Travel along Lake Street in Port Kent and it is easy to see why this hamlet became a popular location of hotels and the tourist industry. People could arrive by steamboat and by rail, enjoy relaxing by Lake Champlain or travel into the Adirondacks.
On the western side of Lake Street stands an impressive stone house that is hard to miss. The home has been occupied since its construction in 1828 and its initial owner had one noteworthy career. His name: Elkanah Watson. A newspaper in 1964 described the man as a “diplomat, businessman, canal promoter, and educator, as well as an agriculturalist.”
Watson was born in Plymouth, Massachusetts on January 22, 1758 and raised and educated in that waterfront town. At age 14 he commenced an apprenticeship with prosperous merchant John Brown in Providence, Rhode Island. Although Watson wanted to join the American Continental Army during the American Revolution, Brown only permitted him to enlist in the local militia and kept the bright, young man as his apprentice.
Brown had so much faith in young Watson he sent him on a 1200-mile trip to Charleston, South Carolina in 1778 entrusting him with $50,000 sewn into his garments to pay southern business agents. Not only did Watson succeed on this venture, but he also visited 10 of the original 13 states.
Following this errand Watson traveled to Europe bearing dispatches to Ben Franklin and witnessed the birth of the American nation. In 1783 a depression forced the company into bankruptcy, but that failed to discourage Watson. He took advantage of the opportunity and toured Europe where he “saw a great deal of the institutions and social condition of Europe & brought home with him a large amount of various and valuable knowledge.” While touring Europe, Watson surveyed the system of canals that transected the countryside and how they simplified transportation with the carrying of bulk goods. He became a great canal advocate.
Watson finally sailed back to the United States in 1784 and first purchased a plantation in North Carolina, eventually moving to Albany, New York, where he was so successful in his ventures that he ‘retired’ from business at age 50.
While an Albany resident, Watson had the opportunity to travel while planning various transportation routes. On an expedition in 1803, he observed Ausable Chasm for the first time. He described the geological wonder; “the passage of the river among cloven rocks, is a wonderful exhibition of the physical convulsions which have distorted this whole region; and, had they been situated in Europe, their fame would for ages have been resounded, and they would have allured the pilgrimages of all who love to contemplate in her wildest moods.”
Little did Watson realize the Chasm would flourish as a tourist attraction in the future.
After 19 years in Albany, Watson moved to Pittsfield, Massachusetts where he purchased a 250-acre farm. It would be his home for the next nine years, but during that time he would make his mark in American history.
In his new home Watson discovered animal husbandry lagged behind being “antiquated & defective, unscientific and non-progressive.” Watson incorporated several changes that attracted his neighbors’ attention. In the fall he imported the first pair of Merino sheep into Berkshire County, a breed renowned for their high quality wool. He then added proven breeds of swine and cattle.
Local farmers were so intrigued by the Merinos the on one day Watson placed them on display in Pittsfield. The two sheep attracted great crowds.
The excitement created by only viewing two sheep sparked an idea in Watson. He wrote in the 1820 History of the Berkshire County Agricultural Society, “I was induced to notify an exhibition, under the lofty Elm Tree, on the public square in Pittsfield, of these two sheep. Many farmers, and even females, were attracted to this first novel and humble exhibition. . . . if two animals are capable of exciting so much attention, what would be the effect of a display, on a larger scale, of different animals.”
In 1810 he suggested a “Cattle show” to Berkshire County farmers who composed an invitation to their colleagues to exhibit “useful animals as they see proper,” with the plan that such an event “will not be confined to the present year, but will lead to permanent annual cattle-shows; and that an incorporated agricultural society will emanate from this meeting.”
On October 1, 1810 the first Berkshire County Agricultural Fair was conducted. “The day was beautiful, and at an early hour the village was thronged with thousands of excited and interested spectators,” wrote one observer. Three to four thousand attended the fair on Pittsfield’s village green from 9 to 3. The show’s success prompted action on Watson’s idea; the creation of “an incorporated Agricultural Society” that would be capable of raising funds for future “award premiums.”
When word of the proposal reached Massachusetts Governor Elbridge Gerry, he wholeheartedly endorsed it. During the winter of 1811 the Massachusetts legislature presented a formal charter to the Berkshire County Agricultural Society. Through the creativity exhibited by Elkanah Watson, the first agricultural society became reality.
Watson made history and other states started copying the agricultural fair and society ideas.
Americans recognized Watson’s accomplishments in Massachusetts. Former president John Adams delivered a wonderful comment when he wrote to Watson on April 14, 1819. He penned, “I lay no serious claim to the title of Father of the American Navy, or anything else, excepting my own family. . . . You have a much better claim to the character of father of American Agricultural Societies.”
In 1816, Watson the agriculturalist, departed Pittsfield and returned to Albany. The move saddened him as he lamented, “all those rural scenes which had delighted me—all my flocks and herds, which I had reared with infinite pains for nearly nine years. In the midst of promoting agricultural improvements and domestic industry, I returned to resume the dull and monotonous scenes of a city-life.”
Back in Albany Watson persuaded the New York legislature to appropriate in the state budget $10,000 a year “As prize money for agricultural products and home-made preserves.”
Just like in Pittsfield, it appeared the word ‘retirement’ was absent in Watson’s vocabulary when in returned to Albany. Railroads became his next interest, especially the concept of a rail line linking Boston and the St. Lawrence River at Ogdensburg. Steamboats would ferry rail cars between Burlington, Vermont and the soon-to-be created ‘city’ of Port Kent, New York. Watson and other investors envisioned the railroad starting in Port Kent, passing through the Adirondacks and then continuing to Ogdensburg. So assured the plan would come to fruition, a party of men, Watson included, purchased sixteen “great lots” encompassing over 3,000 acres. One lot was sub-divided and laid out with streets, a public square and named after New York Chancellor James Kent.
In 1828, Watson commenced building a large stone home overlooking the Port Kent landing and providing panoramic views of the lake and Vermont’s Green Mountains. Supposedly Watson hired a French architect to design the structure, boldly including large round windows on the first floor.
The home impressed many people even after Watson’s death. A writer for the New York Commercial Advertiser spotted the structure while traveling on the railroad. He observed, “As the train approaches this hamlet a veritable French chateau stone with white trimmings comes into view. It has round windows, the balconies and all of the characteristics features of French architecture. It seems out of place among the substantial old houses of the village.”
At age 85, Watson died at his Port Kent home on December 5, 1842. He certainly lived a full life. Burial followed in the Watson family plot adjacent to the Port Kent Cemetery. Carved upon his obelisk is the following epitaph:
Here lies the remains of
Elkanah Watson,
The Founder and First President of
The Berkshire Agricultural Society.
May generations yet Unborn,
Learn by his Example
To love their Country.”
The Albany Daily Advertiser provided a proper tribute written upon learning of Watson’s death. The paper printed the following: “He lived a long, useful, and an honorable life, and has left a name and memory which his friends will not cease to cherish.”
As an interesting postscript, agricultural fairs must have run in the family. In 1849, Elkanah’s son, William Watson, established the first Essex-Clinton County Fair in Keeseville which later moved to Elizabethtown then its present home in Westport.
Watson’s accomplishments are recognized in the country. On Pittsfield’s green stands a marker. Watson Park in Port Kent is named after Elkanah Watson and contains a memorial for this man; the house still stands in its grand beauty and is a National Historic Landmark. Every county fair can deliver a big round of applause in honor of this creative man. Let every agricultural fair conducted in this country give thanks to Elkanah Watson – agriculturalist.
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