Clayton, Jefferson, NY

Topography

CLAYTON

A retrospective of three-quarters of a century carries us back to he earliest settlement of what now constitutes the town of Clayton. We are informed, on reliable authority,that the first permanent settlement was perfected inn Clayton, in 1801 or 1802, by one Bartlett, at a place that still bears the name of Bartlett’s Point, and situate about one mile from Clayton village. He had been placed there by Smith & Delamater, land agents of Chaumont, to keep a ferry to Gananoque, Canada, but, after staying a year or two, set fire to his house, as tradition has it, and ran away by its light.

The topography of Clayton is diversified in character and somewhat difficult of accurate description. In places it is hilly, with outcroppings of stone; but the larger portion of it is level or rolling. The soil is generally a sandy loam, and in the localities where the land is free from stone is quite fertile and productive. All the cereals common to the State, and fruits and vegetables are raised in the town, which is almost exclusively devoted to agriculture. The town is watered by French creek and Chaumont river. It is bounded on the north by the St. Lawrence, and on its border commences the head of the Thousand Isles, many of which are in sight at various points in the town and present a very picturesque appearance. Among the most important, opposite Clayton are Grindstone, Washington, bluff, Abels, and Hemlock. Nearly the entire group of these islands (with Wellesley Island off Alexandria town) were claimed by the St. Regis Indians at an early day, and leased by their agents to the British subjects for long terms of years. Upon survey of the boundary in 1818 they were found to belong to the United States government, and in 1823, upon these islands being patented by the State, in pursuance of an agreement with Macomb, difficulties arose that threatened for a time to result in serious measures, and which have been known locally as he "War of Grindstone Island." A quantity of pine timber had been cut and prepared for rafting, which was claimed by the patentee, but was refused to be given up by the parties in whose possession it was. Finding it probably that any attempt to serve legal papers upon those alleged to be trespassers would be resisted, a detachment of militia from Lyme, under Captain S. Green, was called out. The timber had mostly been passed over into British waters, and, after some firing, the party in charge of the timber dispersed. One of the militia men was accidentally killed; by the discharge of his own gun. The question subsequently became a question of litigation, and was finally settled by arbitration.

Another incident occurred in this town that has its parallel, only in the theft of a town-meeting, as related of Brownville. A saw-mill had been erected in the vicinity, it is said upon a verbal agreement, which subsequently became a subject of difficulty between Mr. La Farge, the proprietor, and the lumberman. The latter resolved that he would neither comply with the terms demanded nor allow others to enjoy the fruits of his labors; and early one morning, not long after, the timbers of the saw-mill were seen floating in the bay, no one professing to know how they came there, and it is supposed to have been in some way connected with spiritual manifestations, more especially as spirits were often brought in quantities to the village of Clayton for smuggling into Canada.

The proprietors of Penet’s Square Corners, on the Bay of French Creek, near Clayton village, anticipating that this property would possess value as the site of a village, subdivided four of the mile squares nearest the corner, the one on the bay into sixty-four lots of ten acres each, and the three others into sixteen lots of forty acres each. In balloting for a division, each owner drew a proportionate number of those lots, which, like the large tract, were numbered from west to east, and back, commencing at the northwest and ending at the southwest corners. The expectations of the proprietors were never realized, for no village ever existed here. (History of Jefferson, NY, by L. H. Everts, 1878)

Transcribed by Holice B.Young

Html by Debbie

December 26, 1999

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[Jefferson County ALHN][NY ALHN]