Several years ago I created a website to share the historical materials about Chateaugay Lake that I’ve gathered and collected. Sources include materials from the scrapbook of my father, John D. Miles [1918-1982]. The earliest newspaper cuttings from his scrapbook dated from before he was born, therefore this project actually began with his grandparents John D. and Settie Blow Miles, with whom he lived with his sister since about the age of 12.
My dad kept all kinds of records: he maintained numerous clippings from the NYS Conservation magazine, and kept a journal detailing the weather as well as other odd entries. His scrapbook consisted mainly of historical clippings, as well as items about cousins and neighbors. I hope that others will read, and perhaps even contribute to our history.
The Shatagee Woods Project 
The John D. Miles you mention, I beleive was my third cousin once removed through the Bell family of his maternal grandmother and Third cousin through the Blows of his paternal grandmother.
If it is the same John D. Bell, he is also a descendant of a revolutionary War Captain, one of the few French Canadians who crossed the boarder to fight the British yet again as they had a decade and a half earlier during the French and Indian War. This time they were successful.
My father, James McPherson who was raised part of his life on Spears Hill Road, also kept an unbelievable amount of notes, articles and documents from Chateaugay Lake, but unfornunatley, after he died, one of my siblings uncerimoniously burned everything to “get it out of the way”.
The little school on what is now 374, just on the Franklin County side of the line was still standing as a private home in about 1990, but has been gone for a decade or more. He remembers it as having been concidered to be in Ellenburg, as was the Graveyard where many of his ancestors were buried on the lakeshore. That would be the Lakeside Cemetery were many Robinson’s, Gadways and some of the Shutts familywere buried.
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Anthony, thanks for the great tidbits; they’re quite welcome. Sorry to hear about loss of family memorabilia; that’s a shame.
I’m familiar with the Lakeside Cemetery.
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was your dad the john miles that the red fox for so many years.if so I remember the day he got it Iwas about 10 years old.
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Hi! I’m in the process of writing a history of Brainardsville and am using a lot of your materials, the Chat. Record, Seavers, Hurd, etc., plus things you’ve written about your family.
Is this okay, and are footnotes sufficient to cover my sources? Right now I’m looking for information on your site about Enoch Merrill.
Sincerely, Jan
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Hi Jan, yes this is fine, and footnotes/endnotes are sufficient, depending on the style you choose. Dunno if there’s much here about Enoch.
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Dear Janet, I have been trying to research some information on the Sunset Inn House, which my great uncle, Dr. Stanton Hull, managed in the early nineteen hundreds on the upper Chateaugay Lake near Merrill. My mom would spend summers with him when she was teenager and helped him run the restaurant and the Inn. She passed many stories on to all of her children about the her summers in the Adirondacks. In your research, I would love to learn if you have any pictures or details on the date mention above of the Inn. She became friends with the Tony Blanch family who, at the time owned the local liquor store in Sunset Drive. I would love to hear back from you. Thank you so much for your consideration of my request.
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Janet doesn’t operate this site, but who knows — maybe she’ll notice your post.
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My family has owned Squaw Island for many years, and I am trying to track down more information about the Johnson who built the house there, sometimes referred to as Johnson’s Cottage.
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Ben, I think the house was built by the Johnson Family of Chateaugay, who owned a lumber company. Hence, the beautiful wood work, wainscoating, etc.
Janet Sterling
Buckhorn folks probably know more.
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There are dog teeth marks in the windows because they used dogs to haul the lumber. I think that’s hilarious btw.
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Hi,
My great great great grandfather, family rumour has it , purchased some land at Shatagee/Chateaugay Meadows in about 1820 or early 1820s. His house/farm burned to the ground and he left, went back to Scotland and eventually died in the British Virgin Islands. Can anyone direct me to where I might find history of the Shatagee/Chateaugay area going this far back – if it exists – please?
Thanks
Cheryl
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I am interested in re connecting with my roots
which are partly in Chateaugay village. My Dad Olin Barnes was born in Chateaugay on Lake Street in 1920. his parents Ernest and Elizabeth Barnes, born in Chateaugay, married in Burke, (both buried in the south end of Chateaugay’s Eastside Cemetary
I haven’t been in Chateaugay since summer 1987.I have since lost touch with all of my family from Chateaugay and Malone, all my aunts and uncle’s (except 2 aunts and an uncle)have passed.
Anyone from Chateaugay or having great knowledge of Chateaugay who is interested in striking up an email friendship, please post!
thanks-Mike Barnes
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Hi, I was wondering if you had any more background on the Darius Merrill mentioned in your history of Chateaugay Lake . One of my ancestors was Darius merrill and I haven’t been able to find any record of his death in NH or MA and was wondering why. I am hoping this could be the reason, that he moved to NY!! Thanks in advance for any information you may have/find.
Sincerly, Barry Merrill
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I have many connections to Chateaugay would be happy to share information and stories.
Family links are: Spear, Harris. Rounds, Chesmore, Fifield, Collins, dating back to 1950. Most of the family is buried in Lakeside Cemetery, in Franklin county NY
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I have quite a “spider web” of genealogy (as opposed to a “tree”) and I have Fifields marrying into my Blow lines and Chesmores were distant cousins who married into my lines in the McPherson family. The McPhersons are buried at the Lakeside Cem, the Brainardsville Cem and Ellenburg Center and Corners. The Blows are mainly buried at The Star and Ellenburg.
Tony
gothisson@verizon.net
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you can change my “gothisson@verizon.net” to “gothisson@comcast.net” if you want to respond
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Correction 1850 for Spear, Harris, Rounds Etc
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I am trying to locate the history of the former Sunset Inn on Upper Chateaugay Lake. My Mom, who’s Uncle managed the Inn around 1916, could have been a few years later, Perry Thurman Hull, from around the Albany area. She spent her summers with him as a teenager woking in the dinningroom of the Inn. She shared many stories with me about her summers on the lake from first loves, to going with her Uncle to the train station in Lyon Mt. to pick up movie stars, Hollywood producers, to summer camp residents. She even got the opportunity to ride in the boat with her uncle and the summer guest when they were transported to the Western side of the lake to their camps. One story is still very vivid in my mind. She and her uncle picked up a silent movie actress and her producer boyfriend and brought them across the lake to their camp. Little did they know that the two we escaping the clutches of the FBI in connection with the murder of the actresses husband. She shared their names, which I am forgetting, possibly Helen Nesbett was the actress. If anyone can share anything, please leave a blog. Thank you.
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My husband & I have been kyaking on the Upper Chateaugay lake for the past few summers. We happened to come across some beautiful, extremely tall fireplaces on the western shore, in a peaceful cove, where a huge home had once stood. We were so mesmerized by the beauty of the spot and the work that must have gone into the building of such giant fireplaces that we decided to research the history of who must have built this once outstanding structure and what had become of it. I contacted a friend of ours in Merrill and he said he believed that it was built in the early nineteen hundreds by a well known Black American Boxer for his family. At that time he said, of course, everything had to be brought across the lake by barge. This was really all he could tell us. I am seeking more information on this most serene spot that someone years ago saw the beauty there, also.
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Hi Jean. The ruins you viewed on the western shore were of Camp Jack. There is information on this site about Jack Clifford and his wife Evelyn Nesbit. You had an earlier post about your mother and her uncle taking an actress to their camp. I believe the actress you mention was Evelyn. Her husband, Henry Thaw, killed her former lover Sanford White –a renowned architect and womanizer from New York City–and was found guilty in ‘the trial of the century’. Henry Thaw was found not guilty by reason of insanity after his mother spent an inordinate sum to free him and was put into an asylum (although due to his wealth, it was in great style). a great description of the trial can be found at https://famous-trials.com/thaw/405-home. Thaw got out in 1915 after being pronounced sane. Evelyn was called to testify in his release hearing and she fled to Chateaugay Lake to escape a subpoena. She was found by the authorities and returned to New York but declined to testify against her husband. She divorced Thaw later in 1915 and married Jack Clifford, her dance partner, in 1916. Evelyn was the first “IT GIRL”. There are several book written about Evelyn including one I just finished called “American Eve: Evelyn Nesbit and the crime of the century” by Paula Uruburu. There is also a movie about her starring Joan Collins titled “The Red Velvet Swing.”
Camp Jack was dismantled (it did not burn down). For many years the property was owned and used for a children’s camp (Camp Jeanne D’Arc ) by the McIntyre Family. The ruins are known locally as Five Chimneys. The McIntyre’s sold the property in the summer of 2019.
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I am from ogdensburg and my parents collected antiques of any shape and size from coins to furniture. I found a coin that says on one side Rozon’s Grill, Good Eats. on the other side it says, “Good For 10 cents in trade”. i looked it up and came upon this site with a picture of the Rozon which was very interesting. Great job setting it up! Mike
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Hello – I believe we are distant relatives – we are ancestors of Mary Dollof Miles who was Captian Josiah Miles’ sister. We are Johnstons, Whittemores, and Dolloffs! I would love to connect and see if these family trees are right. My great grandmother Leola Johnston (Whittemore) was John D Miles cousin or niece (I can’t keep it straight right now). But I would love to hear back! Thanks so much for all this work! gvnjhnstn@yahoo.com
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Hello!
I am not sure if this page is still active seeing as the last comment I see was posted in 2015. Nevertheless, I am looking into my lineage and I have found that Gerald Hyland was my Great Grandfather. I found this page, googling his name and what a colorful history he had in Chateaugay! His eldest daughter Lois Ann Hyland is my grandmother. I would love to know more about him and his lineage is anyone has any information?
Thank you,
Melissa B
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I’ve been hibernating, but since I seldom post new stuff, nobody writes in, although I don’t exactly check for messages on a regular basis. OK, so to answer your query: “yes, kind of.” Please search for “Gerald Hyland” on this website to view the 4 entries on your ancestor. As I recall, the Hylands were a prominent family in Chateaugay, with a deep history, and their descendants still live in town; I know a few of them, and in fact, one of them hangs out with my neighbors. My dad knew Gerald Hyland quite well, and if my memory still works, I think that he referred to “Figure Eight Camp” as the “Hyland Camp”. I remember from when I was a kid, my dad would occasionally stop in at Gerald Hyland’s store, and once they started talking, it would be a long time waiting for the conclusion. At one time the Hylands owned a camp on Chateaugay Lake; a few of the local history books have information about it. Although at the moment I’m fairly wiped, if you’re interested, maybe when I’m full of more pep I can snoop around and see if any of those books are here.
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Hi Melissa-
I’m responding to an old post, so hopefully it makes it to you!
Gerald Hyland (Pop, as we called him) was my grandfather. Your grandmother was my Aunt Lo Ann (as we called her) Hyland Brooks. She was my mom’s sister (Rosemary Hyland Coons). If Aunt Lo Ann is your grandmother, then you must be a daughter to my cousin MaryLynn Brooks DeGroat or Tom Brooks. I don’t believe that Tom (Tommie) has a daughter, so MaryLynn must be your mom. Is that correct? I haven’t seen MaryLynn in many years and would love to reconnect with her. Anyway, you may contact me directly if you would like to hear more about Pop and to see some photos. fjcoons@gmail.com
Take care,
-Fred Coons
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I enjoy this website. Thanks very much for putting it together and maintaining it. I am interested in any information I can get about Camp Jack (aka “5 Chimneys”). Have read the articles here. Great stuff.
Would love to see more photos of the camp including some of the inside. As it was standing until about 1968 I figure there have to be some “out there”. Everybody over the age of 70 around the lake has some story about the place. Well, everybody of any age has some story, but the people over 70 were actually inside of it.
I will post an ad in the Lakes Association newsletter asking for photos and information. Do you think it would be worthwhile to post in some local papers, and if so which ones?
Thanks.
David Dannenberg
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Hi David — I turn my back for a few months and look, Indian Point campers are swarming all over my website.
Thank you for your compliment; am glad you enjoy what I’ve done here over the years. Lately, I’ve been just been in a different phase of things, and have been maybe co-mingling history and art, something that I’ve always wanted to do, but for some reason was all hung up on authenticity. Now that there are all of these government-funded historical societies, I let them do that along with their committees, and that’s freed me up to be more creative and not worry about photoshopping out the imperfections of antique photographs. I like all of the scratches and so forth left in there. I’ve scanned maybe about 1500 antique glass plate negatives from the area from excellent to poor condition, so have a good sense of how literally fragile history is.
Good luck trying to find photos depicting the interior of Camp Jack. I was in there once; as I recall I was with my dad checking out the phenomenon of “coy dogs” who were chasing down and then killing the deer out on the lake, and near Rocky Brook Hunting Camp. One day we counted about 70 fresh carcasses from the previous day. My dad was trying to get the DEC officers to maybe take this seriously, so he was getting some statistics. On the way we stopped by Camp Jack and, it seemed as if there were people in there dismantling it. My neighbors across the road, when they were teenagers, used to take day trips up there and sun bathe on the roof.
As to your interesting query, yes, you can certainly try the Plattsburgh and Malone papers, but there are some county and town hysterical societies: Franklin County Historical and Museum Society, and the Clinton County Historical Society. Don’t really know if the Clinton County organization is called that, but they have a presence on FB, as does the Franklin County House of History. Also, the Chateaugay Historical Society may have a few leads. Easiest way to get a response from Clinton and Chateaugay, is to just contact them on their FB pages. Not as sure about the Franklin County group, who their contact is, how soon they will respond. Me, I don’t check out my site that often, so it’s been several months (sorry). When you contact the Chateaugay Historical Society, maybe you should put a bug in that Mick dude’s ear and suggest that he do a feature for their newsletter, as surely that would be a popular and interesting topic for them, and since he has a passion for digging this stuff up, and probably way more time than do I, who knows — maybe he’ll dig something up.
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I realized today when an email about the new artwork came into my in box that I never responded to this.
So are you John Miles, of my camper days? I take it you are still in the area. I noticed your surname mentioned in The Old Guides Story that my wife and finally got around to reading this spring and early summer and it dawned on me that your family must have as long a history up as anyone could. Wonderful book. Those pioneers were something! “We built a log cabin today and in our spare time began clearing the road.”
Your recollections of Camp Jack in the late 60s or so comports with others’ with whom I have spoken. Seems everybody went through the place. People now in their 80s remember going into the upper rooms to make out.
The story is that in the winter I guess of ’68 or ’69 vagrants were staying there and burning the furniture and woodwork to keep warm. Soon thereafter the Mcintyres dismantled it—about 1970. Parts of it were salvaged to build the Miller camp. Much of it was burned. The foundation remains remarkably sound and level and the central chimney restorable.
We are enjoying the artwork on the website.
My wife and I plan to be up here until the leaves fall or something important calls us back home. Maybe we can get together.
Dave Dannenberg
>
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Hi Dave, you nailed me, lol! Back around 2004 when I was working for a local book publisher, I was producing a fair amount of local historical books. I pitched the idea of doing a new edition of OGS to my publisher, as everyone wanted a copy but couldn’t find one, or afford to buy a copy of the edition that Fay Welch edited back in the 1970s. I then walked over to Tanager to visit Tad, who gave permission to use the text of his father. He was quite enthusiastic about the project and created some new artwork, including two different paintings for the cover. In addition to my personal collection of photos and postcards, descendants of the Merrill family gave me permission to use original materials from the Charles Merrill home. Although I realize that all of this is probably mentioned in the forward of the “orange version” but I include it here just for giggles.
Thanks for including some of the missing history about Camp Jack; I enjoyed reading it.
As for the “artwork”, I’ve been playing around with some AI stuff in my spare time. I’ve always thought about the concept of history and art, and now that there are all of these local historical societies out to get the state funding, I feel less obligated to provide copies of my original scans that people sometimes crib and post on Pinterest, and the opportunity of creating something new appeals to my sense of humor or whatever it is. (My sense of humor has recently put me on the Merrill Cancel Culture’s list of “bad kids” for posting a quote from a science fiction novel; didn’t know that kind of stuff gets you cancelled but in fact, yes. Likely it was too subtle to unpack, but I digress.) If people don’t like the art, like the dude who posted something profound on the recent piece of Jack and Evelyn, that’s fine; if they wish, they can mosey right on over to the for-pay societies while I do it for free. It’s still a free country although recently history stuff seems to be in the headlights or something.
Finally, yeah, I’ve been living back at the lake for the past 20 years, after having a few incredible lives in other places. Good to hear from you.
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I would love to know who has done all the beautiful artwork on this site of Chateaugay Lake and its people. I have searched and do not see a reference to the artist. Thanks!
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Hi Kathy! Hey thanks for the kind comment; glad you like! )I don’t give attribution to my own stuff, because it’s my site and those are the rules.)
More here. I have a lot more of Evelyn Nesbit but apparently I haven’t yet posted them, although I thought maybe I posted some of them.
Remixed Antiques/
Retro Reimagined
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Hello there, I am a native of Chateaugay, a member of the Ryan family on Collins St. My family had a place on Upper Chateaugay lake for more than 40 years. Our beach was part of the beach used for the Sunset Lodge. As a child I remember playing on the cement remnants of the dock on the point, and hanging out with my friends in the cabin that was believed to be for the staff of the resort. I also remember one trip inside Camp Jack when I was seven or eight. I remember a huge fireplace that an adult could stand in. I remember a balcony that ran all around the inside of the second floor. Unfortunately that’s about all but I knew someone was famous and there was a murder trial…One question, is the manager of this site related to Bob Miles? His family and my family were close when we were growing up!
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I remember the interior of Camp Jack being exactly as you describe, including the balcony.
Regarding Bob, yes. Your camp is adjacent to his I think or close enough, right? I’m also related to the Kirbys, and I think there’s one over there too; at least, that’s what the sign out by the road says.
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