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HISTORYOF GOUVERNEUR

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Published By

THE GOUVERNEUR SESQUI-CENTENNIAL COMMITTEE

In Commemoration of

THE 150TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION

MAY 24-30, 1955

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~- -_",..- ~~ EXIpCU<J;IVECOMMITTEE OF THE SESQUI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION, In the:: ......:- fi~ow, i_e!)i t-_9 right, Miss ~race H. Corbin, historical committee; Mrs. Sterling L. Tait, secre-:: -: tjry..;.,_Mas(}Jl:R.::Smith,general chairman; Miss Blanche A. Hodgkin, alumni chairman; Mrs. Jos-~ ~~~: ~l!!l-F. Mci\!!a~ter, Sesqui-centennial Book chairman. In the second row, Julius R. Bartlett, his-:: - tQ..rical coFfunit:!;ee;Max Levinson, service clubs and book committee; Nelson B. Winters, assts-

-, tantchazyinan,and book committee; Joseph F. McAllaster, treasurer and Paul J•. Winters, mer-···.cIfants.-and WIndow display committee ........... -... -:;:-.

UPWARD TO FIFTEEN THOUSAND PEOPLE cheered the Sesqui-centennial parade May 28 crowd-ing the streets along the entire line of march. From the fairgrounds to Reid street, down Prospectstreet and back, there was standing room only as the three mile long procession passed. Some idea ofthe crowd on Main street before the reviewing stand may be gathered from the above photo taken justas the Gouverneur Central High school band came into sight.

GOUVERNEUR MORRIS, one of the ablest statesmen of his timeand minister to the court of France, once owned a great tract ofland in the North Country ten miles in width extending from thesoutherly line of Gouverneur to the St. Lawrence river, an areaof about 200 square miles, then called the townships of Hague andCambray, which he changed to Gouverneur and Morristown, thusgiving to these towns his name. He was a delegate to the Constitu-tional Convention. This photograph was made from a steel engrav-ing. (N. Y. Historical Society)

Ses'lui -CentennialBy M. ANNETTE PAPAYANAKOS

"Heritage or Keeping Faith"When Pioneers found a timbered spot,They settled here; began to plot.They aimed to build a sturdy town,With lofty elm trees for its crown.They hoped to make a paradise.Believed their wish was worth the price.

Those few who founded Gouverneur,Prepared to labor and endure.Within the creed of pioneers,No words were there for brittle fears.Through course unknown, they walked with trust.Bright hopes did not corrode with rust.

They rose while day was yet too darkFor them to hear the songful lark.When smell of bacon filled the air,Each shuffled up, each ate his share.But settlers had to hunt and fish.Deer meat or trout, a tasty dish.

Although the pioneers were few,They stayed to see what they could do.Their courage rose unto the skies;With rifles I and a few supplies,They tramped the Oswegatchie trail.They knew a faith that could not fail.

Among the ferns and violet flowers,The settlers worked through daylight hours.The choppers' axes chop, chop, couldBe heard within the cedar wood.A shouted, "Timber," loudly lashedA warning cry as each tree crashed.

Each put his strength in every blow-Until the trees lay row by row.Saws hummed and buzzed like bumblebees:While hammers beat out prophecies.Again, a shot might split the air; .Someone had seen a surly bear.

The pounding blows of hammers ceased;But work of pioneers increased.They dug the stumps and perseveredUntil great tracts of land were cleared.Though earth was scarred, turned up side down;Upon those acres grew a town.

The settlers had much more in view.They sectioned off the land and drewUp maps for farms and townships whereEach district had its thoroughfare.It's white church spire rose to the sky;Their schoolhouse flue curled smoke up high.

Behind the patient ox they trod;They turned straight furrows in the sod.With aching backs and heads bowed low,The pioneers went forth to sow.They planted pasture ground for sheepAnd cows they'd bought and planned to keep.

The settlers tramped and they exploredBeyond where Oswegatchie roared.They worked, and plotted their wise scheme.Logs drifted, zigzagged on the stream-Were carried slowly down the gradeTo sawmills snug within a glade.

Not only did they clear the land,Build log homes but their food demandWas high and clothes must be procured.Contracts paid up, when they matured."Black Salts," West India Pipe Staves, wood,Brought cash, so pioneers made good.

Our Gouverneur had become renowned.Beneath clay soil the settlers foundGreat wealth within vast mineral veins.They mined the ore, shipped it on trains,For railroads had begun to buildBranch tracks, for settlers had so willed.

The settlers never eased their toil.Beneath the rocky limestone soil,They found a sparkling marble, blue-And crystalline clear. With joy they knewThe beauty of this stone revealedA heritage for future sealed.

This May, we open wide our gate-In Lilac Time, we celebrate.One Hundred-Fifty progressive yearsHave passed since valiant pioneersArrived, but lingered to adoreThe scenes from hills and river shore.

They braved the wilds and sawed the trees;Built log homes snug for families."No Failures," that was what they said,Those pioneers who forged ahead.We thank them for the time they spent-This charming town was their intent.

They bravely fought each day's demands,Built Gouverneur with callused hands.On land which once was barren waste,They built high buildings, marble faced.Their voices lifted, sang at length.They worked, had won-renewed their strength

Those pioneers who worked the land,Left footprints carved in stone, not sand.Those plodding men with oxen wroughtThe perfect crops their labor sought.They tilled new land in time of need.Abundant harvest fulfilled their deed.

In Nineteen Hundred Fifty-Five,We wish to hail, to bring aliveThe memory of those pioneersWho struggled onward, solved their fears.We wonder what they'd think and say,If they could see their town today!

THE GOUVERNEUR MORRIS MANSION, a substantial stone edifice built in 1809 at NaturalDam, is located about 350 feet off Route 58. The building was used by Mr. Morris as a residencewhen he visited his land holdings in this area.

THE HISTORICAL MARKER, erected on Rout e 58 near the site of the Gouverneur MorrisMansion by the New York State Historical Society, calls attention to the historic landmark.

HISTORY 1805 - GOUVERNEUR SESQUI-CENTENNIAL 1955 PAGE 7

HighlightsBy JULIUS R. BARTLETT

Village HistorianThe town of Cambray, later

renamed Gouverneur, was formedin 1787 in the wilds of what wasthen known simply as northernNew York State.

"There was scarcely moreknowledge known of this areathan we know of Central Africa,"a writer of the time commented.

Cambray was one of ten town-ships, often referred to in earlyhistories, which were laid out bysurvey and sold at public auctionat the Coffee House in New Yorkcity on July 10, 1787.

On May- 5 of the previous year,the New York State Legislaturehad passed a law entitled "An Actfor the speedy sale of unappropri-ated lands within this State,"which referred to all the lands ofthe present St. Lawrence countyexcept small areas on the St.Lawrence river, all of the north-ern part of Jefferson county, muchof Franklin county, and probablyto the Adirondack region.

A Land Commission was ap-pointed to carry out this law, andon May 25, 1787, the surveyor-general was directed' to surveyand map ten townships for sale,each to contain 64,000 acres, asnearly as possible under existingconditions.

The shore of the St. Lawrenceriver was reasonably well-knownand aided greatly in the survey.

Less than two months later,this survey was completed in timefor the public sale in New Yorkcity.

Five of the townships borderedon the St. Lawrence river. Begin-ning at Oak Point, they wereHague, later Morristown; Oswe-gatchie, which included Ogdens-burg; Lisbon, Madrid and Louis-ville. The northern edge of thelatter town was opposite LongSault island.

South of these towns was a sec-ond tier of five towns, Cambray,which touched on Hague, and, insuccession, DeKalb, Canton, Pots-dam and Stockholm.

The towns were numbered untilSeptember 10, 1787. Just how thenames were assigned is not posi-tively known, but it seems possi-ble that the Legislature may havehad some hand in it. Some namesare Old World in origin, hut Os-wegatchie is of Indian lore. TheIndians reportedly referred to the

•In the ofHistoryOswegatchie river as the "Swag-achee," or the river that runsaround through the hills, and peo-ple who are familiar with thecourse of the Oswegatchie riverknow that it does just that.

At the Coffee House bidding,Alexander Macomb bought nearlyall of the ten townships and partof northern Jefferson county.

In 1791 he tried to induce Gouv-erneur Morris, then minister toFrance, to act as an agent to sellsome of his lands. No record ofinterest then by Mr. Morris isknown, but it may have given him

THE FIRST CHAIR ever inGouverneur was hauled here inan ox cart by the Isaac Austinfamily. It was made in 1720.

an idea that later resulted in hisland purchases in the area.

When he was later in this area,about 1800, Gouverneur Morrismade a really remarkable proph-ecy when he said:

"The proudest empire in Europeis but a bauble, compared to whatAmerica will be, must be, in thecourse of two centuries, perhapsof one."

Mr. Macomb failed in his gigan-tic ventures, amounting to manymillion of acres, and was in pen-ury at the time of his death.

On November 17, 1798, Gouver-neur Morris purchased of WilliamConstable 20,000 acres, which con-sisted of a narrow strip beginningat the southwestern edge of Cam-bray and extending all the waythrough Hague to the St. Law-rence river.

His second purchase, May 13,

Gouverneur1799, was for, 60,641 acres fromSamuel Ogden, founder of Ogdens-burg. This was a wide section, ad-jacent to, and east of, the -Con-stable trace, and also extendedall the way from the southernside of Cambray through Hagueto the St. Lawrence river.

His third purchase was fromDavid Ogden, a narrow 9,500 acrestrip which extended on the east-ern border of Cambray and Hagueto the St. Lawrence river.

He also made another purchase,unrelated to his Cambray andHague holdings, of the Knox tractlocated in what was later iRossieand Hammond.

The way was cleared for Mr.Morris to start a settlement.

According to L. H. Evert's his-tory, dated 1878, the first settle-ment was made under the leader-ship of Dr. Richard Townsend ofHartford, Washington county, N.Y., who entered into an agreementin 1804 with Mr. Morris to act asland agent for the sale of thesenorthern holdings to settlers. Dr.Townsend's service also includedmedical aid only in case of emer-gency.

In the summer of 1805, Dr.Townsend, accompanied by sixneighbors from Hartford-Willa,rdSmith, Issac Austin, Pardon Bab-cock, John Alden, Ambi Higby andMorris Mead-set out for Cam-bray, uncharted except possiblyby some surveyor's marks.

The party arrived first some-what off its course at sparselysettled DeKalb, and then proceed-ed quickly to Cambray township.It is not likely that they arrivedexactly at what is now Gouverneurvillage, but probably not far fromit, for they noted at one pointthree small islands at a narrowerpart of the Oswegatchie riverwhere a bridge crossing couldmore easily be made.

The story of the settlement ofGouverneur could appropriatelybe entitled "The Three Little Is-lands," as it was these islands lo-cated at what is now the WestMain street bridge which won thesettlers to locate there.

Dr. Townsend and his neighborsleft Cambray and returned toHartford after an absence of lessthan a month.

In the fall of 1805, Dr. Town-send, Willard Smith and IssacAustin again visited Cambray, andobtained the services of Barton

PAGE 8 1805 - GOUVERNEUR SESQUI-CENTENNIAL

Edsall of Waddington to layoutsome farm areas to be in readinessfor more settlers to come in 1806.Great logs were either fallen ormaneuvered onto the islands toprovide an extremely crude cross-ing for the time . Mr. Smith andMr. Austin then returned to theirWashington county homes.

In February 1806, Willard SmithIssac Austin, Pardon Babcock andEleazor Nichols came to Cambraywith their families to make apermanent home. It is interestingto note that Mrs. Austin was bed-ridden with rheumatism.

This first array of four settlersarrived with livestock, horses andprovisions. Dr. Townsend alsocame at this time and had a sur-veyor, John Simmons of Brown-ville, layout more farms.

Gouverneur Morris took an ac-tive interest in his Cambray set-tlement as early as 1807, and se-lected what is now Natural Damas the best site for a village be-cause of the natural power thatexisted there. He built a grist andsaw mill, laid out a system ofstreets, and built a bridge acrossthe Oswegatchie river about wherethe Rushmore Paper Mills now aresituated. A road which led fromthe bridge to the Johnstown road,about two miles from the presentvillage of Gouverneur limits, isshown on the 1865 atlas.

In 1809 he had Joseph Bolton, aPennsylvania stone mason, buildthe walls for the stone house thatstill stands at Natural Dam and isknown as the Gouverneur Morrismansion. Capt. Rockwell Barnes,another prominent pioneer settler,did the carpenter work, and it isbelieved that the lumber in the'building was produced in the saw,mill at Morris, or Morris Mills, asthe small settlement there becameknown. The stone house, had noornamentation and was built intoa side hill, providing shelteragainst the cold northern winterwinds,

Joseph Bolton resided in theMorris home for about sevenyears, after signing an agreementwith Mr . Morris to clear landsthree miles west of Gouverneur,just off the Brasie Corners road.The Bolton farm is still occupiedby a lineal decendant, Mrs. Mar-ian Chisholm Murray, and herhusband John Murray.

Despite Mr. Morris' preferencefor Natural Dam, the judgementof the settlers at Gouverneurseems to have been sound because

the three islands permitted easyconstruction of a reasonably sub-stantial bridge and dam. The Gou-verneur site was actually probab-ly more adaptable for varied in-dustry than Mr. Morris' choice,despite the superior power.

Two of the islands may be seennow as one crosses the bridge,but the third island ceased toexist when the channel at the westend of the bridge was filled inafter a freshet in 1918 destroyedthe then existing dam and millproperties. There is nothing nowto indicate that a water way everexisted about 30 feet west of thewest end of the bridge.

Indicating the settlers' prefer-ence for their three island loca-tion at Gouverneur, a 'bridge to re-place the somewhat risky and in-adequate fallen-log crossing waserected by Issac Kendall in 1808at a cost of $500. This secondbridge had no railings for protec-tion except beams pinned to thesides.

A flattened pier was set inmidstream between the easternbank of the Oswegatchie river andthe eastermost island. The dis-tance between this island and thebank is nearly 100 feet.

Photograph ofGouverneur

Morris' woodenleg.

This leg, however,is one he useda spare, not thehandsome,

mounted legthat he used

customarily. Itis thought that

the silvermounted leg

was buried withhim. The leg in

photo is nowin an historical

collection.

(New YorkHistorical Society)

1955 HISTORY

The men who worked on thisbridge in the early spring of 1808are said to have built a small logcabin for their living quarters, al-though early histories do not stateon which end of the bridge, L. H.Evert's history states this cabinwas the first building used as aschool in the Cambray settlement.

The making of "black salts,"potash derived from burning thetrees they cleared from the land,was the chief income of the earlysettlers.

Brick making started soon afterthe settlers arrived. Other settlerscoming after the first four 1806pioneers were Isaac Morgan,Stephen and Benjamin Smith fromVermont; and Daniel Austin, Is-rael Porter and Rufus Washburn,from Washington county - allcoming in 1807.

Dr. John Spencer came late in1807 from Windsor, Conn., andwas the first practicing physician.Miss Julia Spencer, 29 Trinityavenue, is his great-granddaugh-ter.

In the succeeding year cameColburn Barrel, Roswell and JoelWilder, James Parker, John Par-ker, Ephraim Case, Jonathan Col-ton, Wil.iam Cleghorn, HenryWebb, Jesse Dewey, Stephen Pat-terson, Jeremiah Merithew andBenjamin Smith, brother of Will-ard Smith and an ancestor of his-torian Harold A. Storie, 20 Johnstreet, Gouverneur. Also therecame J ona than Paine; SamuelSprague, who has several descen-dants living here now; and JamesThompson. These 16 settlers camefrom Washington county or thatarea.

James Haile also came in 1808,from Herkimer county. He is thegreat, great-grandfather of Gouv-erneur attorney, Edward HaileCase. James Haile and SamuelSprague were the first two whitemen to settle in the town of Fow-ler, Mr. Haile in Hailesboro,named for him; and Mr. Spraguein Little York.

The Thompson family has themost unique record. James Thompson acquired a 160 acre farm onthe Little Bow road, one half milefrom the village limits. His son,James Harvey Thompson, becamethe owner and operator after thedeath of the founder' in 1845.Many years later, Mrs. Robert(Emma Thompson) Thompson,daughter of James Harvey Thomp-son, succeeded her father as ownerand lived on the farm, running itwith the aid of tenants: Although

HISTORY 1805 - GOUVERNEUR SESQUI-CENTENNIAL - 1955 PAGE 9

her maiden and married nameswere Thompson, her husband wasno close relation. She was follow-ed on the farm by her son, JamesBishop Thompson, who is still liv-ing. His son, James HubertThompson, is now the owner. Thismakes five generations of thesame family in direct descentowning and operating the farmduring the 148 years.

Arriving in 1809 was TimothySheldon, grandfather of James O.Sheldon, now residing at Potsdam.Also Reuben Noble, WilliamRhodes, Richard Kimball and Cap-tain Rockwell Barnes, millwrightand carpenter. This latter groupcame from the New England area,mostly iRhode Island.

In 1806, Emily Porter, two yearold daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Is-rael Porter, died, and as therewas no public burying ground,Gouverneur Morris donated twoacres of land in the rear of thePresbyterian church which exten-ded back to South street, enclosedon the two sides by William streeton the west and John street tothe east. None of these streetsexisted at the time, of course. Hesaid he would deed it legally assoon as Cambray became a full-fledged township. This cemeterywas removed in 1858 to its pres-ent location south of the Oswe-gatchie river to the east of Will-iam street.

By 1810 a road had apparentlybeen built through to what is nowLittle Bow, since that was thesite of the first school outsidethose in the settlement at Gouv-erneur. On or before that timeboth the Rich Settlement road(Richville) and the Johnstownroad had been begun.

The Johnstown road, the firstto enter the village from thesouth, and on the 1829 state high-way map it is listed as a statehighway with no indication thatany road existed on what is nowRoute 11. It is known from letterswritten before 1829 that a trailthrough the woods was being fol-lowed into Gouverneur from Ant-werp on a more direct route thanthe Johnstown road. This entrancefrom Somerville and Antwerp wasin common use by settlers by 1840,and the Johnstown road was sup-planted as the route from thesouth. This was during the plankroad era which reached its highpoin t in 1848.

By 1818, John Brown had start-ed a general store at what is now9-11 West Main street, the later

THE JAMES THOMPSON FARM AT THE PRESENT TIME

location of the Peter Van Burenhome which was razed in 1954 bythe Seaker-Graves Motor companyfor use as a display car lot.

Moses Rowley settled in Gouv-erneur about 1815.

Israel Porter had built a crudepublic house on the west side atabout the present 65 West Mainstreet section in about 1810. Gou-verneur Morris was said to haveused the hospitality of Isaac Aus-tin during one visit here in thatperiod.

Four families came to Gouver-neur in 1806, seven in 1807, and 16in 1808. By this third year thesettlers were providing their chil-dren with a schoolhouse.

The log cabin used by the bridgebuilders, apparently located at theeastern end of the bridge, wasused for about a year for the scantnumber of children already in thesettlement. The first actual schoolhouse construction was a logcabin, 12 by 16 feet in size, builtin 1809 at the site of the presentPresbyterian church, 22 Churchstreet. This school was discardedin 1815 for a frame buildingerected on the site of the presentCouglar restaurant at 10 Churchstreet.

Evert's history also tells of a logschool house built in 1811 in theflatiron area at the intersectionof Hailesboro, Johnstown andWest Main streets.

About 1810 there was a school atLittle Bow, which was formed asschool district number two. Thethird school district was startedabout two miles outside the pres-ent village limits on the Richvilleroad, and the fourth district wasabout on the site of the cattle

sales buildings of the Empire co-operative's Gouverneur stockyard.The school of the fourth districtwas on this site until late in the19th century.

A full history of the educationfacilities that the people of Cam-bray and Gouverneur have pro-vided for their children is givenin a separate story of this book.

Cambray included the presenttown of Gouverneur and abouthalf of the town of Macomb. OnApril 5, 1810, the residents ofCambray, who had been attachedto the town of Oswegatchie forrepresentation purposes, held atown meeting at the home of Dr.John Spencer and decided to or-ganize a town board and becomea full-fledged township. Dr. !Rich-ard Townsend was the first super-visor. The township continued toinclude half of Macomb until 1841.

The new town, which had ac-cumulated 257 inhabitants duringits first five years of existence,was renamed Gouverneur.

The name, Gouverneur, as a suc-cessor to the name of Cambray,has always been referred to byhistorians and writers as being inhonor of the founder, GouverneurMorris. It strikes some as beingodd that he would use his firstname to perpetuate his memory.As his mother's maiden name wasSarah Gouverneur, it is logical toassume that the name was changedfrom Cambray to Gouverneur athis instance to honor his mother'sfamily name. There is nothingabout this to warrant controversyand as far as can be learned thereis no absolute record concerningthe renaming of the town of Cam-bray. If Mr. Morris named the

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WATER POWER ON THE OSWEGATOHIE RlVER at the West Main street bridge about 1895. At the le.ft in picture is the large brick building best know as the Jay, sr ..• and Amnsa Corbin, jr., machine sl1op and clisc harrow works. This plant l'an lrom about 1895 to J916 as the Johnson Iron Oo. rt was tom down In 1940. At the rear may be seen the foundry then owned by the Corbins built in 1826 a.s a saw mill and woodworking shop by Capt. Rock­well B u.rues. The building rlc>se to tbe Corbin works is that of the Stephen B. VanDnzee l\lanttfactnrlng company first operated in 1827 as a tooUng shop, but· &Cter 18ii0 as ii fnrrutu:re plant. The next buJlding is the Sttmuel Graves grist mill, Cirst mill in 01>era-

tio11 on the Oswegatchie river a nd built as a carding and lulling mill Jn 1814. It was operated al'.ter 1868 by SamueJ Graves as a grist mill Between the Gr1Lves mill and the VanDuzee m1D :ls the Jong span of the first iron bridge over the river. The Charles Anthony buDding and wate r power is next at the right of the Graves mJU. The next bttilding, erected in 1820, ls that of J . E. ~J:cAllaster and Sons, originally tJ1e Isreal Porter mill, later tbe J. P. Fosgate grist mill. It burned In l85S. The small building at t he extreme right was the former Starbuck and i\fcOarty sawmill. All or tbese sJtes are now merged into the village electric plant situnted about on the site of the Va.nDnzee mill.