The War of Grindstone Island
Clayton, New York

Grindstone Island with Well's Island and many others were claimed by the St. Regis Indians [Mohawks]. The Indians leased the islands to residents of Upper Canada for purposes of removing timber. After survey of the boundary between United States and Canada in 1823 the islands southerly of the boundary were claimed by the State of New York. Difficulties arose with the Canadian timber harvesters that escalated into the serious event known as
'The War of Grindstone Island'.

The lumbermen had cut a large quantity of pine timber from 
Grindstone Island and had prepared it for rafting down the river to mills. New York State claimed ownership of the logs. The lumbermen refused to relinquish possession of the goods they had labored so hard to harvest. 'Finding it probable that any attempt to serve legal papers upon the parties alleged to be trespassers would be resisted, a detachment of militia from Lyme, under Captain S. Green, was called out. The timber had been mostly passed over into British waters, and after some firing, the party in charge of the timber dispersed. One of the militia men was accidentally killed by his own gun. The question subsequently became a subject of litigation and was finally settled by arbitration.' (p. 142).

From the History of Jefferson County in the State of New York from 
the Earliest Period to the Present Time, Franklin B. Hough, Sterling and Riddell, Watertown, 1854

Other events in the history of Grindstone Island.
• 'The first permanent settler on Grindstone was Amariah Howe, 1802.' 
• The first recorded death in the Town of Clayton was that of Mrs. Olive Howe, Grindstone Island ----. (p. 259)
• 'The first public school in the town was what is still No. 1 on Grindstone Island,' (p. 259)
• ' ---three election districts the smallest being Grindstone Island with a total of 100.' (p. 256)
Jefferson County Centennial, 1905, J. Coughlin,
Hungerford-Holbrook, Watertown, N.Y., 1905.