Pliny Moore of Champlain, New York
Published Histories of the Founding of Champlain
The Village of Champlain was founded by Pliny Moore after he received the title to the 11,600 acres of the Smith and Graves Patent in 1785. He found settlers for the town and made two trips to that location to survey it. A number of written histories about Pliny Moore and the founding of Champlain have been preserved and are reproduced here.
“Judge Pliny Moore” — Plattsburgh Sentinel of 1891
The following is an article that originally appeared in the Plattsburgh Sentinel on January 16, 1891. It was later reprinted in the Plattsburgh Press on February 17, 1941, when it did a series of articles called ‘Champlain Valley Pioneers.’
NOTED MEN AND WOMEN OF THE
CHAMPLAIN VALLEY AND THE ADIRONDACKS.
JUDGE PLINY MOORE
A Drummer Boy[1] and an Officer of the Revolution — Subsequently a Distinguished Pioneer of the Champlain Valley, and Founder of the Town of Champlain
When the American army disastrously retreated from Canada in the year 1777, a portion of the troops, on the march southward, crossed the site of the present town of Champlain which was then unbroken wilderness. Accompanying them, and in service as a drummer, was a youth of eighteen summers who was so struck with the advantageous situation of this border land that he expressed his determination to return some day and settle on the banks of the stream which runs through the town and which on the passage of the army, it is said, was forded by it. [Hugh McLellan wrote in the margin ‘Probably Not’]. The youth was Pliny Moore. On the return of peace, he fulfilled his sagacious promise and became the first permanent American pioneer and settler of the town and we venture to say contributed more than any other person to the accomplishment of the task of turning the vast wilderness, that then stretched down to the shore of Lake Champlain, into the fruitful field.
Pliny Moore was born at Sheffield, Mass., April 14th, 1759. His early education was beyond that then commonly given. He was the eldest son and began very early to manifest that enterprise and perseverance which became in the future a life characteristic. At the age of seventeen, he entered the service of the Revolutionary army for a short term, during which-time occurred the incident above referred to. In 1780, at the age of twenty-one, he received a commission as Lieutenant under George Clinton, then Governor of New York, once more entered the army and was in service during the war until its close. Having obtained, in company with seventeen others, some if not most of whom were comrades with him in the Revolution, a grant of land from the State, consisting of 11,600 acres located on the Big Chazy river, in the year 1785, Lieutenant Moore, acting as agent for his associates, set out from his home in Kinderhook, Dutchess [Hugh crossed out Dutchess] county, N.Y., for the northern border, supplied with instruments and other agencies for the purpose of surveying and locating the before mentioned tract. Only two of his friends, of the seventeen associates, bore him company. [Hugh wrote, ‘Error, they were not associates.] They were Daniel Clark and James Savage Esq., Mr. Moore’s diary is perhaps still extant. The details of this tedious survey through tangled wood and swamp, enduring hardships, scarcity of provisions, and fatigue, are all narrated. By the next March the task was all completed and April 1786 found Lieutenant Moore again at home in the south part of the State.
This tract of land on which the principal portion of Champlain is situated is styled the “Smith and Graves patent,” taking its name from Levi Smith and Mark Graves, two of the original patentees, but for many years, at first, it was known and described as the “Moorfield [Hugh wrote ‘Moorsfield’] Grant” in honor of its surveyor, first settler, and principal owner Pliny Moore. The tract of 11,600 acres was by survey divided into one hundred and nineteen lots, of which forty lots fell to, or came in possession of Lieutenant Moore.
Two years later, Mr. Moore was united in marriage to Miss Martha Corbin of Connecticut and after the marriage again proceeded to his northern possessions. Accompanied by a gang of carpenters he proceeded up the Big Chazy river to the spot where now stands the Whitesides’ mills and near where the Ogdensburg railroad crosses the highway and river, commenced to fell timber, erect a dam and build the first saw-mill ever erected on the soil of the town. One mile below, and near where stood for long years at the upper bridge (once wood but now an iron one) a grist mill was soon constructed and with the erection of these two very necessary mills and a few log huts for dwellings, the permanent settlement of the town began. In 1789, Lieutenant Moore removed his young wife to this spot, and in a log dwelling which stood under the hill on the river bank, at the northeast end of where now is the lower bridge, what love wrought, what courage conquered and what virtue won let all the olden memories proudly tell.
In 1788, the town was organized. Mr. Moore assisted in the work and was made the first justice of the peace. The following year he was chosen County Judge in the Court of Common Pleas, to which office he was a second time appointed in 1805 and served in this capacity until his death, seventeen years afterward. It is proper here to state that during this latter term he occupied the place of the first Judge on the Bench.
Judge Moore was, it is believed, the first postmaster in the town, as early as 1796 [October 1797-DSP], and perhaps earlier. He introduced the first fulling mill in town, as early as 1798. We may regard him also as the first merchant as we find him selling goods at this date. At a short time previous to 1799, he had vacated the log house and erected a frame house, the first ever built in the town. The first piano ever seen in Champlain was brought to town by Mr. Moore in 1810-11 and as late as 1865 it was said to be still in use by amateur players about the village.
A brick school house was put up in 1815 that for a period of fifty years or more, until destroyed by fire, was the cradle of religion in Champlain, it being the only public house of worship for the various sects which for some years previous to the close of that century began to be represented in the town. Mr. Moore assisted in its erection.
Judge Moore was decidedly a religious man and early connected himself with the Congregational church. He often led the worship on the Lord’s day, during the war of 1812-14, when there was no resident minister in the town and, although his house was for several years constantly thronged with army officers who from time to time quartered in town, yet on no account did he neglect family worship – a life habit with him. In 1816 he occupied the place of chairman in a meeting to organize “The Clinton County Bible Society” of which body he was chosen first president.
In politics, Judge Moore was a Federalist, of the school of Washington, and his popularity as a public man may be judged when it is known that at the senatorial election in 1799 he carried the highest number of votes and in 1801 Judge Moore received 109 out of 163 votes cast in town for State Assemblyman.
By the purchase of much land from the Canadian and Nova Scotia refugees, many of whom had little inclination to remain in town and till the soil-lots obtained in early times at a very low price ¾ and by careful industry, enterprises and methodical habits he had amassed a large property and his death found him the owner of nearly 5,000 acres of landed estate, together with numerous other effects. He was liberal and gave much. The old burying ground he willed to the village and also one acre of land to the church edifice thereon, together with the sum of $1,000 to aid in its construction. The house was built, but some years later, during the pastorate of Rev. A. D. Brinkerhoff, it was burned to the ground.
Noadiah, his eldest son, settled and died in Champlain. Amasa was admitted to the bar and practiced law in Plattsburgh, where he died. Sophia was united in marriage to Thomas J. Whiteside and settled and died in Champlain. Ann married Julius C. Hubbell, Esq., of Chazy where she passed away. Matilda became the wife of Rev. A. D. Brinkerhoff, for twelve years beloved pastor of the Congregational church at Champlain and since fallen asleep. Royal C. and Pliny Moore settled in the town where they lived and died. Many of the descendents of these are among the business men and honored citizens of the old town.
Judge Moore departed this life Sunday morning, August 18th, 1822, aged 63 years, in the faith and hope of the righteous. He was a man of candor, fair judgement, firmness, integrity, and possessed much practical ability and shrewdness in managing his affairs which he first and last turned to good account. He is remembered as a citizen who filled with honor and credit some of the highest offices in the town, county and state, and was the bold, indefatigable pioneer of Champlain, in the old days now more than a century ago.
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Among the descendents of Judge Pliny Moore, who are well known to Clinton county residents, are the grandsons and granddaughters of his daughter Ann who married Julius C. Hubbell Esq. They are Julius Hubbell of Ellensburg, Washington, George Hubbell of Garden City and Chazy, Richard Hubbell of Garden City, N. Y., John Hubbell, Troy, N. Y. Mrs. Anne H. Jones of New York City and Chazy, Mrs. Mary North, Brooklyn, N. Y., Mrs. Margaret Start, Chazy, Mr. Edmund Seymour, Chazy, and Mrs. Martha Stetson of Plattsburgh, N.Y. (February 1941).
The previous article was republished sometime later in another form. It is not known what year this was published.
Pliny Moore’s determination resulted in
founding Champlain
(EDITOR’S NOTE: The Plattsburgh Sentinel in 1891. Mrs. Lansing was the wife of Abram Lansing, editor of The Plattsburgh Sentinel.)
When the American army disastrously retreated from Canada in the year 1777, a portion of the troops, on the march southward, crossed the site of the present town of Champlain which was then an unbroken wilderness.
Accompanying them, and in service as a drummer, was youth of eighteen summers who was so struck with the advantageous situation of this border land that he expressed his determination to return some day and settle on the banks of the stream which runs through the town.
The youth was Pliny Moore. On the return of peace, he fulfilled his sagacious promise and became the first permanent American pioneer and settler of the town.
Pliny Moore was born at Sheffield, Mass., April 14th, 1759. His early education was beyond that then commonly given.
At the age of seventeen, he entered the service of the Revolutionary army for a short term, during which time occurred the incident above referred to.
In 1780, at the age of twenty-one, he received a commission as Lieutenant under George Clinton, then Governor of New York, once more entered the army and was in service during the war until its close.
Having obtained, in company with seventeen others, some if not most of whom were conrades [sic] with him in the Revolution, a grant of land from the State, consisting of 11,600 acres located on the Big Chazy river, in the year 1785, Lieutenant Moore, acting as agent for his associates, set out from his home in Kinderhook, Dutchess County, N.Y. for the northern border.
Only two of his friends, of the seventeen associates, bore him company. They were Daniel Clark and James Savage Esq.
By the next March the task was all completed and April 1786 found Lieutenant Moore again at home in the south part of the State.
This tract of land on which the principal portion of Champlain is situated is styled “The Smith and Graves patent,” taking its name from Levi Smith and Mark Graves, two of the original patentees, but for many years, at first, it was known and described as the “Moorefield [Moorsfield] Grant” in honor of its surveyor, first settler, and principal owner, Pliny Moore.
The tract of 11,600 acres was by survey divided into one hundred and nineteen lots, of which forty lots fell to, or came in possession of Lieutenant Moore.
Two years later, Mr. Moore was united in marriage to Miss Martha Corbin of Connecticut and after the marriage again proceeded to his northern possessions.
Accompanied by a gang of carpenters he proceeded up the big Chazy river to the spot where now stands the Whitesides mills and near where the Ogdensburg railroad crosses the highway and river, commenced to fell timber, erect a dam and build the first sawmill ever erected on the soil of the town.
One mile below and near where stood for long years at the upper bridge (once wood but now an iron one) a grist mill was soon constructed.
In 1789, Lieutenant Moore removed his young wife to this spot, and in a log dwelling which stood under the hill on the river bank, at the northeast end of where now is the lower bridge, what love wrought, what courage conquered and what virtue won let all the olden memories proudly tell.
In 1788, the town was organized. Mr. Moore assisted in the work and was made the first justice of the peace. The following year he was chosen County Judge in the Court of Common Pleas, to which office he was a second time appointed in 1805, and served in this capacity until his death, seventeen years afterward.
Judge Moore was, it is believed, the first postmaster in the town, as early as 1796 [October 1797-DSP], and perhaps earlier. He introduced the first fulling mill in town, as early as 1798. We may regard him also as the first merchant as we find him selling goods at this date.
At a short time previous to 1799, he had vacated the log house, and erected a frame house, the first ever built in the town. The first piano ever seen in Champlain was brought to town by Mr. Moore in 1810-11 and as late as 1865 it was said to be still in use by amateur players about the village.
A brick school house was put up in 1815 that for a period of fifty years or more, until destroyed by fire, was the cradle of religion in Champlain, it being the only public house of worship for the various sects which for some years previous to the close of that century began to be represented in the town. Mr. Moore assisted in its erection.
Judge Moore often led the worship on the Lord’s day, during the war of 1812-14, when there was no resident minister in the town.
In politics, Judge Moore was a Federalist, of the school of Washington, and his popularity as a public man may be judged when it is known that at the senatorial election in 1799 he carried the highest number of votes and in 1801 Judge Moore received 109 out of 163 votes cast in town for State Assemblyman.
By the purchase of much land from the Canadian and Nova Scotia refugees, many of whom had little inclination to remain in town and till the soil-lots obtained in early times at a very low price--and by careful industry, enterprises and methodical habits he had amassed a large property and his death found him the owner of nearly 5,000 acres of landed estate, together with numerous other effects.
Noadiah, his eldest son, settled in Champlain, Amasa was admitted to the bar and practiced law in Plattsburgh, where he died, Sophia was united in marriage to Thomas J. Whiteside and settled and died in Champlain.
Early Settlers of Champlain by J. W. Harkness
In 1913, J. W. Harkness of Harkness gave a speech on the founding of Champlain. Even then, the history of Champlain was well known and many interesting facts, including some unsubstantiated legends, were continued to be spread by various people, including Harkness.
The Evening Star newspaper published Harkness’ speech on Monday, June 30, 1913. It should be noted that there were several errors that occurred during the typesetting of the article. This caused several paragraphs and parts of sentences to be placed out of order. I have tried to re-arrange the paragraphs and sentences in the correct order.
Early Settlers Of Champlain
By J W. Harkness
At the meeting of Pomona Grange June 18 and 19 there were a number of interesting papers read and addresses made. One paper of peculiar interest to the people of Clinton county was that presented by J. W. Harkness, of Harkness, who relates some interesting events in the history of the county and about its early settlers.
The Evening Star takes great pleasure in being able to give its readers a report of this most excellent and interesting paper.
Some Early Settlers of Champlain.
When I told our Worthy Lecturer that my subject would be “Early Settlers of Champlain,” I said, “Be sure to prefix the word SOME for I don’t intend to write about all of Champlain's early settlers.” If I was giving this article a title now it would be "Four Early Settlers of Champlain," and I have so little to say about two of them that I might leave them out entirely if I did not consider them very important members of Champlain society in the time when they lived here.
So you will see that my story or essay cannot be very long, for which I know you will all be deeply grateful. Of course I shall mention more than four persons in this paper. I should not be doing justice to those early settlers if I did not say anything about their families.
Champlain is one of the oldest reasonable towns of Clinton County; in fact it is just as old as the county itself, for it was formed March 7, 1788, the same day that Clinton County was taken from Washington. There were only four original towns in this county of Clinton: Champlain, Plattsburgh, Willsborough and Crown Point. When Essex Co. was taken from Clinton in 1799 we lost Willsborough and Crown Point, and part of Peru which had been taken from Plattsburgh and Willsborough in 1792, and about the same time another change was made that affected the size of Champlain.
That town when first formed was at least fifteen times as large as it is now. It comprised the present towns of Champlain, Chazy, Altona, Mooers, Clinton and Ellenburgh in this county [and?] Chateaugay, which is now in Franklin Co., and which at that time comprised not only the present town of Chateaugay but also Burke, Malone, Constable, Westville, the northern part of Belmont and the eastern part of Bangor. It kept all of that territory about eleven years, or till March 15, 1799, when Chateaugay was taken off, and on March 20, 1804, Chazy, which then included Altona, was taken from its south side and Mooers, which included Ellenburgh and Clinton, was cut off on the west, thus reducing Champlain to about, or exactly its present size.
It seems hard to realize that the present village of Malone, now almost a city, is built upon land which only 115 years ago was in the town of Champlain. I will add that Peru and Plattsburgh originally extended as far west as did Champlain, which was more then half way across the present county of Franklin, but both of those towns lost the western part of this territory before it was settled, while Chateaugay contained many inhabitants when it was taken from Champlain. On or about the 20th of June, 1776, or almost exactly 137 years ago, and only about two weeks before the Declaration of Independence was signed, an American army that had been besieging Quebec was obliged to retreat into what is now the State of New York. It is a matter of tradition that has been repeated by many writers that a young drummer from Massachusetts[2], who was with that army formed the resolution when he was crossing the Great Chazy river that after the war was over he would come back and settle on that land. Doubtless you have all heard that story before and it seems quite time and preserved [but unless that drummer boy wrote down his resolution [in a] [
at the] [the]] manuscript it is hard to prove what he thought about the wilderness that existed here 137 years ago. The boy's name was Pliny Moore and it is said that he was born in Sheffield, Mass., in 1759.
At the close of the Revolution he had risen to the rank of lieutenant and about two years later, in 1785, he was employed to survey the tract of land that had just been granted by the State to Levi Smith and Mark Graves and which has since been called Smith & Graves Patent. Whether he had seen that land nine years before or not he had a good chance to see it then for the division of that 11,600 acres into 119 lots required at least 100 miles of lines to be run through the primeval forests and must have occupied his time for several months.
In 1786 he resided in Columbia County, N.Y., and was appointed by Gov. Geo. Clinton and his Council as Captain of Company 7 of Lieut. Col. Philip Van Alstyne's regiment of the State Militia. This Col. Van Alstyne was a relative of the grandfather of our Director of Farmers’ Institutes, Mr. Edward Van Alstyne, whom we all know. In Jan., 1787, Moore married Martha Corbin of Kinderhook, Columbia Co., and was at that time a resident of Bennington, Vt., or at least his parents were, though he and his wife continued to live in Kinderhook till 1789. On the 7th of Feb., 1787, or two weeks after his marriage he and sixteen associates divided that tract of land between them, they having bought it from Smith and Graves, neither of whom seem to have retained any part of it. In the deed that you can see on record in our County Clerk's office at Plattsburgh, those 16 men from seven different counties deeded to Pliny Moore all of their rights, titles and interest in forty of those lots comprising almost exactly one third of the whole patent and at the same time Moore and 15 others deeded certain lots to the 17th man till each was given his share according to the amount he had paid. Early the next spring after the ice was out of the river Pliny Moore came with a gang of laborers, coming up the river by “motor boat,” the motors being of the “arm strong” type or strong arm type if you prefer that name, as being more accurate, and built a sawmill near where the railroad bridge crosses the river and afterward a gristmill a mile or more below. He also built a small house or hut which one writer says was under the hill at the south-east end of the lower bridge. As the bridge now runs north-east and south-west it has no south-east end and either the bridge must have been differently located or the writer was in error when he spoke of the south-west end.
Mrs. Moore stayed about two years after her marriage in Kinderhook where her father, Capt. John Corbin, resided and it was there that her oldest son, Noadiah, was born. She came to live in Champlain in 1789 and her oldest daughter Anna, born in 1790, was the first white child of American parents born in the town of Champlain. This Anna Moore married Julius Hubbell of Chazy and was the mother of our worthy member, Mr. J. W. Hubbell. Mr. and Mrs. Moore had two other daughters, Lucretia Matilda, who married Rev. Abraham D. Brinkerhoof [sic], and Sophia, who became the wife Thomas Whiteside. They also had three sons that were born in Champlain, Amasa and Royal, named for Mrs. Moore's brothers, Amasa and Royal Corbin and Pliny Moore, Jr., named, for the settler himself.
While Pliny Moore's forty lots of land were scattered all over Smith & Graves' patent which was 4 1-4 miles square, it is plain to be seen by comparing his deed with the map that he had been careful to secure what he considered the most desirable lots. He owned practically the whole river from Perry's Mills down to Cooperville except two or three short stretches where he knew that no water power was available. The one lot just below the bridge that was not included in his original deed he very soon secured by purchase so that in 1798, when the oldest Assessment roll of which I have a copy was made he owned all of the land which the village of Champlain now occupies about as far as to the Catholic cemetery north-east of the R. R. depot. He had three near neighbors, Louis Gosline, John Lee and Francois Menard, but each lived on a scant half acre lot that was owned by Pliny Moore, and all three of those lots were said to be "on the Highway to Grist Hill," if anyone knows where that was.
The Louis Gosline is said to have built the first house in Champlain village and may have been a squatter there before Pliny Moore came, or he may have come with Moore's surveying party and built his log house to serve as a camp or place to cook provisions for the surveyors. Mooers [Moore] soon began to erect mills and shops upon his property as we have seen and as soon as his sawmill was ready to furnish the lumber he erected a frame house forty feet long and thirty wide, or as large as a good-sized barn. I could tell you exactly how many windows of each different size there was in that house and give the dimensions of his mills, shops, barns and other buildings, down to his “1 Wood Goose house 14x12,” but it would lack interest and make this story too long.
Having mentioned the military record of Pliny Moore I must not omit his civil record which was no less honorable. He was the first Justice of the Peace in Champlain and was for several years Justice of Sessions. In 1796 he was one of the ten commissioners appointed to build the Great Northern Turnpike and in 1807 when 48 years of age he was appointed County Judge or as it was then called Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, and held that office 12 years or till 1819.
On March 5, 1816, when the Clinton Co. Bible Society was organized in the Plattsburgh Academy Judge Pliny Moore was chosen as its first president. He was one of the original members of the Congregational Presbyterian church of Champlain, one of its first trustees, and in 1804 was elected as its "Scribe." He gave the land for the first cemetery in Champlain and his brother-in-law, Amasa Corbin, who died April 16, 1799, was the first to be buried in it. By the terms of his last will Judge Moore bequested an acre of land and $1,000 to his society for the purpose of erecting a church which was completed in 1829, seven years after his death, the services before that date having been held in a school-house. Judge Moore must have owned some property in Canada for he willed to his son Royal an interest in "a Carding Mill and Clothiers Works" at Berthier and also one-half of similar mills at Bonsherville Mountain.
While Pliny Moore was so far as we know the first American born settler of the town of Champlain he was not the real pioneer. At the close of the war of the Revolution people of Canada and Nova Scotia who had favored the American cause were obliged to leave their former homes and seek refuge on this side of the line and a large tract of land set aside for this occupancy is still known as the Canadian and Nova Scotia Refugee Tract.
One of the first if not the very first of those refugees to settle in this town was Capt. Jacques (pronounced Zhak) Rouse. Please do not understand me to call him Jack for that was not his name. Jacques is the French [name] for James, so our English speaking assessors called him James Rouse, though he was always called Jacques by his countrymen.
Jacques Rouse settled on the lake shore a little south of the present site of Fort Montgomery. He may properly be called the founder of Rouses Point village for he had a family large enough to make a small village of their own. He is said to have been the father of twenty-six children. Just how many wives he had tradition saith not. The first entry concerning him on the assessment roll of 1798 is as follows: "James Rouse owner and occupant of a one-story log house 20x18 ft. Old in tolerable repair, located on Long point West Shore of the Lake, three windows 3x2 ft. each, and one 1 1-2x, 1 1-4 ft.; also one wood out-house, 22x12 ft; two acres, value $220.
Now if any think that Jacques Rouse was a little two-acre farmer, and that his little family was reared on the products of that two-acre lot “you have another thing coming,” if I may be allowed to borrow a choice bit of slang from the well stocked vocabulary of Governor Sulzer. There is another item on the old assessment roll that reads as follows:
“James Rouse, 318 acres on Lake Shore at Long point one farm. One log house ($30), one log barn 30x14. Also 1780 acres back land. Also 333 acres, 53 perches and 90 3-4 feet in Plattsburgh near River Saranac $4088.”
Don’t you think that the size of that last mentioned lot was figured down pretty fine? Well, he probably owned just one-third of 1,000 acres in Plattsburgh, or as we would say 333 1-3 acres. Now that one-third of an acre was exactly 53 perches, or square rods, and 90 3-4 feet, so the assessors were correct when they so stated it. Let us add together his two acres, his 318, 1790, and 333 1-3 and you will see that old Jacques Rouse had in 1798, 2,433 1-3 acres, or almost four square miles of land which was about two‑thirds as much as was owned by Pliny Moore, who had six square miles, if it had been all in one body.
If Jacques Rouse fought in the Revolution, as I have reason to think that he did, I cannot tell where or what was his rank in the army. But on March 7, 1788, he was appointed lieutenant in one of the companies of Lieut. Col. Melancton Lloyd Woolsey's regiment of militia and in 1789 he was promoted to the rank of captain. Thirteen years later on Jan. 28, 1802, Ensign Ebenezer Demming was appointed captain in place or James Rouse, resigned. On Oct. 15, 1809, Mr. Samuel Southby Bridge, an English merchant, engaged in the exportation of turpentine, was stopped at Canada line, his vessel not being permitted to pass, but he wrote that he “walked half a mile to the small hut or inn kept by Jacob Rouse, a captain of militia, where the night was passed.”
Now some may think that Jacob Rouse was one of old Jacques 26 children but I feel sure it was the old man himself, for no man named Jacob Rouse was ever a captain of militia in this state while we know that old Jacques was such a captain. It is not at all surprising that an Englishman should have written the name Jacob instead of Jacques. We learn from the above writer that Rouse kept a small inn and that it stood about half a mile from Canada line, which is just where its location was once pointed out to me by Bro. H. C. Hayford.
It must have been difficult for even the parents of those 26 children to name them, one at a time, and I shall make no attempt to repeat their names more than to say that Solomon, Louis and Mitchell Rouse of the town of Champlain were soldiers in the war of 1812, and I have, no doubt that they were sons of old Captain Jacques.
Returning to Champlain village. I will say that Lot No. 33 which lies directly north of Glenwood cemetery was owned in 1798 by William Beaumont and No 32, on the east side of the street was the home of Samuel Ashmun, and both of those citizens were prominent in this day and generation. No. 33 was one of the forty lots that were deeded to Pliny Moore in 1787 and was afterward sold by him to Beaumont, but No. 32 had been deeded by 16 proprietors to Samuel Ashmun who was one of the 17 associates.
[words missing] of the town for ten successive years and with the supervisors of Plattsburgh and Peru he helped to make the assessment roll of 1798. Just how many sons and daughters he had I cannot say but I know that there were two Beaumonts from Champlain, William H. and Aurelius, who served in the war of 1812 and one James H., enlisted in 1861 and died during the Civil war. Whether the Beaumonts of Plattsburgh and Keeseville, including Carlish D. Beaumont for whom the Grand Army Post of Keeseville is named were grand-sons of Champlain’s early settler, or not, is more than I can tell.
Samuel Ashmun served as town clerk of Champlain from 1793 to 98 and again in 1804 and 1805 in all about eight years. We are told that only four of the seventeen original proprietors of the Moorefield [Moorsfield] tract, as it was sometimes called, ever settled upon it and this Samuel Ashmun was one of the four. With Pliny Moore he was also one of the first trustees of the Congregational church. He had ten children, only one of whom I am able to name but that one should always be remembered by the people of Champlain for among her many worthy and successful sons. There has been no other who accomplished so much for the glory of God and the help of a down-trodden race as he. Jehudi Ashmun was born April 1, 1794. He graduated from the University of Vermont at the age of 22 and after teaching for some time he became a Presbyterian minister.[3]
Our country was then and for many years afterward suffering from the curse of human slavery. The slaves who obtained their freedom were not wanted in this county, nor in Canada and our climate was not adapted to the comfort of those who had always lived between or near the tropics. Jehudi Ashmun and others conceived the plan of colonizing those negroes in Africa, the original home of their race, the African colonization society was formed and as its agent he sailed for Africa in 1822 with a large number of ex-slaves, who had escaped, or been freed from bondage. He served as their minister, their lawmaker, and their commanding officer for the savage natives fought them and had to be repelled, but he succeeded in establishing his colony, or free State of Liberia which is still flourishing and has grown since his death in 1828 from a population of 1,200 to over 2,000,000. Liberia is larger than our State of Ohio and but little smaller than Pennsylvania. It contains less people than either of these two states but there are only thirteen or fourteen of the forty-eight states of our Union that now contain as many people as that State of Liberia that was founded by Jehudi Ashmun, who was born and brought up right here in Champlain. He gave his life to the cause, died at the early age of thirty-four, but great poets and other authors commemorated his achievements, and mourned his death.
Permit me to quote from The Rhetorical Reader published in 1835 a poem on the death of Ashmun by Mrs. L. H. Sigourney, a very popular poetess of last century whose work is in danger of being forgotten.
Death of Ashmun
(By Lydia Huntley Sigourney.)
Whose is yon sable bier?
Why move the throng so slow?
Why doth that lonely mother's tear
In sudden anguish flow?
Why is that sleeper laid
To rest in manhood's pride?
How gained his cheeks such pallid shade?
I spake, — but none replied.
The hoarse wave murmur'd low,
The distant surges roar’d; —
And o’er the sea in tones of war
A deep response was poured;
I heard sad Africa mourn
Upon her billowy strand:—
A shield was from her bosom torn,
An anchor from her hand.
Ah! well I know thee now,
Though foreign suns would trace
Deep lines of death upon thy brow,
Thou friend of misery's race;—
Their leader when the blast
Of ruthless war swept by,
Their teacher when the storm was past,
Their guide to worlds on high.
Spirit of Power,— pass on! —
Thy homeward wing is free;—
Earth may not claim thee for his son,
She hath no chain for thee;—
Toil might not bow thee down,—
Nor Sorrow check thy race. —
Nor Pleasure win thy birthright crown,—
Go to thy own blest place.
Of what other man in all American history can it be said that he founded a State? The only answer is Roger Williams. Yes, Roger Williams founded Rhode Island, a State but little larger than our county of Clinton, only two-thirds as large as Essex. Co., N. Y., and which now when 250 years old contains only one-fourth as many people as Liberia, also at the age of ninety years.
Perhaps you will say that the great State of Pennsylvania was founded by William Penn. In a way that is true, but there were hundreds if not thousands of English Quakers in that territory before Penn, and you will remembered that when Penn came it was with a ship load of his own countrymen; he fought no battles and endured no hardships such as Williams and Ashmun had to endure while contending with people of another race and color.
If you wish to know who the great men of Northern New York, who have attained world-wide fame have been look for their names in your Encyclopedias. You may search in vain for any account of the Platts of Plattsburgh, the Keeses of Keeseville, the Moores of Champlain or the Rouses of Rouses Point. You will probably find an article about John Brown of North Elba, Essex County, and if it is an American publication, a very short one about Wm. A. Wheeler of Malone, Franklin Co., 19th vice-president of the United States. But whether your encyclopedia was published in America, or in Scotland, you will find in it an article about Jehudi Ashmun of Champlain, Clinton Co., N.Y., the founder of Liberia, on the western coast of Africa.
There are some in Champlain who knew before tonight about the life and work of this former townsman. One gentleman from another town tells me that he can point out the old cellar of the house in which Jehudi Ashmun was born and lived for more than twenty years. Two gentlemen from New York[4], who make Champlain their summer home, own copies of the life of Jehudi Ashmun, and value them very highly; all of which illustrates the truth of those words spoken nearly nineteen hundred years ago by one of whom it was said, “Never man spake like this man.”
“A prophet is not without honor, save in his own country.”
“Settlement Of The Town Of Champlain” — M. Southwick
Marion Southwick, a senior at Champlain High School in 1919, wrote a thesis about the founding of Champlain that was read at graduation. What is interesting about the article is that Marion gave a good summary about the founding of Champlain along with several other towns in the area, including Rouses Point and Perry's Mills. Marion probably got some of her information from Hugh McLellan since he had a copy of this thesis. She may have also been related to Orin Southwick, one of the original settlers of the town and mentioned in the paper.
Marion S. Southwick, SETTLEMENT OF CHAMPLAIN.
Graduation Theses,
Champlain high School
Read at Commencement, June 23, 1919.
SETTLEMENT OF THE TOWN OF CHAMPLAIN
That you may better understand who much courage and resolution a man had to possess to enter the wilds of the Champlain Valley and make a settlement, which in spite of many drawbacks and discouragements, grew and flourished, I am going to give you a brief description of this part of the country as it was when white man first came to it.
Lake Champlain was the resort and battleground of the savage Algonquin, Huron and Iroquois Nations who peopled its picturesque islands and beautifully shaded shores. It was a veritable paradise, which had not been spoiled by the touch of man’s hand. The canoes of the warring Indian tribes going swiftly to battle or hunt, formed the first flotillas which had ever been seen on the lake.
To this wild but beautiful region Lieutenant Pliny Moore came one hundred and seventy six years after it’s discovery by Samuel de Champlain. During these years there had been many small battles waged here, which had antagonized the Indians and thus made possible the settlement of this Valley by the English. But in 1785 the scenery had been changed but little, and everything was still wild in spite of the very few settlements which had been made along the Lake.
Regardless of all danger and hardships which he would encounter, the founder of the Town, Pliny Moore, came from civilization to a place where few had yet dared to venture. After surveying a piece of land in 1785, which was later called the “Moorsfield” Patent, he built a hut on the Chazy River somewhere near the site of the Whiteside Paper Mills. Two years later Lieutenant Moore returned and erected a hut between the site of the present National bank and the “old Pliny Moore house.” Champlain was now founded, and soon a saw mill and a grist mill sprang up and other industries began in the little settlement. People were beginning to settle around in different places in the Valley, and everything looked prosperous compared to a few years before, when nothing but savage tribes roamed about in search of food or enemies.
Our town, when it was first laid out was fifteen times as large as at present. It was bounded on the North by Canada, on the South it extended to Plattsburgh, on the East by Lake Champlain, and on the West as far as Malone.
The surrounding land had been granted to the Canadian and Nova Scotia refugees, most of whom sold their grants to settlers and speculators. One of these grants was sold to James Rouse, who settled near the present site of Fort Montgomery. A small settlement grew up, the result of which you may readily see. But to return to the settlement of the different places along the Lake and in this vicinity, let us notice to what men grants were sold. James Rouse, of whom I have already spoken, bought his land from Major Clement Gosselin. Major Laurent Olivie, Capt. John Douglas, Capt. Francis Chandonet, Lieutenant Murdock McPherson and Mathew Sax settled along the Lake shore in what is now Chazy. Ebenezer Cooper settled neat the Corbeau River; George Perry at Perrys Mills.
To show the rapid growth of this town, let us remember that in 1790 the population of Champlain was greater than that of Plattsburgh.
Among the early settlers here we find the names of Samuel Ashmun, William Beaumont, Captain Simon Bateman, Jacob Bowron, Elias Dewey, Royal Corbin, Samuel and Orin Southwick, Silas Hubbell, Alexander Ferriole, David Kellogg, Abraham Knapp, Samuel Hicks, Abijah North, Elnathan Rogers, James Bullis, William Shute, Freeman Nye and John Hayford; the descendants of some of whom are among us to-day.
The inevitable result of this settlement was the advent of the school teacher and of the church. One of the early teachers was William Beaumont; later he became the celebrated Dr. Beaumont. It is said that of sixty-two dollars and fifty-six cents was expended in the first few years and the school house was made of logs. Our present school house is a great improvement on that it must be admitted, but perhaps one, if he looked hard enough, could find places in that selfsame building on which money could still be expended.
Churches were established between the years of 1800 and 1853. The Congregational Presbyterian Church was the first one to be founded, and later the Methodist, Episcopal and Roman Catholic were founded.
At this period growth was not slow, and the fathers of the town, thinking it was time to decide on the definite location of the Village disputed as to whether it should be placed in the hollow or down near the rapids. Finally the first place was decided on and so when the hollow was full the population settled on the surrounding hills.
Here are a few interesting things which took place in the early history of the town, and on account of their direct relation to certain later town-developments, might be of interest to us. One of the most interesting is that in the year 1798 the town licensed five taverns. The second fact is the introduction of the first double wagon by Edward Thurber who lived on the Lake shore. It was as curious a thing to the people of those times as was the first automobile. The third incident was that in 1808 Pliny Moore brought the first piano, a beautiful harpsichord, into the town, and his ladies were the envy of the surrounding country.
Champlain was lying in the track of the invading armies in 1812. She was trampled under foot of war. Her people were seriously inconvenienced, her growth retarded and her interests suffered in the strife. Many of her citizens who were in the army fought and bled and gave their lives.
Now, then peace had come again, these settlers came back, school houses were multiplied, religion revived and commerce flourished.
Let us notice a few things in passing rapidly through the decades — the remarkable cold summer of 1816, when it froze in every month of the season; the commencing of a fort on Province Pt. the same year, which, two years later, was discovered to be in Canada, abandoned to decay and nicknamed “Fort Blunder”; the establishment of the first printing press, at Rouses Point, in 1823, and the publication of the first newspaper; the wonderful revival of the lumber interest then and since by the completion of the Champlain Canal the same year, that gave a new impetus to that branch of business in all this region.
Fort Montgomery was erected on the exact site of Fort Blunder in the year 1844. This was the beginning of a new interest in town affairs. In 1850 a railroad followed this; a decade later the Civil War came to intercept the growth. During this period Champlain gave money and men, as she always has and always will. The total number of men that went from this town was two hundred and ninety three.
Since the end of the Civil War Champlain has progressed in some things and declined in others. Some new industries have grown up since then and helped the town. Others have only lasted for a few weeks or months and have in the end seemed to hinder rather than help its growth.
But in conclusion I might say that Champlain has been a fair example of the average small American town, and also one of the most beautiful, a fact which is proven by the many compliments which are given to our small town by tourists passing thru. It is also a town not to be despised or scorned by any one for in every way we are willing to do our part, which has been shown by the way in which we so lately responded to all the demands of war (during the last two years). When this is the case not only in one thing but in all things which we undertake, I think that no one need hesitate to say that he is a citizen of Champlain, but rather quick to say it, for is not the name of “Champlain” one of the most noted in History.
END
Marion Stewart Southwick.
“Town of Champlain in 1798” - A Moorsfield Press Publication
In 1798, Pliny Moore wrote a letter to a publisher that was preparing a description of various towns. Pliny provided a description of Champlain that was very detailed. One detail was particularly interesting. People had found mussel shells forty feet deep in Champlain. Pliny had thought that Lake Champlain at one time had covered Champlain and had drained near Quebec. Of course, these mussel shells are much older than the lake and were fossilized. Indeed, they are probably millions of years old. At this time, the theory of plate tectonics and fossilization had not been advanced.
Hugh McLellan published this letter in 1922 using his Moorsfield Press. The original style of the manuscript has been preserved as much as is possible. The letter “s” had been changed to “f” in the original manuscript. It was changed back to “s” here to make the paper more readable.
The Papers of Pliny Moore
TOWN of CHAMPLAIN
in 1798
THE DRAFT OF A LETTER FROM
PLINY MOORE TO JOSEPH SCOTT
CHAMPLAIN
Privately Printed at the Moorsfield Press
1922
Town of Champlain in 1798
THE DRAFT OF A LETTER FROM
PLINY MOORE to JOSEPH SCOTT
Sir
It is probable you will have more accurate Descriptions of the Towns in this County[5] to the Southward of this from the post masters at Plattsburgh & Willsborough from their contiguous & central situation than it will be in my power to give who am situated at the extreme north part of the State Also of the Counties from post masters Still further to the Southward — I shall therefore confine myself to a Description of the Town in which I live. This Town is one of the five[6] which Compose the County of Clinton is Bounded North on the province of Lower Canada East by the Lake Champlain South by Plattsburgh & West by the County of Herkimer is about twelve miles in breadth from North to South the west line not being ascertained the length from East to west is uncertain though supposed to exceed forty miles. There is no Mountain of any magnitude in the Town & the hills or ridges which universally lie north & south & comport with the Lake Shore Rise gradually to about thirty feet above the General surface the principal Rivers which water this Town are the Great Chazy River the Little Chazy which Run a NorthEastwardly direction & empty into Lake Champlain the former about five & latter about seven miles from the province line the River Curbo[7] is between the great & little Chazy & discharges into the former about two Miles from its mouth These Rivers the Largest of which admits Boats of several Tons Burthern Six or seven Miles & has Grist & Saw Mills erected are composed of Innumerable smaller streams which plentifully water the Country & afford many valuable & commodious Mill seats & a great abundance & variety of fish which come from a Never failing Source The Salmon are taken here in great abundance & a fish little inferior in flavour called the Maskenonge from 20 to 30 lb W't The Land produces excellent Wheat Rye Indian Corn Oats peas Flax & almost every kind of Vegitable which has been cultivated in great perfection & abundance & is peculiarly suited to the production of Grass — Wheat from Twenty to forty five Bus'ls à acre Corn from Twenty to Sixty Eight Bushels à acre Grass one & two Tons à acre — The Number of Families are about one hundred & Twenty five[8] — The Western part of this Town which is now settling is watered by several branches of a Considerable River Called Chatuge[9] which after forming a junction Run northward & discharge into the River St. Lawrence above Montreal & is said to be navigable for small boats with but trifleing obstruction from Montreal into this town — There are the Strongest reason for an opinion that the whole of this Country & Lower Canada have been at no very remote period covered by the Lake which by gradual wearing at some confine at or below Quebec has drained & left the Country bare — the reason for this opinion is that mussle shells & other marine productions are found in the earth whenever dug from the surface to forty feet in depth in great plenty[10] — Religious houses none — Distance from N York 360 miles.
Wishing you success in so laudable an undertaking
I am Respectfully Sir Your Most Hu'ble Serv't
P. Moor
Champlain 26th Febr'y 1798
Mr Joseph Scott
Philadelphia
“The Life of Pliny Moore” by Hugh McLellan
In September of 1939, Hugh delivered a speech to the Vermont Historical Society. His speech focused on Pliny Moore’s life and how it related to Vermont’s history. Hugh noted a number of Vermont connections: Pliny had a brother-in-law named Royal Corbin who lived in Craftsbury, Pliny, Noadiah, and Amasa all received degrees from Middlebury College (Pliny received an honorary degree), Isaac Nye lived in Burlington and Thomas Nye went to the University of Vermont.
Hugh’s speech was reprinted in The North Countryman on Thursday, April 18, 1940.
The Life of Pliny Moore
By Hugh McLellan
Following is a short sketch of the life of Pliny Moore, one of the founders of the Town of Champlain, by Hugh McLellan, and delivered by him in an address before the Vermont Historical Society last September.
Mr. McLellan and his son, Charles Woodberry McLellan, are the proprietors of The Moorsfield Press, at Champlain, and publishers of "The Moorsfield Antiquarian," a quarterly magazine. The author is a historian and an authority on the history of the Town of Champlain and Champlain Valley.
IT would seam to me that the best way to describe the collection of historical material having to do with a single individual is to give a brief sketch of the life of the person himself, emphasizing such references to localities and events as have been gathered from his papers. I will therefore give a sketch of Pliny Moore’s life.
Pliny Moore, the oldest son of Noadiah and Anna (Loomis) Moore, was born in Sheffield, Mass., April 14, 1759. The family moved to Spencertown, N. Y., before 1772, which is the date of the first letters found. In 1774, when fifteen years of age, Pliny visited Sheffield and Great Barrington to consult Dr. Whiting, and at this time kept a curious "Journal of Drink," in which he recorded "a true account of all spiritual liquors that I drink, and how, with whom and where I drink it." This journal mentions 43 names, and is an interesting historical document.
In 1776, in Capt. Henry O'Hara's company of Wynkoop's regiment he was in the campaign down Lake Champlain, letters being addressed to him at Fort George, Ticonderoga and Crown Point. Unfortunately no papers of 1777 and 1778 remain. In 1779 he was a deputy of Col. Peter Van Ness, Asst. Commissioner of Purchases. In 1781, and until 1784, he was Lieutenant, and much of the time Adjutant, of Col. Marinus Willett's regiment of Levies — stationed at Saratoga in 1781, when Gen. John Stark commanded the Northern Department, and later at Ballston, but principally in the Mohawk Valley, and particularly at Fort Rensselaer, the official name of Fort Plain. There is a mass of letters and papers covering this period. Letters from home are now dated from Kinderhook or King's District.
Chosen to secure locations of unappropriated lands for 63 of the Levies, Pliny Moore, then on active duty, appointed James Dean (of Whitesboro, who had been government agent with the Oneida Indians) as his agent, and after several fruitless attempts to locate on the Susquehanna and south of Seneca Lake, locations were finally secured on the Canadian border, in the present town of Champlain (after disputes with Col. Gabriel Christie and the Canadian and Nova Scotia refugees), and on the whole of Isle La Motte, in Lake Champlain. But Isle La Motte being later "ceded" or conceded to Vermont, the "Pliny Moore Patent" at Crown Point was substituted. The collection contains a quantity of papers, letters, maps, surveys, etc., on matters pertaining to land grants in Northern New York.
Pliny Moore made three trips from Kinderhook to survey these grants, and in 1788, with several settlers and workmen, the settlement at Champlain was begun by the building of a saw mill, and of huts, and the planting of gardens in the clearings. His journals of his trips north, through Vermont, and of the work done in the settlement, are preserved. He brought his wife and son to the new settlement in 1789.
Clinton County was formed in 1788, at the same time as the town of Champlain. The county included the present county of Essex and the county of Franklin; and contained only four towns: Champlain, Plattsburg, Willsboro and Crown Point. Pliny Moore was appointed Assistant Judge of Common Pleas; was later First Judge, 1807‑1819, and also held the office of Superintendent of Highways and Commissioner of Taxes, and was the first postmaster of Champlain. He was also one of the founders of the First Presbyterian-Congregational Church and Society of Champlain, in 1802; and the first president of the Clinton County Bible Society.
In 1805 the Great Northern Turnpike Company was created by act of Legislature, to lay out a road from Sandy Hill (now Hudson Falls) to connect with the road to Montreal at Champlain. Among the Commissioners and Directors may be mentioned Dr. Charles D. Cooper and Charles R. Webster of Albany; Theodorous Ross and Elkanah Watson of Essex County; Gen. Benjamin Mooers, Peter Sailly, Henry Delord and Pliny Moore of Clinton County. The road follows quite closely the present Route 9. Pliny Moore was elected President, and Elkanah Watson, Treasurer. The surveyors were William Beaumont, George Nelson and Beriah Palmer. The letters about this undertaking are extremely interesting.
From 1792 to 1797 Pliny Moore and his brother in law, Royal Corbin, conducted stores at Champlain and at Alburgh, Vermont, under the firm name of Moore & Corbin. Fortunately some of the account books and many letters and bills of these two stores are preserved. In 1797, Royal Corbin married Matilda Crafts, daughter of Col. Ebenezer Crafts, of Craftsbury, Vt., to which place he moved. Royal Corbin is worthy of passing mention; he was a constant letter writer, and his numerous letters to Judge Moore give not only a running summary of news, but are filled with political news of Vermont. Both he and Moore were ardent Federalists.
Merchandise in those days was procured from Albany; from John Tayler, Pearson & Caldwell and Barent & John R. Bleecker, for the most part; and from James Woolrich of Montreal. Payment was frequently made by shipments of potash and lumber.
Champlain, lying on the Canadian border, was continuously agitated during the War of 1812, concerning which many letters and papers have been preserved. With the Platts, Judge Moore owned considerable land in Plattaburg, and this was sold to the United States in 1816, and is now incorporated in the present barracks there. This sale, necessitating trips to Washington and much correspondence, gives a picture of official procedure of the time.
After the war Judge Moore devoted much attention to the carding of wool, and besides the works at Champlain, established clothing works at St. Therese, Boucherville and Berthier, in Canada. At Berthier he was in partnership with Col. James Cuthbert. There are many papers concerning this business; the carding machines, were made in Haverhill, N. H., by Richard Gookins, and the shearing machines by Stanley & Buckley of Poultney, Vt.
Although Judge Moore was averse to "going to law," one case he did take into the courts of Vermont. This was the accusation of malpractice performed by Dr. Jewett and Dr. Field, of Caledonia County, in setting the broken thighbone of Samuel Long, a carder in Moore's employ. The injury occurred at Lyndon, Vt., in 1819. The defendants employed Esquire Edmonds of Vergennes, while Judge Moore engaged his old friend, Cornelius P. Van Ness, and Mr. Griswold. I believe the case was not settled until after the death of Judge Moore, which occurred at his home in Champlain, August 18, 1822.
In copying the 2834 letters and drafts which compose a part of this collection, I have been struck by Pliny Moore's systematic and painstaking thoroughness; his devotion to his family and particularly by his candor.
Also in copying these letters I feel that I have made many friends among his correspondents: Gen. John Williams, of Salem, N. Y., John Tayler, of Albany, Gen. Melancthon Lloyd Woolsey, Peter Sailly, and the Platts of Plattsburg; Elkanah Watson and Daniel Ross, of Essex County; Zebulon Rudd Shipherd, of Granville and later of Moriah, N.Y.; Thomas Schieffelin, of New York City, and his business friends, the Bleechers and Woolrich, to mention but a few.
Seven of Judge Moore's ten children reached maturity. I will mention but two: Noahdiah [sic] and Amasa Corbin.
Noahdiah [sic] Moore graduated from Middlebury College in 1808, having entered — after considering Union College — from Williams College. He married Caroline, daughter of Samuel Mattocks, of Middlebury. At the time of his graduation Middlebury conferred an honorary degree upon Judge Moore.
Amasa Corbin Moore also graduated from Middlebury, of which college he was afterwards a Trustee for nearly twenty years. After graduation he had a religious urge and entered Andover Theological Seminary, but he seems to have gotten over it, and became a lawyer. He married Charlotte, daughter of Gen. Benjamin Mooers, of Plattsburg. Historically, his letters to his father are most interesting, and fortunately he wrote frequently; and in considerable detail; he tells of Prof. Allen's death by falling from the roof of Painter Hall at Middlebury; of an exhibition of "exhilerating gas"; of a remarkable cure for cancer at Cornwall; of a menagerie of wild animals which visited Middlebury; of the riot caused at Vergennes following the presentation of a sword to Gen. Strong in 1817 by the State of New York. Among his college experiences was his rustication for having stolen a chick en, cooked it in his room, and then having lied about it. This occasioned several letters to pass between President Bates and Judge Moore.
Although it might be considered that the Pliny Moore Papers should end with his death, fortunately they are carried on in the Nye Papers.
Two of Noahdiah [sic] Moore's daughters, one after the other, married Bartlett Nye, son of Elias and Elizabeth (Bartlett) Nye. The family had moved from Massachusetts to Burlington, Vt, and Bartlett and his brother, Freeman had moved to Champlain in 1807, where they were merchants and large land owners; another brother, Isaac, remained in Burlington, and seems to have been quite eccentric. At first a merchant in the building now occupied by the offices of the Lake Champlain Transportation Co., for some reason he closed its doors and allowed the stock of goods to decay on the shelves. He also owned the wharf and carried on a shipping and storage business.
Still another brother, Thomas Nye, graduated from the University of Vermont in 1822, and was a lawyer in Montreal until his death in 1877. He was a "perfect collector," keeping everything from auction bills to books and pamphlets. In 1837 he journeyed out to Chicago to marry Corinna Bowman, keeping an interesting journal of the trip both ways. His papers are voluminous, and this "Nye collection," besides his accumulations, contain some hundred volumes of the store books of his brothers.
I wish also to mention the preservation of two of the day-books of Dr. Benjamin Moore; a brother of Pliny Moore and the first physician at Champlain. These accounts cover the transactions from 1802 to 1808, and might serve as a check on local genealogy, as the births of children are carefully noted, as well as many prescriptions.
It might seem that most of the activities in these collections had to do with Vermont; but if the location of Champlain is considered — hemmed in by the Adirondacks and bordering on Canada — with poor and insufficient roads, Vermont was the more accessible, by water in the summer, and over the ice in winter.
“Champlain — The First Settlements”
The following short article was co-written by Woody McLellan in his publication called the Centennial of the Village of Champlain (1873-1973).
CHAMPLAIN — THE FIRST SETTLEMENTS
The Village of Champlain lies entirely within the boundaries of the "Smith & Graves Patent" of 1785.
In 1781 and 1782 the State of New York authorized the raising of two regiments, for service within the state for the duration of the Revolutionary War, on bounties of unappropriated lands.
Pliny Moore of Kinderhook, N.Y. was delegated by 63 soldiers to locate their rights. Being on active service in the Mohawk Valley as a lieutenant in one of these regiments, he appointed an agent to act for him. In 1783 two applications for land were made ¾ one on the Susquehanna River and the other south of Seneca Lake.
These not being granted, attention was turned to the Lake Champlain wilderness, and late in 1785 the Smith & Graves Patent of 11,600 acres was issued, after considerable dispute over the claims of Col. Gabriel Christie and the Canadian & Nova Scotia Refugees. The title of the grant is derived from the names of the first two persons on the original patent: Levi Smith and Mark Graves.
Pliny Moore made an outline survey of the location in the spring of 1785, completing it the following year by laying it out into 119 lots. These lots were balloted for in February 1787, and by the so-called Great Deed were distributed among the proprietors.
On March 7, 1788, the state legislature created Clinton County (formerly a part of Washington County), which included all of the present Essex County and parts of Franklin County. What is now Clinton County was divided into two townships, Plattsburgh and Champlain, the latter including all of the present towns of Chazy and westward into Franklin County.
On May 23, 1788, Pliny Moore, together with Samuel Ashmun, William Beaumont, Elnathan Rogers, Joseph Rowe and Caleb Thomas, arrived here to start the new settlement by clearing land, cutting out rough roads, and building a saw mill. Its first name was "Moorsfield on the River Chazy."
By 1790, according to the first Federal Census, the town had grown to 37 families, totaling 149 persons. 28 of these families were of French-Canadian stock.
These French-Canadians were those who had supported the American cause during the Revolution as soldiers, thus losing their homes in Canada ¾ the Refugees. New York State eventually granted them land (including all of Rouses Point, the Town of Mooers, and portions of Chazy and Altona). Prior to this they "squatted" along the shores of Lake Champlain.
A census made in 1787 include many names still found in the area: Gosselin, Hamelin, Belangee, Ayot, Trehent, Marney, Lavoie, Langlois, Pepin, Durivage, Paulint, Lizot. (Spelling as shown on original.)
Only one of the families in this census can with reasonable possibility be placed as within the present borders of our village: that of Presque Asselin, the ancestor of present-day Ashline families. He thus could have been the first permanent settler in Champlain.
The Balloting of Lands in the State of New York in 1783
During the years of 1781 and 1782, the State of New York authorized the raising of two regiments on bounties of unappropriated New York lands. Pliny Moore entered the army on this premise in 1781 after serving previously in 1776. He was allocated 1000 acres of land for his service.
Pliny made an application through an agent for lands on the Susquehanna River and south of Seneca Lake since he was still in active service. These lands were not granted to him and Pliny was forced to request land on the western side of Lake Champlain that was still open to claim. In 1785, Pliny was issued the Smith and Graves Patent which consisted of 11,600 acres.
Even in remote upstate New York, Pliny was limited to only certain tracts of land. The land east of the Smith and Graves Patent on the shore of Lake Champlain (currently where Rouses Point is) was claimed by Colonel Gabriel Christey. On page 23 of Pliny's journal, he noted that an August 1785 meeting with a Commission was planned to discuss this. In 1783, General Benjamin Mooers had settled Point Au Roche and this land was also unavailable. In 1786, the Platts settled the Saranac River and established the town of Plattsburgh. Thus, Pliny had to settle with the land he acquired in the original Smith and Graves Patent.
The Smith and Graves Patent derives its name from the original patentees: Levi Smith and Mark Graves. The grant was originally submitted to the legislature under these names. Since Pliny Moore claimed the most land in his grant, about 4,300 of the 11,600 acres available, and re-surveyed it, the grant was sometime called the “Moorsfield Grant.” The 1,000 acres of land he was allocated was increased through the purchase of other soldiers’ land grants.
Interestingly, Pliny originally intended to call Champlain “Moorsfield” as in “Moorsfield on River Chazy.” Several references to the name of Moorsfield are made in his journal for the year of 1786. Early letters to and from Champlain also show this name. When Clinton County and the Town of Champlain was created by the State Legislature in March of 1788, the name was officially “Champlain”.
The following is an extract from the 1825 book "The Balloting Book, and Other Documents Relating to Military Bounty Lands in the State of New York." The acts passed in 1776, 1783 and 1784 are shown here to give the reader a better understanding of the laws that were passed to raise the regiments New York State needed during the Revolution. As will be shown, the land at Crown Point and west of Lake Champlain were available. These acts enabled Pliny to obtain the Smith and Graves Patent.
The
BALLOTING BOOK,
AND
OTHER DOCUMENTS
RELATING TO
Military Bounty Lands,
IN THE
STATE OF NEW-YORK
_____________________
PRINTED BY PACKARD & VAN BENTHUYSEN.
1825.
Extract from the Journal of Congress.
Dated September 16, 1776.
"CONGRESS then resolved itself into a committee of the whole, to take into consideration the report of the Board of War; and after some time, the president resumed the chair, and Mr. Nelson reported, that the committee have had under consideration the report from the Board of War, and have made sundry amendments; which they ordered him to lay before congress.
Congress then took into consideration the report of the Board of War, and the amendments offered by the committee of the whole, and thereupon came to the following resolutions:
That eighty‑eight Battalions be enlisted as soon as possible, to serve during the present War; and that each state furnish their respective quotas in the following proportions, viz.
New‑Hampshire, Three Battalions.
Massachusetts Bay, Fifteen do.
Rhode‑Island, Two do.
Connecticut Eight do.
New‑York, Four do.
New‑Jersey, Four do.
Pennsylvania, Twelve do.
Delaware, One do.
Maryland, Eight do.
Virginia, Fifteen do.
North Carolina, Nine do.
South Carolina, Six do.
Georgia, One do.
That twenty dollars be given as a bounty to each non-commissioned officer and private soldier, who shall enlist to serve during the present war, unless sooner discharged by Congress.
That Congress make provision for granting lands in the following proportions to the officers and soldiers who shall so engage in the service, and continue therein to the close of the war, or until discharged by Congress, and to the representatives of such officers and soldiers as shall be slain by the enemy.
Such lands to be provided by the United States; and whatever expense shall be necessary to procure such land, the said expense shall be paid and borne by the states, in the same proportion as the other expenses of the war; ¾ viz:
To a Colonel, 500 acres.
To a Lieutenant‑Colonel, 450 acres.
To a Major, 400 acres.
To a Captain, 300 acres.
To a Lieutenant, 200 acres.
To an Ensign, 150 acres.
Each non‑commissioned officer and soldier, 100 acres.
That the appointment of all officers, and, filling up vacancies, (except general officers) be left to the governments of the several states; and that every state provide arms, clothing, and every necessary for its quota of troops, according to the foregoing estimate. The expense of the clothing to be deducted from the pay of the soldiers, as usual.
That all officers be commissioned by Congress.
That it be recommended to the several states that they take, the most speedy and effectual measures for enlisting, their several quotas.
That the money to be given for bounties be paid by the paymaster, in the department where the soldier shall enlist.
That each soldier receive pay and subsistence from the time of enlistment."
Extract from the Journal of the Assembly of the State of
New-York.
Dated March 27, 1783.
"A copy of certain resolutions of the honorable the Senate, delivered by Mr. Duane, was read, and is in the words following, to wit:
'Whereas Congress, by act of the 16th day of September, 1776, did resolve, that the following quantity of Bounty Lands should be given to officers, non-commissioned officers and privates, serving in the continental army, to wit:
Acres.
To a Colonel, 500
a Lieutenant-Colonel, 450
a Major, 400
a Captain, 300
a Lieutenant, 200
an Esign, 150
each non-commissioned officer and private, 100
and by an act of the 12th of August, 1780, did declare that a Major‑General should have 1100 acres, and a Brigadier General 850:
'And whereas, the Legislature of this state are willing not only to take upon themselves to discharge the said engagement of Congress, so far as it relates to the line of this state, but likewise as a gratuity to the said line, and to evince the just sense this legislature entertain of the patriotism and virtue of the troops, of this state, serving in the army of the United States:
'Resolved therefore, (if the honorable the house of Assembly concur herein,) That besides the bounty of land so promised as aforesaid, this legislature will by law provide that the Major-Generals and Brigadier-Generals now serving in the line of the army of the United States, and being citizens of this state; and the officers, non-commissioned officers and privates of the two regiments of infantry commanded by Colonels Van Schaick and Van Cortlandt; such officers of the regiment of artillery commanded by Col. Lamb, and of the corps of sappers and miners, as were, when they entered the service, inhabitants of this state; such of the non-commissioned officers and privates of the said last mentioned two corps as are credited to this state as part of the troops thereof; all officers deranged by any acts of Congress subsequent to the 16th day of September, 1776; all officers recommended by Congress as persons whose depreciation on pay ought to be made good by this state, and who may hold military commissions in the line of the army at the close of the war; and the Reverend John Mason and John Gano, shall severally have granted to them the following quantities of Land to wit:
Acres.
To Major-General, 5500
a Brigadier-General, 4250
a Colonel, 2500
a Lieutenant-Colonel, 2250
a Major, 2000
a Captain and Regimental Surgeon, each, 1500
each of the said Chaplains, 2000
every Subaltern, and Surgeon's Mate, 1000
every non-commissioned officer and private, 500
That the lands so to be granted as bounty from the United States, and as a gratuity from this state, shall be laid out in townships of six mile's square; that each township shall be divided into 156 lots of 150 acres each, two lots whereof shall be reserved for the use of a minister or ministers of the gospel, and two lots for the use of a school or schools; that each of the persons above described shall be entitled to as many such lots as his bounty and gratuity land as aforesaid, will admit of that one half of the lots each person shall be entitled to, shall be improved at the rate of five acres for every hundred acres, within the term of five years next after the grant, if such lots are sold by the original grantee, or within ten years from such, grant, if the grantee shall retain the possession of such lots; and that the said bounty and gratuity lands be located in the district of this state reserved for the use of the troops by an act, entitled "An act to prevent grants or locations of the lands therein mentioned," passed the 25th day of July, 1782.
"Resolved, That his excellency the Governor, be requested to, communicate these resolutions in such manner as he shall conceive most proper."
Resolved, That this house do concur with the honorable the Senate, in the last preceding resolutions.
Ordered. That Mr. J. Lawrence and Mr. Humfrey carry a copy of the proceeding resolution of concurrence to the Hon. the Senate."
_________________________________________________
An Act for granting certain Lands promised to be given as Bounty Lands, by Laws of this State, and for other purposes therein mentioned.
Passed 11th May, 1784.
I. Be it enacted by the People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, and it is hereby enacted by the authority of the same, That his excellency the governor, or person administering the government of the state for the time being, the lieutenant-governor, the speaker of the assembly, the secretary of the state, the attorney-general, the treasurer, and the, auditor thereof respectively for the time being, shall be, and they are hereby constituted and appointed commissioners for granting certain lands promised to be given as bounty lands, by laws of this state herein after particularly mentioned; and that all and every the powers and trusts to be vested in the said commissioners by virtue of this act, shall and may be lawfully executed by any three of them, the governor, or person administering the government [sic] for the time being, always to be one thereof.
II. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That whenever any person, or the legal representative or representatives of any person entitled to grants of land by virtue of the act, entitled "An act for raising two regiments for the defence of this state, on bounties of appropriated lands," passed March 20th, 1781, or by virtue of an act; entitled, "An act for raising troops to complete the line of this state in the service of the United States; and the two regiments to be raised on bounties of unappropriated lands, and for the further defence of the frontiers of this state," passed March the 23d, 1782; or by virtue of another act, entitled, "An act to enable John Cochran, Esquire, to locate two thousand acres of waste and unappropriated lands within this state" passed March the 8th, 1783, shall produce a certificate from the surveyor-general of this state to the said commissioners, certifying that the person therein named, is entitled, by virtue of the said acts, or either of them, to the quantity of land in such certificate mentioned and described; that the same is laid out as nearly in a square as the circumjacent patented lands will admit of, or is laid out as nearly in a square as local circumstances will admit of, or is laid out in a square, as the case may be; that the same is not, to the best of his belief and information, then granted to, or located by any other person by virtue of any of the before recited and improved by any person on or before the 25th day of July, in the year, one thousand seven hundred and eighty-two; that it is no part of the land by this act reserved to the use of the people of this state; the said commissioners shall there-upon direct letters patent to be made out, and the governor shall affix the great seal of this state thereto. Provided always, That if any caveat shall be entered in the secretary's office by any person whatever, claiming lands so located, that the said commissioners shall decide on the principles of equity and good conscience if such location shall be valid or not; first giving timely notice to the parties, to appear and be heard by themselves or by counsel on their behalf; and if the location shall by the said commissioners be deemed void, the person having made the same may locate other ungranted and unappropriated lands, as though no location had ever been made.
III. And it be further enacted by the authority of aforesaid, That if any tract of land described in any location already entered, or to be entered in the surveyor-general's office, shall appear, upon actual survey, to contain a greater or a less quantity of acres than the person having located, or who may hereafter locate, is entitled to, it shall be the duty of the surveyor-general to reduce or extend the bounds of such tract, as the case may require; or if the lands so located do not lay as nearly in a square as circumstances will permit, the said surveyor-general shall reduce the bounds to a square, or as nearly to a square as may be.
IV. And whereas by a law of this state, entitled "An act to prevent grants or locations of the land herein mentioned," passed the 25th July, 1782, certain lands were intended to be reserved to the use of the state: And whereas such lands were not otherwise described in the said law, than lands "therefore reserved and applied for public uses" And whereas the terms "reserved and applied for public uses," are not only doubtful and indefinite, but no specific quantity of land is directed to be set apart adjacent to places intended to be "reserved and applied" as aforesaid, and lands supposed to be intended by the said act to be reserved, and other lands adjacent thereto, were actually located by virtue of the said first mentioned act, before the passing of the said last mentioned act; and the surveyor-general having no definite directions how to conduct himself in the premises; to explain and remedy which, Be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the said surveyor-general be, and is hereby inhibited from granting any certificate for either of the several tracts of land herein after particularly specified, or for any part thereof; that is to say, he shall not grant any certificate for a certain tract of land adjoining the south end of Lake George, within two miles of the fort called Fort George; for a certain tract of land at Tyconderoga, comprehended by the limits following: bounded southerly and easterly by a part of the water of Lake Champlain, northerly and westerly by the patented lands; for a certain tract of land at Crown Point, comprehended within the limits following, to wit: bounded on the west, north and east, by Lake Champlain, on the south by a west line from the waters of Lake Champlain on the east of the peninsula, so as to comprehend all the vacant lands on the said peninsula; for a certain tract of land at a peninsula adjoining Lake Champlain, commonly called Point Au Fer, bounded on the south, east and north, by Lake Champlain, and on the west by a line across the said peninsula, on such course as the said surveyor-general shall judge most eligible, so as to comprehend five hundred acres of land; for two certain tracts of land adjoining Lake Ontario, where the Onondaga river falls into the said lake, running from the mouth of the said river, and on both sides thereof, as the same runs, one mile, then extending northerly and southerly one mile, with a line perpendicular to the general course of the river within the said mile, thence westerly, with the said general course to Lake Ontario, thence northerly and southerly to the places of beginning; for a certain tract of land adjoining the water communication between Lake Erie and Lake Ontario, and to be bounded on the east by a line across a pond, one mile distant from the most easterly inclination of the said water communication, on a perpendicular to the general course of the said communication, and to extend from the said pond to Lake Ontario on the one side, and to Lake Erie, or to the north boundary line of Pennsylvania, as the case may be, on the other side. For a certain ore bed lying about eight miles north of Crown Point, adjoining to Lake Champlain, commonly called Skeene's ore bed; for all that certain piece of land adjoining the falls, commonly called Oswego Falls, on the Onondaga river, beginning twenty chains above where the batteaux were heretofore usually taken out of the said river, to be carried across the portage, and extending down the said river twenty chains below where the batteaux where usually put into the said river, after having been transported over the said portage, and extending north-easterly in every part between the said two places, ten chains from the said river; nor shall any such certificates be granted by the said surveyor-general for any unpatented lands laying in the southern district of this state, and for no lands vested in the people of this state, as confiscated or forfeited by the attainder or conviction of any person whatsoever; and that the lands so inhibited from being certified as aforesaid, shall be, and hereby are reserved to the use of this state, any law to the contrary not withstanding.
V. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That every survey to be made of any lands located, or to be located by virtue of the said acts, or either of them, shall be performed by the surveyor-general, at the expense of the party who located, or may hereafter locate; and that no more than twenty shillings per day shall be taken by the said surveyor-general, for each day he may be employed in and about such survey, making the maps, and in travelling to make such survey, and in returning therefrom, except as in the said acts is excepted.
VI. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That all certificates of enlistment given by any person appointed by his excellency the governor to muster men, to be raised by virtue of any of the said laws, shall be accepted by the surveyor-general as though such persons had been appointed by virtue of any law of this state.
VI. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the lands herein reserved to the use of this state, and laying adjoining to Lake George, Ticonderoga and Crown Point, shall and may by the said commissioners be leased unto any citizen or citizens of this state, for a term of years not exceeding twenty-one years, and on such terms and conditions as the said commissioners shall deem most beneficial to the interest of this state.
VIII. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That all and every of the duties required of the surveyor-general by the above recited acts, or by this act, may be executed by the present surveyor-general, although he should resign his office, and another surveyor-general shall be appointed: Provided always, That no future locations shall be received, except by the surveyor-general for the time being.
IX. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the following, and no other fees shall be demanded or taken for any services to be performed in pursuance of this act: By the governor, for his attendance, and for affixing the great seal of this state to any letters patent, the sum of sixteen shillings if for any grant not exceeding five hundred acres, and for every greater quantity, two pounds by the secretary of the state, for preparing and recording any letters patent, the sum of sixteen shillings if for a grant not exceeding five hundred acres, and for every greater quantity, two pounds; by the surveyor-general, for filing every certificate, transfer, indorsement [sic] and location, for his certificate thereof, for his warrant of survey, filing the return of survey, certificates to the commissioners, filing a copy thereof, and for all other papers incident to the business, at and after the rate of two shillings for every one hundred and twenty-eight words contained therein.
X. And whereas by a law of this state, entitled " An act to prevent grants or locations of the lands therein mentioned," passed the 25th July, 1782, a tract of country was set apart, within which the troops of the line of this state, lately serving in the army of the United States, were to be provided with lands: And whereas on the twenty-seventh day of March, in the year one thousand seven hundred and eighty-three, by concurrent resolutions of the senate and assembly, a certain quantity of land was promised to each of the officers, non-commissioned officers and privates, and other persons designated in the said concurrent resolutions: Be it therefore further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the said commissioners shall, by advertisement, to be published in one or more of the newspapers of this state, require returns to be laid before them of all persons or their legal representatives entitled to lands by virtue of the said act or concurrent resolutions; and having decided thereon, shall certify the names of such persons as shall appear to them to be entitled to lands, thereby specifying the quantity of land to the surveyor-general under the hand of the governor, which certificate shall also designate in what part of the tract of country the land mentioned in such certificate shall be laid out, and thereupon the surveyor-general shall immediately proceed to lay out the same in townships of twenty-four thousand acres, and in a square form, or as near to a square as circumstances will permit; and shall also subdivide such townships into lots of two hundred acres each, on a map or maps, and shall transmit a copy of such map or maps to the commissioners aforesaid, who shall thereupon proceed by ballot to determine to whom each lot so laid out shall belong; and the governor is hereby, authorised to grant letters patent for the respective lots, as herein before directed, and the secretary of the state is hereby required to transmit the names of the persons who shall so become entitled to lots, with the number of the lot designated for each, and the number and name of the township in which such lots lay, to the surveyor-general.
XI. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That all the officers, non-commissioned officers and privates, which belonged to the regiment of artillery commanded by colonel John Lamb, on the first day of January, in the year one thousand seven hundred and eighty-one, and such of them as continued in service to the end of the war, or their legal representatives, shall be entitled to the same quantity of land, as other officers, non-commissioned officers and privates are entitled to by the said concurrent resolutions, of the senate and assembly, passed the 27th day of March, 1783.
XII. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That there shall be at least one settler upon every six hundred acres of the lands hereby directed to be granted, within three years after the date of the letters patent; and for non-compliance in making such settlement, all the right and title of such proprietor or proprietors as shall fail therein, shall cease and become void, and at the expiration of the said term of three years shall revert to the people of this state.
XIII. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That no person or persons whatsoever shall be entitled to lands by virtue of the said act or resolutions, unless such person or persons shall respectively exhibit their claim or claims for such lands to the commissioners aforesaid, on or before the first day of May, in the year one thousand seven hundred and eighty-five.
XIV. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That it shall and may be lawful for the said commissioners to direct the surveyor-general to lay out such a number of townships of unappropriated and unoccupied lands for the Canadian and Nova-Scotia refugees, upon a return signed by brigadier-general Moses Hazen and colonel James Livingston, or either of them, on the part of the Canadian refugees, and colonel Jeremiah Throop on the part of the Nova-Scotia refugees, at such place in the northern part of this state as they shall think proper, not exceeding one thousand acres to each of the commissioned officers, and five hundred acres to each other person or persons, refugees as aforesaid. Provided nevertheless, That the said commissioners shall not grant any lands to any of the said Canadian or Nova-Scotia refugees, unless it shall appear to them, by satisfactory proof, that such refugees had respectively actually left Canada or Nova-Scotia before the first day of November, in the year one thousand seven hundred and eighty-two, and have respectively resided within this state for the term of two years next preceding the said day last mentioned: and the governor shall direct letters patent to be issued accordingly, to the said person or persons respectively, on his or their paying to the surveyor-general, their proportion of the expence of running out the lines of the said townships, and the patent fees, as is directed by the act, entitled "An act to encourage the settlement of the waste and unappropriated lands within this state."
XV. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the lands hereby directed to be granted to the said refugees as aforesaid, shall be subject to the same conditions of settlement and forfeitures, as the lands to be granted by virtue of the act aforesaid, entitled "An act to encourage the settlement of the waste and unappropriated lands within this state."
XVI. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That when the surveyor-general shall have laid out the quantity of land agreeable to such directions as he shall receive from the commissioners, by virtue of the two last preceding clauses of this act, and made a subdivision thereof into lots of two hundred and fifty acres each, on a map or maps, and shall have transmitted a copy of such map or maps to the commissioners aforesaid, the said commissioners shall thereupon proceed by ballot, or otherwise, as to them shall seem best, to determine to which of the said persons contained in the returns of the said general Hazen, colonel Livingston, or colonel Throop, the lots respectively shall belong.
XVII. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the commissioners appointed by an act, entitled, "An act to encourage the settlement of the waste and unappropriqted waste and unappropriated lands within this state," or any three or more of them, the governor, or person administering the government, being always one, are hereby authorised to direct the surveyor‑general of this state, to lay out so much of the said lands into townships, and in such manner as to the said commissioners, or any three or more of them, the governor, or person administering the government always being one, shall appear to be most for the interest of the state; and the surveyor-general is hereby directed to conform himself, in all things respecting the laying out and surveying of the said lands, to such orders as he, from time to time, may or shall receive from the said commissioners as aforesaid.
“Town of Champlain in 1798” - A Moorsfield Press Publication
In 1798, Pliny Moore wrote a letter to a publisher that was preparing a description of various towns. Pliny provided a description of Champlain that was very detailed. One detail was particularly interesting. People had found mussel shells forty feet deep in Champlain. Pliny had thought that Lake Champlain at one time had covered Champlain and had drained near Quebec. Of course, these mussel shells are much older than the lake and were fossilized. Indeed, they are probably millions of years old. At this time, the theory of plate tectonics and fossilization had not been advanced.
Hugh McLellan published this letter in 1922 using his Moorsfield Press. The original style of the manuscript has been preserved as much as is possible. The letter “s” had been changed to “f” in the original manuscript. It was changed back to “s” here to make the paper more readable.
The Papers of Pliny Moore
TOWN of CHAMPLAIN
in 1798
THE DRAFT OF A LETTER FROM
PLINY MOORE TO JOSEPH SCOTT
CHAMPLAIN
Privately Printed at the Moorsfield Press
1922
Town of Champlain in 1798
THE DRAFT OF A LETTER FROM
PLINY MOORE to JOSEPH SCOTT
Sir
It is probable you will have more accurate Descriptions of the Towns in this County[11] to the Southward of this from the post masters at Plattsburgh & Willsborough from their contiguous & central situation than it will be in my power to give who am situated at the extreme north part of the State Also of the Counties from post masters Still further to the Southward — I shall therefore confine myself to a Description of the Town in which I live. This Town is one of the five[12] which Compose the County of Clinton is Bounded North on the province of Lower Canada East by the Lake Champlain South by Plattsburgh & West by the County of Herkimer is about twelve miles in breadth from North to South the west line not being ascertained the length from East to west is uncertain though supposed to exceed forty miles. There is no Mountain of any magnitude in the Town & the hills or ridges which universally lie north & south & comport with the Lake Shore Rise gradually to about thirty feet above the General surface the principal Rivers which water this Town are the Great Chazy River the Little Chazy which Run a NorthEastwardly direction & empty into Lake Champlain the former about five & latter about seven miles from the province line the River Curbo[13] is between the great & little Chazy & discharges into the former about two Miles from its mouth These Rivers the Largest of which admits Boats of several Tons Burthern Six or seven Miles & has Grist & Saw Mills erected are composed of Innumerable smaller streams which plentifully water the Country & afford many valuable & commodious Mill seats & a great abundance & variety of fish which come from a Never failing Source The Salmon are taken here in great abundance & a fish little inferior in flavour called the Maskenonge from 20 to 30 lb W't The Land produces excellent Wheat Rye Indian Corn Oats peas Flax & almost every kind of Vegitable which has been cultivated in great perfection & abundance & is peculiarly suited to the production of Grass — Wheat from Twenty to forty five Bus'ls à acre Corn from Twenty to Sixty Eight Bushels à acre Grass one & two Tons à acre — The Number of Families are about one hundred & Twenty five[14] — The Western part of this Town which is now settling is watered by several branches of a Considerable River Called Chatuge[15] which after forming a junction Run northward & discharge into the River St. Lawrence above Montreal & is said to be navigable for small boats with but trifleing obstruction from Montreal into this town — There are the Strongest reason for an opinion that the whole of this Country & Lower Canada have been at no very remote period covered by the Lake which by gradual wearing at some confine at or below Quebec has drained & left the Country bare — the reason for this opinion is that mussle shells & other marine productions are found in the earth whenever dug from the surface to forty feet in depth in great plenty[16] — Religious houses none — Distance from N York 360 miles.
Wishing you success in so laudable an undertaking
I am Respectfully Sir Your Most Hu'ble Serv't
P. Moor
Champlain 26th Febr'y 1798
Mr Joseph Scott
Philadelphia
The USGS Aerial Photograph of Champlain Township
In March of 2001, a false color aerial photograph of the Champlain Township was purchased from the USGS. The photograph had been taken in 1994 after the USGS had divided the United States into a series of five mile by five mile wide grids and an airplane, flying at around 20,000 feet, was used to take pictures of the ground. The photographs were taken in false color (color infrared) when no leaves were present on the trees. Fortunately, the five by five mile grid the USGS chose encompassed the entire Moorsfield Grant.
Two photographs were purchased for this project. The first was a 40 inch by 40 inch color photograph that was professionally framed. A smaller nine inch wide map was also purchased and scanned at 300 DPI (dots per inch). Also scanned was a professionally made 1869 map of Champlain that showed all of the 119 original lots that had been surveyed by Pliny in the Fall of 1786. After both images had been scanned at the same DPI, the map was superimposed over the photograph of Champlain using Adobe PhotoDeluxe image software. Particular attention was made to the location of roads and the Great Chazy River on both maps. After a couple of hours of carefully scaling, rotating and in the end, distorting the map of Champlain, it was possible to exactly superimpose the map over the photograph with the roads and rivers lining up almost completely. It soon became apparent that many of the original lot boundaries had remained intact over the last 200 years and these boundaries were also used to line up the two images.
Once the map and photograph were superimposed correctly, blue lines were traced over the lines on the map in order to create a higher quality grid. After the 119 lots were traced, they were numbered.
As previously noted, I realized that many of the lot boundaries had remained intact to varying degrees. This was noted by comparing the color and texture of the vegetation in this false color image and noting where the boundary lines were. Some boundaries were defined by roads. Many others had boundaries defined by tree lines, stone fences or fields planted with different types of crops.
With this in mind, seven images were created to highlight the boundary differences. This was done by copying the image with the gridline and re-scanning the same area at 300% . Yellow arrows highlight the physical boundaries. Lot 47 (used as his orchard and occupied by the British and American armies in 1812-14) shows one such boundary on the northern border as noted by the yellow arrows. Today, a half-buried stone fence is still present. A few trees have grown up around the fence which are visible in the aerial photograph. Perhaps Pliny helped to build this fence two hundred years ago.
For the most part, it was apparent that the lot boundaries surveyed were made in a straight line. However, some discrepancies were noted. Sometimes I was not able to draw a straight line from one end of the grant to the other (if noting the existing tree and crop boundary lines) This was because the survey of 1786 could not have been made with high precision with the survey instruments of that day. For a few boundaries, the line may have been purposely or accidentally skewed in one direction (see the lot 85 boundary as compared to the lot 86-87 boundary — a tree line is present but the gridline is not placed correctly between lots 86 and 87). Perhaps this was an error made in the survey or purposely made by a farmer that wanted more land.
After the 119 lots were traced out, the lot summary of Pliny’s Will was inspected (in section on his Will) and it was determined what lots he had owned in 1818 when the Will was made. Careful attention was paid to the description of the lots since it was apparent that he sometimes only owned parts of the lots. Based on this data, the lots were colored in with the color green. A visually accurate assessment of his land worth could now be made. This photograph is in the section containing his Will.
The Presbyterian and Congregational Church
An interesting article about the founding of the Congregational Presbyterian Church in Champlain was found in the Plattsburgh Sentinel of April 28, 1876. In the article, it noted that Pliny Moore was one of the original founding members of the church in 1802. Pliny’s contributions to the church are noted here. [OR]
The original members of the Congregational Presbyterian Church in Champlain, were
Judge Pliny Moore, William Savage,
Ebenezer Dunning, Jonathan Darrow,
David Savage, Robert Martin,
Martha Savage, Sarah Martin,
Sarah Hamilton.
Pliny’s daily journal was inspected and a few errors were noted in the above article. Pliny wrote that on Friday, July 9, 1802, Mr. Wooster preached a sermon. On Sunday, July 11, four of Pliny’s children were baptized as noted by his entry in his journal: “Sophia, Royal, Pliny & Amasa, Baptised by the Revd Benjamin Wooster”. On Tuesday, July 13, 1802, Pliny noted in his journal that Mr. Wooster organized the church. This is the date noted in the article.
Martha Moore in a letter to Pliny’s sister Eunice Moor wrote on July 24, 1802, that the church was organized and that four of her children were baptized. The letter reads in part:
I must give you an account of the mercy of god in this place as well as I am able the people have in general for some time been attentive to religeon we have a methodest society hear of a considerable number and Latly have had a misinary who has organized a church of the congregationalst order your brother has joined them and had four of his children baptized the other too being from home jonathan darrah has joined also thare is ten in number thare was seven children baptized and five grown people plunged of the baptist order in one day my ernest prayer is that the work will not stop hear but that the Lord will be merciful to me a sinner and make me one of the happy Number greate is my anxiety for myself and many others thare are in the same situation oh that God would pour down his divine spirit in my soul and give me that faith in saveing grace that shall give me eternal rest may the same blessing attend you my dear friend
Several months passed and on Friday October 8, 1802, Mr. Miller, a Missionary, arrived as noted in Pliny’s journal. That Sunday, October 10, Pliny’s children Noadiah and Anna were baptized as indicated: “Noadiah & Anna Baptised by Mr Miller”. This was also noted in the article except that the child was Anna and not Amasa.
On March 10, 1803, Mr. Wooster arrived back in Champlain. On March 13, Lucretia Matilda was baptized as noted in Pliny’s journal: “Lucretia Matilda Baptised by Revd Benjn Wooster.”
Several other notes about Reverend Wooster are found in Pliny’s journal. On Friday July 8, 1803, Pliny wrote that Mr. Wooster had arrived in Champlain. Mr. Wooster was in town for a little more than a month and then set out for his home on Monday, August 15. A year may have passed before Mr. Wooster came back to Champlain. Pliny’s journal entry of Sunday, September 23, 1804, showed that Mr. Wooster preached that day. On Sunday, August 18, 1805, a year later, Mr. Wooster preached again.
On January 31, 1806, Pliny’s last son named Henry was born. On Sunday, April 20, three months later, Pliny noted that Reverend John Sawyer of Maine baptized him: “our Son Henry Batpized by the Rev’d John Sawyer from Main [sic]”.
Many other notes concerning the ministers that preached at the church are indicated in Pliny’s journal. Over the months in 1807, Reverends Pettengill, Wooster, and Powell officiated Sunday services.
The Extended Moore Family’s Influence in Champlain
Pliny Moore and his extended family had a profound impact on the settlement of Champlain and its growth. Many members of the family were village residents who served in public office or ran successful businesses.
Pliny himself is considered to be the founder of Champlain, having obtained the grant of land known as the “Smith and Graves Patent” (sometimes called the “Moorsfield Grant”). He worked on finding settlers for the town and made two surveying trips from Kinderhook, New York, in the 1780s.
In October 1797, Pliny was made the first postmaster of Champlain.[29] Pliny was chosen the first Justice of the Peace in 1788 after the town was organized. In 1789, he was chosen County Judge in the Court of Common Pleas. He was again appointed to this office in 1805 and served there for seventeen years until he had to retire at the mandatory age of 60 in 1819. During this time, he occupied the place of the First Judge of the Bench.
Pliny ran several businesses in town in the 1790s. One of his first businesses was the selling of potash with his brother-in-law, Royal Corbin. In 1795, Pliny built a grist mill, a carding mill for wool and then a fulling mill for cloth. Pliny also farmed and raised livestock. He even assisted in the founding of the Congregational Church. In his Will, he allocated land for the church on what is now Church Street.
Pliny’s brother-in-law, Elnathan Rogers, is also considered to be one of the first settlers of Champlain in 1788. He later married Pliny’s sister, Olive Moore, and had eight children. Little is known about his life in Champlain.
Pliny’s brother, Doctor Benjamin Moore, was the first doctor to settle in the town in 1797. His son, Doctor Edward J. Moore (1806-1851) was also a doctor. An interesting newspaper clipping about the doctor’s lives is shown in the Moore section.
Years later, several Moore descendents or family members were Mayors of Champlain. Although not a blood relative of the Moore family, Timothy Hoyle (1822-1886) was Champlain’s first mayor from 1873 to 1874. He married Sophia Whiteside Moore, Pliny Moore’s granddaughter, and had two children.
John Henry Whiteside (1816-1895) was mayor from 1882 to 1883. John was the son of Sophia (Moore) Whiteside and grandson of Pliny Moore. Benjamin Corbin Moore (1835-1906) was mayor from 1886 to 1887. He also ran a successful drug store and soda fountain. Benjamin was a grandson of Doctor Benjamin Moore, Pliny Moore’s brother. From 1894 to 1897, Charles Freeman Nye was a mayor and held many other village offices. He was a great-grandson of Pliny Moore.
A short article listed all of the Presidents and Mayors of Champlain. In 1926, the title of President was changed to Mayor.
CHAMPLAIN AS AN INCORPORATED VILLAGE
An election was held on Sept. 23, 1873, to decide whether or not we would incorporate. The final vote: 91 "yes" and 87 "no." Those who opposed incorporation filed a petition in 1875 to "dis-incorporate" and in February a second election was held, this time the vote being 104 to remain incorporated and 89 against.
The size of the new Village was 730 acres, 104 square rods, and 16 and 6/16th square feet.
During the earlier years the Village Board consisted of a President and three Trustees (later increased to four). About 1926 the title of President was changed to Mayor. A complete list of Presidents and Mayors with their terms of office are:
1873‑74 Timothy Hoyle 1899‑1908 George Graves
1874‑75 Charles Everest 1908‑10 Milo Scriver
1875‑76 S. Alonzo Kellogg 1910‑23 Oliver Lafontaine
1876‑82 Charles Everest 1923‑26 Fred Dodds
1882‑83 John Whiteside 1926‑43 Arsene E. Tremblay
1883‑86 Charles Deal 1943‑44 Noah E. Lafontaine
1886‑87 Benjamin C. Moore 1944‑45 Nazaire Lavoie
1887‑90 Robert H. Hitchcock 1945‑47 Foster M. Strickland
1890‑92 Henry S. Milliette 1947‑51 Arsene E. Tremblay
1892‑93 Robert McCrea 1951‑53 James Todd
1893‑94 Amasa B. Spelman 1953‑65 Clifford LaPlante
1894‑97 Charles F. Nye 1965‑69 David Southwick
1897‑99 Oliver Roberts 1969‑ Robert Morgan
A long article about Champlain’s village matters was published in the Plattsburgh Sentinel of February 13, 1874. Champlain had just been incorporated as a village on September 27, 1873, and the first election of officers had been held on October 27. The article gave a complete summary of the election results and listed many other village matters.
The extended Moore family was instrumental in the incorporation and running of the village in its early years. The article mentioned many names familiar here. As noted above, Hon. Timothy Hoyle was elected president of the village. The fire department was organized and consisted of 40 men and a hose company of 10 men. Two of the officers were Samuel M. Moore, Chief Engineer, and Benjamin C. Moore, Foreman. The Engine Company contained many citizens including Frank Whiteside, Charles F. Nye and Henry Hoyle. Benjamin C. Moore was also a member of the Hose Company. The same publication had a short article about Benjamin C. Moore’s new drug store (see his section).
In the same article, it stated that most of the streets had been named on January 26, 1874. The streets were Main (it ran past the residence of John H. Whiteside over the bridge in the direction of the late Josiah Corbin’s house), Oak (from the store of J. H. & A. Whiteside and over the lower bridge), and Elm (from the store of Hoyle and Hitchcock). The article also stated that a street was named Moore Street in honor of Noadiah Moore who was the first to work to incorporate the village 17 years before.
The Clinton County Herald of January 17, 1879, noted that Timothy Hoyle, Charles Freeman Nye and J. H. Whiteside were elected directors of the First National Bank of Champlain. In the same edition, it noted that during the annual meeting of the Niagara Engine & Hose Company, Bartlett Nye, Charles Freeman Nye and Henry Hoyle were elected officers.
The October 7, 1881, edition of the Champlain Interview listed the election returns of the Republican town committee’s caucus. Benjamin C. Moore and Charles F. Nye were members of this committee.
The Champlain Interview of October 14, 1881, listed a report of the condition of the First National Bank of Champlain. Two of the three directors of the bank were Timothy Hoyle and Charles F. Nye. John Henry Whiteside was also a director in 1879 along with Charles and Timothy. In the same edition, it made reference to two school districts as the “Rogers” and “Sam’l Moore” district.
The April 6, 1883, edition of the Champlain Counselor had the minutes of the Champlain Village board meeting. It noted that Benjamin Corbin Moore was on a committee to tackle the care of the town clock. John Henry Whiteside and Charles Freeman Nye were appointed apprises for the appraisal of buildings on Island Park.
The May 6, 1887, edition of the Champlain Counselor had many notes about different relatives. It noted that Nye’s building, formerly a meat market was being repaired after a flood. Josiah Corbin and his sisters, Misses Hannah and Cornelia, had removed back to their farm. Benjamin C. Moore was granted a license as a druggist. Alexander Whiteside returned from Boston after spending the winter there. And finally, it was noted that a Shetland pony with a harness and two wheeled, covered phaeton, was in town. It had been bought by Charles McLellan for his sons for their vacation that summer.
The May 9, 1887, edition of the Champlain Counselor noted that the annual meeting of the Glenwood Cemetery association was going to be held at the office of the president, Charles F. Nye. Benjamin C. Moore was secretary and treasurer of this association. In the same edition, Frank Whiteside wrote a letter thanking the people of Champlain for their sympathy in regards towards the burning of his paper mills.
The July 15, 1887, edition of the Champlain Counselor made mention of many members of the extended Moore family. A trimming committee had been set up and consisted of Mrs. Bartlett Nye, Miss Nellie Nye, Miss Lottie Moore [?], Mrs. J. H. Moore [?], Miss Nellie Corbin, Bartlett Nye, B. C. Moore, John A. Corbin and Josiah T. Corbin. In the same edition of the paper, it was noted that the Presbyterian society was going to have a lawn party at the residence of Bartlett Nye, at the Line. The Line was Bartlett’s estate that he had inherited or obtained from his uncle, Freeman Nye, who had operated a store here on the Canadian border.
The August 10, 1888, edition of the Champlain Counselor made note that the eleventh annual fair was going to be held September 11 through 14. Several committees were chosen to help plan for the fair. Decorations and flowers were handled by Mrs. C. W. (Elizabeth) McLellan and Mrs. B. C. Moore. The apron and worsted table was set up by Mrs. Helen Hoyle and Miss Rogers, the ice cream table was run by Miss Mary Whiteside and the supper table was run by Mrs. B. Nye. Other people were also on these committees. Also, in the October 5 edition of the same paper, it was noted that Charles Freeman Nye was overseeing the expenditure of $4,000 by the Canadian government for the dredging of the Lacolle River for drainage purposes.
The August 2, 1889, edition of the Champlain Counselor also listed several members of the extended Moore family. It was noted that a meeting occurred where Benjamin C. Moore was elected chairman for a group that was negotiating a shoe factory location to Champlain from Montreal. Another committee was appointed that included Charles Freeman Nye and Benjamin Corbin Moore. The committee was to consider plans for the employment of people by the shoe factory. Charles F. Nye offered his saw mill and power free for five years in the shoe factory contract that was being negotiated.