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WARREN COUNTY. 671
situated upon the e. border, and receives the drainage of the e. part of the co. It is 36 mi. long
and 1 to 3 mi. wide.1
The soil of this co. is mostly a thin, sandy loam. The level lands n. of Glens Ealls are very
sandy, and are known as “pine plains.” The declivities of the mountains have a very thin soil,
and usually a scanty vegetation. In the valleys is some clay mixed with the sand and disinte¬
grated primitive rocks, forming a deep and excellent soil. Farming and the manufacture of lumber
and leather form the leading pursuits of the people. Farming is mostly confined to stock raising
and dairying. Immense quantities of logs are floated down the Hudson and .manufactured into
lumber, shingles, hoops, staves, and heading, at Glens Falls and other places. Black marble is
quarried at Glens Falls, and feldspar and kaolin for the manufacture of porcelain, graphite and
serpentine are also found in different places. Peat exists in abundance; but it has never been
extensively used.
Caldwell, at the head of Lake George, is the county seat.2 The courthouse was built in 1816-17,
with the jail in the basement. The poorhouse is located on a farm of 200 acres in Warrensburgh.3
The works of internal improvement are the Glens Falls Navigable Feeder, 7 mi. in length,
feeding the summit level of the Champlain Canal, and the improvement in the log navigation
of the Hudson. There is no r. r. in the co.4 Three newspapers are now published in the co.5
This co. was the scene of some of the sanguinary battles between the French and English long
anterior to its settlement. In 1755, a provincial army of 5,000 men, under Sir. Wm. Johnson,
designed to act against the French posts on Lake Champlain, assembled at Albany early in June,
and were there joined by a large number of Mohawks under King Hendrick. Forts Lyman
(afterward Fort Edward) and Miller were built, and a road was opened to Lake George. The
news of Braddock’s defeat was received before this army left Albany. The expedition set out on
the 8th of Aug., by way of Lake George, for Ticonderoga, with the design of erecting a fort there.
Learning that the French had anticipated them and had already fortified Ticonderoga, they en¬
camped near the head of Lake George. About the 1st of Sept., Baron Dieskau, the French com¬
mander, with a force of 200 grenadiers, 800 Canadian militia, and 300 Indians, passed up South
Bay and across the rocky peninsula, with a view of falling upon the rear of the English
and of cutting off their supplies from Fort Lyman. On the 8th, a force of 1000 troops under Col.
Ephraim Williams, and of 200 Indians under King Hendrick, were sent out to meet them; but,
falling into an ambuscade,' the greater part of the troops and the two commanders were killed.
The survivors fled, and were immediately followed by the French. The firing alarmed the
camp, and a breastwork of logs was immediately thrown up, and 300 men, under Col. Cole, were
despatched to cover the retreat of the flying fugitives of the first party. Flushed with victory, the
French assailed the English camp with great fury, and a sanguinary conflict ensued, which lasted
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is 54, who are supported at a weekly expense <M 90 cts.
each.
* The Lake Ontario & Hudson River R. R. (late the Sackets
Harbor & Saratoga R.R.) is laid out through the co. along the
w. side of the Hudson, and a large part of the grading has been
done; but the work is now suspended.
5 The Warren Co. Patriot, commenced at Glens Ealls about 1813
by John Cunningham, was the first paper in the co.
A newspaper was begun at Caldwell in 1817 or ’18 by Timothy
Haskins, which in four or five years was changed to
The Guardian. It was a few years after sold to Broadwell,
its name again changed, and in two years after it was
removed to Glens Ealls.
The Glens Falls Observer was started in 1828 by E. G. Sidney.
In about two years it passed into the hands of Abiel
Smith, who changed its name to
The Glens Falls Republican, and afterward to
The Warren Co. Messenger. In 1835 it was again changed to
The Warren Co. Messenger and Glens Falls Advertiser, by which
name it was continued until 1840, when it appeared as
The Glens Falls Gazette, and in two years after as
The Glens Falls Clarion. In 1850 it passed into the hands of
Zabina Ellis, its present publisher, by whom its name
was changed to
The Glens Falls Free Press.
The Glens Falls Spectator was published in 1840 by D. Ellis.
The Warren Co. Whig was started by James A. Kellogg, and con¬
tinued one year.
The Glens Falls Messenger was established by A. D.
Milne, and is still continued.
The Glens Falls Republican was established in
1842 by M. & T. J. Strong, who conducted it until
1851. It has passed through several hands, and is now
published by H. M. Harris.
TheRechabite and Temperance Bugle, semi-mo., was commenced
in 1845 by M. k T. J. Strong, and continued several
months.
The Star of Destiny was published in 1855 by A. D. Milne. |
1
This lake has long been celebrated for its wild and pictu¬
resque beauty. It is almost completely surrounded by pre¬
cipitous and rocky mountains, and is studded with little, green
islands. Its winding course is marked by a panorama of beauti¬
ful and distinct views. At some points high rocky bluffs rise
precipitously from the very edge of the water, and at others a
little basin seems scooped , out among the hills. Most of the
mountain declivities are covered with verdure; but a few of
them are masses of naked rocks. Tbis whole region is full of
historic interest. Each mountain, precipice, and cape has its
own tales and reminiscences of the olden time. Some of the
fiercest conflicts of the last long wars between the Erench and
English colonists took place upon its shores, and the pure and
peaceful waters of this beautiful lake were often ensanguined
with the blood of fierce combatants. Again during the Revolu¬
tion war held high carnival here: but since that period its visi¬
tors have been principally the lovers of the wild and beautiful
in nature. Sabbath-Day Point and Lord Howes Point are two
low beaches upon the w. shore, near the foot of the lake; and
Rogers .Slide is a precipice upon the w. shore, 200 feet high, rising
at an angle of about 25 degrees. Tongue Mt., forming a pro¬
montory upon the w. shore, Anthonys Nose, upon the e. shore,
and Erench Mt., near the head of the lake, have each an eleva¬
tion of more than 2,000 feet.
2
The first courts were held at the “Lake George Coffee House”
The clerk’s office was located hy law within 1 mi. of this place;
ahd this was made the point from which the sheriff’s mileage was
reckoned. By an act passed March 31,1815, three commission¬
ers were to be appointed by the governor to locate the site of the
courthouse and jail and to superintend its erection. The first
co. officers were Wm. Robards, First Judge; Henry Spencer,
Sheriff; John Beebe, Clerk; Robert Wilkinson, Surrogate; Ar¬
chibald McMurphy, Wm. .Stover, Richard Cameron, and Jirah
Skinner, Coroners. Thomas Archibald, the present co. clerk,
has held the office without interruption since Eeb. 1821.
3
The poorhouse is a two story wooden building. It is 50 years
4
old and in a very dilapidated condition. The annual revenue
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