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Cornell University Library 1993.EARLY REMINISCENCES
OF
BUFFALO AND VICINITY.
READ BEFORE THE SOCIETY, MARCH 19, 1866.
BY JAMES L. BARTON.*
To all well-informed persons it is known that the revolu-
tionary war was closed in 1783. By the treaty of peace be-
tween Great Britain and the Independent States of America,
it was agreed that the territory extending from the forty-fifth
degree of north latitude, at a point where it intersects the St.
Lawrence river, thence through the middle of the river and
great lakes to the Lake of the Woods, far beyond Lake Supe-
rior, should belong to the United States. The line of division
was only generally marked out and indicated in the treaty.
Its precise locality was surveyed and marked off, after the war
of 1812, by commissioners representing each government, dur-
ing the years from 1818 to 1825.
Notwithstanding the fact that this treaty conceded the right
to us to occupy the country, and an equal right to navigate the
lakes and rivers, the British government retained armed pos-
session until 1796, thirteen years after peace had been con-
cluded. They had garrisons at Oswego, Niagara, Lewiston,
Schlosser, Fort Miami on the Maumee river, ten miles inland
* Died, October 6th, 1869.i54
EARLY REMINISCENCES OF
from where the city of Toledo now stands, and at Detroit,
The use of the great lakes was entirely prohibited to us; and a
strong disposition was manifested to deter people from explor-
ing the country, or approaching the Niagara frontier. To make
this as disagreeable and unsafe as possible to travelers or ex-
plorers, the commanding officer at Fort Niagara gave directions
to the Indians, then very numerous and much under the influ-
ence of the British government, that if they found any strange
white men traveling over the country, they were to be consid-
ered British deserters, and were to be arrested and brought to
the Fort, unless they could show the commander’s pass, which
was*a large wax impression on a card, and which was distrib-
uted among the Indians.
The military retention of the country bordering on the great
lakes, as well as that of the lakes themselves, was not as inju-
rious to the people of this state as to those of Ohio. Here it
gave little annoyance. There were but few people in these
parts, and they had no business to do on the lakes. The high-
est compliment the descendants of the early pioneers into West-
ern New York can pay to the memory of their forefathers, grows
out of what I am now going to relate.
All the predatory incursions of the British and Indians dur-
ing the war of the Revolution, that laid waste the valley of the
Mohawk, Minnisink in Orange county, and Wyoming in Penn-
sylvania, were concocted at and started from Fort Niagara.
These incursions were broken up and forever terminated by
General Sullivan’s expedition in 1779. The only great battle
fought by Sullivan against the Indians assisted by their English
friends, many of whom were in the battle, was at Newtown,
now Elmira. The Indians and their allies were defeated, and
never attempted to face Sullivan in battle again, but retired
further west. Sullivan pursued them, destroying their towns,
apple-trees, and almost every thing that could sustain human
life, as far as the Genesee river, on both sides of which he laid
everything waste for several miles. The winter following wasBUFFALO AND VICINITY,
155
very cold, and much snow fell; large numbers of deer perished
in the woods, and many Indians died of starvation and cold.
In eight or ten years after the expedition of Sullivan, the
whites, in considerable numbers, began coming into the country.
The Indians, still smarting from the punishment inflicted upon
them by Sullivan, and being much the most numerous, were
very suspicious of the white intruders, and were ready to take
revenge if a proper occasion offered. The high-toned character
which the early pioneers brought with them, their frank, honest
and upright conduct in all their transactions with the Indians,
soon impressed the minds of the Indians with the belief that
the whites came amongst them as friends and not as enemies.
And so harmoniously have they lived together that not a shot
has been fired in battle or anger between the whites and Indi-
ans, since 1779. The mention of these facts is a monument to
the memory of those noble men, the early pioneers; and their
descendants may well be proud of them. How sadly different
it was in Ohio, I will now tell you.
The retention of the military posts around the great lakes,
one of which was several miles inland in Ohio, kept up a bitter
and angry feeling between the early white settlers of that state
and the Indians, who wxre largely under the malign influence
of British agents, which was frequently manifested in the en-
trance of the white settlements by small Indian parties, burning
buildings and committing many murders. The whites were a
different class of men from those who first settled Western New
York. Instead of cultivating good feelings, they retaliated
whenever an occasion offered; and thought the killing of an
Indian of no more consequence than that of a wild turkey, or
a deer. Thus matters continued to grow worse until the Indi-
ans determined to drive the whites south of the Ohio river.
This brought out a considerable military force under the com-
mand of Colonel Crawford, who had a fight with the Indians
near Tyamoctee creek, about thirty-five miles south of. Lower
Sandusky. Crawford was defeated, many of his men killed,i56
EARL V REMINISCENCES OF
himself carried prisoner to an Indian town on the Tya.moctee, a
few miles west of the place where th£ fight took place, where
he was burned at the stake. Another and larger expedition
was organized and took the field under the command of Gen-
eral Hamer. He was also defeated in a fight with the Indians,
within one hundred miles north of Cincinnati. This called
out a still larger but badly organized force, under command of
General St. Clair. His army was surprised and dreadfully de-
feated by the Indians, on the morning of November 4th, 1791,
near where Hamer had met the same fate. A large number of
men were killed and wounded, and a complete rout took place.
Many distinguished officers fell on that occasion, amongst others
the celebrated Colonel Butler.
Early in the spring of 1794, a formidable expedition, under
the command of the celebrated General Wayne, was organized
and started from Cincinnati, then called Fort Washington, to
chastise the Indians wherever they could be found. This ex-
pedition cautiously pushed forward through the woods, taking
the route, or nearly so, of St. Clair. On reaching the battle-
field of the latter with the Indians, Wayne erected a fort, to
which he gave the name of Fort Recovery. From this place
the army entered the unbroken wilderness, marching with great
caution, and giving the Indians no opportunity to attack with
the hope of success. The Indians kept retiring as Wayne ad-
vanced. After a toilsome march through the wilderness, the
army reached the mouth of the Auglaise river, where it unites
with the Maumee. Here Wayne built a military work, and
called it Fort Defiance. Resting and refreshing his men after
their laborious march through the woods, Wayne prepared to
descend the Maumee river in pursuit of the Indians. Using the
river to transport, in canoes and boats prepared for the pur-
pose, such supplies as he needed, the army marched down on
the west side of the river, and gave protection to the boats.
On approaching within three or four miles of Fort Miami,
one of the British military posts, he found the Indians, moreBUFFALO AND VICINITY.
*57
than two thousand in number, strongly posted in a wooded
place, their left resting on the river, and their right protected
by thick and high grass, which grew luxuriantly on the river
bottom. On finding his enemy, Wayne halted, arranged his,
men, and made up his mind for serious work. His orders were
for his infantry to enter the wood, give one fire, and then push
on with the bayonet to rouse the Indians from their cover be-
hind the fallen timber; and as soon as they were all brought
into sight, his cavalry was to dash in. On the approach of
Wayne, the Indians received him with a heavy fire from behind
logs and trees, where they were concealed. Wayne’s orders
were fully carried out; and so furious was his attack, that the
Indians could not stand it; and after losing many, they broke
and fled, and gathered around the British fort. Wayne delayed
not 'a moment in pursuing them, and when he had approached
within a short distance of the fort, he sent a courier to Colonel
Hamilton, the commandant, informing him that he, Wayne, was
in hot pursuit of his enemy, whom he had just defeated; that
the commander of the fort must not admit them within it, nor
furnish them with anything; and that if he did, he should con-
sider him as a common enemy, and attack the fort. Colonel
Hamilton replied in a high tone, deprecating the serious conse-
quences that might follow the assaulting a fort of His Majesty
King George. Wayne gave him distinctly to understand, that
any assistance he rendered the Indians would be at his peril.
Colonel Hamilton thought discretion the better part of valor,
and left the Indians to their fate. All hope of contending any
longer was lost, and.their only resource for arms and ammuni-
tion being cut off, they craved mercy and gave up. Wayne
granted this upon condition that the various tribes engaged in
the war against him should, the next spring, send representa-
tives to meet commissioners on the part of the United States,
at such place as the government should determine, for the pur-
pose of making a general treaty of peace.
This meeting took place at Greenville, Dark county, Ohio,EARL Y REMINISCENCES OF
158
adjoining the State of Indiana. A general treaty .of peace was
made between the contracting parties, since which time Ohio
has been quite free from Indian disturbances.
• The Indians ceded Ho the United States six miles square at
Lower Sandusky (now Fremont); six miles square at Fort
Wayne on the Wabash river; six miles square at Chicago, and
the island of Michilimackinac. At Sandusky, Fort Wayne and
Chicago, the government erected stockades, or slight forts, and
storehouses within them, from which places there were annually
distributed cloth, tobacco, pipes, wampum, shot-guns, powder
and shot, vermilion, beads, and numerous other articles stipu-
lated in the treaty as annuities. Judge Samuel Tupper, who
afterwards became a resident of this city, was the United States
agent when I first went to Lower Sandusky in 1811.
Several young officers serving with General Wayne became
afterwards distinguished as military men and civilians. Presi-
dent Harrison, General Hugh Brady, General Covington, who
was killed in battle in Canada in the fall of 1813, on the St.
Lawrence river, and Captain Robert Lee, the first Collector of
the Customs District of Niagara, were all sub-Lieutenants under
Wayne. General Solomon Van Rensselaer, who was Captain
of a horse company, and was shot through the body in the
battle, was for several years Postmaster at Albany, and repre-
sented that district one or two terms in Congress. Brigadier-
General James Wilkinson was the second in command under
Wayne, and subsequently the Commander-in-chief of the
Northern Army, in 1813. With all these gentlemen I had the
honor of a personal acquaintance, and with some of them a
very familiar one.
During the year 1794, Chief Justice Jay was sent to England
to represent to that government the absolute necessity and pro-
priety on their part, of fully executing the treaty of 1783, by
giving up the forts and withdrawing their troops from our right-
ful territory, which they had so long unjustly withheld from us,
and giving us free access to, and the use of the lakes. #OurBUFFALO AND VICINITY.
J59
minister accomplished his object, and the treaty then made is
known as Jay’s treaty.
Notwithstanding this new treaty, two more years passed be-
fore we obtained full possession of our rights on land and water.
On the fourth of July, 1796, as I have been told by some of
those who were present on the occasion, Fort Niagara was
given up, and the troops withdrawn, as well as those at Lewis-
ton and Schlosser. On the eleventh of July, Captain Moses
Porter, with sixty-five men from Fort Miami, on the Maumee,
took possession of Detroit.
During all the above time, and up to 1806, the communica-
tion between New York and the western country was in small
bateaux or boats, called “ Schenectady boats.” These were
propelled by poles up the Mohawk river, wagoned with their
contents around the short portage at Little Falls, and the longer
one between Mohawk and Wood creek (until the Inland Lock
Navigation Company constructed canals and locks at these
}Doints, which was between 1792 and 1797), and taken down
this creek into Oneida lake, and through that lake and river
to Three River Point, where the Oneida unites with the Seneca
river. These two form the Oswego river. Another portage
had to be passed at Oswego Falls, and the river was then used
to Oswego, on the bank of Lake Ontario. Here the property
was unladen from the boats and put into vessels for Lewistoii
or Queenstown. The property and supplies required for the
troops at Schlosser and Lewiston, were landed at the latter
place. All for Detroit and other western places was landed at
Queenstown, and wagoned around the portage to Chippewa.
Here it was laden into boats and carried to Fort Erie, from
whence it was distributed in vessels to the several places to
which it was destined.
In 1790, the first United States census was taken. The ter-
ritory extending from the eastern line of Steuben county, ad-
joining Pennsylvania, to the eastern line of Wayne county,
resting on Lake Ontario, and westward to Lake Erie, was one160	EARL Y REMINISCENCES' OF
county, Ontario, now subdivided into fourteen counties. The
entire white population then amounted to one hundred and five
families, containing one thousand eighty-one persons, located
as follows:
d, £								!	
				t/5	'A			d	■s
c |	V bC n		E	£ O	c |	So c		1	0:
H	&			£	H	&		rt fc	£4
2	!	Painted Post,	10	59	11	4	Victor,	4	20*
7	I	Milo.	11	65	9	5	Richmond,	1'	2
8	I	Benton,	3	25	11	5	Mendon,	2	IO'
9	I	Seneca,	10	60	12	5	Pittsford,	8	28
10	I	Geneva,	8	55	13	5	Brighton,	4	20
11	I	Phelps, Middlesex,	2	11	10	6	Lima,	4	23
8	2		7	38	11	6	Rush,	9	56
10	2	North Gorham,	6 *	14	12	6	Henrietta,		8'
11	2	E. Farmington,	2	4	7	7	Sparta,	1	5
11	3	W. do.	T2	55	9	7	Geneseo,	8	34'
10 12	3 3	Canandaigua. West Palmyra,	l8 4	106 14	1 2	2 2	j- Erwin,	11	59"
8 9	4 4	South Bristol, North do.	4 3	20 13	3 4	5 6	j- Canisteo,	10	5o
10	5	W. Bloomfield,	7	26	5	2	Wayne,	1	9
10	4	E. do.	11	65	10	7	Avon,	10	66
Caledonia										10	44
Indian Lands, Leicester									4	17
								105	108 r
The first American vessel that was permitted to float on these
great lakes was constructed at Erie, Pennsylvania, and came
out in 1797. It was called the Washington, and was afterwards
drawn over the portage from Chippewa to Queenstown. In her
first attempt to navigate Lake Ontario she foundered, and all
on board were lost. She never was seen or heard of after pass-
ing the mouth of the river.
It will be noticed that thus far the name of Buffalo has not
been mentioned. For simply this reason, there was no Buffalo.
There was a Buffalo creek and a Buffalo Indian reservation.
It was well known to early travelers, that on the bank of this
creek, not far from Lake Erie, were a few log buildings, where
rum, silver trinkets, beads and other small articles were sold to
the Indians. This trade was small; the great mart for Indian
trade was at British Niagara. Here was the headquarters of
the Indian Department, from which the subsidies given and
sold to the Indians, were distributed.BUFFALO AND VICINITY.
161
We now approach more directly the early history of Buffalo.
In 1803, our late worthy, useful, and much respected citizen,
Doctor Cyrenius Chapin, then a young physician in pursuit of
a place in which to locate himself, came, with his wife, to this
place. The village not being surveyed, he could not obtain a
lot. He crossed over to Fort Frie, where a number of troops
were stationed, and a good many civilians were settled along
the river. There he found good practice and remained two
years.
In 1804, Joseph Ellicott surveyed out the village plot of
Buffalo. In 1805, Doctor Chapin left Fort Erie, came to Buf-
falo and purchased the lot on the corner of Main and Swan
streets, extending through to Pearl street, upon which he lived
until his death, in 1838, and which is now occupied by one of
his worthy descendants.
Whether the fact was known to Congress, that the spot upon
which the great city of Buffalo was to be built, was surveyed
and laid out into lots, does not appear. If it was, they did not
give the name of Buffalo to the customs district which extends-
from the Niagara Falls to the Pennsylvania state line, where it
joins the District of Erie, but gave it the name of “Buffaloe
Creek District.” This statute was passed on the fifth of March,
1805. Although the ground was surveyed where a great city
was to be built, there were then as yet no materials of which to
build one. Buffalo was then very much in the condition of the
man who had a beautiful mill-site on his farm, but had no-
water.
The State of New York owned a strip of land, one mile wide,,
lying along the bank of the Niagara river, from Lake Erie to'
Lake Ontario, called the “Mile Strip.” In 1803 and 1804 this
land was surveyed according to the following directions of the
Surveyor-General:
One mile square was to be left at the mouth of the river
where Fort Niagara was situated, for garrison purposes. The
survey was to commence one mile from Lake Ontario, and lay162
EARLY REMINISCENCES OF
'Out the whole strip into farm lots, averaging one hundred and
sixty to one hundred and seventy-five acres each, taking into
consideration the windings of the river, except at the following
places:	At Lewiston, a village plot one mile square was to be
.'laid out. Here was the lower end of the portage around the
falls, where the State owned a storehouse and dock. The
upper end of the portage was on what was known as the Stead-
man farm. This farm was to be left intact; also the two-mile
square below and adjoining the Scajaquadda creek, known as
the Jones and Parrish tracts—on part of the latter of which, the
Parrish tract, North Buffalo is built. After crossing the creek,
four more lots were to be laid out. Then one hundred acres
above and adjoining these lots were to be surveyed, and called
the “Ferry Lot.” The triangle formed by a line running from
a point where the south line of the ferry lot struck the mile
line, to the river, not far from the present water-works, was to
be reserved for military purposes, should it become necessary.
The residue of the Mile Strip extending to the village of Buf-
falo, was to be surveyed into a village plot and called Black
Rock. This was afterwards more generally known as Upper
Black Rock.
In 1805, all the surveyed land, farm and village lots, were
put up by the Surveyor-General for public sale at Albany.
Notice was also given that the docks and warehouses at Lew-
iston and Schlosser, with the Steadman farm at the latter place,
would be leased by the State to any responsible party or
parties, who would take them for the least number of years,
maintain and keep up the storehouses and docks, and at the
termination of the lease surrender all the improvements to the
State. At the time of the sale, Augustus and Peter B. Porter,
my father Benjamin Barton, and my uncle Joseph Annin, who
surveyed the Mile Strip, attended for the purpose of purchas-
ing lands along the river, and bidding for the lease. In a con-
versation among themselves, and finding out each other’s views
and purposes, they agreed to form a partnership under theBUFFALO AND VICINITY.
163
name of Porter, Barton & Co., and to bid for the portage lease,
and also to make large purchases of lands. They succeeded
in obtaining the lease for thirteen years, and purchased the
land around the falls, and many other farm and village lots.
The four farm lots, containing over seven hundred acres,
lying on the south side of Scajaquadda creek, were purchased
by these four gentlemen and the Rev. John McDonald, of Al-
bany, father-in-law of Archibald McIntyre, many years Comp-
troller of the State, and John McLean, of Orange county, for
a long time Commissary-General. In 1811, they had these
lots surveyed iuto a village plot by Apollos Stephens, and
called it Black Rock. To distinguish it from the state village
of Black Rock, it was better known subsequently as Lower
Black Rock.
In the fall of 1805, Augustus Porter came out from Canan-
daigua and built a saw-mill at the Falls. He removed with his
family, in the spring of 1806, to Fort Schlosser, and lived four
or five years in the old English mess-house.. That summer
my father came out (he did not remove his family to Lewiston
until the spring of 1807), and assisted in erecting a large grist-
mill at the Falls. As it was a large frame and difficult to raise,
and as men were scarce, the commandant at Fort Niagara per-
mitted some of the soldiers at the fort to go up and assist in
putting up the frame. The same year, Porter, Barton & Co.
commenced the transportation business over the portage, boat-
ing up the river to Black Rock; and provided themselves with
vessels to carry property on the lakes. This was the begin-
ning of the first regular and connected line of transportation
on the American side, that ever did business on these great
waters. They were connected with Jonathan Walton & Co.,
of Schenectady, who sent the property in boats up the Mohawk
.river, down Wood creek and other waters to Oswego; Matthew
McNair carried it over Lake Ontario; Porter, Barton & Co.
took it from Lewiston to Black Rock, where they had vessels
to carry it over the lakes. I went into my father’s warehouse164
EARL Y REMINISCENCES OF
in 1807, to make out way-bills, or slips, for the teams carrying
salt and other property across the portage; and you now see
in my person the man who was earlier engaged in the com-
merce of these lakes than any other man now living.
Before the war of 1812, Porter, Barton & Co. built a large
pier and placed upon it a structure sufficiently large to store
all property requiring it, immediately below Bird Island, above
the rapids in the Niagara river. Here all the property brought
from Schlosser in boats was landed, and here the vessels used
to stop and anchor in,deep and still water, and discharge and
take in freight. After the war, they descended the river and
came to the docks below the rapids. When they were ready
to go on to the lake, if the wind was not strong enough to take
them up with their sails, cattle and horses were used to haul
them up. This was known as the “horn breeze,” in contradis-
tinction to the “ash ” or oar breeze, and the natural'wind.
In the winter of 1812-13, five of the vessels composing part
of Commodore Perry’s fleet were fitted for war vessels out of
merchantmen, in Scajaquadda creek. In June, 1813, after Col.
Preston with some troops had taken possession of the opposite
side of the river and the enemy’s batteries, these vessels came
out of the creek into the river, and after waiting two or three
days, were favored with a sufficiently strong wind, sailed up
the rapids, and joined Perry at Erie.
In 1815, Porter, Barton & Co. built a Avarehouse at Black
Rock, nearly opposite the present Queen City Mills. It has
since been removed, and is now used as a barn and stables.
In March, 1816, the forwarding and commission house of
Sill, Thompson & Co., of which I was a member, took posses-
sion, and occupied it until March, 1821. It furnished ample
storage for all the property requiring to be put under shelter,
going to, or coming from the West, during that time. It Avould.
hardly afford sufficient storage room for the business of the
present day! The whole business of a season then, did not
equal in value or quantity, what is now done in a single day onBUFFALO AND VICINITY.
i65
our docks, during the busy season of the year. To give you an
idea how large the business we were doing then appeared to the
public, we were called a “monopoly” and an “overgrown
monopoly,” not satisfied with doing all the commercial busi-
ness, but trying to control the politics of the county and dis-
trict.
In 1808, the County of Niagara was set off from Genesee,
and comprised the territory of the present counties of Erie and
Niagara. Buffalo was made the county seat, which gave it a
little help forward, by increasing its trade and population. The
regular terms of the courts brought in a good many persons,
not only from different parts of the county, but from other
counties, who had business in the courts. Court week was a
big week, and was always welcomed by the citizens, for the
large trade it brought into the village.
In June, 1812, the war with Great Britain commenced. The
gathering of troops on this frontier, and the expenditure of
public money during that year, gave a wonderful spur to the
hopes and exertions of the citizens, and the village presented a
lively business appearance. In the high exulting feelings of its
citizens, Buffalo was already a great city. It had overcome its
worst difficulties, and nothing could stop its onward progress.
In 1813, the troops were, in a great measure, removed from
Buffalo and operated in Canada. The impetus given to trade
the year before continued, and hopes and confidence were
high. But the year closed most disastrously upon the village
and its citizens. A large British force, accompanied by many
Canadian and Western Indians, crossed the Niagara river in
December and laid waste the entire frontier from Lake Ontario
to Lake Erie. Buffalo was sacked and plundered, several of
its citizens killed, and finally fire was applied, and all the build-
ings, except two or three, were consumed. This was on the
thirtieth and thirty-first of December, 1813. Here was swift
destruction to all high hopes and fancied greatness. The citi-
zens were compelled to flee, many half-clothed, from the mur-i66
EARL Y REMINISCENCES OF
derous tomahawk of the Indian, while the pathway of their es-
cape was lighted by the blaze of their own dwellings. In one
hour’s time, the hard earnings and savings of years were taken
from them, and many were left with nothing but their naked
hands and good health with which to provide for the wants of
their families. The enemy retired to Canada immediately after
the destruction had been committed. A very severe winter fol-
lowed the destruction of Buffalo, which caused much distress
to many of its people who had lost their all, and were compelled
to seek shelter and food as best they could.
In the spring of 1814 the people began to return, and a few
plain buildings were constructed. The army came into Buffalo
the first week of April, and brought a large trade to the place;
but, as is always the case, it was followed by a caravan of trad-
ers almost as numerous as the troops, who more than divided
this trade with the citizens. Soon were to be seen board shan-
ties, erected where the First Presbyterian church and St. Paul’s
cathedral now stand, and along Pearl and Main streets. The
village was literally one of shanties, and every thing had a
lively and busy appearance.
The army, remained in Buffalo until the second of July at
night, when it crossed into Canada. Many of those who for
trading purposes followed the army into Buffalo, left it when
the troops did—some to follow them, and some to the places
from whence they, came,—and the citizens, who had by this
time generally returned, were left more to themselves. Trade
flourished. The wants of the army required large supplies,
some of which the country around could furnish, and others
were brought by land from Albany, and other parts of the state.
The large sums of money paid to the soldiers, who scattered it
freely, made money plenty, and all felt well, because they had
plenty to do, and got high prices. Buffalo was now certainly
mounting upwards, and nothing could retard her progress. Her
people were jubilant, and talked largely pf seeing it in twenty
years the largest city in the state west of New York.BUFFALO AND VICINITY.	l6y
The war was closed by a treaty of peace, concluded by the
agents of the contending parties, at Ghent, in December, 1814,,
and subsequently ratified by both governments. The news of
the signing of the treaty did not reach Buffalo until about the-
seventeenth of February, 1815, and at the same time we got in-
telligence of General Jackson’s great victory in the battle of
New Orleans, fought on the eighth of January. All military
operations on this frontier ceased, the army was removed from
here as fast as it could be done, and the last soldier left the
place in May or June. With them went the hosts of adventur-
ers that always follow in the track of an army.
The citizens were again thrown upon their own resources,
trade was limited, provisions scarce and very high, the great;
flow of money had ceased, and it was becoming hard work for
many to get along. Many had gotten into debt while money-
was very plenty, and others had! not sufficiently recovered froma
their losses consequent upon the entire destruction of the vil-
lage a year and a half before. This condition of things con-
tinued for four or five years. The village, if it increased, in-
creased so slowly that the change was scarcely perceptible, and
the buildings erected were of an unpretending kind. Even as
late as 1820, the population of Buffalo numbered but two thous-
and and ninety-three. Buffalo had as yet no water commerce..
Although it was a port of entry by law, it was not so in fact, for
no vessel could get into the harbor. The merchandise brought,
by teams from Albany destined westward, after its arrival here,,
was taken to Black Rock to be shipped across the lake.
On the first of November, 1821, the steamboat Walk-in-the-
Water, built in 1818, at Black Rock, was driven ashore by a
storm and wrecked on the beach, about a mile above the light-
house. During the ensuing winter a new boat called the Su-
perior, was built on the bank of Buffalo creek above Main
street. This was the first vessel, certainly of any size, built in
Buffalo. Although some slight work had been done the year
before, to open the chanruel at the mouth, of the creek, the sandi68
EARL Y REMINISCENCES OF
bars partially removed, and the water deepened so as to admit
small craft to enter, it was not yet in a condition to admit ves-
sels of a large draft of water. On this account the owners and
builders of the Superior hesitated about building the boat here,
fearing she could not get into the lake. They were assured
that there would be no difficulty; that the spring freshet would
clear the channel;- and further/that a guarantee would be given
by responsible citizens to pay one hundred dollars for every
day the boat was detained on this account after she was ready
to go on the lake.
When the boat was nearly ready, much anxiety began to be
felt about her passing out of the creek. This called forth the
energy of the citizens. They assembled daily in large numbers
—merchants, lawyers and laborers alike; and those who could
not work sent refreshments,—with teams, scrapers, shovels and
other necessary tools, and labored most industriously to remove
so much of the bar as to permit the new steamboat to get out
and return into the harbor. Success was vital to the village,
and its people put forth their best energies to accomplish it.
The boat got out after meeting with some obstruction by touch-
ing the bar; but by carrying out an anchor ahead, and taking
a turn of the cable around the shaft of the engine, and both
working together, she got into the lake. After making a few
miles run, to try the working of the engine, she returned with
less difficulty. The obstructions at the mouth of the creek
were steadily worked at until a passage was made sufficiently
large and deep to admit her 'going in and out, and she after-
wards continued to run from this place.
As the canal was approaching its western termination, the
question whether it should stop at Black Rock or be continued
to Buffalo, became a matter of great discussion. Black Rock
then had all the American commerce on the lakes. Buffalo
had comparatively none. I then lived at Black Rock; and, as
all my property and hopes were there, I, with the rest of our
citizens, thought we had a right to retain this commerce if weBUFFALO AND VICINITY.
169
could. A violent and bitter controversy arose between the
two places. Buffalo for a while had the advantage, having two
newspapers; but we soon set one up at Black Rock, and much
abuse, misrepresentation, and violent invective passed between
them.
In 1822, at a meeting of the canal commissioners, they de-
cided to give us at Black Rock an opportunity of testing, by ex-
periment, whether a wooden pier filled with stone, placed in the
swiftest part of the rapids of the river, would stand the current,
.and the rushing down of the ice from the lake when it broke
up in the spring. We eagerly accepted the proposition, and
went to work that summer, and did put down what was known
as the “Experiment Pier,” in a very exposed position. When
the ice in the lake broke up in the spring and came rushing
down the river, day after day many citizens of Black Rock and
others from Buffalo could be found perched on the high bank
of the river, the former watching intensely the fate of their ex-
periment, and hoping it would stand, while the latter were anx-
ious to see it swept away. The pier passed the trial in safety,
and this decided the canal commissioners to construct a harbor
2X Black Rock. This decision brought the two villages quite
on a level. Buffalo had the most people; we at Black Rock
Rad the control of the lake commerce, and our numbers were
increasing daily. As an evidence of this, I will mention that
the late Captain Sheldon Thompson, his brother Harry and
myself purchased in 1823, from the Holland Land Company,
one hundred and thirty-three and one-third feet on the creek,
where General Reed’s elevator now stands, for about one hun-
dred and seventy dollars. In after years this ground was sold
for forty thousand dollars.
In 1825, the population of Buffalo was two thousand six
hundred. After all these struggles and trials, the opening of
the Grand Erie Canal connecting the great lakes of the West
with the Atlantic ocean was completed, and put courage into
the hearts of the people. Joy and gladness were to be seen inEARLY REMINISCENCES OF
170
the countenances of all. Notwithstanding, the struggle to live
and move ahead was still to continue. The opening of the
canal was a most marked era in the history of Buffalo. It laid
the foundation of a great city; but the materials for building it
were not in existence. The great West was comparatively an.
unbroken wilderness, and although commerce was considerably
increased by the canal, it was yet quite limited, and for a short
time divided with Black Rock.
In May, 1826, the pier forming the harbor at that place, con-
structed without proper care, gave way near where the ferry
now is, and forever blasted the prospects of making that local-
ity a harbor for a large commercial business.
In the spring of 1827, I left Black Rock, came to Buffalo,
and formed a partnership with the late Judge Samuel Wilke-
son, in the forwarding business. The Judge had been amongst
the foremost in the controversy between Buffalo and Black
Rock, and although many hard things had been said about him
in our paper, he remembered with unkindly feelings nothing that
occurred in the season of anger and strife. He had a mind of
large grasp, quick perception, indomitable energy; never spar-
ing time or money so long as a possibility existed of accom-
plishing any great object he undertook. He may emphatically
be numbered with the leading minds that laid the foundation of
this city. The partnership lasted two years. The Judge said
to me: “This is a poor business, not furnishing sufficient sup-
port for two families; I am not acquainted with the business,
and you have been in it all your life; I will retire; you take the
warehouse and dock, pay me two hundred and fifty dollars a
year rent, and go on for yourself.” I told him I would take
the warehouse if he would paint it. He did so, and I con-
tinued the business alone until the end of the year 1835, at the
same rent. While the partnership continued, and afterwards
when I was alone, we had the agency of a large line of boats
on the canal, and vessels on the lake; yet so scarce was western
freight that it was difficult to get a full boat-load, although theBUFFALO AND VICINITY.	17s
boats were then of light tonnage. A few tons of freight was all
that we could furnish each boat to carry to Albany. This they
would take in, and fill up at Rochester; which place, situated
in the heart of the wheat-growing district of Western New
York, furnished nearly all the down freight that passed on the
canal. Thus we lived and struggled on until 1830. Our pop-
ulation had increased largely, and numbered that year six thous-
and and thirty-one.
In-the fall of 1831, I received from Cleveland one thousand
bushels of wheat, which was sold to Bird & McPherson, and
ground into flour at their mill at Black Rock Dam. The next
winter I made an arrangement with the late Colonel Ira A.
Blossom, the resident agent of the Holland Land Company, to
furnish storage for all the wheat the settlers should bring in,
towards payment on their land contracts with the Company.
The whole amount did not exceed three thousand bushels.
On the second of April, 1821, the present County of Erie was
set off from Niagara county. In 1832, the village of Buffalo
was incorporated as a city. The same year, the Ohio canal,
connecting Lake Erie with the Ohio river, was completed,
which gave us a little more business. In 1833, emigrants from
the older portions of our country and from Europe began to
pour into Illinois, and some into Wisconsin. This gave a large
increase in canal and lake business up, but there was little or
no increase in down freight. Northern Ohio was then the
only portion of the great West that had any surplus agricultural
products to send to an eastern market. A large portion of this
surplus was sent to Illinois and Wisconsin, and consumed by
the large number of emigrants then flowing into those states.
The continually-increasing numbers of emigrants required pro-
visions to be imported into, instead of exported from, the far
West, for several years. So small was the lake commerce in
down freight, that all the flour, wheat and corn received at this
port, and shipped on the canal in 1835 for an eastern market,
was equivalent to only five hundred and forty-three thousand172
EARL V REMINISCENCES OF
-eight hundred and fifteen bushels of grain. Since then, there
has been received and sent forward, through the same channel
and by railroad, more than sixty millions of bushels of grain in
a single season.
In 1833, a little stir commenced in land operations, which
increased the next year, and in 1835 became a perfect fever,
and swallowed up almost everything else. Nearly every person
who had any enterprise, got rich from buying and selling land;
using little money in these transactions, but paying and receiv-
ing in pay, bonds and mortgages to an illimitable amount. The
city was now rapidly increasing in numbers and wealth, and
no one had the remotest idea that anything could happen to
interrupt our constant progress onward to the state of a great
city. All great danger was passed. We were now so strong in
numbers—our population having increased in 1835 to fifteen
thousand six hundred and sixty-one—and had become so
wealthy, that any set-back to our progress was an idea that was
inconceivable, and considered by many ridiculous. For about
half the year 1836, the land fever raged more violently than at
any former period, and larger fortunes were made in a single
day in paper obligations, than at any time previous.
A single instance will suffice to show how rapidly land was
bought and sold at that time. In 1815, I purchased at Black
Rock, for two hundred and fifty dollars, two lots—one, two-
thirds of an acre, lying between Niagara street and the river;
the other, a five-acre lot, about half a mile distant. In the fall
of 1835, land in that village rose to very high prices, and I be-
gan to think my lots worth three thousand dollars. I left the
city early in February, and did not return until the twentieth
day of April. The next morning, in walking down Main street,
a man met me opposite Townsend Hall, who inquired what I
would take for my two lots. I replied, “Six thousand dollars.”
We parted. Continuing on down street, soon another asked
me the same question. I replied in the language of that day,
“I can’t now give you a price, having just given another a re-BUFFALO AND VICINITY.
173
fusal of these lots until twelve o’clock, to-morrow, for seven
thousand five hundred dollars. He immediately replied, “I
will take them if the other does not.” I passed on a little
further, when I was hailed by a man on the opposite side of the
street, who came running over to me, inquiring, “Will you sell
your land, and what are your terms and price?” I replied,
“Twenty thousand dollars; ten per cent, down, the balance in
four annual payments, with interest.” He quickly replied, say-
ing, “Say six annual payments, and I will take it.” I assented,
walked into an office, received my two thousand dollars, and
next day gave a deed and took a bond and mortgage for the
balance. Thus in going along the street about fourteen rods, I
raised my price fourteen thousand dollars, and then sold.
In 1837, a great mercantile revulsion took place. The banks
suspended, individuals failed, securities, supposed to be based
on sound bottom, proved worthless; and from a supposed
wealthy condition we were dashed suddenly to comparative
poverty. Our most industrious, enterprising and useful busi-
' ness citizens found themselves bound down by mountains of
obligations, which they had assumed in times of speculation,
that no mortal exertions of theirs could clear them from. Those
who held these obligations were as badly, if not worse, off than
those who owed them. They could realize nothing from them,
and the change that suddenly-acquired wealth always brings
about in the style and manner of living—creating endless wants
and desires that continually grow, as the means of gratifying
them are to be found-—made it difficult for many to realize
and get along under their changed condition. The false pride
engendered, and the prospects of their children, no longer ex-
pectant heirs of large fortunes, were alike scattered to the winds,
and several years of their after-life was spent in grumbling over
their losses.
In 1840, our population had increased to eighteen thousand
two hundred and thirteen,. The products of the West now be-
gan to come forward in larger volume, and prices ruled very low;174
EARL Y REMINISCENCES OF
but the increase of business again revived hopes, and industry
and economy were strictly applied.
In 1842, the national bankrupt law came to our relief, and
removed an immense weight of worthless obligations, that bore
down and crippled the exertions of a large number of useful
citizens. No sooner were they set at liberty than they applied
their energies with renewed industry to legitimate business; and
soon a change for the better was seen and felt again in Buffalo.
The city continued to prosper, increasing in numbers; business
and real wealth. In 1845, our population had increased to
twenty-nine thousand seven hundred and thirty-three; and the
receipts of produce from the West that year were'equivalent to
fifteen million, bushels of grain. In 1850, our population had
reached in numbers forty-two thousand two hundred and .
sixty-one. In 1855, after our corporation limits had been en-
larged, and the villages of Black Rock and the Plains brought
within it, our numbers were increased to seventy-four thousand
four hundred and fourteen. In i860, this had reached eighty-
one thousand one hundred and twenty-nine. By the state'
census of 1865, our population was ascertained to be ninety-
four thousand five hundred and two. .
I have not deemed it necessary to say much in detail about
the city since 1845. That seemed to me the turning-point.
From that time we have been steadily and safely moving on-
ward and upward, and there is no apprehension felt or ex-
pressed, that we shall ever again be driven and tossed about
as we have been, by any fortuitous circumstance that might
arise.
Heretofore, we have built our hopes of success and greatness
on our commercial advantages, which have done everything for
us; and I trust no exertions will be wanting to continue and
increase this important branch of business to our city. As our
population and solid wealth has increased, labor has become
more abundant, and we now have large manufactories of vari-
ous and profitable kinds which, working together with ourBUFFALO AND VICINITY.
I75
commercial business, furnish employment for a very large
number of persons during the whole year.
In tracing, as I have attempted to do, something of the early
history of Buffalo, I have shown that our city is not a very an-
cient one; that in its early beginning, and for many years af-
terwards, great difficulties and embarrassments had to be met
and overcome; and that its present prosperous condition is not
alone the work of the early settlers. They laid the foundation;
they planted and watered the seeds of our great commerce at
an early day, from which we have derived so much benefit; but
they have been greatly aided in pushing on this work by those
who are annually coming among us. It now remains with those
who will soon take our places, to see that Buffalo shall never
again retrograde or stand still, for want of energy on their part
to keep up her march onward.
I have said much about the early Indian difficulties in Ohio.
It may not at first ^trike you how much Buffalo was interested
in them. Without the settlement and prosperity of the West,
Buffalo could never grow; and the West this day would pre-
sent a very different condition of things, if the Grand Erie
Canal had never been constructed. Thus we are, and must
always continue to be, commercially and financially connected.
I trust that no circumstance will arise that shall ever break up
or seriously impair the mutual interest and understanding of
both sections, that now so happily exist.
With your permission, I will vary the monotony of my ex-
tended remarks, by relating an anecdote about the celebrated
Red Jacket. All who were acquainted with Red Jacket know
that he understood and spoke but few words of English. He
had an interpreter, called Major Jack Berry; a stout-built, fat
Indian, with long, black hair, which he kept tied, cue-fashion,
and which, with his face, was well greased; a perfect shadow
of Jacket, and who, following him everywhere, was the medium
of communication between Jacket and the white people. On
.a certain occasion they called at David Rees’ blacksmith shop,176
EARL V REMINISCENCES OF
which stood on the site of the present Post Office building, and'
Jacket, through his interpreter, gave Rees very particular in-
structions how he wished a tomahawk made. Rees said he
understood what he wanted, and would make it for him. In
due time Jacket and the Major called upon Rees, who present-
ed the instrument he had made. It did not fully meet the
wishes of Jacket, and he again, through the Major, more fully'
explained how he wanted it made. Rees again undertook the
job. After a while Jacket called again. Rees presented him
his new work, which Jacket found great fault with, telling Rees
that, in attempting a second time to execute his order, he had
made a worse blunder than at first—that he was a stupid fellow
—that he did not understand, nor know how to execute, an
order when given to him—that he would not trouble him with
another description of what he wanted made, but would bring
him a pattern, and he might try to make something like it.
Jacket brought the pattern, and Rees took^it without saying a
word, and promised to have the tomahawk done at a certain
time. Jacket called at the time stated, and Rees handed him
the pattern• and the copy he had made. The instant Jacket
took them in his hand, he saw he was sold; he had forgotten to
make an eye in the pattern, and Rees had made an exact copy.
He threw them down indignantly, and uttering the exclama-
tion, “Ugh!” left the shop without saying another word.
Within the last two months I have made many enquiries, and
taken much pains to ascertain as correctly as I possibly could,
who are now living that resided in Buffalo or on the imme-
diate frontier, before the war of 1812, and who now reside
here. Without doubt, this list is defective; there may be some
names left off that should be on it, but they cannot be many.
The following is the list which I have made:
Levi Allen,
Mrs. Orlando Allen,
Dan Bristol aud wife,
Cyrenius C. Bristol,
Mrs. Elizabeth Jones,
Mrs. S. Kibbe,
Jesse Ketchum,
Mrs. John Lay,BUFFALO AND VICINITY.
m
Mrs. Benjamin Bidwell,	Mrs. Mary Lord,
John Bidwell,	Henry Lovejoy,
Mrs. Mary P. Burt,	Frederick Miller,
James L. Barton,	Mrs. Samuel H. Macy,
Joseph A. Barton,	Mrs. Jane McDonald,
Lester Brace and wife,	Mrs. Lydia Pomeroy,
Mrs. Aurelia Bemis,	Mrs. Doctor Pratt,
Robert H. Best,	Alan son Palmer,
George Cotton,	i Samuel Pratt,
Elizabeth Cotton,	Lucius H. Pratt,
Mary Cotton,	Henry Roop,
Lester H. Cotton,	Mrs. Lewis Stevens,
Benjamin C. Caryl,	Mrs. Pamelia Sidway,
Mrs. Sally Davison,	Mrs. A. M. C. Smith,
Elijah D. Efner,	Mrs. M. B. Sherwood,
Mrs. Esther P. Fox,	Mrs. O. G. Steele,
Hiram Griffin,	• James Sloan,
Harmon Griffin,	Lucius Storrs and wife,
Mrs. Abby Heacock,	Le Grand St. John,
Mrs. Mary Harris,	Thomas J. Smith,
Mrs. William Hodge, Sr.,	Luman Smith,
Mrs. Sabrina Howes,	Harry Thompson,
Miss Sarah Hodge,	Mrs. Louisa M. Weed,
Philander Hodge,	Mrs. Doctor Warner,
Valorus Hodge,	Mrs. E. Walden,
Benjamin Hodge,	William Wells,
William Hodge, Jr.,	Mrs. Foster Young,
Mrs. Sally Judson,	William F. Young.
Here is a little company of sixty-seven persons, all that are
left of the earliest settlers of Buffalo. They are living wit-
nesses of the waste that time makes with the human family.
They yet linger amongst us, but are almost lost sight of among
the tens of thousands who now throng our busy streets. Many
of these persons are very aged, and it cannot be expected they
will remain much longer. All of them are well advanced in
life. Soon they will all disappear, and you will behold them
no more. It is to be hoped, when the departure of the last
surviving one takes place, it will be with more happy reflections
than befell the lot of the noble Indian who, after his family had
been butchered by Colonel Cresop, and the friends and com-
panions of his early days had all gone to the “happy hunting-173	EARLY REMINISCENCES OF
ground,” in contemplating his desolate and broken-hearted
condition, exclaimed with his dying breath,—“Who is left
TO MOURN FOR LOGAN?”