The existence of a township called Watertown confuses many people even in Jefferson County. When one mentions Watertown, the city is immediately called to mind, being the only city in the county. The Town of Watertown, while overshadowed by its much more populous neighbor, is an older entity. Centrally located in Jefferson County, the city of Watertown occupies nearly all of the township's northern border, the edges barely touched by the Towns of Brownville, Pamelia, and Le Ray. Easterly lies Rutland, south is Rodman with a touch of Adams, and west is solidly Hounsfield.
Surveyors first visited the area in 1796, and settlement began in 1800, both in what is now the city, and in the the township. The Black River, running along the northern border of the township, is the most important river in the county for the development of power. In the early days, all power was water power, but an electric plant is still producing power today within the city of Watertown.
Settlements in the township included Burrville, first called Burr's Mills, on Sandy Creek. Today all the mills that made it important to settlers are gone, but it still boasts a locally popular cider mill. Watertown Center, just outside the city, besides being the site of Town of Watertown's municipal buildings, has Brookside and Glenwood cemeteries. Rice's Corners still exists, but Huntingdonville has been swallowed up by the city of Watertown. A locality known as Dry Hill just south of the city is said to have derived its name from a distillery placed there. The stream of patrons finding their way up the hill to the still called it Dry Hill.
From the 1864 Jefferson County Atlas: a summary of statistics for Watertown
ACRES OF LAND
Improved 20,013 1/2
Unimproved 5,186 1/2
VALUATION
Real Estate 2,423,000
Personal Property 1,519,960
Total 3,942,960
POPULATION
Males 4,142
Females 4,418
Number of Dwellings 1,540
Number of Families 1,640
Freeholders 687
SCHOOLS
Number of Districts 21
Children Taught 2,648
LIVE STOCK
Horses 955
Working Oxen and Calves 963
Cows 2,808
Sheep 1,499
Swine 1,078
AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS
Bushels of Grain
Winter 8,022 1/2
Spring 55,329
Tons of Hay 4,305 1/2
Bushels of Potatoes 11,766
Bushels of Apples 25,122
Dairy Products
Pounds of Butter 222,247
Pounds of Cheese 111,240
YARDS OF DOMESTIC MANUFACTURE 817
Names of the Early Settlers |
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| ADAMS, SEPTIMUS G. AGAN, PATRICK ALDEN, SILAS ALLEN, BENJAMIN ALLEN, ELIJAH AVERY, Jasper BABCOCK, JOHN BACON, AARON BAILEY, SETH BAKER, JONATHAN BARROWS, TILSON BARTHOLMEW, OLIVER BATES, SAMUEL BENT, DAVID BENTLEY, JONATHAN BENTLEY, JOSIAH BIDDLECOM, THOMAS H. BLIVEN, JOHN BLODGETT, ADAM BROWN, AARON BROWN, CALVIN BROWN, IRA BUELL, JOHN BUELL, ZEBEDIAH BURNHAM, CALEB BURNHAM, NATHANIEL BUTTERFIELD, ASAPH BUTTERFIELD, CYRUS BUTTERFIELD, THOMAS COLE, LEVI CRANDALL, N. CRANDALL, W.P. CUSHING, Dexter DAYTON, FRIEND DELANO, THOMAS DEMING, LUTHER DOTY, DORIS DRURY, LEWIS |
EDWARDS, EPHRAIM FAY, S. FELLOWS, WILLIAM FISK, ABRAM GALLOWAY, CHARLES GIFFORD, STEPHEN GLASS, James Jr GOTHAM, JOHN GREEN, BENJAMIN GUSTIN, ELISHA HARRINGTON, SEYREL HINDS, CORLIS HOWK, HENDERSON HOWK, SILAS HUNGERFORD, ORVILLE HUNTINGTON, WILLIAM IVES, JOEL IVES, JOTHAM IVES, JOTHAM IVES, TITUS, Dr JEROME, Charlotte L. JEWETT, HENRY JEWETT, N. KLOCK, Stephen LAZELL, Ebenezer LAZELLE, EBENEZER LEMMON, FRANCIS LUTHER, Smith MATHER, ASAPH MILES, JONATHAN MILES, JONATHAN E. MOORE, JOSEPH NORRIS, S. PARKER, EZRA PARKER, WILLIAM PATRICK, JOHN PECK, SETH PETTIT, HEMAN |
PRIEST, JOSHUA PURCELL, JOHN RANDOLPH, HOPEFUL RICE, BENNETT RICE, BENNETT RICHARDSON, HEPZIBA RICHARDSON, TILLEY ROGERS, ELI ROGERS, JAMES SAMPSON, WILLIAM SAWYER, JOHN SAWYER, THOMAS SCOTT, REUBEN SHELDON, JOSEPH SHERMAN, Phineas SIGOURNEY, ANDREW SIGOURNEY, ANTHONY SIKES, J. SPENCER STANFORD, Giles STANLEY STEARS, JACOB STEBBINS, J. STEBBINS, L. TALCOTT, JONATHAN THURSTON, SAMUEL TOLMAN, EBENEZER TUTTLE, JOSEPH WADLEY, JOSEPH WHITNEY, JOB, Capt. WILSON, JAMES WILSON, JOHN WOODRUFF, BENJAMIN WOODRUFF, FREDERICK WOODRUFF, Jonah WOODRUFF, SIMEON WOODWARD, James WOODWORTH, CYRENUS |
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