This essay was originally published in the 1941 OCHS Yearbook. Please note that this essay was published over 80 years ago. While still useful for general education, language may be outdated and at times offensive. The Oswego County Historical Society does not stand by the language used in this essay. To view the original document, please visit NYHeritage.org.
Paper Read Before the Oswego County Historical Society, December 16, 1941, by Leon N. Brown, of Oswego
Although Commodore Melancthon Taylor Woolsey was not the hero of any outstanding naval engagement like Perry was on Lake Erie, he distinguished himself in a number of minor naval battles, contributing a vital part to national defense during the War of 1812 on Lake Ontario. Hardly 30 years of age at the outbreak of hostilities, outside of a few months at the beginning of the war, he was outranked in command by several men, so that he was not in position to take of his own volition the initiative. He proved himself, however, an officer of courage and resourcefulness, a good commander of men and an excellent sailor.
While he actually lived in Oswego only a little over a year, his part in the early period of Oswego’s development was important. He was in and out of the village on numerous occasions, before, during and after the war on naval business. Later his mother and sister were residents of Oswego, so that his connection with Oswego covered the period from 1808 until the time of his death in 1838.
Melancthon Taylor Woolsey was a member of a distinguished, pioneer American family. The first Woolsey of record in America was George born in New York (New Amsterdam) October 15, 1652, who died January 19, 1740. George’s son, Benjamin, was born in Jamaica, Long Island, in 1687. He was graduated from Yale and became a minister of the gospel. He married Abigail Taylor. Their son was Melancthon Taylor Woolsey, born in 1717 at Queens Village, Long Island, who married Rebecca Lloyd. In the French and Indian War, he was a Colonel of New York Provincial troops. In May 1758 he was at Lake George and Fort Edward; in July of that same year, General John Bradstreet commanded an army that marched to the Wood Creek portage (Rome) bound for Oswego and the eventual capture of Frontenac (Kingston, Ontario). Colonel Woolsey was with Bradstreet and while at the portage became ill of fever. He was invalided back to Schenectady, thence to New York, where he died September 28 at the age of 41 years. George, Benjamin and Colonel Melancthon Taylor Woolsey were all buried in the family burial ground at Dos Oris, Queens Village, Long Island.
Colonel Melancthon Taylor Woolsey’s son, Melancthon Lloyd Woolsey was born in 1758 at Queens Village, just before his father left for army service. He entered the American army during the Revolution as an aide to General George Clinton. Retiring from the army in 1780, he was later made a Major General of New York State militia. In 1787 he removed to Plattsburgh. New York, where he was appointed Collector of Customs for that district. He also served as clerk of Clinton County. His wife, Alida Livingston, was the daughter of Henry and great-grand-daughter of Robert Livingston, the first lord of Livingston Manor. She was a sister of the Reverend John Henry Livingston, celebrated Dutch Reformed Clergyman of the Hudson River Valley and New York City who later became President of Queens College, now known as Rutgers, at Trenton, N. J. Melancthon Lioyd Wooisey died at Trenton, N. Y. in 1819. His widow, Alida Livingston Woolsey died in Oswego at the home of her son-in-law, James Platt, July 12, 1843, aged 85 years, 1 month, 14 days. The Palladium Times of January 18, 1941 stated that she was buried in the old village cemetery at the foot of West First street, but that her body was later removed to Kingsford Park cemetery and finally to Riverside cemetery. Since the removal of bodies from the old village cemetery was completed in 1836, I consider it is doubtful that she was buried originally in the old cemetery.
Related to Oswego’s First Mayor
At that time James Platt was a commission merchant whose place of business was located at 147 Water Street, Oswego. He was born in Poughkeepsie January 2, 1788 the son of Judge Zephaniah Platt. The father moved to Plattsburgh on Lake Champlain in 1797, in fact the place was named for him. James Platt, following the death of his father, moved to Whitestown, Oneida County, where he studied law in the office of his brother, the Honorable Jonas Platt. Forsaking the law, he entered a partnership with B. B. Lansing in a forwarding business. In 1836 he came to Oswego as agent for the Varick Canal property. In 1844 he built the first grain elevator in Oswego which was located a t the foot of the race on the east side of the river. He served one term as Supervisor representing the Town of Oswego, was President of the village in 1838, 1844, 1845 and 1846 and was first mayor of the city when it was incorporated in 1848. In 1853-1854, he served the 20th Senatorial district, consisting of Oswego and Madison Counties, as State Senator. He became President of the Lake Ontario Bank, and was also President at one time of Northwestern Insurance Company of Oswego. Platt was very active and influential in the civic affairs of Oswego, having been an incorporator and member of the first Board of Trustees of the Gerrit Smith Library, an organizer of Riverside Cemetery, a trustee of the Oswego Orphan Asylum and a director of the Oswego Board of Trade at its inception in 1848 and its President in 1850 and again in 1854.
Mr. Platt was married three times, his second wife being Mrs. Auchmutz, (Susan K. Platt) a younger sister of Melancthon Taylor Wooisey. His marriage to Woolsey’s sister took place in 1831. She died in Oswego in 1852. Platt’s home was at 70 West Third street, the house now (in 1941) owned by the Oswego Post of the American Legion as a club house.
Woolsey’s Mother Died Here
Both Woolsey’s mother and sister (Susan Woolsey Platt) are buried at Riverside Cemetery, Oswego, in the Platt lot, which is located on the hill at the eastern end of the cemetery.
The subject of this paper, Melancthon Taylor Wooisey, son of Melancthon Lloyd and Alida (Livingston) Woolsey was born June 5, 1782, probably at Queens Village, Long Island. In 1800 young Woolsey became a law student in the office of Mr. Justice Platt, a lawyer of note at Whitesborough, Oneida County, and a member of Congress. (Justice Platt was an uncle by marriage, having married a sister of Woolsey’s mother. The authority for “Justice” Platt comes from J. Fenimore Cooper, but it may well be that Justice Platt and Jonas Platt, brother of the James Platt, already referred to, were one and the same man. The name “Jonas” was used in the “Oswego Advertiser and Times’ of May 9, 1870 at the time of the Honorable James Platt’s death.)
Through the influence of Congressman Platt, Woolsey’s ambition to serve in the navy was gratified, his warrant being dated April 9th, 1800, when he was 18 years of age. In the list of officers of the navy retained after the passage of the Peace Establishment Law in 1801, is found the name of Midshipman Melancthon T. Woolsey. (This law gave President Jefferson the right to sell all of the vessels of the navy, with the exception of 13 frigates and greatly increased the personnel of the navy officers.)
Served Against Tripoli
Woolsey’s assignment to the “Adams”, under Captain Valentine Morris, brought him valuable experience. Bound for the West Indies station the “Adams” captured five French privateers. After this the “Adams,” was laid up, and Woolsey was transferred to the “Boston,’ then in command of the eccentric Captain Daniel McNeill. The “Boston” carried Chancellor Livingston and his suite to France, when the latter went to negotiate the treaty for cession of Louisianna to the United States. From France the “Boston” proceeded to the Mediterranean. Then Woolsey saw service on the “Chesapeake” while Commodore Morris made her his flagship. Woolsey again made the trip to the Mediterranean, this time on the “New York”, in command of Captain Chauncey, who as Commodore later became Woolsey’s supreme officer on Lake Ontario during the War of 1812. It was while the “New York” was in passage between Malta and Gibraltar that severe explosion occured on board her causing the loss of fourteen men and the serious burning of several others.
Woolsey was attached to the “New York” when Porter attacked Tripoli. After this, service on the “Essex,” in the Mediterranean, temporary appointment as Lieutenant, and the assignment to the “Constitution” (Old Ironsides) contributed to Woolsey’s education as a naval officer and sailor. Woolsey was on the “Constitution” when one of the few mutinies in the American Navy occurred. This happened at Gibraltar after the “Constitution” was ordered to patrol duty at a time when the crew expected relief and a trip home. Commodore Campbell in 1807 recommended Woolsey’s permanent appointment as a Lieutenant.
Cooper’s Anecdote About Read
One incident which occurred on the “Constitution”, commanded by Campbell, is interesting enough to relate. Commodore Campbell had brought with him to the ship a near relative by the name of Read. He was one of the midshipmen, while Woolsey and Burroughs were two of her lieutenants. On one occasion, after Burroughs had imbibed a bit too heavily of wine, he became pugnacious. Woolsey was finally compelled to put his riotous messmate down on the floor, where terms of peace were dictated. The story of tussle between the two officers reached the ears of Commodore Campbell and the next morning both Woolsey and Burroughs were were placed under arrest. They were both young and when the Commodore learned the true state of affairs between them the affair was forgotten. However, the ward-room officers were suspicious as to who had informed the Commodore about Woolsey and Burroughs. Because of his nearness to the Commodore, Read was suspected and for a long period he was given the cold shoulder by his messmates. In fact, he was only spoken to when in the lines of duty. However, Woolsey later learned from the Commodore that the information had been acquired from his own clerk. Thereafter, taking the first opportunity, Woolsey approached Read on the quarterdeck. Having heard Woolsey relate the story several times, Cooper assumes that something like the following conversation took place between them.
“You must have observed, Mr. Read, that the officers of the ward-room have treated you coldly, for some months past?”
“I am sorry to say I have, sir”
“It was owing to the opinion that you had informed Commodore Campbell of the unpleasant little affair that took place between Mr. Burroughs and myself.”
“I have supposed it to be owing to that opinion, sir,”
“Well, sir, we have now ascertained that we have done you a great injustice, and I have come to apologize to you for my part of this business and to beg you will forget it. I have it from your uncle himself, that it was Mr. — .”
“I have all along thought the Commodore got his information from that source.”
“Good Heaven! Mr. Read, had you intimated as much, it would have put an end at once to the unpleasant state of things which so long existed between yourself and the gentlemen of the wardroom.”
“That would have been doing the very thing for which you blamed me, Mr. Woolsey,—turning informer.”
The Mr. Read in question later became Commodore George Campbell Read of the United States Navy.
Woolsey and Cooper Come to Oswego
In 1807 Woolsey was stationed in Washington. About this time relations between the United States and England were becoming strained over questions of free trade and sailor’s rights. This situation caused the United States government to take steps intended to make it possible to defend Lakes Ontario and Champlain if it should become necessary. In the defense plans were included the construction of a brig of 16 guns on Lake Ontario and two-gun boats on Lake Champlain. The command of this enterprise was entrusted to Woolsey and to him was given the superintending of the construction and command of the first regular armaments of the United States on the Great Lakes. He came to Oswego accompanied by Messrs. Gamble and James Fenimore Cooper, while Lieutenant Montressor Haswell, with Messrs. Walker and Hall were assigned to Lake Champlain.
In 1808 when the young naval officers arrived at Oswego they found a typical frontier town of some twenty or more houses located along the west side of the river and near the lake, with one or possibly two dwellings on the east side of the river. (Not until 1811 was there a building erected south of what is now Bridge Street.) Fort Ontario’s garrison had been withdrawn in 1804 and the fort left to idleness and decay. The small community was almost wholly dependent upon the transportation of salt from Salina and the shipping of it on Lake Ontario. Eight or ten schooners were owned in the village and most of the male inhabitants were employed in various capacities connected with the salt business. At times there was as much as 20,000 lbs of salt stored at Oswego waiting transportation.
Ship Builders Welcomed to Oswego
A salt warehouse had been built in 1802, which was owned by Benajah Byington, one of the early salt makers of Salina. The same year Bradner Burt built a saw-mill. Joel Burt became the collector of Customs in 1803, when Oswego was first recommended by the government as a port of entry; he too, was the first Post Master at Oswego, appointed in 1806 when a post-route was established from “Onondaga Hollow” to Oswego. Upon the arrival of 1808 of the group of naval officers, a small detachment of soldiers and ship-carpenters, riggers and blacksmiths, sent to build the brig of war “Oneida” the first United States man-of-war to be built on the Great Lakes, under Woolsey’s direction, salt had been the only medium of exchange in the village. This influx of men into the village proved a pleasant and profitable addition to the life of the small community and money began to be seen and used for the first time as a means of exchange.
In addition to the Burts, among the other settlers who probably greeted Woolsey and his companions at Oswego were Neil McMullen, the first permanent settler, Captain Edward O’Conner, a former Revolutionary War soldier (who had been here with Willet’s Expedition in 1782), Peter Sharp, William Vaughn, Augustus Ford, Captain Edward Rasmussen, Paisley Matthew McNair, Daniley Burt, father of Joel, Daniel Hugunin, Edwin Morris Tyler, Captain Theophilus Baldwin and others. These men became associates and acquaintances of Woolsey and Cooper. Although Alvin Bronson, later to become first village President, didn’t arrive in Oswego until 1810, he later came in contact with Woolsey during the War of 1812.
“Oneida” Built on East Side
The site selected for the construction of the brig was on the east side of the Oswego river on a point of land that then formed one side of the outlet. The outline of the river has been greatly changed during the years by dredging and the building of docks and slips, but the site was probably directly across the river from the foot of West Schuyler Street. Reference to the original map of Oswego as laid out in 1797 indicates an arm of land or point which was without doubt the location of the first United States warship construction on the Great Lakes although the British constructed several war vessels here in 1756 which were later that year captured and destroyed by the French under Montcalm. The contractors engaged by the government to construct the brig under Woolsey’s direction were Christian Bergh and Henry Eckford, both of whom afterwards acquired wide reputation as shipwrights.
Eagle Came as Shipbuilder
One of the men hired by Eckford was Henry Eagle, a native of Prussia, where he was born in 1784. During the war Eagle was to become a foreman superintending the construction of several United States war vessels. He built one of the first inns to be opened in the village. He remained in Oswego until his death in 1858. He was one of the commission which in 1827 directed the construction of the first harbor work, a fire warden, one of the incorporators of the Oswego Orphan Asylum in 1852, a commissioner of the old village cemetery in 1827 and an assessor of the town of Oswego elected at its first meeting, May 5, 1818.
Eckford went into the forest which then stretched for miles east of the Oswego river, marked his trees, had them cut, trimmed and hauled to the site chosen for the construction of the ships. The timbers were cut in the forest, moulded and placed in the brig frame within the month. The dimensions of the brig made her one of about 240 tons, carpenter measure, but her draught was not greater than that which would properly belong to a sloop of 80 tons. This was done to enable her to enter the mouths of rivers of the south shore of Lake Ontario, nearly all of which had sand bars. From conversations with salt traders at Oswego, Woolsey learned that the schooners employed in the salt trade between Oswego and Niagara, which were built of half-seasoned timbers, seldom decayed about the floors. He applied this knowledge and had the brig filled with salt from her plank-sheer down. Although it is understood that she was sound for many years afterwards, the salting process made the brig sluggish. This had its effects during later engagements with the British in the War of 1812 for the brig was not fast in the execution of maneuvers.
The “Oneida” was finished and launched in the spring of 1809, when she was taken out of the harbor and equipped with sixteen 24-pound carronades. (A carronade was a short piece of ordnance or cannon, having a large caliber, and a chamber for the powder, like a mortar and named for Carron, Scotland, where guns of this type were first made.) These pieces of ordnance were mounted on the deck for use in short range engagements. After the “Oneida” had been equipped it was found that because of her increased weight and draft that she could not return over the bar at the mouth of the Oswego river and, according to Johnson, she was never inside the harbor of Oswego again.
Oswego Life As Woolsey Saw It
Cooper relates some interesting facts concerning the stay of the naval officers in the village of Oswego. A house was hired and the naval officers set up housekeeping. Its exact location is not known, but it was on the west side of the river and near the lake. The house had formerly been a tavern and the bar was converted into a larder. The officers’ mess was soon augmented by the arrival of a small detachment of the old Sixth Infantry, under the command of Lieutenant Christie. (During the War of 1812 Christie rose to the rank of Colonel and died in Canada during the campaign of 1813.) Christie was accompanied by Ensign Gardner. ( Gardner also later became a Colonel and during the war acted as Adjutant General to the division of General Jacob Brown. After the war he became deputy Post Master General and also Auditor in the Federal Post Office Department.) These naval and army officers in their bachelor quarters had a very merry time in Oswego. Woolsey, because of his rank, became its head as well as its soul in spirit and resources. The group entered into the life of the small community entertaining with balls, suppers and dinners. They lived in an excellent manner with a table abounding in salmon, bass, venison, rabbits, squirrels, wild-geese and ducks. Cranberries were proved the staple commodity of the region. They were served three times a day providing a delicious addition to the venison and duck dinners. (Mrs. Grant in her recollections of Oswego refers to the fact that cranberries were thick along the Oswego river bank.) Woolsey had a keen liking for good food and his mess was kept in abundance. Cooper recollects fondly the Christmas dinner, but gives no details. However, the pleasure of the occasion can be imagined. According to Cooper, Woolsey was in his element at the fireside in conversation, anecdote and entertainment.
A Cooper Anecdote
Cooper relates an interesting anecdote concerning the one doctor then living in Oswego, but does not mention his name. (The doctor may have been Dr. Caldwell who settled in Oswego in 1805 and was Oswego’s first physician and also a school teacher.) Dr. Deodatus Clark was also then in Oswego as he came in 1807 but his house was constructed two miles east of the village on what is now known as the “Oneida Street road” and stood just west of the present east city line on the north side of the road.
Cooper infers that some of the frontier doctors who practiced medicine were men of limited medical knowledge. Ensign Gardner, who accompanied Lieutenant Christie with the detachment of soldiers, had studied medicine with Hosack before entering the army. For that reason he was nicknamed “Galen” by Cooper. The Oswego doctor had been absent when the army officers arrived and did not return until some time later. His quarters were in a small wing adjoining the mess-house. On the doctor’s return to Oswego he was invited to join the mess and was introduced to Ensign Gardner by Cooper in this fashion:
“By the way, Galen, let me make you acquainted with our neighbor, Hippocrates, of whom you have heard us speak so often.”
This sally caused Woolsey, Gamble and Gardner to smile but the smile changed to a roar when the little doctor held out his hand to Gardner and answered,
“Don’t you mind what Cooper says, Mr. Galen, he is always at some foolery or other, and has nicknamed me Hippocrates: why I do not know, but my real name is – .”
Cooper also relates that on more than one occasion he and Gamble risked their necks by crawling out onto the roof of the wing of their home to drop snowballs down the chimney into the doctor’s mess.
Journey to Fort Niagara
Following the completion of the “Oneida”, Woolsey and Cooper decided to visit Niagara. Manning and provisioning the brig’s launch they started on the trip with four men, late in June 1809. Their intentions were to make the trip in two days, but bad weather was encountered and they made small headway. Three times the boat beat up to a headland called the “Devil’s Nose” and they were compelled to bear up before it could be weathered. They spent four nights in the boat, two on the beach, and one in a hut on the banks of the Genesee River, a few miles below the falls. The south shore of Lake Ontario was then mostly a wilderness and their provisions after four days became exhausted. After the last cracker had been eaten they were forced to take steps to remedy the situation. One of the men had sailed Lake Ontario for years and he knew the position of every dwelling near its shore. There were about a dozen clearings between Oswego and Niagara. The old sailor knew of one settlement of three or four log cabins which was a mile or two inland from where the boat was beached, but the party was saved from hunger that night by Cooper, who killed a hedge-hog with the sword of a cane.
The next morning Woolsey and Cooper, accompanied by the old sailor and one other man, started in search of the settlers. In about an hour they arrived at one hut, which was deserted. However, they found two loaves of bread, several dried whortle- berry pies, and some milk. They left two silver dollars for one loaf, two pies and a gallon of milk. They enjoyed the breakfast and sent one of the men back to the boat with food for the rest of the party. Later they found the owner of the hut, but owing to the scarcity of food on the frontier, were unsuccessful in buying more provisions. On returning to the boat they found that a breeze had sprung up again and they set sail.
Dine on Unsalted Mutton
But hunger and head winds found them soon beaching the boat on the shores of Irondequoit Bay, where they went to bed supperless. In the morning they started another hunt for food. This time they came upon the log house of a former London cockney, who had settled there fifteen years before. He had neither bread nor flour to spare, but was the owner of four or five sheep. The man’s wife didn’t want to sell, but Woolsey persisted and was finally able to purchase one of them at considerable more than it was worth, but not before agreeing to make her a present of the skin and fleece. They feasted on mutton, without bread or salt and apparently enjoyed it. Woolsey was the caterer, preparing a sort of soup, into which were thrown some scrapings of flour. This he named “noodle soup”. Strange as it now may seem they were without salt only eighty miles away from Oswego, where salt was then the main item of transportation, trade, and barter. A squall came up after they had again started on their trip compelling them to find shelter once more up the river. This time they exchanged some of their remaining mutton for a little bread and milk.
Celebrate “Fourth” At Fort Niagara
In the morning the party put out once more for Niagara where they arrived early the next morning to find the lantern still burning in the light-house. It was the Fourth of July when they entered the river with the ensign flying. Not long after they had landed, a deputation from Fort Niagara put in an appearance to find out who had arrived for the first time in a man-of-war’s brig flying an American ensign. The men from Oswego were given a formal invitation to join the officers at the Fort in the celebration of Independence Day. After spending some time at Niagara, the party returned to Oswego, the return trip being made in two days.
Cooper left Oswego a few months later, but Woolsey remained in charge of naval affairs at Oswego and Sackett’s Harbor. It was not until the war broke out, however, that he had many active duties. In the spring of 1812 he seized an English schooner that was smuggling and had her condemned. Later this schooner was fitted out for naval service and named the “Scourge”. She was subsequently lost in a naval engagement under Chauncey. The small American forces on Lake Ontario were greatly outnumbered by the English, stationed at Kingston, which prevented Woolsey from taking the initiative against the enemy. It was about a month after the declaration of war that five vessels bearing the English flag: The “Royal George”, “Earl of Moira”, “Duke of Gloucester”, “Seneca” and “Simcoe”, were discovered off Sacketts Harbor. A small vessel, belonging to the American Customs House, captured by the enemy fleet, was sent in with the demand for the surrender of the “Oneida”, as well as the “Lord Nelson”, a British schooner which earlier had been captured by the American forces. Refusing to meet the English demands, Woolsey at once got under way with the “Oneida” in hopes of escaping from the superior forces.
Woolsey Wins First Naval Engagement
Finding this to be impossible, he returned to the harbor, where he anchored the “Oneida” directly opposite the entrance. All the guns on her offside were quickly landed and mounted on the shore, thus presenting sixteen 24 pound guns in battery. One long thirty-two pounder, originally intended for the “Oneida” but found too heavy, was mounted on its pivot on a breastwork, high above ground. With this Woolsey opened fire on the English fleet. After a two hour engagement, the English were driven off with slight damage. Thus ended the first naval engagement on the Great Lakes in the war. By his timely action Woolsey saved Sackett’s Harbor and prevented the capture of two American boats and valuable stores.
Oswego Schooners Served in War
During the summer, Commodore Isaac Chauncey, who had been in charge of the New York Navy Yard, was assigned to command on Lake Ontario. Woolsey was ordered to purchase vessels and equip them for naval duty. In Oswego he purchased the “Julia” from Matthew McNair. She was armed with one thirty-two-pounder and two long six pounders. The firm of Townsend, Bronson & Co., of Oswego were the owners of the “Charles and Ann”. This schooner was also purchased, armed under direction of Woolsey and named the “Governor Tompkins”. In November the American fleet, including the two schooners formerly owned in Oswego, made a dash for Kingston. There they engaged the “Royal George”, up to that time the largest vessel to have been constructed on Lake Ontario, and chased her into the Bay of Quinte. In this engagement the “Simcoe”, English vessel, was driven upon the rocks and riddled with shot. The “Oneida”, commanded by Woolsey, was in the heat of the battle, which lasted from 3 p. m. until nightfall and suffered the loss of one man killed and four wounded. Part of the American fleet blockaded Kingston until cold weather, which concluded naval operations on the lake for 1812.
On May 27th, 1813, the “Oneida,” still under Woolsey’s command, put out from Sackett’s Harbor with heavy guns and troops bound for the mouth of the Niagara. Up to this time Woolsey had engaged in several skirmishes with the enemy while on patrol duty in the “Oneida.”
Woolsey Takes Ships And Prisoners
During the summer of 1813 Woolsey was promoted as Lieutenant Commander and transferred to the command of the “Sylph,” a large, new schooner carrying an armament of four heavy pivot guns amidship. In September, Chauncey engaged the enemy off the mouth of the Genesee in a running three hour fight. Woolsey in the “Sylph” took part, although the new schooner was not fitted for this type of engagement. This battle was one of the sharpest of the war on Lake Ontario and might have been decisive had the “Sylph” and “Madison” been able to close. In October, Woolsey engaged the English off the Duck islands and with the “Pike”, under Captain Sinclair, and succeeded in capturing five of the enemy gun vessels and nearly 300 prisoners. This successful venture closed the action for that year.
During the next winter two vessels were built at Sackett’s Harbor, the “Superior” and the “Jones”, the latter a large brig of twenty-four guns, which Woolsey later commanded. Before these new boats could be put into commission, equipment had to be brought from Oswego. To this duty, Woolsey was assigned. He was at Oswego in May 1814 in the schooner “Growler” ready to transport stores to Sackett’s when Admiral Sir James Yeo and the English fleet were reported off the port. Alvin Bronson, in charge of the government stores at Oswego, had received word to hold all stores then moving northward along the Oswego River at Oswego Falls (Fulton) and to transport stores already at Oswego to Sackett’s Harbor and Niagara as far as possible. Unable to carry out these orders in full because of the nearness of the enemy fleet, Bronson had many of the supplies hidden in the woods surrounding the post and some were buried. When Yeo’s fleet approached the river entrance May 5, the “Growler” was sunk in the river, while Lieutenant Pearce, second in command of the naval forces to Woolsey, and part of the crew were assigned to duty with the soldiers in the fort made up of a regiment of artillerymen who had arrived overland from Sackett’s Harbor under Col. Mitchell, and re-enforcements from nearby militia units.
The Schooner “Syren”‘ owned by Alvin Bronson, was also sunk. Woolsey was in Oswego during the attack, but as to just what part he took in the defense of the place no record now survives. Colonel Mitchell, on his withdrawal from Oswego to Oswego Falls to guard the stores there after Fort Ontario had been taken by the British after two days of fighting, was accompanied by Woolsey.
Woolsey Leaves Oswego With Flotilla
It had now become most important that the guns, cables, and other equipment needed so badly at Sackett’s Harbor, should be transported there safely. Woolsey sent word to Commodore Chauncey that he would attempt to transport the needed supplies in open boats along the lake shore to Stony Creek, about twelve miles west of Sackett’s, thence up the creek and over land to Henderson Bay. At the same time he caused reports to be circulated that the supplies were to be taken back to Oneida Lake. Allowing time for the false reports to reach the English, he ran the guns over the falls of the Oswego River at what is now Fulton and at sunset on May 28 he reached Oswego with 19 boats loaded with 21 long thirty-two pounder guns, 10 twenty-four pounders, 3 forty-two pound carronades and 10 cables, one of which was the main cable intended for the “Superior”, then nearing completion at Sackett’s Harbor, 22 inches in circumference and weigning 9,600 pounds.
The flotilla, guarded by 130 riflemen under Major Daniel Appling, left Oswego that night and by arduous rowing during a rainy night, they reached the mouth of the Salmon River at sunrise on May 29, only to discover that one boat was missing. Here the American force was met by a party of 150 Oneida Indians. Fearing that the missing boat might have been captured by the English, Woolsey decided to press on to Big Sandy Creek. He dispatched a messenger to Sackett’s Harbor to request re-enforcements, and the flotilla proceeded on its way, accompanied by the Indian force, which kept abreast of them on the shore. The shelter of Big Sandy Creek was reached at noon and the flotilla proceeded a mile or more up the south branch of the stream. In the meantime Yeo had captured the missing American boat and he immediately sent two gun boats, three cutters and a gig to intercept the flotilla. When Woolsey’s expected re-enforcements arrived from Sackett’s Harbor consisting of a company of cavalry and one of infantry, plans were made by the Americans to give the enemy a warm reception.
Battle of Big Sandy
The boats lay just above a bend in the stream and below the bend were hidden the American troops and the Oneida Indians. The next morning the British squadron entered the stream and soon sighted the boats. They landed a flanking party on either bank and proceeded to open fire into the bushes. Many of the Indians fled when artillery fire began, but the concealed Americans waited until the English vessels were within firing distance, when they opened with a deadly fire. Many of the flankers fell and the vessels were raked with artillery fire. The battle lasted but ten minutes when the British commander surrendered his whole force of 170 men, having lost eighteen killed and about fifty wounded. Those surrendered to the Americans included two captains, four sea-lieutenants, and two midshipmen. The American losses consisted of only one rifleman killed and one Indian wounded. The stores were thereafter safely transported by land to Sackett’s Harbor where Commodore Chauncey was able to complete the outfitting of the two war vessels. The huge cable for the “Superior” was carried eight miles overland to Sackett’s Harbor on the shoulders of a party of sailors. (The trail traveled by these men has in recent years been marked in commemoration of their strenuous accomplishment.)
Woolsey Transported Victorious Army
During August of 1814, Woolsey, in command of the “Jones” cruised between Oswego and Sackett’s Harbor in order to keep communication between the two important places open. In September, Woolsey was ordered to join Ridgley, who was blockading Niagara. While off Niagara, the “Jefferson” and the “Jones” experienced a tremendous gale and in order to preserve his ship Woolsey was compelled to throw some of the guns overboard. The last service that Woolsey performed on Lake Ontario during the war was assisting in transporting the division of General Izard to the west. It was at Chippewa on October 15, 1814 that Izard with an American force of 8000 defeated the English under Sir George Drummond, the same Drummond who was with Yeo at the capture of Oswego in May of the same year.
Peace was declared between Great Britain and the United States on December 24th, 1814. Most of the officers and crews who had seen service on Lake Ontario were transferred to the seaboard, but Woolsey was left in charge of Sackett’s Harbor, where he remained for many years. There was a vast amount of property to be taken care of there and a fleet of dismantled vessels. Gradually the charge was reduced as ship after ship was broken up and officer after officer removed.
Building of the “Ontario”
In 1807 Robert Fulton in the “Clermont” had made his successful voyage up the Hudson from New York to Albany in a steam driven boat. In the fall of 1815 the executors of Robert Fulton issued a grant giving permission for the privilege of navigating Lake Ontario by steam, under Fulton’s patents. In August 1816, under this grant, the construction of the first steam boat on the Great Lakes and the first to operate west of the Hudson river was commenced at Sackett’s Harbor. The boat was designed after the model of the “Sea Horse”, then running on the East River. Her capacity was 400 tons and her engine was built at Elizabethtown, N. J., by Darriel Dow, who in 1818 constructed the “Savannah,” the first vessel to cross the Atlantic by the aid of steam. Her speed was about seven miles per hour. When completed she was named the “Ontario.” Her owners were Major General Jacob H. Brown, Commodore Melancthon T. Woolsey, Hooker and Crane, of Sackett’s Harbor, Eri Lusher of Ogdensburg, Abram VanSantwood, John I. DeGraff and Daniel Boyd. In the spring of “1817 the “Ontario,” in command of Captain Francis Mallby, USN left Sackett’s Harbor on her maiden voyage, with Oswego as her destination. Upon her arrival at Oswego she was greeted by a huge crowd and demonstrations of great joy. To the little shipping port this steam propelled vessel brought visions of greatly increased lake trade and future prosperity. A celebration which lasted all night with bonfires, illuminations and speeches, was staged in honor of this great event. Residents of the neighboring villages and settlements made it a holiday as they came into Oswego from all around for a day of excitement. It is not definitely known whether or not Woolsey made the trip on the “Ontario’s” maiden voyage but it is assumed that he did.
Undoubtedly Woolsey contributed much toward the building of the “Ontario” because of his long experience on the lake and his training and knowledge of ship building. Thus he had an important part in the construction of the first U. S. war vessel on the Great Lakes, as well as the first steam driven boat to ply the Great Lakes.
Ontario Broken up at Oswego
The “Ontario” was in use as a passenger ship and freighter on the lake for fifteen years, Oswego being one of her regular stops. During that period her ownership changed several times, as Woolsey and Brown soon sold their interests in her to others. Many references to the “Ontario,” including a water color drawing, are in Captain James Van Cleve’s book, which is in the custody of the Oswego City Clerk. In 1826 Van Cleve, at the age of 18, became a clerk on the “Ontario”, at which time she was owned by L. & S. Denison, of Sackett’s Harbor and Enos Stone and Elisha Ely of Rochester. Van Cleve quotes the following passenger rates:
Niagara to Genesee River $4.
Genesee River to Sackett’s Harbor $3.
Sackett’s Harbor to Ogdens- burg $5.
In 1832 the “Ontario” was hauled out of the lake at Oswego and broken up.
Woolsey Died in 1838
There is little further to relate concerning Woolsey’s activities along the lake during the years following the war, although we do know that he liked this section of the country so well that he asked to be retained at Sackett’s Harbor when he had opportunity to be assigned to active duty on the Atlantic. April 27, 1816, Woolsey was promoted as captain in the Navy. On November 3, of the same year he married Miss Susan Cornelia Treadwell at Poughkeepsie, N. Y. He remained at Sackett’s Harbor for about fifteen years when he was transferred to active duty in command of the frigate “Constellation,” then attached to the West India Squadroon.
Returning from this station he was then given command of the Pensacola Navy Yard. His last active service was in command of a squadroon off the coast of Brazil. Because of declining health he received shore leave and while waiting for orders he died at Utica, N. Y., May 19th, 1838. He left his widow and several children, the eldest being Melancthon Brooks Woolsey, a Midshipman in the U. S. Navy at that time. Melancthon Brooks Woolsey rose to the rank of Commodore and saw much service in the Civil War. His son, Rev. Melancthon Lloyd Woolsey died in the fall of 1940. His home was at South West Harbor, Maine.
Cooper in his sketch of the life of Commodore Melancthon Taylor Woolsey gives the following description of the Commodore;
“Commodore Woolsey was of the middle height, sailor-built, and of a compact, athletic frame. His countenance was prepossessing, and had singularly the look of a gentleman. In his deportment, he was a pleasing mixture of gentlemen-like refinement and seaman-like frankness. His long intimacy with frontier habits could not, and did not, destroy his early training, though it possibly impeded some of that advancement in his professional and general knowledge, which he had so successfully commenced in early life. He was an excellent seaman, and few officers had more correct notions of the rules of discipline. His familiar association with all the classes that mingle so freely together in border life, had produced a tendency, on his excellent disposition, to relax too much in his ordinary intercourse, perhaps, but his good sense prevented this weakness from proceeding very far. Woolsey rather wanted the grimace than the substance of authority. A better-hearted man never lived. All who sailed with him loved him, and he had sufficient native mind, and suffi- cient acquired instruction, to command the respect of many of the strongest intellects of the service.”
New Ship Bears Woolsey’s Name
On January 25th, 1941, at Bath, Maine, the “Woolsey,” a 1750 ton United States destroyer was launched. The new ship, named in honor of Commodore Melancthon Taylor Woolsey, was sponsored by Mrs. Irving Spencer, of Versailles, Ky., a granddaughter of Commodore Woolsey. This was the second destroyer named for him, the first one launched in 1918 having been lost at sea.
Bibliography: Cooper’s “Naval History;” Cooper’s “Naval Heroes;” Theodore Roosevelt’s “Naval History;” “American Dictionary of Biography;” Johnson’s “Oswego County;” Churchill’s “Landmarks of Oswego County;” Files of “Oswego Palladium” and “Oswego Advertiser and Times;” old Oswego Directories and Cemetery Records; Captain James Van Cleve’s book in the Oswego City Clerk’s Office. Also indebted to Mr. M. “Woolsey Campau, of Grosse Pointe Park, Mich.
