in the word " home," embracing all that is beautiful
and lovely, accounts for it. What is it not worth,
with the rest and comfort it suggests to the mariner
on life's tempest-tossed ocean ? What nation that
does not think their own country, however bleak
and desolate, the best land in the world ? Even the
Icelanders have a proverb to the effect that theirs is
the best country the sun shines upon. The Lap
lander, fettered to his snowy deserts, has the same
feeling. " My heart's in the highlands," the Scotch
shepherd sang, and my heart ardently echos the sen
timents of his song :
" Here let no cold, unfeeling stranger come,
Where once in youth we careless roved;
We fain would rest once more in that " old home,"
And gaze on scenes we dearly loved."
LETTER n.
My Parents Sketch of the Life of Jonathan E. Miles.
MY DEAR F:
" Long, long ago," full fifty years since, my
parents commenced life together, in the place I have
attempted to describe to you, with small means, or
rather, with no means at all, but health and willing
hands, and these are better than all the gold in Cali
fornia, without them. Nearly forty years they lived
and labored together, died beneath the same roof,
and now repose side by side in the beautilful grounds
of " Brookside Cemetery." A short sketch of the
life and labors of the early settlers of Jefferson
County, has recently been furnished the columns of
the N. Y. Reformer, a temperance paper, published
in Watertown. The sketches are furnished by Solon
Massey, Esq. From this paper I quote the sketch
of my father's life, which will give you a far better
idea of the state of the country at that period than
anything I can furnish.
MESSRS. EDITORS : I had not intended writing
the history of any man who is now living, however,
much material may have accumulated on my hands,
24 PERSONAL SKETCHES
and, however much the facts and incidents connected
with his history may have interested my own mind.
Yet, notwithstanding, I natter myself, I wish
nothing in looking for absolution at the hands of the
living subject whom I have chosen for this sketch,
as well as from your readers, if I depart from my
rule in a single instance, for the purpose of showing
what kind of young men they were, who shouldered
their knapsacks in New England, and pushed their
fortunes in these frontier settlements, in the first
year of the present century.
I am the more willing to undertake this life pic
ture, because the dates and figures were furnished
by himself, in answer to my call published in a
recent number of your paper. In fact, a large pro
portion of the " warp and woof" of the article is
his sentiment and language, fitted to read in the
third person, instead of the first, so as to be made
to correspond with the series which I am preparing
to write.
r Mr. Jonathan E. Miles, the subject of this sketch,
was born among the spruce woods of New Hamp
shire, in June, 1782. His parents had a numerous
family, and like most of the people of the eastern
States, they were under the necessity of practising
the most rigid economy, and of requiring every
member of the family to contribute to the general
stock by habits of industry.
At the age of eighteen, he obtained the consent
of his parents to strike out in the world on his own
account, and seek for himself such a fortune as might
result from unaided efforts with a kind expecta
tion, however, that he would not venture much
beyond the atmosphere of his native mountains, if,
indeed, he lost sight of the smoke of the old familiar
chimney. But, having in possession some ten dol-
AND EECOLLECTIONS. " 25
lars in cash, the avails of a " clearing out sale " of
muskrat and mink skins 4 which were the result of
his skill in trapping for those animals he formed
the resolution, as expressed by language at the time,
of " seeing how large the world was," or at least of
ascertaining " where the sun went down." With
something of this kind in view he set his face to the
west, and went steadily and courageously on, day
by day, crossing the " Granite State " to the Con
necticut River, below Dartmouth College, and then,
nothing daunted, right across the " Green Mountain
State," and down its western slope to " York State,"
and so on by the way of Albany and Schenectady,
up the Mohawk river to White stown.
Not finding the "jumping off place," yet, neither
the place " where the sun went down," thougjh
nearly out of money, he made arrangements to
work the balance of the season at wages, with a
view of replenishing his purse for another tramp
westward.
But, about this time nearly the whole of the
eleven original townships comprising the Black
River tract south of that river, were opened and
offered for sale, and emigrants were flocking in and
making purchases. The accounts given of the
beauty of the country were such as to interest a
mind like young Miles', and he forthwith sought
and obtained the approbation of his employer, in
the resolution he had formed, to push his way at
once again towards the " setting sun."
By the advice of this kind employer, he now set
himself about an equipment, in the shape of apple-
seeds, for a large apple nursery, as soon as he could
find the beau ideal of his ambitious day dreams.
Leaving Whitestown, with his knapsack on his back
containing apple-seeds, and a fair supply of pro-
3
26 PERSONAL SKETCHES
visions, together with a somewhat scanty wardrobe,
and with a gun on his shoulder, he put his face to
wards the " setting sun " again, and proceeded to
Fort Stenwix, (Koine). Soon after leaving Rome,
he entered a dense and tangled forest, and following
a rough road which led to Turin, on the Black River,
where there were a few settlers, he passed on
through Martinsburg, which was entirely unin
habited, toLowville, which was called the "eleventh
town," where there were a good many families.
On the eighth, ninth, and tenth townships, not a
human face or habitation was to be seen. He saw
but one family in the fifth township, (Denmark),
two families, Hubbard's and Harris's, on the fourth
(Champion) ; two, Keyes' and Millers' on the third,
(Jutland), near the pond. From here the road
was so indistinct and difficult to follow to the resi
dence of Johnson and Andrew Howk, in the present
Col. Hungerford neighborhood, that he lost his way
and did not find their clearings, which, so far as he
had any purpose, was to have been the end of his
journeyings, for the present.
Passing on, he went to Dry Hill, and not finding
inhabitants or any clue to the Howks', he began to
feel in a hurry, and urge " shank's mare " into her
fastest gait, lest, peradventure, his camp might have
to be made in the woods, with no " accommoda
tions for man or beast." For his dinner, he shot a
partridge, and striking a fire, he dressed and cooked
it, after which he renewed his search, and finally,
along towards night, discovered a smoke ahead,
which proved to issue from the shanty of Eliphalet
Edmonds, on Sandy Creek, in the town of Adams,
which he was occupying with a little daughter,
long enough to clear four acres of land and sow it
to wheat. They were just ready to return to their
AND RECOLLECTIONS. 27
eastern home, having expended their provisions
except a salmon or two, caught in Sandy Creek,
and a little unleavened bread. They gave him par
ticular directions how to make bread of the kind,
which is here transcribed for the benefit of others,
who may, at any time be similarly situated, viz :
" Take of wheat flour, and ' Adam's ale,' in due
proportion, and bake on a chip before the fire ! "
Leaving these hospitable quarters next morning,
he retraced his steps, and found the clearings of
the Messrs. Howk, without much difficulty. Mr.
J. Howk furnished land and assisted in sowing the
apple seeds, and he soon began to feel like having
an investment on his' own account, which might
prove the germ of a fortune in the* future. He
was not disappointed in his hopes, for the trees
grew apace, and in due time were sought for, far
and near, by those who would " take time by the
forelock," in cultivating fruit for their new homes.
Mr. Hart Massey purchased sixty trees from that
nursery, and planted them opposite the site of the
First Presbyterian church in this village, on the lots
which are now occupied by R. E. Hungerford, D.
D. Otis, Joseph Mullin, and Howell Cooper.
Mr. Miles purchased the farm he has lived on so
long, in 1801. That was fifty-seven years ago. We
have seen how much of a wilderness this entire
country was at the date of our journeyings. That
wilderness has all disappeared with the inhabitants
whose energies were taxed to the utmost in chang
ing it into the beautiful farms which now greet the
eye ; and we can hardly realize how there could
have been a time within the memory of Mr. Miles,
when a residence in the Col. Hungerford neighbor
hood could not be hunted out, by a description
given by such a man as Judge Keyes, to a keen,
28 PERSONAL SKETCHES
hawk-eyed lad, like the hero of our story. John
son Howk's land was the farm now owned and
occupied by Truman Hungerford, near Burville.
At that time there were only six families in this
town, viz ; Henry Caffen, Zachariah Butterfield,
Aaron Bacon, (whose son-in-law was the first male
child born in the town), Johnson and Andrew
Howk, and Dea. Oliver Bartholomew.
In looking over the town at this date, (August,
1858), it is believed that beside himself, there re
mains of the population of 1800, but two persons
now living, viz : Benjamin Woodruff, and Mrs.
John Wilcox unless it may be that Asaph Mat
thew's son was then here. Mrs. Wilcox was the
eldest daughter of the aforesaid Johnson Howk,
and Mr. Woodruff is the genial old gentleman who
has survived almost his entire generation, but who
still enjoys life on the premises where he has acted
his part for more than fifty-seven years, on one of
the slopes surrounding what is known as the
" Gotham Valley," in Watertown. A link in the
chain.
LETTER in.
School days Our Foremothers Mrs. Sanford's Letter Pioneer
Life in JeSerson County My father's Library Periodicals
Parley's Magazine Death of Peter Parley.
MY DEAR F:
Few parents have labored more assiduously for the
moral and intellectual improvement of their child
ren than ours did. No pains were spared to give
us all a good common school education, and after
we arrived at suitable age, were all sent away from
home to some academy or high school. Of the
places in which were schools which my father
patronized, I remember the following : Albany,
Buffalo, Belleville, Canton, Clinton, Potsdam, Rod
man, and Watertown. If we have been unsuccess
ful in our efforts to get a decent knowledge of books
then in use, surely lack of parental exertion and
instruction has not been the reason, for both have
been untiringly applied for our mental improvement.
From my earliest remembrance, school-books, and
others amusing and interesting to children, have
3*
30 PERSONAL SKETCHES
been purchased and placed in our hands by our
parents. Besides our regular school which we
attended Summer and Winter with scarcely a miss
ing day, we spent many of our Winter evenings,
with slate and arithmetic at home ; or a spelling
class was formed with six or seven of us, with our
" toes to a mark " on the floor of the spacious old
kitchen which was also the sitting-room for the
family with either father or an older sister to pro
nounce words. The " finale " of the evening's per
formance would be " spelling down ; " then, about
eight o'clock the younger children would all retire.
Ah! Happy childhood, without a care or fore
thought for the morrow ! What a blessed ignorance
of the great duties of life, and of the future ! Our
good mother was the last to retire, and midnight
often found her still plying the everlasting needle,
making or repairing our plain wardrobe. With
what untiring effort and bodily labor she managed
to keep respectably clad, God only knows. ' Since I
have had the- care of a small family it has been the
wonder of wonders to me, how my mother performed
so much labor, and lived as long as she did. It
is no marvel that her over-taxed physical strength
gave way at a little past middle age. And yet,
what I have said of her, is true of hundreds of
other mothers of my acquaintance, and many of
them are in the first settled families of this very
AND RECOLLECTIONS. 31
town (Hopkinton). O ! that some ready pen
would write one half the labors, self-sacrifices,
and deprivations of our foremothers, to go along
side of the volumes that have been written in praise
of all these virtues of " our forefathers." One
would think that all of their duties were performed
for the good of their country alone ; for not one
word has been immortalized in song, or written
about the partners of their trials and sorrows.
True, most of the fathers in a newly settled farming
country, labor from early morn until dusky eve, with
scarcely an intermission for their meals ; and then,
in the course of the year, rainy days, Sabbaths, and
evenings, give them many leisure hours while the
mother is at work. At least, it was so with my
father, and his reading hours were as faithfully
occupied as his laboring ones. Here I copy for
your perusal a letter from a friend, showing her
trials of pioneer life in Jefferson county.
Hopkinton.
$[Y DEAR FRIEND : I believe I have told you
my mother was a native of Massachusetts ; my
father was from the Green Mountain State.
The first three years after their marriage they
lived on the banks of the Green River, between
the hills, where they could not see the sun un
til it was two hours above the horizon. This
was about sixty years ago. Rumors reached them
32 PERSONAL SKETCHES
of the fertility of the Black River country of
its majestic forests and flowing streams, and above
all of its level surface. They did not need much
urging to leave those hills, and take their all,
household furniture and two children on an ox-
sled, and thus they journeyed fourteen days to El-
lisburg, Jefferson County. AVe stopped at my
grandfather's a few weeks, while my father cleared
a spot and built a little cabin, covering the roof with
bark, and marking the trees as he went for his fam
ily. Thus they commenced life in that beautiful
town. My father exchanged work with the inhab
itants of that then sparsely settled town, often leav
ing my mother for days in that cabin home. At
evening, as she went in pursuit of her cow, she has
heard the howling of wolves ; and when she re
turned, she did not dare enter her cabin until she
heard her daughter's voice.
Time rolled on ; the opening was enlarged. The
soil was productive beyond their most sanguine ex
pectations. Their cabin was enlarged, and three
more olive plants were added to their number. But
mortal life has its clouds as well as sunshine. Dur
ing the war of 1812, my mother's strength and en
ergy was tested to the utmost. My father was a
member of the rifle company, and was summoned to
the garrison in Sacket's Harbor, where he remained
ten weeks, thus leaving his family in the wilder
ness, without a protector, or any means of support
except the cultivation of the soil. Mother and my
little brothers had succeeded in getting in the crops,
and they were very promising, when the cattle that
roamed the forests began their depredations. Many
a morning at dawn of day she drove them from the
enclosures, and every article of her clothing would
be saturated with dew. Expecting soon to be laid
AND KECOLLECTIONS. 33
aside from even this, she saddled a colt and rode to
Sacket's Harbor, a distance of twelve miles through
the woods, over causeways, and across swamps,
and presented herself on horseback before the gate
of the garrison, and requested an interview with the
chief officer. It being granted, she stated her cir
cumstances ; the crops being the only dependence
for the support of her family. A Green Mountain
boy, six feet tall, stalwart, and of noble bearing,
was not easily moved, but she plead her cause with
such tearful eloquence that her boon was graciously
granted. My father obtained a furlough of absence
for two weeks, with the privilege of hiring some
one to fill his place until the crisis was passed. As
the shades of evening were thickening in the forest,
they reached in safety their cabin home. My father
still lives on that sweet spot, where the flowers
bloom from early spring until lingering autumn.
The staif fell from my mother's weary hands fifteen
years ago, and she sleeps in the beautiful cemetery
in sight of that oasis she labored so hard to beautify.
Yours, truly,
H. E. B. SANDFOKD.
My father seldom went to town to do the family
trading for dry goods and groceries, without bring
ing home a new book. In this way he accumulated
a library of three or four hundred volumes, which
was used by any one of the family at leisure, from
the eldest, to the youngest, all had free access to
it. As one after another of us settled in homes of
our own, a part of the library was claimed and
34 PERSONAL SKETCHES
taken away, but new books were added from time
to time, so that the large book-case was always full,
and several hundred volumes remained after the
last one of the children left the paternal roof.
Among the books, were Lewis and Clark's Travels ;
Kendall's Santa Fee Expedition ; Humboldt's Cos
mos ; Lacon, or Many Things in Few Words, by
C. C. Colton ; the complete works of Thomas Dick,
Elegant Extracts from English authors, Lives and
Portraits of the Signers of the Declaration of Inde
pendence, and many others of a kindred character ;
the poetical works of Pope, Milton, Thomson, and
Young ; Combe on the Constitution of Man, and
nearly every book published in the Universalist de
nomination, in their order of publication, from the
Life of John Murray, down to Theodore Clapp's
Theological Views, and Pitt Street Chapel Lec
tures. Besides a number of weekly secular news
papers, among them one agricultural paper, that
came into the house, my father took the "Herald of
Salvation," a Universalist paper published in Wa-
tertown, through its entire existence, and the "Mag
azine and Advocate," published in Utica from its
comencement to its completion, when it was merged
in the " Christian Ambassador ; " and he took that
also and read it faithfully until his death, without
missing a number. The juvenile books were any
AND EECOLLECTIONS. 35
and everything published from " The House that
Jack Built " and " Goody two Shoes," up to "Mer
ry's Museum." Of all the works which were ob
tained, especially for children, there were three
which were such a feast to my infantile soul, that I
carry the memory of them with me still, and almost
every page is indelibly stamped on my mind^
These were'Eobinson Crusoe, ^Esop's Fables, and
Original Poems, by Ann, and Jane Taylor. Books
of this description were as unsparingly supplied us,
as school-books ; and in addition to these, Parley's
Magazine, a juvenile periodical, was taken for sev
eral successive years. This was the best paper for
children, so decided by competent judges, that
had ever then been published. I doubt whether
one has been sent out on a mission to " little folks "
since that went out of existence, that has filled its
place in all respects. No writer of fiction has ever
more completely captivated the youthful minds of
the whole world than has Peter Parley, with his sim
ple tales of truth, drawn from real life. Now, as I
write, (May 15th, I860,) a melancholy voice comes
over the telegraphic wires announcing the death of
this great and good man. Perhaps it would be no
exaggeration to say, that the literary world has lost
one of its brightest ornaments, and most useful
members. His conversational and animated style of
description of places and things, at once drew the
36 PERSONAL SKETCHES.
attention and fascinated the mind of the young
reader, while his almost inexhaustible fund of use
ful knowledge, clothed in his attractive style,
blessed the world of maturer minds. Thus, one af
ter another of the excellent of the earth, are leav
ing; hearts and homes desolate here, to commence
O '
life in a higher and better state of existence.
LETTER IV.
My father's general Character Love of Books Love of Order
His Farm His Garden Love of Flowers Religious Feelings
View of Death Marriages, &c., &c.
MY DEAE F:
By what I have already written, you must have
gained some idea of the general character of both
my parents ; but, as little time and space as I have,
in which to communicate to you my imperfect
sketches, I am not satisfied to proceed without say
ing more in detail of them.
If any one trait of character shone more con
spicuously than another in my father, as I have be
fore hinted, it was his love of books ; and yet, his
daily labor was constant and unremitting the largest
share of his life, until he gave up the care of his
business at the age of sixty-six years, twelve years
before his death, which occurred Feb. 1st, 1860.
He was not one of that class who never find time to
read ; but he read something nearly every day,
and he had a great variety of reading at his com
mand, because he would have it. He considered
the cultivation of his mind just as essential to his
well-being, as his daily bread, and exerted himself
with as much zeal to supply himself and family
4
38 PERSONAL SKETCHES
with the one as the other. Indeed if he had been
compelled to take a choice between his favorite
books, and some table luxury, he would have lost
no time in deciding in favor of the former. Then I
need scarcely tell you that he accumulated a fund
of general useful knowledge which would have
been an enviable possession for many in higher
walks of life. His love of order, was another lead
ing characteristic, and this he had ample opportuni
ty for gratifying on his farm. His garden, fences,
gates, out-buildings, ornamental shade trees, or
chard, and everything under the immediate super
vision of his care, bore evidence of the truth of it,
and it could be discovered on his premises, by the
most careless passer by. A row of Lombardy pop
lar trees set with precise definiteness with regard to
distance apart, bordered the road on each side the
entire length of his farm, making one hundred in
number. These grew to an enormous size, and
being on an elevation commanded a view from a
great distance. Their very appearance is a sure
guarantee of the hand that planted them being
directed by a love of order. His garden beds were
laid out with the precision almost, of a square and
compass, and, what is a little remarkable for a far
mer, he had plenty of room in it, for flowers for the
" women folks." He spent a great deal of time, by
odd spells in his garden, and the flower beds were
guarded and hoed with as much care, as cabbages
AND RECOLLECTIONS. 39
and potatoes. If one was small and unprotected,
in the start, he would surround it with a row of
sticks, lest it might be crushed by some careless
foot, and often he would pluck a single rose, or
pink, and regale his olfactories, while walking in
the alleys to look at and admire the growth of ten
der plants. The last part of his life was spent in
close study, and travelling for pleasure and social
enjoyment, and when he saw any plants, rare and
beautiful, he would obtain seeds, bulbs or slips, to
carry home to his daughters who lived with him.
Once, while on a visit to Middletown, Conn., he saw
and admired a flowering almond, and procured it
root and branch while in blossom, and carried it in
his satchel to Watertown, and it lived and flourished
admirably. This was after he was seventy-five
years of age. These are trifles, but the whole of
life, and especially of domestic life is made up of
trifles, and I merely mention them, to give you a
key to his character in respect to his being an ar
dent admirer of nature.
He was naturally of a religious turn of mind,
and his faith and confidence in God, and a future,
and more glorious state of existence was almost
without parallel. I have heard him say frequently
that he had no more doubt of a future state of
blessedness, than he had that the sun would rise
to-morrow morning. He conversed with as much
40 PERSONAL SKETCHES
calmness and resignation about death, as he would
retiring for a night's rest. To him it was but the
drawing aside of a veil, or the opening of a door,
that had hidden from his view the loved and lost of
earth. He could freely respond in the affirmative
to Mrs. Scott's beautiful language :