Born: 1815 • Yamaska, Province of Lower Canada (Québec)
Died: October 22, 1887 • Clinton, New York)
Married: Angeline Ledoux (b. 1826, Napierville, Lower Canada • d. 1898, Clinton, New York)
Children: Benjamin Saint-Germain, Peter Saint-Germain, Sidney Saint-Germain.
Other Descendants: Matéo Champlain
"Sangemo"
Moses (Moyes) "Sangemo" Saint-Germain was known as a prolific Adirondack guide and cook, & one of the very first settlers of Chazy Lake. Although loved in his small community he was ridiculed by some outsiders for his mixed French Canadien & Native American ancestry, as well as his lack of ability to speak English. He is mentioned in several Adirondack history books in various ways. Born in 1815 in Yamaska, Lower Canada (Québec), died in 1887 in Dannemora, New York. He is also the namesake of "Saint-Germain Pond" nearby Lake Clear.
The location of Saint-Germain Pond
A depiction of Sangemo from "Wild Northern Scenes"
A depiction from "Hunting Adventures in the Northern Wilds"Collection of Anecdotes:
i. From an Old Letter on Ancestry.com:
"Moses was an important man in his small community. He knew the value of herbal medicine, treating fevers, setting broken bones, and had his own tonic remedy cure for what ailed you. The nearest doctor was in Ogdensburg, so in winter, it was up to Moses to care for the ill. He also knew how to make a buck and created the first Old Milwaukee beer, or as it was known in that area, 'St. Germain pop beer.' He made it for tourists to wet their whistles while hiking to the campsites. Was he an entrepreneur, perhaps? Moses, his sons, and his uncles were well-known in the area for being the best guides and fishermen. He also had a reputation for living above the law."
ii. From "Wild Northern Scenes"
"Speaking of Plattsburgh," said the Doctor, "reminds me of an incident which occurred to a friend and myself, over in the Chateaugay woods, between the Chazy and the Upper Chateaugay lakes. I was spending a few days at Plattsburgh, and hearing a good deal about the trout and deer in and around those lakes, my friend and I decided to pay them a visit.
On the banks of the Chazy and near the outlet, a half-breed, half French and half Indian, had built a log cabin and cleared about an acre of land around it. His livestock consisted of two lean, half-starved dogs and a ragged, ill-looking donkey. The half-breed was a sort of half fisherman and half hunter, excelling in nothing except laziness. Occasionally, he killed a deer in the forest and used his donkey to bring the carcass back.
We were passing from the Chazy to Bradley's Lake and had sat down on a fallen tree to rest. It was a warm afternoon, and the air was calm. Not a breath stirred the leaves around us; the forest sounds were hushed, save for the tap of a woodpecker or an occasional drumming of a partridge. It was drawing towards one of those calm, still, autumnal evenings of which poets sing. We could see the lake sparkling and shining in the evening sunbeams through an opening in the trees.
Suddenly, an unearthly sound broke the silence, coming from a shadowy hollow. It was unlike any sound we had ever heard, a combination of the roar of a lion, the yell of a hyena, the trumpeting of an elephant, the scream of a panther, and the howl of a wolf. My friend, a man of courage familiar with forest sounds, looked to our rifles. 'What in the name of all that is mysterious is that?' he cried. 'It is more than I know,' I replied, as I placed a fresh cap on my rifle.
After a few minutes, the sounds were repeated, echoing from the hills. We cautiously approached the hollow, and there, by the stream, stood old Sangamo's donkey beside a deer. Sangamo himself was stretched out on the bank, fast asleep. How he could sleep through that noise is beyond me. We helped him load the deer onto the donkey and watched as he lazily moved off towards home."
iii. From "Hunting Adventures in the Northern Wilds"
"On the northwest bank, we came to a small clearing where once stood the hut of a Canadian half-breed. It had rotted down many years before, and the spot was overgrown with grass, weeds, and bushes. The half-breed, half French and half Indian, was a lazy, shiftless specimen, living by fishing, trapping, and basket-making. He spent summers and sometimes winters by the lakes in the deep forest. One winter, while traveling home on our snowshoes, we heard the dogs of that half-breed yelping in pursuit of something. A big buck, bloodied from the sharp crust, was being chased. The dogs pulled it down, and soon after, the half-breed arrived to skin it. He hunted deer merely for their skins, killing about a dozen a day. I confronted the half-breed, grabbed him by the neck, and gave him a thrashing with my leather belt. I warned him to leave the Chateaugay woods by June or face the consequences. The frightened man left with his family and dogs, and we later used his cabin many times until it rotted away."
iv. From "Camps & Tramps"
"Leaving my boat at the landing, I went over to St. Germain's on Big Clear Pond, a two-mile carry. The St. Germain boys draw boats and luggage on a sled with a very thin horse. The walk through the woods was a relief after sitting long in the boat. The St. Germain family consisted of the father, a little old black-eyed, shock-headed, voluble Canadian-Frenchman, his wife, and three or four grown-up boys who looked half-tamed. They were great hunters and known for close shooting under imagined provocation.
At St. Germain's, I met a merry party on their way from the Saranac's to Paul's. They drank St. Germain's 'pop-beer' with confidence, enjoying the forest thoroughfares among the St. Regis and Saranac waters. After a rest, I procured another boat and rowed through Big Clear Pond to the carry leading to the Upper Saranac. This was a four-mile 'draw-carry' over which boats and tourists were transported on wagons.
At St. Germain's, I interviewed the old Frenchman. With some tobacco and a few dimes, I unlocked his wife's pantry, and she produced doughnuts and cheese. We smoked together, though I could understand only a few of his words, catching their woodsy and fishy spirit. The half-tamed boys congratulated me on my voyage, their wonder perhaps increased by my prompt payment for the boat."
v. From "History of Clinton and Franklin Counties, New York":
"At the foot of Upper Saranac Lake is a small clearing made by Jesse Corey twenty years ago, who also has accommodations for guests. A mile below, on the 'Carry,' is another small sporting-house kept by Mr. Duquette. Between Upper Saranac and Round Lake, on an eighty-rod carry, is C. V. Bartlett's well-known sporting-house. On Fish Creek, near where it empties into the Upper Saranac Lake from the west, is the camp of the old half-breed hunter and fisherman, 'Mose' St. Germain. Except for these settlements, the township is still wild. The most valuable timber has been cut and floated down the Saranac River for lumber. At the foot of the Upper Saranac Lake is a dam used by lumbermen for flooding while driving their logs."
vi. From the Plattsburgh Press Republican, 1869:
"Another delightful spot, scarcely known to many of our citizens, is Chazy Lake, once difficult to reach due to an impassable road over the mountain. Thanks to the State, a better carriage road now leads there. Chazy Lake is situated at the foot of Lyon Mountain, 2000 feet above and twenty miles northwest of Plattsburgh. Thanks to Mr. Meader, parties can now be accommodated at a first-class hotel. The hotel is located on a delightful bay, directly opposite Egon Mountain, on the site formerly occupied by that scourge of the lakes, Mose St. Germain. For an appetite only satisfied by Mrs. Meader's delicious viands, we recommend an hour's pull before breakfast in the clear mountain air of Chazy Lake. Don't forget to stop on the mountain back of the Prison on your way up or down from the lake to admire the magnificent view of the valley of Lake Champlain, surrounded by the Green and Adirondack Mountains."
"Hotel Saint Germain" on Chazy Lake
vii. From H. L. Ives, Reminiscences of the Adirondacks, 1915:
H. L. Ives described the exceptional cooking skills of his guide, Moses St. Germain, in poetic terms: "When I use the term guide cook, it means something more than an ordinary cook. It is no great art for a person who can read and understand to go into a modern kitchen, furnished with a modern range and everything used in the art of cooking, take a cook book, and make things. But to build a fire on the ground, arrange your back logs and fore sticks, lug poles, kettle hangers, etc., and construct a fire suitable for cooking, then mix a Johnny-cake that would melt in your mouth, bake it in a tin oven, cook a venison steak smothered in onions, fry a pan of trout to a turn, make a pot of coffee that will cast its aroma through the woods for miles around, and, last but not least, a stack of pancakes that would have to be weighed down to keep them from floating right off on the light Adirondack air—that's what I call a guide cook. And Mose could fill the bill."
viii. From the Plattsburgh Press Republican, Date Unknown
"The largest panther ever seen in this part of the country was captured on the 19th instant, near Chazy Lake, (a few miles from Clinton Prison, Dannemora,) by the old hunter and fisherman Moses Sangemo, assisted by his son, two other men and four dogs. The chase continued two days and nights, when the panther was compelled to take to a tree - a tall one, when six shots brought him to the ground. He measured from nose to tip of tail, seven feet two inches, and weighed one hundred and ten pounds."
ix. From Tupper Lake Free Press and Tupper Lake Herald, 20 November 1974
"Norton adopted similarly high- handed tactics when he and his loggers fell trees to block the "Sangemo" (St. Germains) Carry between Lake Clear and the St. Regis Chain of lakes, cutting off boating traffic between Paul Smith's and the Saranacs. The resultant uproar made copy for "Forest and Stream" magazine, which reported in its issues of Sept. 17 and 24, 1874, that a "whole army of Adirondack guides, back- ed by their sportsmen and hotel keepers, have united forces, removed the obstructions and reopened the carries". The next issue of the magazine carried a letter from O. A. Tefft, Plattsburgh logger, who pointed out that C. F. Norton owned the lands involved and the sportsmen were trespassers. The guides he labeled "Arabs of the wilderness" to whose "incendiarism" the timberlands were exposed." - John Duquette
x. From The Plattsburgh Sentinel, March 4th, 1887
"The old veteran fisherman, Moses St. Germain, of Chazy Lake, was buried at Dannemora on Wednesday. He was an old and respected citizen of that town, and he will be much missed among his friends about Chazy Lake and Dannemora. He was supposed to be about 88 or 90 years old."
Map:
A map marking his birth location in Québec, and other locations mentioned in the Anecdotes.
Sources:
- Excerpt from an old family letter found on Ancestry.com
- Excerpt from Wild Northern Scenes by S. H. Hammond, 1857
- Excerpt from Hunting Adventures in the Northern Wilds by S. H. Hammond, 1856
- Excerpt from Camps & Tramps by A. Judd Northrup, 1887
- Excerpt from History of Clinton and Franklin Counties, New York by Duane Hamilton Hurd, 1880
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Excerpt from Reminiscences of the Adirondacks by H. L. Ives, 1915
- Excerpt from Plattsburgh Press Republican, 1869
- Excerpt from Plattsburgh Press Republican, Date Unknown
- Excerpt from Tupper Lake Free Press and Tupper Lake Herald, 20 November 1974
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Excerpt from Plattsburgh Sentinel, March 4th, 1887
