COMMUNITIES IN THE TOWN OF ALEXANDRIA
BARNES SETTLEMENT
From the Thousand Islands Sun, October 28, 1948, courtesy of Jeanne Snow, editor. By the late Ernest G. Cook, Theresa Town Historian.
Mrs. Lillian Herrick recalls pioneer days: Theresa -- "Sure I can tell how Barnes Settlement, town of Alexandria, got its name. That section was my home and my grandfather, Richard Thorn, came into that wilderness March 29, 1820, the first settler there. So the history of Barnes Settlement has been a part of my life." It was Mrs. Lillian Babcock Herrick of Alexandria Bay, who answered my questioon about how the section got its name and probably no person in northern New York is better informed of the pioneer history of the place than Mrs. Herrick. Mrs. Herrick will be 93 next January, and has a keen memory about pioneer events. "Of course I know the history of the place," continued Mrs. Herrick, "for it has been handed down in our family and the section was only about 36 years old when I was born. My grandfather came to the section from Pinckney [Lewis County], following marked trees part of the way, and built his home right in the wilderness, taking up 90 acres of land. "Now, it so happened that the second settler was Ira Barnes, who came several days later and he also purchased 90 acres of land right next to grandfather's land and he built a house there. For some reason, the people began speaking of the place as Barnes' Settlement, and the name seemed to stick to the place, although he actually was the second settler there. "But I do know that my grandfather used to tell that when James De LeRay, the great land owner of the north, visited the settlement he always used to stop at grandfather's home. He made his headquarters there when visiting the lands which he owned along the St. Lawrence River."DISTRICT NUMBER 7
was at Barnes Settlement. The district was laid out on April 25, 1838, even before Alexandria Bay, which was 1840 by a school record. Later on, at one time each had the same number of pupils. Barnes Settlement had seventy-one and Alexandria Bay had seventy-seven. The schoolhouse was first located at the junction of Alexandria Center and the road to Alexandria Bay [present Route 26?] on the right side of the road opposite the Babcock farm house. It burned and a stone building now stands on the opposite side of the corner on the road leading to District 6. Mrs. King's mother taught in that school a long time before she was married in 1885. She had night school for penmanship for those who wanted to write better. The school was also used for church services and was well attended. Mrs. King herself taught for her first time there, and walked back and forth from Goose Bay, her home, which was three miles each way. "I remember three young men who got their work certificates in the spring. I was sorry that they had to do this for I knew their education in school was completed, and they were only fourteen years old."Some names in that area from an 1888 map are: W. Evans, J. Babcock, C. Evans, Campbell, Mrs. Cosgrove, S. Norton, L. Dollinger, J. Burdick. The map shows, besides the school which is no longer there, the Barnes Settlement Cemetery and a cheese factory. "W. Shop" is on the next corner north.
Some names from the cemetery include Annie S. Babcock, wife of Daniel F, 1851-1927 and Daniel F. Babcock, 1849-1916. Rhodes Babcock, 1805-20 Aug 1885 must be one of the older folk buried there. John Burdick, 1826-1889 with his wife, Sarah Holmes, 1826- 1896 is another older settler.Nan Dixon
You are our 1068 visitor since October 1, 2001--
Last Revision :Wednesday, 03-Oct-2001 05:55:40 MDTReturn to Town of Alexandria Index Page
Return to Community Index Page
This
nonprofit research site is a USGenNet
CertifiedSafe-Site™ and affiliate of the American
Local History Network, Inc. (ALHN). Web hosting is generously provided by Rootsweb.
This site makes no claim to the copyrights of individual
submitters, and is in full compliance with USGenNet's Conditions of Use.
[NY ALHN]