Eliakim Briggs of Fort Covington

Larry Gooley has a great article on a 19th century Franklin County Inventor over at the Adirondack Almanack blog: 

http://www.adirondackalmanack.com/2011/12/franklin-county-inventor-eliakim-briggs.html

Check it out!

American Bicentennial Flag

From a piece in the Sept/Oct 1976 Empire State DAR News:

click image to enlarge

Caption:  
PRESENTATION --  Adirondack Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, presented a Bicentennial flag to Troop 20 boy Scouts Fife and Drum Corps of Brushton.  Directed by Bruce Jackson, the boys portray the Spirit of '76.  Because of the historical significance of this troop and the part they are portraying, Adirondack Chapter made the award.

And from a July 7, 1976 Malone Evening Telegram article:

click image to enlarge

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These and other clippings were preserved in one of several scrapbooks compiled during 1960s-1990s by Adirondack Chapter DAR.

Jacob Smith and Family of Chateaugay

One of the first families of Chateaugay, NY is the Jacob Smith Family. 

Excerpted from a February 1978 article in the Chateaugay Record, written by John Andrew Bilow:

"A monument has recently been erected in the Willis Cemetery in Earlville honoring Jacob Smith, one of the first settlers in Chateaugay and a Revolutionary War Soldier.

Jacob Smith was born in East Haven Conn., July 7, 1742, the son of Thomas Smith and Eunice Russell.  Smith married Elizabeth Blanchard, December 27, 1772 and had eight children: Eunice, Ruth, Thomas, Stephen, Jacob, Eli, Amaziah, and Salmon.  Ruth was born in Shutesbury, Mass., Thomas at Sherburn, Vt., Stephen in Arlington, Vt., Jacob, Eli and Amaziah in Sunderland, and Salmon in South Hero, Vt.  This family was well traveled. 

Jacob enlisted in the Revolutionary War in  May of 1775 in the state of Vermont in the company commanded by Captain Gideon Brownson in the regiment Commanded by Colonel Warner.  He served in Seth Warner's Regt. for two years and saw service in the Battle of Hubbarton, the Batttle of Bennington in 77 and the Battle at the capture of Burgoyne.  In the spring of 1778 he was transferred to Col Samuel Herricks Regt. and served for eighteen months when he was discharged. 

According to a statement made by Jesse Down of Poultney, Vt. in 1828 Jacob was cited as a Lieutenant and was also at the taking of Fort Defiance and Crown Point.  He was granted a pension of 15.74 semi-annually for his services in the Revolution. 

Smith was a selectman in South Hero, Vt. and was also known as Major according to the census of 1790.  Upon moving to Chateaugay in 1797, he established the first tannery in Franklin County, in the Northeastern part of town.  This would be in the Earlville area.  For the next 100 years his decendants were men of affairs in the town.  Thomas was a Colonel in the War of 1812 and owned a Tavern.  Salmon was a town justice.  His grandsons, Eli B. and Henry B. were wealthy merchants, businessmen and politicians."

Jacob Smith served as Supervisor of the Town of Chateaugay from 1829 until his death in 1831 and his grandson Henry B. Smith was Supervisor 1841, 1845-1849, 1851, 1856-1858, and 1861-1862.  

Hon. Henry B. Smith, a lifelong Democrat, was born in Chateaugay in 1805 and died in Chateaugay in 1863.  He held numerous local and state offices in addition to Town Supervisor, including assesor, justice of the peace, Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, collector of customs, and State Senator. (Hough, p. 469)

Henry's brother, Eli B. Smith donated four acres of "sightly grounds" as the site of the Chateaugay Academy and Union Free School, which opened September 15, 1879.  (Hurd, p. 465)

Capt. Salmon Smith (Jacob's son and the twin brother of Amaziah), also a soldier in the War of 1812, is highlighted in the Album of Genealogy and Biography, Cook County, Iillinois by Calumet Book & Engraving Company, Chicago (1896):

"He was a most pronounced infidel up to the age of thirty years, when he was converted to the Christian religion.... He was so well known and had been such a vigorous opponent of religious belief, that his change of sentiment produced much good in the community, although he had always been regarded as an honorable and worthy man.  He occupied some of the most responsible positions that the people could bestow.  He was an able lawyer, and served the public quite as ably and well when elevated to the Bench, as he had previously in a military capacity.  All his brothers did military service, and were pronounced workers in the Methodist Church.  He was born January 12, 1786, in South Hero, Grand Isle County, Vermont, and at twelve years of age removed with his father to Chateaugay, New York, where he resided the remainder of his life and passed away May 24, 1828."

List of 1915 Forest Rangers and Fire Observers

From May 7, 1915 Chateaugay Record and Franklin County Democrat:

click image to enlarge

Munger Grist Mill

Recently donated to the Franklin County Historical and Museum Society by William Loring:

Handwritten on the back is: "Munger Grist Mill, Lower Park Street, Malone 1892"

From Seaver (1918), p. 450:

"A stone flouring mill, five stories in height, near the Gravell plant, which was begun by George F. Dickey in 1868 and finished in 1870, with the expectation that it would have an output comparable with that of the large mills at Oswego and Rochester.  It was too big a proposition for Mr. Dickey's means, however, and the property soon went into the hands of Henry A. Paddock.  About 1882 it was bought and run by A. Munger for a number of years.  For a time it did an ordinary country mill business, and after Mr. Munger's death was converted into an excelsior mill.  It burned in 1911."

The "Gravell plant" referenced was a slaughter house and pork packing plant north of the center of the Village of Malone.  (ibid)   Excelsior (wood wool) is a product made of stranded wood fibers - once used as protective packaging in wood crates and as filling material for bedding and furniture products, and now used as Easter basket grass, in cooling pads, animal bedding, erosion control and archery backstops.



Fun Facts

(Well, if you consider historical/demographic facts fun, that is.... and we do.) 

In any case:
o Chateaugay is the oldest town in Franklin County, NY (founded 1799)

o Tupper Lake is the youngest town in Franklin County (founded 1890 and renamed in 2004 – originally town of Altamont)

o Duane is the least populous town

o Malone is the most populous town

o The 2000 census recorded 51,134 people living within Franklin County.

o Harrietstown is the largest township (in square miles)

o Constable is the smallest township (in square miles)

Malone Streetscape

The view that most of us are familiar with of the intersection of Main and Elm Streets in Malone either precedes the building of the Hotel Flanagan (1914) or includes that dominating structure.  But almost every image of that section of the Village of Malone includes the Rutland Railroad depot. 

Except this one:

From the collection of the Franklin County Historical and Museum Society



This print, taken from an ambrotype by Christie Fay, is from the 1850s.  At left is the Hiram Horton homestead, which was torn down to make way for the Rutland Railroad Passenger depot and is now the site of Community Bank.  The small building next to the Horton house is the first bank building in Franklin County, of which Vice President William A. Wheeler was its first cashier. 

From Seaver's Historical Sketches of Franklin County:

(p.414) Describing Malone circa 1815:  "On Elm street there were the Hosford Hotel at what is now the railroad crossing, the Horton home on the site of the present passenger station, a store and six dwelling houses. " and "... and Oliver Booge, just opposite the Wead Library on Elm Street."  

(Pp.458-9) "... in 1851, when the Bank of Malone... was incorporated by Mr. Wead, John and Hiram Horton, Edwin L. Meigs, William King and William Andrus of Malone, Henry B. Smith of Chateaugay, Leonard Fish of Bangor, and a number of individuals residing in Vermont.  Mr. Wead was the first president, and William A. Wheeler the first cashier.  Business was begun September 15, 1851, and while a bank building was in course of erection was continued in the law offices of Asa Hascall on or near the site of the present Episcopal Church.  The bank building was a one-story stone structure located where the Wead Library now stands."

[Ed. note:  the Wead Library referred to in these passages is the first Wead Library building, established in 1881 and where the site of the current Village offices are (next to Community Bank), not the current library building on the corner of Elm and Park Streets.]

Chateaugay Historical Society

On October 1, 2011, Jack Bilow will visit the Chateaugay Historical Society Archive Room to give a talk and book signing of his newest publication: "A War of 1812 Death Register: Whispers in the Dark".

Jack has spent over seven years, many of these in the National Archives in Washington, D.C. researching the names of  the men who served, were taken prisoner, wounded and died in the War of 1812 in Vermont, New York and along the  Canadian Border. Focusing on the northern front of the war from Maine to Niagara he has included approximately 20,000 soldiers in this hardcover book of 552 pages including sixteen pages of illustrations, many unpublished until now. Over 1800 militia men from Vermont and 1400 from Essex, Franklin, and Clinton counties in New York who particiated in the Battle of Plattsburgh are listed.

The book is an excellent resource for those who are researching their North Country roots or are interested in military history. It would make a nice addition to any North Country collection.

Please join Jack Bilow and the Chateaugay Historical Society for an informative and entertaining morning at the Chateaugay Memorial Library from 9am to 12 am. Jack will give a talk at 11am and will have books available for signing from 9-12.

Brushton High School

From the August 12, 1914 Malone Farmer:

Grand Army of the Republic

G.A.R. Members marching in

Decoration Day Parade 1896, Malone

From the Collection of the Franklin County Historical & Museum Society

One of the outcomes of the American Civil War was the Grand Army of the Republic (G.A.R.), founded in 1866 and disbanded in 1949.  Membership in the G.A.R. was limited to those men who served in the Union Army, Navy, Marine Corps or Revenue Cutter Service during the Civil War. 

From the NYS Archives site:

     The Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) was a large multi-faceted organization (fraternal lodge, charitable society, special interest lobby, patriotic group, and political club) founded in 1866 by Union Army Surgeon Benjamin Franklin Stephenson. The organization was originally envisioned as a brotherhood of veterans who were dedicated to helping other veterans.

      The first post was established at Decatur, Illinois in April 1866. Soon after a second post was organized in Springfield, Illinois, and others began to emerge throughout the northeastern states. By September of 1866, following a mass meeting of Civil War veterans in Pittsburgh, the movement began to spread east with the establishment of GAR posts by ex-union soldiers.

     The GAR was, without a doubt, a powerful political organization. It has been described by many as a "bloody shirt Republican club," and while this may be true, it is overshadowed by the organization's patriotic and social work. It was through the GAR, and the pension lobby, that many soldiers and their families received pensions. The Grand Army also promoted patriotism through parades, national encampments, placement of war memorials, and the establishment of Memorial Day as a national holiday.

G.A.R. members pose

From the Collection of the Franklin County Historical & Museum Society

1974.243

Franklin County Posts (adapted from the GAR site maintained by SUNY Morrisville):

• Waverly:  Post 101 - Named for Sgt. Guy Wynkoop, Co. H, 10th NY Cavalry -  Joined at Waverly Oct. 1861 at age 20; captured at Sulphur Springs, VA, Oct. 13, 1863; died Aug. 30, 1864 at Andersonville, GA.
• Malone:   Post 213 Chartered Jan. 28, 1895 - Named for Private John W. Pangborn, Co. I, 35th NYSV.  Joined at Elmira in May 1861 for two years; mustered with Co. H, moved to Co. I in Aug. 1861
• Malone:   Post 284 Chartered Aug. 12, 1882 - Named for Captain William D. Brennan, Co. A, 142d NYSV. Born 1839; joined Aug. 21, 1862 at Malone as 1st Lt., age 22; Capt. May 1864; WIA Sept. 29, 1864 at Fort Gilmer, VA and lost a leg; discharged May 17, 1865; brevet Lt. Col. NYSV; brevet Major USV; taught school upon his return home and eventually became a lawyer; served as county treasurer and three terms in NYS Assembly; suffered a political reversal and took strychnine March 7, 1881.
• Brushton:  Post 363 Chartered April 19, 1883 - Named for Captain Horace L. Aldrich, Co. H, 106th NYSV. Joined at Morris Aug. 14, 1862, as 2d Lt., age 26; Captain July 9, 1864; discharged June 22, 1865.
• Dickinson Center:  Post 462 D. Robbins
• St. Regis Falls:  Post 504 Active Aug. 6, 1884 to 1921- Named for Colonel Charles Durkee, 98th NYSV. Malone businessman and a Democrat; joined at Malone as Lt. Col. Jan. 10, 1862, age 35; discharged Feb. 25, 1863; elected to lead Malone's home guard during the St. Alban's scare of 1864; died 1879.
• Chateaugay:  Post 562 Chartered Oct. 6, 1885 - Named for Rear Admiral Theodorus Bailey, US Navy. Born 1805 in Chateaugay; second in command of Farragut's fleet at the battle for New Orleans; died 1877
• Saranac Lake:  Post 621 Active July 23, 1897 to 1921-  Named for Corporal Francis M. Bull, Co. A, 77th   NYSV. Joined in Oct. 1861, age 22; discharged for fractured thigh, July 19, 1862.

________________________________
Additional Resources:

• Grand Army of the Republic records in the NYS Archives (1865-1949)
• G.A.R. in New York State
• Brief History of the Grand Army of the Republic

Memorial Cards

In the collection of the Franklin County Historical & Museum Society are many examples of the mourning or memorial card.  The design changes over time, and includes simple black-bordered paper and envelopes, more elaborate die cut paper memrorials, and these local examples of black cards with gilt embossing:

For more information on Western funereal and mourning customs, visit The Art of Mourning.

Teacher Examinations

From a March 1864 issue of the Malone Palladium:

1912 Sanitary Code of Village of Malone

From the May 22, 1912 Malone Farmer:

(Excerpts from) The Sanitary Code of the Village of Malone, N.Y.

The Sanitary Code took effect June 20, 1912 and was published in the newspaper on the authority of William L. Allen, Thomas Adams, and A.N. Henderson of the Board of Health and Dr. A.G. Wilding, the Health Officer. 

Fort Covington Presbyterian Church

From the 8-29-1867 Malone Palladium:

Collapse of Malone Hotel building

In January, we posted about the former Smith/Hogle House hotel on Main Street in Malone.  Unfortunately, this 145-year old structure collapsed early Monday, July 25, 2011.  The remainder of the building was demolished Monday evening and the rubble is being removed today. 

Photos by Doug Buchanan of The Malone Telegram

Political Cartoons from the Past

Locally, we have Marquil to put the events of the day into satirical images.  In the 19th century, Thomas Nast skewered politicians with whom he disagreed.  Check out this fabulous resource of Nast cartoons in Harper's Weekly!

Thomas Nast cartoon "Compromise-Indeed!"  Harper's Weekly January 27, 1877

Depicting disputed Presidential election of 1876 and Nast's perception of the Democrats' attitude.

Frederick Douglass on the Fourth of July

From a 4th of July speech to the citizens of Rochester, NY in 1852:

"...At a time like this, scorching irony, not convincing argument, is needed. O! had I the ability, and could reach the nation's ear, I would, to-day, pour out a fiery stream of biting ridicule, blasting reproach, withering sarcasm, and stern rebuke. For it is not light that is needed, but fire; it is not the gentle shower, but thunder. We need the storm, the whirlwind, and the earthquake. The feeling of the nation must be quickened; the conscience of the nation must be roused; the propriety of the nation must be startled; the hypocrisy of the nation must be exposed; and its crimes against God and man must be proclaimed and denounced.


What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July?  I answer; a day that reveals to him, more than all other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim. To him, your celebration is a sham; your boasted liberty, an unholy license; your national greatness, swelling vanity; your sounds of rejoicing are empty and heartless; your denunciation of tyrants, brass fronted impudence; your shouts of liberty and equality, hollow mockery; your prayers and hymns, your sermons and thanksgivings, with all your religious parade and solemnity, are, to Him, mere bombast, fraud, deception, impiety, and hypocrisy -- a thin veil to cover up crimes which would disgrace a nation of savages.There is not a nation on the earth guilty of practices more shocking and bloody than are the people of the United States, at this very hour.

...Allow me to say, in conclusion, notwithstanding the dark picture I have this day presented, of the state of the nation, I do not despair of this country. There are forces in operation which must inevitably work the downfall of slavery. "The arm of the Lord is not shortened," and the doom of slavery is certain. I, therefore, leave off where I began, with hope. While drawing encouragement from "the Declaration of Independence," the great principles it contains, and the genius of American Institutions, my spirit is also cheered by the obvious tendencies of the age. Nations do not now stand in the same relation to each other that they did ages ago. No nation can now shut itself up from the surrounding world and trot round in the same old path of its fathers without interference. The time was when such could be done. Long established customs of hurtful character could formerly fence themselves in, and do their evil work with social impunity. Knowledge was then confined and enjoyed by the privileged few, and the multitude walked on in mental darkness. But a change has now come over the affairs of mankind. ..."

Born into slavery in 1817, Frederick Douglass escaped to the north in 1838 and became a leading orator in the Abolition movement and publisher of "The North Star" anti-slavery newspaper. 

Luther Bradish of Moira

Luther Bradish was born in Hampshire County, MA in 1783 and served in the U.S. Army during the War of 1812. For six years beginning in 1820, he traveled through the Middle East at the behest of President Monroe and Secretary of State John Quincy Adams, holding one of the first passports issued by the new government, in an attempt to form a treaty between the U.S. and the Ottoman Empire.


An attorney, Bradish moved to Moira, NY about 1826 and shortly thereafter commenced a brief career in politics. He served as a member of the New York State assembly 1827-1830 and 1835-1838 and then as Lieutenant Governor of NYS (1838-1842). Following his service in state government, he led several organizations including the New-York Historical Society (as President 1850-1863) and the American Bible Society (as President 1862-1863). Bradish was also appointed Chair of the NY City Postal Reform Committee and Assistant U.S. Treasurer for NYC.

Bradish was one of the founders of St. Mark's Episcopal Church in Malone and, in 1831, was elected (along with James Duane) as one of the first wardens of the church.  Also in 1831, he joined 73 other men from northern Franklin County in mortgaging personal property to provide the founding capital for Franklin Academy high school in Malone.

Luther Bradish became a target for anti-Whig rhetoric in the 1838 election for his public statements supporting the abolition of slavery.   In an open letter, William Jay and Gerrit Smith of the New York Anti-Slavery Society asked the candidates three questions:

• 1st. Are you in favor of a law, granting to persons in this State, claimed as fugitive slaves, a trial by Jury?
• 2nd. Are you in favor of abolishing all distinctions in the Constitutional rights of the citizens of this State founded solely on complexion?
• 3rd. Are you in favor of a repeal of the law, which now authorises [sic] the importation of slaves into this State, and their detention here as such, for the term of nine months?

Bradish's response, which was to affirm his support of the Abolition position on all three questions, was satirized in a blatantly racist anti-Whig broadside:

What Bradish actually wrote was:

"I am, therefore, in favor of abolishing all distinctions in the Constitutional rights of the citizens of this State, founded solely on complexion."

The base appeal to racist sentiment was not successful in preventing Bradish from being elected in 1838; the Whigs were successful in that gubernatorial election, as well as in the national 1840 election. 

Although Luther Bradish spent his latter years outside of Franklin County, NY, he remains an important part of the history of the county, and his home in Moira is marked with a state historical marker. 

----------------
Further Resources:

- NY Times Obituary - Hon. Luther Bradish

- Luther Bradish's Letter to the NY Anti-Slavery Society -- at the Library of Congress

Black Homesteaders in the Adirondacks Exhibits

click to enlarge

In addition to the exhibit and public programs at the Whallonsburg Grange, be sure to visit the story of Franklin County homesteader John Thomas, at the North Star Underground Railroad Musuem in Ausable Chasm.

Benevolent Societies in 1850 in Franklin County

In 1850, in addition to the fraternal societies such as the Masons and Odd Fellows, there existed several benevolent societies in Franklin County: 

• Franklin County Bible Society
• Temperance Society
• Peace Society
• Tract Society
• Missionary Society
• Anti-Slavery Society



Plank Road from Ft. Covington to Malone

From January 1850 Malone Palladium

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Chateaugay & Burke Tornado

Larry Gooley has a great article over at the Adirondack Almanack on the highly destructive tornado that ripped through Franklin County 155 years ago, leveling Chateaugay and tearing through Burke.   Check it out!

From April 24, 1953 Chateaugay Record

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William A. Wheeler Event

(click to enlarge)

Join the Franklin County Historical & Museum Society and the Malone Lodge of Elks on Saturday, June 18 at 10am at Morningside Cemetery for the annual Vice President William A. Wheeler Memorial Event.  Commemoration of the 192nd birthday of the Franklin County-born U.S. Vice President at the graveside service includes a tribute to Wheeler and veterans' gun salute and a reception following at the House of History Museum. 

Free and open to the public.  Call the museum at: 518-483-2750 for details.




View Larger Map

Juneteenth

J.A. Higgins' Select School

(click to enlarge)

From 5-21-1861 Malone Palladium

Poem: "Picking Hops"

From an August 1861 Frontier Palladium, this poem evokes the poet's desire for hearth and home versus duty to fight during the American Civil War. 

The Frank Pond Music Company

In honor of Memorial Day and the fallen soldiers of America, we present this 1941 sheet music by the Frank Pond Music Co. of Mountain View (from the collection of the Franklin County Historical and Museum Society):

 (click to enlarge)

An unidentified newspaper clipping (circa 1965):

 



Malone Popcorn Vendor

From undated (ca. 1970s) Malone Evening Telegram:

Ca. 1930s Photo of Frankie Browning, by Floyd Lord 

Courtesy of George Pond

In the 1930s, Frankie Browning operated a mobile popcorn machine outside the Grand Theatre in Malone, from which he also sold peanuts and raisins.  Harold F. Brown wrote in his Do You Remember When? Editor's Column,  "A kerosene burner supplied the heat for making popcorn and Frankie had to turn the roller popper by hand.  The picture shows the kerosene can and snouted pourer underneath the stand.  The pail hanging on the back caught the parts that did not pop.  The fragrance of popcorn filled that section of Main Street each evening, tempting theater goers."   Peanuts cost a dime, a box of raisins a nickel, a bag of popcorn cost a nickel and big box could be had for a dime.  According to Brown, Frankie Browning was "badly crippled" and laboriously wheeled his popcorn cart across Main Street from its storage area behind Pond's store each night. 

The Settler

    The Settler
    By Alfred B. Street

His echoing axe the settler swung
Amid the sea-like solitude.
And rushing, thundering, down were flung
The Titans of the wood;
Loud shrieked the eagle as he dashed
From out his mossy nest, which crashed
With its supporting bough,
And the first sunlight, leaping, flashed
On the wolf's haunt below.

Rude was the garb, and strong the frame
Of him who plied his ceaseless toil:
To form that garb, the wild-wood game
Contributed their spoil;
The soul that warmed that frame, disdained
The tinsel, gaud, aud glare, that reigned
Where men their crowds collect;
The simple fur, untrimmed, unstained.
This forest tamer decked.

The paths which wound 'mid gorgeous trees,
The streams whose bright lips kissed their flowers.
The winds that swelled their harmonies
Through those sun-hiding bowers,
The temple vast—the green arcade,
The nestling vale, tho grassy glade.
Dark cave and swampy lair;
These scenes and sounds majestic, made
His world, his pleasures, there.

His roof adorned, a pleasant spot,
'Mid the black logs green glowed the grain,
And herbs and plants the woods knew not,
Throve in the sun and rain.

The smoke-wreath curling o'er the dell,
The low—the bleat—the tinkling bell,
All made a landscape strange.
Which was the living chronicle
Of deeds that wrought the change.

The violet sprung at Spring's first tinge,
The rose of Summer spread its glow,
The maize hung on its Autumn fringe,
Rude Winter brought his snow; 
And still the settler labored there,
His shout and whistle woke the air,
As cheerily he plied
His garden spade, or drove his shore
Along the hillock's side.

This poem, and others extolling the delights of the New York wilderness were reprinted in Forest Leaves, a quarterly magazine published by the TB Sanatorium at Gabriels, 1903-1934.  The poet Alfred B. Street, the onetime NY State Librarian, often wrote about life in the wilderness with poetic descriptions of nature.  Street's "The Forsaken Road" evokes the balance of wilderness and settlement that is part of the Adirondacks in its first few lines:

In the deep bosom of the wilderness,
Arbor'd with green, now hidden by the leaves
Dropp'd at the breath of Autumn, seaming here
The hollow wet with oozing springs, and there
Traced lightly on the firm and level glade
Winds, in two wheel-marks, a forsaken road.

Evert A. & George L. Duyckinck, The Cyclopedia of American Literature p.435

(Philadelphia: William Rutter & Co., 1880)(Vol. 2)

Alfred Billings Street

1811-1881



R.C.A.F. Plane Crash

In 1942, several Royal Canadian Air Force airplanes crashed near Ragged Mountain.

click to enlarge

June 19, 1942 Chateaugay Record

Curiously, there was no further reporting in the local press on this tragedy.  Wartime censorship may perhaps account for this resounding media silence. 

.

Marital Separation, 1851-style

From  Franklin Gazette:

Malone Schools in 1891

We stumbled upon this list of Malone village schools (while researching something else, naturally) in the July 3, 1891 Franklin Gazette.   It is from a report on the schools' enrollment and attendance, but it is also useful as a run-down of the school buildings throughout the village near the end of the era of neighborhood schools.  Do you recognize your ancestors in the lists of students?

Santa Clara Lumber Company lumber camp

From the January 30, 1974 Tupper Lake Free Press and Tupper Lake Herald :

Santa Clara Lumber Company camp near Tupper Lake, ca. 1914

The newspaper caption reads:

AWAY BACK WHEN - The late Frank McCormick, Tupper photographer, snapped this picture about 60 years ago at one of the logging camps operated by the Santa Clara Lumber Co.  In the remote Cold River country.  His camera caught a glimpse of what was "home" for the winter for a lot of early Tupper residents, in an era when lumberjacks stayed in camp all winter.  Horse-power was still of the four-footed variety, and more than 30 were led out by their teamsters for this photo.  The teamster seated on his horse at left center cradles a puppy in his arms.  Perhaps some of the old timers among our readers can identify some of the lumbermen in this photo.

Frank McCormick operated his photographic studio on Park Street in Tupper Lake from 1904, when he moved it from its location on Cliff Ave, until his death in 1942.  His son James ran the studio from 1945-1955.   

And from the March 17, 1964 Malone Evening Telegram:

Santa Clara Lumber Camp on Ampersand Pond, circa 1905

The newspaper caption reads:

TURN OF THE CENTURY -- The three men sitting in front were prominent Malone businessmen who were being entertained at the Santa Clara Lumber Co. Camp of Ferris J. Meigns on Ampersand Pond along about 1905.  N. Munroe Marshall, sitting against the left post, Fred Amsden, with the pointed hat and clasping his knees and Jack Flanagan, wearing the knee socks, were in the party which also included several well-known Tupper Lake residents. 

Other Resources and Images:

-  Photo of:  Horse-drawn load of lumber (1915) in the collection of the NYS Archives
-  Photo of:  Interior of log bunk house (1920s) of the Santa Clara Lumber Co. in collection of NYS Archives
-  Photo of:  Santa Clara Lumber Co yards and office (1920s) in collection of NYS Archives
-  Photo of:  Lumber Camp on Mt. Seward in Town of Harrietstown in collection of NYS Archives

-  History of Town of Santa Clara from Seaver's (1918) Historical Sketches of Franklin County, NY

Langdon's Earliana Tomatoes

From Historical Sketches of Franklin County, New York (1918) by Frederick J. Seaver, p.263:

The soil [in the town of Constable], though generally light, is rich and heavy in a few localities. Market gardening is practiced successfully and upon a large scale, especially by Herbert P. Langdon & Son, successors to Fayette Langdon & Son, who entered upon the business some fifteen years ago. Their first venture was melon raising, which was successful for a time, but latterly has been a failure, and therefore abandoned. At present the concern's specialties are early cabbages, early corn, early tomatoes, onions, sweet peppers, etc. Of corn they market forty to fifty thousand cars in a season, and of tomatoes eight hundred to a thousand bushels. Most of their products are shipped to summer hotels in the Adirondacks at fancy prices, though considerable quantities are sold in Malone also. They have developed a particularly early and fine tomato, called the Langdon Strain of Earlianas, from the most carefully selected specimens of which they put up large quantities of seeds for sale to seedsmen. For the choicest of these seeds they have no difficulty in disposing of all they raise at five dollars per ounce, with other grades selling at varying figures down to sixty cents per ounce. They had a contract in 1916, outside of the Earliana seed, to furnish a large house with all of the seed from two acres that were cultivated solely for this purpose. Their tomato seeds alone brought them two thousand four hundred dollars in 1915!

From the Weekly Market Grower's Journal, January 20, 1912:

From The Southern Planter, January 1911: