E. A. Bush and Orange B. Ingraham.
Before the present association was formed there had been for ten or twelve years both a Baptist and a Methodist church organization.
Meetings were held in the school-house.
The first preacher here was Rev. Spears, a Methodist clergyman.
TO BE CONTINUED ...