I am lucky to own a book, shown in the accompanying illustration, published in 1853,that covers the history of St. Lawrence and Franklin counties.

Our town of Harrietstown, was named for Howard Constable’s daughter, Harriet, long before there was an actual town of Harrietstown. There were originally 27 townships in Franklin County, with many named after places in Ireland; Constable was born in Dublin, Ireland. Most of the township designations disappeared from lack of use and were replaced by numbers. There are now 19 townships in the county. [See accompanying illustration listing all the original townships.]

Here is Dr. Hough’s history of the creation of Harrietstown:

“Harrietstown was erected from Duane, March 19, 1841, and consists of townships Nos. 21, 24, 27, of Great tract No. 1, of Macomb’s purchase. The first town meeting was directed to be held at the house of Micah E. Flanders. The circumstances which led to its formation was said to have been these: For several years the inhabitants of No. 21had complained of the hardship of being under the necessity of making a journey of thirty or forty miles around, to attend town meetings, and many had been accustomed to neglect from the great labor and expense of time requisite. In 1840, however, by a concerted movement, they got a majority in town meeting, and had it adjourned to their own part of town. The inhabitants in the north immediately originated a movement, which was forthwith consummated, by which the town of Duane was divided, and Harrietstown erected; and a provision inserted for a new town meeting in each town for the election of officers.

“The town of Harrietstown began to be settled before the year 1812, by inhabitants of the adjoining counties, who located upon the northwest bay road. The town is named after the original or proprietary name of township No. 21. The principal settlement is at present in the north part of township No. 21. Several lumbering establishments are erected and in contemplation in this town. The market for this section is entirely down into Essex County and Lake Champlain. There is at present no road leading directly from the settlement to Malone, without going through a corner of St, Armand, in Essex County. There are at present three school districts in town. Township No. 21 is very elevated, and its waters flow into the St. Lawrence, by way of the St. Regis, into Lake Champlain, and into the Raquette.”

Following is the list of the first town supervisors:

Pliny Miller, 1841 to 1844; Alanson B. Neal, 1845; P. Miller, 1846 to 1850 and A.B. Neal, 1851.

John J. Duquette’s version

“When the original townships disappeared, including Harrietstown, Harriet Constable, by marriage of Major James Duane, gave up not only her maiden name but also lost her little township to her husband. When the town of Duane was partitioned Harriet got her township back. The town of Duane, formed from the town of Malone in 1828, was named by Constable for his son-in-law and extended south to include the area that was later to become Saranac Lake. A later partition in 1858 created the town of Brighton, another township named in the original 27.

“Four years after Captain Pliny Miller was named the first supervisor of the town the population had reached 129 hardy residents. Skipping to 1876, Beer’s Atlas of Franklin County designated the settlement area as South Woods and mentions such business activities as; Orlando Blood’s Hotel, Milo Miller’s general store, Ensine Miller’s saw and grist mill, George Washer’s shingle factory and H. M. Frenga’s carriage shop. Water was dipped from the Saranac River, the only fuel was firewood and the mail came in by stage coach three days a week from AuSable Forks. Despite this shortage of amenities, the settlement was still the up and coming community chosen to be the town seat.”

(John Duquette wrote a lot of great historical pieces for the Enterprise. He was the long-time manager of Paul Smith’s Electric and Power Company and later Niagara Mohawk. His daughter is Ruth Duquette Fortune and she served as Mayor in my place for Local Government day when she was in high school.)