Samuel B. Sprague,2,--,--,2,--,2,--,2,--,2,--,--,--
=====
In the United States Third Federal Census of New York in1810, Saint Lawrence County had these named townshipsenumerated:
Hopkinton, Stockholm, Madrid, Massena, Potsdam, Canton,Russel, Dekalb, Lisbon, Oswegotchie, and Cambray.
"Cambray" became "Gouverneur" documented in severalhistories. But the boundaries of these 1810 townships notknown to me; do know these townships had to be large andthat there were numerous boundary/name changes over theyears to arrive at the township names/boundaries existingtoday.
The 1810 census enumerated 7885 persons in Saint Lawrence.
Town of Cambray had 223 persons and 44 heads of household.The center of township population was probably where thevillage of Gouverneur sets today.
1810 New York, Saint Lawrence County, Town of Cambray.Microfilm Series M252, Roll 36, Page 25, records "Samuel BSprague", head of household, unambiguously, in themicroform copy of the original census record. See pdfattachment.
Census records a household eight persons: two males under10; two males 26-45; two females under 10 and two females16-26.
=====
Comments on this 1810 census record.
The name is indexed exactly by HeritageQuest Online. Noother Spragues are indexed by HeritageQuest in SaintLawrence County in 1810.
The record corroborates some facts and generates morequestions about SBS.
If Samuel was born in 1786, he would not have attained 26years of age during calendar year 1810. It ispossible Samuel was born before 1786 or that the wrongcensus record column was marked. The two males 26-45 is notunderstood, but surely one of them is Samuel.
If Samuel and Sybil were married in January 1807, and Sybilwas born January 1790, and son Seth was born November 1807,then having four children under 10 by 1810 is feasible, butimprobable. More likely the dwelling contained other adultrelatives or boarders with children.
The record supports indications that sons Seth Sprague andJonathon Hall Sprague were born before 1810.
The census proves that Samuel Bliss Sprague arrived inSaint Lawrence in the year 1810 or prior.
=====
Summary of political formations documented in New York's StLawrence County/Gouverneur published histories.
Saint Lawrence County was formed by legislation on 3 March1802.
A village of Gouverneur history, period 1805-1890, claimssettlement by four named pioneer families in the year 1806;they came from "Hartford, Washington County". By the springof 1807 there were twelve named families in the settlement.
Township of Gouverneur (nee Cambray) was formed fromTownship of Oswegotchie on 5 April 1810. When the namechange became effective is not known by me, but the changewas made because Gouverneur Morris owned much of thetownship lands.
Township of Fowler was formed from Townships of Rossie andRussell on 15 April 1816.
=====
|
| Notes |
- "Sprague Families in America", by Dr. Warren VincentSprague, page 480.
Samuel B. Sprague, b. in Hartford,N.Y.; d. May 5, 1855, at home of his son Beriah, Fowler,N.Y.; m. abt. 1806, at Hartford, Sibyl Hall, who d. in1859, at Fowler, dau. of Jonathan and Deodamia (Walker)Hall.
He was a shoemaker and trained allhis sons to that trade during their minority. In1811, he moved from Hartford to Fowler, bringing his familyand goods in ox-carts, and located on a farm one mile northof the present village of Little York, being one of thefirst two white men to settle in the town of Fowler. Ther first town meeting was held Apr. 15, 1816, at which hewas elected Overseer of Highways. He was honest, frugal,industrious, social, temperate and respected. His wife wasa woman of strong intellect, rigidly just, industrious anda force in that
community.
"History of St. Lawrence And Franklin Counties", page 301.
First Set of TownOfficers......... Simeon Hazleton, Samuel B. Sprague,overseers of highways; .....
Ibid, page 302.
Mr. Elijah Sackett, from Hartford,N.Y., came into town in 1808, and was employed as a miller,until his death, in the spring of 1812. He was the firstwhite person who is known to have died in town. LemuelArnold, John Ryan, _____ Cleveland, Ebenezer Parker, andothers, came on and settled soon after, and in 1811, SamuelB. Sprague, made the first stand in the neighborhood ofLittle York. Albin & Oliver Wright, were early settlers.During the war several families left the country for fearof Indians, nor did the town begin to settle rapidly until1820. Early in 1818, Gen Haile moved into town withhis family, having only come on himself, in the summer timepreviously. He resided here till his death, Dec. 17,1821.
From James Kallal, correspondent, note of November 15th,2004
SAMUEL BLISS SPRAGUE: familyhistory manuscript created circa 1912.
A manuscript in cursive hand, penand ink, forms part of a loose leaf family scrapbook andphoto album once held by Clara Virginia Sprague(1903-1974). She appears in SFA, a daughter of Don FremontSprague, #923. Don Fremont had a sister named ClaraVirginia (1855-1914) and two women must not be confused.
The original manuscript is held bydescendants in November 2004.
Physically the manuscript consistsof four pages and several snippets of writing paper gluedonto the scrapbook paper. The hand is free and flowing;there are strikethroughs, insertions, and other amendationsthat would indicate this was a edited draft.
One page describes the purported"Sir Edward Spragge" coat of arms; this was not transcribed.
Three pages are devoted tobiographical information for Samuel Bliss Sprague and oneof his sons Chester Haden Sprague.
Manuscript sentences are long;these are transcribed as written; no change of punctuationor editing has been made by this transciber. No paragraphbreaks have been added where the manuscript flows withoutany indication of such. But, editing and strikethroughsmade in the original are incorporated into thistranscription without transcriber comment.
( ) parenthetical marks are thosethat appear in the manuscript
[?] indicates that one or more characters or words missingor not legible to the transcriber
[sic] so, thus, exactly as observed, right or wrong; inserted by the transcriber
comment by the transcriber
... denotes the beginning and the end of content oneach page and on each snippet of the original manuscript
Transcription from the originalmade by James J Kallal in November 2004.
BEGIN TRANSCRIPT: ...Samuel Bliss Sprague, grandfather ofDon Fremont Sprague and others of the present generation ofthe Sprague family, moved from Hartford, Washington County,N.Y. about the year 181[?],and was one of the first twowhite men to settle in the town of Fowler, St. LawrenceCounty, N.Y. - the other being James James is an amendationwhich appears to be written by another hand Haile wholocated where Hailesborough now stands and gave his name to[?] village which sprang up around him. Mr Sprague locatedupon a farm about a mile SFA records 'one mile north fromthe present village of Little York and there not onlycleared and developed his farm, but continued his trade asa shoemaker, in both occupations being assisted by his fivesons, Seth, Chester, Jonathon, Obed and Beriah, while thedaughters, Phoebe, Jane, Deiadama, and Sibyl [sic], aidedtheir mother (Sibyl Hall Sprague) in the general householdtasks, which, in that day, included all that housekeepingnow requires, and, also may be "alas", the arts ofspinning, weaving, knitting, and the cutting and making allthe garments for both sexes, and all by hand labor. Infact, all that supplied this large family with food, andall other necessities and comforts, came from the farmitself and from the industry and skill of the members ofthe household. Dressmakers, tailors, [?]lliners, carpetweavers, carpenters and shoemakers, all were involved inthat one home to meet the daily needs of the growing boysand girls, under the capable... ...management andleadership of this early pioneer and his forceful andefficient helpmate. Their old farm is now owned andoperated by Byron Wight who... ...married one oftheir great grand-daughters...
...Chester Haden [sic] Sprague,the second son of Samuel B. and Sibyl Hall Sprague, wasborn May 21, 1812, and learned from his father theshoe-maker's trade, in which he became most skillful andwon considerable fame in his early manhood for his expertwork in this line, developing a good business at LittleYork, which he continued until the year 1859, when cheaperwork produced by machinery induced him to abandonshoe-making and move to the large farm he then owned, lyinghalf way between Little York and Hailseborough. But farmlife proved too tame for his energetic nature and in a fewyears he, again, changed his occupation and home, this timelocating at Fullerville (St Lawrence Co. N.Y.) three milessouth of Little York, on the Oswegatchie River. Here hebuilt large mills and developed a large lumber business,against such heavy odds as would have conquered any man whodid not possess an invincible courage with which toconfront obstacles of any sort. Here he lived and laboreduntil his death, which occurred on June 9, 1884. His was aneventful and strenuous life, from beginning to end,dominated by noble aspirations and an ardent desire to beof use to his day and generation. He was a born organizerand leader among men, and in all matters, great or small,his integrity was unquestioned. His life was spent in thetown of Fowler... ...and that town owes much to hisenterprise and foresight seen not only in the manyexcellent buildings he erected but in more spiritualmatters as well. All his life he was a devoted advocate andpromoter of liberal education, a generous, open-handedphilanthropist, an ardent worker for the cause oftemperance, and... ...one of the few men in Fowler whoearly adopted the Universalist faith and united to buildand support a commodious church at Little York for theexpress purpose of disseminating the Universalist doctrine.Owning to the lack of early opportunities, he was obligedto educate himself, and this he did with remarkablethoroughness, in hours taken from sleep and neededrecreation; and thus he became an all-around well educatedman, taking especial delight in the best literature,mathematics, and metaphysics. He also mastered the generalprinciples of law and took great pleasure in legal andpolitical debates, in which he was frequently a successfulparticipant. In politics, he was an active Republican, andamong his heroes were General Fremont, Horace Greeley andAbraham Lincoln. He was twice married, first to SarahMelissa Johnson who bore him four children: Silas Wright(who died suddenly, from pneumonia, aged 22 years) Emily(who died in infancy) Myron Walter (who dropped dead fromheart failure, in Oct 1897) amd Sarah Elmina Sprague, stillliving. The second wife was Laura Persis McGill, who boreFrances Adella [sic] (who died in 18(?) [sic] of perniciousaenemia) Clara Virginia (still living) Willard Bruce (stillliving) Lina Louise (who died in Oct 1867) Marion Grace(still living) and Don Fremont, whose home is atHarrisville, Lewis Co. N.Y. (1912) END TRANSCRIPT
Comment by transcriber:
Byron Wight appears in the 1900 federal census in Town ofFowler with spouse Edna, she b Mar 1861 per census. Edna'ssurname unknown to me at November 2004. In 1910 censusByron Wight is a enumerated in Fowler as widower with sonsGlenn J 20, Hugh B 15, Ernest M? 11, Earl M 9?. Thesechildren descend from Samuel Bliss Sprague, but the linkhas not been discovered by me. Conclude Edna died betweenthe two enumerations. This farm, a mile from the villagenow called Fowler, must be the homestead that Samuel Blissbuilt in 1811 and birthplace his children born in Fowler;the property might be located using St Lawrence CountyClerk land records, deeds, probate etc.
In the manuscript last few lines list Chester's tenchildren; Sarah Elmina and Clara Virginia are both stillliving and Don Fremont is in Harrisville (1912). Sarah Edied in 1913 and Clara V died in 1914. Evidence from othersources support the proposition that the author was SarahElmina Sprague, known to have provided the family historyof Samuel Bliss Sprague, as Dr W. V. Sprague himself haswritten.
Conclusion: subject manuscript was written in 1912 by SarahElmina Sprague; she most likely sent her final document toDr W.V. Sprague; he edited severely, but some phrases doappear in print in SFA published in 1913.
From James J. Kallal, correspondent, note of January 11th,2008
Historical note: James Haile was a revolutionary war BrigGeneral; in 1807 he purchased land where Hailesboro hamletnow sets in Fowler Township. Samuel Bliss was the area forthe 1810 census, and settled down the road near Little York(now hamlet of Fowler) in 1811.
Descendants of both men appear in census in Township ofFowler thru 1880s. [7, 8]
|
1786 - 1854 (68 years)
[1] 
Census
: Address
: Location
: City/Town
: County/Shire
: State/Province
: Country
: Not Set
