View source for Early Settlers


* '''[[Milote%20Baker|Milote Baker]]'''
* [[George%20Berkeley|George Berkeley]]
* [[Arvilla%20Blood|Arvilla Blood]]
* '''[[Orlando%20Blood|Orlando Blood]]'''
* [[Jesse%20Corey|Jesse Corey]]
* ''''''[[Bartholomew%20Disco|Bartholomew Disco]]
* [[Bethuel%20Fletcher|Bethuel Fletcher]]
* [[Fletcher%20Farm|John Fletcher]]
* [[Wilson%20F.%20Fletcher|Wilson F. Fletcher]]
* 

[[https://localwiki.org/hsl/Monroe_Hall|Monroe Hall]]
* 

[[Ellen%20Hayes|Ellen Hayes]]
* [[Phil%20King|Phil King]]
* '''[[William%20F.%20Martin|William F. Martin]]'''
* '''[[James%20McClelland|James McClelland]]'''
* [[Isaac%20McLenathan|Isaac McLenathan]]
* '''[[Mary%20Elizabeth%20Wise|Mary Elizabeth Wise McClelland]]'''
* '''[[Ensine%20Miller|Ensine Miller]]'''
* '''[[Julia%20Baker%20Miller|Julia Baker Miller]]'''
* '''[[Milo%20B.%20Miller|Milo B. Miller]]'''
* '''[[Pliny%20Miller|Pliny Miller]]'''
* [[Anna%20Blood%20Moody|Anna Blood Moody]]
* '''[[Jacob%20Smith%20Moody|Jacob Smith Moody]]'''
* [[Martin%20Moody|Martin Moody]]
* [[Leonard%20Nokes|Leonard Nokes]]
* [[Newell%20Reynolds|Newell Reynolds]]
* '''[[Paul%20Smith|Paul Smith]]'''
* [[Rev.%20Samuel%20Smith|Rev. Samuel Smith]]
* Dr. [[Edward%20Livingston%20Trudeau|Edward Livingston Trudeau]]
* '''[[James%20M.%20Wardner|James M. Wardner]]'''
* [[William%20Wells|William Wells]]
* [[Carlos%20Whitney|Carlos Whitney]]
* '''[[Mary%20Elizabeth%20Wise|Mary Elizabeth Wise]]'''<br> 

''Malone Farmer'', September 19, 1917

'''<span>OUR MAN ABOUT TOWN.'''

'''<span>The Late <span>Milo <span>B. Miller, a Man <span>of <span>Great <span>Intuition and Shrewdness, <span>Long a Leading Citizen <span>of Sarnanac <span>Lake--'''

'''<span>Reminescensces <span>of Early Days in<span> That Village Before the Railroads <span>Were Built.'''

<span>The late [[Milo%20B.%20Miller|Milo B. ]]<span>[[Milo%20B.%20Miller|Miller]], of Sara<span>nac Lake, who <span>began life as a <span>farmer, log driv<span>er and guide in <span>that section, was <span>a man of great <span>intuition and <span>shrewdness, and <span>his vision of the <span>future of that sec<span>tion, together <span>with his fine business ability, made <span>him wealthy. He was a remarkable <span>judge of men and conditions, and <span>made few mistakes in his calculations, <span>either upon those with whom he had <span>business relations or developments<span>, affecting the future of the locality in <span>which he lived. Dropped in the for<span>est <span>where he began life, with only a <span>few log houses occupied at first only <span>when lumbering operations were <span>go<span>ing on, he might <span>always have remain<span>ed, like many others, just a riverman <span>or guide working by the day, but his <span>natural business leanings and fore<span>sight led him to take advantage of <span>the opportunities which he had, how<span>ever scant at first, and then to grasp <span>the opportunities which came thick <span>and fast in the early development of <span>Saranac Lake. Before the rush of visit<span>ors <span>following the publication of the <span>superb stories of [[william%20henry%20harrison%20murray|Adirondack Murray]], <span>he operated [[Milo%20Miller%20Store|a store]], supplying lumber <span>camps and <span>rivermen, and dealt exten<span>sively <span>in deer <span>skins and furs. Then, <span>when the invasion of sportsmen and <span>health seekers began and there was not room to house them, he put up <span>shacks and tents in available places, receiving good money for them. Later <span>he bought the [[Saranac%20Lake%20House|Saranac Lake House]], owned by [[William%20F.%20Martin|"Bill" Martin]], enlarged it <span>and did <span>a <span>big <span>summer tourist business <span>there. <span>As <span>the lake country opened up he did an extensive business in fur<span>nishing supplies for sportsmen, camp<span>ers <span>and small hotels all the way <span>through on the water route to beyond <span>the Raquette lakes. His Saranac Lake <span>store became the emporium of a vast <span>regain extending in all directions about <span>Saranac Lake. The invasion of visi<span>tors caused the place to grow and be<span>come the permanent domicile of quite <span>a number of families, the heads of <span>which found lucrative occupation dur<span>ing all the summer months as guides, <span>but there was little for them to do in <span>winter.

<span>Then [[Edward%20Livingston%20Trudeau|Dr. Trudeau]] came to Saranac <span>Lake in search of health, and, after <span>learning that he could not live else<span>where and that residence winter and <span>summer was required for the cure of <span>tuberculosis patients, he settled down <span>there to carry out a great life-work <span>and the realization of the vision of a <span>great resort for the relief of dis<span>ease which had almost cut short his <span>then brief career as a physician. The <span>rapidly increasing colony of city <span>guests, many of whom had plenty of <span>money to spend for the comforts<span> <span>which they <span>desired, <span>gave to Mr. Mil<span>ler's <span>mercantile business further opportunities and for more than a <span>de<span>cade <span>following the doctor's arrival its <span>trade <span>was greatly increased. His store <span>contained the postoffice, and the scene <span>each night as the four-horse stage ar<span>rived with mail and supplies over the <span>40 or 50 mile route from Ausable, was <span>one<span> never to be forgotten by residents <span>or visitors <span>in the <span>Adironda<span>ck <span>hamlet <span>in the later 70's and early 80's. <span>All <span>the <span>village came out to meet the stage <span>and get the mail, the only excitement <span>which <span>broke the <span>calmness <span>and serenity <span>of life amid the abiding beauties of <span>mountain, lake and <span>forest. In winter <span>the guides <span>were <span>all at home and fol<span>lowed the <span>stage-coming <span>with sitting <span>in <span>a big circle within the store, smoking and telling stories of hunting and fishin<span>g and the more intimate things of <span>life, for they were isolated and by <span>themselves and were like one great family. Everybody in Saranac Lake <span>wore felt boots and rubbers in those <span>days, for much of the life of the city <span>dwellers was out-of-doors and comfort <span>demanded the warmest footwear. Dr. <span>Trudeau and his patients, the minis<span>ter of the little church known as [[Church%20of%20St.%20Luke%2C%20the%20Beloved%20Physician|St. ]]<span>[[Church%20of%20St.%20Luke%2C%20the%20Beloved%20Physician|Luke's]], school teacher and all dressed <span>much alike, and the guides could <span>hardly he distinguished by their cos<span>tumes. Even on Sunday the sweaters <span>and felt footwear were everywhere <span>seen in church. The minister remov<span>ed his rubbers and moved about noise<span>lessly in the felts which protruded <span>from his surplice. Teacher and pu<span>pils <span>did <span>the same in school and the <span>constant scuffling of feet upon the <span>floor which has characterized school <span>rooms almost from the beginning of <span>time, was absent.

<span>Saranac Lake was then a hamlet of a few frame houses and stores, with numerous primitive log dwellings in <span>the <span>outskirts. The frame buildings in<span>cluded the [[Berkeley%20House|Berkeley ]]<span>[[Berkeley%20House|House]], <span>[[Riverside%20inn|Blood's ]]<span>[[Riverside%20inn|old hotel]], Miller's and [[Spaulding%20Block|Tip Spaulding's]] <span>stores, the [[Saranac%20Lake%20Schools|school house]], [[Church%20of%20St.%20Luke%2C%20the%20Beloved%20Physician|St. Luke's church]], the [[Ensine%20Miller|Ensign Miller]] <span>boarding <span>house, and dwellings, a number of which stood on [[Main%20street|Main street]], now a <span>splendid thoroughfare <span>of <span>business <span>structures of masonry. There were <span>no other churches, no town hall and <span>library and no amusements except an <span>occasional house-party or a trip to a <span>church social in [[Bloomingdale|Bloomingdale]]. The <span>Methodists had a Sunday School and <span>occasional afternoon services in the <span>upper room of the school house. There <span>was no railroad nearer than Ausable, the [[Chateaugay%20Railroad|Chateaugay R. R.]] then being nar<span>row gauge and extending only to <span>Dannemora, and the [[Mohawk%20and%20Malone%20Railway|Mohawk & Ma]]<span>[[Mohawk%20and%20Malone%20Railway|lone R. R.]] not being built. There <span>were a few organs in town, but not <span>a <span>piano and few other musical instru<span>ments. The school teacher brought <span>his violin with him in the fall, al<span>though he could not play it, and as <span>soon as the young people learned of <span>the presence of the instrument, there were at <span>once plans <span>for a dance at one <span>of the houses. They waited for Er<span>nest Johnson to come down from Big <span>Tupper, then an unbroken wilderness, <span>on one of his periodical visits and then <span>the dance was held in [[Calvin%20Brown|Cal. Brown]]'s <span>big log kitchen well out on the West <span>Harrietstown road, now practically the <span>heart of the village. Ernest <span>could <span>play Money Musk, the Virginia Reel <span>and several quadrilles for the old-<span>fashioned square dances in one or two <span>keys, and it happened that <span>the tea<span>cher could play chords in the same <span>keys on the organ. This made quite an <span>orchestra <span>and <span>it was a prime <span>event in <span>the social life of the community. <span>The <span>late [[Herbert%20Miller|Herb. Miller]], an older brother of <span>Judge <span>[[Seaver%20A.%20Miller|Seaver A. Miller]], was manager <span>of the affair and it <span>was a <span>great suc<span>cess. Somebody came <span>near <span>spoiling <span>things <span>by clandestinely pouring a <span>lit<span>tle "stick" into the lemonade. but it <span>was <span>promptly discovered and there <span>was care in sampling it and all went <span>well into the "wee sma’ hours of <span>the morning." We have forgotten <span>whether Ernest came down through <span>the tortuous waterway by row boat or <span>through the woods on snowshoes, the <span>only summer and winter means of <span>transportation along the lakes.

<span>At this time, which soon after wit<span>nessed the remarkable <span>growth of <span>Saranac Lake from a mere <span>hamlet <span>into a large village, Milo Miller, the <span>late [[Van%20Buren%20Miller|Van Buren Miller]] <span>and [[R.%20Eugene%20Woodruff|Eugene ]]<span>[[R.%20Eugene%20Woodruff|Woodruff]], were its leading citizens. <span>The former was postmaster and sole <span>trustee of the school, which embrac<span>ed two departments and <span>two <span>teachers, <span>and the latter had long been <span>super<span>visor <span>and justice <span>of <span>the peace, and <span>did the law business for the com<span>munity. Mr. Woodruff was then super<span>visor, and the manager of the [[Berkeley%20House|Berke]]<span>[[Berkeley%20House|ley hotel]]. Milo <span>Miller was <span>already <span>a man of large means and was con<span>ducting his <span>large <span>store and <span>the big <span>hotel on the [[Lower%20Saranac%20Lake|Lower lake]]. He entered <span>heartily into Dr. Trudeau's plans and <span>apparently caught a glimpse of the <span>future as no other man caught it, for <span>he had erected the Berkeley House <span>for invalids and <span>bought <span>valuable build<span>ing sites and large tracts of land in <span>the vicinity, remaining to his death <span>last week the principal property own<span>er in Saranac Lake. In the 80's the <span>village grew <span>by <span>leaps and bounds and <span>he retired from the mercantile busi<span>ness to give his attention solely to his <span>real estate holdings and money in<span>vestments. The [[Newell%20Reynolds|Reynolds farm]] of 84 <span>acres adjoining [[Lake%20Flower|Lake Flower]] he <span>pur<span>chased <span>in 1883 and later on cut <span>the property into 371 building lots <span>which <span>he placed on the market. He acquired <span>more than <span>a <span>thousand acres <span>on [[Lake%20Kiwassa|Lake ]]<span>[[Lake%20Kiwassa|Kiwassa]], with its valuable <span>camp sites, <span>and woodlands, and a thousand acres <span>on the south shore of Lake Flower <span>and the <span>[[Saranac%20river|Saranac ]]<span>[[Saranac%20river|river]], together with <span>landed property near the [[Glenwood%20Estates|Glenwood ]]<span>[[Glenwood%20Estates|Estates]], assisted people in building <span>homes, took many mortgages and al<span>lowed the <span>owners to <span>pay in monthly in<span>stallments. He helped many whom <span>he knew over tight spots and was <span>known in his village as a true-hearted <span>benefactor. When Dr. Trudeau conceived the idea of his famous [[Trudeau%20Sanatorium|sani]]<span>[[Trudeau%20Sanatorium|tarium at ]]<span>[[Trudeau%20Sanatorium|Trudeau]] he knew to whom <span>to go for an intelligent appreciation <span>of its great advantages to Saranac <span>Lake and the country at <span>large, <span>and <span>Mr. Miller donated the land on which <span>the first buildings at Trudeau were <span>erected. After the village was incorporated Mr. Miller served as village <span>trustee, and as village president from <span>1893 to 95 inclusive, when the place <span>saw its most rapid growth and devel<span>opment. The waterworks and sewer<span>age systems were established during <span>his term of office and he unselfishly <span>gave of his time and means for many <span>years for the good of the community, <span>"in which," as the Adirondack Enterprise well says, "he had implicit faith <span>from the beginning." The passing of <span>this kindly and generous man, whose <span>heart was <span>large <span>and honest and ac<span>tuated <span>by sympathy and tolerance, <span>is <span>universally mourned in the heart of <span>the Adirondacks.