Tahawus, Newcomb, and Long Lake
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Tahawus, Newcomb, and Long Lake. George Shaw, Robert Shaw and John Todd Rexford, NY 1955 LONG LAKE NOTICE A few of these books were made up to assist in the sale of the original. Shaw manuscript, and as elsewhere mentioned, all rights to the text in the first section have now been acquired by the Adirondack Museum, Blue Mountain Lake, New Yorko (1955) The narrative of Tahawus, the Indian, and the Adirondack Iron Works, including the early history of Newcomb and Long Lake was mostly written by George Shaw and later kept up-to-date by his son, Roberto The narratives on the Iron Works may be somewhat imaginery, just how much will probably never be knowne The information on the early settlers in Newcomb and Long Lake are fairly accurate and check with other available sources. In all, it gives a very good picture of the hard ships encountered by these worthy pioneerso They have in the £iles at the Headquarters House of the NeYoS. Historical Association, Cooperstown, NoYo some of the original corres pondence between McIntyre, Henderson and MacMartino According to an article in their January, 1948 publication the three men were, in 1826, shown the vast iron ore deposit in the Tahawus area by an Indian named Lewis Elijah. The Revo John Todd's story on Long Lake, published in 1845, although not quite as direct as Shaw's, contributes some additional informatione A second manuscript, which was recently found, and written by Robert Shaw, describes Robert's personal experiences. It has been included as a second section in a few copies of this particular book for a very limited personal distribution. (HoioB~) Copy number/Z..ror ~.J ff ·.-:,rtnW'llff\'''. ,, ~,. j{I 1 I :~ , ~· ) '"1~$7~,. 1-.... / ·.,.t" Fine~ ·riLzrr ,,-~ ~ ~g:._.~ ·- \,( ·•' .If« Fond-, l --.--\--- -. '-, JO ' pr-,_) ~ / ·~ ~ ~ ) -~ I "\ . ~ ,. 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'. /., -~- --';£]; .~·::;:'.:ff~~ ~ :::;1t~~ --¥f" ~ ' ,·., '·'.' /,/1 I . ----- ', ----- ~1 _J,';;· ) ...,..,,.......0t~AD WATERS ~ ~;-,vi-. ~ . 'J\ ( ~--- OF ---- i T~-. i.·~ ::, -- . -t·~.P:~..,J .,/,,k}I, ~- .....____. JD. ---- ----- nl/mc t";; . J .1-.. .:, ( R'.AC.KET R: IVER Copied from ~Jerri tts map in the \ ) ~anuscript anj History Section of .. , I - .- '-' (L•S't,"'.,k/1,._ _ - .... :·iew York State Library, ..;lbeny,N.Y. ,· ,, ~------ l>v •· . I ,::;., ............:._~ • I ___ . -- It .. (H.I.Becker) ..1-·. I ·r-,r.'. ' 1955. -- d'lt. .,-, -.- - -· ~-·...._,.--- 1860 I • - :,; - \ L' 1 '\'f J.1Rl_Yflf11Tf1- 1." ' ... ,W , - .... - :r., , ts.\.-'-· n o. 1 . , [1 ~n , ' ;,/,.,·· ~ ,, . .:,,...• \ ; .~ ; ,,;\t< ~, -.(~ .)(' \ '!". • ~ ....,,,._ ... ,,. V L,;.:. l 1...::J ' [\j • :.. • 1851 t. ........... ., ..: t''~ -,,~•·1•t ~' • • (_J ¥f ,-'. LS so called ,: .. l . 1 ::i r .,,Y L/ . 1',T. r·--,., ·~ '$"-.,. .~_:: l A• 01 A..... u 1°'-. t , • ,:?"o;,~''_,,...,.,· ').p ' ..I.., C 01.1nt.,, ,?:'1""'! ,,,:.~-~~ ,c::., .• ,,.: ) ·,:-"t. ..-"', .,-'y \, -~- ·'I' , l, A. THE SHAWS George Shaw came from County Donegal, Irela..~d, where he grew up, married, and started to raise a famjJy and like many others decided to seek his fortune, or better living conditions in America. Some of his brothers had emigrated to Ohio, and in 1834, George started out with his wife and children to join his brothers. He traveled by boat to Quebec with the intention of hitchhiking to Whitehall, then by canal packet., or boat, to Buffalo. However,· siclmess altered his plans and eight years late:~, after staying in Addison, Vt., he arrived on the Virgin Shores of Long Lake and never did get in touch with the brothers in· Ohio. (The St. Lawrence River is a direct route between Quebec .. and Lake Erie, but apparently there was no suitable boat traffic.) . The Sha-w manuscript including the narrative of Tahawus and the Adirondack __Iron Mine written jointly by George and his son, Robert, and now owned by the Adirondack Museum was first brought to light by Mrs~ Howard Seaman, of Long Lake, who recognized its value and the necessity of preserving the :information for future generations. Mr. Harold K. Hochschild purchased it from Mrs. Alma Stanton, the granddaughter of Robert Shaw, and gave it to the Museum. The second manuscript started by Robert Shaw, but never finished, covers more of his personal life, and has also been made available for those interested in the early life of Long Lake. This opportunity is taken to include the geneology of the Shaw fami]y which with the pictures was furnished.by Mrs. Alma Shaw Stanton, and a direct descend ant of Mr. George Shaw, Sr., of Bric411tport, Vermont, who very kindly filled in much of the missing information .. George Shaw was born in County Donegal, Ireland, in 1799, and died at Long Lake, N. Y., in 1871. He had brothers in Ohio and came to America in 1834 with his wife and their first children; others, were born here. Their children were:- Robert, George, Jr~, William, Mary Jane, Mellesa, Helen, and Maria. George, Jr. migrated to the west and last lived in Seattle, Washington, was married a...nd had five children:- Lelia, Maud, Bertha, Edward, and Chauncy. At the last, George was taken sick and moved to an Old Soldiers' Home in California, where he died twenty-four hours after arri_ving. Robert (1829 - 1907) stayed in Long Lake and in 1854, married Gitty M.Keller. There were no children and they adopted Ai Gitty of Newcomb, N. Y. Ai married, in 1891, Mary Goodspeed of North Creek. There were two children, Robert and Alma (Stanton). William (1841 - 1922) in 1$71 married Pauline Dwnas. There were four children:- George, Eva, Garfield, and Maud. All have passed away, except George, who with his wife and son, George, live in Bridpport, Vt. William, in 1892, moved from Long Lake to Vermont to farm. Mary Jane married Ransom Palmer of Long Lake and moved to Viola, Minn. Mellesa married Clarence Dickerson in Viola, Minn. Helen died young in Addison, Vt(t Maria married John Lapell of Long Lake. Howard I. Becker - 1955 Rexford, New York George Shaw(l799-1871) and wife Mary. They came to America from Ireland in 1834 and to Long Lake in 1842 An early picture of One of the last pictures of Mrs .Robert Shaw Robert Shaw Robert Shaw (Gitty Keller} 1829-1907 CONTENTS Page FOR~RD ON THE SHAWS A. NARRATIVE ON TAHAWUS AND THE moN MINE 1 NFMCOMB, LONG LAKE AND CAPTAIN PETER SABATTIS 65 CONSTRUCTION OF THE VIl,J,AGE OF ADil1.0NDACK AND THE FORGE 75 LIFE AT ADmONDACK AND THE FORGE 81 THE WEDDING OF CALVIN STARKS 'lO ALICE GATES 85 CHABIJi!Y YOUNG AND THE FRENCHMAN 87 THE WAY MR. NUTT CAUGHT HIS WIFE 89 THE mISJI TOWN CLERK S9 JOHN CHEENEY AND THE MOOSE HUNT 90 AUNT POLLY 94 DAVID HENDERSON 98 NEWCOMB 102 LONG LAKE 1~ Fm.5'l' SE'rTLERS 108 DAVID KEJ.T,ER 109 JAMES SARGENT 109 ALENE PARKER, BARTON BURLINGAME, WILLIAM J. AUSTIN, AND ED .ALLEN lll THE MIXES AND LYSANDER HALL 112 EBENEZER BOURNE AND AMOS HOUGH ll5 SAMUEL REANEY, ISAAC B. C. ROBINSON ll7 WILLIAM KELLOO 118 GEORGE SHAW 119 ROBERT SHAW 122 EARLY STRUGGLES AT LONG LAKE 130 MITCHEJJ, SABATTIS 138 ARCHITECTURE 140 CHURCHES 142 POLITICS 144 THE SAGAMORE HOTEL AND LOCAL INTERESTS 144, 157 EARLY PICTURES. 169 THE REV. JOHN TODD'S VISITS TO LONG LAKE 170 Second section; Autobiography of Robert Shaw 1 ..• 62 TA.."FIAVlUS -=- NKvVCOMB &'1.d LONG LAKE By GeorgA and Robert Shaw of Lo:ng Lake 7 N .Y. 1842-1900 ALSO Th~ Rev. John Todd's own sto17 of his visi.ts to Long Lake, 1841.-1844 written ·..1.· t"i i-g4~ ·--· .J ~ • THE STATE Of NEW Y0RK,BEING A GREAT STATE,REACHING NORTH TO CANADA, AND WESTWARD TO THE GREAT LAKES, EMBRACED WITHIN ITS ERA,flFTY YEARS AGO, NEARLY TWO MILLION ACRES OF FOREST LANDS, IN FACT AN ALMOST UNEXPLORED WILDERNESS. THIS WILDERNESS WAS FULL Of ALL KINDS Of GAME, COMMON TO THE REGlON AND CLIMATE. ALSO,THOUGH THEN UNKNOWN, THERE WERE NUMEROUS IRON ORE BEDS WITHIN ITS BOUNDS; AND If MENTION IS MADE Of' THE LUMBER, FIGURES COULD HARDLY BE PILED HIGH ENOUGH TO ESTlMATE THE NUMBER OF fEETo THE SOIL ANO CLIMATE IS NOT WELL ADAPTED TO AGRICULTUREo THE TABLELAND FORMING THE WATERSHED Of THE. HUDSON RIVER AND lTS TRIBU TARIES, RUNNING SOUTH, AND BLACK RIVER AND ITS TRIBUTARIES RUNNING WEST, AS ALSO THE RACKETT RIVER AND OTHER LESSER STREAMS RUNNING NORTH, HAS AN ALTITUDE Of EIGHTEEN HUNDRED FEET, WITH MANY OF THE MOUNTAIN PEAKS REARING THEIR HEADS AWAY UP AMONG THE CLOUDS. AT THE TlME OF WHICH 1 SPEAK, 1830, NO WHITE MAN WAS CONVERSANT WITH THE INTERIOR OF THE WILDERNESS~ DURING THE SUMMER THE INDIANS TOOK CANOES AND, FOLL0WIN~ UP THE STREAMS INTO THE HEART OF THE WlLOERNESS,FlSHED, KILLED MOOSE AND DEER AND OTHER GAME, THEN PLENTY, AND SOMETIMES MADE MAPLE SUGAR. SOME Of THEM EVEN WINTERED THEREo THE THOUGHT MAY ARISE IN THE MIND Of THE READER, "How DID THEY MAKE MAPLE SUGAR?" I iAN NOT TELL YOU. ALL KNOW WITH REGARD TO IT IS THAT WHEN WHITE PEOPLE BEGAN TO GO FURTHER INTO THIS WILDERNESS THEY FOUND, ON SOME OF THE MAPLE RIDGES, BIRCH BA~K DISHES AT THE BASE OF MAPLE TREES, IN LARGE NUMBERS, AND BOILING PLACES WERE STILL VISl~~E, BUT WHAT THEY BOILED THE SAP IN I CAN NOT TELL.