Plessis

COMMUNITIES IN THE TOWN OF ALEXANDRIA

OLD LANDMARKS OF PLESSIS

From the Thousand Islands Sun, October 6, 1910, courtesy of Jeanne Snow, editor

The dwelling house which is now a part of the Makepeace building was in 1832 owned (presumably) by Joseph Thompson, who lived there at that date. It was purchased by Silas Corles [Corliss?], who built the store which he carried on. His death occurred in 1850 or thereabouts. His widow retained the property and lived there until her death, which occurred nearly thirty years ago. The store was rented for various purposes. At one time it was a school room, when Mrs. Corles's adopted daughter taught a select school. It was rented for a number of years as a shoe shop by Charles Nash, and (if memory serves us right) F. Ahles rented it some time for the same purpose. It was rented by a milliner for a short time. After Mrs. Corles's death, the property was sold to Miss Caroline Spalsbury, who, after residing there a year or so, traded with S. Makepeace, taking his house and lot in exchange for it. S. Makepeace repaired and improved the store, and kept a general line of merchandise. He withdrew from active trade a few years ago and his sons, the Makepeace brothers conducted the business also holding the post office.

A small frame house stood on the site of the Scott house which, when H. L. Scott built his house in 1853, he moved back on the lot. This house was owned (presumably) by one Thompson but which of the two brothers, Jonathan or Archibald, I cannot get positive knowledge as to which lived in the small frame house in 1832. He was a good surveyor and was employed by the railroad company when the road was built through from Philadelphia. In after years he kept a grocery store in the building. His widow and his son and family removed to Ellenburg, Wash., retaining the property here until a few years ago, when they sold it to Albert Williams, who, with his mother, made that their residence.

The house now owned and occupied by Mrs. Jessie Tayler [sic] was in the year 1832 occupied by Dr. Dunton. Rev. Matthew Lewis owned it afterward and later it was occupied by a man by the name of Massey, a tinsmith. The property was for many years owned by Mrs. Elizabeth Frost, who rented it to many different families. It was sold or exchanged with Hiram Hoyt, sometime in the [eighteen] sixties and at his death bought by Albert Hart who sold it to Dr. Wood in 1893, who in return sold it the succeeding year to the present owner.

~~ * * * ~~

It seems appropriate to place this little 1922 article, also from the Sun, here.

~~ * * * ~~

1922 FIRE DESTROYS TWO STORES IN PLESSIS

From the Thousand Islands Sun, November 30, 1922, courtesy of Jeanne Snow, editor

Plessis--Fire which broke out about 12 o'clock Sunday night completely destroyed two stores in Plessis entailing a loss of $16,000 on which there was sonly $3,500 insurance.

The buildings destroyed were the Makepeace Bros. store, a furniture ad clothing establishment, stock valued at $6,000 and building at $3,000 and the Leroy Priest store with stock of $6,300 and building valued at $1,500. The stores were on the West's corners turn.

The fire was discovered by a passing motorist who gave the alarm. Mrs. Williams who lives near the stores, notified Rev. Ernest Bragg, who in turn telephoned to Alexandria Bay, Theresa and Redwood summoning firemen of three villages. All three village departments went to the scene of the fire and directed their efforts to saving the nearby buildings.

The firemen were hampered by lack of water and had to use chemicals. Algie Reynolds with his truck, drew water to the firemen. The Williams home and the Makepeace barn, which stood nearby were saved although badly scorched.

The fire started in the Priest store supposedly from mice gnawing matches. The fixtures and mil were removed from the post office, which was located in the Makepeace store and service has been resumed in the Grange Hall. The burned out merchants do not expect to rebuild.

If you have additional information, comments, or suggestions, please contact:
Nan Dixon

You are our [an error occurred while processing this directive] visitor since May 20, 2001--

Last Revision :Tuesday, 11-Sep-2018 00:49:41 MDT

Return to Town of Alexandria Index Page

Return to Community Index Page

This site is generously

Hosted by RootsWeb

Hosted by RootsWeb

This nonprofit research site is a USGenNet CertifiedSafe-Site� and affiliate of the American Local History Network, Inc. (ALHN). Web hosting is generously provided by Rootsweb. This site makes no claim to the copyrights of individual submitters, and is in full compliance with USGenNet's Conditions of Use.

[Jefferson County ALHN]

[NY ALHN]

� Nan Dixon, 2001