Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Miller House Hotel

The Miller House was a well-known hotel that stood at the corner of Main and Elm Streets in Malone (on the site of the current Flanagan Hotel). Built as the residence of W.D. House, it was purchased by Orlando Furness and enlarged into a hotel. Furness' son-in-law, Philip B. Miller, became its proprietor in 1834 when Furness died. Miller ran the hotel from 1834-1857, when Alexander and Mary Flanagan purchased it. They ran it until 1871, when they took over the Ferguson House (across the street). (It's their sons who built the current Flanagan Hotel). The Miller House was torn down in 1886.


Click on image to enlarge
From the collection of the Franklin County Historical & Museum Society, 1969.106.1

Monday, December 21, 2009

Malone Municipal Band


Click image to enlarge

The Malone Municipal Band was formally incorporated in 1915, although it had performed for at least a decade. Concerts were held on the site now occupied by the Flanagan Hotel, across the street at Memorial Park 1913-1918, Arsenal Green 1918-1946, and the Rec. Park.  Pictured are: John H. Faubert, Ozias R. Boyer, Wallace Shortsleeve, Moses Bessette - Director, W.J. VonDell - Manager, Melvin T. Desnoyers, Oliver E. Faubert.

From the Collection of the Franklin County Historical & Museum Society.  1981.65.1

Monday, December 14, 2009

Telegram to Abraham Lincoln

Telegram from William A. Wheeler and Albert Hobbs to Abraham Lincoln, November 1, 1864. The telegram was concerning the case of Nathan Wilcox, a military deserter.

REPOSITORY:  The Abraham Lincoln Papers at the Library of Congress (Series 1. General Correspondence. 1833-1916.)
http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=mal&fileName=mal1/377/3779800/malpage.db&recNum=0



(click image to enlarge)


Transcript:

Office U.S. Military Telegraph
War Department
The following Telegram received at Washington, 1023 a M, Nov 1 1864.
5 From Malone NY Nov 1 1864

Abraham Lincoln
President US

Mr Nathan Wilcox who is under sentence of death for desertion from the army is my relative + for the sake of his grandparents this large circle of loyal relatives I humbly pray your Excellency to commute his sentence so that his life may be spared He was a member of the twenty second 22d Massachusetts Volunteers
                                                                  A Hobbs

- Continued –

Hon A Hobbs who signs the above despatch is the Union Senator from the 17th NYork Dist + a good + loyal man to whose representation all good faith + credit may be given
                                                                 WA Wheeler
                                                                 Late MC
+++++++
President Lincoln must have agreed to order a stay of execution, as the Library of Congress has futher telegraphs on the matter.  On November 2, General Grant telegraphs to President Lincoln General Meade's reply to him, indicating that there's no "Private Nathan Niloan" scheduled for execution, but there is a "Nathaniel M. Wilcox" and he'll stay the execution order accordingly.
http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=mal&fileName=mal1/378/3785500/malpage.db&recNum=0&tempFile=./temp/~ammem_yjHO&filecode=mal&next_filecode=mal&prev_filecode=mal&itemnum=4&ndocs=96




General Meade sends his own telegraph to the President, indicating that he will suspend the execution and await further orders:
(http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/P?mal:2:./temp/~ammem_yjHO:: )

Sunday, December 13, 2009

Hayes-Wheeler Campaign Sheet Music

Sheet music for "The boys in blue will see it through; Campaign song and Chorus."


PUBLISHED:  S.T. Gordon & Son, New York, NY, 1876

REPOSITORY:  Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library, Duke University
http://scriptorium.lib.duke.edu/sheetmusic/a/a90/a9087/



(click image to enlarge)

Friday, December 11, 2009

Pierce Arrow automobile

Ca. 1910 photograph of Pierce Arrow automobile with Floyd Pond at the wheel. Passengers include Leslie Howard, Roy Kirk, Harold Lawrence, Dan Flack, Mrs. Wallace Smith. Four women in back are: Mrs. Lawrence, Mrs. Smith, Mrs. Elizabeth Kirk, and Elsie Douglas.  Photograph taken in Malone, NY in front of what was the Pond Electric Building. (From the collection of the Franklin County Historical & Museum Society.)




Thursday, December 10, 2009

J.W. Murphy, Undertaker

J.W. Murphy Undertaker business on Amsden St., Malone
(From the collection of the Franklin County Historical & Museum Society, 1971.330)


John W. Murphy established his business in Malone in 1899 on Amsden Street, later moving to a West Main Street address, and continued operation until his death in 1936. His daughter, Mary E. Murphy, joined the business as a licensed funeral director, took over management of the family business, and in 1971 merged the J.W. Murphy Funeral Home with that of Francis St. Mary to form the St. Mary-Murphy Funeral Home.

Sunday, December 6, 2009

Franklin County History in the blogosphere

We're not the only one talking about Franklin County, NY history in blogs. 

Smallpines recently posted about some famous folks who likely passed his place is the southeast part of the county through the years:
http://smallpines.com/2009/11/23/the-franklin-county-glitteratti/

Shatagee Woods regularly posts about the history of Chateaugay and Chateaugay Lake area.  Here's a link to a cool picture of Brainardsville:
http://chateaugaylake.blogspot.com/2009/03/me-church-brainardsville-ny.html

Adirondack Almanack highlighted a Saranac Lake resident who was killed in North Africa during WWII:  http://www.adirondackalmanack.com/2009/11/history-channel-to-feature-saranac-wwii.html

Thursday, December 3, 2009

Saranac Lake Dam

From the September 11, 1938 Northern New York News, distributed by the Syracuse Post Standard:

click image to enlarge

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Merrill House

Pages from one of the three hotel registers from the Merrill House on Upper Chateaugay Lake in the collection of the Franklin County Historical & Museum Society (1976.310.1)

Note the patrons from both the North Country and far-flung, exotic locales... like Newark, N.J.
July 17 &25, 1890:

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August 9, 1899:

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August 22, 1905 (in two parts):


Click images to enlarge

Merrill House was first opened by Darius Merrill, namesake of the hamlet of Merrill, just over the line into Clinton County.  Oliver Young acquired the hotel from Darius' son Shepherd, and expanded the hotel and added several ancillary businesses such as a telegraph office.  His daughter Marjorie ran the hotel from 1933-1963.   According to an 1889 travel guide, "Descriptive Guide to the Adirondacks" a night's stay at the Merrill House cost $2.00 and a week's lodging was between $10 and $15.  A meal could be had for $.75.  A reprint of Marjorie Young Reilly's account of the history of the hotel can be found here.

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Loon Lake Hotel

Loon Lake House was opened by Ferd and Mary Chase in 1879 and stood as a magnificent Adirondack hotel until it burned in 1956.  This photo, from the collection of the Franklin County Historical & Museum Society, features the hotel staff in 1896: 


Click image to enlarge

For more information on the history of Loon Lake, visit the wonderful Town of Franklin website

Thursday, November 12, 2009

Franklin Academy Annual Exhibition 1863

From the collection of the Franklin County Historical & Museum Society (1974.190.1):






click to enlarge image

Every graduating class stands at the cusp of adulthood, both eager and anxious for the future.  The Franklin Academy class of 1863 was likely no different from those going before and coming after.  Those graduates were awarded diplomas on July 8 at an elaborate, afternoon and evening event that showcased the talents of students.  All this against the backdrop of a nation at war.  Earlier that week, the Battle of Gettysburg had begun in Pennsylvania.  The first Union Conscription Act was passed in March of that year, creating a draft.  Imagine the atmosphere of celebration and trepidation represented by this historical object.  Imagine the person who held this program in her hands, enjoying the music and orations, and thinking also of the local men who were dying in the war.

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

F.A. ledgers

From the collection of the Franklin County Historical & Museum Society (1973.394.1):

Treasurer's accounts for Franklin Academy in 1862:

and 1864:

Click to enlarge image

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Bombay Historical Society Open House

The Bombay Historical Society is holding an Open House on October 24, 2009 from 1-4pm at the St. Joseph's Church hall. 

Thursday, October 8, 2009

North Country Community College photo exhibition


The Malone Campus of North Country Community College is featuring a photo exhibit, "A Look Back in Time," October 16-November 20, 2009.   The images of the 1946-48 construction of the Franklin County Highway Department garage are on loan from the Highway Department.  

The community is invited to an opening reception on October 16, 6-8 pm in the mezzanine gallery at NCCC.   During the reception, NCCC adjunct professor Sheri DuMont will demonstrate the process used to capture the images on film.   The Malone campus of NCCC is located in the Historic Ballard Mill, 61 William St., Malone. 

For more information, please contact Tina LaMour at 518-483-4550 x235. 

Thursday, October 1, 2009

Animal Control

From the collection of the Franklin County Historical and Museum Society (1969.717.1):


(click on image to enlarge)
Transcript:

Whereas according to a bylaw of the Town of Malone, horses, cattle, sheep and hogs are prohibited from running at large from the first day of November till the first day of April and whereas, much complaining is made by people visiting our village on account of being damaged by the above mentioned animals-- Therefore we the undersigned, do hereby agree that we will confine within our own limits our several animals -- and in neglect thereof recommend the due course -- viz in the custody of Mazuzan Esq. pound keeper. 
Malone, Nov. 24th 1840

C. Warren Downs      [George] Clark
James Ladd                Enoch Drew
Nath P. Cato              John Mazuzan
Dan'l Brown                O. Conant
Leonard Bicknell         William T. Brewster
Launston Amsden       Abijah White
F.H. Fairbanks            [Leon C.] L. Fiske
Horatio Powell            Thomas R. Powell 
                                  Salmon Clark
                                  Samuel Hyde
                                  Wm. A. Mott
                                  S.S. Clark
                                  Frederick Barnard
                                  Paul Themuski
                                  William Drew
                                  J.C. Spencer
                                  W.B. Earle
                                  Philip Schoolcroft
                                  Nathan White

(Transcribed by Helen Parker Cosgrove)

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Franklin County men in Civil War prison

In the collection of the Franklin County Historical & Museum Society (1970.46.2) is a medallion, once belonging to Franklin County resident Mose Burrell, declaring him a member of the National Society of Andersonville Survivors.  Camp Sumter in Andersonville, GA was a Confederate prison (Feb. 1864-April 1865) notorious for its overcrowding and inhumane conditions.  According to the National Park Service, which now maintains the site as a National Historic Site: "During the 15 months during which Andersonville was operated, almost 13,000 Union prisoners died there of malnutrition, exposure, and disease; Andersonville became synonymous with the attrocities which both North and South soldiers experienced as prisoners of war."  
Mose Burrell's obituary appeared in the Tupper Lake Herald on April 25, 1919:


This January 23, 1969 Tupper Lake Free Press and Tupper Lake Herald article announced the donation of the Mose Burrell's medallion to the Historical Society:

Many other Franklin County natives were imprisoned at Andersonville, and a quick search of the Northern NY Library Network's Historical Newspaper database (available for free at: http://news.nnyln.net/) revealed articles on at least six other Franklin County men, including this tribute in the Ft. Covington Sun of April 21, 1910: 

Monday, September 28, 2009

Mason and Hamlin Reed Organ

From the collection of the Franklin County Historical and Museum Society (1972.193.1):


This Mason and Hamlin Reed Organ is on display at the House of History museum in the formal parlor.   It is a pump organ, rather than an electric organ.  The organist pumps the two pedals at the base to produce a sound while playing the keyboard.  The five round knobs, or stops, can be pulled in order to create specific tones.  The Mason & Hamlin Organ Company was founded in Boston in 1854 and made reed organs until 1927.  This small chapel-style organ belonged to the Westville Methodist Church, and is like those that could also be found in the parlors of fine homes.  Ca. late 1880s.   Donated by the Westville Methodist Church.

Friday, September 25, 2009

Trudeau Sanitorium Reports, 1938

1938 reports of the Trudeau Sanitorium in Saranac Lake, NY.  From the collection of the Franklin County Historical and Museum Society:




Thursday, September 24, 2009

Justice's Docket

Circa 1900-1915 Criminal Docket of Franklin County Justices, from the collection of the Franklin County Historical and Museum Society (1984.200.1)



(click on images to enlarge)

Antique Appraisal

The Franklin County Historical and Museum Society will be holding an Antique Appraisal on Tuesday, September 29, 2009 from 4-7pm at the House of History museum, 51 Milwaukee St., Malone.  Members of the community are urged to bring their family heirlooms for a verbal appraisal of their worth by Ted Comstock, a Saranac Lake resident and former curator at the Adirondack Museum.   Cost is $5/object or 3/$12.00.

Please call the museum at: 518-483-2750 for more information.

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Burke School District #6

From the collection of the Franklin County Historical and Museum Society (1981.177.1):





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Burke, NY School District #6 minutes from 1881, 1888, and 1891.

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Flanders Elementary School Picture

From an undated newspaper clipping (assumed to be from the Malone Evening Telegram) from the 1970s:

"Attorney Frank Lawler said he believed the picture must have been of the second or third grade at Flanders School around 1914 or 1915. Flanders at that time, Frank recalled, included grades one, two, three, and five. The fourth and six (sic) grades were taught at the Bates School, which later became Notre Dame Parochial School, in Arsenal Green. .... In those days the teachers were: Grade 1, Jennie Irwin; Grade 2, Ethel French; Grade 3, Ethel Daggett and Grade 5, Freda Fayette. That was at Flanders School. Teachers at Bates School were Grade 4, Lillian Snow and Grade 6, Olive Elliott."
Front Row: Blanche Castle, Jessie Thompson, Francis Bizel, Francis Lawler, Helen Doud, Veronica Faubert, Ruth Whitehead, Helen Flynn.
Middle Row: Catherine Bizel, Catherine Wheeler, Ellsworth N. Lawrence, Henry Roy, ___, Burton Gallivan, William Norton, Thomas Rice, Carl Williamson.
Back Row: Gerald Carpenter or Kenneth Davis, Catherine Peck, Lillian Peck, __ Blair, Ernest Lavoie, Ethan Phillips, ___, Beulah Faubert.

Identification was provided by Judge Ellsworth Lawrence and Frank Lawler.

Thursday, August 27, 2009

WW I Letter from Edgar Yando

Many locals who were soldiers in WWI sent letters home to Franklin County describing their experiences. The following letter, sent by Edgar Yando while stationed in France to Fred Yando of Malone in 1918, is part of the collection of the Franklin County Historical & Museum Society (2006.114):



click on images to enlarge

The letter reads, in part:

"We are about to go to the front again, and as I have a few spare min to myself, that I would drop you a line. I trust you are in good health. I'm in the very best of health myself, although the weather is very wet, raining nearly every day, but we're used to that and it doesn't bother us one bit.... Mother don't you worry one bit as I think a fellow is just as safe at the [...] as anywhere else we'll go... I don't know where [Ray]mond is or any of the other fellows [from] home I never hear from them... give my love to the little girls as well. Hoping to hear from you soon as ever, Your son, Ed."

Friday, August 21, 2009

History of Chateaugay Presbyterian Church

Excerpt from The Malone Palladium September 21, 1876:

"History of the First Presbyterian Church in Chateaugay.
A Sermon Preached July 9th, 1876, by the Pastor, Rev. James W. Grush.

One hundred years ago this part of our State was untrodden by the white man, and possessed only by the Indian and the beasts of the forest. It was not till 1795 that a survey even of this region was attempted. In the summer of that year a survey was made by Cochran and Ransom, assisted by Samuel Beman and his son Nathan, Benjamin Roberts and others. It was in prosecuting this survey that these pioneers found inducements to settle here and in the next year they began the first improvement. Nathan Beman was the grandfather of our townsman who bears his name, and when a boy of twelve years of age was guide to Ethan Allen in the surprise and capture of the fortress at Ticonderoga on the early morning of the 10th of May, 1775. He was a resident of this town till the time of his death, in 1850, and his remains now rest in our cemetery.
These, Benj. Roberts and Nathan Beman, were the pioneers, but during the next three years numbers of hardy settlers had joined them and in 1800, as it stands on the record, eighty votes were cast in the town for Senator. I need not, if I could, describe the hardships of these early settlers in establishing a home in the dense forest, nor their conflicts with nature – whether with the storms and frosts of the northern winter or with the wild and sometimes voracious beasts of the forest, or in subduing the land and fitting it for tillage. The incidents of their every day life would be interesting and many of them worthy of record; but it is the organization of the Church that invites our attention.
The little colony flourished and increased in numbers; there was need that the institutions of the gospel should be established. The first religious meeting was held in 1800 or 1801 by a Presbyterian minister by the name of Huntingdon. In 1802 a
Methodist circuit preacher, Rev. Henry Ryan, visited the town, and in 1805 a class was formed with Benjamin Emmons as leader. It is said that the first Methodist ministers had some forty appointments in four weeks, extending 300 miles. Those were the days of home missionary work.
But the organization of the Congregational Church was due to the earnest and faithful labors of Rev. Ashbel Parmelee, of Malone, and Rev. James Johnson, of Potsdam. Rev. Ashbel Parmelee was on of three brothers, all ministers, who are well remembered by the old inhabitants throughout this Northern region; for with the zeal of the Apostles and in imitation of their example, they went through the region while the settlements were yet in their infancy, "confirming the Churches." The Church was organized as a Congregational Church in 1816. The list of the original members is not upon our record, and all the records of the Church previous to 1830 are lost and no trace of them can now be found. The facts, however, here mentioned are from reliable sources.
From the records of the Presbytery of Champlain, we find that Mr. Jacob Hart was ordained in Chateaugay in 1822. Reference is made to him in a letter of the trustees of the Society, a copy of which has been preserved. The letter is dated Jan. 30, 1827, and is addressed to Rev. Absalom Peters, Secretary of the American home Missionary Society, and applying to that Society for help to sustain the gospel. …..
At this time there was no church edifice, but the school house was used by
different denominations, for, small as was the population, denominationalism
divided the people then as now, and there threatened a serious altercation with the Baptist Society, who claimed the right to use the school house three-fourths of the time. To this Mr. Hart makes reference in a letter dated April 14, 1827, and addressed to Rev. Absalom Peters on the same subject as the foregoing, saying: "There is no question but the whole labors of a clergyman are much needed in Chateaugay; there is not any part of our county that is in greater need of being protected by such labor, nor any place where prospects are so faint. ….."
As a first step towards providing a permanent place of worship, a meeting of the inhabitants of the town was held on the 19th of Sept., 1825 to take into consideration the necessity and practicability of building a meeting house. Rev. Jacob Hart was chosen chairman of the meeting and Chas. D. Backus, secretary. Trustees were also appointed to solicit subscriptions and to receive and pay out the same to the best advantage. The trustees then appointed were Isaac Sebring, Warren Botsford and John Backus. Mr. Sebring, in pursuance of his trust, obtained for the use of the Church, from his partners in business in New York, subscriptions of 245 acres of land in Franklin county, valued at $490, and from friends in Albany, New York, Philadelphia and Washington, subscriptions paid in cash, $228. So that with $228 in money and 245 acres of wild land the building committee began to lay the foundations of the meeting house; but, as the work progressed, Mr. Sebring paid from his own purse $469.42. On the 21st of July, 1828, the frame was raised, and afterwards enclosed; but the house remained unfinished for a long time. Finally, however, a subscription was circulated, and the house completed at an estimated cost of $3,000 and dedicated in 1842. In the account of the raising we find this quaint statement: "In addition to the Presbyterians there was a number of Baptists who aided in raising the frame of the meeting house, which was very heavy. The whole work was accomplished in great harmony, without accident, dispute or intoxication."
To say that there was no intoxication at a raising fifty years ago, where there were a hundred men employed, is to say that temperance principles had begun even then to prevail. As early as 1835 we find on the records of the Church that a total abstinence pledge was required of all candidates for admission to the Church; and in our elections, where temperance was an issue, none of the members voted against temperance principles, with perhaps one or two exceptions at our last town election.
In June, 1830, is the first record of a Church meeting. From that it appears that Rev. Moses Parmelee was minister to the Church. At this date, June 30, 1830, there were 47 members enrolled. But this was when the Church extended itself westward, and included what is now the Church in Burke. Rev. Moses Parmelee ministered to the Church for nearly four years. During his ministry the Church enjoyed a good degree of prosperity and had doubled its membership.
We find the first mention of Rev. Jas. Millar in February 1835, who continued to minister to the Church with, a short interval of absence, down to January, 1843.
In November, 1835, a protracted meeting was held and continued for nine days under the direction of Rev. Horatio Foote, at the close of which the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper was celebrated, and at that time 30 members were received into the Church; and during the eight years' ministry of Rev. James Millar sixty persons were added to the Church. Down to the close of his ministry the Church had been Congregational, but the name of the Society was "The First Presbyterian Society of Chateaugay," and the Church had been connected with the Presbytery since 1827, under an arrangement called the plan of union, agreed upon by the General Assembly and the General Association of Conn., according to which the Church could send delegates to the Presbytery and Synod, who should be received in all respects as elders, and that the Church on its part should submit their records to the Presbytery for examination and approval. But on April 4, 1842, after due deliberation, the Church, by a large majority, according to the record, adopted a report of a committee previously appointed, to the effect "That it would be for the
spiritual interest of the Church that its spiritual concerns be vested in the
hands of a Church Session, according to the Presbyterian form." On the 25th of
the same month the organization as a Presbyterian Church was completed by the
election of the following as elders, namely: - Tim. Beman, Wm. V. Derby, Warren
Botsford, Samuel Farnsworth, Erastus Douglass, Benjamin Miller, Robert Bennet,
Samuel Stoughton, Oscar F. Brewer, James J. Webb; and as deacons: - Tim. Beman,
Erastus Douglass, Warren Botsford, Benjamin Miller.
On the 15th of July following the Articles of Faith and Covenant now in use in the Church were adopted in a meeting at which Rev. Ashbel Parmelee was Moderator.
At the close of this year, 1842, Rev. James Millar resigned the pastoral charge of the
Church. On Jan. 2, 1843, the Church invited his son, Mr. Andrew M. Millar, though not ordained to the gospel ministry till the following year, to take the lead in religious meetings. On the 19th of June, 1844, he was ordained and installed pastor of the Church by the Presbytery of Champlain. During his ministry the Church enjoyed at times a high degree of prosperity. In the single year 1845 forty-one were added to the Church, an din 1850 thirteen at a single communion season. It was during his pastorate, in 1845, that a division in the Church took place and twenty-five members were granted letters of dismission to form a Congregational Church in the town of Burke.
On June 5th, 1848, the pastor tendered his resignation and the Presbytery at its meeting in the same month dissolved the pastoral relation. In Jan., 1849, Rev. E.B. Baxter was invited to minister to the Church, and during the year of his ministry thirteen were added to the Church. In the spring of the next year, 1850, Rev. A.M. Millar returned and continued to minister to the Church till his dismission to serve as
chaplain in the army in Nov., 1861. During this second period of his ministry
the Church greatly increased in numbers, eighty-two being added during the
period of twelve years.
On June 30th, 1856 a destructive tornado swept over this village, leaving ruin in its wake. None of the buildings that were exposed escaped being wrenched. Many were unroofed, and some were entirely demolished. All the houses of worship shared in the general ruin. Ours was entirely unroofed and the frame greatly injured. A meeting of the Society, however, was called within one week to consider what was to be done. It was voted at this meeting to remodel the house and enclose with brick. A building committee was appointed, who proved to be very efficient, consisting of Messrs. Edgar Keeler, Samuel S. Clark, and Wm. V. Derby. Work was commenced at once, and in a few months a renovated and improved house of worship arose from the ruins. The entire cost was $3,000, and this was paid partly by subscription and the sale of pews; partly by help from abroad, and the last $200 by a loan from the Board of Church Erection.
From the time of Rev. A. M. Millar's resignation in 1861 to the present time the Church has had the services of a succession of ministers. In 1862, Rev. John H. Beckwith for one year; in 1863, Rev. John Turbit for six months; from October 1863, Rev. A. M. Millar for two years and a half; from March, 1866, Rev. Simeon Gilbert, for one year and a half; in 1868, Rev. Thomas Thomson for one year. In the spring of 1870 Rev. C.D. Flagler commenced his ministry with the Church and continued two years and on Feb 11th, 1873, your present pastor was installed by the Presbytery of Champlain.
In 1861 the Church adopted the system of term eldership, the elders being elected for three years. During the continuance of this system J.C. Millar, A.S. Bryant and Joseph Shaw were added to the board of elders. In 1868 the church voted to return to the old system, when Jas. Danskin and the late S.S. Clark were chosen elders. Mr. Clark was held in high esteem as an officer and worked in the Church till his decease, which occurred in 1870, and his memory is still held precious. The present elders are Wm. V. Derby, Robert Bennet, Samuel Stoughton, Joseph C. Millar and James Dnsakin (sic), the first three having held the office since their election in 1842.
In Mr. Gilbert's ministry, in 1866, improvements were made on the interior of the meeting house, beautifying it and making it more attractive; and during the last three years the house has been refurnished with new heating apparatus, and new carpets and new cushions and other improvements by the Ladies' Aid Society, and the new means for lighting by the Young Ladies' Society, and a new organ by general subscription.
A very interesting incident and worthy of mention is that of a class in the Sabbath
School, which, by ten cent contributions from Sabbath to Sabbath, placed in the
pulpit a suitable Bible; and all that class but two have since become members of
the Church.
In reviewing the history of the Church we find there have been connected with it from its earliest organization, 426 members, and the membership at the time of the last report to Presbytery numbered [110?]. One Church was colonized from us. Four young men who first made a profession of religion in this Church have since become ministers of the gospel. Rev. Nelson Cook, who will be remembered only by the oldest among us; Rev. T.H. Canfield, who in 1870 was reported as laboring in a Congregational Church in the West; Rev. A.M. Millar, who is well known among us; and Rev. F.M. Smith, now pastor of a Baptist Church in Illinois.
In this review of our history, we recognize the Lord's hand leading us, sometimes through vales and shadows, sometimes through conflict, teaching us by his discipline and even by our toils and declensions that his blessing crowns a firm trust in him; that prosperity follows earnest effort put forth in his cause; and that his frown is upon indifference to his claims and declension in his service. Therefore, let this review and the unwritten history of our conflicts, and falls and declensions lead us to gird on the armor anew, and, thankful for past victories and repenting of past failures in duty, let us with united faith, hope and love, push on, with greater conquests in view, "Pressing toward the mark of our high calling in Christ Jesus."'

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

1896 Brushton Burial Permit


This October 16, 1896 burial permit for the Village of Brushton, NY from the collection of the Franklin County Historical & Museum Society reports the cause of death of 53 year old Daniel Sullivan in Brandon as "Consumption," the old term for Tuberculosis. Between 1873 and 1945, Franklin County -- most especially Saranac Lake -- was known for the treatment of tuberculosis. Dr. Trudeau's treatment of Tuberculosis at "cure cottages" in Saranac Lake began in 1884 and is perhaps most famously known for the treatment of Robert Louis Stevenson in 1887.

1896 Burial Permit


This August 27, 1896 burial permit for the Town of Brandon, NY from the collection of the Franklin County Historical & Museum Society reports the cause of death of 6 month old John Thornton of Reynoldston as "Colery Infantum." Cholera Infantum was a (now rare) form of gastroenteritis that affected children and was often fatal. Click here for an 1871 report on the disease. In fact, Pepto-Bismol was introduced in 1901 as "Mixture Cholera Infantum" and then renamed in 1919.

Thursday, August 13, 2009

1916 School Superintent's Report


click on images to enlarge
From the collection of the Franklin County Historical & Museum Society, 1976.192

1904 Regents Exam


 
From the collection of the Franklin County Historical & Museum Society

Franklin Academy Class of 1894

In honor of their 115th class reunion, the Historian presents the Franklin Academy class of 1894.

Click to enlarge

From the collection of the Franklin County Historical and Museum Society, 1975.7

Monday, July 20, 2009

Week of 7/20/09 Open Hours

The Franklin County Historical & Museum Society's open hours for the week of July 20 are as follows:
The Director will not be in the office from 7-16 through 7-28: NO TOURS
The Schryer Center for Historical & Genealogical Research will follow its usual hours of operation (Tues-Fri 1-4pm)

Friday, July 10, 2009

Summer Series Lecture on Hotel Saranac


The Franklin County Historical & Museum Society will be hosting Charles Alexander, who will be presenting his research on the Hotel Saranac in Saranac Lake, NY, on Monday, July 13 at 7:00pm at the Schryer Center for Historical & Genealogical Research (behind the House of History), 51 Milwaukee St., Malone. The lecture is free and open to the public; donations are appreciated.

Hotel Saranac was opened in 1927 by Apollos "Paul" Smith in the tradition of fine city hotels of the day, with a Grand Ballroom and Grand Hall opening onto a terrace overlooking the village and scenic mountains. From 1961 to 2007, the hotel was operated by Paul Smith's College as a teaching hotel for students of Hotel & Restaurant Management and Culinary Arts. The tradition of this elegant hotel continues now under private ownership.