JEFFERSON COUNTY
NEW YORK
WORKING DRAFT
Last Change: 24 May 2022
A
lot happened in the United States in the period from 1781 to 1825, including
the formation of Jefferson County, New York on 28 March 1805, which was named
in honor of President Thomas Jefferson (held office 1801 to 1809), and which
was formally part of Oneida County, New York.
Though
British Army General Lord Charles Cornwallis had surrendered in October 1781,
effectively ending the American Revolutionary War, it wasn't until the Treaty
of Paris of 3 September 1783 that Great Britain officially agreed to recognize
the sovereignty of the United States, which had declared its independence in
1776 and formed its first government under the Articles of Confederation in
1781, followed by a Constitution in 1789.
In
those formative years, New Yorkers began thinking about a canal from Albany to
Buffalo. The first proposal was made in
the 1780s, but design of the "Erie Canal"
didn't start until 1808, followed by construction from 1817 to 1825. The 25-year delay was not only caused by
resource constraints, but also security concerns.
The
area north of the proposed project between Albany and Syracuse was largely an
unsettled/unpopulated wilderness, and New York law makers knew that that had to
change before their plans for the Mohawk River Valley could proceed. During the War, those who supported the King,
called Loyalists or Tories, had been driven north, out of New York and the more
southern states, into modern day Canada, north of the St. Lawrence River. There were fears in the United States that
those Tories, who, understandably, continued to covet the properties they had
been forced to abandon to the south, would fill that vacuum in northern New
York, creating a security threat for the residents of the Mohawk River Valley
and their economic interests.
To
quickly settle that area and to generate cash, in 1786 New York State created a
land commission, which advertised land for sale at fantastic prices. Many New Englanders (VT, NH, MA, CT, RI, ME),
who, at that time, were experiencing rapid population growth and associated
upward pressures on land prices, found it hard to resist such opportunities in
northern New York State and further west into Pennsylvania, Ohio and
beyond. In addition, around 1800 a wave
of religious fundamentalism was spreading throughout New England, causing
tensions in communities and the desire amongst these fundamentalists (Quakers
foremost amongst them) to seek religious freedom elsewhere.
As
the US Constitution was being ratified in 1789, the French Revolution
began. In anticipation of losing that
struggle, at least temporarily, members of the French aristocracy and its
supporters jumped at the opportunity for inexpensive land in the United
States. Two settlements for French
refuges were planned: one at Asylum in Bradford
County, Pennsylvania (on the Susquehanna River in north-central PA), and one at
Castorland
in Denmark Township, Jefferson County, New York (on the upper Black River,
southeast of Watertown).
No
one was more influential in the development of northern New York State than
French nobleman and refugee James
D. LeRay de Chaumont (b. 1760, d. 1840), son of Jacques-Donatien LeRay de Chaumont (b. 1726, d. 1803), who
had invested a large share of his wealth in the American dream. On behalf of his father, James traveled to
America in 1785 to seek reimbursement from the US Government, and his claim was
settled in 1790. With that settlement
payment, in 1802 James purchased vast areas of land in northern Oneida County,
New York (present day Jefferson and Lewis counties). Rather than be an absentee landlord, he built
a home (the LeRay Mansion) at LeRaysville and moved
his family there about 1808. James LeRay
invested heavily in development throughout the area, both financially and
inspirationally as a leader, building roads, bridges, dams, saw mills, grist
mills, forges, ports for commerce on Lake Ontario, churches (all
denominations), and much more. He put
his tenants and those who purchased property from him in a position to succeed,
and they did, quickly turning that northern wilderness into the secure buffer
zone that New York needed.
The
Ancestors of George Edgar Drake (10), and many of their
friends, were among those New Englanders who responded to the advertisements
for land in the newly formed Jefferson County, New York and, directly or
indirectly, acquired land from James LeRay de Chaumont. It appears Ziba Drake (8) moved his
young family to Rutland Township, Jefferson County, New York about 1808 (about
the same time as James LeRay). Ziba's
father, Josiah Drake, III (7),
followed him to Jefferson County shortly after 1810.
Many
early families in Jefferson County followed the same route west from New
England. Others moved north into that
region from Montgomery and Herkimer Counties along the Mohawk River
Valley. The latter group
of families were predominantly ancestors of Dutch and German
immigrants. In 1624 the Dutch West India
Company had created a settlement at the southern tip of Manhattan Island, and
over time, subsequent Dutch settlements were established up the Hudson River to
Albany. About 1710 the English moved
some of their German Palatine refugees to the Mohawk River Valley of New York
to help create a buffer between themselves and their long-time enemy, the
French, who had allied with Native Americans throughout that frontier
region. Thus, the
significant influence of German and Dutch ancestry in the Mohawk River Valley.
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Jefferson County Townships:
Adams: Formed from Mexico Township on 1 April
1802. Named in honor
of President John Adams.
Alexandria: Formed from Brownville and LeRay Townships
on 3 April 1821. Named
in honor of Alexander LeRay, son of the original proprietor, James LeRay de
Chaumont.
Antwerp: Formed from LeRay Township on 5 April
1810. Incorporated
July 1853. Named
in honor of the Antwerp Land Company, which was formed in Holland. Was an early site of several iron mines.
Brownville: Formed from Leyden Township on 1 April
1802. Named in honor
of Major General Jacob Brown.
Cape
Vincent:
Formed from Lyme Township on 10 April 1849.
Named in honor of Vincent LeRay, son of the original
proprietor, James LeRay de Chaumont.
Champion: Formed from Mexico Township on 14 March
1800. First settlers arrived 1798 –
1799.
Clayton: Formed from Orleans and Lyme Townships on 27
April 1833. Named in
honor of John M. Clayton, then US Senator from Delaware.
Ellisburg: Formed from Mexico Township on 22 February 1803. First settlement in 1797.
Henderson: Formed from Ellisburgh
Township on 17 February 1806. Settlement
began in 1802.
Hounsfield: Formed from Watertown Township on 17
February 1806.
LeRay: Formed from Brownville Township on 17
February 1806. Named
in honor of the original proprietor, James LeRay de Chaumont, who built his
residence there. Settlement began
in 1802.
Lorraine: Formed from Mexico Township on 24 March
1804. Originally named
Malta Township. Name changed to
Lorraine on 6 April 1808.
Lyme: Formed from Brownville Township on 6 March
1818.
Orleans: Formed from Brownville Township on 3 April
1821. Penets
Square, which embraced most of this town, was settled by squatters in 1806.
Pamelia: Formed from Brownville Township on 12 April
1819. Pamelia Village began in 1804 when
a bridge was built between it and Watertown.
Pamelia Four Corners was settled in 1799.
Philadelphia: Often referred to as “Quaker Settlement,”
was formed from LeRay Township on 3 April 1821.
Settlement started in 1804 by members of the Society of Friends from
Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Discovery
of iron ore led to construction of a blast furnace and forge at Sterlingville on Black Creek.
Rodman: Formed from Adams Township on 24 March
1804. Originally named
Harrison Township. Named changed
to Rodman on 6 April 1808.
Rutland: Formed from Watertown Township on 1 April
1802. Original settlers were New England
farmers. In 1860 Rutland Center had 10
houses; Felts Mills had 50 houses; Black River had 40 houses, and Tylerville
had 30 houses.
Watertown: Formed from Mexico Township on 14 March
1800. Became county
seat in 1805. Incorporated
on 5 April 1816.
Wilna: Formed from LeRay and Leyden Townships
(Lewis County) on 2 April 1813.
Worth: Formed from Lorraine Township on 12 April
1848.
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