CANTON -- The latest edition of the Quarterly, published by the St. Lawrence County Historical Association (SLCHA), contains articles about the sinking of a steamship called the North America.

Susanne Longshore, director of the St. Lawrence County Historical Association (SLCHA), writes of about 200 sick and convalescing soldiers from New York’s 11th Calvary regiment, Union Army, were receiving treatment in hospitals in Baton Rouge and New Orleans.

It was thought that their best chance for recovery would be in northern hospitals away from the swamps and humid climate of southern Louisiana. On December 16, 1864, the men began a long voyage around Florida and up the east coast.

The ship, however, encountered heavy seas and sank on Dec. 22 with the loss of nearly 200 lives. Susanne raises the question of why all 44 crewmembers were on lifeboats while only 15 soldiers were saved.

Also in the latest issue, Mary Jane Watson writes of a half century of dam building and hydroelectric development on the Raquette River in Colton and Parishville. Her great grandmother, Martha Watson, agreed in 1905 to sell her land near Stark Falls, now flooded beneath Stark Reservoir.

Michael G. Draper describes (with photographs) the extraordinary proliferation of Massena dairies, some large, most small. Draper’s hobbies include family history, genealogy and bottle collecting, and who would believe the variation in size and shape of milk bottles delivered to customers?

JeanMarie Martello, archivist at SLCHA, describes the organization of collections available for public use. The Family File collection has 55 boxes of genealogies, charts, obituaries, family bible records and family stories. She estimates that 85 percent of people from St. Lawrence County have some French ancestry.

Issues of the Quarterly can be purchased at the Silas Wright House in Canton or received by subscription as a benefit of membership, $30 for individuals and $25 for seniors and students. Info: 386-8133 or info@slcha.org.