Rivers. a. Black. b. Beaver.

13. Osceola, 1842.

c. Moose. e. Independence Creek.

f. Deer. g. Otter. i. Fish. j. Salmon. k. Indian. h. West branch of Ŏswegatchie.

Lakes. o. Fish.

Falls. Falls on the Black river, at Denmark and Greig.

Villages. MARTINSBURG. Lowville. Copenhagen.

BOUNDARIES. North by Jefferson and St. Lawrence counties; East by Herkimer; South by Oneida, and West by Oswego and Jefferson counties.

SURFACE. The county is divided by the Black river into two nearly equal sections. The eastern ascends somewhat rapidly, from the river, to the mountainous region on its eastern line. The western is rolling and frequently hilly, rising from the Black river, for six or eight miles, and then inclining to the south and west. Broad alluvial flats are found along the Black river.

RIVERS. Black and Beaver rivers, Independence, Moose, Deer, Otter, Fish, Salmon, and Indian creeks, and the west branch of the Oswegatchie, are the principal streams.

FALLS. Black river has a fall of sixty-three feet, in the town of Leyden, and Deer creek of 175 feet, in the town of Denmark. CANAL. The Black river canal, when finished, will unite with Black river just below the high falls at Leyden.

CLIMATE. The climate of Lewis county is cold, but healthy. The winters are long, but the uniformity of the temperature renders them less unpleasant, than would be expected.

GEOLOGY AND MINERALS. The country east of the Black river is primitive in its character. The rock underlying this portion of the county, and frequently appearing on the surface, is granite. West of the river, the whole county is underlaid with a fine compact limestone, which appears every where, on the borders of the streams. The Utica slate also occupies a narrow belt in the western part of the county.

Iron ore is very abundant and of a superior quality; lead ore, (galena,) also occurs in considerable quantities. The other minerals worthy of notice are, sulphuret of zinc, (blende,) very beautiful quartz crystals, scapolite, tabular spar, green cocolite, feldspar, sphene, crystallized pyrites, calcareous and fluor spar, manganese, and Rensselaerite. Probably few counties in the state are richer in mineral wealth.

The soil is various,

SOIL AND VEGETABLE PRODUCTIONS. composed of a fertile alluvium, or a gravelly, sandy, and clayey loam. It is susceptible of a profitable cultivation, and furnishes fine grazing. The timber is principally pine, pruce, hemlock,

beech, maple, elm, ash, with some white oak and walnut. The eastern section still has extensive forests. From the maple. are manufactured considerable quantities of sugar.

PURSUITS. Agriculture is the chief employment of the inhabitants; the products of the dairy are large.

Manufactures. The county has abundant water power, but as yet it is but little improved. Flour, lumber, leather, and fulled cloths, are the chief articles of manufacture.

Commerce. There is little or no commerce; the completion of the Black River canal will aid materially in bringing the produce of their rich and fertile lands to market.

The STAPLES of the county are butter and cheese, wool, potatoes, oats, and wheat. Considerable quantities of barley, buckwheat, flax, hops, and sugar, are also produced.

SCHOOLS. The district school-houses in the county, in 1846, were 150 in number, in which were instructed 6139 pupils. The average length of the schools was seven months. The teachers wages, $6196; the number of volumes in the district libraries, 11,886. There were six private schools with eightythree scholars, and one academy with sixty-two pupils.

RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS. Methodists, Baptists, Presbyterians, Congregationalists, Universalists, Roman Catholics, Episcopalians, and Friends. The total number of churches is thirty-seven, of clergymen, forty-four.

HISTORY. The whole of this county was originally owned by Alexander Macomb. The western part was afterward sold to a company of capitalists in New York city, and the eastern to a French company at Paris. The first settlers were pioneers from Connecticut and Massachusetts, who made their way, in 1797, from Utica and Fort Stanwix, (now Rome,) at that time small settlements, by a line of marked trees, to the falls of Black river, and from thence to the town of Lowville, where they established themselves. Their families followed, the succeeding winter, through snow so deep as to make it necessary to break paths for the cattle and teams, while mothers, shod with snow-shoes, bore their infants in their arms. For some time after, the farmers were obliged to go forty miles to mill, carrying their grain upon their shoulders.

VILLAGES. MARTINSBURG, in the town of the same name, contains the county buildings, a female seminary, and a number of factories. Population 800.

Lowville is a village of some business in the town of Lowville. It has an incorporated academy. Population 800.

Copenhagen, in the town of Denmark, is situated on both sides of Deer river. It is a flourishing village, and engaged in manufactures. Population about 500,

9. Lorraine, 1804. 10. Rodman, 1804. 11. Le Ray, 1806. 12. Henderson, 1806. 13. Antwerp, 1816. 14. Lyme, 1817.

Rivers and Creeks.

15. Pamelia, 1819.

16. Alexandria, 1821.
17. Orleans, 1821.

18. Philadelphia, 1821.
19. Clayton, 1832.

20. Theresa, 1842.

I. St. Lawrence River. a. Black River. b. Indian River. d. Chaumont Creek. e. Perch. f. Stoney. g. Sandy.

Lakes, &c. J. Ontario. i. Perch. j. Yellow. k. Hungry Bay. 1. Black River. m. Chaumont Bay.

Islands. n. Gallop Island. o. Stoney. p. Grenadier. q. Fox r. Carlton. s. Grindstone.

t. Wells.

Falls. On the Indian river.

On the Black river at Champion,

Rutland, and Watertown. Long Falls, Wilna.

Forts. Sacketts Harbor.

Villages. WATERTOWN. Sacketts Harbor. Brownville. Cornelia. Carthage.

BOUNDARIES. North by the St. Lawrence River, and St. Lawrence county; East by Lewis county; South by Oswego county, and West by Lake Ontario.

SURFACE. The surface of Jefferson county may be divided into two terraces, the broader of which is on the northwest. The Ridge Road, extending from the Niagara river, at a distance of from six to ten miles from the lake, and undoubtedly indicating the ancient limits of Lake Ontario, is here about 100 feet in height. The surface between this and the lake is level or gently undulating. From this ridge the county has a gentle descent toward the southeast, where an elevated ridge crosses it, and gives it a broken and hilly appearance.

RIVERS. The chief streams of the county, besides the St. Lawrence, are the Black and Indian rivers, Chaumont, Perch, Stoney, and Sandy creeks.

FALLS. There is a series of falls in the Black river, commencing at the Long falls in Carthage.

LAKES. The chief lakes are Ontario, Perch, and Yellow. BAYS. Hungry, Black River, and Chaumont bays are indentations of greater or less extent, upon the lake coast.

ISLANDS. Along its western line are situated Gallop, Stoney, Fox, Grenadier, Carlton, Grindstone, and Wells islands.

CLIMATE. Equable and healthy. The winters are cold, but without sudden changes. The summer heats are moderated by the lake breezes.

GEOLOGY AND MINERALS. The primary formation is confined to two or three small districts in the county, principally in the

north and northeast part. In Alexandria, there is a small tract where the primitive rocks are near the surface. They are granite, primitive limestone, gneiss, and hornblende. The greater part of the county, however, belongs to the transition formation.

The order of arrangement of the rocks of this formation, here, is the following, beginning at the northern part of the county: Potsdam sandstone, extending to a point a little south of Theresa falls; calciferous sand rock and birdseye limestone, appearing as far south as the Black river; Trenton limestone, extending through Houndsfield, Adams, Watertown, and Rutland, and succeeded by a narrow belt of the Utica slate; this is followed by the Lorraine shales, lying in Rodman, Lorraine, and Pinckney. In the southern line of towns, the gray sandstone occurs in small quantities.

Bog iron ore, spathic iron, specular iron, arragonite, cacoxene, pyrites, celestine, terenite, tremolite, fluor spar, green malachite, tourmaline, strontianite, idiocrase, apatite, pyroxene, and massive heavy spar, tufa, peat, and graphite in six sided tablets, are the principal minerals.

There is a cave in the town of Pamelia, nearly opposite Watertown, containing a number of apartments, and some fine spars. It has been explored for nearly half a mile.

SOIL AND VEGETABLE PRODUCTIONS. The soil is generally a fertile sandy loam, with some clay and gravel, and susceptible of a high degree of cultivation. In the basin on the northwest, wheat grows abundantly, but the higher lands in the southeast are more favorable to grazing. The forests abound with oak, maple, beech, birch, walnut, ash, elm, hemlock, pine, tamarack, and red and white cedar. The cranberry grows abundantly in the swamps, and forms an article of export.

PURSUITS. Agriculture is the leading pursuit of the people. Great numbers of cattle and swine are reared for the eastern market; the products of the dairy are very large. Potatoes, oats, corn, wheat, rye, barley, and flax are produced in great abundance, and the wool-growing interest is not neglected. The county ranks among the first for agricultural products in the state.

The manufactures of the county are extensive and rapidly increasing. The principal articles are flour, lumber, iron,

The

leather, distilled liquors, potash, and woollen goods. value of articles manufactured in the county in 1845, was nearly $2,000,000.

The commerce of this county is large and constantly increasing. About one half of its produce finds its way to a market down the St. Lawrence; the remainder through the Oswego and Erie canals, enters the Hudson, or through the Welland and Western canals, and the great lakes, is distributed over the Mississippi valley. The shipping of this county amounts to about 5000 tons. The completion of the Black River canal will