Joseph
Dorr 1760-1833
Joseph Dorr was
born in Lynne, Connecticut on July 15, 1760.
At age 18 he came to the Hoosick area and found employment in the mill
of Stephen Kellogg, situated on the White Creek river. He soon established
fulling and carding-works in connection with the mill. The dictionary defines full “to shrink and
thicken cloth (especially of wool) with moisture, heat, and pressure” Card is
defined as “a machine with rollers covered with wire teeth, used to brush,
clean, and straighten (fibers of wool, cotton, etc.) In preparation for
spinning”
Mr. Dorr became
acquainted with Issac Bull, a farmer whose land was next to the mill. He fell
in love with Sarah Bull and they were married in 1778. In 1784 they moved to Hoosick Falls where he
leased a farm of 280 acres from Barnardus Bratt, the Patroon of Hoosick. This
land included all the water power on the north side of the river. He
immediately established an extensive carding, fulling and cloth dressing works. A sawmill, flax-mill and distillery soon
followed. Under his leadership Hoosick Falls soon became a place of
considerable business importance.
Hoosick Falls in
1784 had only three or four families. He built a log cabin which stood near
where Mechanic street crosses the Troy & Boston track today. He left this dwelling for a comfortable
frame house at the west end of the Wood foundry. In 1813, he built a brick house on the north bank of the river,
above the falls. It was the first brick house in the village.
Joseph Dorr in
the following years was so well respected that he held nearly every civil office in the town, and
was appointed by the Governor, a Judge
of the Court of Common Pleas of Rensselaer County. He was elected Colonel of the regiment which was called up to
protect the northern frontier from the British during the War of 1812. The victory at Plattsburg reached the troops
in Whitehall and the regiment returned home.
Joseph Dorr was
for many years the principal business man in the village, employing a large
number of workmen. He had great rapport
with his workers since he treated them with respect and friendship. He was very successful and used his wealth
to help education and the church. He was the largest contributor to the
erection and support of the first, and for thirty years the only meeting house
in the village. He took an interest in
the concerns of the village and supported the needy and destitute. In 1832, some strangers with cholera where
prevented from entering the village due to fear of the disease. Col. Dorr put them up on his farm outside
the village until they became better.
He looked after the health, safety and morals of the juveniles of the
village. Many called him “Pappa Dorr”
Colonel Dorr died
suddenly in 1833 and is buried in the old church yard. Charles Dorr was the
earliest businessman of Hoosick Falls and started the growth of this area.
The Dorrs had
four children, three boys and a girl.
Josephus, his youngest boy, born in 1799, married Marcia Ball of
Wilmington, Vermont. They lived in the
homestead and he ran the manufacturing and farms of the family until 1854, when
they moved to Rockford, Ill. to spend the later part of their life with a
daughter. Milton, his second son, died
in 1830. His son Seneca lived in the
village and died at age 86. His daughter Hannah died young and unmarried.