Official Publication of the St. Lawrence County Historical Association January 1987 THE
QUARTERLY - Official Publication of the St. Lawrence County Historical-Miation
VOLUME XXXII . JANUARY 1987 NO. 1
Robert A. Wyant an& 3 The Thatcher Story Victoria Levitt Ralph E. Hill 12 Crossover Island: Winter Life John A. Baule 15 The SLCHA Archives
This publication is made possible in part with publie fwub I from the New York State Council on the Arts. I
ISSN 0558-1931 The Quarterly is published in Copyright St. Lawrence County Historical Association January. April, July and October 1987 each year by the St. Lawrence County Historical Association.
Extra copies may be obtained from the History Center, P.O. Box 8, Canton, N.Y. 13617, at $2.00 plus 259 postage and handling. Cover: A treasure from the St. Lawrence County Historical Association Editorr Judith B. Ranlett archives, identified only as a Methodist Church. January 1987 3
The west side of Market Street in Potsdam about 1875, with H.D.Thatcher & Co. in the center in the building today occupied by Kinney Drugs. (Photograph courtesy of the Potsdam Public Museum)
The Thatcher Story by Robert Wyant and Victoria Levitt In this initial segment of a two-part article, the authors trace the early life and business career of a fascinating figure in St. Lawrence County history.
Just over one hundred years ago, a financial matters. The story of his life, Attucks, leader of the mob in the Potsdam druggist invented something from the founding of his drugstore to Boston Massacre. that contributed to the revolution of the his death in poverty, is an interesting One might surmise that Thatcher's dairy industry in the United States. one. elementary education took place in a The druggist was Dr. Hervey Thatcher; one-room country school near Newport. his invention was the glass milk bottle. Early Years and Education Legend suggests that he received his It was said, somewhat inaccurately, to 1835-1859 secondary education at academies in be the first glass milk bottle ever Hervey D. Thatcher was born at Newport, New London, and Washing- invented, and while there is room for Newport, New Hampshire, on Decem- ton, New Hampshire. Probably he did discussion of that point, it clearly was ber 28 in either 1835 or 1837. Sources attend the academy at Newport, but one of the earliest, and certainly the of information at Newport and at the records are missing. His name first of its kind to be widely manufac- Potsdam differ as to the year. Probably cannot be found in the records of Colby tured for use in this part of the he was born on the family farm located Academy at New London. Records of country. While Thatcher is most known near Newport on what is still identified the Tubbs Union Academy at Washing- for his milk bottle, he was a versatile as "Thatcher Hill." His parents were ton, New Hampshire, confirm that he man whose contributions were many Calvin and Hannah Meserve Thatcher. was a student there in 1853. and varied. He was an important His ancestry can be traced to colonial Local stories claim that Thatcher public figure with an inventive mind times: one of his great uncles, the Rev. arrived in New York at the age of and a public conscience but he was also Caleb Thatcher, officiated as pastor of seventeen. If this is true, he could have a man who had little talent for King's Chapel at the burial of Crispus been born in 1837, attended school at January 1987
Washington in 1853 and come to the Allopaths or doctors from bably it was in 1860 that he came to northern New York in 1854. It has also established medical schools be- Potsdam where he entered a partner- been said that he attended academies lieved in the heroic or massive ship with Luke Usher, a banker, and at Potsdam and Ogdensburg, but the dosage of synthetic medicines; the purchased Apothecary Hall, a Market records of the St. Lawrence Academy Eclectics or reform doctors be- Street drug store which had been at Potsdam and the Ogdensburg Free lieved in the moderate dosage of owned by Hunt and Laws. Under the Academy are missing for the critical natural (botanical) medicines; the Usher and Thatcher name. Apothecary years. In view of the fact that census Homeopaths, a spinoff from the Hall functioned as a wholesale and records indicate Thatcher's parents Eclectics, believed in the mini- retail establishment dealing in physi- had moved to a farm in the Town of mum dosage of mineral medicines. cians' supplies, patent medicines, gro- Stockholm, east of Potsdam, between Mr. Griggs describes the Eclectic eries and hardware. 1850 and 1860, it seems likely that Medical College as an "average-to-good By the 1860s some drug stores had Thatcher came to Northern New York medical school." There was no regula- become "variety" shops, and Thatcher's with his parents. Nevertheless, pre- tion of medical schools or of the business was not the least behind the vious accounts of his arrival in New medical profession before the Civil times. An advertisement in The Cowier York do not mention it. Census records War, and there were several medical and Freeman, March 18, 1864, lists, in suggest that Thatcher's uncle, Warren colleges in Cincinnati at the time, addition to the expected medical sup- Thatcher, had settled on a farm in the ranging, in Mr. Griggs's words, from plies and patent medicines, paints, Stockholm area earlier in the nine- "quack diploma mills to sincere legiti- meerschaums, window and picture teenth century. mate schools." Unlike today's medical glass, combs "in almost every variety" In order to earn money for further students, those in Dr. Thatcher's time and "Brushes. Tooth and nail from the education, the future Dr. Thatcher were largely self-taught. Attendance cheapest American to the finest im- taught school briefly in Canton. Next, requirements varied from a period of ported." A more personal ad ran on he went to New York City where he weeks to a period of years. According May 8,1879: "H.D. Thatcher would say worked for a year at a drug store on to Mr. Griggs, as late as 1901 Harvard that he has just received a new stock of Broadway. The Thatcher legend sug- Medical School required only two years the celebrated Universal Pile Pills and gests that Ewen McIntyre, who had of undergraduate study and one year of would advise all those troubled with graduated from the College of Phar- graduate study for a degree in medi- the piles to give these pills a faithful macy of the City of New York in 1847 cine. trial. Don't forget the name," Ap- and later served as that college's At the Eclectic Medical College parently Dr. Thatcher learned early to president from 1877 to 1890, was Hervey Thatcher was exposed to do things right. An item from the May instrumental in providing Thatcher courses, professors and textbooks 14, 1862 edition of the Courier de- with that employment. It has also been dealing with chemistry, pharmacy, clared, "Usher and Thatcher have said that Thatcher worked briefly in toxicolocy, materia medica, and, recently received a very large assort- the pharmaceutical business in Ken- possibily of greatest significance, ment of drugs and medicines and tucky and that he had had some "medical botany." The history and everything else in their line. Dr. association with E. R. Squibb, founder records of the college have been well Thatcher devotes his entire time and of the Squibb pharmaceutical firm. preserved by the Lloyd Library which attention to the business, is a capital During the years 1855-1858, Dr. Squibb serves as a reference center for the druggist, and people can purchase started a small laboratory in Kentucky study and history of pharmacology. from him with the confidence of which produced pharmaceutical sup- Thatcher probably spent no more than getting what they call for." Having plies for the U.S. Navy. Possibly two years at the college. During his thus gilded the lily, the reporter added, Thatcher met Dr. Squibb in Kentucky vacations he may have worked for "Read their advertisement in another at that time. It must have been during Squibb's pharmaceutical firm, gaining column." this period that Thatcher began his experience he would later put to good Not surprisingly, Thatcher's drug studies at the Eclectic Medical College use. store was also noted for its ice cream in Cincinnati, from which he received soda fountain. The St. Lawrence Herald his MD degree in 1859. The Drug Store Years 1860-1895 for August 15, 1890, reported "The It would seem that Thatcher's choice After his graduation Dr. Thatcher large crowds that gather around of the Eclectic Medical College, returned to Canton in 1859 to establish Thatcher's soda fountain is good whether by accident or deliberate his first drug store. It was there that evidence that Thatcher draws the best intention, prepared him well for a long he first had to practice what he had soda water in town." An advertisement career as Potsdam's leading druggist. learned in medical school. It seems on June 19, 1891, declared, "Thatcher's The college was associated with the there was an explosion in a quarry at ice cream is not surpassed in this or eclectic movement in medicine which Morley, and a boy with a badly injured any other company. . . . Have you tried was led by some prominent and com- leg was brought to Canton on a cart. it? . . . .Ten cents a glass: without ice petent doctors who were "thoroughly The best village doctors examined the cream, five cents." dissatisfied with the current medical injury and recommended amputation, In 1865 Dr. Thatcher took over methods practiced at that time so but Dr. Thatcher, optimistic if not Usher's interest in the business. An vigorously and viciously." The move- tactful, refused. He admonished his advertisement in the 1868 Potsdam ment was something of a revolt against colleagues: "When you see something Directory bears the heading "Apothe- excessive use of blood letting and you can't handle, you saw the leg off cary Hall" and beneath it "H.D. "massive doses of calomdl" in treating and make a cripple." He administered Thatcher, Druggist." The location was many ailments. According to John B. anaesthetic and applied some of his given as 19 Market Street. At this time Griggs, Librarian of the Lloyd Library own powders to the leg. Within six the druggist was experiencing what and Museum in Cincinnati, weeks the boy was back on the job at was possibly the most prosperous peri- the quarry. od of his life. An entry in Josiah The Eclectics were a reform Dr. Thatcher had been in business Brown's diary for April 4. 1870, re- movement in medicine in the early scarcely a year when his drug store veals that "Dr. T. has moved his drug 1800s that sought to changelim- was destroyed by a fire which swept store into the cellar of the Stone prove patient care and treatment; the business district in Canton. Pro- building. They commenced tearing January 1987 down the buildings up the street will not make the butter red if you preparatory for building the block of should get in a little too much, but Brooks, Thatcher and Dayton." The it will look like a new milch Jersey building which Dr. Thatcher erected at cow's butter. Now, reader, if you do 19 Market Street is now occupied by not want this ORANGE BUTTER Kinney Drugs. COLOR, do not buy it. If you do not According to an entry in Potsdam buy it your neighbors will, and will Directory, by 1873 the drug store get [more money per pound] for business was being conducted under butter than you do. . . . the name "H. D. Thatcher & Co." even The booklet also contained numerous though a certificate of incorporation testimonials from satisfied customers would not be filed with the State of from many areas of the country. The New York Department of State until butter color was marketed under the 1894. Directors of the corporation were corporate name H.D. Thatcher & Co. Hervey D. Thatcher, Olivia A. Thatcher until the incorporation of the Thatcher and Frederick G. Paddock of Malone. Manufacturing Company in 1890. It Share holders and share distributions appears that following the latter in- were as follows: H.D. Thatcher, 1449; corporation the butter color business Olivia Thatcher, 50; Katherine Paddock may have been divided with part of it (Malone). 10; Henry Killaby (New going to Thatcher Mfg. Co., in which York City), one. The object of the 1894 Thatcher held no apparent financial incorporation was to manufacture and interest. It is not known whether Dr. sell baking powder, show cases, "Con- Thatcher ever received any financial dition Powder," and various other compensation for that part of the articles of merchandise. Although by business which went to Thatcher Mfg. this time Thatcher had invented his Co. It appears that the butter color butter color, it was not specifically continued to be produced and marketed listed. under the H.D. Thatcher & Co. name The show cases listed probably are Dr. Hervey D. Thatcher. (Photo- until that company's bankruptcy in glass enclosed show cases which graph courtesy of the Potsdam 1913. Following that event, butter Thatcher improved upon. In his drug Public Museum) color was an important item distributed store. Thatcher emulo-ved a number of by Ira Kendall and Robert Byrnes in glass-enclosed dispiay -cases fitted with their dairy supply company which circular shelves revolving about a little book has devoted time more continued to operate under the H.D. vertical standard. Dissatisfied with the or less for over eighteen years to Thatcher & Co. name for some time. It existing means for adjusting the shelves this want. Eighteen years ago I has not been determined whether they vertically, in 1887 he invented an manufactured and sold many thou- manufactured the butter color or ob- improved "adjustable shelf fastener." A sand bottles of what was then tained it from Thatcher Mfg. Co. patent was issued in 1888 and in 1894 called a good color. Four years ago Another profitable product made by it was assigned to H.D. Thatcher & I sent to London for one of Beck's Thatcher during the drug store period Company. The 1889-90 Potsdam Direc- Fine Microscopes for the purpose was Thatcher's Condition Powder. tory carried an advertisement in- of having additional facilities for Although it is not clear exactly when dicating that "Show Cases with Re- examining the different vegetable the Condition Powder was put on the volving Shelves" were available at the orange colors. Since that time I market, Thatcher made perfectly clear Thatcher Drug Store. have made more than one thousand the extent to which it was indispensable Thatcher's Butter Color samples of butter, and colored each to those who raised cattle and horses. sample with a different prepara- In the early 1860s Dr. Thatcher tion. I was determined to get the This preparation was first put developed and began marketing his exact shade of nice June butter, upon the market to be used by orange butter color. Reluctant to divulge having not the reddish tint but a dairymen especially for milch cows, the secrets of this product, he chose not real straw color, made entirely as a 'NERVE TONIC AND to apply for patent protection. In later from vegetable substances, at a APPETIZER' and for the preven- years it was revealed that his basic price that would come within the tion and cure of specific, contagious ingredient was annatto seed from Japan. reach of the butter maker. I have and endemic diseases. It proved so Demand for the butter color grew to report that I have fully ac- efficient and became so popular in rapidly over a wide area of the United complished my purpose. I am now those districts where it was known States and it probably contributed offering to the people a truly and used that farriers and horse- greatly to Dr. Thatcher's prosperity in vegetable combination, which can men were not long in finding that the period from 1860 to 1880 when he be fed to a child with impunity, it possessed merit which they could erected his building at 19 Market and which will do the work and do utilize and which they could not do Street and his fine home at 100 Market it right. My twenty-five cent bottle without. At their suggestion the Street. He published a booklet on will color about five hundred name CONDITION POWDER Orange Butter Color from which the pounds of winter butter, more or AND FOOD ASSIMILANT was following is taken: less, according to the feed of the finally adopted. In the winter, spring, and late in cows. noth her thing, it will not This description is taken from a small the fall, and occasionally during color the buttermilk, nor stain booklet Dr. Thatcher published in dry weather in the summer, butter your hands so but that a little soap 1890, the title page of which reads must have a little additional color and water will immediately remove "HOW TO SUCCEED ON THE to give it a fine appearance and to it. Rinsing the butter will not wash FARM-also when and how to use enable the maker to secure the away the color, as the butter THATCHER'S CONDITION POWDER highest price. The writer of this globules only take up the color. It OR FOOD ASSIMILANT-to keep 6 January 1987
young animals healthy and growing known to physicians and pharmacists, the family with whom we are most and especially to prevent contagious should not lessen our confidence in the concerned were the children of William diseases." The booklet also leads to value of the product. Mystery does not George Barnhart I1 and Catherine speculation that Thatcher was a great cure. . . ." March: Adelaide Olive (b. 1837, d. admirer of P.T. Barnum because much Dr. Thatcher's invention of his 1912); Samuel Lindsey (b. 1845, d. of it was devoted to an account of sanitary milking pail, glass milk bottle. 1917); Harvey Patten (b. 1847. d. 1923); Barnum's life and the wreck of the and baking powder also occurred and William Norman. (b. 1831, d. Barnum & Bailey circus train near during the drug store era but those 1895). Potsdam in 1889. He concluded his subjects will be treated at length later Adelaide Olive was educated -at the Barnum story with the statement that in this article. Dr. Thatcher sold the Cornwall High School and at the "The grandest equestrian feat must be drug store business to his successors, Albany Female Academy, now the accomplished, all other things being Brown & Perrin, in 1895. Albany Academy for Girls, where she equal, by the horse that has had his received a Certificate of Proficiency. daily or semi-weekly ration of THATCH- Thatcher and the Barnhart Family She married Hervey Thatcher in 1865 ER'S CONDITION POWDER." The Thatcher story would be in- in a ceremony at the home of her None of the secrecy under which the complete without an account of his parents on Barnhart Island. The composition of the Orange Butter Color wife's family, the Barnharts of Barn- Reverend Archdeacon Patten of Corn- was kept is evident in descriptions of hart Island, east of Massena in the St. wall C. W. officiated. the Condition Powder. Thatcher de- Lawrence River. The association of the Thatcher's brothers-in-law, Samuel clared in the pamphlet that "the Barnharts with the Island commenced and William, were both listed as formula for Thatcher's Condition when George Barnhart leased the students at the St. Lawrence Academy Powder is no secret. It will cheerfully island from the St. Regis Indians in at Potsdam in 1861 and Harvey was and promptly be made known to any 1795. This association continued until listed as a student there in 1867. Physician or Veterinary Practitioner the island became the site for construc- Harvey was listed as an employee of H. who requests it, either by mail or in tion of the hydroelectric power project D. Thatcher & Co. as early as 1873. He person." Ever careful to reassure his in the 1950s. apparently lived in Potsdam until he potential customers about his product, The story of "The Barnharts of departed for Portland. Oregon. in 1907. he maintined that "The fact that all of Barnhart Island" has been told in great His principal residence was the house the ingredients that enter into the detail in a series of articles published on Market Street which he sold to Condition Powders are substances well in The Ottawa Citizen. The members of Bertrand Snell in 1907. Samuel lived
The Ttzatcher. house at 100 Market Street in Potsdam. (Photograph courtesy of the Potsdam Public Museum) January 1987 in Potsdam intermittently, returning Montreal in 1901. In preparation for putting the Milk to the Island as needed to manage his Dr. Thatcher maintained his associa- Protector on the market, Thatcher sent father's estate. William Norman left tion with the Barnhart family to the Harvey Barnhart to New York City to Potsdam to spend most of his life in very end. When he wrote his will a few obtain several hundred of the drawn Florida. days before his death in 1925 he named tubes of peculiar shape and to order a Samuel Barnhart's first two wives 'Arthur C. Barnhart of Brushton, New corresponding number of pails, covers, died early. Consequently, three of his York, as the executor. Arthur Chamber- and soft rubber cups. They had decided children were reared by the Thatchers lain Barnhart was a son of William to invest $6000 in the venture, $5000 by at their home at 100 Market Street. Norman Barnhart and a brother of the Thatcher and $1000 by Barnhart. The children were: Katherine Louisa second set of Barnhart nephews and Barnhart found that the tubes could be (b. 1869); Adelaide Alice (b. 1871); and nieces taken in as foster children by obtained in small quantities for fifty William G. (b. 1878). After William the Thatchers. Arthur was raised as a cents each from Scoville & Company. Norman Barnhart died in Florida in foster son by Katherine and her hus- However, quantities of 10,000 could be 1895, three of his children were sent band, Frederick Paddock, at Malone. had for ten cents each. Barnhart was north to live with the Thatchers: carried away with the idea and placed Norman G. (b. 1881), Adelaide C. (b. Dr. Thatcher and an order for 10,000 tubes. The tubes, 1891) and Frederick (b. 1892). Records The "Milk Protector" therefore, cost $1,000. There is a show that all six of these children Dr. Thatcher's interest in dairying suggestion that Barnhart ordered received their early education in the and livestock went beyond his butter enough pails, covers and cups to Primary and Intermediate Divisions of color and condition powder. There is account for the remaining $5000. the Potsdam Normal School. Katherine evidence that he kept his own cow at Thatcher, dismayed at his partner's and Norman went on to graduate from his home at 100 Market Street in 1883. actions, advised Barnhart that it had the Normal School. Katherine became He was greatly concerned that in the been an enormous mistake to place so an artist studying at a school associ- process of milking a cow using an large an order when they had no idea ated with the Metropolitan Museum in ordinary open pail there was a high how many milk protectors could be New York City. She worked in char- probability that the milk would become sold. There is evidence that a sub- coal, oils, water colors and pastels. She contaminated with all sorts of dirt stantial exchange of words ended with became an art teacher and she wrote from the cow and stable. With the Thatcher paying Barnhart $1000 "in articles for art magazines. Later in life assistance of his employee and brother- crisp bank bills." This financial she served for several years on the in-law, Harvey P. Barnhart, he in- exchange seems somewhat unusual Normal School Council. vented a device whereby milk could be because it was Barnhart, not Thatcher, Katherine's marriage apparently was transferred from cow to container who seemed to have ample financial a most significant event in the under more sanitary conditions. The resources. The argument settled, the Thatchers' lives. Th,e Courier and device consisted of a metal pail with a milk protector would soon be on the Freeman for April 14, 1890 reported tight fitting cover in which there were market. the event: two small openings. Installed in each The Glass Milk Bottle opening there was an assembly of a Trinity Church was comfortably long narrow tube, a rubber seal and a With the milk protector project com- filled with the elite of the town soft rubber cup shaped to fit the cow. pleted, Dr. Thatcher took up other Monday afternoon to witness the With this device a cow could be milked matters related to sanitary milk pro- marriage of Miss Kittie Barnhart, without the human hand coming in duction and distribution, this time of this Village, to Mr. Frederick contact with the cow or the milk itself. concerning himself with the way milk Paddock of Malone. Dr. H.D. That- Dr. Thatcher and Harvey Barnhart was distributed to customers. It was cher, uncle and foster father, gave had devised their first "milk protector." probably early in 1884 that the incident the bride away and John M. In 1854, at the age of nineteen, Dr. of the "rag doll in the milk can" took Curran acted in the capacity of Thatcher had been teaching district place. We are inclined to treat it as a best man, while Mr. S. L. Barn- school at Canton. One of his brightest legend but there is some evidence that hart, father of the bride was pupils had been Perry Benjamin Pierce Dr. Thatcher may have told the story present and displayed a lively who went on to Hobart College at himself. A fine version of the story was interest. Miss Kittie was a graduate Geneva where he received a BA in written by Frank W. Lovering and of the Potsdam Normal School, 1865 and an MA in 1868. Later he published in the Florida Grower & and by her long residence here has received an LLD from the Columbia Rancher for August 1954. It is repeated gained many friends, all of whom University Law School. Soon after- here: will wish her joy in her new home Born of Sorrow and relations. The groom is a wards he secured a position in the rising young lawyer, of the firm of patent office at Washington, D.C., and The invention of the glass milk McClary & Paddock, of Malone. was appoihted head examiner in one bottle was born of a druggist- His father, Judge Paddock of department. While visiting friends at physician's sorrow at a symbol of Canton, Mr. Pierce came to Potsdam to tragedy he saw moving slowly and Malone, will be pleasantly remem- see Dr. Thatcher shortly after the first bered especially by people long in too frequently through the streets years. Congratulations. milk protector was put to use. He saw of his town, Potsdam, in northern so much merit in it that he advised New York-a small white hearse It is interesting to note that Harvey Thatcher to secure a patent for it. The drawn by two black horses. In the F. Barnhart had a son named Harold doctor was somewhat reluctant, but hearse a child lay in a white THATCHER Barnhart, born in 1879. nevertheless allowed his former student casket, the victim of typhoid fever. Harvey also had a daughter, Ethel, to engage an attorney in Washington to Dr. Hervey D. Thatcher knew born in 1884. While she was attending see to the matter. An application was from sad experience at the bedsides the elementary division of the Normal filed in April, 1883, and a patent, of sick little ones, how the malady School, Hervey D. Thatcher was inex- listing Hervey D. Thatcher and Samuel was passed by germs. He used to plicably listed in the records as her Barnhart as inventors, was issued in tell it this way: "guardian." Ethel went on to graduate August of the same year. Dr. Thatcher The milkman's bell called Ann from the Dunham Teachers College at had received his first patent. and her mother to the front door of January 1987
their home in Potsdam. The mother held a yellow crockery pitcher into which the milk was to be ladled ABSOLUTELY PURE MILK. from a big can. The milkman eased his leap to the dusty village street from his seat on the wagon by putting the flat of a hand on the horse's rump. Then he lifted out a partly emptied 40-quart tin can, carried it up the front walk and set it on the porch. Ann was hugging her rag doll. As she watched the milkman re- move the cover-which measured one quart-from the can, the doll slipped out of her arms and drop- ped through the broad open mouth of the can. The doll bobbed up and down two or three times before the milkman fished it out and tossed it on the lawn with a grunt of disapproval. Then he filled the pitcher. At that very moment Dr. That- cher was passing the house. More of an inventor than a physician, he had given up medical practice and spring monll~s,while the row is cnsling her old cuat. and is mom or leqs Lesrnearc~lby continued was running the village drug store. stabling. Noodor of the stnl,le wmuin conLct His quick eyes saw the doll's -wilh tho milk. milk bath. He muttered a disgusted THE ONLY DEVICE KNOWN that to the mnsumcr Absolutely Pure Milk iri such a rnanner that it c~nt,c Lcpt swcet for kvrnl dayy, furnisll :r gw,.~ "humph!" and walked thoughtfully aat of crmm and be hanlly to uw. !\.e n,.,? ;uld that Ilsis milk ir crccllml ns n bvcrage snd a Wholesome Food along to his apothecary shop. In a for Children. number of ways Dr. Thatcher was Samln!, 9 tr.rtrll Ily the most powrrful Microscope wem found to co~?t:~;v, .. a dissatisfied man. The recurring Foreign Substance. and larnrr tIdc Medical Profession @ve it tl~eironqu.~~.w~l mppn,val. epidemics of disease in the region Closed Milk Bottles-Tlbc mi14 nn !;c:ncrIn\vn fmmU~ecbw,in a pr-rft r 8.. Imru irked him. itale, m ;~I*BYC:18, . i .l~c,cl,is at crnca c,,,,ic
ill,::?. -! je':i~,tl.l:,le. Ill llol weather n ft.'i r:llr 8%: llrllli \vlil 16~11k10rl\vill~out injury, but wI;rt~n.>.Iy p.x:lv full the a 'tation prr~rlrlcl-.! 1.;- I!te ~u.,viil~carriage aftol causrs IIlc workshop, picked up a well-sea- a,f,.r*.<:~tiunuf l.irSe iurnI,s oklbutter, grcaUg 1.0 11.1 inr:uru. \\.c lltirtk it fair b, infer that no soned stick of white pine, sawed off n%,tl,cr of the 18~cdic:ll ],mftlsion would pru8nounis such miUc a wholesome fvod for ittralids or deltc~luclbildrcn. a section a foot long, and fitted the Every One of then ObJeotlonm are obvlaled by our Milk bttle Syetem. chunk between the faceplate and Keepins ~ualltlekltsthe holtntcler.nf rusnmrr, milk clmwn ll~n~urlttlte Blllk I'mtfflor WIIl L%,.p I,, ~I,L!.Y.~.. IIn rsvfrl~cret*tr<,,I* Ibsnc Ilmc. u trl~ro,, ~-nrlbilil, ut8rubll~111yabulu1"r. tailstock .of his lathe. The Creamtu8r bc it~at8~n!lyICIIIO\T~ Y 1111 a~pvtz~.~D~~~u~IuvYIO~L~~~~LDII II~C m)~er~1,1a~d I1 whole Milk is mlulrrd u~d1hsCmnm haa grarlWtoIb. nulyc,ahvke~hehtilewrll Then he selected a turning tool. t,.ro:~ u,ruliig MIIk Bottle marked "d"~prrscnt. Ule nrtural pasltlon In lbe dosd rwle. His right foot worked the treadle Milk Bottle mnrkc-4 -8"showm tho hnll mnmnc (nlh* .Idr.wtb.t the wrrr mn be rpmnve,l Tllli, llnu I*111 L. In ll~in~nrllionwllh ll~ell~uu~l~.#ad Linger orrauf tho yiruteuJa ul llre L*Il c%n 1- of the lathe and chips whizzed into mt#ruvlsrrum iiarivkct, 11 at Irdnlnd lo wmwe 111. laU the air. THE SPINNING STICK Mllk Bottle ma*& "C" ~lfiornllbo 1.1hIt r~tlln~lgdelsrhcd lor ,-i~.mlr,# pu-s. Mllk Bottle mrrtd "D".hnrshc,v 10 1,tk- 1~.~1~l~~rllt~?lull 1.1 (syn (IICIC~~I~BCLIL~(.. 11,~pIcs. WAS TRANSFORMED AND rrlm r- I,nmg!11 W bcnr uyuntLeL!~l'naaL1r.~cu1.lurlb lvnv agalust the (rim lopal One Lnl: arigi,t Lrt,d LL BECAME THE CONCRETE MIIk 8ottIe mute4 "~rhorrtl~een.l~~tm~l~~~~fn~n~lj~~nIr~~1111~luoll. II.nlr1 llvr lei: Irl a )~,..i. z,8nlrt! vmll>,>!, n- +hatw18,Inw~m~~~ ,of ll~~~~lv~~l < rwl-. #18r-! ibx -,r *ti~li~6~ ll,~.t fl,cr sn~ta!mlt!,u t~ccL,,I IDEA OF THE WORLD'S FIRST li~rl~,rb:e rititl: i, rr.~181 r llie ,,lnpmitu IIIII~.~~I~I~I.IT?.01rt 1) 11 ~n~lt~nrltlytln,lns ~I:Ip!aw To Fasten 11,a: Iw.t!Ie.. ltlnrc Ir8rupp.r anrl8s.r 81 .n Iha m\cr, dl#.pthe cur MILK BOTTLE, A PATTERN end crnrp 111,. Ii.,t.v-.-r 1.wr %ill,!i,r III&II~~~.n,irtillt lbvt.rt~enmhor111. ~v~.rnbi.til the ~l..len.*lluti$18 Ilw vn*. Inrdrup hlu tho 81,- rul icy. 'The rwpr rasher. are FROM WHICH MILLIONS dcl~gt>cdIo h u4but once Brmaka#e-Avoid lmmmlll~ tho I~n!llwtn) *!!#ldt.cily In hot WERE LATER CAST. The first the, ~rv\c.ry I 1.1~111 1.11.~~1111. I~l.aLlhntI~n~~~k. rh..,:). i.111 LLaaUdd~ I~.,,,~.r,,t,2n, n.., ,,~III. 8,rI+,III"K ly.tc.~ tr 1,- ,LIL-I K. ,.IS,. hand-blown milk bottles were I~~,sc\~~r.I,, tlra walcr wrncrlont Iem tbull Uba lulling lcrupcntum made in 1884. In a letter written in 1919, Dr. Thatcher said that he did turn the first wooden model or pattern on a foot- powered lathe. Probably he took his model to the Batchelder Furniture Factory on Fall Island to have the The Milk Protectm and Milk Eattles are manufactured by figure of a man milking a cow carved H. D. THATC:I1EH C CO.,POTSL)AJI, N. Y. by their craftsmen. Then he took his Battles to be Washed and Returned. pattern to the Whitall-Tatum Glass Works at Millville, New Jersey, and The milk protector was patented in 1883; combined with the glass milk requested that they start production. bottle, it reflects Dr. Thatcher's abiding interest in providing pure milk to The superintendent of the glass works consumers. (Photograph courtesy of the Potsdam Public Museum) found some faults with the pattern, but January 1987 when they were corrected some bottles milk in glass bottles. It is a corporate entity, the Thatcher Manu- were produced at once. Thatcher or- failure and will never amount facturing Company, for handling the dered a larger quantity at a later date. to anything." milk bottle business must have had its Probably Dr. Thatcher applied for a origin around 1886, several years be- patent covering his bottle in 1884 but Wilcox eventually regained enough fore its legal incorporation. nothing came of it. There was nothing confidence in Thatcher's invention to In 1887 Dr. Thatcher, as was his new about putting milk in a glass build a compartmented wooden crate custom, got out a small booklet pro- bottle. Milk was first delivered in a which would hold the bottles upright to moting "The Thatcher System of Milk glass bottle by Alexander Campbell in prevent spilling. Delivery." The booklet included orders Brooklyn in 1878. Furthermore, a The Wilcox experience suggests that and testimonials from satisfied cus- patent had been issued to L.P. Whitman Dr. Thatcher, in inventing his first tomers located not only throughout in 1880 for a glass milk jar with glass milk bottle, may have neglected New York State but also in Ohio and closure. Probably Thatcher could have the problem of closing and sealing the Pennsylvania. These testimonials cover- obtained a copyright for the use of the bottle against leakage. The first lot of ed a period from May 1886 to Novem- figure of a man milking a cow on his bottles might have been produced with ber 1887. The booklet described some bottles but he did not choose to do so. necks smooth on the outside with no new products such as adjustable milk- While Thatcher was getting his first indentations for anchoring a wire bail. ing stools, bottle fillers and patrons' re- bottles into production he was also This poses an interesting question for ceiving boxes. Directions for building seeking a market for them. Finding no milk bottle collectors: Has anyone ever milk bottle crates were also included. one in Potsdam interested in this new seen an early Thatcher bottle without It was in this booklet that the term idea he turned his attention to the indentations on the outside of the neck? "Thatcher Mfg. Co." may have been marketing possibilities in Ogdensburg. After the Wilcox experience, it was used for the first time in print. An excellent but anonymous account of necessary for Dr. Thatcher to find a Throughout this period the bottles what followed appeared in the Ogdens- way to close and seal his bottles. The were of the style using the glass burg Journal for 14 August 1948: result was his invention of a glass stopper with wire bail assembly as stopper held in place by a wire bail described in the 1886 patent. It should With Ogdensburg then as now assembly with the gap between stopper be understood that throughout the the largest community in the and bottle sealed by a rubber gasket. Potsdam years all bottles were hand county, more milk deliveries were This required that the bottle have two made at the Whitall-Tatum Glassworks made here by dealers and fewer small indentations on the outside of the in South Millville, New Jersey. Ad- inhabitants still owned their own neck to anchor the wire bail. The vertising, sales and distribution were cows. A virtual monopoly of the assembly was described in his applica- managed from Potsdam. Bottles were field in this city was held at the tion for a patent dated 23 December usually shipped direct from the glass- time by three men, William C. 1886 and bearing the number 340,833 works to the customers. Everything Wilcox, David Hutchins and Major and listing Hervey D. Thatcher and indicates that acceptance of the William H. Daniels, each of whom Harvey P. Barnhart as the inventors. Thatcher system spread rapidly through- owned his own dairy farm in this As we have said, Barnhart was an out the milk delivery industry. vicinity and served about 300 employee of Thatcher at this time. The wire bail assembly described in customers. There is no way of knowing exactly the 1886 patent consisted of two parts- Dr. Thatcher first tried Wilcox, what part Barnhart may have played the wire bail itself and a metal cross- and the latter, despite objections in the invention. This was the only bar to act as a spring to hold the glass on the ground that it would make patent pertaining to glass milk bottles stopper and paper washer tight against more work and no more money for bearing Hervey Thatcher's name as the mouth of the bottle. One early the dealers, finally agreed to buy inventor. Harvey Barnhart's Canadian Thatcher bottle equipped with this six Milk Protectors at $3 each and cousin, Albert Augustus Barnhart (b. type of bail assembly has just been $400 worth of bottles at ten cents 1862, d. 1901), operated a dairy at located in 1986. Other Thatcher bottles each. He also paid royalty of $50 Ottawa. At some point he had bottles that have survived from this early for their use. made that were similar to the early period are equipped with one-piece With this heavy investment in an Thatcher bottles but in imperial quart wire bails which would have been untried device no small weight on size. They bore the same embossment easier to manufacture and install on his mind, Wilcox loaded a few of in the glass: the figure of a man the bottles. At best, the handling of the bottles into his democrat wagon milking a cow and "Absolutely Pure these separate parts-the paper washer, on the morning of Aug. 6, 1884. Milk-The Milk Protector-A. A. Barn- the glass stopper, and the wire bail- They rested on a bed of straw hart-Ottawa Ont." The only known every time a bottle was closed and without benefit of crates and as surviving bottle was found in a ditch sealed presented a problem. there were no caps-just wooden near Perth, Ontario, and is presently Because the number of bottles plugs carved as a makeshift by owned by Mrs. Shirley Shorter of handled each day would soon reach Henry Batchelder-the bottles jos- Ottawa. into the millions, a simpler method was tled about in the wagon and spilled Once use of the "Milk Protector desperately needed. In June 1889, an most of their contents before System" proved successful at the application was filed for a patent Wilcox covered the two and a half Wilcox Farm at Ogdensburg, Dr. describing a method of capping and miles to town. Thatcher took steps to promote the sealing milk bottles with a simple Wilcox had to return to his farm system more widely. He hired Dexter paper disc resting snugly on a narrow that day and start all over with the Cahoon and Sylvester Wright at a ledge within the neck of the bottle. The old-fashioned can and ladle. Righ- salary of $3.00 a day and expenses to material referred to as "paper" was in teously indignant upon his return, go on the road to "sell territory." He reality a cardboard disc treated with he sat down that night and wrote continued to assess royalty charges to paraffin or other wax. The patent was Dr. Thatcher as follows: dairies for use of the system: $50 for issued in September 1889 listing Dr. "My Dear Doctor: You must small villages, $100 for small cities, Thatcher's brothers-in-law, Harvey think a man a fool to be $200 to $300 for larger cities. The Patten Barnhart and Samuel Lindsey driving around the streets with concept of establishing a separate Barnhart, as the inventors. January 1987
We really cannot be sure what part, interesting to note that bottles were Dr. Thatcher sold his interest in the if any, Dr. Thatcher had in this still being produced by hand at this glass milk bottle business to his broth- invention. He was always short of cash, time. The new paper cap revolutionized ers-in-law, Harvey P. and Samuel L. whereas the Barnhart brothers seemed the fledgling glass milk bottle industry Barnhart. about 1889. The exact date to have ample financial resources. and it was to become the standard of and circumstances surrounding the Since we know that Thatcher had an the industry for many years. transaction are not known. In 1890 the inventive mind, it is possible that the Initially the caps were made in two Barnhart brothers filed a certificate of original idea might have been his but sizes, 1% inches in diameter and 1% incorporation for the Thatcher Manu- that he was short of cash for filing the inches in diameter. The next step was facturing Company listing the fol- patent application. As a consequence, to produce the caps in Potsdam in lowing directors: Harvey Barnhart. the' Barnharts might have agreed to large quantities. The story of what Samuel Barnhart, Thomas S. Clarkson, finance the patent provided they could followed is a brief chapter in the George Z. Erwin, Carlton Sanford, be named as the inventors. On the history of technology. At first the caps William Weed, Hosea Bicknell other hand, we may be underestimating were punched one at a time by hand and Herbert Sanford. the inventive ability of one or both of using a steel punch and die set. The Also in 1890 the Barnharts con- the Barnharts. Potsdam Museum has a newspaper structed a fine three-story brick Once the patent had been secured, photograph of King Kellogg producing building on the north side of Depot the original design of the glass milk caps by this method. Of course, this Street to accommodate the business. bottle had to be altered to accommodate method was far too slow. The next The new building was equipped with a the new paper cap. Possibly a new method used a foot-powered press for steam powered elevator, the first of its mould had to be made for the new punching the caps from a long strip of kind in Potsdam. In these quarters the bottles. Eventually a new generation of paper. The museum has a picture of business flourished, and bottles con- glass milk bottles went into production Charles Pappa producing caps by this tinued to be hand blown at the Whit- at the Whitall-Tatum plant. It is method, which was still too slow. The all-Tatum Glassworks in New Jersey third and final method of producing while paper bottle caps were made in caps employed a power-driven press Potsdam. A number of salesmen were capable of producing a half-million kept on the road, including Harvey caps a day. Probably this press was Barnhart's son. Harold Thatcher Barn- driven by steam because the Thatcher hart. In the same year the Barnharts Manufacturing Company building was secured a Canadian patent describing too far from the river to use water "an improvement in milk bottles" power. The development of this more whereby paper caps would be used for efficient production method came just closing and sealing the bottles. This in time, for there is evidence that in was the Canadian equivalent of their 1887 orders began to arrive for quanti- 1889 patent in the United States. ties of 50,000 caps at a time. Francis E. Baldwin was a lawyer at The new generation of glass milk Elmira. New York, who became in- bottles to be produced by hand at the tensely interested in the development Whitall-Tatum plant came to be known of the Owen glass blowing machine in as the "COMMON SENSE" style of the late 1890s. He believed it would bottle. It had the following inscription prove profitable in the production of embossed on the front: glass milk bottles. He obtained a COMMON SENSE license to manufacture glass milk MILK JAR bottles under the Owen patents and he PAT. SEPT. 17,1889 formed the Baldwin-Travis Company THIS BOTTLE for that purpose. Around 1900 he TO BE WASHED became interested in the Thatcher AND RETURNED Manufacturing Company which had "T. MFG. CO. - PAT. SEPT. 1889" was been successfully engaged in the glass embossed on the bottom of the bottle. milk bottle and dairy supply business The back of the bottle was blank so at Potsdam for nearly sixteen years. that the name of the particular dairy On a business trip to Potsdam he owning the bottle could be embossed acquired the Company which was there. It is interesting that the in- promptly merged with the Baldwin- struction for washing and returning Travis Co. keeping the Thatcher the bottle was needed to educate Manufacturing Co. corporate name. customers in the correct use of the new The Baldwins lived in Potsdam briefly, glass milk bottles. With the passage of and during that time Harvey P. time there were changes in the inscrip- Barnhart was made General Manager tions on the bottles. For example, of the Potsdam Division of the Company embossing the words "COMMON- to keep the business going until glass SENSE-MILK JAR - PAT. SEPT. 17, milk bottles could be successfully pro- 1889" was discontinued. There is a duced by machine at a new glass works theory among some bottle collectors built at Kane, Pennsylvania. Simeon L. that bottles produced as salesmen's Clark of Parishville was a substantial samples bore the COMMON SENSE investor in the new enterprise. There is embossment whereas it was left off a local story that he disregarded the bottles produced for the ordinary advice of his lawyer and banker in A Thatcher milk bottle with glass trade. With or without the phrase, they making this investment. The first list stopper and wire hail. (Photograph cour- were known as "common sense style" of officers and directors of the Company tesy of the Potsdam Public Museum) bottles well into the following decade. at Elmira included General Charles January 1987 11
Qhis is tu Qertifg that-
8,. giz,.~ni~r sctlrr' rrc.rr.sfic~prrptrb/ishcd in f'utsd~rt~r.N. Y.; ard this L"trpnrty slaN not bc liabfc to #a; any r/;v;d~x,/strn tbi.r Ctrtijirt~fr.njlr.r strcb rtot8.c rhnN bm,c bcc.n ddygiven. 7'lfdivivinrnh of this Prcftrrcd Stock cry-r payab/r ,rt fhr oflcc nj' this Corttpnrry in Putsdam. N. Y.
A ct~rtific.ntrof stock iu H.D. Tl~ntcl/~r& Co. (Photograph courtesy of the Potsdam Public Museum) Langdon as Vice-President and Direc- tor. This tends to confirm the story that Mark Twain's Langdon in-laws were J significant investors in the new enter- Please ask prise. Baldwin served as the first President of the Company for 27 years during which time it became a tremen- a friend to join today: dous success. He was noted for his skill in hiring competent men. He was described as a "humanitarian," taking an active part in social, religious and Regular Annual Membership $15.00 I political affairs. A substantial number of Potsdam men followed the Company Sustaining Annual Membership $50.00 to Elmira as its operations were moved Patron Annual Membership $100.00 to that City. Some of them achieved positions of importance but that is Life Membership $250.00 beyond the scope of this story. About the Authors: Robert A. Wyant is a member of the I Regular and Sustaining Corporate Annual Memberships I staff of the Potsdam Public Museum and Associate Professor Emeritus. Clarkson University. Potsdam, New Contact: SLCHA, P.O. Box 8, Canton, N.Y. 3617 York. Victoria Levitt, a writer living (315) 386-2780 in Potsdam, holds a Ph.D. in English from the University of Utah. \ 12 January 1987 Crossover Island: Winter Life by Ralph E. Hill
Ralph E. Hill spent the early years of his life on Crossover Island, where his father, Daniel Dauid Hill, was light- house keeper. The October, 1984, Quarterly featured an account by Alice Taylor Gorham of D.D. Hill's expe- riences, based in part on letters from Ralph E. Hill. Here Ralph Hill dips once again into family photographs and comments on winter life on Crossover Island and at Oak Point.
The Hill family moved to the light- house keeper's residence in February 1909. ". . . [M]y father. . . [made] ar- rangements. . . for a team of horses and the necessary equipment to trans- port our belongings to the river bank and then to the island. . . . [I]t was bitter cold, [and] the ice was thick enough to hold the weight of the horses and sleigh. Years later I learned that the river ice froze to as much as twenty-four inches thick. . . . The fam- ily lived the balance of 1909 and all of 1910 on the island. The winters were like being in Siberia. "It was necessary to go across the ice in winter to get all the supplies and the mail. . . . The only way of getting anywhere was to walk the two miles to Oak Point. Father pulled a sled he had made that had high runners, on which he carried the supplies. He had made a harness that went over his shoulders to make it easier to pull over the long hauls. In the spring of the year and in late fall when the ice was breaking up or before the ice had formed thick enough, it was necessary to make sure there were supplies on hand to last two or three weeks, as it was almost impossible to get through the floes of broken ice. "It always seemed strange to me that Fr-
y- J* the government would put a family on an island and then furnish them only with a flat-bottomed punt and a skiff. The punt was equipped with double oar locks. The skiff was furnished with a latine (a three-cornered sail), a retractable center board, and a rudder that could be removed. . . . My father installed a pair of runners on the bottom of the punt about four inches high, finished off with iron. He then put a mast step in the bow so he could use the sail that came with the skiff. The punt could then be used with .> . . 4.. s-* safety in the wind, similar to an ice Winter scenes on Crossover Island in 1929. (Photographs courtesy of Ralph boat, in case you broke through the ice. E. Hill) He also installed a pair of handles on January 1987 13 the stern similar to the handles on a farm walking plow." With the handles, he could push the punt ahead of him. "When the ice was thick enough, the ice harvest began. A section of ice was scraped clear of snow. With a team of horses an ice plow or cutter was pulled back and forth across the ice in a checker board pattern. This made blocks about two feet square cut to a depth of eight inches. These sections were cut off in long bars with big hand saws and the blocks or cakes were broken off with spud bars. The cakes of ice were elevated out of the water onto a loading platform and onto the sleighs. The elevating machinery, which was made from parts taken from a farmer's grain harvesting machine, was oper- ated with a gasoline engine. The farmers all came to haul ice away for their ice houses. It was cold hard work, but the famers used to enjoy the horse races across the ice to see who could get to the loading ramp first. Leslie Marsaw had a large commercial ice house, and it was always my father's job to pack the ice in this house. The ice was packed in straw and sawdust, to keep it for use in the summer when it was sold to the cottage people. Most of the tools that were used for the ice harvest were hand made by the local blacksmith in Hammond." When the Steamer Compton ran aground late in the fall, its owners decided to leave it where it was for the winter. ". . . [Flather took all the crew to Brockville, Ontario. The steamship company told my father. . . he could have all the supplies that were on the ship, as they would only freeze and spoil during the winter. I remember we boys helped dad remove bags of flour and sugar along with dozens of cans of canned goods, a good supply of meat and other miscellaneous items. He was also asked to take the ship's compass and lock it in the lighthouse tower for safekeeping through the winter." Oak Point was sparsely populated during the winter months, "twenty people more or less plus our family. One winter Walter Plantz and a buddy lived in a tent all winter. This tent had a frame of poles over the top of which were juniper boughs. They had two bunks and a couple of camp stools and a little cast iron pot-bellied stove with a flat top for heating and cooking. They always seemed to have a big cast iron frying pan on the stove with a big thick pancake in it. "As soon as the ice was thick enough, we children were out skating, and when the snow came, we would be sliding down hill. We made skis from barrel staves, and father made each of Getting supplies across the ice to Crossover Island: a small sled used about us a sled. Sometimes after a new fall of 1910 and a punt equipped by D. D. Hill with runners, sail, and handle. snow, my brothers and I would take a (Photographs courtesy of Ralph E. Hill) January 1987 long walk into the woods. The woods were real thick, and the trees were laden with snow. The evergreens were always heavy and beautiful. A person could stop and lean against a tree and listen to the creaking and groaning of the tree limbs rubbing against each other in the tree tops, to the chatter of the birds, to the thump of a rabbit's hind leg as he warned of a stranger nearby, to the shrill cry of the blue jay, also warning of danger. We watched the nuthatches and the chickadees as they searched out seeds they had hidden behind tree bark during the summer, and the flash of red as a cardinal flew from evergreen to ever- green, checking on the cones for the few seeds that might remain. When we resumed our walk, the quiet might be broken when, with a sudden burst of sound and beating of wings, a partridge would fly out just a few feet in front of us. This would start a flurry of rabbits running from one juniper bush to another and from one brush pile to the next. Then all would be quiet and serene again. We never worried about getting lost, as we could always. regardless of how far we went into the woods, backtrack our path to get home again." ********** About the Author: In his long career, Ralph E. Hill worked many places in St. Lawrence County, including the Huff DeLand Company and George Hall Coal and Transportation, before operating his own home improvement firm for over twenty-six years in the Buffalo area. b.1 He is now retired and lives with his The ice hart-/lestat Oak Point. 1916-1917:(Photographs courtesy of Ralph E. wife in Kenmore. New York. Hill)
U. L). Hill c.1iwrh.s Jtrc.01):~Itrdrlrr 0,r tlrr Compton to rrrrrke (I rr*int~r irrspectiotr in 1918. (Photograph The tent occupied by Walter Plantz and a friend for an entire winter in 1913 courtesy of Ralph E. Hill) or 1914. (Photograph courtesy of Ralph E. Hill) January 1987 The SLCHA Archives by John A. Baule This third article in what is intended to be an occasional series on practical aspects of carrying on historical research in St. Lawrence County explores the resources of the St. Lawrence County Historical Association archives. Previous articles in the series dealt with finding St. Lawrence County newspapers (October 1985) and carrying on genealogical research (July 1986). All illustrations are from the archives.
In 1843, a slim volume entitled Hints by the Gouverneur Wesleyan Seminary there were substantial crops of barley. on Etiquette and the Usages of Society in 1860 stated that a basic tuition of peas, beans, buckwheat, turnips, pota- admonished that "a bachelor is seldom $4.25 per term would be charged, and toes, flax, wheat, corn, rye, and oats. rverrj particular in the choice of his a proficiency in no fewer than 30 This short litany of unrelated facts companions. So long as he is amused, subjects-including intellectual philo- may seem to be pointless, yet they are he will associate freely enough with sophy and orthography-was required illustrative of the information that can those whose morals and habits would for graduation. The 1845 New York be derived from the wealth of primary point them out as highly dangerous State census compilation reported that and secondary source material in the persons to introduce into the sanctity of 305,555 acres of land were cultivated archives of the St. Lawrence County domestic life." A pamphlet published in St. Lawrence County that year and Historical Association. In recent years,
x El'. LAWRENCE COUNTY DIFtECPORY. ST. LAWRENCE COUNTY DEECPORY. eBIm 1113. R. B. Cha~man STILL AHEAD! I I O~~ms1 I) CEAIR I- Yankee Notion Store ! / %%:.""%.TUB% -- HARDWARE. IITOVE. AXD :; M. ~ANK, DEALERB U 11 > John D. Cross 11 Dnncan Fergoaon . narrormni Antho .y Fournler L. A. Barrows. Epipts. ff@l%l)@M8s DBBLSTOG Wm. Graves, Res. EARNEBR & TRm COOPER 0EOP Jamea Qlynn iWm. Blsnchard Jmea-- - Parks HbTEL -DRY GOODS,= :. John D. Cross Alfred ykon ) nnrsa MAKER. Eagle look Ford Street, ) Ym Nmcy Hainea HOUIlE & SIGN PAINTS= 1 Mlsa Yontape Benjamln McAlliater I)RUOGIST LAND AOLNTI 8QBSR8BWBQa8 HaT. i *Chsa. E. Wlght H. Hooker (for 8. V. and p- 6. Ifsea.) i EXPRESS AOXNT 1. Our Immense Stock ol I Albert Allen W. '(Vhlta- (for Chap : OEXERAL XEROUANT. man & Averell.) H. M. Atwnter & Bros. LIVERY STABLE DRY GrOODS, :Bradley & Mould Alfred B3kon Parchused entlrely for Cash. la alwa s kept full, i A. & C. H. Robinson LUMBER DEALXB by rccei ts from New York an$ Boston OROCEIIIES Peter McGreeor Mar!ets. and will he found one of ? Samuel French PEY~ICIAN. the most com~leteaasort- < Chas. E. IVieht Roher Burns ..--... on1s
Typical pages from The Advance Almanac and St. Lawrence County Directory for 1862. 16 January 1987
local historical societies across the country have become such a favorite resource for genealogists that often few people realize that such archival collec- tions contain a vast amount of other useful information. Since its founding in 1947, the SLCHA has continued to collect books, papers, photographs, and documents related to the history of St. Lawrence County. In early 1982, all of this valuable archival collection was consolidated with that of the County Historian under the care of the As- sociation and integrated with the As- sociation holdings in other areas. Considerable effort and expense have been expended over the past four years to reorganize materials, store them under the guidelines of the most up-to- date professional standards for proper conservation, and generally improve public accessibility. This has been a project long desired by all the pre- ceding county historians and the As- sociation-not only for the optimum management of the collection but also for a simple inventory of what exactly is available for research. As of July 1, 1986, while the work of organization and filing continues, a This daguerreotype of an nnidentified family group is owe of a rich collectiow summary of the ~ssociation'sholdings of family photographs housed in the archives. can now be made with some degree of accuracy.
Fortunately, many family photographs in the archives are identified, inelziding this one of the Horace Harrington family in front of their house in the late 1880s. January 1987 17
First, published state histories, coun- ty histories, and town histories provide the basic outline of the events and forces that helped create St. Lawrence County. The 1860 New York State Gazeteer, the 1878 Everts History of St. Lan7renc~Co~rrrty, the 1894 county history by Gates Curtis, and the 1976 W(lddingt0ll: A Look At Oltr Past, for example, contain detailed factual ac- counts of significant people, businesses, events, and organizations. These vol- umes, along with others on New York State in the Civil War, New York State natural resources, New York State folklore, nineteenth century New York State Codes of Public Instruction, and miscellaneous general histories of the North Country are the resources one would expect our archive to own. They do form the backbone of the collection, yet in the same manner that the human backbone is rather unexciting without some appendages, these secondary sources are supported by a wealth of other less well-known material. There are city and county directories for 1862, 1873-74, 1889-90, and more that list not only town residents and businesses, but also contain advertise- ments that tell a great deal about what products and services were available to our ancestors. How else would we know that there was only one bowling alley in the entire county in 1873? There are More recent eras are also represented in the fan) ily photo~~rtrpllcollectio~r oj' printed proceedings of the St. Law- the archit3e.s. as in this portrait of the Binion .fnmil?yof Cnnto?~.
Another ficlly identified family grorolo, is that of the Hon. Leslie W. Russell family of Cantor/, takw nho~ct1!100. 18 January 1987
L)c~lr~i)c!li11fo tlro filos trt the SLCHA rc,ill ctlso ~v~r-otrl~1rc~1re1~orts pictrrr~s od. ~~osid(~rrcc.srttrn' ptcOlic hrtildi~gs,s7rrlr as this o11e of the W/ti.ske?lSfore at Ogdens01c~:q.New Yo)-k,i)r I8Y6.
The County Home in Ogde?~aburg. January 1987 19
Photographs of organizations may also be found in the collection. This sampl~is of n 191X ))weti)lj~of tli~ Daughters of the American Revolution at Gouvernezcr. 20 January 1987
2 rence County Board of Supervisors and p* =.W*Z?,"~~$=..,I.: i .*~.~~,g @.mcLcl(PRSo~.~~~~~?~*4~3~q p Board of Legislators from 1856 to the r7' !! 3 present day. As dry as this may seem. A/' . , L'c '' the volumes contain lists of operating CwRYsTmfis... 8 taverns and stores, production on the iil @@QA? ~@XA@BBS. (> county farm, support of local schools, I{. I~~~HK~~OS.~and special projects of county-wide $, significance. - -. C-- -- fl , . There is a large section of "how-to" .WPi?FP. b? books from the nineteenth century. 3 , '? ::? This includes manuals for the home, g9 :\.I- instruction in proper etiquette, symp- h! $3 Eah& Mwood's Full Quadrille Band. 6 ~ toms and remedies for all sorts of . . -- b.? medical disorders, all sorts of agricul- EAGLE HALL, $ fi tural guides, and almanacs. Although PICMtS, - $2.00. # ij?? 14r~ much of the information may seem $? CHASE'S MILLS, pc $I -.+ -- 3 amusing to our more "sophisticated" / 'r taste, such recommendations were seri- 8 gW. w. TUWLE, 1. RIIALL, b ous attempts to solve real problems ;?8 Trr,rta9v. P~,,,,,,.. hursday Ev'g, Dec. 24, '74.f that confronted our ancestors. b. i;? Other special collections of secondary - +6 materials include Adirondack books, schoolbooks, nineteenth century fiction 1: 1: Tmupany with Ladies tl bq~~!fcl4S~lidtad. a either by St. LawrenceCounty authors d AWANOE PR.. 0OOENSI)URO. ~~~~~~~~~-r,+~~~h~@*-mmamem--meR or typical of novels found on local bookshelves. music antholoaies. and This 1874 dance program also finds a home in the archives. The $2 price for children's books. All can provide in- a ticket was no small sum for the time! sights into the daily lives of earlier generations of St. Lawrence County residents. Primary resources are equally abun- dant. The largest portion is contained in a bank of seven file cabinets. The opening of a drawer can reveal hundreds of family photographs, views of the BUNDLES FOR BRITAIN county fair, as well as countless pic- tures of residences and public build- ings, organizational groups, farm- S BENEFIT < steads, churches, picnics, and commu- nity celebrations. Delving into another group of cabinets unearths thousands of file folders bulging with business By James Judge and school records, dance and theater P. programs, personal reminiscences of life in the "good old days," scrapbooks of newspaper clippings, school and church minute books, and organiza- tional histories. There are boxes of glass plate negatives that have yet to be printed, daguerreotypes and tintypes of people and places, broadsides ad- vertising everything from schooIhouse auctions to land sales in Massena to the Fourth of July celebration in Madrid in 1865, and maps of every description. MRS. HUGH WILLIAMS, Director Special collections of diaries; WCTU records; the papers of Silas Wright (Canton), Jehiel Stevens (Brasher), Harriet Shoen (Stockholm), and Charles Anthony (Gouverneur); auto- CANTON TOWN HALL graph albums; Dairyman's Cooperative League records; the St. Lawrence Tuesday, May 27th, 1941 County Holstein Club scrapbooks; GAR records, and the extensive J. Henry Rushton (the Canton canoe builder) I archives are waiting to be explored. In short, these are pieces of historical knowledge that, taken together, provide the documentation for events in this The theatre program collection includes this me, said to be of the last event county since the eighteenth century. held at the old Town Hall Opera House in Canton. Unfortunately, access to this ma- January 1987 2 1 terial requires time and energy on the part of the researcher. Finding aids and complete indexes remain a dream for the, hopefully, near future. Also, St. Lawrence County has a very diverse history, and the Association is not the proud owner of every printed record ever produced in St. Lawrence County. Some are still to be acquired, for they TOWN OF LISBON, N.Y. reside in the hands of local families, organizations, and businesses. The August 17-23, 1930 quest for the donation of such county- related material should be intensified; SUN, AUGUST BACK-HOME RE-UIION SERVICES papers and/or pictures languishing in IN ALL LOCAL CHURCHES attics could be important additions to Unlm Evening Service Town Hall the collection and thereby preserved 17 and made available to future re- searchers. MDllOAY M PUBLIC MEETING TOWN HALL There is some information, however. HISTORICAL REMINISCENT that the Association has no plans to 18 FuG RAIslnc - TOWN HALL collect because it is better managed or maintained elsewhere. Local news- TUESDAY COMMUNITY BASKET PICNIC papers fall into this category. The ALL INVITED - McQAWS POINT Ogdensburg Public Library, St. Law- ON THE ST. LAWRENCE rence University Library, and the -19 Potsdam State Library have all the WED. M ANMJAL FLACKVILLE FAIR extant newspapers on microfilm. At SPECIAL ATTRACTIONS FOR ALL this time there is no need to duplicate VILLAGE OF FLACKVILLE, N. Y. these holdings here. Also, by New York 20 State law, town, village, and county governments are required to maintain iHUlSl 0I.D HOME WEEK BANQIIET all sorts of public records-assessment AFTER D1NNER SPEAKING rolls, surrogate-court records, general 21 Community Room, Hepburn Library court records, land records, original - state census materials, existing vital FRIOAT FIELD DAY - PARADE - SPORTS records, immigration papers, social BROWN'S GROVE NEAR LISBON VILLAGE service records, and a wide variety of Old Home Week Ball Evenin0 Tom Hall legal papers. 22 In summary, then, the archival hold- 81. M VARIETY ENTERTAIMENT ings of the St. Lawrence County His- MOVIES SPEAKI)IG MU* torical Association are varied, rich and becoming more available all the time. 23 FABEwELL MEETING Tow Hru. . The exhibitions, publications, and pro- . grams of the ~ssociationrely on-the quality of the archive. Without accurate The archives also house numerousflyers and broadsides, such as this one for research materials, it would be im- Old Home Week at Lisbon in 1930. Note the "Movies Speaking Mttsic"! possible to fulfill adequately the mandate to preserve, pEomote and interpret St. Lawrence County history. Thus, the next time you want to know the proper code of conduct for a visiting dignitary in the nineteenth century or the history of a bridge, or to see a photograph of the old Opera House in your town, come to the St. Lawrence County Historical Association Archives.
About the Author: John A. Baule, director of the SLCHA from 1976 to 1986, now directs the Hennepin County Historical Society in The records of the Canton boat builder, J. Henrg Ru.qhtcm. whose shop bztilt Minnesota. in 1881 is pictured here, are also located in the SLCHA archives. 22 January 1987
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L I January 1987 23
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