| OFFICE | CONTACT | PHONE | ADDRESS |
|---|---|---|---|
| Town Historian | LYNN THORNTON | 493-3213 | 10 N. Broad St; Carthage 13619 |
| Deputy Town Historian | SUZANNE WILEY | 493-3675 | 10 N. Broad St; Carthage 13619 |
| Town Clerk | CHRISTINEA VARGULICK | 493-3240 | 10. Broad Street, Carthage 13619 |
| West Carthage Village Historian | HAROLD SANDERSON | 482-5707 | W. Carthage, NY 13619 |
| West Carthage Village Clerk | DEBRAH PIERCE | 493-2552 | Village Office; 61 High St; Carthage 13619 |
Four Rivers Historical Society
P.O. Box 504Organized in 1977, this society averages over 600 members, and has microfilmed the Carthage Republican newspaper. The microfilm is deposited in the Carthage Library. They have published books. Their holdings include a working chapel, and a one room school. Carthage lies on the border of Lewis County, so that the society covers part of Lewis as well as the western townships of Jefferson County. The society collects material from three central school districts, the Copenhagen Central, Carthage Central, and Indian River school districts. This area includes parts of the townships of Theresa, Philadelphia, Antwerp, Le Ray, Wilna, and Champion. Their 21 directors represent the various communities within this area.
Town History
New York State Legislature created the Town of Champion from the Town of Mexico, now in Oswego County, 14 March 1800, making it one of the earliest townships of Jefferson County. At that time it included all of the Town of Denmark, Lewis County, north of the Deer River. Today's Champion is bounded on the west by Town of Rutland, northwest by Le Ray, northeast by Wilna, and the rest of the border is with Lewis County. Populated areas include Champion village, Great Bend, named for a bend of the Black River, and West Carthage village.
General Henry Champion purchased "Howard", Town #4 of the Macomb Purchase. Noadiah Hubbard, his land agent, and a surveyor, Joel Mix, rafted together down the Black River and staked out their lands.
Hubbard and Mix, along with other single men, built cabins.
In April, Mix's family, the first to settle in Jefferson County, came to West Carthage. In November, Hubbard's family rode in on horseback and settled the center of town. Mix built the first sawmill on the river bank, and Hubbard had a tavern near his cabin.
January 9th, Joel Mix's daughter, Laura Mix, was born, the first birth in Jefferson County. March 14th, the New York legislature passed a bill forming the Town of Champion out of the Town of Mexico, along with the Town of Watertown. Both share the honor of being the first towns in what was later Jefferson County. April 1st, the first town meeting in Jefferson County was held in the home of Justice of the Peace, Joel Mix. Hubbard was elected the first supervisor. The census numbered 153 people.
The First Congregational Church Society was formed and Hubbard put up a log schoolhouse at the town's expense.
A post office opened, the second in the county. The first bridge over the Black River was constructed at Great Bend.
General Champion gave two acres for a village green for naming the town for him. He also promised a bell for the Rev. Nathaniel Dutton's proposed Congregational Church. December 3rd, Rev. Dutton, the first minister to settle in Jefferson County, proclaimed a Day of Thanksgiving.
Captain Noadiah Hubbard and Captain John McNitt formed two militia units and set about training raw recruits.
A second bridge spanned the Black River at West Carthage.
Champion militiamen fought at the Battle of Sackets Harbor.
On Christmas Day the Congregationalists dedicated their church on the village green, the first church in Jefferson County. The bell, having been recast with silver dollars, rang and was heard for miles around the countryside.
The Methodists constructed a wooden church at Francis-Babcock Corners near Great Bend.
The Masons built a two-storied stone academy.
The First Congregational Church was removed from the village green to the valley below for warmth and easier access by carriages.
The Baptists opened a church in Great Bend.
The Congregationalists opened a second church in West Carthage.
The Methodists opened a second church in the hamlet of Champion.
The Episcopalians purchased the Masonic Academy, took it down and using the same stones constructed the one story church and named it after St. John. Great Bend Paper Company opened in Great Bend.
Champion Grange #18 was organized.
With generous donations and help from the Central New York Deaconess, Mary Bradford Sterling Clark, First Trinity Chapel at Great Bend was dedicated by the Episcopalians.
Frank W. Woolworth, a resident of Great Bend from the age of seven, successfully tried ou a five-and-ten-cent counter sale while a clerk in Moore's Store in Watertown. By 1912 he owned a mercantile empire of 596 stores using the same idea.
Fire started in West Carthage and jumped the Black River. It burned most of the business district of Carthage.
The Methodists closed their church at Francis-Babcock Corners and opened a new First Methodist Church in Great Bend.
March 18th, the residents of Wet Carthage voted for the incorporation of their village, and elected Marcus P. Mason as their first president.
March 4th, the West Carthage Fire Department was organized with David Trembly as the first chief.
From the 1864 Jefferson County Atlas: a summary of statistics for Champion
ACRES OF LAND
Improved 18,716 1/2
Unimproved 7,275
VALUATION
Real Estate 534,599
Personal Property 85,623
Total 620,222
POPULATION
Males 1,017
Females 1,009
Number of Dwellings 390
Number of Families 427
Freeholders 315
SCHOOLS
Number of Districts 17
Children Taught 761
LIVE STOCK
Horses 649
Working Oxen and Calves 1,032
Cows 1,941
Sheep 1,082
Swine 736
AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS
Bushels of Grain
Winter 4,670
Spring 48,511 1/2
Tons of Hay 2,949
Bushels of Potatoes 23,440
Bushels of Apples 10,262
Dairy Products
Pounds of Butter 160,596
Pounds of Cheese 148,718
YARDS OF DOMESTIC MANUFACTURE 1,126
Names of the early settlers |
|---|
| Alby, Eliphalet Babcock, Jeremiah Babcock, William P. Barber, Armissa Barber, Daniel Barnes, Levi Baudry Boshall, Adam Bradt, John Brizzil, Isaac Brooks, Thomas Brown, Elam Brown, James Brundage, Nathan Buell, Daniel Butler, Simeon Campbell, William Canfield, John Carter, Asa Carter, Jonathan Chamberlain, Ephraim Chamberlain, James F. Chapin, Gardner Church, Eli Clark, Enoch Coffeen, Daniel Coffeen, David Colburn, Amos Collins, Calvin Collins, Isaac Coughlin, George L. Crandall, Constant Crary, Joseph Crook, Jacob Crowell, William Crowner, Philip Davis, William Derbyshire, William |
Dorain, Andrew Dorwin, Amos Durkee, John Dutton, Nathaniel Earl, Otis Eggleston, John A. Farley Fisher, Michael Francis, Thomas Fulton, Elijah Gardner, Henry Goodrich, Moses Goodwin, Joseph Graves, Amos Hadsall, John Hadsall, William Hall, Rowland Harris, Asa Hastings, John Hayes, Roswell Henderson, John Holcomb, Laomi Holcomb, Ozias Hopkins, Joseph Hopkins, Thomas Hubbard, Abner Hubbard, Bela Hubbard, Fairchild Hubbard, Noahdiah Hubbell, Wolcott Jackson, Daniel Johnson, Steven Jones, Elihu Kemp, Matthew Kent, Moss Kilburn, Allen Lewis, Abel P. Lewis, Arnold Lewis, Eseck |
Lewis, Nicholas Lewis, Rockey Loomis, Jonathan Loomis, Samuel Martin, Joshua Maxham, Samuel McNitt, John Merrill, Miner Merrill, Moses C. Miller, Constant Miller, David Miller, Jared Miller, Jonathan Mitchell, Jotham Mix, Joel Moseley, Harrison Mustin, Harvey McNett, James Newton, Ethan North, Darius Paddock, Joseph Pardee, John Parker, Amaziah Parks, John Pearce, Olney Pennock, Wilson Perkins, Solomon Jr Perkins, Sprague Phelps, Roger Pike, Benjamin Pool, Timothy Prentice, John Reed, Jabez Rice, Enos Richardson, Wilkes Rockwell, Zebulon Rockwood, Heuber Rockwood, William |
Rood, Daniel Rudd, Nathan Saunders, Benjamin Simmons, Jacob Smith, Eliphalet Starr, David Starr, Samuel Stearns, Joshua Stewart, Simeon Stone, David Storrs, Henry Studley, Thomas Ten Eyck, Egbert Thomas, George Thompson, James Tifft, Joseph Townsend, Joseph Townsend, Timothy Tripp, Isaac Vrooman, John Wait, Dorastus Waldo, George Ward, Comfort Ward, John Ward, Salmon Ward, Thomas Warner, Andrew Warner, Stoel Whaley, Hannah Wheeler, Cornelius Wheeler, Lewis White, Abner Whitney, Reuben Wilcox, Jeptha Williams, Asher Wilmot, Asher Woerner, Peter Wood, John Wright, Freedom Young, David |