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ESSEX COUNTY. 29/
Racket, Hudson, and other streams, to some convenient place for sawing; and large sums have
been appropriated by the State for improving the channels of these rivers for this purpose.1 Tan¬
neries, within the last few years, have greatly increased in the woody sections of the State, and
about a dozen of them are located in this co. The iron manufacturing business of this region
was commenced at Willsborough Falls in 1801,2 and now forms one of the leading pursuits
of the people. Iron ore is exported from this co. in large quantities to Pittsburgh and other distant
localities, to be mixed with other ores.3 The manufacture of sash and blinds, tubs, pails, and other
articles of pine and cedar, starch, paper, and black lead, receives considerable attention. Ship¬
building, to some extent, has been carried on in Essex and Willsborough.
The county seat is located at Elizabethtown,4 situated upon the Boquet, about 8 mi. w. of the
lake. It contains the courthouse, jail, and county clerk’s office.5 These buildings are plain and
substantial. The poorhouse is located upon a farm of 100 acres, in Essex, 10J mi. n. e. of
Elizabethtown. The average number of inmates is 70, supported at a cost of 62 cts. per week
each. The farm yields a revenue of about $1,200.6
There are 2 papers now published in the county.7
In 1609, Samuel Champlain, with two attendants, accompanied a party of Canadian Indians on
an expedition against the Five Nations. On the 4th of July his party entered the lake which now
bears his name, and on the 30th they met their enemies. A sanguinary battle ensued, the fate
of which was decided by the firearms of the whites, then for the first time used within the limits of
the State. This act of unprovoked hostility on the part of Champlain laid the foundation for the
long and bloody wars between the Five Nations and the French, and rendered the former the
willing and steadfast friends and allies of the English. The whole region bordering upon the lake
was claimed, by constructive title, by both France and England; and during the wars that' ensued
it became the great battle ground for supremacy, and the principal highway for war parties in their
mutual incursions upon the defenseless frontier settlements. Fort Frederick was erected by the
French at Crown Point in 1731. This measure was met by remonstrance, but no open resistance,
on the part of the English. Previous to the erection of the fort, French settlements had commenced
in various places along both shores of the lake. These settlements had' made considerable progress,
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6 This establishment is old, and in some respects inconve¬
nient; but it is spoken of as extremely well kept, and in this
respect is one of the. best in the State.
7 The' Reveille, the first paper in the co., was started at
Elizabethtown, about 1810, by Luther Marsh.
The Essex Patriot was published at the same place, in 1S17-18,
by L. and O. Person.
The Essex County Times was started at Elizabethtown, by R. W.
Livingston, and in 1833 sold to Macomb, who con¬
tinued it about 15 months. It was printed on an old
“ Ramage” press brought from Skaneateles, Onondaga
co.
Another paper was commenced at Elizabethtown, in Jan. 1849,
by D. Turner, and removed to Keeseville in about 4
months.
The Elizabethtown Post was established in 1851 by
R. W. Livingston; was discontinued in 1857, revived by
D. Turner in 1859, and is now pub. byA.C. II. Livingston.
The Keeseville Herald was commenced in 1825 by F. P. Allen,
and soon after passed into the hands of A. II. Allen, by
whom it was continued, with a few interruptions, until
1841.
The Keeseville, Argus, edited by Adonijah Emmons, was begun
about 1831, and continued 5 or 6 years.
The Essex County Republican was established at
Keeseville in 1839, and is now published by J. B. Dick¬
inson.
The Au Sable River Gazette was started at Keeseville about
1847, by D. Turner,and continued 5 or 6 years.
The, Old Settler, mo., was commenced at Keesevillo by A. II.
Allen in 1849, and was afterward removed to' Saratoga
Springs.
The Northern Gazette was started at Keeseville in 1851 by A. C.
Nelson; continued till 1854.
The Northern Standard was established at Keeseville
in 1854 by W. Lansing, and is now published by W.
Lansing & Son.
The Essex County Republican was started at Essex, about 1832,
by W. N. Mitchell; was sold to J. K. Averill, and was
continued by him and by Walton & Person.
The Berean Guide was started in 1840, at Essex, by Rev. M.
Bailey, and continued 1 year.
The Westport Patriot and Essex County Advertiser was com¬
menced in 1845, at Westport, by D. Turner.
The Essex County Patriot was issued at Essex, about 1847, by A.
H. Allen. It was changed to
The Westport Herald, and continued 6 or 7 years.
The Essex County Times was published at Westport in 1851. |
1
$0000 was appropriated in 1853, and $5000 in 1854, for im¬
proving the log navigation of the Au Sahle River. A lighthouse
has been erected at Split Rock hy the General Government.
The proposed Sacketts Harbor and Saratoga R. R. has been sur¬
veyed across the S. corner of the co., and another route has
been projected from Plattsburgh to Whitehall; but there is little
prospect of either of these lines being soon finished.
2
In that year George Throop and Levi Higby, in connection
with Charles Kane, of Schenectady, began the manufacture of
anchors at Willsborough Falls. For the first 10 years the ore
was obtained in part from Canada, but principally from Ver¬
mont. A bed at Basin Harbor was the only one then known
within the co. Mill and steamboat irons were afterward
made, and the foundry was finally converted into a forge.
Early in the present century W. D. Ross erected a rolling mill
on the Boquet, for making nail plates for the factory at Fair
Haven, Vt. About 1809, Archibald McIntyre and his asso¬
ciates erected works on a branch of the Au Sable, in the
present town of N. Elba, designated as the “ Elba Iron Works,”
which were at first supplied from the vicinity, and afterward
from the Arnold mine, in Clinton co. The forge was abandoned
in 1815, after several years of prosperous business. The iron
interest rapidly extended after the completion of the Champlain
Canal, and several large manufactories were erected in the
valley of the Au Sable and the surrounding region. The forges,
rolling mills, and nail factories of this section are among the
most extensive of the kind in the country. Bar, pig, and bloom
iron of superior quality are produced in large quantities. Within
a few years, anthracite coal has nearly superseded the use of
charcoal in the furnaces along the lake shore. These establish¬
ments afford a home market for a large part of the agricultural
products of the co. Most of the above dates and facts are con¬
densed from' Watson's Ag. Survey of Essex Co., 1852, p. 814.
3
The principal ores in this co. are magnetic, and they are
separated from the stone by water and by magnetic machines.
Hundreds of bbls. of iron sand are collected upon the shores of
Lake Champlain and sold to the N. Y. stationers.
4
David Watson and John Savage, of Wash, co., were appointed
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commissioners to locate a site for the co. buildings, which were
to be erected under the care of 3 commissioners appointed by
the supervisors. The first co. officers'vwere Daniel Ross, First
Judge; Stephen Cuyler, Cleric; Thos. Stowers, Sheriff; and Wm.
Gilliland, Surrogate.
6
When the co. was formed, the new blockhouse in Essex,
then Willsborough, was used as a courthouse and jail. By an
7
act passed April 7, 1807, Elizabethtown was selected as the co.
seat, and to this place the courts and clerk’s office were trans¬
ferred upon the completion of the nroper buildings, in 1814.
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