The first town meeting was held at the house of Harvey Hamblin, in Philadelphia village, March 5, 1822, at which the following officers were chosen: Alden Bucklin, supervisor; John Strickland, Jr., clerk; Thomas Bones, Alden Bucklin, and Abial Shurtleff, assessors; William Bones, collector; Cadwallader Child, John Townsend, and Abial Shurtleff, commissioners of highways; John Strickland, Jr., David Mosher, and James Bones, commissioners of schools; James Bones, Cadwallader Child, and J. R. Taylor, inspectors of schools; and William Bones, constable.

At the first general election held “November 4, 1822, and the two succeeding days inclusive,” Joseph C. Yates, for governor, received 48 votes, Erastus Root, for lieutenant-governor, 31, and Henry Huntington, for same office, 16.

Since the organization of the town the supervisors have been Alden Bucklin, 1822; Harvey Hamblin,

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*In the early survey bills of roads surveyed in the town of Le Ray, when the location of the present village was mentioned, it was called Elizabethtown, until, in survey bill No. 35, under date of February 20, 1810, for the first time, it is spoken of as Friends Settlement, by which name, and as corrupted, Quaker Settlement, the village was for many years very commonly designated, and by old citizens of the county is even now sometimes called by those names, or, for short. The Settlement.

1823-26; John R. Taylor, 1827; Benjamin Jackman, 1829-31; Hiram Hinman, 1832; Henry W. Marshall, 1833; Jesse Smith, 1834-36, and 1841; Miles Strickland, 1837, 1839, and 1842; William Skinner, 1838 and 1851; George Walton, 1840; John F. Letimer, 1843; Azel W. Danforth, 1844-46; Lyman Wilson, 1847; Smith Bockus, 1848-49; George Frazier, 1850; Alden Adams, 1852-53; Seth Strickland, 1854-58, and 1866; John Allis, 1859-61; Lansing Becker, 1862-63; John S. Peck, 1864-65; Loren Fuller, 1867-72; George E. Tucker, 1873-79; A. C. Comstock, 1880; Silas Monroe, 1881; G. E. Comstock, 1882; Charles O. Roberts, 1883-89; Albert W. Oatman, 1890.

Spafford’s Gazetteer of 1813, says: --

“In 1811-12, at ‘The Settlement,' there was a grain and a saw-mill, and a Quaker meeting-house.”

The same author in 1824 says of Philadelphia in 1821: --

“The Indian River and its branches supply mill sites, only two of which are yet occupied, with one grist-mill and one saw-mill. The population is included in that of Le Ray in the last census, and is computed at 55 families. There is a small society of Friends, or Quakers, who have a meeting-house for worship, the only one in this town.”

After the erection of the town in 1822 the school moneys, of which one-half was collected by the town collector and one-half paid by the county treasurer, were apportioned among the three school districts as follows: District No. 1 had 40 children and received $10.20; district No. 2 had 25 children and received $7.42; and district No. 3 had 41 children and received $9.50. In 1830 eight school districts reported, from which it appears there were 367 children and taught that year, for which there was paid of the public moneys $99.48, and from local taxes $385.75. Cadwallader Child, Amos Eames, and George Morgan were commissioners.

In 1880 Philadelphia had a population of 1,750. The town is located in the second school district of Jefferson County, and in 1888 had 10 school district, in which 13 teachers were employed 28 weeks more. (sic) There were 360 scholars attending school, and the aggregate days attendance during the year was 35,356. The total value of school building and sites was $6,850, while the assessed valuation of all the districts was $814,537. The whole amount raised for school purposes was $3,533.57, of which $2,122.16 was received by local tax. Truman C. Gray was school commissioner.

STERLINGVILLE is a post village and station on the R., W. & O. Railroad, in the southern part of the town, on Black Creek. It is 22 miles from Watertown, 179 from Albany, and 321 from New York. It contains an American Express office, two stores, one grocery, two blacksmith shops, one saw-mill, one hotel, two churches (Roman Catholic and union), and about 40 dwellings. The postoffice at Sterlingville was established in 1839, George Walton being the first postmaster.

In 1850 a postoffice was established at WHITNEY’S CORNERS, on the Evans Mills and Ox Bow plank road, in the west part of the town. The first postmaster was Carey Z. Eddy, who served one year, when he was succeeded by W. M. Whitney. This office was discontinued soon after the opening of the railroad.

POGELAND, on the Antwerp and Sterlingville plank road, was established as a postoffice in 1852, with Daniel Smith, postmaster. Mr. Smith soon after died, and the office was discontinued for short time, when it was reestablished, with Theodore Cane as postmaster. The office was finally abolished about 1855.

The Bank of Philadelphia was organized under the general banking law, March 12, 1888, with a capital of $25,000. The present officers of the bank are Daniel H. Scofield, president; William Roberts, vice-president; H. O. Gardner, cashier; W. A. Markwick, assistant cashier and book-keeper.

William Robert’s lumber mills, at Philadelphia village, were established by the present proprietor in 1882. They consist of two saw-mills, a planing and shingle-mill, and lath-mill. They are run by water-power and two 60-horse power steam engines, give employment to 70 men, and manufacture about 10,000,000 feet of lumber annually.

Joseph Essington’s saw-mill, at Sterlingville, was bought by the present proprietor in 1880. It is operated by water-power furnished by Black Creek, and has the capacity of cutting about 800,000 feet of lumber annually.

The Philadelphia cheese factory, on road 19, corner of Sand street, near the bridge at Black River, is owned by William S. Keyes. It has a patronage of about 450 cows.

The lands composing the present town of Philadelphia were included in Le Ray’s purchase of January 4, 1800. On February 16, 1804, Le Ray “entered into an agreement with a company composed of Abraham Stockton and Charles Ellis, of Burlington, N. J. (then Le Ray’s place of residence), and Mordecai Taylor, Thomas Townsend, John Townsend, Robert Comfort, Cadwallader Child, Moses Comfrot, Israel Knight, Benjamin Rowland, David Evans, John Jones, and Jason Merrick, of the counties of Philadelphia, Montgomery, and Bucks, in Pennsylvania---all of whom, save the last named, were Quakers, ---to sell them 16 lots (7,040 acres) at the rate of $3 per acre, payable in five installments, with six per cent. annual interest, and 10 per cent, was to be discounted for cash. In consideration of the sale they were also to receive, as a gift from Le Ray, a central lot (440 acres) ‘for the promotion of religion and learning; that is to say, for the purpose of erecting thereon and supporting a meeting-house for the society of people called Quakers, and a school or schools for the education of children in useful learning, to be under the care and direction of said society, and of a monthly meeting of said people, when such meeting shall be there established.’ It was stipulated that these lands should be of a quality equal to the four lots Mos. 629, 630, 631, and 632, near Le Raysville, which had been purchased the previous year by Joseph Child, Sr., and Moses Comfort, whose favorable accounts of the advantages of the section in soil and climate had brought about the present purchase. In case these lands should not, in the opinion of Richard Coxe, Jacob Brown, and Jonas Smith, prove equal to those named an additional quantity should be given to make good the deficiency. The seller also agreed to make a wagon road from the St. Lawrence River, running through the conveyed tract to the post-road at Champion, before the first of the following December. The purchasers were required to agree on a division of the lots among themselves before the 25th of the next April. This being done the lands were conveyed to them by deed from Le Ray in May, 1804.

“The central lot, donated for religious and educational purposes, was No. 611, embracing the present village of Philadelphia, and all the water-power of the river at that point. The lots were Nos. 539, 540, 542, 543, 575, 576, 578, 579, 643, 644, 646, 647, 674, 675, 677, and 678. Eight lots were reserved by the proprietor, viz.: Nos. 541, 577, 609, 610, 612, 613, 645, and 676. All the above named lots, 25 in number, together formed a rectangular tract five lots in length, and the same number in width, of which tract lot 611 was the exact territorial center; the conveyed lots lying in four blocks of four lots each, one in each of the four corners of the tract, while the reserved lots lay between these in the form of a cross.

“All that is now the town of Philadelphia was at that time a wilderness, in which no blow of white man’s axe had been struck, except by the surveying parties of Brodhead; and it was to explore this and to examine their purchase that Cadwallader Child and Mordecai Taylor started northward in May, 1804. In their company came Samuel Evans, who had visited Le Raysville and vicinity in 1803. On leaving Albany they traveled on horseback to Brownville for a conference with Jacob Brown, in reference to projected roads, after which, early in June, Mr. Child, with Michael Coffeen, Solomon Parker, Robert Sixbury, the hunter, and another assistant, but without Mr. Taylor and Mr. Evans, who remained in Brownville, set out for Le Raysville to follow Brodhead’s marked lot lines towards his objective point, lot 611. He struck it at the south corner, then followed down Black Creek to its junction with Indian River, and down the latter to the falls, where his party made a halt and built a rude cabin as a base of operations, near the spot where the Philadelphia flour-mill now stands. From here he soon proceeded to explore and survey a route for a road to the St. Lawrence, which he reached at a point above Alexandria Bay, and passing down the river, noted the advantages of that place as an eligible site for a settlement, and for the river terminus of the proposed road.” Returning to lot 611 he proceeded thence to continue his road survey to the great bend of Black River, after which he began a clearing on his lot No. 644, described in his biographical sketch further on.

Towards the end of the same year John Petty, who had settled in 1802 or 1803, in the present town of Le Ray, removed thence with his family to lot 672 in Philadelphia, he thus being the first actual settler in the town, and the only one who remained through the winter of 1804-05. The land had been purchased by him in 1803, and was afterwards embraced in the farm of John T. Strickland, at Strickland’s Corners, near Sterlingville. Daniel Coffeen commenced improvements on a tract of adjoining or near Petty’s during the same fall, removing upon it early the following year.

“On the first of February, 1805, a meeting of the persons who had been named as trustees of the central lot was held at the house of Israel Knight, in Pennsylvania, at which meeting it was agreed and directed ‘that a part of the said tract be laid out in lots of 10 acres each, and that any person, or persons, on condition of settling or clearing the same, and building a log or frame house of 18 feet square on each of the lots within the term of four years, shall be entitled to the said lot for the term of 10 years as a compensation for their improvements; and it is likewise agreed that the whole transaction of the business relative to the aforementioned tract be intrusted with Robert Comfort, Cadwallader Child, Thomas Townsend, John Townsend, and Jason Merrick, who are to act for and on behalf of the whole’ And it was especially agreed that Thomas and John Townsend should have the use for 20 years, rent free, of a tract of 15 or 20 acres, sufficient to cover the falls of Indian River, and for the erection of the necessary buildings, upon the condition that they should erect thereon a mill for the general benefit of the prospective village and surrounding country.

“In the spring of 1805 the Townsends arrived upon the lot, prepared to commence operations. With them came Robert Comfort, Josiah Walton, Thomas Coxe, Benjamin Gilbert, Thomas Gilbert, and Daniel Roberts. Walton and the two Gilberts were in the employ of the Townsends, as were also Warren Foster and his brother Andrew, who had arrived about the same time. With this force they set to work, made a clearing, commenced work on the dam, and built a bridge across the river, some 20 rods below where it is now spanned by the iron bridges. During the summer and fall they completed the saw-mill and grist-mill, ---both being under the same roof, ---and also built a log house for John Townsend, nearly where the Eagle Hotel now stands. The millwright employed in the construction of the mills was James Parker. The grist-mill had one run of stones, manufactured from stones quarried in the vicinity.

“Robert Comfort built a log house on the ban of Indian River near the easterly end of Townsend’s bridge, and this he opened as a house of entertainment, ---the first public house in the town, ---which he kept until 1807. Josiah Walton purchased on the reserved lot No. 645, upon which he employed John Hover (sic) and John Coffeen, of Le Ray, to make a clearing at a point near the north corner of the Curtis farm, and upon this clearing Cadwallader Child sowed wheat the same fall (1805). Another piece of wheat was put in by John Townsend, and it is not known which of these two were first sown, but Mr. Child’s was the first harvested in town (July, 1806). Mr. Child, in addition to his 440, took eight acres in the center lot, upon the rise of ground embracing the spot where the postoffice now stands. Upon this he caused a clearing to be made and a house of hewed logs to be erected in the spring and summer of 1805, intending to make this his residence; but his plans were soon after changed, and he sold the improvement to Silas Walton. The block-house which he (Child) had built was sold to Thomas Townsend, who removed and re-erected it upon a spot now directly in front of the residence of George E. Tucker. To this he moved his family early in the following year. Upon the improvement purchased from Mr. Child by Silas Walton the latter erected a small building from lumber cut by the Townsend mill. It was the first frame building in town, and stood near the spot now occupied by the store of Martin E. Aldrich & Son. John Townsend moved his family in the same autumn, and these, with the family of Robert Comfort, Walton, Roberts, and the men in the employ of the Townsend brothers, were the only inhabitants of the center lot during the winter of 1805-06.

“Jason Merrick came in 1806, and located on his lot No. 675, at the westerly end, directly opposite the place to which Cadwallder Child removed, upon the easterly end of 644; this removal from his first clearing being on account of the laying out of the road running on lot lines northeast from Strickland’s Corners into Antwerp. The families of Benjamin Gilbert and Stephen Roberts also came in the spring of 1806. John Strickland, Jr., came in 1807, but did not bring his family until the next year. Robert Comfort removed from his inn on the center lot to his farm in 1807, and in the summer of that year lost two young daughters by death from a prevailing fever. John, a son of Jason Merrick, died from the same cause, and these were the first deaths which occurred among the settlers of this town.

“The first births were those of John, son of John and Asenath Townsend, February 14, 1807, and on the 16th of the same month Oliver, a son of Cadwallader and Elizabeth Child.

“Joseph Bolton came with his family in the fall of 1807, took the house which had been built by Robert Comfort, and continued it as a place of public entertainment. In the spring of 1809 Ezra Comley settled on reserved lot 645, his farm being that afterwards owned by Seth Strickland. John Strickland, Sr., one of the wealthiest of the settlers, arrived and purchased the property of the Townsends at the Settlement, John Townsend removing thence to his farm, and Thomas purchasing lands a short distance south of the village, now the farm of Joshua Roberts. Mr. Strickland took possession of the mills, and made his residence in the block-house built by Thomas Townsend, to which, however, he was soon obliged to build an addition larger than the original house. This was the first frame dwelling house in the settlement and town, though there were other buildings of that construction built earlier. Mr. Strickland had a family of 11 children, 10 of whom reached maturity. He was early a very large land-owner, first exchanging with Le Ray his farm of 300 acres in Bucks County, Pa., for a much larger tract here, to which he added by purchase until he became the possessor of fully 5,000 acres, most of which he lost, owing to the great depreciation of business values at the close of the War of 1812.

“The settlements on the center lot were not rapid under the system of leasing in sub-divisions, and during the first 10 years an average of less than 10 acres per year were taken up. The trustees became weary and disheartened, and on the formation of the Le Ray monthly meeting, in 1815, they requested that body to relieve them of their trust, which could not, however, be effected without an act of incorporation, and for this the meeting would not petition. On April 11, 1816, a committee, consisting of Daniel Child, Richard Hallock, William Barber, Joseph Child, Jr., John Strickland, Jr., and Joseph Hayworth, were appointed by the meeting to confer with and assist the trustees in the management of the lot, which was, in reality, an assumption of the direction of its affairs by the meeting. Four trustees were reappointed, and the fifth, Jason Merrick, who was not a member of the Friends Society, continued to exercise the functions without reappointment. Energetic efforts were made to lease the remaining portions of the central lot, and the system of leases in perpetuity was adopted; but, notwithstanding this, very little was accomplished, and it was fully 30 years from the adoption of the short lease system before the last of these sub-divisions was disposed of. The lands outside the central lot, however, being open to absolute purchase, were settled with reasonable rapidity, and generally with a very excellent class of immigrants, who, at the end of 17 years from the time of the first arrivals, had become ready, and sufficiently numerous, to assume the responsibilities of separate township organization.”*

Sometimes abstracts of accounts furnish historical data, and so, from the books of Cadwallader Child, the following is given:

In 1805 Mr. Child had opened accounts** with Thomas Townsend and John Petrie, who paid principally in work. In 1807 he first charged Robert Comfort, and February 1, 1810, to a discount on a Vermont bank bill, 25 cents, and credited him by one dozen pigeons, 25 cents. Under date of February 10, 1809, he charges Thomas Mosher “to 7 meals, victuals and 3 nights’ lodging, 84 cent,” and in December of the same year,

“To 9 days’ board while cutting the road....................... $1.93
“ use of horse going to mill, &c, 3 days...............................75”

He credits the same man, “June 27, 1822, by about three days’ work with horse at 25 cts., 75 cts.”

In 1809 he had opened accounts with Benjamin Kirkbride, John Strickland, Sr., and Samuel Tucker, and to the latter he charged, among other things, under date of April 16, 1810, “to a Vermont State Bank bill returned, $2.00,” and Henry Tucker, to whom he charged

“4th Month 30, 1810. To 1½ day with both yoke of cattle, moving, at 56 cts. for each
yoke per day, being found keeping.........................$1.68”

With Daniel Hunter, Henry Cooper, Joshua Winner, Nathan Goodale, Jonas Allen, Gardner Hall, and John Bowdry he also opened accounts in 1809; in 1810 with Stephen Roberts, Solomon Parker, Thomas Wards, John Jenison, Asher Seamen, Henry Cooper, and Sela Cooper; and in 1812 with Warren Foster, Ebenezer Page, and Nathan Dyke; and against nearly all accounts were one or more items charged for surveying.

Only a few items appear in this book as charged against Mr. Le Ray. Among them, in 1809, are: ---

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In 1813, second month, 24th, is the following entry: --

The following are quotations of prices current from Mr. Child’s books: ---

1808. Beef, 5c; ½ paper pins, 10c.; potatoes, 45c.; day’s work, 62½
1809. P’d hired man, Nathan Hudrix, for one month’s labor, $12.50.
1813. Wheat, $2.00; shingle nails, 18c.
1818. Wheat, $1.50; potatoes, 3 shillings; load hemlock bark, 50c.
1820. Barley, 72c; tallow, 12½c.; corn, 37½c.

The assessments for road tax in 1811, in district No. 13, of Le Ray (now Philadelphia), were as follows:  --



John Strickland (overseers),.......25 days   |   Reuben Pownell,..............2 days
Benjamin Gilbert................... 2  "     |   Daniel Hunter,...............2  "
Stephen Roberts,................... 1  "     |   Thomas Townsend,............12  "
Daniel Roberts,.................... 2  "     |


In district No. 14 the assessments were:  --
 
Jason Merrick (overseer).......... 10 days   |   Warren Foster............... 2 days
Cad. Child,....................... 10  "     |   Andrew Foster............... 5   "
John Strickland, Jr............... 10  "     |   James Chase,................ 8   "
Robert Comfort,...................  4  "     |   John Wilkinson,............. 2   "
Richard Hallock,..................  8  "

“Beginning at the most S. E’ly corner of lot No. 673, thence No. 36° E., on the line between lots No. 674, 705, 675, 706, 707, one mile 247 rods.”