Samuel Havens
Biographical Information
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| Name | Samuel Havens | |
On the 6th of September 1817 Samuel Havens, of Black Lake, was attending a battalion training in Ogdensburg, New York and left at about 8 o’clock in the evening. While crossing the bridge “near the village”, he was attacked and beaten by three Irishmen named Fleighl, Abbey, and Ranney. He was hit, "apparently", by the butt of a musket - as there were a number of large gashes on his head and face, and then was thrown into the Oswegatchie River. Then “the alarm was given” by other “passengers on the bridge” and “the villain’s fled”. The body was later found an hour and a half to two hours later, depending on the report. The jury inquest concluded that he “came to his death in consequence of being so stunned by the blows he received in the affray as to fall from the bridge”.
The three men were arrested and committed to “gaol” for trial. Samuel left behind a wife and children, including Horace Havens who would later die in 1891 at the age of 91, noted as “probably the oldest resident of St Lawrence County”. His fathers death was also noted in his obituary. This added that the original structure Samuel was thrown from was near the site of the “present iron bridge”. The 1892 Sanborn Insurance map shows that the “iron bridge” spanned from the end of Ford Street at Water St (now the Crescent) and directly across and turning into Lake St. The iron bridge no longer exists, but reports in 1829 note that St. Lawrence County raised taxes to build a new bridge on the same spot as the old bridge and a map drawn in 1836 shows the same bridge in the same location from Ford to Lake Streets.
Documentation[edit]
Newspapers[edit]
- 23 Sep 1817 - Commercial Advertiser (New York) - Murder of Samuel Havens
- 24 Sep 1817 - The National Advocate (New York) - Murder of Samuel Havens
- 25 Apr 1891 - Ogdensburg Journal (Ogdensburg, New York) - Obituary of Horace Havens, son of Samuel Havens