The Forge House: Owners, Proprietor & Managers, Part V

The Garmon & Crosby Years: 1888-1895

In January 1888, Charles Barrett vacated the Forge House and purchased the Moose River Hotel originally owned by Abner Lawrence.

In 1893, Barrett purchased over 125 acres of the former Grant Clearing from Robert Perrie, which included Perrie’s Third Lake House.

Barrett soon erected the famous Bald Mountain House, which would soon rival the Forge House for popularity. Barrett died in March, 1930.

The tract included today’s Bald Mountain Colony.

At the time of Barrett’s leaving in 1888, the Forge House was still a board and batten structure similar to its initial appearance in 1871, though probably made larger over the years.

Eunice B. Lamberton sold the 1358 acre Forge Tract on April 19, 1888 for $10,000 to Dr. Alexander Crosby and Samuel Garmon.

Dr. Alexander Crosby was born in Martinsburg on October 18, 1836. He began his medical practice in 1862 and moved to Lowville in 1867.

He rapidly built up a large practice and was for many years considered one of the most skilled physicians and surgeons in the state, often called in to testify at criminal cases.

In 1875, Crosby was elected to the State Assembly, was later a Democratic Party state chairman and was on both the State Board of Charities and Lewis County pensioners’ board. Crosby died in 1911.

According to Franklin Hough’s 1883 History of Lewis County, Dr. Crosby’s grandfather Jeremiah lived on the John Brown’s Tract in 1805-6 where Dr. Crosby’s father Hopkins was born in 1806.

Shortly after, the Crosby family relocated, as other early settlers did, to Martinsburg.

Samuel F. Garmon was born in the town of Watson on March 24 1840. He was a Civil War veteran and often referred to as “Col. Garmon.”

He was Watson town supervisor in 1867, 1869-1870 and 1879- 1880. He was superintendent of the Black River Canal (1874- 1877) and State Forest Warden in the 1880s for the Forest Commission.

Garmon died in 1913 shortly after being elected Old Forge village president.

Garmon and Crosby wanted to develop the Forge Tract and its anchor would be the Forge House.

They hired the responsible Joseph Harvey as proprietor who took over in April 1888.

Harvey was born on December 26, 1842.

He also had been a Watson town supervisor (1873-1874) and served two terms as Lewis County school commissioner. He was also Garmon’s brother-in-law, having married Samuel’s sister Ellen.

Garmon & Crosby teamed with G. H. P. Gould and built the “Peg-Leg Railroad” from Moose River Settlement that ran from 1889 to 1892, assisted by the right-of-way to Minnehaha purchased from Mrs. deCamp. From there, the deCamp steamer “Fawn” carried passengers and freight to present day Thendara. Garmon & Crosby confiscated and rebuilt the sawmill on the state’s land, and leased it to George Deis.

They let a portion of the building to Theodore Seeber for a boatshop.

They began to sell lots for homes and businesses (Josiah Wood, Theodore Seeber, Sylvester Whetmore, Fred Rivett and John Sprague).

They also performed the first major renovations of the Forge House since 1872’s second wing was built.

In April 1889, Garmon & Crosby hired Sylvester Whetmore of Watson to enlarge the building, raise the roof for three stories and add a veranda along the front to face the pond.

With the mill in full operation, lumber no longer needed to be transported from Lowville. Electricity was added for hotel lighting.

The popular Joseph Harvey contracted an undisclosed illness that forced him to resign as proprietor in early 1891.

Harvey would be elected Wilmurt town supervisor in February 1894 and engineered the creation of the Town of Webb in January 1896.

Appointed interim supervisor briefly for the new town, Harvey lost the first election to Alexander McIntyre in a court-ordered resolution over incorrectly completed ballots.

He became a leader in establishing the first schools in the Town of Webb.

Harvey died of the disease on May 29, 1898.