Cape
Vincent
THE CUSTOM-HOUSE
The custom-house district of Cape Vincent
was organized on the 18th of April, 1818. Previous to this date
Cape Vincent was only a port of entry in charge of a deputy, with Sacket's
Harbor as the headquarters. It is now the point where the chief officer is
stationed, and comprises the entire coast of Jefferson County, Sacket's
Harbor having been consolidated with the Cape Vincent district March 3,
1863. During the period of the non-intercourse laws and the embargo,
smuggling was a very animated business, without much injury to the
consciences of the people, since they firmly believed that those
regulations were wrong as well as unnecessary. For many years it was an
unsettled question whether Carlton island belonged to the United States or
the Dominion. A quantity of goods was seized on the territory during the
administration of President Monroe, and more than one cabinet meeting was
held at Washington to determine what disposition should be made of the
seizures. In June, 1812, Elijah Fields, Jr., a deputy collector stationed
at Cape Vincent, seized two schooners and their cargoes--the
"Niagara" and the "Ontario"--under the belief that
they were engaged in smuggling. After an examination of the case the
"Ontario" was released for want of sufficient evidence, but the
"Niagara" and her load were sold. The first collector was John
B. Esselstyn, who served the government more than forty years before any
salary was established, and this was started at $250 per annum. The
exports were comparatively of no consequence, before the building of the
railroad; and no record of exports is made in the quarterly report which
was drawn up just before the running of the regular trains. The next
report had an item of exports set down at $20,000. There are forty-five
vessels owned in the district of Cape Vincent, of which thirty-one are
sail vessel and fourteen steam. The tonnage of the former is 4538 and the
latter 598. The number of vessels entered and cleared is about a thousand
a year. The exports of American manufactures through the district of Cape
Vincent for the last ten years have been about $550,000 annually, of which
$250,000 are exports in bond. The imports for the same time have been
about $500,000, annually. The imports in the fur trade were $112,000, and
fresh fish from Canada were 700,000 pounds for the year 1875. The
collections for duties on imports, since 1860, have averaged $100,000
annually. The ports of the Cape Vincent district, subordinate to Cape
Vincent, are Alexandria Bay, Clayton, Millen's Bay, Three-Mile Bay,
Chaumont, Dexter, Sacket's Harbor, Henderson, and Sandy Creek.
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The collectors of the district have
been:
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| John B.
Esselstyn |
1818-29 |
| Jere.
Carrier |
1829-41 |
| Judah T.
Ainsworth |
1841-43 |
| Peleg
Burchard |
1843-49 |
| S. G.
Sacket, |
1849-53 |
| Alfred Fox |
1853-57 |
| Theophilus
Peugnet |
1857-61 |
| John W.
Ingalls |
1861-65 |
| William
Huntington |
acting
collector for a few months |
| John B.
Carpenter |
1866-67 |
| David Owen |
1867-71 |
The present officers are Sidney Cooper,
collector, 1871; Charles Gardner, special collector; Charles Burnham,
deputy; William Grant, N. W. Warren, and N. R. Starkey, inspectors. Peleg
Burchard was county clerk for twelve years before his appointment as
collector. He died at Cape Vincent, February 2, 1851, of bronchial
disease, aged sixty-one years. (Jefferson County
History, by L. H. Everts, 1878 - Transcribed by
Holice B.Young. Original HTML by Debbie
Axtman) top
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