Orville Hungerford came to Jefferson County from Farmingham, (now Bristol) Conn., in 1804 at 14 years of age with his father, Timothy, and family. They farmed land on the northeast slope of Dry Hill.

Timothy, a pioneer, couldn’t afford to send Orville to college. Shortly after arriving here, Orville began working as a clerk at a general store in Burrville owned by his brother-in-law, (husband of sister Hannah) Jabez Foster. A few years later, the store would move to Watertown.

While Orville watched over the store, Mr. Foster made regular trips to Albany, and once there, began a week-long trek to Manhattan via sloop and other means to purchase supplies, which he brought back to his store.

The pair, Mr. Hungerford said, specialized in potash in their early days. Local farmers would bring them ash from wood fires. They operated an “ashery,” which turned the ashes into potash, a potassium compound used in agriculture and industry. The material was transported to Albany and New York City. The trips, made before the Erie Canal was completed in 1825, were arduous.

“At first, Jabez transported the potash from Watertown to New York City while Orville managed the store, Foster & Hungerford,’’ descendant Andrew J. Hungerford said. “Jabez returned to Watertown with manufactured goods, which were sold to the farmers. Later Orville made the trip to New York City. At age 22, Orville Hungerford was a very wealthy man for Watertown. That’s how it all began.”

Mr. Hungerford said the pair’s main business rival in their early days was Gen. Jacob J. Brown, an American officer in the War of 1812, and the namesake of the village of Brownville. He acquired the nickname “Potash Brown” for the material he smuggled across the border to Canada.

“Brown was the smuggler — taking the potash to Kingston and Canada against the embargo and making money the quick way,” Mr. Hungerford said. “His competitors, my relatives, were far more, I’d say, honest. They made more money by taking it all the way to New York.”

When the War of 1812 broke out, Orville and Jabez benefited from the routes they knew and the business connections they developed.

“They were bringing the supplies up from New York City and distributing it along the river at these various military outposts,” Mr. Hungerford said.

In 1813, Jabez Foster became a judge in the Court of Common Pleas for Jefferson County. Orville set up his own store and later partnered with Jabez’s son-in-law, Adriel Ely.

Orville married Elizabeth Porter Stanley, a native of Wetherfield, Conn., in 1813. They would have seven children.

The following are other highlights of Orville Hungerford’s life from his Wikipedia page. The Wikipedia information has been verified, and much of it written, by his family, which also operates a private family database.

n Jabez Foster, Orville’s brother-in-law and mercantile business partner, served as the second president of the Jefferson County Bank (1817–1819) and later resumed the office for a short period (1825-1826). Orville served as bank cashier from 1820–1833 and bank president from 1834 to 1845. Orville was also one of the founders of the Bank of Watertown, which began operations in 1839.

n Orville was an industrialist, helping to establish the Sterling Iron Company, Black River Woolen Company and the Jefferson County Mutual Insurance Company. In 1824, he purchased the Oakland House, a hotel which he sold in 1847. Orville and a nephew were instrumental in funding and incorporating the Watertown and Sackets Harbor Plank Road Company.

n In 1816, he was elected as one of three Watertown assessors, which began a local political career. That career included serving several terms as president of the Village of Watertown Trustees.

In 1842, as a Democrat, Orville was elected to the 28th and two years later to the 29th U.S. Congress. In 1846, Orville, a staunch abolitionist, lost his Congressional seat to a Whig party candidate.

n In 1826, he was appointed as one of the first superintendents of the “poor house” in LeRay.

n 1828, Orville and his political mentor, Perley Keyes, with several others, helped to incorporate the Jefferson County Agricultural Society.

n In 1847, he was defeated for state comptroller by future U.S. president Millard Fillmore.

n After he was defeated for comptroller, Orville began to focus on the railroad business. In 1832, he was named a commissioner/president of the Watertown & Rome Railroad, five years after the creation of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, the first commercial and passenger line. Orville was key to explaining the benefits of a railroad to local investors and raising money from them.

n He played a key role in incorporating the Watertown Water Company to supply fresh water “by means of aqueducts” to the village.

n Along with his Watertown business partners Adriel Ely and Orville V. Brainard, hewas a member of the American Art Union, which established an admission-free art gallery in New York City.

n Orville backed the education of women and worked with Dr. John Safford to convince locals about the necessity of a girls’ school. The Watertown Female Academy was established in 1823.

“He was ahead of his time on two factors — female education and he was an ardent abolitionist,” Mr. Hungerford said. “He believed every person should be paid. He was motivated by money and he believed everybody else should be.”