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That Great Flood oi April 21, 1869, Which Swept Through the Town of Moriah With the Besom of Destruction.Speaking of the great flood of April, 1-809. the Essex County Republican of lust week said: Weshould be glad to have additional 'acts given us regirdiug this terri-event.In tiiis connection we quote from the Cost of April 21!, lsilti. as fol-both of whom are meo now pastmiddle life.The dam which “gav« way’* the morning of April 21.1869, was never rebuilt. The so called “new road’* to North Hudson was built by way of Knslgu Pond.Ensign Pond was named after a well known Moriah family who formerly operated extensively there. Charles W. Ensign of that family wus elected Sheriff of Essex County in the fall of 1862 and served three:• tit) delobligations to G Jeers. Esq.. fur the following onnt of the terrible flood on MillUro. Moriah. April 21st. 1809, Mr. Editor:- Sir- The quiet ol our little village was greatly dis turbed this morning by learning that a dam. kuuwn as the Upper Mill [lam. containing some IbUacres or more of water, had given i and that the contents of the Pond were coming with irrosistable for down through the town, sweeping everything in its course as it passed •along. There has been some IT saw* mills on tins stream, some of whieh have gone into disuse: there were but five or six that were in running order, but the frames of must of them were still standing; there was uisu two separators for iron ore and also two grist mills. une ut Moriah Centre and the other on the Plains, known as the Collins mill. uearPurtEvery mill on the stream except the two grist mills were sweptuwav. separators and all. together with aschool house, the Post Office at Miiah Centre, Cabinet Shop belonging to Alvin Woodruff, and a large building belonging to Win. Edgerly, and also his f!roc**ry Store very much undermined; the store occupied by Isaac Me Lyman was injured by undermining; the bam has gone down with the stream; the saw mill belonging to Heman F. burton, and all the logs in the Pond, comprising some thousands, were ail carried away. The Kail Road -grading mi the (re route lias been greatly damaged and their bridge iri’ied off ut Forge Hollow, together ith much valuable timber. The building known as the Plaster Mill at Collins Crist Mill, was swept into the terrible flood to swell number of its victims; the saw iniil ging to the .John Aeome estate and their entire stock wasali carried I. IJaldwin lost his mill and stock; Hiram Sprague's mill, lumber .uid logs, two barns, shingle inaehino, etc.. all destroyed; Jacob Pratt's house stands at an angle of i. degrees, moved some feet fr foundation-- his barn and corn barn fed the flood and were carried off embrace. Mr. Pratt had just time alter seeing the flood coining, o get out of his house with his farn-i.v- He saved his horses from aru. There are many narrow •apes told, but the truth of which 1 •annot vouch for. Luckily there vere no lives lost that 1 k but there might have been, had it it been for the noble conduct- of ; iung man named Bostwiek Bald in; he seeing the flood coming, jumped on his horse and run him t hr miles as fast, as he could go. to notify all that he could on the stream to prepare for the coming flood. The bridges being gone, he had to run through the lots. His horse fed three times under him on his wa\ there, stepping into tiie soft, place? in the meadows and pasture.-through whieh he had to run. There is one bridge out of fifteen left on the stream, that is the High Bridge at Port Henry, and the middle abutment was knocked out of that. The stream is now clear of dam or mill, except the two grist mills, from the source of the stream to Lake Champlain. a distance of about six miles, and a fail of about 1.000 or 1.200 feet. The damage done as near as we can calculate is about a half mil lion. There are other incidents about the flood that 1 have not got.From the same issue of the Post we quote the following additional matter concerning the great flood: Port Henry, April 21.Editor of Post;—There has been the most intense excitement-here today. on account of the water breaking out of the Pont) known as ‘ Hennings Pond.” It appears that ali the water in the “Ensitie Pond.” about seven miles from here, broke loose, tukiog everything in its course, and wheu it arrived at the ‘‘Hennings Pond” it divided, part coining down between the dwellings of Win. (iookin and Edward Hughes, making frightful havoc, then passing down behind the school house, washing out stones, and carrying them for rods, weighing twenty tons: washing away part of the Rail Road ■ bridge, of the Moriah Rail Road, also a portion of the Whitehall A Plattsburgh Rati Road. Loss of property heavy. Great praise is due to some of our citizens for their daring efforts to save property bv constructing embankments, of stone and timber to keep the water in its proper course; the most active of which were Ed. Sheehy. the two Hughes boys, Geo. Roberts and Chas. MeBougai. I will give yo more particulars about the matter.M. D.Jacob Pratt referred to was a uncle of E. L. and Rev. AW H. Barker of this place. E. L. Barker anil L. Warren Pratt, then mere boys in their native Moriah, started out the morning of the great flood and weut along its track from Ensign Pond to Port Henry. It is needless to add that the impression made was deep and lasting upon the minds of Messrs. Barker and Pratt,years.George C. Beers, Esq., the writer of the graphic description of the great Moriah flood, is now venerable in years and full of glory, being as smart on foot as any young man. He lives with bis son George C. Beers. Jr., in the village of Port Henry and we are glad indeed to be able to state that he still survives the ‘ pale nations of the dead.Bostwiek Baldwin, the Paul Revere of Moriah, lives on a farm where he did in April, 1869, The horse he rode the morning of April 21, 1869, suffered from a strain in the coffin joint and was several mouths recovering.The Collins grist-mill, so called, was purchased by the late Daniel Wyman of Crown Point in the spring oflS73 and in May, 1873, Eugene Wvtnau came to Port Henry to take charge of the establishment. Walter Johnson, a brother of Hiram Jobn-on of Lewis, was long engaged as ‘miller’’ in the Collins grist mill. Wm. II. Hanchett, Elizabethtown's feed merchant, learned the miller's trade in the Collins mill under Eugene Wyman and Walter John-George S. Kidder of Port Henry, present Supervisor of Moriah, owns and operates the Collins mill to-day.The Cbas. McDougal mentioned in the Post of April 29, 1869, is none other than our townsman, who was then working for the late Silas H. AVltherbee in Port Henry. Mr. McDougal remembers that flood well and we have often talked with him about it, our last interview having occurred Monday morning.Elisha Bingham.iReceved too late for insertion last week.)In the article upon William Me in last week's Post and Gazette the iter said, or intended to say, that Elisha BiDgham or Isaac Kelloge was Supervisor of Crown Point in 1798.The name Bingham was omitted by mistake making it appear that a man named Kellog was the Supervisor of that town in that year. Any faet worth telling is worth telling right, so to correct any possible misapprehension permit me to quote once more from the old town book of Peru.“This may certify that the Quota of the Monies Drawn from the State Treasury for the use of Schools and Apportioned to the Town of Peru is Dollars 95.51 Cents Amount to be raised in addition to the above 47.75The sum total 143.26 Given under our hands and seals this first Day .of June 1798.Thomas Stowers (Seal) Reuben Arthur (Seal) Nathaniel Platt (Seal) Wm. Beaumont (Seal) Elisha Bingham (Seal) Isaac Kelloge (Seal) Ebenezer Newell (Seal) Supervisors. Attest Rufus Green Tn Clerk.It will be noticed that in 1798 there were seven Supervisors in Clinton county, the new towns of Jay and Elizabethtown having been formed in January and February of that year. Of the foregoing list we know positively that Reuben Arthur was of Peru, Nathaniel Platt of Plattsburgh and William Beaumont of Champlain. We are almost equally certain that Thomas Stowers v Willsborough and Ebenezer Newell of Jay. There still remain Elisha Bingham and Isaac Kelloge to be located and we only know concerning them that there was a Wm. Kellogg among the first settlers of Elizabethtown and that there have been Kelloggs among the people of that town nearly if not quite since. It therefore seems mostlike ly that Isaac Kelloge, as the name is quaintly spelled, was Supervisor of Elizabethtown in 1798 and if so then Elisha Bingham must have been Supervisor of Crown Point. If any one now living has any remembrance of a man by that name in Crown Point or any of the towns that have been formed from Crown Point the fact will be of interest.J. W. Harkness.William Kellogg mentioned above was elected a school commissioner in and for the town of Elizabethtown April 3, 1798. That first town meeting was held “at the dwellingbouse of David Callender,” Ebenezer Arnold being elected Supervisor and Sylvanus Lobdell Town Clerk.-—Ed. Post.Worst of All Experiences,Can anything be worse than feel that every minute will be your last. Such was the experience of Mrs. H. S. Newson, Decatur, Ala.“For three years” she writes, “1 endured insufferable pain from indigestion, stomach and bowel trouble. Death seemed inevitable when doctors and all remedies failed. At length I was induced to try Electric Bitters and the result was miraculous. I improved at once and now I'm completely recovered.’ For Liver, Kidney, Stomach and Bowel troubles Electric Bitters is the only medicine. Only 50c. It’s guaranteed by C. N. Williams, druggist. June
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Elizabethtown Post
Elizabethtown, New York, US
Thu, Jun 18, 1903
Page 4
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Lisa C.
USA 09 Nov 2024
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