October 2007

            The white, wispy clouds were still slowly floating in front of the blue sky.  Our berry buckets were full, right up to the top.  We decided that we would go home the long way, since the weather was so nice, so we headed west, away from Fitches' Corners.  We had gone only a short distance when we heard the bumping and crunching of a horse drawn wagon coming up behind us on the uneven dirt road.  As I swung around, I saw it was my father.  He pulled up along side of us and said, "Want a ride?"

            "Where are you going?"

            "Jamesville"

            "Why?"

            "I'm picking up Charlie Wheeler's corn and pumpkins to take down to the Grand Union Hotel.

            I thought a minute and then we jumped on the back of the wagon, Father gave the "go" to the horses, and we were off.

            I wonder why it's called Jamesville, I thought.

            I got up slowly, so I wouldn't get dumped off the back of the wagon and crawled along up to Father's seat.  I grabbed the back and pulled myself up beside him.

            "Father, where di the name Jamesville come from?"

             "From John W. James."

            "Who was he?"

            "A very important man in the story of our Town."

            "Well, why? What did he do to be so famous?"

            "First, let me tell you that he was always called John W. because there was another John James and we needed to be able to tell them apart."

            "All right. Tell me about John W."

            "John W. grew up right here on the King James Grant of Land up Chatfield Corners way.  It is now Lester D. Kilmer's property. When he was a young man he went to New York City where he bought some property.  Nobody ever knew how he was able to do this.  Then he came back here and purchased a large tract of land in southwestern Greenfield."

            "How did he get the money to do all of this?"

            "None of us ever knew where the money came from."

            "What did he do on the land he bought in Greenfield?"

            "First, he built a dam upstream from Grenell's Mill.  Even though he was still a fairly young man, he had big plans, big ideas.  After the dam was finished, he built a large mill, but this wasn't just any old mill."

            "Well, aren't all mills just about the same?"

            "Not this one.  Not by a long shot.  This mill, which John W. built, was the first mill for the manufacture of paper by machinery, in Saratoga County.  He also built some homes for his employees and established the Jamesville Bank.  Alvah Grenell son of mill owner, Benjamin Grenell, was the cashier in the Jamesville Bank.  Many years later Alvah Grenell's grandson, William, enjoyed telling stories about how his father, Issac, sat on the money chest as they came back from Albany with the money to open the Jamesville Bank.  It was carried on a horse drawn railroad car to Ballston Spa.

            "Father!  Father!  Look! There's a big hole in the road up ahead."

            "Yes, yes!  I see it."

            He carefully and slowly pulled the reins to guide the horses around the washed-out part of the road.

            "Hey, we're almost there."

            "Yes, we'll be in Jamesville in a few minutes."

            "Is there more to the story about Issac Grenell?"

            "Just a bit.  After the bank was opened, Isaac made many a trip on horseback over the lonely road that ran through Bear Swamp to Schuylerville, carrying a saddlebag of Jamesville Bank notes. These notes were put into circulation by a medium of exchange between all the banks in this area."

            "Did these banks have very much money, Father?"

            "Say, I just happened to have some information about that.  Reach into my right pocket.  Is there a little book there?"

            "Yes"

            "Look on the first page.  Read it to me."

            "It says, Jamesville Bank founded in 1836.  In 1846 it had portfolios of $43,599. on mortgages, $17,200. in New York City Stock, $18,000. in State Bonds and $64,937. in circulating notes.  Wow!  That's certainly a whole lot of money, isn't it?"

            "Yes, I'll never see that much money in my whole life."

            "Hey father, look, there's Grenell's Mill.  We're right in the middle of Jamesville. Can we stop here?"

            "Why?  Oh, I know, you want to go over to the store while I to and pick up Charlie Wheeler's corn and pumpkins."

            "Yes.  I want to get a root beer barrel."

            "Have you got a penny?"

            "Yes, grandpa gave me one yesterday."

            "Fine.  I'll be back in about an hour.  Go get your candy and wait for me on the porch."

            In the store, Josiah opened the back of the candy case, reached inside, and pulled out one fat, root beer barrel.  I put my penny down, popped the root beer barrel in my mouth.  Uhm-m-m delicious!  I went out and sat on the porch steps in the early afternoon sunshine.  Jake Bloomer was in the rocker reading the paper.  When he wasn't crunching the paper as he turned the page, I could hear the water gushing over the dam and dropping on the stones below.  I pulled my vest over my head and put it on the step beside me.  It was way too warm.  I sat there watching and listening as three boys pushed a big hoop back and forth and shouted at the top of their lungs.  I quickly sat up as I smelted the odor of biscuits. Josiah's mother had just baked in the backroom of the store.  I took a deep breath, leaned back against the porch railing and sucked slowly on my diminishing root beer barrel.