History: Malone (part 3 of 4); Franklin co., New York

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Source of file: HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF FRANKLIN COUNTY WITH MANY SHORT
BIOGRAPHIES BY FREDERICK J. SEAVER MALONE, NEW YORK ALBANY: J. B. LYON
COMPANY, PRINTERS 1918

CHAPTER XVIII MALONE (part 3 of 4)

INDUSTRIES NOW IN OPERATION

  In addition to the industries heretofore listed and described (viz., the 
Garner & Co. tannery, the Horton grist mill and the foundry) works now in 
operation comprise:

  Malone's first woolen mill was built by John Horton of Madrid and Hiram
Horton of Malone, but whether they ever operated it themselves is now unknown.
They sold it under contract in 1844 to John Starks, who had previously had a
similar mill at Fort Covington, and he sold a half interest in it the next
year to George A. Cheney, who apparently had active connection with its
operation for only a short time, as Cyrenus Gorton soon became Mr. Starks's
partner. Starks & Gorton evidently failed to prosper, for in 1849 they made an
assignment, with debts, exclusive of mortgages and judgments, amounting to
over six thousand dollars. The property was sold in 1850 by the assignee to D.
Stiles McMillan and Theodore Rogers of Fort Covington for $3,810 plus
outstanding obligations of $2,274, which they assumed. Mr. McMillan bought out
Mr. Rogers after a short time, and then continued the business alone
successfully until 1863, when he sold and removed to Wisconsin to engage still
more prosperously in lumbering. Not only was "Mac" a very prince of good
fellows and a man of hustling business proclivities, but he proved to be a
manufacturer whose goods gained a reputation throughout this section for
durability that was unsurpassed. Though rough and of plain patterns, his
cloths wore like iron. The establishment has grown into a big factory, owned
and operated by a corporation styled The Lawrence-Webster Company, valued at
tens of thousands of dollars, and all of its cloths since 1885 have been made
into garments on the ground, with sales extending all over the world, and with
a pay-roll bearing a hundred names or more.

  Jay 0. Ballard & Co. have a woolen mill and men's garments factory on the
site of the old Parmelee saw mill, with surrounding grounds handsomely laid
out and kept   making, with the well lighted and sanitary buildings, one of
the most attractive industrial establishments to be found anywhere. This
concern began operations in 1891 in the old Whittelsey mill at the bridge on
Main street, and continued there until 1901, when it bought at its new
location, erected suitable buildings, and installed all new and modern
equipment. It has had a remarkable success, employs a hundred and fifteen to
one hundred and twenty hands, and would work a still larger force if
procurable.

  In 1872 Samuel C. Wead began the erection north of the village of a paper
mill for the manufacture of wrapping paper from straw. The project assumed 
proportions as the work progressed far exceeding Mr. Wead's original
expectations, and involved a heavy expenditure. The plan was changed, a pulp 
mill was added, and the output became news instead of wrapping paper. After
Mr. Wead's death the business was continued by his heirs, but after a time
passed into outside hands, who failed to make it a success. Finally the plant
was closed, remained idle for a time, and was sold under foreclosure. In 1900
it was bought by Brayton E. Clark and other Jefferson county gentlemen for
five thousand dollars, the merest fraction of its cost, and after a time the
pulp mill at Chasm Falls was also acquired. The paper mill has been operated
since 1901 by a corporation entitled the Malone Paper Company, capitalized at
one hundred thousand dollars, and was practically rebuilt and new machinery 
installed. The mill was burned in 1903, and was soon replaced. The pulp mills 
have been demolished, and a sulphite equipment added in their place. The 
investment has paid handsomely, and the mill employs about one hundred hands.

  The Rutland Railroad machine shops were built in 1857. The number of men 
employed in them has varied considerably in the past, depending in part upon 
whether the business of the road was active or dull, and also in part upon the 
interests that were in control. When the road was under lease to the Central 
Vermont, most of the machinery was removed to St. Albans, and only a handful
of men found work here, at short hours and small pay. At one time all of the 
locomotives and passenger coaches and freight cars of the road were made at 
Malone, but now operations consist mainly in making repairs. In the old days a 
hundred and fifty men or more were employed, and the present number is about
one hundred and twenty.

  The Adirondack and St. Lawrence Railway Company also has shops at Malone 
Junction, which give employment to between thirty and forty men. It is
intended that these shops shall be enlarged and equipped with additional
machinery, so that they may handle all of the repairs of the division instead
of sending the worst wrecks to Oswego.

  In addition to the employment afforded in their shops, both the Rutland and 
the Adirondack and St. Lawrence make Malone headquarters for many of their
train crews and bridge and track gangs.

  The American Hide and Leather Company has a station at Malone which treats
and reships all of the hides and tallow bought by it between New Hampshire and 
Syracuse. It keeps eight or ten men busy.

  Planing mills and sash, door and trim factories are owned and operated by
John Kelley on Amsden street, Charles Boardway on Water street, and Cyrel
Dupree on Pearl street.

  The Malone Shirt Company was incorporated in 1901 to manufacture shirts from 
material to be supplied and cut by the big factories in Troy, and has since
been operated with varying degrees of success. It has a building on Duane
street erected expressly for the business, and is at present driven with
orders. It employs about eighty girls, who make excellent earnings, and would
increase the force considerably if additional girls could be found to take on
the work.

  The same parties who are in control of the shirt factory recently formed the 
Malone Broom Company, Inc., with W. L. French as president, Morton P. House 
vice-president, J. E. McSorley secretary, W. H. Gibson treasurer, and Samuel 
Benoit superintendent. It is hoped to interest farmers in growing broom-corn, 
and thus to secure the raw material locally for operating.*

  * The business has been sold to Canadian interests, which have transferred
the plant to Malone Junction, and added materially to its capacity.

  In 1907 Kirk-Maher Company succeeded Symonds & Allison in manufacturing ice 
cream and candy, the volume of business at that time running under a hundred 
thousand dollars a year. Growth has been enjoyed until branch ice cream 
factories were established in 1917 at Plattsburgh and at Watertown. The annual 
sales at the home factory have mounted considerably until they now reach three 
hundred thousand dollars, about equally divided between ice cream and candy. 
Something like fifteen thousand gallons of cream are used yearly at Malone,
and incidentally it is of interest to note that the existence of this and
other similar establishments, supplying a luxury, explains in part the
scarcity and high prices of butter and cheese.

  The Malone Bronze Powder Company, Inc., was organized in June, 1916, by 
Canadian capitalists who have a factory at Valleyfield, Que., which had been 
sending considerable quantities of bronze and aluminum powders to the United 
States, with payment of heavy rates of duty. In order to develop further the 
business in the United States, as well as to save the customs duties, a
factory was established at the Junction in Malone; almost before it had been
completed an enlargement of it was begun, and a second is now building. These
works employ about thirty hands, with Merton P. House of Malone as resident
manager, and are prosperous.

  The Malone Lumber Company was incorporated in 1906 with a capital of $15,000 
to deal in lumber and building materials, and established yards and a
finishing shop at the Junction. The property was sold in 1917 to Berton L.
Reynolds and Charles W. Wilding, who continue the business as a partnership
under the corporate name of the original concern. The plant employs ten or a
dozen men.

  Of course there are also marble, wheelwright and blacksmith shops and small 
cigar factories, such as are usually common to most small places.

  If the list seems scant in proportion to the population of the town and 
village, suggesting the query whether the professions and tradesmen are out of 
balance with the manual workers, there can be no answer other than confession, 
with admission that practically every citizen wishes that there were more 
factory chimneys and more utilized water powers, and a larger number of
carriers of dinner pails. Nevertheless the facts stand in evidence that a
substantial prosperity prevails; that growth has been continuous through a
great many years; that while none are very rich the people generally are in
comfortable circumstances; that as a rule the merchants are prospering; that
those in the professions are earning reasonably satisfactory incomes; that
seldom does a house stand vacant for any length of time; and that the two
banks in the village have combined deposits exceeding a million and a half
dollars. What are the underlying sources of this strength and so gratifying
conditions it would be difficult to declare fully and with precision. The
shops are a part of course, and that Malone is the shire town of the county,
and appreciably larger and more attractive than any other place within sixty
miles to the east or west, and nearly twice that distance across barrier
mountains to the south, with no competing point at all on the north, explains
a good deal more. Much, of the surrounding country is good farming lands,
tributary to this market. Our churches and schools are magnets constantly
attracting people from smaller places, so that they and their children may
enjoy a pleasanter environment and greater educational advantages; and that
the village has all of the advantages incident to an excellent public library,
a fine general hospital, the maintenance of a uniformed police for the
protection of persons and property, a fire department that is nowhere
excelled, an unrivaled water system, superior gas and electric lighting
plants, two lines of railway, and practically no town debt except its share of
county bonds issued for building substantial highways, must also be deemed of
large importance. In a word, there seems to be lacking but a single requisite
essential to a progressive municipality; and that is a comprehensive public
sewer system. In lieu of it, however, many streets are cared for by sewers
installed and maintained by individual associations.

WATER WORKS

  Until 1857 the village inhabitants were wholly dependent for their water 
supply upon the river, cisterns, wells and springs. Baptiste Monteau had a 
hogshead on a truck in which he conveyed water to families from the river, and 
it was customary for many families to fetch water in pails from springs or
their neighbors' wells (both of which were more numerous then than now) for
drinking uses. In 1857 the Malone Water-Works Company was incorporated, and
purchased a spring, flowing a hundred thousand gallons a day, south of the
village, as a source of supply. Mains which were supposed at the time to be
abundantly large, but which proved to be wretchedly insufficient, were laid
along ,the principal streets, and it was thought that provision had been made
to cover all domestic and fire needs of the village "for generations to come;"
but less than twenty years had elapsed when clamor for more water began to be
insistent, and after a time another spring near by, and then still another, to
the east, and even the Branch stream, were added one after another to the
system. Still the supply was inadequate, and the head for fire purposes
miserably insufficient. In 1888 the water company was reorganized, with a
considerable increase of capital, the Horse brook, seven miles south in the
Adirondack foothills, and fed altogether by springs, became the principal
source of supply, with mains of a capacity to deliver a million gallons a day
at the reservoir, which was located on the Pinnacle, near the village, at an
elevation that affords a pressure of ninety pounds in the business center.
Though there is no finer system anywhere, nor any purer water, which, however,
would be preferable if it were less "hard," there is still complaint at times
that the quantity is insufficient. The village acquired the works by purchase
at a cost of $225,000 in 1906, and the revenue from rentals is enough to meet
interest obligations and to cover payment of bonds as they come due, as well
as to cover expenditures for maintenance and extensions. The village has no
other indebtedness except about $75,000 for brick paving.

THE HOTELS

  Real or so-called hotels have been numerous in Malone, though most of them 
call for but scant mention. The very earliest were apparently outside of the 
village limits, and were for the accommodation of immigrants bound westward
for settlement. One was kept for a year or two about 1805 on the north road
near the Bangor line by Jehiel Berry, and another at about the same time by
Oliver Brewster on the same road at the top of the hill west of the village. A
few years later John Daggett (grandfather of Ferdinand L.) had one on what is
now the poor house farm, and Bronson Keeler one a mile west of Whippleville.
So far as I know there were never any taverns in the country east or north of
the village, nor until recently any south with the exception of Mr. Keeler's
and also one at Whippleville built in 1872.

  In the village the first hotel, built by Cone Andrus earlier than 1807, was 
near the railroad, on a part of the lot now occupied by the Howard House,
which was a tavern or hotel stand for more than a century. Its first landlord
was Abijah Abbott, the second a Captain Perry, the third Benjamin Seeley, and
the fourth Obadiah T. Hosford, who sold to Abel H. ("White"} Miller. In 1851
while continuing to use the old structure, Mr. Miller built the brick hotel
that was burned in 1866, which he called at first the Malone House and
subsequently the Franklin House, and which was connected with the original
hotel by a wing. After Mr. Miller the establishment had a number of landlords,
including Charles Nash and James L. Hogle. It was replaced after the fire by
the Ferguson House and Empire Block, one of the most imposing structures ever
erected in the town. Then Oliver Howard purchased it, and was its owner when
it burned in 1888. A year or two later Mr. Howard rebuilt, and for twenty
years and more the house was the principal hotel of the place. It has been
vacant as such since 1914.

  Joel Amsden had an early hotel in the village, nearly opposite the Baptist 
church, and a few years later built another, which he called the Franklin
House, about where the Commercial or Paddock Block is, and William Cleveland
had a tavern on Webster street, just north of Franklin street. The latter
became a private residence, and was burned in 1882.

  The date of the building of the Appleton Foote tavern, where the armory 
stands, is not ascertainable with certainty, but was probably 1807 or 1808; 
unquestionably before 1810. It flourished until the winter of 1813-14, when it 
was taken for a hospital for the sick of General Wilkinson's army, and 
afterward, for a day or two, as headquarters for the British commandant who 
raided this locality in the winter of 1814. It was never reopened as a hotel, 
but was occupied by Mr. Foote as a residence until his death, and then by
James W. Sawyer. When the armory was built it was moved to Franklin street,
and a part of it now occupies the lot on the north side of the street next
west from Webster street. Mrs. Foote was from New Jersey, and as a child had
carried water to the Continental soldiers during the memorable battle of
Monmouth.

  The Miller House, originally a dwelling house, enlarged and converted into a 
hotel by Orlando Furness, stood where the Flanagan House now is, and for a
long time was the leading inn of Malone. Philip B. ("Black") Miller kept it
after Mr. Furness, and it was there that Alexander Flanagan made his
reputation as a landlord. In 1866 and again in 1870 it was the Fenian
headquarters when raids upon Canada were contemplated or attempted, and was
also headquarters for Generals Meade, McDowell and others when they came here
with troops in Fenian times to compel observance of the neutrality law. The
building almost tumbled down.

  The Flanagan Block, built for stores and offices and now so used, was made
to serve for hotel purposes by the Flanagans for a time about a third of a
century ago, following the burning of the Ferguson House.

  The Smith House, opposite the court house, was built about 1866 or 1867 by 
James L. Hogle, who was its landlord for a number of years. Since his
occupancy it has had no end of managers   most of whom failed to make it pay.
It is now managed by Fred A. Smith, and has a good business.

  The original Methodist Episcopal church at the corner of Main and Fort 
Covington streets was made a boarding house and later a hotel by Alonzo R. 
Paddock soon after the new church was erected in 1866. Frank A. Eldredge 
succeeded Mr. Paddock, and for several years past Charles H. Moody has been
the proprietor. The house has never had a bar, nor until now has it
particularly sought custom other than boarders and county transients. In 1917
and 1918 Mr. Moody greatly enlarged the building, and improved many of its
interior arrangements and equipment   making it an attractive structure
architecturally and enabling him to offer guests fine accommodations. It is
called the Franklin House, the third in Malone to bear that name.

  In 1872 John A. Hogle erected a two-story-and-a-half hotel building at 
Whippleville for his son-in-law, Merrill Hungerford, and Egbert Platt, who ran 
it for a few years, and were succeeded by S. Boutwell and Mrs. Hogle. It had 
little custom of a hotel character, and its business was more properly that of
a boarding house. The building burned fifteen or twenty years ago.

  In 1875 James L. Hogle bought the old William King homestead at the corner
of Main and Pearl streets, which had been in use as a furniture store,
enlarged it, made many alterations to adapt it to hotel purposes, and ran it
for many years as the Elmwood House. Henry A. Gray, now county superintendent
of highways, came into possession in 1898, refitted and refurnished the house,
changed its name to The Olympia, and six months after his opening the property
was entirely destroyed by fire.

  After the Raines law was enacted a number of places were opened on Catherine 
street and at outside points in the town which were termed hotels solely that 
the privilege of selling liquor might be obtained, and some of them became no 
better than pest holes. At one time there were a dozen or more pseudo hotels
in the town, about some of which the less is said the better. Happily most of
them are now closed by reason of the town having voted "dry."

  John Soper built a hotel at the Junction something like fifteen years ago.
It is still running, and has a considerable custom.

  The new Hotel Flanagan, on the site of the old Miller House, and the most 
modern and probably the largest hotel in Northern New York, was begun in 1913, 
and opened in July, 1914, by Samuel J., John A. and Joseph J. Flanagan. It 
contains over a hundred rooms, and every item of equipment is high class. The 
cost of the house, including site, was over a hundred thousand dollars.

BANKING

  The data subjoined in regard to Malone's banks are taken largely from a
paper prepared by Matt C. Ransom, and read by him, at a meeting of the
Franklin County Historical Society held June 12, 1903:

  Prior to 1846 Malone had had only such banking facilities as were afforded
by Mr. Wead's representation here of the Ogdensburg Bank and the Clinton
County Bank at Plattsburgh, and by an individual institution called the
Farmers' Bank, organized in 1842, but not now remembered by anybody, and which
perhaps never did any actual business. The accommodations thus provided,
though better than none, could have afforded only slight convenience and
benefits. The Farmers' Bank continued to have a nominal existence until 1850.
In 1846 Samuel C. Wead, in partnership with four gentlemen of New York city
who probably supplied most of the capital, organized the Franklin County Bank
as a private or individual bank, which did business in the store of Meigs &
Wead, with Mr. Wead as manager. It early issued bank bills or circulating
notes to the amount of $15,000, increased later to $79,370, but what its
deposits were, or if it had any at all, is unknown, though, if any, they must
have been insignificant in amount. This bank ceased to do business and went
into liquidation in 1851, when the Bank of Malone, capitalized at $100,000 and
afterward increased to $150,000, was incorporated by Mr. Wead, John and Hiram
Horton, Edwin L. Meigs, William King and William Andrus of Malone, Henry B.
Smith of Chateaugay, Leonard Fish of Bangor, and a number of individuals
residing in Vermont. Mr. Wead was the first president, and William A. Wheeler
the first cashier. Business was begun September 15, 1851, and while a bank
building was in course of erection was continued in the law office of Asa
Hascall on or near the site of the present Episcopal Church. The bank building
was a one-story stone structure located where the Wead Library now stands. The
bank's first report of condition, as of November 20, 1851, showed deposits of
only $5,220.81, and profits of $73.71 which, however, were fictitious because
the loss and expense account (carried in resources, but in fact a liability)
was $431.94, so that the capital was actually impaired. Even four or five
years later the deposits ranged only between about $20,000 and $75,000, and at
the bank's final report in 1864, a few months before it closed its doors and
transferred its business to the then newly organized National Bank of Malone,
the deposits were only $158,688. Mr. Wead continued to be president of the
bank throughout its existence, but Mr. Wheeler resigned as cashier in 1863,
when Harry S. House succeeded him, and was in turn succeeded in 1865 by George
Hawkins.

  The Farmers National Bank of Malone (the first national bank formed in the 
county) was chartered in December, 1864, with a capital of $100,000 (since 
increased to $150,000), and began business January 14, 1865, in the store now 
occupied by Frederick I. Stockwell, and two months and a half later had
deposits of $48,944.74. Edwin L. Meigs was the first president, and his
successors have been Nathan Knapp, William G. Dickinson, Andrew W. Ferguson,
Darius W. Lawrence from 1874 to 1913, and now Matt C. Ransom. The cashiers
have been H. S. House, D. W. Lawrence, B. S. W. Clark, William F. Creed, 0. S.
Lawrence and Fred F. Fisk. Besides the Stockwell store its places of business
have been in the Empire Block, the railway passenger station temporarily after
the Empire Block fire, the Howard Block, and since 1915 in its own model
banking house at the corner of Main and Pearl streets, which was erected
expressly for it at a cost of about $60,000.

  The National Bank of Malone, organized as the successor of the State Bank of 
Malone, was chartered March 21, 1865, with a capital of $150,000 (afterward 
increased to $200,000), and began business soon afterward on the corner of
Mill and Main streets, in the same building where Mr. Wead had operated the
Franklin County Bank. Mr. Wead became president of the new institution, and so
continued until his death in 1876, when Sidney Lawrence of Moira succeeded him
until the bank went into liquidation upon the expiration of its charter.
George Hawkins was cashier from 1865 to 1883, when he resigned on account of
ill health, and John C. Pease of Rutland, Vt., was chosen in his place. The
first report of the bank, of date only two or three weeks after it began
business, showed total resources of $416,613.27, deposits of $168,408.87, and
surplus and undivided profits of $14,674.59.

  It having been deemed more expedient to organize a new bank than to procure
a renewal of the charter of the National Bank of Malone. The Peoples National
Bank of Malone was incorporated early in 1885, with a capital of $150,000, and
began business March 1st of that year with Howard E. King as president, and
Frederick D. Kilburn as vice-president in practical charge of the management.
The latter resigned in 1896 to accept the office of State superintendent of
banks, and was succeeded by N. Monroe Marshall, who became president in 1899,
and still holds that relation. Hiram T. French was cashier until his death in
1900, and the position has since been filled by M. F. McGarrahan.

  Mr. Pease, having resigned the cashiership of the old National Bank of
Malone, in 1885, engaged with others in organizing The Third National Bank of
Malone with a capital of $50,000   a disastrous venture. It never had deposits
in excess of about $60,000, and in 1890 it was closed by order of the
comptroller of the currency because of unsoundness and unsafety. The
depositors were paid in full, but the losses of the stockholders were total.
Oliver Howard was the first president, and S. A. Beman the second and last.
There has never been any other bank failure in Franklin county except that of
a New York city concern which had offices at Tupper Lake and Fort Covington in
1905 with losses to the depositors in the places named.

  A comparison of the first reports respectively of the Farmers National Bank 
and of the Peoples National Bank each with its own like statement as of 
September 11, 1917, shows striking growth, representative not only of
successful management and prosperity of the institutions themselves, but
measuring also the richer and improved condition of the community:

FARMERS' NATIONAL BANK

                              April, 1865          Sept., 1917
Deposits                       $48,944 74          $767,515 51
Profits                          3,480 67           226,011 39
Total resources                208,557 14         1,196,526 90


PEOPLE'S NATIONAL BANK.

                              March, 1885          Sept., 1917
Deposits                      $234,690 24          $868,872 64
Profits                          1,836 19          373, 373 81
Total resources                320,001 44        1, 448,375 48


  It is thus seen that in sixty-four years there has been a gain of more than 
two and a half million dollars in the so-called "banking power" of Malone,
while if the comparison be made for the entire county the increase has been
over five and a half millions.

NEWSPAPERS

  Malone's first newspaper, and also the first in the county, called the 
Franklin Telegraph, was established in 1820 by Francis Burnap, and continued
to be published for nearly ten years. It was Whig in politics during most of
the time of its existence, though it supported the anti-Masonic party at the
height of that craze. It was succeeded in 1830 by the Northern Spectator,
which was founded by John G. Clayton, who came to Malone expressly to give the
county a Whig organ. He represented the New York Commercial Advertiser in
starting the paper, which he sold after two years to George F. Allen.

  Publication of the Spectator was discontinued for a few weeks in 1835, but
was revived in March of that year as the Frontier Palladium under the
proprietorship of Frederick P. Allen, a brother of George F. Under that title
and as the Malone Palladium it was continued until 1909. Francis T. Heath
succeeded Mr. Allen as proprietor in 1845, and Joel J. Seaver became Mr.
Heath's partner in 1850. In 1854 Mr. Heath sold his interest to John K.
Seaver, but returned to nominal ownership and editorship for a time a few
years later. The firm of J. J. & J. K. Seaver continued until 1877, when the
office and business was leased to Oscar P. Ames and Frederick J. Seaver, who
subsequently purchased the paper and plant. Upon the death of Mr. Ames in
1899, his son, Clinton L., succeeded to his interest, and upon the death of
the latter in 1904 Mr. Seaver acquired sole ownership, and continued as editor
until publication of the paper was discontinued. Mr. Seaver was in the State
service during this period, and as he could not give the business adequate
attention closed it. The Palladium was aggressively Whig in politics until
1854, when it championed the Knownothing movement for three or four years.
From 1858 to 1909 it was steadfastly Republican.

  If in the long ago the policy of making a country newspaper distinctively
the purveyor of local news had prevailed, as is now so largely the custom.,
the preparation of historical matter would be a vastly easier and more
accurate work. But the Franklin Telegraph, the Spectator and the Palladium, as
well as the older of the other papers to which reference remains to be made,
rarely contained items of home news until about 1870, and the exceptions were
generally meagre and unsatisfactory.

  The Franklin Gazette was founded at Fort Covington in 1837, but ten years 
later the office of publication was transferred to Malone, where the paper was 
continued under various ownerships until 1911, when it was discontinued. The 
Gazette was leased about 1870 for six years to A. N. Merchant   Mr. Flanders 
remaining its editor. It was then sold to John Law. The Gazette was always 
strongly, even bitterly, Democratic in politics, and during the civil war was
so outspoken in support of the so-called State-rights construction that Mr. 
Flanders was arrested on summary warrant issued by the President or Secretary
of War, and taken to Fort Lafayette at New York and then to Fort Warren at
Boston, where he was confined for about four months. Joseph R. Flanders, a
brother, though never announced as one of the owners of the paper, is known to
have shared in editing it at times. He also was arrested at the same time with 
Francis D., and was subjected to the same imprisonment. No specific charge was 
ever preferred against either, nor was any hearing given them. The procedure 
appears to have been simply an exercise of the war powers of the President,
and to have had for its purpose a suppression of utterances which were
believed to be calculated to discourage enlistments and to be prejudicial
generally to the cause of the Union. Publication and editorship of the paper
was continued by Mrs. Flanders during Mr. Flanders's imprisonment, and its
tone was at least no less extreme than it had been. The writer of this sketch
was authoritatively informed many years ago that a communication from Mrs.
Flanders to Jefferson Davis during the civil war was intercepted by federal
officials, but is not sure whether that occurrence was a factor in causing the
arrests referred to. At the time of the imprisonment of the Flanders brothers
the forts in which they were confined were crowded with inmates who had been
arrested for similar cause, and most of whom were from border points, like
Baltimore and Louisville. No appeal to the courts was permitted to any of
them. On his way to Malone the United States marshal who made the arrests
stated to a gentleman at Syracuse that his instructions were to brook no
interference, and that if any attorney or judge should undertake proceedings
to halt or hinder him he was to apprehend such person also. As further
indication of Mr. Flanders's extreme views and outspoken utterance of them,
the fact is recalled that when the Papineau rebellion was gathering head in
Canada in 1837 the Gazette, expressing approval of it, was denied postal
privileges in the Dominion. A similar proscription against circulation of the
paper in the mails of the United States was enforced for a period of sixteen
months during the years 1862 and 1863.

  The Jeffersonian was published at Malone during the years 1853 and 1854, and 
was an outgrowth of the Democratic factional strife of that period. Joseph R. 
Flanders was its editor and one of the proprietors, William B. Earle and
Carlos C. Keeler having been joint owners with him, but with no part in
editing the paper, which was uncompromisingly and radically "hard-shell," and
which showed uncommon vigor and ability. Upon the removal of Mr. Flanders to
New York city to engage in the practice of law, the publication was
discontinued.

  Alfred Lincoln and Samuel Thorndike, bright young men, and law students or 
perhaps admitted practitioners, published a small paper for a short time
before the civil war. It was of folio form, each page about eight by twelve
inches in size, and had different titles at different times. One issue before
me, dated July 6, 1857, was called The Chafer, and another, dated January 17,
1860, the Truth Teller. It was printed surreptitiously in the Gazette office
by Gazette employees at night, though the type was set in its own office,
which was on the second floor of the building now known as Houston Block, at
the west end of the Main street bridge. The sheet contained personal items and
gossip mostly, and in tone was snappy, if not scurrilous. Nathaniel Fisk,
father-in-law of the senior editor and proprietor, threw the type out of the
office window into the river one day, and that ended the enterprise.

  The Malone Farmer was founded by George H. Stevens in 1886 with avowal that 
its mission would be especially to represent the farming element, to fight 
unnecessary and excessive expenditure of public moneys, and in particular to 
reduce the charges for county printing. Julius Q. Clark was its publisher for
a time, and it next went into the control of Andrew E. Clark, a son-in-law of 
Judge Henry A. Paddock. The appearance of the paper in its early years was
cheap and dirty, and its contents corresponded. It is now owned and conducted
by Halbert D. Stevens, Frederick L. Turner and Leon L. Turner, and has become
one of the high-class weeklies of the State, with a large circulation. The
remark may perhaps be permissible that it does not dwell now much upon the
cost of public printing. It is Republican in politics.

  About 1890 William F. Mannix started a newspaper which he called The. 
Independent, and the Farmer having ceased to be as fully as desired the
especial representative of the interests which were originally back of it, a
corporation was formed to acquire and conduct The Independent as the official
organ of the Patrons of Industry. The grouping of the directorate was a
curious one to those who understood then local conditions, the names having
been Lyndon K. Young, George W. Briggs, M. A. Martin, H. A. Taylor and Gordon
H. Main, with George H. Stevens as manager. The name was changed to The
Farmers' Advocate, and up to the time that the corporation ceased to be the
owner its publication cost Mr. Stevens about $1,200. E. N. W. Robbins bought
the concern in 1896, and continued publication of the paper for about five
years, with an annual loss of $800 to $1,000. The paper was discontinued in
the latter part of 1900.

  A Mr. Murphy brought The Forum here from Massena in 1902, and published it
for a few years at about the period when Bryanism and Hearstism was permeating
the State Democracy, and when municipalization of the water-works system was a
local issue. The latter proposition was to cut theretofore prevailing rates
squarely in two, and give a rich return to the village. The paper had little
character or standing, but was a rank champion of pretty much everything that
savored of radicalism or socialism. It was removed to Kansas after a few
years.

  The Malone Evening Telegram was started as a daily in 1905 by Charles M. 
Redfield, then a stranger in the county, and has continued ever since under
his ownership and editorship. It has had a remarkable prosperity, and has a 
circulation of five thousand copies. Other dailies in places corresponding to 
Malone in population have almost always had a languishing existence during
their early years, but the Telegram secured a large number of subscribers at
once, and has always commanded a goodly line of advertising. It is newsy, and
while nominally Republican in politics the counting office control sees to it
that it is never offensively or aggressively partisan, nor very assertive on
any controverted question of any sort.

  Frederick L. Long came from New York in 1912, and began the publication of a 
Democratic daily, but the enterprise lived only a few months.

MALONE'S MORE SERIOUS FIRES

  Malone has suffered seriously from fires, and a list of the more notable of 
its losses by this cause is appended for reference purposes:

  The first academy building was partly burned in 1835, and small as the loss 
was in dollars it was yet as grievous in proportion to the population and
wealth of the community as was that by the destruction of the school building,
almost on the same site, in 1880. The structure burned in 1835 was replaced
with one of stone, which latter was razed in 1868.

  The second Amsden hotel, at the junction of Main street and Harison place,
and known as the Franklin House, was burned about 1843 or 1844.

  The cotton mill built by Jonathan Steams about 1829, and subsequently owned
by Hugh Magill and William Greene, was burned March 13, 1846. The building was 
occupied also as a dry goods and general store by Magill & Greene, and most of 
the store stock was saved. The loss was $50,000.

  A fire memorable because of attendant weather conditions rather than by
reason of the amount of loss destroyed William King's residence on the corner
of Main and Pearl streets March 27, 1847. The greatest snow storm ever known
in Malone had continued throughout the day, and light, fluffy snow lay four
feet deep on the level, so that the engine could not be brought to the ground,
nor water hauled from the river.

  The tannery on the east side of the river, owned by W. H. Webster, was
wholly destroyed August 23, 1865, together with 800 cords of bark, and the
fire, spreading northwardly, consumed also P. Clark's livery barn on Mill
street, and on Main street the two stores then owned by Rufus R. Stephens and
C. W. Allen and George W. Fisher. The Stephens store was occupied by James N.
Palmer with ready-made clothing. The Main street buildings contained also Odd
Fellows' Hall, the village school district library, D. N. Huntington's
insurance office, C. B. Conant's tailor shop, a billiard room, and the store
of Allen & Fisher. The loss was $16,000 exclusive of the tannery and bark,
which were valued at $15,000.

  The old Hosford Hotel, a frame building erected earlier than 1807, adjacent
to the present Rutland Railroad, caught fire January 20, 1866, when the
temperature was ten degrees below zero. The structure stood about twenty feet
north of the brick Franklin House, erected in 1851, and was connected with the
latter by a wing. The old hotel contained Wantastiquet Hall, a famous dance
room in its day, and rooms in it were used as an annex to the Franklin House.
Both structures were completely destroyed. They were owned by A. W. Ferguson,
Nathan Knapp and B. S. W. Clark, and had as tenants J. T. White (book store),
Amander Heath (grocery), S. B. Carpenter and Samuel Greeno (meat markets),
Sanford and Mackenzie Lewis (saloon), Mrs. Darrah and Miss Darling (millinery
shops), and James L. Hogle, landlord, whose loss was $5,000. The loss on
buildings was $10,000, while the individual losses of tenants was slight. Mr.
Hogle undertook to buy the lot on the corner of Main and Webster streets,
where the Baptist church now is, with the purpose of building a hotel there.
But the proposition fell through, and, instead, he built at the corner of Main
and Academy streets, now the Smith House.

  St. Joseph's Catholic church, then recently built and not wholly finished,
was discovered to be on fire soon after the close of morning service September
4, 1870, and was entirely destroyed. The insurance was only $13,000, which was 
hardly more than the debt upon the property.

  The tannery of Webster Bros, was discovered by the watchman to be on fire 
October 20, 1879, and, instead of giving the alarm promptly, the man ran
nearly a quarter of a mile to notify the foreman privately. By the time that
the alarm was sounded the entire structure was wrapped in flames, and, with
but a scant water supply, nothing could be done to save the establishment, nor
much to protect adjacent property. The heat was so fierce that the Lincoln &
Miller tannery on the west side of the river was soon burning, and was
destroyed. Two wooden buildings on Main street overhanging the river, and
owned by G. W. Fisher and M. E. Lynch, the stone stores known as Field's
Exchange or Horton Block, and owned by Myron B. Horton, and also the two
stores next east, owned by Mrs. W. W. King and Edward Cherrier, the stone
marble shop on Mill street south of the tannery, and P. Clark's Block and
Joseph Cogland's saloon, also on Mill 'street, were all burned. The principal
tenants were John H. Moore (fruits and confectionery), N. Morse (books and
boots and shoes), D. F. Mannix (clothing), and the Odd Fellows. Webster Bros.
reckoned their loss at $50,000 while the other losses were estimated to
aggregate $45,000. It was the biggest fire that had ever visited Malone up to
that time.

  On Christmas eve, 1880, the three-story brick academy and high school 
building, erected in 1867 and 1868, and containing eight class rooms and a
large assembly hall, was utterly destroyed. There was little water for
fighting the flames, and the stream delivered from the hydrant until the steam
fire engine was got at work was miserably weak. Nor was the steamer effective,
because the supply of water was insufficient to feed it. The cost of replacing
the building was $42,000.

  January 28, 1888, a fire originating in the crockery store of M. C. Tullar, 
situate in that part of the Ferguson House structure that was called Empire 
Block, extended quickly to Lawrence Hall and thence to the hotel proper. The 
weather was intensely cold, there was little water in the reservoir, with a 
feeble hydrant pressure, and owing to heavy ice in the river the steam engine 
was slow to start, so that the flames gained a big headway, dooming the entire 
structure. An explosion blew the front wall of the hotel outward, and Isaac 
Chesley, an estimable and popular merchant, was buried in the debris and
killed. The building was owned by Oliver Howard, and the principal tenants
were John M. Spann (hardware), M. C. Tullar (crockery), Abner Croff
(furniture), Kempton & Barnum (dry goods and groceries), Thomas Carpenter
(ready-made clothing), Wm. P. Cantwell (law-offices), Frank P. Penfield
(undertaker), Sanford & Bartlett (millinery), the Farmers National Bank, and
Frank Tallman, lessee of the hotel. The fire was the most destructive that
Malone ever suffered, the aggregate of losses having been estimated at
$150,000. As a result of the calamity, however, the long agitated enlargement
of the village water works was brought about.

  January 18,1892, a fire originating in the Houston building (adjacent to the 
river, on. the south side of Main street) destroyed all that part of the 
structure that stood above the street level, and also R. D. Rice's shoe store 
and the building next west, which was occupied by Davis Bros, as a drug store. 
The Houston building was so cut up by partitions that the flames found many 
hidden places in which to work, and approach by the firemen not being possible 
except from the front, the fire was a difficult one to fight, even with an 
abundance of water driven by a good head. The tenants were N. J. Lyon (meats), 
Ernest Muller (jewelry), Davis Bros, (drugs), Miss Kate Hart (groceries), and 
Pond Bros, (cigars). The losses totaled about $16,000.

  June 6, 1893, the tannery of Webster Bros, burned for the sixth and final 
time, but since its destruction in 1879 the water supply had been increased,
so that, though the building was larger than ever before, hard work prevented
the flames from extending to other property. Nine powerful streams were poured
upon the tannery. It had not been operated for some time, and contained little
stock. An offer of $15,000 for it had been made a short time previously, and
refused because ridiculously inadequate.

  A fire originating in the insurance office of Hutchins & Wilson December 3, 
1895, was one of the most stubborn and persistent ever known in the town, and 
although enough water was poured into the building to float it into the street 
if it had not been anchored its upper floors were gutted, and also those of
the building next on the west, with considerable damage to two others
adjoining. The buildings were owned by Mrs. J. R. Flanders, S. A. Beman and
George C. Williamson, Mrs. E. Cherrier and Thomas Adams, whose losses were
figured at $11,000. The tenants who suffered were R. McC. Miller (drugs),
George C. Williamson (general merchant), E. N. W. Robbins (printing office),
F. G. Shufelt (boots and shoes), and Hutchins & Wilson, S. A. Beman and M. T.
Scanlon (offices), with combined losses of about $14,000.

  May 26, 1896, the hardware store of H. D. & R. C. Thompson and the building 
adjoining, owned by the Wells Knapp estate and occupied by J. J. Murphy with
dry goods and groceries, were burned. The losses were estimated at $50,000.
The origin of the fire was unknown, though it was suggested at the time that
it might have been caused by lightning.

  The Olympia Hotel, which had formerly been the Elmwood House, on the corner
of Main and Pearl streets, was burned February 11, 1899   the fire starting
when the proprietor and most of the help were absent, serving a banquet at the 
armory. The mercury stood at fifteen degrees below zero, which, with the 
inflammable character of the build-mg, made it impossible for the firemen to
do effective work except in protecting adjacent property. The losses sustained
by the help were heavy, and that of the proprietor, Henry A. Gray, was
estimated by him at from $15,000 to $18,000. The house had been opened under
the new management only about six months before, and contained a lot of new
furnishings.

  The Malone Paper Company's mill was burned May 26, 1903, with a loss of
about $100,000. At that date the village water mains did not reach to the
locality, and the nearest hydrant was half a mile distant. Besides, the steam
fire engine was out of town, fighting forest fires, and no effectual effort to
save the property was possible.

  In the afternoon of April 2, 1911, fire broke out in the basement of the
main building of the Northern New York Institution for Deaf-Mutes, a
three-story and basement brick structure which had cost about $60,000, and
just as it was thought that the fire had been extinguished by the use of the
school hose it was discovered to have crept between partitions to the second
floor, where the flames were bursting through the windows. The beginning of
the fire was in the northeastern corner of the building, a strong wind was
blowing from the west, and fire walls divided the structure into three parts  
eastern and western wings and a central section, so that complete destruction
seemed almost impossible. Nevertheless, and though, as one observer remarked,
no building ever fought harder to save itself, the flames worked along
corridors and through doorways and burned everything except a hospital annex.
A considerable part of the contents was saved. The new buildings which
replaced the one that was burned cost about $130,000.

  The worst fire horror that Malone ever had occurred April 17, 1913, when a 
building on the corner of Catherine and Mechanics street, in use as a hotel,
but without equipment of fire escapes, was destroyed. The place was known as
Hotel Wilson, with William and Mary Wilson understood to be its proprietors,
though a relative named W. M. Bailey was nominally in control. The building
was a mere shell, erected originally as a carriage repository, and in half an
hour after the alarm had been given it collapsed. There were thirty-five
boarders and guests in the house, and the family and help brought the number
of inmates up to forty-two. So rapid and fierce was the progress of the flames
that curtains of fire or clouds of smoke filled the hallways before the
occupants could get from their rooms even in an undressed state, and many of
those who succeeded in escaping had to leap from the windows. A number
suffered thus broken legs or arms or were otherwise seriously hurt, while
others were severely burned. After the fire had been extinguished and the
debris partly cleared away, the bodies of six persons were recovered from the
ruins   some partially consumed and others so charred as to be identifiable
only with difficulty. In addition, Fred Tummons was so badly burned that he
survived only a few hours. The dead were: Albert Robideau and John Tummons of
Malone; Philip O'Connor of Saranac Inn   formerly of Constable; John Maas of
Albany; Michael W. Cooney of Westville; and Tony Nicolina of New York.
Nicolina was a harpist, and after having once escaped re-entered the building
against warnings of the danger, in the hope of saving his harp. He was never
again seen alive. William and Mary Wilson were indicted and tried for
manslaughter, but the jury returned a verdict of not guilty.

MURDERS AND OTHER HOMICIDES

  For nearly three-quarters of a century following its first settlement, there 
was no proven murder in the town, nor even a death that was strongly suspected 
of having been by murder. The record thereafter for a number of years runs 
almost as strikingly the other way, and gave Malone for a time a reputation
that shamed and hurt. So many killings occurred within a few years without a
single one of them expiated that it came to be said that life to a visitor
with money was unsafe here if venture were made into evil walks, or
association had with a certain class of characters, who seemed to be able to
rob and murder almost at will, and to defy detection. Happily the past dozen
years or more show a cleaner page, and in particular since the legalized sale
of liquor ceased on the first day of October the town has been as quiet and,
superficially at least, as orderly as could be wished.

  Early in the morning of May 24, 1867, the body of George H. Seabury of 
Chateaugay   who had been a student at Franklin Academy and at the time was
home temporarily from Amherst College   was found on Main street, in front of
the Hugaboom block, the site of which then was occupied by the original King
store building, and in the basement of which there was a saloon. There were
contusions on his face and forehead, and a pistol ball had pierced his heart.
Letters and a purse in his pockets were undisturbed. Physicians testified at
the inquest that death must have occurred almost or quite instantly. The
contents of Mr. Seabury's trousers pockets, almost falling out, suggested that
he had been carried up the saloon stairs feet foremost, and the belief was
prevalent that he had been shot in the saloon, though no evidence of a
trustworthy character was procurable to that effect, or determinative of who
were the murderers. One dissolute character, indeed, did say when intoxicated
that he was looking into the rear windows of the saloon and saw the fatal shot
fired, but when he became sober denied having any knowledge whatever of the
affair. Mr. Seabury was not in the habit of frequenting saloons, and the
generally accepted theory concerning the crime was that he had been an agent
in the employ of the Canadian or British government to ascertain and report
upon Fenian plans and movements, and that he was killed by Fenians. No arrests
for the murder were ever made.

  George Barr of North Lawrence attended the Franklin county fair in 1S70, and 
spent a part of the time while in Malone at the poker table. He was known to 
have had at least $500 in money on his person when, on the evening of
September 28th, he left the hotel to take a train for home. Two days later his
body was discovered in the river just below the Main street bridge. He had
received a blow on the head, had been garroted, and his pockets rifled. The
conjecture at the time was that he had been persuaded after leaving the hotel
to abandon the purpose of returning to his home that night, and at a later
hour had been murdered and robbed, and his body thrown over the bridge. The
identity of his murderers was never known, nor did suspicion even point to any
one very definitely as probably the guilty party.

  It came to be whispered on the street at New Year's, 1881, and almost
shouted from the housetops a few days later, that Emma Davis had poisoned
Gertrude, the daughter of Samuel Manning, and niece of Warren L., with the
latter of whom she had made her home in Malone for a number of years. Warren
L. Manning had formerly been a merchant in Fort Covington, whose years
numbered more than fourscore, who was understood to be wealthy, and who had no
family other than the brother and niece with the exception of Mrs. Thomas
Davidson, an adopted daughter. Miss Gertrude was twenty-four or twenty-five
years of age, and Miss Davis thirty-two years old, a member of the Methodist
church in good standing, had formerly lived in Brandon, but for ten years
preceding had been Mr. Manning's housekeeper, with a status that made her
almost as one of the family. Two or three weeks later Miss Manning herself
made complaint before a magistrate against Miss Davis, who was arrested and
held for the action of the grand jury. She was indicted in March for
administering poison with intent to kill, and was tried in the following
September   District Attorney Badger appearing for the people and Hon. John I.
Gilbert for the accused. The undisputed facts in the case were that Miss
Manning returned from church one Sunday noon early in November, 1880, in
apparently good health, and soon after dinner the same day became violently
ill, vomiting and purging. There was improvement in her condition after a few
days, but similar attacks recurred at intervals during the ensuing six weeks,
with apparent partial paralysis and lack of sensation developing. At about the
time of the second attack a physician was called, and was in attendance
frequently thereafter, with a number of other practitioners appearing as
counsel. At the trial Miss Manning, brought into court on a couch, testified
to quarrels having occurred between herself and Miss Davis, that substantially
every instance of a recurrence of her trouble followed soon after Miss Davis
had administered food or medicine, and that upon one occasion she had found a
greenish sediment in a cup of crust coffee made for her by Miss Davis, and
also once in a cup of milk. A number of physicians testified to their belief 
that the case was one of arsenical poisoning, while others of equal standing 
scouted that view, and insisted that Miss Manning's condition was due to 
calomel, or was a manifestation of hysteria, which it was urged might simulate 
any ailment. Assuming the guilt of the accused, the motive attributed to Miss 
Davis was hope that with Miss Manning dead she might marry Mr. Manning, or at 
least enjoy a benefit under his will. The jury not only returned a verdict of 
not guilty, but were at pains to file a statement with the court declaring
that they had no doubt of the entire innocence of the accused. The presiding
judge announced from the bench that he concurred entirely in the jury's view.
While the case was neither a murder nor an attempt to kill as thus decided,
the charge and the trial occasioned so much interest, and the community was so
divided in opinion as to the guilt or innocence of Miss Davis, that it seems
to demand a place in this recital. Miss Manning recovered her health, was
married, and moved to a suburb of New York city. Miss Davis went to New
England, and five or six years later a report was published that she had
attempted to poison a wealthy man of Hartford, Conn., for whom she was
housekeeper; and there were innuendoes that suspicious deaths had occurred in
other families where she had worked in that section.

  A child's ball bounded into a culvert on Rennie street June 4, 1887, and the 
child pursued it. Ten or a dozen feet from the culvert's mouth the child 
stumbled upon the body of a man, and naturally gave a panic alarm.
Investigation by elders determined that the body was that of Eugene Van Ornam
of Saginaw, Mich., who had been at work as a lumberman at Buck Mountain or
Brandon, in the town of Santa Clara. It was learned further that Van Ornam had
come to Malone on his way home four days before, and had been accompanied to a
hotel by George King, a village tough, who had worked with Van Ornam for a
time at Buck Mountain, but who was then employed here as a farm hand. King
stated at the hotel that Van Ornam "had lots of money;" but while King was
absent momentarily from the office, and unknown to him, Van Ornam deposited
$142 with the proprietor for safekeeping. In the evening the two men visited a
house of ill repute, but returned to the hotel at an early hour. A little
later King was heard to propose going out again, but Van Ornam declined,
though afterward consenting to go for half an hour, and the two left the hotel
together, and were afterward seen on Rennie street. Van Ornam never returned
to the hotel, and except for the chance loss of the child's ball his body
might not have been discovered for weeks. The amount of money that he had when
he left Buck Mountain was ascertained with certainty, and it was thus
calculated that he must have kept in his possession forty-odd dollars after
making the deposit at the hotel; but when the body was recovered there was no
purse, watch, not even a penny in money, nor any identifying article whatever
on it. King returned to his place of employment the next morning, pleaded
indisposition as an excuse for not taking up his work, and then sneaked away.
An acquaintance who met him remarked that he "looked scared." At the inquest
one witness testified that in the early evening, and in the immediate presence
of Van Ornam, who was deaf, King made a proposition to rob him. Photographs of
King were sent out by hundreds, a reward of a thousand dollars was offered for
his apprehension, and an expert detective was put on the case, but nothing was
ever heard of him from the hour of his departure. Two or three men were
arrested by reason of suspicion of participation in the crime, or at least of
guilty knowledge concerning it, but no certain evidence could be procured to
justify proceeding further against them.

  James McGee of White's Station in Canada, aged about fifty years, was found
in a dying condition near the railroad machine shops June 30. 1894. One arm
had been severed near the elbow by a car or locomotive, and there was a severe 
injury on the head, apparently caused by a blow. He recovered consciousness,
and told that the night before he had started with two well known characters
of the town to visit a disorderly house in the vicinity of the place where he
was found, but determined to give up the plan, and turned back, when he was
struck. Apparently he had been robbed, and left upon the railroad track so
that he might be run over by a train, and thus his death made to appear
accidental. He died the following night. Two of our village toughs were
arrested upon this statement, and the coroner's jury charged them with murder;
but the grand jury was of opinion that the available evidence did not justify
the finding of an indictment.

  The body of Adelor Fish, a young man, was found in the Horton mill pond June 
21, 1902. His head had been crushed, and physicians testified that death had 
preceded the entrance of the body into the water. Fish had lived in the
village, and four or five days before the body was found had started from his
father's home with declaration of intention to go to a lumber camp in the
southern part of the county for work. He was known to have $17 in money at the
time, but when found none of it was on his person. It was proven that he had
spent the day about town, drinking, and a hard character who was seen with him
has always been believed to be the murderer. The same night that he was last
seen alive this man assaulted and robbed another man on Amsden street, for
which offense he was convicted and sent to prison for a term of seven years.

  Barney Campbell, who had been giving song and dance exhibitions in the
saloons of Malone and vicinity, was shot and killed August 11, 1902, in the
saloon and shooting gallery on Catherine street   the same building which
became the Hotel Wilson   that was known as Zeb Coon's. Campbell was a rod or
more to one side of the target, and, observing to a companion that the
shooting was wild and reckless, was about to withdraw when a bullet pierced
his heart. First excited reports of the affair represented that there had been
a quarrel between the man who fired the shot and Campbell, but later testimony
was to the effect that the gun was in the hands of one of the proprietors or
of one of the help when it was discharged, or was in the act of passing from
one hand to another's. There came to be acceptance of the theory that the
affair was wholly accidental, but the proprietor was nevertheless arrested
upon a charge of criminal carelessness. He was not convicted.

  On March 13,1909, Charles Devlin, Jr., was invited by Henry Brooks to 
accompany him on a drive from Bangor to Malone. Accepting the invitation,
Devlin stopped at his home for a moment, and procured a hatchet, which he
concealed under his coat. When the distance to Malone had been half traversed
Devlin suddenly assaulted Brooks, and, abandoning the rig, the men had a
fierce struggle in the road. Brooks's head was horribly cut and bruised, and
the skull cleft with the blade of the hatchet. Devlin came on to Malone,
proceeded at once to the jail, and demanded to be locked up   adding that he
had killed a man. He seemed altogether self-possessed and calm, and later
talked about a conspiracy against him and of a secret concerning him which
Brooks knew and which he feared that Brooks intended to reveal. Devlin was
undoubtedly insane, was so found by a sheriff's jury, and was committed to
Matteawan, where he still is. Both men resided in Bangor, were day laborers  
Devlin twenty-five years old, and Brooks twenty-one   and they had been
particularly good friends. Neither was married, and Devlin was of intemperate
habits.

CHURCHES AND OTHER ORGANIZATIONS

  So far as known, the first religious service in Malone preceded any church 
organization by about three years, and between the date of such first service 
and the forming of a religious society there was occasional preaching by one
or another New England missionary in a barn owned by Captain John Wood on Park 
street   afterward the S. C. Wead and now the H. A. Putnam place.

  Then, in the spring of 1807, Rev. Amos Pettingill of Champlain and Rev. 
Ebenezer Hibbard of Brandon, Vt., visited Malone, and effected the
organization of the First Congregational Church and Society at the house of
Abijah Abbott (which was the "tavern house" so called, that stood on a part of
the site of the present Howard House). The original members numbered
twenty-seven, and for one year, though how often we do not know, Noah Moody's
house, now the site of the court house, was their place of worship. The early
ministers who served the charge were a Mr. Robinson for three months during
the winter of 1808, then Rev. Holland Wicks for ten weeks, followed by Rev.
Simeon Parmelee for three months. In 1809 Rev. Ashbel Parmelee came from
Vermont to Malone to marry Lucy Winchester, and from that visit a call
resulted for him to become the pastor   a relation which continued unbroken
for thirty-six years, and which, according to the testimony of men much older
than the writer, had inexpressibly important fruitage. Writing in 1885, Dr.
Bates referred to Mr. Parmelee as "a man whose impress still remains upon the
town, and ever will continue;" Vice-President Wheeler that "his influence,
ever running with the coming ages, will alone show its rich fruitage in
eternity;" and Martin L. Parlin, differing with him radically in religious
belief, that "no other man has done so much in laying the foundations of our
prosperity, or has left so large and lasting an impress upon our town." Again
quoting Mr. Wheeler, "I often think of him, as St. Paul said of himself, 'as
one born out of due time.' He belonged to the days of Cromwell, * * 
* born under the dark shadow of Calvinism, and his life and teachings were 
pervaded by its peculiar tenets. * * * His aggressive nature and intense 
convictions of duty impelled him to ferret out evil of every nature, and, once 
found, he gave it no quarter." It requires to be added that for years he 
dominated the thought of the community and practically dictated to it what
might and what might not be done or attempted in the way of indulgence in
amusements, in regard to the walk of individuals, and as to religions
observance: and all this he accomplished because his forceful personality
created a public opinion that frowned upon the things that he disapproved, and
made it a stigma upon any one to practice them. Mr. Parmelee's salary
initially was four hundred dollars a year, payable one-third in money and
two-thirds in grain: and never did his compensation exceed six hundred and
fifty dollars annually, except that donations were given to him once a year.
No parsonage was furnished. Nevertheless he supported on this miserably small
stipend a family consisting of one son and seven daughters, and kept open
house for visiting clergy, agents for Bible and tract societies, music
teachers, temperance and abolition lecturers, men in search of engagement as
school teachers, and many others who imposed upon his hospitality.

  Mr. Parmelee was ordained and installed February 8, 1810, in the academy.
His life thereafter for many years was of intense activity and prodigious
labor. Besides serving his own church, he engaged in missionary work in
adjoining counties, acted without pay as army chaplain and attended the
soldier sick in the war of 1812, felled the trees with his own hand on the lot
where he built his home, and himself erected the structure.

  From 1813 to 1828 the court house was the society's usual place of worship, 
though the academy was doubtless occupied on the Sabbaths when the Baptists or 
the Methodists were in possession of the former quarters. In 1817 the church 
affiliated with the Champlain Presbytery, and in 1823 the first Sabbath school 
was organized. In a historical sermon in 1883 Rev. C. S. Richardson, the then 
pastor, divided the life of the church into three periods, the first of which 
closed with 1825, and during which few matters of special importance occurred 
additional to the birth of the organization, the engagement of Mr. Parmelee as 
pastor, the demoralization incident to the war, a great revival in 1816, and
the organization of the Sabbath school; or at least so runs the chronicle as
it was written by one of the pastors   meaning, as I take it, that no other
single incident or action stands out as of great moment. But the sum of the
society's activities and influence in its earliest days must have been
incalculable. Conditions of thought and society at that time, with the
readiness of men and women to accept religious discipline, and the disposition
of the organization to exercise it, made the church a factor in individual
affairs as it never has been since, nor will ever be again. Thus I find in the
Articles of Agreement in the record for 1822 that if any member walked
erringly every brother having knowledge of the offense should, previous to
consulting with any one, "go and tell him his fault between thee and him
alone;" that "we deem it improper for brother to go to law with brother;" and
that "we will restrain our children from attending balls or other amusements."
Among the obligations imposed by The Covenant were engagement to hold family
morning and evening prayer, to keep careful watch over each other, and to
submit to the discipline of the church. Then follows the record of procedure
under these provisions, which shows debts collected by the church after having
heard the evidence, and of disciplining of those who had violated rules of
conduct. Complaints by one or another without really personal grievance, but
as a matter of general concern, appear frequently in the record against
offending brethren for breach of the Sabbath; for failure to observe the
family practice of prayer or for non-attendance upon the stated meetings of
the church; for misrepresentation or lack of care to speak the truth; for
engaging in fighting; for intemperance and occasionally for actual
intoxication; for taking wolves from the traps of others; for holding 
conversation and partially concluding a bargain for the rental of a house on
the Sabbath; for an inn keeper permitting a ball to be held at his tavern,
and, in one case, for calling a brother " an infamous liar" which
characterization, by the way, the accused established as having been
justified, while the accuser afterward apologized and besought forgiveness for
his sin. The instances were infrequent where the charges were not held to be
well founded, after which it was customary to serve a letter of admonition
upon the offender, who, if continuing contumacious, was then excommunicated.
It is to be noted, however, that in only two or three cases did the accused
fail to accept the church's finding, to express contrition, and to entreat
forgiveness by the brethren and by God.

  Procedure to-day of the sort outlined could hardly prove salutary, and would 
perhaps make conditions worse by reason of resentment arising from a sense of 
unwarrantable intrusion upon private concerns, but in the time under 
consideration, when the dicta of a pastor and of the congregation carried
dread and terror, it can not be doubted that the methods in question operated
to make men generally more seemly and correct in conduct, and to establish
better conditions outwardly at least in the community as a whole.

  As further disclosing the practices of this early time, it is interesting to 
note that the week-day prayer meetings were held commonly in the afternoon,
and that where members who were in any way derelict with regard to the
obligations imposed by the Articles of Agreement or by The Covenant requested
letters of dismission because of contemplated union with a church of another
denomination, such requests were denied.

  In 1825 it was determined to erect a church building. A lot for it on
Webster street had been given as early as 1810 by Richard Harison, but all of
the public buildings having been on the west side of the river it was thought
to be but just that the church should be on the east side, and accordingly it
was located at the corner of Clay and Main streets, with the front so far to
the north that it actually encroached upon the highway. The corner stone was
laid May 30, 1826, and the edifice was dedicated February 7, 1828. It was of
stone, had a spire of considerable height, and cost $8,000. The pews were
along either side of the auditorium, were square with high backs and
uncushioned seats, which were on three sides; and the pulpit, in the north
end, was reached by a winding stairway of a dozen steps. The members numbered
136 at the date of dedication.

  The anti-Masonic furore threatened to disrupt the church in 1829. A 
considerable number of the most prominent and most highly respected members
were Free Masons, but the majority were in bitter opposition to the order.
Because of the belief and attitude of these latter, fourteen members of the
church who were Masons, including the pastor, engaged in a formal written
announcement to procure dismission from the lodge, upon the principle that "if
meat make my brother to offend, I will eat no flesh." But they made no
declaration impeaching the character of Masonry, nor confessed contrition
because of former affiliation with it. This course appeared to satisfy most of
the congregation, but a few were irreconcilable, and refused to attend the
services unless and until the Masons should beg forgiveness and avow
penitence. Failing to obtain compliance with that demand, these withdrew and
united with the Baptist church, the leading ministerial representative of
which in Northern New York was a pronounced anti-Mason of crusader type.

  In 1840 a revival added one hundred to the membership of the church, and in 
1841 the custom of standing during prayer was changed to sitting or kneeling.

  The third period in the life of the organization is listed as having begun
in 1851, when portions of the church building being in danger of tumbling down
it was demolished, and the erection of a new house of worship commenced.
During the period of building services were again held in the court house. The
membership had increased to two hundred, and the new structure   of brick
above a stone basement  cost $9,000, inclusive of an organ, and answered the
needs of the society until 1883. Its auditorium being the largest in town, it
was used not infrequently for lectures, for war meetings from 1861 to 1865,
for musical conventions, and for the academic graduating exercises. The final
service in it was held April 5, 1883, after it had been voted to erect the
present imposing and majestic structure, during the building of which Lawrence
Hall was occupied. The cost to the society of the present building and
furnishings, inclusive of the organ, but not of the fine memorial windows, was
$46,000, but to the contractor it was considerably more. There is no finer
church edifice in Northern New York, and it was a source of particular
satisfaction to the members that at the date of dedication it had been paid
for. The members then numbered nearly four hundred, though many who were
inactive or who had removed from town were included in the count. The actual,
live membership in 1917 was 375.

  A chime of nine bells was hung in the church tower in 1886, a gift by Eli B. 
Smith.

  The First Baptist Church of Malone was founded December 12, 1807, with
twelve members, but not legally incorporated until September 28, 1831, when
Asaph Watkins, Asa Hascall and Nahum Whipple were elected as the first
trustees. Unfortunately all of the records of the church for the first
eighteen years of its existence have been lost, if any were kept, and also
those for a number of years since 1825. Thus everything touching the period of
the infancy of the church, with the single exception of its birth, is a blank.
Not one name .of those who must have been its preachers has been preserved,
nor a line about its growth, or whether it had a sustained activity from the
first or merely languished for a time. It is generally accepted, however, by
those who have sought for the facts that Nathaniel Colver, whose life is
sketched in the chapter on Fort Covington, and who was a man of tremendous
force and remarkable eloquence, was the first formal pastor, serving from 1825
or 1826 to the spring of 1827, and serving also at the same time his own
charge at Fort Covington. Mr. Colver was followed by a Mr. Smith for a short
time, and the pastorate was then vacant for about two years, but has been
filled continuously since except for occasional periods now and then of weeks
or possibly a few months each. We know from the Congregational church records
of date two or three years prior to 1825 that there must have been Baptist
activity then, as occasionally a Congregationalist avowed belief in baptism by
immersion, and Congregational and Baptist committees were in conference
concerning occupancy of the court house as a place of worship. The Sabbath
school was organized in 1833; a little earlier the building of a church
edifice had been undertaken, and in June of that year the first service was
held in it. The structure was of stone, located on Webster street, and the
main auditorium was on the second floor. It was remodeled and redecorated in
1853. The basement was used for school purposes while the new academy was in
course of construction, and in 1881 the building was purchased by the county
for an armory. A new church building of brick, with ample basement
accommodations for business and prayer meetings, etc., was begun in the spring 
of 1870, and was dedicated September 8, 1874. It cost $34,000, which exceeded
by about $3,000 the pledges and payments in hand. Six years later this debt
had increased to $5,000, but was then extinguished after a money-raising
campaign of three months. In 1917 the church steeple had become unsafe, and
had to be taken down. During the winter of 1918 a service water pipe burst
under the church floor, and the escaping water undermined the foundation walls
of one of the towers and also a part of the wall of the main edifice. The
damage is thought to be between six and eight thousand dollars. The present
membership of the church is 433, though that figure includes a considerable
number of non-residents. Rev. J. B. Webster, who had been pastor for a number
of years, resigned in. 1917 to "do his bit" in the war as a chaplain. Rev.
Ivan Rose is his successor.

  The Methodist Episcopal church was not incorporated until May 2, 1835, when 
the name "The Malone Methodist Episcopal Church" was adopted. At that date the 
conference records credit the society with having 310 members. In the autumn
of the same year Oliver Brewster gave the organization a lot on the corner of
Main and Fort Covington streets, where the Franklin House now is, and the
erection of a church edifice was begun. It had a stone basement with a frame
superstructure, and was finished, at a cost of about $3,000, in 1838. It was
known as Hedding Chapel, the eminent bishop of that name having presided at
the dedication. The services of the church prior to its possession of a home
of its own had been held in the court house, at the academy and other school
houses, and perhaps occasionally in the cotton factory. Two years earlier than
the incorporation the first leaders' meeting had been held, and in a paper
prepared by Frank Bigelow a few years ago he noted interestingly that it was
provided that if any member should be absent from a meeting a fine of not less
than six nor more than twenty-five cents should be imposed, and for similar
neglect by the president the fine should be not less than twelve nor more than
fifty cents. A like rule to-day enforced would probably fill the church's
treasury to overflowing. An account of the remarkable revival of 1836 is given
in subsequent pages.

  Nothing especially eventful appears to have occurred between 1838 and 1866, 
though, as Mr. Bigelow suggests in his historical sketch prepared in 1902,
great changes were in process, but were wrought so gradually as hardly to be 
perceived. In 1863 it had come to be felt that Hedding Chapel was no longer 
adequate to the society's needs and that its finish and general appearance
were not quite all that the house of worship of a strong and thriving
organization ought to be. Accordingly a lot was purchased on the corner of
Main and Brewster streets, and in 1866 construction of the present brick
church was begun. The cost was $40,000, exclusive of organ and bell, which
were the gift of Warren L. Manning, and cost about $3,000. Dedication occurred
August 21, 1867. The undertaking imposed a large indebtedness, which bore
burdensomely upon the members, and wrote a dark page in the church's history.
The present membership is about 600, and there are numerous subordinate
auxiliary organizations, manifesting zealous interest and helpful activity.
The name was changed in 1878 to Centenary Methodist Episcopal Church of
Malone.

  So much is authenticated by the local records. Of earlier conditions, while 
Mr. Bigelow was unable in 1902 to gather anything, it is my good fortune to
have obtained data from the conference records beginning with 1818 and
continuing to the present. In that year the conference report gave this church
sixty members, which suggests convincingly that it must have been of still
earlier organization; and, indeed, Dr. Hough, who wrote in 1850 when
first-hand trustworthy oral information was obtainable, stated that the Malone
circuit was formed in 1811 with sixty-one members, as a part of the Champlain
district, with John T. Adams as minister, and a correspondent of the Palladium
wrote in 1857 that the church (probably as distinguished from the circuit) was
organized between 1810 and 1818. While Mr. Bigelow conjectures that some
Methodist meeting must have been held here as early as 1802, because of the
known circumstance that a missionary or circuit rider labored in Burke that
year and would likely visit Malone, the suggestion would seem to be negatived
by the generally accepted fact that the first religious service in the town
was held July 4, 1804.

  But to return to certainly established facts. In 1818 the Malone station was 
included in the Genesee conference, whose first appointee here was Charles 
Northrop. A list of his successors appears in the appendix, but Luther Lee
calls for more than a mere mention. He served in Malone for two years (1827
and 1828), and afterward became one of the most fiery and most eloquent of
abolition agitators. During his work here Malone was the center of a circuit,
embracing Malone, Constable, Westville, all of the western towns of the
county, parts of Clinton and St. Lawrence counties, and appointments in Lower
Canada. One who heard Mr. Lee in Bombay at that time has written that he was a
queer figure of a man   low of stature, clad in a blue coat with brass
buttons, white fur hat, white necktie and other habiliments peculiar to
Methodist preachers of that age; had stiff black hair, shaggy eyebrows, a
clear, piercing eye, an abbreviated upper lip which disclosed his upper teeth,
a robust chin, and an eminently expressive and rather pleasing countenance.
The writer adds that he was full of controversy, that "his sermon was a
benediction, and my life has been better for hearing it." Ten years later this
same witness heard him in a county west of Franklin on slavery, with "a
cast-iron logic about him that convinced any reasonable man," and "from that
hour I was an abolitionist." The witness thus quoted tells of a rumor for
which he could not vouch that at eighteen years of age Mr. Lee could not read,
but that, marrying a superior woman, he was inspired to study, that within
three years he was licensed to exhort, and that he was soon afterward elevated
to the preacher rank. Upon leaving Malone he preached in Jefferson and Lewis
counties, and then devoted himself for three years to lecturing on slavery.
From 1841 to 1852 he was the editor of an anti-slavery paper, and in 1844 he
withdrew from the Methodist Episcopal denomination because its attitude on the
abolition question was not radical enough to satisfy him, and united with the
Wesleyan Methodists; but in 1867 returned to his former affiliations. Among
his church stations after 1852 were Syracuse and various places in Ohio and
Michigan. He was also professor of theology in Michigan Union College at one
time, and from 1864 to 1867 was connected with Adrian College in Michigan.

  St. Mark's Protestant Episcopal Church was founded September 22, 1831,
through the offices of Rev. Anson B. Hard, then stationed at Plattsburgh. The
services, which were the first according to the Episcopalian ritual that were
ever held in the county with the exception of lay readings by Major Duane in
Duane, were at the court house, and twelve persons joined in effecting the
organization. A number of these were not residents of Malone, at least four of
the twelve belonging in other towns, and two more were from New York, living
here only temporarily. Mr. Hard continued his ministration irregularly for a
time and was succeeded for two years by a resident missionary who officiated
twice a month in Malone, and once each in Chateaugay and Duane   the services
here having been held in the court house or in the school house at the Arsenal
Green, the latter of which has now been converted into the Christian Science
church. The first Sunday school was organized in 1834. Though not then, nor
ever since, strong in numbers or in a wealthy membership, it determined in
1834 to erect a church edifice; but actually attempted nothing in that
direction until 1843. The exact date of the completion of the building is not
known, but certainly was not later than the autumn of 1846. For considerable
periods between 1831 and 1849 the church had no rector, but with the exception
of occasional intervals of vacancies has had one continuously since the latter
year. Its most distinguished rector was the late Charles F. Robertson, D.D.,
during a part of the civil war period, who afterward became bishop of
Missouri. Agitation was begun in 1867 for the erection of a new church
building, was dropped for a time, revived in 1874, and in 1884 the old
building was razed and the present edifice erected   a stone structure which
avoids in a measure the old dry-goods box style of architecture. It cost about
$20,000, for $4,000 of which debt had to be incurred; and as Episcopalian
requirements are that the Lord must have more than an equity of redemption in
a place set apart for His worship consecration had to be delayed until 1889,
when the debt had been discharged. The present membership of the church is
about 125.