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YALE
UNIVERSITY LIBRARY

ATTEMPT TO PRESENT

CLAIMS OF LONG LAKE

CONSIDERATION OF ALL THOSE
WHO ARE
IN SEARCH AFTER GOOD LAND AT A
LOW PRICE.
BY AMOS DEAN, Ml
ONE OF THE PROPRIETORS.

ALBANY:
PRINTED BY JOEL MUNSELL.
1846.

L§7

CIRCULAR.

Albany, January, 1846.
To the Receiver of this Pamphlet :
Dear Sir — As we are all to some extent
dependent upon each other for aid in accomplish
ing the things we propose to ourselves in this life,
I have to ask of you that you will afford me the
benefit of your friendly services in disseminating
the knowledge of the matters herein contained. In
so doing you may not only be benefiting me, but
also your neighbors and townsmen, who may be
desirous of seeking a new forest home, where they
can secure independence, competence and respect
ability. If through your agency they are enabled to
accomplish that, you will secure their thanks as
well as mine. The aid I ask of you has much of
the definite, as well as something of the indefinite
about it. It is,

1st. That you will take an early occasion to post
or fasten up in as conspicuous a place as possible,
in places of the most public resort, such as the
counting rooms of stores, and the bar rooms of
public houses, the notices which accompany this
pamphlet. 2d. That you will allow yourself to be referred
to on the subjects embraced in this pamphlet ; and
that you will allow the community in the midst
of which you live to understand that you are so re
ferred to.
3d. That if application is made to you for more
particular information, as specified in the accom
panying notice, you will refer the applicant to this
pamphlet ; direct his attention to those parts of it
which you think calculated to furnish the informa
tion desired, and from all that you can here collect,
and your own previously acquired knowledge, that
you will enlighten him to the utmost extent of
which you are capable.
In asking of you these services I am influenced
by the considerations,
1. That we all owe to one another something,
otherwise no state of dependance would have been
created ; and if you will do this, it shall be a can-
celment of all claims I can have against you upon
this score.

2. You have achieved to yourself some distinc
tion, or I should have no object in referring to you ;
and the higher the distinction any one achieves, the
greater the obligation he is laid under to serve the
community, because it is they who give him the
distinction, and he is in some way or other to pay
them back for it, or else he must die their debtor,
which no independent mind can think of.
3. I shall send this to few if any who are not
personally known to me or to my personal friends.
If for these or any other reasons, you think proper
to render me these services, I shall feel under great
obligations to you ; if not, it is in the highest de
gree probable that a benevolent neighbor of yours
in an adjoining town will render them, and thus
deprive you of the honor of being referred to in this
matter, a thing which no doubt you will very much
regret. With very great respect,
Truly yours, AMOS DEAN.

CLAIMS OF LONG LAKE.

Long Lake is situated in the northern part of
Hamilton county, the head, or south-western end
of it being in about 44 deg. north latitude ; being
about the latitude of Crown Point, on Lake Cham-
plain. It is about nineteen miles in length, and of
a width varying from half a mile to three miles.
At one end it receives the waters of the Racket
Lake, after passing through Crotchet Lake, and
Racket Outlet ; and at the other discharges its wa
ters into the Racket River, through which they find
their way to the St. Lawrence. It forms one of
that extensive and highly interesting chain of
lakes, by means of which, with but few and slight
interruptions, an entire water communication is
kept up between the eastern extremity of Long
Lake on the east, and that region of country termed
the Black River Country on the west.
The lands bordering on Long Lake, with a few
exceptions, are yet in their primeval state ; and of
fer to the well-directed industry of man, a forest
unculled and a soil unexhausted. The object of
the following pages is to exhibit in as brief a space

as possible, the claims of these lands to the atten
tive consideration of the young men of New Eng
land, especially of Vermont and New Hampshire,
and the north-eastern parts of New York, who are
anxiously looking for a home, in the enjoyment of
which they hope to spend long, happy and useful
lives. The writer is, jointly with another, the pro
prietor of almost 12,000 acres of land, lying princi
pally around the head of Long Lake, the situation
of which is indicated by the colored lots on the ac
companying map. These lands are now offered for
sale, and on such reasonable terms as will bring
them within the reach of all who have enjoyed the
blessing of health, and have exercised industry,
prudence and economy in the management of their
affairs. In laying before the public the true situation and
condition of these lands, and the facilities and ad
vantages they offer to the settler, the writer has
little else to do than to select from the reports of
Prof. Emmons, State Geologist, and of O. L. Holley,
Esq., late Surveyor-General of .the State of New
York, such matter as relates to those topics. As
these reports are official, and from sources of un
questionable authority, he submits that the state
ments contained in them ought to be entitled to the
highest respect and confidence.
Prof. Emmons, in his Geological Report to the
Legislature of New York, in the year 1839, says:
"Contrary to the published accounts, and to
common opinions, which are, of course, formed
principally from those accounts, especially from

Burr's and Gordon's Statistics of this county, (speak
ing of Hamilton county,) I have the pleasure of
stating that it is far from being that wet, cold,
swampy and barren district which it has been repre
sented to be.* The soil is generally strong and pro
ductive ; the mountains are not so elevated and
steep but that the soil is preserved of sufficient
thickness to their tops to secure their cultivation,
and most of the marshy lands may be reclaimed by
ditching; by this means they will become more
valuable than the uplands for producing hay. In
fine, it will be found an excellent country for graz
ing, raising stock, and producing butter and cheese.
The strength of the soil is sufficiently tested by the
heavy growth of timber, which is principally of
hard wood, as beech, maple, yellow-birch, butternut
and elm. The evergreens, or pines, are confined
mostly to the lower ranges of mountains. Some of
them are of the largest growth of any in the state,
and are suitable for the main shafts of the largest
of the cotton mills.
" From the observation of persons who have been
residents of the county for a number of years, it
appears that the seasons are much the same, as it
regards heat and cold, the length of the summer,
&c, as the mountainous parts of New England.
* We have here one answer, and that a sufficient one, to the'
question why this country has not been more extensively settled.
It has long been the fashion to speak disparagingly of Hamilton
county, with what justice we shall presently see. This mode of
speaking has had the effect to prevent the attention of men from
being turned in that direction, and hence the comparative fewness
of the settlements here. 2

10
The incorrect opinions which prevail as it regards
its soil, and its irreclaimable marshes, have arisen,
undoubtedly, from hasty examinations 
Where the timber is removed they produce sponta
neously, a heavy crop of grass, which is reproduced
from year to year, without cultivation 
Again, it is probable that when the country is set
tled extensively, and the timber and wood removed,
there will be an amelioration of climate ; it will
then become dryer and less frosty ; and the summer
warmer and better suited to the raising of corn.
The condensation of moisture over an extent of sur
face eqal to this uncultivated tract, in this section,
must have a great influence in reducing the tem
perature to a low standard. The density of the
forests, the thick growth of underwood, effectually
excludes the rays of the sun during the entire sum
mer. For this cause the temperature of a wooded
district is considerably lower than an open country
under tillage.
" The most interesting physical features in this
county arise from the number and beauty of the
lakes, which are sprinkled liberally and picturesque
ly over its surface. The clearness of the waters in
all these lakes is owing to the primitive character
of the region in which they occur. The lakes of
Hamilton form a beautiful addition to the scenery
of our country. Although the mountains are not so
high as those of Scotland, still, it will be a matter
which will occasion no surprise, (when Americans
shall have acquired sufficient independence to ad
mire a thing that is American) if these lakes do not

II
become objects of admiration, and shall be consid
ered as vieing with those of Scotland. Settlements
are now forming on the margin of those beautiful
sheets of water, and were buildings erected suitable
for the accommodation of travelers in some central
place among these lakes, (which we doubt not will
be the case in a short time,) our pleasure-seeking
community, of whatever cast, could spend a few
days or weeks, with as much zest as is afforded by
any of the places of public resort which are so
thronged during the heat of the summer. As I
have already intimated, the axe has been laid at the
root of the tree, and ere long where naught new
greets the eye but a dense, and to appearance im
passible forest, will be seen the golden grain, wav
ing with the gentle breeze, the sleek cattle brousing
on the rich pastures, and the farmer with well stor
ed granaries enjoying the domestic hearth."
In relation to means of inter-communication be
tween these bodies of water, Dr. Emmons remarks,
that " From actual observation it is proved that the
lakes above mentioned, vary but little in their rela
tive levels, and that those which are connected by
streams flowing from one into the other have but
little fall, and in fact the larger are not rapid, and
are at present navigable for small boats. Such be
ing the case the large sheets of water may be con
nected with little labor and at a trifling expense.
The practicability of uniting the head waters of
those streams which flow into the Hudson, Lake
Ghamplain and St Lawrence, is not doubted by

12
those who have carefully observed the features of
the country."
The following are among the advantages which
Dr. Emmons says will result.
1. "I will say, that it is not, as has been already
intimated, that bleak, barren, and desolate tract,
which it has been represented to be ; but is well
adapted to the cultivation of wheat, and suitable
for all agricultural purposes, though it is more es
pecially adapted to grazing, and the making of but
ter and cheese.
2. This region abounds in the ores of iron, lime
stone, marble, and the usual products of a primitive
region. 3. It would be the means of bringing into mark
et (of which there begins already to be a scarcity)
a vast amount of lumber, which, without facilities
of the kind, must be destroyed or wasted on the
ground, without benefiting the public extensively."
He remarks further, "It is difficult to make an es
timate of the number of miles which would be open
ed at once for batteau navigation, and which might
be opened Bt a small expense, but it is not extrava
gant to estimate the distance as equal in length to
the Erie canal (360 miles.) There would be open
ed, also, at least 50 miles of direct steam boat navi
gation, by constructing a single lock between Crotch-
ed Lake and Long Lake, and another between the
former and Racket Lake. The character of the
borders of the lakes and streams is well adapted to
the easy construction of paths and roads, in conse-

13
quence of the predominance of hard gravelly bot
toms." In conclusion he remarks that "this region
of country cannot remain long unoccupied or un
improved." In his report in the year 1841, Dr. Emmons men
tions a discovery he had then recently made of pri
mary limestone on the shores of a small lake not far
from Long Lake, which he remarks is a discovery
of great importance to the settlements of Long Lake,
and one which had not been made before in that
region. The rock formation at Long Lake is gneiss.
It is unnecessary to say that the position of Dr.
Emmons as state geologist, as employed by the
state to analize soils, and as one of the conductors
of a valuable agricultural journal, is such in every
respect as to entitle his observations to respect and
confidence. On the subject of internal improvement, George
E. Hoffman, Esq., Chief Engineer in respect to
the survey of the upper Hudson, in his report to
the Canal Board, made in the year 1840, re
marks as follows: "From an examination, with
out instruments, of the summit between the waters
of the Hudson and Racket Rivers, at Long Lake, I
have no doubt that they could easily be connected.
They are nearly on the same level, not more than
two and a half miles apart, and excepting a narrow
ridge about fifteen feet high, near Long Lake, I
could not discover, in walking from one to the other,
any perceptible rise in the ground ; and the waters
of Long Lake might easily be raised ten or fifteen
feet by a dam across its outlet."

14
"Long Lake" he remarks, "is about 19 miles
long, and according to professor Emmons, might at
a small expense, be connected with Crotchet and
Racket Lakes, opening a navigation of 50 miles.
The land about Long Lake is of the best quality,
and the crops from the few clearings on its shores,
would well compare with the most fertile portions
of our state."
The most important testimony, however, and that
to which the greatest degree of confidence will be
attached, is that contained in the official reports of
the Hon. O. L. Holley, while Surveyor- General of
the State of New York. To enable himself to make
a thorough and complete report of the true situa
tion and condition of this region of country, Mr.
Holley visited in person Long Lake, and spent about
four weeks in its vicinity, where he says he ac
quired most of the facts and considerations which
make the substance of his reports. His reports are
two in number. In the first, dated Feb. 20, 1840,
he says: "No detailed account is here intended of
Long Lake, the surpassing beauty of its features,
the uncommon excellence of the lands on its bor
ders, and especially on its westerly side, its direct
connexion with the northerly waters, as well as with
the progress of all permanent improvement of the
western borders of Essex, and the northern section
of Franklin, as well as the north end of Hamilton."
That detailed account is given in his report to
the Canal Board, bearing date March 8, A. D. 1840.
In this last report he says: "The waters, collected
and discharged by the lakes and streams, which are

15
found in the more interior and secluded portions of
the great table land mentioned, (referring to this re
gion of country) run off northwardly, and find their
way to the river St. Lawrence. The slope down
which they flow is very much longer and more gentle
than the descents on the other sides. The streams,
therefore, which traverse this long northern slope,
are so little broken by falls and rapids, that such of
them as have a sufficient volume of water, are boat-
able through much of their course, and are actually
used in that way, to a very considerable and benefi
cial extent. They are peculiarly well adapted to
furnish, at a moderate cost, either a convenient and
valuable slack water navigation, or copious feeders
for canals; and whenever the time shall have fully
come, when the permanent and progressive interests
of the communities more immediately connected
with them, shall demand the full and various uses to
which they may be so easily applied, they will un
doubtedly be made subservient to those interests.
Then will the agricultural advantages of the whole
district in question, as well as the mineral wealth
there deposited, in such vast stores, be effectually
developed, and rendered tributary to the advance
ment of the communities within its borders.
" The simple object of the remarks herein sub
mitted, is to make the Legislature, and the public
generally, more adequately acquainted with the
real extent and value of the large section of the
state under consideration. Except by the compara
tively few individuals, who have explored it, for the
purpose of ascertaining its true character and native

16
resources, or who, in the hot months of summer,
have resorted hither for health and recreation, or
here and there a hardy hunter and trapper, who has
pursued his game across its snows in winter, that
whole interior has been as little known and as in
adequately appreciated, as the secluded valleys of
the Rocky mountains, or the burning plains of cen
tral Africa. It has been regarded by the great ma
jority of our people, as little else than a mere aggre
gation of wild, craggy, mountain masses, with their
bases soaked and chilled by frozen lakes and
swamps, and their summits beaten by perpetual
storms ; inaccessible except by wolves and panthers
and bears; with no soil fitted for the support of hu
man life, and with not even room enough for the
planting of human society.
" The true picture of that region, however, is very
different. It is, indeed, a mountainous region ; but
its mountains, with here and there an exception,
are not difficult of access, especially on their north
ern slopes; and instead of being crowded together
in huge and almost impassable groups, or in lofty
and continuous ranges, they are in most cases se
parate and isolated. Their actual positions and re
lations to each other cannot Jbe better illustrated
than by saying that they resemble large bell-shaped
masses, or very irregular and imperfect cones, broad
in proportion to their height, with their lower slopes
and bases curving outward, and spreading towards
each other with such moderate degrees of inclina
tion, that generally it is easy to pass among them,
by winding along their sides and skirts, at a small

17
elevation, and thus obtain roads with as few diffi
cult grades of ascent and descent, as in most parts
of the country below.
" As to the soil of this district, it is generally a
gravelly loam, the loam being the principal con
stituent, and the whole being at present covered
with a layer of vegetable mould, varying from a
thin coating to several inches in depth. This soil,
though not so well adapted to wheat as a more cal
careous one, is well suited to other sorts of grain, to
the various kinds of root crops and pulse, and espe
cially to grass. It is warm and quick; remarkably
free, in the district in question, from those wet,
mossy, spongy, cold, and almost irreclaimable tracts,
which sometimes abound in the grazing districts
of a high latitude, and greatly impair their value :
it brings forward its crops rapidly, and has abun
dant supplies of nutriment to sustain them to full
maturity. " While the soil is generally of the character de
scribed, the face of the country, notwithstanding
its mountains, presents a sufficient extent of surface,
suited to the plough, for the cultivation of all such
crops of grain and roots as are usually relied on in
grazing districts ; the lower grounds are well fitted
for meadow, and the higher sides of the hills for
pasture, and ranges for young cattle and sheep.
" With such capabilities of soil and surface, this
whole region is bountifully supplied with water,
not only in the lakes and in the large streams, fur
nishing a great amount of power for driving mills,
and machinery of every kind, but in unfailing
3

18
springs and small brooks, everywhere distributed,
and of the purest and most wholesome quality. No
portion of the earth can be more blessed in this re
spect, and the crops of all kinds, whether roots,
grain or grass, with herbage of every variety pro
duced on such a soil, and nourished by such water,
are peculiarly sweet and nutricious.
" The native forest furnishes a considerable vari
ety of trees. Of the evergreens, there are pine,
hemlock, spruce, fir, and white cedar; and of those
kinds commonly called hard-wood, there are sugar
maple, white ash, beech, birch, black ash, and
other less important varieties. As a general fact,
the evergreens predominate on the lowest and wet-
est grounds, as well as on the higher sides and
crests of the hills, while on the intermediate and
more smooth and valuable grounds, the sugar ma
ple, white ash, beech, and birch, are found in vari
ous proportions. On the best lands the sugar maple
abounds, and grows to a great size. The whole
forest growth, indeed, is generally lofty, and by its
great burden per acre, gives abundant evidence of
the strength of the soil.
" Such, after making a liberal allowance, as has
already been done, for the proportion of the broken
and worthless surface, and considering only those
parts of it which are capable of yielding a return
for the labor and care of the husbandman • such as
it is described in these remarks, did the district in
question present itself to the observation of the un
dersigned. With its pure and delicious water its
salubrious air, its mineral riches, its advantages for

19
the grazier and dairy farmer, its noble lakes and
streams, and the varied beauty of its features, the
dirtrict is well fitted to invite settlers, and to sustain
a hardy, vigorous and wholesome population."
Thus far I have confined my references entirely
to reports containing statements made officially by
those who had made personal examination, with
the express view of being able to furnish informa
tion on the correctness of which the most entire re
liance could be placed. I cannot, however, close
these references to the testimony of eye-witnesses,
without mentioning the truly beautiful and graphic
descriptions of the region about Long Lake, con
tained in the article entitled "Long Lake," pub
lished recently at Pittsfield, Mass, in the second
volume of Simple Sketches, by Rev. John Todd ; a
little volume, which if any one thinks he can read
without improving both his head and heart, he is at
perfect liberty to try ; and the more who do try the
better. Speaking of the soil in this region of country,
Dr. Todd says:
" It is for the most part primitive soil, composed
of ranges and groups of lofty mountains and deep
valleys, with beautiful intervals along side of the
rivers, which have been washed down from the
sides of the mountains. When the day shall arrive
in which these forests shall be cut down, and along
the lakes and valleys and around the base of these
glorious mountains there shall be a virtuous, indus
trious and Christian popvilation, I have no doubt
it will easily support a million of people. Here are
forests almost interminable ; timber of great beauty

20
and abundance ; iron ore in quality very rich, and
in quantity inexhaustible ; waterfalls of great height,
yielding any amount of power and in all directions.
Say what we will about the fertility and the glories
of the everlasting flats of the West, the primitive
soil is associated with what man loves and what makes
men* It is connected with the blue mountains and
the pure air which flows over them. It is associa
ted with the leaping brook, the gushing waterfall,
and the pure waters which come rushing down from
their mountain home, with manufactories and in
dustry, thrift, health, a bracing climate, and a virtu
ous community. Who would not feel that if New
England could, at a word, exchange her hard hills,
her granite mountains, and her severe climate, for
the rich, exuberant plains and sunny climes of the
South and West, that the exchange would not be
most disastrous to the happiness of the present and of
future generations? The grandeur and the number
of mountains in this wilderness is almost incredible,
while the lakes defy any attempt at description.
Of these there are more than two hundred whose
* I apprehend that few sentiments more truthful than this have
ever been uttered. Man, in his national, and in his social progress ;
as exhibited on the historic page, and as the centre and substance
of all the countless varieties of living action ; has fully exemplified
its abundant truth. To deny this, we should be compelled to di
vorce Geography from History, and refuse our assent to facts in
the natural and psychological history of man so clear and undoubt
ed that no mind can attempt such refusal, without doing violence
to the laws under which it acts, and which in fact constitute it a
human mind. Hence it is that human virtue and greatness have
ever been found the products of a hardy soil, and the principles
power and policy of New England have exerted so much influence
oyer the southern Savannas and the western prairies.

21
names I know, and with whose location I became
acquainted, counting none whose diameter is under
about two miles, while some of them are fifteen,
and eighteen, and twenty miles the longest way. .
The scenery on these lakes is grand and beautiful
beyond anything of which I ever conceived. The
lakes of Scotland have been celebrated of old in
story and in song; but the time will come, I doubt
not, when these lakes will become the most inte
resting resort to be found in this country, for the
great, the rich, the curious, and the fashionable.
Most of them are surrounded by forests, which
grow down to the "water's edge, and glass them
selves in mirrors, which reflect every leaf; most
are studded with romantic islands, covered with the
mighty forests, where the eagle finds a home un
molested, unless, peradventure, the hunter causes
the smoke of his camp to curl up among the trees,
and scares him from his eyrie."
These descriptions are sufficiently complete and
explicit to afford much general information in rela
tion to the situation, condition, soil, forest products,
and facilities for improvement presented by the re
gion around Long Lake. It will be seen from the
reports of Mr. Hoffman, Dr. Emmons and Mr. Hol
ley, that they contemplate three different directions
in which improvements may be made. By one,
mentioned by Mr. Hoffman, the upper branches of
the Hudson River may be connected with Long
Lake, by which means a southern avenue would be
opened through the waters of the Hudson, with the
great commercial emporium, New York. By ano

22
ther, mentioned by Mr. Holley, a water communi
cation, chiefly by means of the Racket River, is
opened to the north between Long Lake and the
river St. Lawrence. By a third, suggested by Dr.
Emmons, a chain of lakes and the Moose and Black
Rivers, may connect Long Lake westwardly with
the waters of Lake Ontario. It would perhaps be
difficult, if not impossible, to find any other re
gion of country which could serve as the centre from
which channels of communication by water could
be constructed in three such different directions.
When the physical resources of this region come to
be developed, it will follow as a natural and necessary
consequence, that these channels of communication
will be one after another successfully opened. The
products of industry must first exist, before a call can
be made for market facilities. The creation of the
first will, if nature has been ordinarily liberal in
the distribution of her lakes and streams, her plains
and valleys, always insure the second. There are
also, as I shall presently have occasion to remark,
other causes that will operate to open these chan
nels of communication early, much stronger and
more imperative than the products of agricultural
industry. In regard to kind, character, and capacity of soil,
as also the nature of the forest growth, it is perhaps
unnecessary to add anything further. It ou°-ht
however, to be remarked, that the trees, as you go
back from the lake, are found to be at considerable
distances from each other ; that they grow to a o-reat
height; are straight, and without limbs far up from

23
the ground. The shores of the lake are rocky, and
timbered pretty much with evergreen, spruce, hem
lock, and pine. If impressions unfavorable are
created, they will be so from examination of the
shores of the lake. Dr. Todd has well remarked,
that the " land around most of the lakes, and next
to them, is like the land lying next to Lake Cham-
plain, rocky, and stony, and forbidding." He says,
and says truly, as a general thing, "that you must
go back one tier of lots to find the good land."
It is certainly true that you must go back some
distance from the lake before you find land much
less rocky than that on the shore, and timbered
with hard wood, principally maple, beech, birch,
and ash, such as I have just described.
An act of the Legislature of the state of New
York, incorporating the town of Long Lake, was
passed May 7, 1837. The lands embraced in the
accompanying map compose township 21 of the
town of Long Lake. This township, ever since the
time above mentioned, has been, and still continues,
in the enjoyment of all the corporate privileges,
rights, and offices, that belong to any incorporated
town of the state of New York. It has its supervi
sor, its town clerk, its justices, constable, commis
sioners, &c, and is entitled to its proportionate
share of the public money.
In the legislative session of the year 1841, the
wants and immense undeveloped resources of this
section of the state was strongly pressed upon the
consideration of the Legislature. The consequence
of all this was, that an act was passed on the 15th

24
April, 1841, which afterwards became a law, au
thorizing the construction of a road from Lake
Champlain on the east to Carthage on the Black
River, in the county of Jefferson, on the west. The
course of this road, so far as concerns township 21,
embraced in the map, as nearly as I can estimate,
runs not far from the stream which on the map
flows through Lots 108, 96, 95, and then into a
larger stream which empties into the lake in Lot 82.
From somewhere in the neighborhood of that point
it follows the eastern side of the lake to its head.
When this road becomes completed, it will have
the effect to open up the entire region, not only
about Long Lake, but also about Crotchet and
Racket Lakes, and the chain of lakes "west, leading
to Moose and Black Rivers. This road is already
almost or quite completed from Lake Champlain
through to the head of Long Lake. The distance
from Lake Champlain to the head of Long Lake
may perhaps be about 50 miles. The road leaves
Lake Champlain at Crown Point, (Pennfield's
Wharf,) and runs through Schroon, Minerva, New-
comb, (Pendleton Settlement) to Long Lake. This
road, as I am informed, is constructed through the
whole distance, but there is about six miles of it
next to Long Lake which last summer was not
turnpiked, but was expected to be this last fall.
Township 21, Long Lake, was some years since
carefully surveyed and run out into lots by an old
and experienced surveyor, Judge Richards. These
lots each contain 200 acres, and were numbered by
him as they are numbered on the map. Accom-

25
panying his survey were remarks made by him up
on each lot, having reference to its quality of soil,
the situation of the land in regard to its being hilly
or level, the kind of timber on it, and other such
particulars of interest as struck him at the time.
These remarks made in reference to those colored
on the map and offered for sale will be placed in the
hands of Mr. Gideon H. Willson, the agent at Eliza-
bethtown, Essex county, for the examination of all
who may feel interested in making any such en
quiries. The writer of this offers for sale all the lots, with
but one exception, which are colored on the accom
panying map. He has but recently become inter
ested as part owner, and this is the first time he has
exposed them for sale. The lot excepted is 97.
On this lot are valuable water privileges, superior,
as is believed, to any other in that region of coun
try, which will preclude its sale for mere farming
purposes. The price of the lots will vary from One
Dollar to Three Dollars per acre depending upon the
quality of the land and also its location. The most
valuable lots, both as regards quality of soil and situ
ation, are Lots 73, 74, 58, 85, 98, 109, 110, 100, and the
others situated around Lake Joanna. Titles of un
questionable validity will be given to the purchaser.
There are at this time about fifteen families occu
pying the shores of Long Lake. The lots owned or
contracted for and in part brought under cultivation
and now occupied are, as nearly as I can ascertain,
the following, viz: 72, 60, 48, 71, 59, 82, 70, 81, 79,
78, 89, 88, and 99. These are improved to various

26
extents, ranging somewhere between 5 and 50 acres
by each settler. Numbers 72, 60, 71, 70, 82, 81, 89,
and 99, are improved the most extensively. Mr.
Sergeant on 99 has more than 50 acres under culti
vation, and this last spring made more than 900
pounds of maple sugar. Mr. Keller, Mr. Robinson,
Mr. Austin, Mr. Allen, and others, are among those
who have made considerable improvements on the
lands they have selected.
The terms of sale in regard to time of payment
&c, will be such as can be easily complied with
by all those who are industrious and of prudent and
economical habits, as the owners are less desirous
of receiving immediate payment, than they are of
effecting a speedy settlement of the lands by a har
dy, moral, prudent, industrious and persevering set
of inhabitants. I may also mention that all, or all
with very few exceptions, of the other unsold lots
which are not colored on the map are for sale
on very reasonable terms, and that agents author
ised to make such sales will be found at the settle
ment at Long Lake.
There are some considerations not yet alluded to
which will have their weight in the minds of those
who are in search of a new and permanent home.
One of these considerations is to be found in the
fact that the connexion of Ogdensburgh, or some
other point on the River St. Lawrence, by means of
a rail road with Lake Champlain, to communicate
there with a rail road running through Vermont
and intersecting with that running from Boston to
Albany, is at this time a proposed measure of which

27
the ultimate realization is but little doubtful. The
strong impression which seems to pervade all classes
that the River St. Lawrence, the great outlet of the
lakes, the mighty stream that rolls their accumula
ted waters to the ocean, that which is to the north
what the Missouri is to the west, and the Mississippi
to the south, is to be connected by a rail road route
with the city of Boston, is evidence that its under
taking and completion are not only among the
possibilities, but the strongest probabilities of the
present day. It is I apprehend at worst but a ques
tion of time ; and whoever considers that with slight
exceptions all the rail ways in America have been
constructed within the last fifteen years, and by far
the most important ones within the last ten years,
can never suppose that this time can be long de
ferred. It will require the lapse of some years be
fore this tract of land will be in a condition to be
much benefited by a work of that kind, even should
the process of settlement on a large scale immedi
ately commence, and I should run little risk in pre
dicting that before such a condition was attained
this great internal improvement would be completed.
Another consideration grows out of the fact that
the region bordering on this, and lying east of it, is
emphatically an iron region. It is the immense
storehouse of iron, from which New York not only,
but the whole Union is to derive the immense sup
plies to its ever increasing demand. On this subject
I take the liberty of quoting from the American
Quarterly Journal of Agriculture and Science, con
ducted by Dr. Emmons and A. J. Prime, page 129,

28
of No. 1, of volume 2, in which under an article
headed " Greatest Iron mines in the world" is the fol
lowing. "In Newcomb, Essex county, N. Y., in one
mine, there is sufficient ore within two hundred feet
of the surface to make eighty million cubic feet of iron.
Two other mines, within two miles, are nearly as
extensive as this : and at all, the ore may be quarried
out to the open day like flagging stone. To increase
the value of these mines they are in the midst of
a wilderness of wood, and situated directly upon a
great water power." These mines are, as I under
stand, beginning to be extensively worked ; the iron
has been pronounced by the state geologist, Dr. Em
mons, to be of superior quality ; and they are within
the distance of about 31 miles of township 21 of
Long Lake. The working of these mines will pro
duce the following among other highly beneficial
results to this tract.
1. It will create a brisk demand for all the surplus
labor which any of the settlers at Long Lake can
find it for their interest to spare from their agricul
tural pursuits.
2. It will constitute a home market, creating and
sustaining a ready demand for all the products of
agricultural labor, thus enabling the farmer to make
a ready sale and at a short distance of all the sur
plus produce of his farm, such supplies being ne
cessary to support those who are laboring in the
mines. 3. It will stimulate to stirring activity all other
branches of industry ; become a centre from which
plentiful supplies of money can be obtained; will

29
give rise to rapid exchanges, and lead to all those
resulting consequences which tend to advance the
permanent prosperity of a people.
4. It will lead as a necessary result to the opening
of channels for transportation by water, either to
New York by means of the upper branches of the
Hudson, to the St. Lawrence by Racket River, or
to Lake Ontario by Long Lake, the chain of lakes
west of it, and Moose and Black rivers before re
ferred to, and perhaps to all these. Can any one
for one moment suppose that this ponderous article,
the demand for which must not only be unfailing
while man exists, but which every advance in sci
ence and art must necessarily increase, can be pro
duced here, with such amazing facilities, and to such
a limitless extent, and yet no adequate means be
found of transporting it to market. More especially
can such a supposition be entertained when Prov
idence, in the impartial allotment of its dividend
of benefits and burdens, has here distinctly indicat
ed three great channels of communication, one
with the north, another with the west, and a third
with the south ! I confess I regard these means of
finding a market, with the least possible expendi
ture of time and money, as results that most neces
sarily ensue upon the successful and extensive
working of these iron mines.
I would present, as another consideration, the fact
that this tract, in its main great leading features,
resembles New England, the birth place and early
home of the emigrant. In settling and subduing
this country, he would find the same kind of soil,

30
the same tall forest, the same healthful and bracing
almosphere, the same gushing fountain and bab
bling brook, which his youthful years had rendered
familiar and delightful. No one can behold the
power and elasticity of movement, or look upon
the hardy frames, or witness the most abounding
evidences of perfect physical health, which with
one single exception, will apply to every man, wo
man, and child, now residing at Long Lake, without
feeling and knowing that here at least there can be
no unfriendly influences that are hostile to life, or
to that choicest of life's blessings, sound and perfect
health. The emigrant to the south or west, runs
the hazard of a new, and perhaps to him, hostile
climate, the atmosphere he breaths is loaded with
vapors and gases, far other and different from those
which originate in a primitive soil ; the water that
slakes his thirst is not from the bright and spark
ling fountain, which in New England renders even
thirst a blessing from the luxury of its supply. The
social circle, of which he must from necessity be
come a member, if he have any society at all, is
made up of the scattered remnants collected from
many different regions, and embracing all the dis
cordant elements that can be brought together from
places, states of existence, habits of feeling and
thinking, and forms of social intercourse all widely
differing from each other. If from these he turns
away sickening, and casts an anxious look towards
the healthy atmosphere, the crowning hill tops, the
gushing fountains, the primitive soil, the frank and
merry hearths and happy homes of the New Ens-

31
land he had left far behind him, he is saddened
with the thought, that in moving such a distance
he has spent too much to think of returning, that
his is a permanent removal, that he has thrown his
life upon the cast, and must abide the hazard of
the die. If he renders to the home of his child
hood the tribute of his thoughts and his feelings,
he must at least give his bones to the land of his
adoption. Another consideration that should have its weight
is the short and comparatively trifling distance at
which this tract is removed from the native land of
the emigrant. A very trifling expense will enable
him to make a thorough previous examination; a
precaution which ought always to be taken previ
ously to making any permanent location. The se
lection of a farm, is, under ordinary circumstances,
with the farmer, a thing for a life; and no one
should think of doing an act of such importance,
and drawing after it such consequences, without
having first thoroughly examined the land he is pro
posing to purchase. To do this, his own eyes are
the fittest instruments, and his own mind the most
competent judge. The practice adopted by many
of removing in the first instance to a remote region,
trusting to their entertaining a favorable opinion,
and finding a location that suits them after their
arrival, without having any previous actual knowl
edge of the nature, situation or condition of the
country, has ever appeared to me to savor more of
presumption than of prudence. Should the exami
nation here be satisfactory, the expense of remov-

32
ing would be very small ; and this to a young man
just commencing the business of his life, with but
small means to start with, is no trifling matter.
Another consideration might be suggested, grow
ing out of the recent experiments, going to show
that the use of carbon as contained in charcoal is
highly beneficial in raising many kinds of grain, es
pecially wheat, rye, oats and corn. Perhaps it may
be replied that there is not yet sufficiently known
upon that subject to justify any positive conclu
sions. The fact, however, is unquestionable, that
carbon enters largely as a constituent element into
the formation of all the different species of grain,
and it would, therefore, aside from all experiment,
be a very reasonable conclusion, that the supply of
that material in considerable quantities to a field of
wheat, rye, oats or corn, would tend very greatly to
increase the quantity as well as better the quality
of the crop. Should this be so, the immense forests
that overspread this tract, from the great ease and
facility of transforming them into charcoal, would
possess this value in addition to what has hereto
fore been attributed to them. At any rate, should
the means of water communication, in one or all
the ways I have before alluded to, be opened with
the south, or north, or west, the inevitable result
would be to render this tract of great value as a
lumber region.
Another consideration which I am sure will be
entitled to its full weight, is that here is presented
that great desideratum for the farmer, a choice of
the farm on which he is to spend his days ; which

33
he is to beautify and render valuable by his labor ;
and transmit as a monument of his industry to his
children. The case here presented is entirely un
like that of an old, or even recently settled coun
try, where all the valuable land is appropriated,
leaving the second or perhaps third quality only ex
posed for sale, and even that at a price beyond the
ordinary means of the young farmer to purchase.
He has therefore, in such case no choice but to
buy at a very high rate an exceedingly bad bargain,
and to pay a high price for spending the remainder
of his days in labor and poverty. Here the first
quality of land can be now secured, and that too at an
extremely reasonable price ; such a price as cannot
fail to bring a farm of 100 acres, (and this is as
large as any one farm should be) within the means
of any honest, prudent, industrious, thriving young
man. I say such land at such a price can now be se
cured. But I cannot say how long it can be. I
quite mistake the signs of the times, if land of this
value, at this price, and with these advantages, fa
cilities and prospects, can remain in the market
long without purchasers. The proprietors, howev
er, propose to sell only to settlers, and this at 100
acres each, would require a large number. Not that
the sale to any one would be restricted to 100 acres,
but it is not proposed to sell to any one who does
not intend to become himself the occupant of what
he purchases. But not only can no assurance be
given that there will remain for some long period of
time a choice in lands here ; it is equally clear and
true that their prices may not remain the same.

34
Should this county fill up as is now expected; the
iron mines in its vicinity become extensively work
ed ; the communications by water opened to distant
markets, and other advantages that are now in pros
pect become realized ; these lands cannot be pur
chased for three, four or five times the price at
which they are now offered. In every point of view,
therefore, it becomes important for all who have
any idea of looking in this direction for a perma
nent home, to come to as rapid a conclusion as cir
cumstances will allow.
It is an undeniable fact, that a great proportion
of the population in the country parts of New Eng
land, more especially of the young, who devote
themselves to agricultural pursuits, are from the ne
cessity of their condition, compelled to choose one
of two things. They must either spend their en
tire lives in working out for others, or in taking the
farms of others to work upon shares ; or they must
emigrate, go where land is cheap, purchase, and es
tablish themselves in a new country, because the
day has passed by, when they could buy a farm
near home, and pay for it, by what they can raise
off of it. If the land is good, they cannot purchase
except at a price so high, as to preclude them from
paying the principal and interest from this source ;
if poor, they have then a miserable instrument
wherewith to make money sufficient to make any
payment at all.
If they adopt the first alternative, they lead lives
more like servants than freemen ; spend their cease
less toil upon the property of others ; and end their

35
days precisely where they began, without having
accumulated any thing for their children, without
having made an inch of progress, or accomplished
aught, that, so far as this world is concerned, can
be urged as a single purpose for living. If they
choose the second, with ordinary industry, care, pru
dence and economy, they cannot well fail of being
independent ; of standing forth as the lord of the
soil; of laboring on their own property, for their
own benefit; of transmitting to their children af
ter them a soil rendered valuable by their labors,
and a name ennobled by their virtues. On the pre
sentment of this alternative, can any son of New
England, for one moment hesitate? No — not if
he inherit one drop of the blood of the pilgrims.
Theirs, was an emigrating spirit. The same spirit
has run down in the long line of their descendants.
The general agent who is entrusted with the sale
of this entire tract of land, is Mr. Gideon H. Will-
son, of Elizabethtown, Essex county. Mr. Willson
has been extensively and minutely acquainted with
this tract, and this entire region of country, for more
than eighteen years. He will be able both from the
facts to be furnished him, and from his own obser
vations, to give particular information in relation to
many if not all the lots here offered for sale. Eliz
abethtown is only 8 miles from Lake Champlain,
and is therefore easily accessible, and but little re
moved from the direct route from Lake Champlain
to Long Lake. Mr. Zenas Paekeb, or some other
individual known to Mr. Willson, will be found
authorized to act as agent at Long Lake.

YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY

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