1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Ogdensburg

OGDENSBURG, a city and port of entry of St Lawrence county, New York, U.S.A., on the St Lawrence river, at the mouth of the Oswegatchie, 140 m. N. by E. of Syracuse, New York. Pop. (1890) 11,662; (1900) 12,633, of whom 3222 were foreign-born; (1910 census) 15,933. It is served by the New York Central & Hudson River and the Rutland railways, and by several lake and river steamboat lines connecting with ports on the Great Lakes, the city being at the head of lake navigation on the St Lawrence. Steam ferries connect Ogdensburg with Prescott, Ontario. The city is the seat of the St Lawrence State Hospital for the Insane (1890), and has a United States Customs House and a state armoury. The city became the see of a Roman Catholic bishop in 1872, and here Edgar Philip Wadhams (1817–1891) laboured as bishop in 1872–1891. It is the port of entry of the Oswegatchie customs district, and has an extensive commerce, particularly in lumber and grain. The city has various manufactures, including lumber, flour, wooden-ware, brass-ware, silks, woollens and clothing. The value of the factory products increased from $2,260,889 in 1900 to $3,057,271 in 1905, or 35·2%. The site of Ogdensburg was occupied in 1749 by the Indian settlement of La Presentation, founded by the Abbe François Piquet (1708–1781) for the Christian converts of the Iroquois. At the outbreak of the War of Independence the British built here Fort Presentation, which they held until 1796, when, in accordance with the terms of the Jay Treaty, the garrison was withdrawn. Abraham Ogden (1743–1798), a prominent New Jersey lawyer, bought land here, and the settlement which grew up around the fort was named Ogdensburg. During the early part of the War of 1812 it was an important point on the American line of defence. On the 4th of October 1812 Colonel Lethbridge, with about 750 men, prepared to attack Ogdensburg but was driven off by American troops under General Jacob Brown. On the 22nd of February 1813 both fort and village were captured and partially destroyed by the British. During the Canadian rising of 1837–1838 Ogdensburg became a rendezvous of the insurgents. Ogdensburg was incorporated as a village in 1818, and was chartered as a city in 1868.