Rogers ftimily, in which Evans had taken a part, and at the
time of the murder thf; parties had been drinking an
unusually quarrelsome. Evans had shut himself up in the
house, which was forcibly entered, with threats and abusive
language, upon which he seized an ax and mortally wounded
two, and badly wounded a tliird, who i-ecovered. lie was im-
mediately arrested and at the June term of the court of oyer
and terminer in 1828, was tried, the court consisting of Nathan
Williams, circuit judge, Egbei't Ten Kyck, first judge. .Joseph
186 FOLK-STORIES.
Hawkins, judge, Robert Lansing, district attorney, H. H.
Sherwood, clerk, H. H. Coffeen, sheriff. The district attor-
ney was assisted by Mr. Clarke, and the prisoner was defended
by Messrs. Sterling, Bronson and Rathbone. The vicious
temper and abandoned character of the prisoner, who, whether
drunk or sober, had been the terror of his neighborhood, out-
weighed the extenuating circumstances of the case, and the
jury, after half an hour's deliberation, returned a verdict of
guilty. He was sentenced to be hung August 22d, and he
was executed in the presence of an immense crowd who had
assembled to witness the barbarous spectacle from this and
adjoining counties. The gallows was placed on the north
bank of the river nearly opposite the court house, and thither
he was escorted by a fife and drum corps. The body was
taken by his friends to Brownville and a grave dug in the
cemetery, when objections were raised and one person swore
that he should not be buried there. Another place was then
got, but the rock was reached in two feet. A grave was next
dug just outside of the corporate limits, when as he was about
to be lowered, objections were again raised and one or two
women were seized with hysteric fits because the locality was
in sight. The corpse w^as finally taken back three or four
miles from the village and buried by night. The lamentable
prevalence of superstition thus evinced, has its equal only in
the popular belief in vampires, which on more than one occa-
sion, has disgraced the annals of this and neighboring coun-
ties.
FRENCH BON VIVANTS.
Until about 1816, the settlements along the river were
limited to a few points, but about this time the country around
FOLK-STORIES. 187
began to be taken up ; new roads were opened in everv
•lirection, and for a short time, the country advanced rapidly
in popuhition and improvements, which continued till the
completion of the Erie Canal. At Cape Vincent, .'several
educated and accomplished Freneli families located : among
whom, in 1818, was Peter Francis Real known in European
history as Count Real, the chief of police nnder Napo-
leon. The change of political prospects in France,
in a few years, recalled many celebrated exiles who
had adhered to the fortunes of Napoleon, and fled from
the disasters which overtook that dynasty, among whom were
Count Real, and others who had made this country their
home. At about the .same time, Mr. F. R. Hasler, the eminent
philo.sopher and engineer, having become interested in real
estate in the place, went there to reside with his family, and
planned the establishment of a normal school, which he never
perfected. The village was a favorite resort with Mr. Le Ray,
and he was often accompanied l)y eminent foreigners, who
never visited the country without becoming his guests, and
sharing that refined hospitality which he knew .^o well how to
bestow. The first visit of Le Ray to this ])lace was in 1803,
and was attended with the following incident :
He was accompanied by Gouverneur Morris, and afti-r
vLsiting Brownville, they took an ojjcn boat to continue their
journey, as Mr. Morris had a wooden leg, and could not con-
veniently travel in the woods by the rude means of comnumi-
cation which the country then afforded, and he was moreover
very partial to sailing, and claimed to be especially skillful in
managing water craft. On passing Cherry Island, Mr. Morris
observed that there must be fine fishing there, and as he had
with him his French cook, and culinary api)aratus, he
declared he would serve his friend a better fish dinner than he
188 FOLK STORIES.
had ever tasted. Mr. Le Ray objected that it was getting late
and cloudy, and they liad a great ways to run before reaching
Putnam's, the first settlement on the shore. Nothing would
do ; Mr. Morris was as fond of good cheer as of sailing, and
they stopped. They had good fishing, and a capital dinner ;
but it was late before they set sail again, and dark before they
reached the St. Lawrence, and they were obliged to stop at
Gravelly Point, two miles above Putnam's, where they pitched
their tent and went to bed, for they had all the necessary
implements. In the middle of the night, a fire built before
the tent set it in flames ; Mr. Morris, thus unseasonably dis-
turbed, felt all around for his wooden leg, but was obliged to
flee without it. The exposure to wind and rain produced in
Mr. Le Ray a very violent illness and he with difficulty
returned to Brownville. Dr. Klrkpatrick was procured from
Rome, and he was long confined with a dangerous fever.
BURIED THEIR RATIONS.
There were not wanting incidents of a ludicrous kind,
which enlivened the monotony of the camp, and showed the
lights, as well as the shades of the soldier's life; Abuses will
sometimes work their own reform, as was illustrated in an
amusing instance at Sackets Harbor during the war. A mess
of militia soldiers had received, for tlieir rations, a hog's head,
an article of diet not altogether available, or susceptible of fair
and e(|ual division among them. They accordingly, upon
representation of the facts, procured at other messes in the
cantonment, a contribution in kind, to supply their wants for
t'OLK-STORIES. 189
the comino- week, and after the morning review, having
l)hiced upon a bier, borne on the shoulders of four men, their
ration of pork, they marched through the vilhige with mutikMl
drum, and notes of the death march, to the cemetery, where
it was solemnly buried with military honors. On the next
occasion, they received from the commissary store a supply of
edible meat, and the occasion for a similar parade did not
afterwards occur.
SEIZURE OF A CANNON.
The irritation which the events of the " Patriot War " oc-
cassioned, did not at once subside, and several of the American
Steamers, especially the United States, were regarded with
aversion on the Canada side for some time. As this Steamer
was leaving Ogdensburg on the evening of April 14, 1839,
with a large number of passengers on board, from six to ten
rounds of musket shot were fired from the wharf at Prescott,
upon which an angry crowd had assembled, and the same
evening she was fired upon from the wharf at Brockville. A
subsequent incjuiry failed to fix upon any particular one as
the culprits. On the 17th of May, 1839, the Schooner G. S.
Weeks, stop})ed at l^rockville to discharge some merchandise,
and the usual i)apers were sent to the Custom House. Per-
mission to unload was granted, wh'ii it was noticed that an
iron six-pounder was lying upon deck, belonging to the State
of New York, and consigned to Captain A. B. James, at Og-
densburg, being sent to re{)lace one that had been seized by the
190 FOLK-STORIES.
" Patriots " in the affair at the Windmill in the preceding-
year.
An attempt was made to seize this gun, which was resisted
by the crew, when the Collector came up and took possession
of the vessel, under the pretext of some irregularity in her
papers. The gun was taken out, paraded through the streets,
and fired several times by the mob in triumph. Word was sent
to Colonel Worth at Sackets Harbor, who at once repaired to
the scene of disturbance, and a few hours after, a steamer with
British Regulars arrived from Kingston. By the united' efforts
of the military officers and of the civil magistrates, the gun
was finally surrendered by the mob without a collision, which
for a time seemed imminent and inevitable, and some of the
ring-leaders were arrested and lodged in the guard-house.
These disturbances brought Governor Arthur to Brockville,
and an effort was made to justify these proceedings, by those
who had participated in them. It is due to the Canadian Press
and to the more considerate portion of the inhabitants to
notice, that they very generally denounced this seizure as un-
justified. The Collector was removed from office, and the
irritation gradually wore away.
CHILD LOST IN THE WOODS.
The following sketch was written by Mr. David Merritt,
one of the Knglish families, who located at Sackets Harbor in
Febi'uai'v, 1^05; the occasion was the loss of a child in the
woods.
'I'hc [>ar('nts of the child had recently settled in the woods,
FOLK-STORIES. 191
half a mile from any other dwelling. It was of a Lord's dav
evening, about sunset ; the father set out to visit his nearest
neighbor, and, unobserved by him, his son, a child of four
years, followed him.
The father tarried an hour or two, and returned, not hav-
ing seen the little wanderer. The mother anxiously enquired
for her child, sup})osing her husband had taken him with
him ; their anxiety was great, and immediate though fruitless
search was made for the fugitive. Several of the nearest
neighbors were alarmed, and the night was spent to no pur-
pose in searching for the child. On Monday a more extensive
search was made by increased immbers, but in vain ; and the
distressed parents were almost frantic with grief and fearful
apprehensions for the child's safety.
Another afflictive and sleepless night i)assed away, and
the second morning beamed upon the disconsolate family, the
child not found, and by this time (Tuesday,) reports were in
circulation of a panther's having been seen recently in the
woods by some one. This circumstance gave a pungency to
the grief and feelings of every sympathetic heart unknt)wn
before ; and the timid and credulous were ready to abandon
any further efforts to recover the child, and give the distressed
parents up to dispair.
It was however concluded to alarm a still more exten.sive
circle, and engage fresh volunteers in a work that must inter-
est and arouse even the unfeeling on common occasions. A
messenger was dis])atched to Sackets Harbor, a distane(> (jf six
iriiles ; it was in itself an irresistible ai)pi'al to t'very fueling
heart. To feel, was to act.
Messrs. Luff, Ashby, Merritt, and others immediately
mounted their horses, and repaired to the scene of painful
anxietv : this was about eleven o'clock in the forenoon of
192 FOLK-STORIES.
Tuesday. When they arrived at the spot, the number present,
that had coHected from all quarters, was about five hundred
men. A small number was immediately chosen as a commit-
tee to direct tlie best method of search, and they were formed
in a line, extending to the right and left of the house, a mile
e ich way. They were placed so far a part as to bring every foot
of ground they passed in their search under their ob-
servation ; and when ihey had marched such a given distance
from the house, the left or right wing were to wheel in such a
way, as would, by pursuing the same plan, have effefctually
searched every spot within several miles of the house before
evening. The order of the day was that no person should
fire a gun, .sound a horn, halloo, or make any needless noise,
whatever ; but with vigilance, and a sense of duty to the dis-
tressed parents, use every effort to recover the child. If the
child was found alive, every person, that had a gun, was to
lire, and every one that had a horn to sound it ; on the con-
trary, if the child was found dead, one gun only should be
tired, as a signal to the remote line to cease searching.
In this way, in silence, they had marched about two
miles, when a distant gun sounded ; it was an anxious
moment. "Is the child alive?" was a thought that ran
thi'ough every niind ; a moment more and the hope was con-
firmed, for the air and forests rang with guns and horns of
every description.
The lines were immediately broken up, and each ran,
anxious to see the little lost sheep. The dear little fellow was
presented to his now overjoyed parents ; a scene that overcame
all present.
When the little boy was found, he was sitting on a small
mossy hillock, in the middle of a swamp, suri-ounded by
shallow water. When the man, who first approached him,
FOLK-STORIES. 19o
extended his arms and stopped to take hini u|., lie shrank
from him, appeared frightened, and showed a disposition lo
get from him. But he was much exhausted, and seized eagerly
an apple that was held to him. Had he not been rescued
from his situation, he probably would have died at that spot.
FIRST LIFE SAVINCi STATION.
The lake shore in Ellisburgh has been the scene of many
wrecks since the country was settled, the first within the mem-
ory of those living forty years ago having occurred in the fall
of 1(800, w^hen a small schooner from Mexico to Gananoque,
Captain Gammon, master, was lost off Little Stony Creek, and
all on board perished. A boat of eight men sent in search of
the vessel was also sw^amped and all hands were drowiVMl.
About 1807 a family was located by Mr. Benjamin
Wright at the mouth of Sandy Creek to afford aid to the ship-
wrecked, and for nearly fifty years this lonely dwelling had
sheltered many a suffering sailor who might othcrwist- have
perished.
A RARE BOUNTY.
The anecdote is related that a magistrate in Chami)ion,
having had an altercation with a leading citizen in Lowville,
heard that his opponent had offered a l)ounty of ^^^ for his
194 FOLK-STORIES.
head. Feeling somewhat uneasy under this, he resolved to
ascertain its truth, and made the journey on foot on purpose
to demand satisfaction or a withdrawal of the offensive reward.
Upon reaching the place he found the person of whom he was
in search in company with several others, and not wishing to
make their quarrels a subject of publicity, he requested a pri-
vate interview. This was promptly refused, on the ground
that there was nothing between them that required secresy,
and he was told that if he had anything to say he might say
it where he was. He then commenced by repeating the story
he had heard and demanded whether it was true. His enemy
denied at once the charge, calling his neighbors to witness
whether they had ever known him guilty of the folly as the
offering of such a sum, but admitted that he might have bid
twenty shillings and was very sure he had never gone higher.
Finding that it was impossible to get this bounty taken off he
returned home. We are not informed of the result or whether
the reward was sufficient to tempt the cupidity of his neigh-
bors.
MILITARY EXECUTIONS.
At Sackets Harbor about a dozen militar}^ executions
were performed during the war, for repeated desertion, with
the view of striking terror into the minds of the disaffected,
but with the effect of increasing the evil. These cases were
many of them young men from New England, of resj)ectable
families, who in the heat of political excitement had enlisted
in the army, and who found themselves the victims of the
FOI,K-ST()KIES. 19')
wanton barbary of officcM's, exposed to the severest hanlshijjs
of the camp, and often illy clad, and worse fed, sometimes
withont shelter, and always without sym[)at]iy. Was it un-
natural that under these circumstances the memories of home,
with all its comforts, and the thoughts of mothers, sisters,
wives, and children, and the thousand associations that
cluster around tlie domestie fireside, should come freshly to
mind with a force that was irresistible? Several of these cases
excited much sympathy, among which was that of a l)oy ot
sixteen years of age, wlio had been bribed with a gold watch,
to open a prison door at Greenbush, and who was here arrested
and convicted. Many officers and citizens made strenuous
efforts to obtain reprieve, which were enforced by the a])peals
of a mother, but without effect; the agonized parent f)llo\ved
her child to the gallows, and the sympathizing tears of the
spectators bespoke the feeling which this rigid exereise of the
iron rule of war had occasioned.
To the condemned opportunity was always given to
make remarks, in which some admitted the justice of their
fate, others plead the entreaties of their comi'ades, or the urgent
necessities of home; and others, while tliey acknowledged
their crime, supplicated mercy with all the ehxpuMice which
the occasion could command. Others treated their fate with
indifference, or openly preferred it to a life undt'r the eireum-
stances. On one occasion, the convict on ai)proaching the
scaffold, scrutinized its construction with the eye of a carpen-
ter, leaped upon the ])latform, pushed olf the hangman, and
jumped off him.self; but a rei)rieve arrived the instant after,
and he was restored. The place ol" execution was generally in
tlie rear of the village, where the graves were dug, and the
convicts were marched to the spot, surrounded by a guard, ami
after kneeling bv their coflins, were dispatched by the shots of
196 FOLK-STORIES.
of several muskets, a part of which only were loaded with ball.
There were commonly eight men detailed for this purpose.
The brutality of officers was in some instances excessive ; the
most extreme corporal punishment being inflicted from the
slightest causes, or from mere caprice ; and such was some-
times the bitterness of men towards officers, that in one case it
is said a captain durst not lead his company in an action, for
fear of being shot by his own men.
THEY CELEBRATED.
The first celebration of our national independence, in all
this region of country, was held at Chaumont in 1802. The
number in attendance was certainly more than a hundred
persons. From Champion and Hounsfield, Watertown and
Brownville, Sackets Harbor and Cape Vincent, and other
points of settlement, the forefathers and foremothers came to
do homage to the old flag and the land of the brave. Several
were Revolutionary soldiers. Food and drink were plenty.
Indians and squaws must also have joined the festivities.
Rum and maple sugar, shooting at a mark and wrestling,
stories and songs, and fife and drum, could hardly have been
wanting on this occasion, although there is no published re-
port of the proceedings to guide in making out the history of
that Fourth of July.
BLOCKHOUSE SCHOOLHOUSE.
^Considerable alarm was felt at Chaumont in 1812 lest the
British should come, pillage their homes and burn them ;
For.K-sTOKiKs. r.)7
nor did they know bnt hostile Indians niitilit take advaiitaiie
of the war to pounce upon them ami carry oft' their scalps.
General Brown therefore advised the huilding of a l)lock-
house for defense, and this was erected the same year, on the
north shore of the bay. Not long after, a squad of English
soldiers visited the place, and promised not to destroy any
property if the inhabitants would take down the blockhouse.
This was done, and the material afterwards rafted to Point
Salubrious and used in the erection of a building for school
and religious purposes, but long since demolished. The
artillery of this " fort " consisted of an iron gun which
Jonas Smith had purchased some time before for two
gallons of rum. It was found on the isthmus of Point Pen-
insula. Afterwards this gun was taken to Sackets Harbor
and form thence to Ogdensburg, where it was captured by the
enemy.
W
A Past Industry.
Tlic fisheries of Chauiiiont Bay afforded from an early
period a leading pursuit for many persons living in the vicin-
ity and have been productive of much benefit to the locality
and tlie public generally. The earliest enactment relating to
this branch of industry commences with the century. It having
been represented that people from Canada and other places
were doing injustice to the fisheries at the east end of Lake
Ontario by obstructing the rivers and streams by seines, a law
was passed March 28th, 1800, prohibiting the placing of ob-
structions to the passage of fish under a penalty of $25. This
was probably from representations of citizens in Ellisburgh as
Lyme was then without inhabitants.
In 1808 fishing with scoop nets, called here scaff' nets be-
gun, wrote Dr. Hough in 1853, and has been more or less
constantly practiced since. This net is about 12 feet square,
sti-etched by two long bows crossing each other and let down
horizontally into the water, being balanced on a long pole
poised on a post on the banks. When fish pass over it the
net is suddenly raised and swung round on the bank. Some-
times 300 fish or more are thus caught in a night. ' [White-
A PAST INDUSTRY. l'.)!)
fish and salmon tront were taken in great (juantitics by this
crude metliod on Point Salubrious.] Seines wovo sodu after
introduced, the first one beino- brou^lit from the Hudson by
Daniel Tremper. These seines are from 10 to 100 rods long,
from 20 to 100 feet broad, wider in the middle and narrower
at the ends, where they are attached to rods called jack stakes.
To the cords along one side are attached floats and to the
other leaden sinkers and to each staff is fixed a long rope.
When used the seine is taken out in a boat one roj)e being
left on shore, and when a few rods out it is allowed to run off
in a wide circuit until it is all off, when the other line is taken
ashore and both ends are drawn in by windlasses erected for
the purpose and turned bv hand, or more recently .sometimes
by horse power. The meshes of the net which are from one
to one and one-half inches square, allow the smaller fish to
escape, while the larger ones are scooped out when the seine
is drawn into shallow water. From one to three hours are oc-
cupied in drawdng the seine and the product of a haul varies
from nothing to 75 barrels, the average being six or seven.
These seine fisheries are mostly around Point Salubrious
but other places inside of the bay are found eligible to a less
extent. They are considered the property of those who own
the adjacent lands and the seines arc owned and labor done
by the resident farmers assisted by laborers who come in from
adjacent towns for the purpose. The principal fish caught for
market are lake herring, locally known as ciscoes, and white-
fish, and the season for taking them usually begins about the
first of November and continued three or four weeks. This is
the spawning season for these fish and the shores are then
lined with immense quantities of their ova. Seines are drawn
by preference in the evening or night.
No positive data can be obtained showing tli« average or
200
A PAST INDUSTRY.
aggregate quantity taken, but the opinion of those most ac-
quainted with the business is that since 1816 about 10,000
b-irrels of hernng and white fish have been caught annually
Seasons vary in the abundance offish ; it is observed that the
best yields occur in high water. Of late years the yield is
less than formerly, which is attributed to the use of gill nets
and the mixture of saw dust and other matters in the water.
Gill nets have been introduced since 1845, are from five
to eight feet, (about fifty meshes) wide, from ten to fifteen rods
long, uniform in width and furnished with staves at the ends.
These are provided with sinkers on the lower and floats on the
upper side and connected together form lines several hundred
rods long. When in use they lay near the bottom and their
places are indicated by buoys. (Jnce daily they are drawn up
and the fish removed, which sometimes amount to a barrel in
ten rods. As the fish become entangled by their gills, respi-
ration ceases, and they are almost invariably found drowned,
for which reason they are justly considered inferior for food
and more liable to spoil when put up for sale. These nets are
generally set in November.
A small business was done early in spring, in fishing for
pike in seines, gill nets and by spearing, and the shores and
coves of Chaumont Bay have long been the favorite resort for
the disciples of Izaak Walton, who at most seasons find an
ample and inviting field for the use of the trolling line and
spear ; or a romantic cruise by torchlight and inducements to
lounge away the lazy hours of daylight with reasonable hopes
(.f a nibble. Pike, pickerel, muscallonge, perch, bass and sun-
lish, are caught readily by the hook and the former in all sea-
sons. The seines used here are generally made on the spot of
linen or cotton twine and cost from |100 to |300.
In 1817, April i5, a law was passed requiring all fish bar-