Page:History of Warren County.djvu/587

 of the lake the mountains generally descend much more abruptly to the edge of the water than in Bolton. They are parts of the ridge and spurs of the Kayaderosseras Mountains, and are separated from each other by the narrow valleys of Trout and Northwest Bay Brooks. In the northwest part of the town lie the Trumbull Mountains, and a little to the south therefrom is Ash Grove Hill rising to an elevation of 2,000 or 2,500 feet above the level of the sea. On the lake shore in the extreme northeast corner of the town and county is Rogers's Slide, a mountain nearly a thousand feet in height, with smooth summit and steep sides. It is said to be singularly rich in minerals, beautiful specimens of garnet having been discovered on its top, and graphite abounding in its bosom. The name is derived from the following historical circumstance: Robert Rogers was sent in the winter of 1757-58, with a small party of followers, to make observations at Ticonderoga and Crown Point, where he met a party of the enemy, and after a sharp skirmish, was defeated. Rogers, pursued by the savages, directed his eager footsteps to the summit of this mountain.

"Arrived at the brow of the precipice he threw his 'luggage' down the steep walls, and, reversing himself on his snow-shoes, made his way down through a ravine, at the southwest, to the lake; thence around to the foot of the slide. The savages, following to the edge of the mountain, where the track of the snow-shoes seemed lost in the path made by a falling body, expecting, of course, that whoever had attempted it could not have reached the bottom alive, must have been considerably surprised to see the brave major making off on the ice toward the head of the lake." They desisted from further pursuit.

Sabbath Day Point is a headland projecting into the lake near the southern border. The soil is a light, sandy loam, and where the surface admits of cultivation produces average crops of oats, corn, potatoes, and buckwheat. Iron ore has been found in some parts of the town, but in quantities too slight to encourage the opening of mines. Black lead exists near the center of the town.

The town of Hague was formed from Bolton, February 28th, 1807, and was at first known as Rochester. Its name was changed to Hague on April 6th, 1808. A part of Horicon was taken off in 1838. Settlement was begun here in the latter part of the eighteenth century. Among the first settlers in town were Abel Rising, Abner Briggs, Elijah Bailey, Samuel Cook, Ellis Denton, Samuel Patchin, John Holman, Isaac and Uriah Balcom, and Uri Waiste. Probably the most influential family, as a whole, in town, is the Rising family, although their progenitor, Abel Rising, jr., did not come to Hague until 181 1. Abel Rising, sr., lived and died in Suffield, Connecticut. He was twice married, and had five children by his first wife, and one by his second. His second son was Abel Rising, jr., who removed to Hague in March, 181 1, and died here in 1822. His wife, formerly Lucinda Kent, of Suffield, died in Hague, in October, 1832. They had seven children. One of these seven was Zeno, born in