Franklin Academy - Student Yearbook (Malone, NY)

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.R X R , XX I wp- -M . Q- . , vii gig I iff ri! if fs J... Illtl u Illl ii s rw 255 fihkfoffy of Malane CNE night I had a dream. In the dream I was drifting beyond the earth, way up in the heavens. Finally l saw a sign- Residence of the Good Father Time. With sudden realization, I decided this was where I wanted to go. I timidly went to the door and knocked. Almost at once a white-haired old gentleman with a long, long beard came to the door. Father Time? I asked. Yes, m girl. What can I do for you'? he replied. I have been assigned to write the History of Malone for our T952 Yearbook. I need some help, I managed to stammer. Come right in and have a seat, little lady. I'm going to help you. Gratefully I found m self a chair on a nice, comfortable cloud and settled down to listen. Now let me see: About one hundred and fifty years ago, Enos, John and Nathan Wood came from Vermont and settled within the boundaries of Malone. These persons were the first settlers. Soon others followed. Most of our early stock came here from Vermont and were, therefore, mostly of Puritan beliefs-- living simply and working hard. It wasn't until much later in T838 that many French people came to live in those parts. The'Papineau Rebellion at that time drove them from Canada. They came iust as the early Englishmen had come, lacking provisions and money. Yes, but why did they call our town Malone'? I asked. It's this way. Malone Village was first called the Center . Although there are many theories attached to this phase of the history, it has been confirmed that the name came from Edmond Malone, an Irish- Shalcespearean scholar. The name Malone dates back approximately to I8l2. Probably no town of Malone was ever intended. A man by the name of Macomb bought all of the land in this part of the state. Macomb made his great purchase of about four million acres at around eight cents an acre. A man by the name of Constable had also made some investments. In T792 a failure of the stock market caused both Macomb and Constable to lose money. Constable went to Europe to sell his interest, but Macomb' sold most of his at a great loss. E 2

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The fiudeni FIRST CHURCH BUILDING IN FRANKLIN COUNTY Fmnlelm Amcfemy Malong N Y Pffzbe H50

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we Richard Harison, the nominal founder of Malone, was born in New York City in 1747. He entered King's College, now Columbia University, when he was thirteen years old. Harison and John Jay, later first chief iustice of the Supreme Court, were the only members of their class. Harison was later a law partner to Alexander Hamilton. Mr. Harison's law practice brought him both distinction and wealth. Therefore, he was able to invest in the township of Malone. Here he built a manor surrounded by a beauti- ful garden on upper Webster Street. Mr. Harison originally planned and laid out the village of Malone. It was to be located entirely on the west side of the river. Main Street and Webster Street were to be the principal streets. On top of all this Harison also donated a plot of land, containing four acres, for a public school and a lot for the construction of the Congregational Church on Webster Street. Richard Harison sure was some guy, wasn't he? He certainly was. Wouldn't he be surprised to see Malone today? The entire region has changed. In his day your beautiful Adirondack Mountains were known as the Peruvian Mountains. Early French explorers had called them thus since they were supposed to have mineral deposits of a vast nature. Let me tell you how people lived in those days. Although most of the early settlers were farmers, there were such industries as a tannery and a distillery. The people were poor, but a spirit of helpfulness pre- dominated throughout the community. Anslem Lincoln once told me about this instance. A road badly needed repairs. All the foremost men of the village celebrated the 4th of July by turning out to fix it. My friend, William Wheeler, wrote an account of early life in Malone. In it he places Ashbel Parmelee at the head of the foremost files of the pioneers. Rev. Parmelee was Malone's first minister. Although he held severe religious standards and wasn't overly tolerant, he impressed all who knew him as being entirely honest and sincere. With him politics and religion were interchangeable terms. He once told Mr. Wheeler that on the day of election, he went directly from his morning devotions to the polls. He prayed for good government and did his best to secure it b voting for it. Ashbel Parmelee's name will always be inseparably linked with that of Malone. ln summer's heat and winter's cold, he carried the gospel to the remotest cabins. That's some task considering the cold, cold winters you have in Malone. The winter's weather is sort of cold in the north country, l agreed, thinking of all my woolens at home. To get back to my story: Life was not all work with no play even then. The red-letter days of the year were the annual town training day, the first Monday of September, and the general muster of the county militia. Arsenal Green was the parade ground. On the general muster day the whole county met to watch the marching and maneuvers. There were real holidays for the school children, too. Zenas Heath, one of the first teachers in these parts, gave his students an annual excursion to the GREAT town of Malone. For this, he enlisted a team and 3