Dorwin Manor

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Dorwin Manor

A beautiful old native limestone house of Georgian architecture at the rear of a fine grove of large maple trees, stands well back from the south side of the Watertown- West Carthage road a short distance towards the latter place from Champion village. A magnificent vista across the Black river valley to Carthage is open to the occupants of this mansion, said to have been built for William Dorwin of 1823. Dorwin, descended from New England stock, was the uncle of Luther J. Dorwin, noted Watertown lawyer and authority on water rights law. Eventually the house and farm came into the possession of William Pierce Freeman, a grand-nephew of William Dorwin, and in the consequence it became more commonly known as the Freeman place. For the past dozen years or more it has been owned and operated by Picket Brothers, Edwin and Paul, extensive dairymen and milk dealers. There is the tradition that the mansion excited the envy of Noadiah Hubbard, Jefferson county’s earliest settler, resulting in Hubbard building his mansion in Champion village in 1831 two feet wider. William Pierce Freeman, born Dec. 30, 1833, died Dec. 16, 1908 in Champion Township, was one of Jefferson County’s most interesting figures. His father was Silas Freeman of Champion and his mother, Nancy Colton of Gouverneur. This much was written by Lane in his histories of NNY houses. This house has changed hands many, many times and each successive owner has made "improvements" until now very little that is original remains - the construction of the stairway is probably an exception.