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Jtyac^'gtoti fork
BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME OF THE
JACOB H. SCHIFF
ENDOWMENT FOR THE PROMOTION
OF STUDIES IN
HUMAN CIVILIZATION
1918THE PIONEER PERIOD
OF
WESTERN NEW YORK.
BEING LARGELY
REMINISCENCES OF THE STRUGGLES TO LAY THE FOUNDATIONS OF
AN EMPIRE IN THE WILDERNESS; AND OF THE BURNING OF
BUFFALO, THE SURRENDER OF FORT NIAGARA, THE
FLIGHT OF THE INHABITANTS; WITH MANY
INCIDENTS NEVER BEFORE PUBLISHED.
WITH AN APPENDIX
CONTAINING A
CONDENSED RECORD OF IMPORTANT EVENTS AND DATES.
CHIPMAN P. TURNER,
A NATIVE RESIDENT FROM NEAR THE BEGINNING.PRESS OF
BIGELOW BROTHERS,
BUFFALO, N. Y.PREFATORY NOTE.
It has been for the writer a pleasant entertainment,
rather than an irksome task> to revive in memory and
gather from records events of the past history of West-
ern New York. The controlling purpose has been to
give to the public, concisely, a ready reference to
occurrences that often become the subject of interested
enquiry, aid the memory of the forgetful to recall inci-
dents with which they have been familiar, andfurnish
to such as have not experienced them, an idea of the
methods employed to lay the foundations of grand homes
and the witnessed display of wealth and luxury.
C. P. T.THE PIONEER PERIOD
OF WESTERN NEW YORK.
CHAPTER I.
The first of the series of engravings presented may be con-
sidered an introduction to the contents of the ensuing authen-
tically compiled concentrated history, by a witness to the early
struggles to erect an Empire, embracing densely- populated
commercial, manufacturing cities and villages—having unex-
celled agricultural advantages—sustaining a system of educa-
tion and morals equal to the advance of a progressive age.
Nearly another score of years are to be added, to complete the
triumphs of a century.
It is winter that introduces a real, not an ideal or fictitious,
view. The pioneer the fall preceding obtained his “article,”
or had his land “booked” to him, and built a rude log-
house; cold winter comes upon him before its completion and
freezes.the ground, so that he can not mix the straw and mud
mortar for his stick chimney, and that is dispensed with. He
nevertheless has taken possession of his new home. The oxen
that are browsing with the cow and three sheep; the two pigs
and three fowls that his young wife is feeding from her folded
apron; these, with a bed, two chairs, a pot and kettle, and a
few indispensible articles for house-keeping, few and scanty
altogether, as may be supposed, for all were brought in upon
that ox-sled through an underbrushed road; these constitute
the bulk of his worldly wealth. The opening in the woods is
that which has been made to get logs for his house and browse
his cattle for the fewT days in which he has been the occupant
of his new home. He has a rousing fire; logs are piled up6
THE PIONEER PERIOD
against his rude chimney back; his fire-wood convenient and
plenty, as will be seen. There is a little hay piled on a hovel
to the right; the cattle and the sheep well understand that to
be a luxury, only to be dealt out to them occasionally. The
roof of his house is of elm bark; his scanty window is of oiled
paper; glass is a luxury that has not reached the settlement of
which he forms a part. The floor of his house is of split logs;
the door is made of those hewed plank—no boards to be had—
a saw-mill has been talked of, but it has not been put in oper-
ation. Miles and miles off is his nearest neighbor. Those trees
are to be felled and cleared away; fences are to be made; here,
in this rugged spot, he is to carve out his fortune, and against
what odds! The land is not only to be cleared, but paid for;
all the privations of a wilderness home are to be encountered.
The task before him is a formidable one, but he has a strong
arm and stout heart, and the reader has only to look at him as
he stands in the foreground, to be convinced that he will con-
quer all obstacles; that rugged spot will yet “blossom as the
rose”; he will yet sit down there with his companion in long
years of toil and endurance; age will have come upon them,
but success and competence will have crowned their efforts.
They are destined to be the founders of a settlement and of a
family; to look out upon broad smiling fields where they have
subdued the dense forest, and congratulate themselves that they
have been helpers in a work of progress and improvement
such as has few parallels in an age and country distinguished
for enterprise and perseverance.
The reader is invited to pass along with us while calling to
mind, but briefly, the rock from which Western New York
was hewed, and the workmen who broke it. Scarcely a form
now stands erect in Western New York to remind of the pro-
jectors of its successful destiny. We enquire for immediate
descendants and they are nearly all represented by a third or
fourth generation. As the changes have taken place incident
to the laws of longevity there is only left the record of historyOF WESTERN NEW YORK.
7
to answer the question, Who and whence are they? While
they are identified in places of the dead, among green culti-
vated fields, representing gardens and lawns, the overshadowing
villages and cities cast around them the shades of improve-
ment to perpetuate their memory. A few pages preserved by
the interested and thoughtful, in the depositories of antiquity,
will not fail to be appreciated by the future inquirer.
A more voluminous volume might justly be inscribed to sur-
viving pioneers and descendants in the section of country to
which these few pages are necessarily restricted. Nothing
more is intended than to preserve incidents of history that may
hereafter have a place in a more extended work.
There was no part of Western New York, where one barrier
after another was thrown up to impede the progress of settle-
ment, equal to such as was experienced in Genesee, Niagara,
Erie and Orleans counties. This makes them conspicuous
in early history. The forest was a universal, gigantic battle-
ground for the most brave and enduring to encounter and
subdue. Had civilization, at the period of first-attempted
occupancy, reached the western prairies, the woodman’s axe
might have long lain a dormant tool, instead of becoming the
talisman instrument to subdue a wilderness. Not anything
beyond had been developed; the great chain of lakes reached,
it appeared that the irresistible fiat was met, “Thus far shalt
thou go, and no farther.”
In a large portion of the territory, it was easy to surmise
that Noah’s reputed navigable ocean had not entirely receded
from the face of the earth. Elevated spots and natural ridges
were the only available places to make a beginning, and lay
the foundations for homes. Commencing settlement in 1801,
an advance into the country could only be made by Indian
trails and winding by-ways. Roads for communication be-
tween nearest neighbors were a task of long endurance to pro-
cure. Subsistence, other than upon the meat of wild animals
and spontaneous vegetation, could only be procured by bringing8
THE PIONEER PERIOD
it in on foot by pack loads, from far away, until land could
be cleared and crops raised. The area of meadows and pas-
tures comprised the expanse of the wilderness. Fixed and un-
yielding resolution, adopted by both men and women, prevailed
to find a way, or make it. United effort, reciprocal action,
were the levers that raised the most weighty loads, and con-
quered the greatest obstacles; gave strength to the weak, and
power to the strong; practically demonstrating the maxim,
“ In union there is strength/’
Lonely homes only could be realized, where for ages densely-
planted lofty trees everywhere intercepted any distant out-look,
beyond a mere opening in the woods, that the sun might, once
in each day, cast its rays through the chink-holes of an inso-
lated bark-covered cabin. An animal population prevailing,
ready to contest for a long-enjoyed pre-eminence; unwilling to
endure civilization, or give way to human innovation; prac-
ticing treachery by day, stealth by night, when
‘ ‘ The fierce wolf snarled at the cabin door;
Or through the lowly casement
See his eye gleam like a burning coal.”
Such was the first condition of all that early pitched their
tents in the “Genesee country.” Clearing up and furnishing
space for growing crops, they cast aside the shades of foliage
that covered the marshes and low places, admitting the sun to
evaporate the water, contracting them to pools of contagious
miasma. During the first years of settlement, sickness was
prevalent, beyond available medical skill to prevent, and until
acclimation nerved the arm and strengthened the body for the
daily task of endurance; or drainage and tillage dried up the
wet places.OF WESTERN NEW YORK.
9
CHAPTER II.
The second condition is the result of but a few years of un-
remitting exertion. The engraving representing this shows that
a successful beginning has been made,—the darkest day passed.
The pioneer has chopped down the trees on a few acres, en-
closed them with a rail fence in front, a brush fence on the
sides and rear. Around the house he has a small spot cleared
of the timber, sufficient for a garden; but upon most of the
opening he has made he has only burned the brush. Corn,
potatoes, beans and pumpkins are growing among the logs. A
stick chimney is added to the house. In the background of
the picture a logging bee is in progress. His scattered pioneer
neighbors, that have been locating about him, have come to
join hands with him for a day; and, in their turn, each of them
will enjoy a similar benefit. His wife has become a mother,
and with her first-born in her arms she is out, looking to the
plants she has been rearing upon some rude mounds raised
with her own hands. She has a few marigolds, pinks, sweet-
williams, hollyhocks, daffodils, and sun flowers; upon one side
of the door a hop vine, and upon the other a morning-glory.
Knowing that when the cow comes home from the woods there
will come with her a swarm of mosquitoes, she has prepared
a smudge for their reception. A log bridge has been thrown
across the stream. It is a rugged home in the wilderness as yet,
but we have already the earnest of progress and improvement.
The smoke of burning brush and smoldering log-heaps has
spread in various directions, over a. large extent of the new
territory, rising from dotted places in the wilderness to evince
an increase of population, encourage such as had broken the
solitude to feel that they had led the way by marking paths for
the increase of volunteers to strengthen the force, and press
forward the seige to final victory.IO
THE PIONEER PERIOD
The progress of settlement was slow up to 1812, yet in-
dicated a permanent advance; roads were established and
passably worked; mills erected at different points to accommo-
date the largest number of population; communities formed
and social relations increased to enhance neighborhood enjoy-
ments; comfortable dwellings, to protect from the rigor of
winter, erected in sight of each other's smoking chimneys;
schools beginning to gather in the wandering children from
the woods; abundant crops realized for comfortable subsist-
ence, and the settlers were contented with the aspect of pros-
perity.
Batavia, Buffalo, Black Rock, Niagara Falls, Lewiston and
Youngstown, had become trading points, to market whatever
there was to be sold, and supply the needed comforts, other than
such as were furnished by home production. The newly cul-
tivated fields were found productive far beyond the most san-
guine anticipations that had been indulged; improvements were
progressing to make homes desirable, and families comfortable
and happy. The sacrifices made in abandoning well-provided
conditions for lowly places, far distant from relatives and ap-
preciated friends, were beginning to be rewarded by a friendly
and interested renewal of surrendered privileges and social
enjoyments.
The forebodings of war had been tremulously listened to for
several months, while the inhabitants were illy provided for
the calamitous event, which was promulgated on the frontier
on the twenty-sixth of June, 1812. The weak condition of the
country most to be affected (that now constitutes eight western
counties, and only contained a population of twenty-five thou-
sand) demanded that all the able-bodied should be put under
arms for its defence; fathers, brothers and husbands, called
from the new fields of husbandry to the camps of war; women
and the most grown up children only left to provide for them-
selves, as best they could.Of WESTERN NEW YORK.	II
The location of Niagara and Erie counties, having a frontier
of twenty-six miles on the west, bordering on the Niagara
river, and twenty-four miles north, bounded by Lake Ontario,
placed the territory in a more exposed condition than any
other in Western New York. There could but exist a constant
menaced state of feeling; daily and nightly apprehension on
the part of the inhabitants of being molested by a belligerent
enemy. The concentration of the militia from the back coun-
try, and encampment of regular troops at various points, did
not insure quietness, or save from pilfering and licentiousness.
It was but too often the case that such as were sent for protec-
tion, became “ devouring wolves,” adopting it as their privilege
to forage upon growing crops, appropriate such as were gath-
ered, diminish the supplies of provisions, occupy the only beds
and tenant the only dwellings as barracks. But about ten years
had elapsed while settlements were made and making, before
such as were at peace were in the midst of war, and its solemn-
ity realized. More than three years passed in confusion, a dead
lock upon industry, enterprise or emigration; staying the pro-
gress of settlement; throwing the early settlers back into a
worse condition than when they first commenced besetting the
forest.
Severe and sacrificing as had been the struggle to gain a vic-
tory over discouragements, to possess peaceable homes, it was
but the beginning of endurance. Up to 1812 settlement was
a slow process, and gained but a meager recompense. The
field of labor must be abandoned for that of carnage; the
scantily-provided homes for camps of protection. Sudden and
unexpected change was a blight upon the most sanguine antic-
ipation and proved to be a stay of advance that it took years
to overcome and gain what was lost by the diversion of the
necessary labor to clear up the country.
There was not in the entire extent of the menaced frontier
any locality where the inhabitants were more continually12
THE PIONEER PERIOD
annoyed and kept in commotion than in towns bordering on
Niagara river and Lake Ontario. The opportunity has been
embraced to consult living witnesses, actors in the transpiring
scenes, whose well-preserved intellects and memory enabled
them to describe, by authentic representation, occurrences as
they took place.OF WESTERN NEW YORK.
13
CHAPTER III.
At Fort Niagara gathered the portentous cloud that was to
burst in devastating fury, to despoil the new homes of the
pioneers, and sever the ties of family relations.
The nineteenth of December, 1813, was a gloomy period;
not only for such as were more nearly connected, but for the
inhabitants throughout Western New York. While patriotism
had caused the abandonment of homes and all that was dear,
to fill the ranks of weak protection, unsuspected treason gained
a victory that no other power of the enemy could gain. Dur-
ing the night of the eighteenth, under the shade of darkness
that covered the shame of the perpetrators, the British crossed
the Niagara river, at what was then called Pegey’s Landing^
about one mile below the five-mile meadows, numbering in all,
armed soldiers, real and disguised Indians, as estimated, five
hundred. The force of the enemy separated at this point into
two parties, the one detailed for the Fort constituting the main
armed portion, the one for plunder and burning, unarmed,
except with torch and hatchet, and a few guns.
The traitor, Nathaniel Leonard, who had been intrusted with
the command of the Fort, absented himself, ordering the gates
not to be closed, leaving for the enemy an unobstructed en-
trance. The treachery of Leonard, although not suspected at
the time, was a cautiously-devised perfidy, as indicated by using
the same password for three nights in succession, adopting his
own name as the countersign, enabling an unmolested march
into the Fort, which Leonard had surreptitiously left neglected
for quiet repose on his farm, about two miles distant—if there
could be quietness amid the torturing visions of agonizing,
imaginary devils, haunting the bed-chamber occupied by a con-
scious traitor. The only resistance was from about one hun-
dred of General Harrison’s men, that had been made prisonersi4
THE PIONEER PERIOD
after Hull’s surrender of Detroit, on the western frontier, hav-
ing been exchanged and placed in the Fort for hospital treat-
ment. Knowing them to be from the victorious forces of
Harrison, antipathy raged to subdue humanity, and most of
them are reported to have been massacred.
Col. Murray, with his command, were now the undisputed
tenants, without the danger of a forced siege.
There was but little to obstruct the depredations of the party
that before daylight had taken the direction of Lewiston with-
out order or discipline, except with the purposes of vagrant
desperadoes. Between the landing and Lewiston the work of
destruction was performed during the night. The next morn-
ing there was no one to be found, between the localities, to
relate what had happened. All the buildings had been de-
stroyed and the few occupants killed, except the wife and
children of a German, that were never seen afterwards; the
father was found dead in the road. Reaching Lewiston at sun-
rise, a sudden surprise not only set the inhabitants in commo-
tion, but also caused the precipitate retreat, without attempt-
ing resistance, of a company of militia, who neither showed a
soldier’s front, nor stood up to the duty of an armed citizen.
While an indiscriminate slaughter of the confused and fleeing
was enacted by such as had fire-arms, plundering the slain and
burning the buildings was the vigorously-performed part of the
real and disguised Indians. The most savage cruelty was
fiendishly enacted upon such as were unable to escape. The
sequel was but another scene of distress and affliction, trans-
piring in the bloody tragedy. If any were in or near by
hoped-for security, where they could look in dismay upon their
consuming homes—the mutilated dead and dying, among
whom were the last of neighbors and nearest kindred,—the
curtain, that had been raised at the dawn of day, dropped
before them, to forever cover from sight all that had been held
most sacred. Forty-six were found dead. Of the citizens
whose names have been kept in memory, the following haveOF WESTERN NEW YORK.
15
been furnished:	Doctor Alvord, a pioneer physician in Lewis-
ton, Miles Gillett, William Gardener, scalped and head taken
off, two brothers by the name of Jones, Helen Mead, Thomas
Marsh, Tiffany and Finch; a boy, Gillett, was taken prisoner,
and afterwards found dead. But after a few hours, spent in
the worst display of wanton inhumanity, the harsh features of
war and sudden invasion were to be visited upon the unpro-
tected inhabitants on the Ridge and the road leading up the
mountain to Niagara Falls. For the* purpose in view, the party
was again divided. Not anything was to be left in their mali-
cious track; destruction was the fate of everything before
them. No check was experienced by the party taking the
Ridge Road direction, for nearly two miles; when bravery, the
want of which had proved the cowardice of Maj. Bennett and
his band of frightened militia, brought a company of armed
Tuscaroras to the rescue, led by the war-chief orator Long-
beard, Col. Jacobs, Ovid and Littlegreen. They had heard
the alarm and seen the light of the torch, but not the enemy.
Concealed in a favorable thicket, the Tuscaroras awaited the
approach of the enemy, and fired a single volley, which suffi-
ciently surprised to cause a retreat and delay, as an advance
alarm, that furnished the inhabitants a few lucky minutes to
escape from the blow of the tomahawk and thirst of the fatal
knife. At this point was encountered the first resistance, meet-
ing the repulse of death in the ranks of the scouting party; five
of which had preceded the main body on horseback; overtak-
ing an ox-team, that was conveying from the scene of death
at Lewiston, the invalid, Lothrop Cook, who a few days before
had suffered the amputation of a leg. His brother, Bates Cook,
driving the team, discovering the near approach and murder-
ous design, as the leader advanced in the feathered garb of a
war chief, commanded a halt. The intrepid teamster, in char-
acteristic manner of coolness, that in after years controlled
him in private and public life, seized a gun that was upon the
sled, and with deliberate aim shot the Indian through the neck;16
THE PIONEER PERIOD
who, falling from his horse, died in a few minutes. The fire
of the four remaining comrades proving ineffectual to prevent
the escape of the brother benefactor with his charge, the terri-
fying Tuscaroras turned them back among the greater num-
bers. The sound of Cook’s gun first brought the Tuscaroras
to the ambush, in which they placed themselves in benefactory
attitude, that stopped further destruction of life. But few still
live to relate the terrors of that day, of those who experienced
the noble act of the Tusc^rora braves; and their descendants
will keep alive the memory of the deed, which is not the only
example of their valor and faithful protection in times of most
imminent need. The repulse was only temporary. Renewing
the eager and infernal pursuit, none but vacated houses were
found; the death-blow had been stayed by the sudden exit of
the inmates, upon whom was intended an early call. Break-
fast tables were found provided with unconsumed warm meals,
irregularly-arranged benches and chairs; an indication of the
haste in departing. Open doors, though not bidding a kind
reception, gave access to possessions abandoned without time
to express reluctance. There was but a few minutes’ timely
notice, to ensure the safety of the eastward retreat of the
women and children, accompanied by men; such only as could
be spared from the gathering forces, to drive back the hostile
intruders. The rallying point was fixed at the two temporary
arsenals, consisting of two log dwellings, that stood on the east
and west corners, now owned by Amos B. Gallop (the original
foundation is still visible) and Peter Oliphant, on the south
ridge, half a mile west of Howell’s creek, near where settle-
ment in the county was first commenced by Philip Beach, in
1801. One of the buildings was used for a deposit of powder;
the other for arms.
At the cited locality, Benjamin Barton, Silas Hopkins, Joshua
Fairbanks and other citizens, caused a rally of the inhabitants
in the vicinity, who were joined by a few of the struggling
militia and such as could intrust their fleeing families to othersOF WESTERN NEW YORK.
17
while they took part in their protection by checking the on-
ward progress of their pursuers. Arms were placed in the
hands of such as it was thought could use them, as they were
passing along in the train of the fleeing. As fast as any ar-
rived that could be made serviceable, they were armed, and
placed in line, without systematic organization, other than a
united determination that proved effectual. Courage and
energy was the voluntary countersign. Thus arrayed, heart
and soul inspired, to inflict retributive justice upon the worst
of wrong-doers, who had butchered their friends and neigh-
bors, reduced their only homes to ashes, sent them floating at
random, destitute wanderers, to seek protection, most of them
among strangers, it was felt and known that delay would only
prolong the havoc; what was to be done must be done with
resolve and quickly. The body of citizens commensurate with
the thin population that then existed, were soon on the march
to meet and contest, face to face, the prerogative of power for
further mischief. Two miles and a half west of the arsenal
rendezvous, near the line dividing the towns of Cambria and
Lewiston, the vagrant intruders were encountered; the rebut
of a single fire terminated their further advance, scattering
them in disorderly retreat, over the ground they had laid waste
*
and strewn with the lifeless remains of the murdered victims
to the protection of Fort Niagara.
On the way to the final terminus of the scouters’ mission,
two were added to the number of the Lewiston massacred.
Major John Beach, one of the earliest prominent settlers, in
attempting the escape of his family, had succeeded with the
aid of his hired man, Tiffany, in reaching the place where the
Tuscaroras had gathered, before any assault was made upon
them, attempting an only hope of escape, concealment in the
woods. Tiffany, in consequence of being lame, could endure
the fatigue no longer, and exclaiming, “I must stop, if the
Indians kill me,” was left dead. The Tuscaroras, witnessing
the condition of Beach (detained to aid the less able man),i8
THE PIONEER PERIOD
requiting his oft expressed friendship and ready counsel, sprang
to his aid, taking him bodily up the mountain, beyond the
reach of immediate harm. The family, uninjured, proceeded
in the flight. The practical military qualifications of Major
Beach, who had frequently been instructed to drill squads for
actual service, probably gave him a position which enabled him
to direct in the quick arrangements at the arsenal. The indi-
cations of a solitary grave are still pointed out, near where the
last repulse took place. It was that of a teamster, Mead, who
was conveying household furniture from Lewiston on the
morning of the invasion. A single Indian overtook and shot
him.OF WESTERN NEW YORK.
19
CHAPTER IV.
Having followed the branch of the merciless mob that took
the route of the Ridge Road, it remains to notice the acts of
their associates in villainy who divided off at Lewiston, to make
an attack on the few inhabitants upon the mountains. Here the
designs were as wicked, the opportunity not as great. There
were but few families they could disturb before reaching the
Falls, and there but a commenced settlement. The statement
of a venerable woman, widow of the late Colonel Dickerson,
blessed with a retentive memory at the advanced age of eighty-
three, is inserted as authentic, she having been a witness:
“ My father, Isaac Colt, on the morning of the nineteenth of December,
1813, I think about sunrise, was alarmed at the noise he heard below the
mountain; and discovering the smoke rising from burning buildings, joined
by Samuel Hopkins, went on horse-back to the brow of the precipice, only
to witness the most heart-rending scene, in the valley below, that but a few
minutes’ time allowed them to ponder. Suddenly surprised by the appearance
of several Indians coming from their concealment in the bushes, a quick exit
was the dictate of prudence. They urged their horses to the best of speed,
for a safe escape. Col. Hopkins riding out of reach, was not harmed.
When my father reached the house, we found five ball holes in his garments.
A ball had made quite a deep skin wound on his hip, the blood from which
had partly filled his shoe. The attention of my father and Hopkins was at
once directed towards providing for the escape of their own and other fami-
lies, to be perfected before the destroyers had time to arrive. It was done
so hurriedly that but little regard was had for what clothing was worn or
hastily tied up in a bundle—without even providing a school children’s din-
ner, for a journey that had no certain end. I got on board the lumber wagon
of a stranger, that was standing before our door, taking the younger chil-
dren in charge. Hertzel and Alexander D. descended the mountain by way
of the Indian village, expecting to stop at Solomon Hersey’s tavern at
Dickersonville, but found it deserted, as were all other houses on the Ridge
road. There was no other way left for me but to accept the offer of the
stranger to be our benefactor. He carried us during the day and late in the
evening, forty miles east on the ridge, where we were left to seek an20
THE PIONEER PERIOD
opportunity to get through to Bristol, Ontario county; the point I had fixed
my mind upon. I was then eighteen years old, and made my adopted home
a residence for many years afterwards. My father’s with all the neighbors’
buildings were burnt. John March and one by the name of Frink were
killed.”
The narrative thus far given is but the “ beginning of the
end.” A young population had just begun to construct homes,
where civilized effort had not before been made. Eleven years
from the very first settlement did not make the most industri-
ous to see more than a beginning. The majority were inter-
medial beginners, many of them of not more than a year or two’s
standing. The title of citizenship was restricted by the prev-
alence of woodmen and foresters. Whatever then had already
been endured, no forecast enabled them to judge of the crisis
forced upon them. A retreat was made of what there was of a
whole community, mingled with the Tuscarora Indian families
—thronging the only way of land escape, the but partially es-
tablished Ridge Road, to gain an eastern retreat, away from
the frontier. The task to relate in language suitable to trans-
mit more than a vague realization, is a difficult one. Conster-
nation prevailed, beyond the control of the most cautious and
deliberate. Men, women and children were to be seen, in half
clothed or almost naked condition, tramping in the snow, bare-
footed, creeping on their hands and knees, for concealment;
turning from partly devoured meals, and hastily gathering the
little that could be obtained, as a reserve against the famish-
ing hunger of themselves and children. At one time five infant
children, from their mothers’ breasts, were found upon the ox
sled of John Robinson, placed there by mothers anxious to
save their tender offspring, who adopted this as the only resort
for their protection, to save them from slaughter or a life among
savages. The mothers were following in cold, dripping gar-
ments, to claim their own when the sled was overtaken. The
wearied oxen enabled the mothers a part of the time to keep
within hailing and approaching distance, to hurriedly embrace
them in anxious hope of ultimate, undisturbed reunion.OF WESTERN NEW YORK.
21
Families remaining at their but recently provided homes,
under the existing state of threatening disaster, had but little
hope of prolonged life, or the preservation of the small property
they owned; which, yielding a comfortable maintenance, pru-
dence, or, it may more properly be said, necessity, required them
to abandon to escape the tomahawk and scalping-knife. This
was not done until Fort Niagara’s defence became a stronghold
of the enemy. Fleeing, the tramp of the merciless was on their
track. They had only to listen, the savage war-whoop was in
hailing distance,-—to look back to see the busily applied torch,
lighting the paths of precipitate, unprepared-for flight.
The late Andrew Robinson, who was a boy teamster, ten
years old at this time, previous to his death gave the writer,
with many other particulars, the following :
“When we arrived at Wright’s Corners, fifteen miles from where we started,
it was but little after dark. We could locate the place of our destroyed ten-
ements, as we saw the consuming flames and smoke mingle with the morn-
ing clouds. Hungry, we longed for the least remains of the meals we had
left behind; my mother, brothers and sisters, too, fatigued beyond endurance
for any further progress in our flight that night, could only wish for the poor-
est bed left behind, to occupy as a couch in the woods. It was a sleepless
night, and one of deep despair. The shade of the dark cloud that hung over
our heads cast no greater gloom than the forebodings of the future. The
most encouraging hope that could be entertained was, that should a return
ever transpire, it would be to ponder over ashed remains, where there was
nothing left to satisfy hunger or check the beseeching importunities of cry-
ing children. Where there were former neighbors, peaceably enjoying each
other’s friendly associations and united efforts, a dismal waste only would be
seen; many * that were there, were there no more forever.’ ”
They were only a portion of the flowing tide that was falling
back, seeking asylums in former localities, leaving barren of
population the region they had spent their energies to im-
prove. It proved to be a “ set back ” that it took many years
to overcome.
During the balance of the winter a few remained; among
them Silas Hopkins, Isaac Colt and others, returned to act as
patrolling watchmen, over what little might be picked up and22
THE PIONEER PERIOD
saved. It was a lean gathering. Not much could be done to
replenish war arrangements for reinhabiting. The only alter-
native was to wait for the uncertain events of war, that still re-
mained in threatening aspect.
The next spring an attempt was made for reinstatement, and
as far as could be done, to erect temporary dwellings and clear
small patches of land. The following are remembered as re-
turning during the spring and next season with their families:
John Beach, living in Lewiston, who owned the first farm west?
his brothers Philip and Jesse Beach, John Lattey, Isaac Cook,
. Sparrow Sage, John Robinson, Rufus Spaulding, Henry Tot-
ten, Conrad Bartemus, Ray Marsh, William Enos, Coushin
Smith, Aaron Childs, Eli Harris, Achis Pool, Stephen Warren,
William Molyneux (at the Corners). John Gould, William
Howell and family did not leave.
For about one year, such as did return could but feel that
they were laboring under an impending protest, that might at
any time place them in jeopardy. They endured the continual
annoyance of apprehension, until the forepart of the year fol-
lowing, suffering nothing more than thievish plunder. Dismal
as the harrassing cloud had been, it was not dispelled for a
future clear sky, that could be relied upon for peace and quiet-
ness.OF WESTERN NEW YORK.
23
CHAPTER V.
In June, 1814, another similar, but nothing like as disas-
trous, assault was enacted, emanating from the same source. A
party of Indians, and whites in Indian disguise, came out for
the purpose of burning the temporary barracks that had been
erected near Dickersonville, on the present location of the
burying-ground. On the way to the barracks no acts of vio-
lence were committed; annoyance and plunder were at least a
secondary object. Returning, arriving at Rufus Spaulding’s, it
was developed that all were not Indians, that appeared like
them. Mrs. Rufus Spaulding, by gestures and signs, attempted
to make them understand as Indians. The one motioned to,
uttering words of profanity, said: “You need not be making signs
to me, I am no more of an Indian than you are; half that are
with me are the same as I am.” Straggling in drunken char-
acter, a more fiendish disposition was displayed. One of them
entering the house of John Robinson within a short distance
of the former, leaving others in the yard, found Mr. Robinson
alone, and demanded his money. Upon stating that he did not
possess any, he was roughly searched; and the truth of his as-
sertion proved. He found it best not to resent, as his assailant
was accompanied by others who remained in the yard. The
same Indians proceeded to the house of Sparrow Sage, unac-
companied by the others, to enact quite a different, but more
tragical scene. Mr. Sage was chopping in the woods near by,
leaving as the only inmates, his wife,* Miss Arbuthnot, Mrs.
Davis and a colored woman. The Indians forcing the women
out of the house, drove them, like cattle to the slaughter, in-
timidating them with tomahawk, knife and gun, and forcing an
unwilling compliance. Mr. Sage could only follow in pursuit,
*Mrs. Sage was a daughter of the early pioneer, Wm. Molyneaux. A rural spot on the
premises of Wm. Sage, south side of the road, three miles east of Lewiston, is designated
by appropriate evergreen memorials, as the sepulchres of both Mr. and Mrs. Sage.24
THE PIONEER PERIOD
with but little hope of relief. The destination of the females
seemed to be fixed for Fort Niagara. It then became evident
to Mr. Sage that rescue must be attempted without delay; if
not successful, only a dismal fate could be imagined for the
defenceless females, savagely driven to debasement and de-
struction. He viewed it as an unequal contest, the Indian be-
ing armed with a gun, to prevent a desperate, close encounter,
the results of which could only be relied upon to settle the is-
sue of life and death. The moment was not one admitting of
delay, to calculate upon favorable or unfavorable chances; res-
olutely rushing to accomplish the duty that lay before him, Mr.
Sage was only detained by the Indian’s aiming a blow with the
butt of his gun,* inflicted a severe wound upon his cheek, but
not sufficient to paralyze his efforts. The force of the partly
spent blow caused the Indian to turn partially round, and gave
Sage the opportunity of justly inflicting revenge, by inserting
the bit of the axe between his shoulders, disabling, but not
causing immediate death. He, it was understood, soon died at
the Fort. Home was again restored to a harrassed family. Not
so with the family of Robinson, who had made an unsuccess-
ful search for them; they passed the night in the woods. At
the dawn of day the next morning, Mrs. Robinson, taking her
course by the sun, with her children and the remains of one
loaf of bread, taken from home, wandered through brush
swamps, overcoming the rocky mountain ridges by lifting up
her children, placing them on the shelving rocks, or pulling
them after her, until about ten o’clock the next morning, when
they found the house of Mr. McCrackin, near Pekin. They
were joined the same day by the husband and father. The
settlers’ annoyance may be judged. Robinson and Spaulding,
attempting to outlive and surmount the obstacles that, like
showers of hailstone, were cast in the way, were obliged to
change locations, during 1814, the former twenty-four times,
the latter twenty-two. Every day and night brought renewed
* The gun taken from the Indian is still in the possession of a son of Wm. Sage.OF WESTERN NEW YORK.
25
cause for watchful care, if anything was kept or enjoyed. On
one occasion six milch cows were taken from John Beach,
by the plunderers, who crossed over the Niagara river in the
night, to Canada. Attached to their old home, they broke
from confinement, and swam the river opposite Lewiston; the
next morning they were in readiness to serve the family and
their young calves.
The house of Sage, so often the scene of plunder and crimi-
nal molestation, was found vacated for some reason, and three
or four wandering Indians from the Fort entered, and making
free plunder of all the eatables and liquors in the bar, they en-
joyed an unmolested night of debauch, that lasted until they
were found early the next morning by the Tuscarora, Col.
Jacobs, in an insensibfe condition, wallowing in the spilt
liquors on the floor. The Colonel, quick to inflict summary
justice upon any who he thought had engaged in the Lewis-
ton promiscuous slaughter, felt that revenge was justifiable, as
their example was fresh in mind to animate his perfect hatred.
He directed the companions with him to assist in taking them
out and prepare the fagot. Rails were piled upon the heap;
their fate was sealed, and the Indians burned. It was the op-
portunity for Jacobs. His vigilant eye was open to watch the
movements of those who had done so much wrong. He was
often discovered lurking with a united band, as he said, to
“ find bad Indians, kill ’em quick.” Until this occurred, he
had found no opportunity for enacting as signal justice. The
victims, being stupid beyond the realization of pain or death,
it was not barbarous, for the faithful Indian was dealing
with assassins. Col. Jacobs is to be credited with an advance
introduction of the system of cremation. The early, credible
settler, Michael Lutts, who witnessed the exhibition, acknowl-
edged himself, at the time, to be a believer in cremation.
The few scattered inhabitants that had located on and in
the vicinity of the shore of Lake Ontario, were about the same
time placed under the ban of treachery and curse of treason.26
THE PIONEER PERIOD
The enemy had doomed them to desolation by burning their
buildings, wasting their provisions, and dispossessing them of
cattle and horses, which appeared to be the most wicked design.
As soon as scouts from the Fort discovered that there were settle-
ments extending along the lake, the siege of plunder and arson
was commenced. From sixty to eighty regular soldiers1, under
command of Capt. Scott and Lieut. Williams, left the Fort on
the twenty-fourth of December, to lawlessly accomplish the
destruction and theft; not committing any acts of violence on
the way to the mouth of the Eighteen-mile creek (Olcott). It
was a surprise, but a single hurried messenger had sounded the
alarm about twenty minutes before the enemy were in the
midst. Dismal, indeed, must have been the darkening scene
that had thus suddenly gathered, to l£ave but the trace of new
settlements in the woods, only seen in the remains of tempo-
rary dwellings, where but illy-provided inmates had been cast
adrift, without place or spot to shield them and their children
from cold December’s chilling winds and dreaded storms; with
but a concealed, scanty supply of provisions left, not knowing
where or when anything more could be obtained, to save them
from famishing hunger or check the wailing cry for bread, as
it came from beseeching children. ,
Was this only an incitement of fancy, to be employed in
painting a picture, it would be a more agreeable undertaking.
The reality was sadly experienced, not only while the tramp of
the unyielding to entreaty, and merciless, was among them, but
in the annoying apprehension of not knowing the day nor the
night when a still worse fate awaited them. Such was the
fear and consternation, that women and children sought
refuge in the woods during the day, hiding in thickets, as the
only alternative to escape massacre.
It is fortunate that reliable witnesses have been found, to be
consulted in giving a true history of occurrences that took place
on the two memorable days, the twenty-fourth and twenty-fifth
of December, 1813. The statements of such as could beOF WESTERN NEW YORK.
27
found living, are given as they were related to the writer, whose
duty it is to acknowledge the interest manifested to aid histor-
ical research, by taxing the preserved memory and energies of
the aged, while they dropped a tear as they looked back upon
the scenes of suffering in the past.
The Van Horn mill, being the object of greatest attraction,
was first destroyed; leaving no facility for grinding grain,
nearer than Batavia or Rochester. After the declaration of
peace, the grain, was taken across the lake to Toronto, for
grinding. The dwelling of Joseph Pease, who had located on
the east side of the creek in 1808, was first ordered burned.
The venerable Enoch Pease gives the circumstances as they
occurred:
“My mother was left with the smaller children, to contend for a spared
home. As was the case with all male heads of families and able-bodied
men, prudence dictated that they should keep from being taken prisoner,
and left to provide for the suffering. An opportunity was given my mother
to remove any articles she might wish to preserve, before applying the torch.
The mill was to be set on fire, when they were told that there was a quan-
tity of flour in it, which she begged might be rolled out, saying that it
would help keep the neighbors from starving. The officer consented that
it might be done by my brother, ten years old, who got out about twenty
barrels, that were consumed by the burning frame falling upon them. The
tragedy at this point about drawing to a close, by the burning of our house
and barn, the enquiry was made, whether there was anything more to be got
out. My mother told them there was a barrel of brandy in a hole under the
floor, that had been brought from Youngstown and left for safe-keeping.
An animation was quickly visible in the lighted-up countenances of officer
and men, who at once made the most intrepid charge of the day. Striking
for the acceptable, rescued pillage, strife raged on the honor and first ad-
vantage in the capture. Brandy for once, without the leave to take, give
away or sell, inspired a good impulse. Freely indulging, filling their can-
teens and such dishes as they could find to carry it away, kinder feeling
prevailed; while a kindled fire on the brain turned their thoughts from the
house and barn, which were left standing. The same influence opened
their ears to the entreaties of my mother for my release. I had been taken
prisoner with John Lloyd, and confined in Kemp’s cellar, at the mouth of
the creek. My father, who was with us at the time, fortunately escaped by28
THE PIONEER PERIOD
seizing a horse that fleetly carried him beyond the reach of the fire of the
sentinels, who had secured me and Mr. Lloyd, who was kept in confine-
ment with me. My mother caused our release.
“ The work of destruction was, at the same time, in progress at the mouth
of the Eighteen-mile creek, and as far as the residence of Zebulon Coats,
now occupied by Farden T. Dicks and Morris Hoisted. The building
burned with Coats’ was Burgoyne Kemp’s house, who was the first settler
locating in 1808. His log barn was saved, containing two hundred bushels
of wheat, by an order from the Fort. The buildings of Benjamin Hoisted,
who settled about the same time, William Chambers, Widow Hopkins,-------
Edwards, Dexter P. Sprague and William Royce were also burned.
“ The day before an express had been sent to the Fort, to inform them
of the poor condition of the inhabitants, and that their buildings were of
little consequeuce to burn. Peremptory orders were returned to burn all,
except Kemp’s barn. Kemp, the day before, had killed his hogs, the pork
of which furnished a sumptuous supper and breakfast for the soldiers, who
cooked for themselves. The officers demanded meals to be cooked for
them, saying that they would pay for so doing. Mrs. Kemp accordingly
cooked, and was remunerated by the officers saying, ‘ We will pay you by
burning the house’; fulfilling the latter promise, the submissive provider and
her family were left without a home in which to pillow their heads.”
All the mischief in this vicinity had been done. A backward
march for the Fort was commenced the same afternoon, and
a halt made for the night at the house of Reuben Wilson. His
esteemed son survivor, Luther Wilson, relates as follows:
“The house of my father, Reuben Wilson, was taken possession of by
the officers and a guard. John Eastman’s house, a near neighbor, was the
soldiers’ barrack. As soon as a messenger, by the name of Ash, arrived as
far as here, to give the alarm, I saved what I could of the cattle, and get-
ting together all that time would allow, I drove them as far as Somerset.
Returning in the night, I did not find my father’s house, or the domestic
fire-side, presenting the former inviting appearance. Our unpretending, un-
fortified, but only pioneer castle, in the woods, was desecrated. The noisy,
obtruding inmates were strangers and devastating enemies; boasting of the
chivalrous deeds they had been performing during the day—the heroism of
frightening a few settlers in the woods—rendering homeless many defence-
less women and children. Drunk, and vaunting over a conquest of armed
desperadoes, they were wickedly and cowardly molesting a few justly-located
emigrants; intoxicated by the unlawfully-appropriated brandy, that wasOF WESTERN NEW YORK.	29
not entirely exhausted. The house of Eastman was a debauched pioneer
settlement, filthily occupied by a squad of debauchees.
“They had-with them ten prisoners; among them is remembered Am-
brose Doty, John Lloyd,-------Martin, William Cory, Andrew McEwin,
Thomas McEwin and my father. Mr. Jonathan Lutts adds the following,
which is probably correct:	‘ Smith Sheldon, ----McEntire, with Doty,
were taken to Halifax; and Thomas Brown, Sheldon, Doty and McEntire
died there, and the others returned. * ”
Wilson’s and Eastman’s buildings were not burned. West
of them, all was destroyed to the Fort. Among the sufferers
that have been ascertained, were Joseph Meecher, Stephen
Shelden, Gilbert Perdy, William May, Ebenezer Williams,
George Ash and Michael Lutts.
Previous to the death of Reuben Wilson, he gave for Tur-
ner’s History the following:
“ Myself and neighbors were detained eight days at the Fort and then
paroled. Returning, we gathered up what there was left of our effects and
went east, scattering along the Ridge Road principally; some going across
the Genesee river. In a few days there was no family upon the lake, west
of General Wisner’s (two miles below Olcott), except Messrs. Crossman’s,
Brewer’s and Chalmers’, who were situated at the mouth of the Eighteen-
mile creek; all else was desertion and desolation. I returned in about three
weeks, and several of my neighbors, during the winter and spring; some of
them did not return until after the close of the war, and others never re-
turned, having seen enough of the hardships of a new country, and of the
harassing frontier life.”
At and near the mouth of the Four-mile creek on the lake
shore, four miles east of Fort Niagara, some of the earliest
permanent settlements of Niagara county were made as early
as 1804. Considerable advance had been made previous to
the breaking out of the war of 1812, in clearing, anticipating
future peaceable homes. Mr. Jonathan Lutts, in the early
part of the winter of 1877, but a few weeks before his death,
at the age of seventy-four, related to the writer the addi-
tional interesting reminiscences of his father and neighbors,
in substance as now reiterated:3°
THE PIONEER PERIOD
“ My father located at the mouth of Four-mile creek in 1804; soon after,
and within a year or two, Abraham Doty, Smith Sheldon, —--MnEntire,
Thomas Brown, Abraham and Andrew Van Curin also settled. Like other
neighborhoods, ours was in continual apprehension after hostilities com-
menced on the frontier, and often did we feel that our position was subject
to molestation at any time. Reconnoitering parties almost daily, and many
times at night, were landed in small boats from vessels lying outside of the
mouth of the creek, for the purpose of gathering such plunder as they could
find. To elude their search, the precaution was taken to conceal everything
in more distant seclusion, if possible, beyond the reach of their observation;
the only way left to provide for daily subsistence. Anything found was
taken with lawless independence; to object or plead for spared plunder,
would only result in a return of provoking impudence. The worst had not
yet come, when the surrender of Fort Niagara took place. We felt that all
protection was removed from us. There seemed to be, for some cause, an
extension of time given the inhabitants on the lake shore over that allowed
in the direction of Lewiston and the Ridge Road. It was not until four or
five days after Lewiston was burnt that a final descent was made to burn
our buildings. Everything during the delay found in the possession of
the inhabitants was plundered. The United States sutler’s store, located
at the mouth of the creek, was taken possession of to be removed among
other obtained pillages, to the Fort. My father, Poty and Sheldon, were
pressed with their teams, for the service, which required about two days,
when they were permitted to return home, as if rendering a voluntary ser-
vice. Our probation proved of but short duration,—the finale soon came,
when the few families were put to flight and all our buildings burned. Am-
brose Doty, Smith Sheldon, McEntire and Thomas Brown were taken pris-
oners and sent to Halifax. Brown only returned; the others died in exile.
Our family was reinstated on the primitive homestead in 1815, where my
father died, in 1846.”
Mr. Lutts related a rare instance of turpitude to be re-
corded, unlike the reliable dependence that was felt by the
early inhabitants to protect each other.
“The secret places where it was supposed provisions and other things
were deposited in safety, when resorted to, it was only to meet the surprise
of not finding anything that had been left, and no clue could be had to th^
reason. It was not until Abraham Van Curin’s officious aid and willingness
to inform where his neighbors had them secreted that the officers at the
Fort concluded that he was a spy. Arresting him as such, he was sent to
Halifax, where he remained for a time. Subsequently he was paroled andOF WESTERN NEW YORK.
31
returned among his injured neighbors to meet the fate of one of the meanest
of traitors, and bear the infliction of a just punishment. Summary punish-
ment was soon decided upon; such disingenuousness brooked no delay.
He was taken into custody; a rail was his transport vehicle; briars the
inflicting lash. Clothed with a coat of tar and feathers, he went into per-
petual banishment from the neighborhood. He had despoiled the scant
allowance of daily bread to feed a lurking, cruel enemy.”
It is a sad page to look upon, in the history of pioneer life,
ff the darkness of the forest scene had looked dismal, still more
discouraging was the aspect when intently struggled-for homes
lay in heaps of leaching ashes; the only refuge to seek homes
among the generous and humane in distant places from where
the incipient steps had been taken to secure future anticipated
comfort and happiness. Well might a tear course through the
wrinkled channels of cheeks furrowed by old age, as was seen
when the venerable man of over eighty, Enoch Pease, with
vivid memory related that he was a youthful prisoner, confined
in a cellar, but a short distance from where his mother, without,
any other protection than five infant brothers, was confronting
the wilful, pleading for home.
Such as had sought the nearest refuge returned in about two
weeks, doing the best they could, until temporary places of
abode were provided. It was difficult to obtain a supply of
provisions until relieved by the slim crop of 1815.
Pioneer life had been commenced and the spirit of the un-
dertaking had not been subdued. The triumphs of the wood-
man’s axe have exceeded those of the burnished bayonet. The
tread of the diligent husbandman has outstretched the tramp
of the wasting soldier. Prosperity is the independently-worn
crown of brilliant success.
The rout of the inhabitants was not alone confined to the
frontier. It prevailed throughout the western part of the State.
Agitated with the fear that the same fate awaited them, they
moved en masse to seek security in exile from their home; where,
the confusion did not give time to select. The scene of
excitement is still vivid in the mind of the writer. The32	THE PIONEER PERIOD
destruction of Lewiston and murder of its citizens had cast a
gloom around all firesides. Only about ten days later, on the
last day of December and first day of January, Buffalo, Black
Rock and all of that region, including the settlement at Niagara
Falls, were marked for destruction. Day and night the entire
population were busy in preparing for precipitate flight. Men,
women and children passed to and fro in wild frenzy. If an
echoing sound was heard it was imagined to be the noise of the
approaching destroyers. The scarcity of teams precluding a
more easy conveyance for all, male and female traveled on
foot; the most delicate offspring in their arms, the more able
to endure trudging by their side. Exhausted mothers with
their infants, creeping behind logs, and in woody thickets, to
find hiding places and rest. From Buffalo to the Genesee
river, and from Lewiston along the Ridge Road, back available
avenues, were flooded with the current of dismay and flight
The only shelters from the prevailing storm were found in de-
serted houses and barns, vacated by such as had gone before
them, influenced by the rumor that the invaders were pushing
their conquests to spread havoc over the entire country.
Thus was experienced a counterpart of the massacre of
Wyoming, during the Revolutionary war; that from July, 1778,
has been told in history, and read in schools, as the most thrill-
ing tragedy of American's greatest struggle. The Seneca chief,
“ He-that-walks-in-smoke," with cruel barbarity vindicated his
title to the name. The flames, the war club and the toma-
hawk sealed the fate of the unprotected in the valley of the
Susquehanna. The living were compelled to flee to the moun-
tains and over swamps that are still called the “shades of
death"; the fugitives perishing from exposure and starvation.
“ One is said to have thrown himself on the ground to lap up
a few grains of meal that had been spilled; a mother carried
her dead infant many miles to save it from the wolves."
Exciting as is the rehearsal of the suffering produced by the
“ Massacre of Wyoming," its repetition upon the frontier ofOF WESTERN NEW YORK.
33
Western New York may be recorded in history as the equally
trying crisis of suffering and privation,—“ a winter of gloom
and despondency.” Vivid and truthful is the historian’s de-
scription:
“ A gloomy stillness brooded over the scene, so profound, that the gaunt
wolf, usually stealthy and prowling, came out of his forest haunts at mid-
day, and lapped the clotted snow, or snatched the dismembered limb of a
human corpse that in haste and flight had been denied the right of sepulture.”
Plunder and waste, with no opportunity to produce, so far de-
prived the inhabitants of provisions, that had it not been for
the humane and timely appeal of a benevolently-actuated com-
mittee, whose names deserve to be perpetuated in history, as
promptly responded to by charitable relief, famishing hunger
and painful death would have determined the faith of hun-
dreds. The more able and less affected by the war,—further
from the frontier,—possessing the advantages of older settle-
ments, liberally came to the rescue and saved them from so
horrible a termination of human life. The reproduction of
the philanthropic, inciting, sympathetic appeal of the com-
mittee, from “ Turner s History of the Holland Purchase,” will
enable the reader to judge whether the writer of these limi-
ted pages has attempted an overdrawn picture. Ably and
vividly as the authors of the document represented the condi-
tion, none but witnesses can realize.
“Canandaigua, 8th of June, 1814.
“ Gentlemen:—Niagara county ” (then including Erie) “ and that part
of Genesee ’* (including Wyomingfand Orleans), “ west of Batavia, are com-
pletely depopulated. All the settlements in a section of country forty miles
square, and which contained more than twelve thousand souls, are effectually
broken up. These facts you are undoubtedly acquainted with; but the dis-
tress they have produced, none but an eye-witness can appreciate. Our
roads are filled with people, many of whom have been reduced from a state
of competency and good prospects to the last degree of want and sorrow.
So sudden was the blow by which they have been crushed, that no provis-
ion could be made either to elude or meet it. The fugitives from Niagara
county, especially, were dispersed under circumstances of so much terror that
in some cases mothers find themselves wandering with strange children; and
children are seen accompanied by such as have no sympathies with them34
THE PIONEER PERIOD
other than those of common sufferings. Of the families thus separated, all
the members can never meet again in this life; for the same violence which
has made them beggars, has forever deprived some of their heads, and
others of their branches. Afflictions of the mind so deep as have been al-
lotted to these unhappy people, we cannot cure; they probably can only be
subdued by His power, who can wipe away all tears. But shall we not en-
deaver to assuage them? To their bodily wants we can certainly adminis-
ter. The inhabitants of this village have made large contributions for their
relief, in provisions, clothing and money. And we have been appointed,
among other things to solicit further relief for them from our wealthy and
liberal-minded fellow-citizens. In pursuance of this appointment, may we
ask you, gentlemen, to interest yourselves particularly in their behalf? We
believe that no occasion has occurred in our country which presented
stronger claims upon individual benevolence, and we humbly trust that
whosoever is willing to answer these claims will always entitle himself to the
precious reward of active charity.
We are, gentlemen, with great respect, etc.,
William Shepard,
Thaddeus Chapin,
Moses Atwater,
N. Gorham,
Myron Holley,
Thomas Beals,
Phineas P. Bates.
Addressed to Hon. Phillip S. Van Renssalaer and seven others, citi-
zens of Albany.’
The appeal was not in vain. The Legislature of the State
appropriated fifty thousand dollars, the City of Albany one
thousand dollars, the City of New York three thousand dollars.
The liberality of the Holland Land Company, practiced in
all their relations with the settlers through the local agent,
Joseph Ellicott, donated two thousand dollars,—Mr. Ellicott
two hundred dollars. Other donations added made a total of
over sixty-three thousand dollars. It came like a visiting
angel of mercy to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, relieve
the sick, and give shelter to the homeless; to examine the dis-
couraged and downcast, who could but feel that adversity had
unavoidably placed them in the position of inmates of a vast
poor-house.OF WESTERN NEW YORK.
35
CHAPTER VI.
A few incidents of the war will serve to illustrate the expe-
dients resorted to in the absence of better means of defence:
FORCED COURAGE.
A slight haze rose from the marshes on the borders of the
Niagara River, but not enough to shroud the banks or the road
that lay along its shore in obscure darkness. It was the route
from the year 1800 for military transfer from Fort Niagara to
Black Rock, Buffalo and other western points. The march of
regiments, companies and detachments, was a common, hourly
expected occurrence, not usually creating surprise or appre-
hension of peril. The tragedy of Lewiston had been enacted,
creating constant fear in the minds of all. Buffalo and Black
Rock were threatened points. Volunteer regiments had been
drafted from eastern sections to the rescue, timidly approach-
ing the scene of war, to which they were unaccustomed; crack-
ling brush, a rustling leaf, were startling omens, and prudence in
advancing was deemed “the better part of valor,” and made
the adopted strategy in the instance related.
The scene of action, according to the record of the time,
may be placed at what is known as “ Pettitt’s Run,” taking
the name of Joshua Pettitt, locating at its junction with the
Niagara river, a short two miles below Tonawanda, as early
as 1810.
Nearly as earjy a settler as Pettitt, was George N. Burger,
who made a beginning by erecting a log house, which in the
exigency of war was appropriated by the government as an
arsenal for the depositing of arms and ammunition, guarded by
a small number of volunteer citizens. The hour of midnight
had but just passed when the vigilant watchman were aroused
by the footsteps of marching men, tramp of horses and mud-
bound wheels of a wagon train, in slow progress up the river.36
THE PIONEER PERIOD
Whether friend or foe was yet to be determined; moments
were not to be wasted or retreat justified, without at least the
best defence that could be made. Necessity became “ the
mother of invention,” and proved to be the available relief.
The stream passed through a bed of mud, mixed with melt-
ing snow, bridged in rough corduroy, that proved fitting for
the success of the exploit they had resolved upon. An old
dilapidated, one-horse lumber wagon was employed to repre-
sent a cannon, “ big gun” by trundling it over the uneven logs.
Burger in the full strength of his voice, giving the command:
“ Bring up the guns, form in line!” while the wagon was drawn
again and again by the squad noiselessly through the mud, and
thundering back over the bridge, to create the imaginary array
of a host. Soon an order was heard directing a halt of the
approaching volunteer militia, that was yet to see battle, if at
all, while preparations commenced to meet the sudden surprise.
Outlooks detached from both the trembling parties approach-
ing each other in hailing distance and in sight of each other,
it was discovered they wore the same color of clothes; greeting
each other as friends, the Colonel, surprised that “ten should
overcome a thousand and one,” while Captain Burger exulted
that he and his few comrades had gained the easiest victory
of the war of 1812.
INGENIOUSLY DEVISED EXPLOITS.
There was not among the brave and energetic, during the
whole period of the war of 1812, a man whose name and deeds
more deserved the memento of history than Dr. Cyrenius
Chapin. His acts of intrepidity were proverbial; his ready
perception and prowess relied upon, when there seemed to be
no other to undertake the performance of like duties. He had
gained a favorable reputation among the early settlers of West-
ern New York, previous to the war, having located profession-
ally in the projected village of “ New Amsterdam,” (Buffalo)
about the year 1801. A single reference to his war life is here
made.OF WESTERN NEW YORK.
37
It was deemed of great importance by the acting command-
ant of the American forces on the frontier, to be made familiar
with the doubtful positions and strength of the enemy on the
Canada side. Colonel Chapin, as he was then designated, vol-
unteered in the hazardous service. Choosing the brave men
to accompany him (the number is not definitely known),
mounted on horseback, the voyage of discovery was under-
taken. The country back of Fort Erie, Chippewa and Lundy’s
Lane, was successfully and without hindrance scouted; reach-
ing the vicinity of the Beaver Dams, in the solitude of night,
the party were suddenly surrounded by an overwhelming num-
ber of Indians and all made prisoners; the first capture or
detention that Chapin had experienced. The dawn of day lit
up their prison houses in the village of Niagara. They were
separated from their reliable leader, by imperative orders that
no communication be allowed between them; a mandate that
was strictly observed while they were in durance at that point.
About three weeks elapsed without anything being divulged
of their final destiny. Whether to be treated as prisoners of
war, or as spies, was a question of deep anxiety and trembling
solicitude. The order was finally announced, to make ready
for a transfer to “ Little York ” (Toronto). On the morning
of the day fixed upon for the transfer, two open row boats
were in readiness, dividing the crews with prisoners and guards.
Chapin was kept from any correspondence with his former
comrades. The meager flotilla struck out upon the quiet bo-
som of lake Ontario, urged slowly on by the white ash breeze
raised by the prisoners as oarsmen. The boats were kept in
speaking distance, but not in close proximity. A few miles
had been gained when Colonel Chapin, sympathizing with his
men in the hard and unaccustomed task they were made to
endure, requested that the boats might be permitted to come
alongside, that all might enjoy a refreshing drink from the
five-gallon keg he had ordered on board, to deal out its con-
tents as rations during the voyage. The relished dram taken,38
THE PIONEER PERIOD
separation of the boats was ordered and the destined course
unwillingly pursued. Hours passed on to lessen the distance
and to thoroughly blister the hands of the pressed seamen.
Again (a taste having probably caused a more willing consent)
the boats were brought together with the like result of mutual
encounter with the diminishing contents of the keg. Onward
was the track again pursued.
The sun had so far lowered in the west, that it was evident
that night was approaching. Chapin inquired the probable
distance to overcome; “ Must be nearly in sight of York,” was
the answer. He was handed a spy-glass, and a single observa-
tion discovered that the place of consignment was in sight, and
would be reached in a few hours. The generous Chapin gave
another and last invitation: “ Come, my good fellows; one more
drink will drain the canteen, imparting to all a cheerful feeling,
should yonder port be reached.” Reluctance lingered in the
mind and attitude of the Lieutenant;* the guarded importuni-
ties of the Colonel, however, prevailed. No sooner did the
boats come together, than strong hands clenched and held them
as if riveted, each man rose and grappled with his man of the
guard; the “bondsmen were set free,” and became the ruling
masters of the little fleet, under the command of their chosen
leader. The guards were put to the oars, and the former pris-
oners in possession of the guns. “Tack about, my brave lads;
shape the course for Fort Niagara, and at break of day we’ll
greet its walls and lie under the protection of its guns,” ex-
claimed Chapin.
The cloud of night gathered about them, while the glare of
the yet smooth surface of the water enabled them to keep nearly
the right direction. At day-light there was less than a league to
overcome, and displaying the well-understood signal, which was
readily recognized at the Fort, they were soon in the midst of
friends, and the brave restored to the service of their country.
*His name was Humberson, as has since been learned. He was a resident near To-,
ronto (C. W.), where he lived many years alter the war.OF WESTERN NEW YORK.
39
Accidental or careless delay would have made the result
otherwise. They had been pursued by an armed vessel, which
was discovered to be near upon them when they reached the
Fort; but from some cause they were unable to effect a capture
—lucky to elude the fatal grasp. The captured, while at the
Fort, were allowed the privileges that had been promised the
prisoners in York—“ Freedom of the yard, to play bail or pitch
quoits,1’—which was not denied until they were honorably ex-
changed as prisoners of war. The disgraced Lieutenant often
expressed himself as preferring death to the dishonor he would
experience when restored to his former associates.
The remains of a sword, taken from the Lieutenant, is still
in the possession of the family of the deceased Horace S. Tur-
ner, East Aurora, Erie County, who took an active part in the
successful exploit.
THE INHABITANTS STOOD TO PROTECT THEMSELVES.
Less than two miles following the Lake Road, east of Olcott,
on what has been known, since the earliest settlement, as the
Wisner farm, and the venerable Benjamin Stout’s premises, an
eminence rises, forming a high, bold shore of Lake Ontario,
and covering it from sight as the road is passed. Nature
formed it as a barricade of easy defence and a bastion of sure
protection, as it proved in one instance.
The weak American navy, which was thrown upon the upper
part of Lake Ontario during the greater portion of the war of
1812, afforded little or no protection to the settlers that had
made their commencements on and in the vicinity of its shores.
It was the channel through which to obtain their largest sup-
plies, and was the source of greatest annoyance. If any-
thing was obtained by boats, it must be done under the cover
of night, or by close care and secret movement during the day,
to escape the grasp of the British pirates who were continually
on the watch; often boldly coming on shore to extend their
field of plunder. Salt boats appeared to be sought as the most40
THE PIONEER PERIOD
desirable booty, as they were generally laden with a cargo of
the greatest value, and most needed to supply the army they
were robbing for.
The tide did not always flow in favor of the miscreants.
A sloop-of-war, “ Toronto,” was lying at anchor quite a dis-
tance from the location mentioned, from which was discovered
one of the largest sized salt boats following closely under the
American shore, when a small boat was at once manned with a
crew for certain capture, under the guns relied upon for protec-
tion. There was a bold, unlooked-for, brave spirit that lurked
in the bosom of the border settlers in the vicinity. Arming them
selves as best they could with rifles, muskets and shot-guns, they
met the enemy in defence of the salt boat, and fined upon the
obtrusive boat, with the sure aim of undaunted marksmen,
leveled at a buck or a doe to be sliced for a luxurious meal.
The helmsman of the boat was seen to fall into the water, and
others of the crew, it was thought, were killed and wounded.
Sufficient had been accomplished to cause a forced tack-about,
and a quick retreat. The guns of the sloop were then put in
order for annihilation, and aimed to exterminate the opposing
intrepid band of self-defenders, whose bank fortress covered
them from harm. Lying far below the elevated track of the
missiles of death successively hurled at them, they were amused
in watching the severed limbs of the trees, which were from fif-
teen to twenty feet above their heads; the spent balls landing
in the brush and woods beyond, and afterwards gathered and
preserved as trophies of the sturdy and energetic yeomen’s vic-
tory that permitted the salt to reach its destination.
The piratical craft, thwarted of its mission of mischief, raised
anchor and passed out of sight.
The names of the actors who distinguished themselves for
decision and promptness, as far as ascertained, are:	Jacob
Albright, James and William Wisner, Freeman and David
Muggett and his sons James and Frank, and' Benjamin
Hoisted.OF WESTERN NEW YORK.
41
The war terminated, such as had been serving as soldiers
and scattered refugees were permitted to return to their deso-
lated homes, often to be reclaimed by widow mothers, aided
by a tender offspring, the only reliance; to make another new
beginning, by clearing away heaps of . ashes and charred ruins,
and take a disheartening view of the prospects before them,
that could only be looked upon as a cheerless picture. It was,
however, the opening scene of another ten years’ probation,
to be devoted to incessant^ toil for small gain. The unpropi-
tious year of 1816 was first to be encountered; with its adverse
monthly frosts that occurred to destroy the crops, there seemed
to be no escape from the destitution of a famine, following
immediately after the plagues of war. During that year but
few had the privilege of reaping where they had planted or
sown. None gathered, by. the most persistent exertions, a
sufficient or even a stinted subsistence; while many were with-
out homes they could call their own. If, luckily, the legum-
inous plant was gathered, the fullness of antique rhyme was
enjoyed:
“ Bean porridge hot, bean porridge cold,
Bean porridge best—nine days old.”
When looking back at the discouragements of the past, and
experiencing the realities of the present, it required the resolute
and self-sacrificing to stand erect and face the tide that was
setting in against them. Inspirations were still heightened,
relying upon the soil over which their steps and energies.were
bent, which has proved to be a safe reliance. No section of
the country has been more profusely productive of reward for
the energies exerted in clearing up the now everywhere broad,
spread-out fields that cover its surface, and give victory to the
speed of the plow.42
THE PIONEER PERIOD
CHAPTER VII.
Fifteen years have passed since the beginning of settlement,
that appropriately introduce the representation of the third
engraving. The hardships incident to these years were dis-
couraging. The strongest and most reliable settlers were
diverted from clearing up the country to establish prosperous
homes, and volunteered, or were drafted, to form the ranks to
repel invasion and protect the little that had been acquired.
The fate of three years’ war had thinned the ranks of the pio-
neers, and weakened the strength of such as were left to renew
a peaceful conflict. The consequent restricted production,
to furnish supplies of food, and frequent sicknesses, had been
hopelessly encountered but patiently met. Neglected homes
were permitted to enjoy a renewal of the fostering care and
energy to make them the peacefully enjoyed domicils of the
present and mansions of the future.
Our pioneer adventurer, it will be seen at the first glance, has
not been idle. “Industry and perseverence,” his adopted motto.
By constant labor there is permanent gain. Thirty or forty
acres are cleared and enclosed. Various crops are growing and
the whole premises begin to wear the appearance of careful
management, of thrift, comfort, and even plenty. His persis-
tent devotion to the object in view, to secure for himself and
family a home, have enabled him to make a small payment on
his land and get his “ article ’’ renewed. A comfortable block-
house has been reared, but he has had too much reverence for
his primitive dwelling to remove it. He has a neat frame barn,
a well, a curb and sweep, a garden surrounded with a picket-
fence. His stock has increased, as may be seen by a look off
in the fields. The improvements of his neighbors have reached
him, and he can look out without looking up. A school district
has been organized and the comfortable log school-house#
OF WESTERN NEW YORK.	43
appears in the distance. A frame bridge upon the stream has
taken the place of the one of logs. The pioneer, we may ven-
ture to assume, has manifested the ability and enterprise, gained
the confidence of his associates, and become a captain of militia,
a colonel, a supervisor of the town or justice of the peace; how-
ever it may be, he is busy in his haying. And she, the better
part of his household, must not be lost sight of; and need not
be, for the artist has been mindful of her. She is busy with
her domestic affairs; there is quiet and even loneliness about
her; but, depend upon it, there are in yonder log school-house
those she cares for and hopes for. It may be that individual
enterprise ventured the erection of a saw-mill upon the stream
that crosses his farm; but if yet weak in means, he has the
reliance to be depended upon, voluntary aid of his neighbors,
—amply repaid by a mutual benefit.
As improvements were made to produce a surplus beyond
consumption, no markets were available outside of the ex-
changes among the inhabitants, or sales to new settlers locat-
ing, at nominal prices. It was seldom that anything raised
brought return in money. Black-salts and wolf-scalps, always
an “ unmonetized ” currency, had a standard value of intrin-
sic worth. Where there was no escape from a money payment,
they were sacredly kept in reserve to meet the emergency,—
the tax-collectors’ reliance and the dependence to make a pay-
ment on land. If the merchant, mechanic or doctor gave
credit (idle without it), their restricted garners were stored
with what there was to spare from crops, wild honey, maple
sugar and the skins of wild animals. Thus adding a few
loads of ship timber and staves in each year, the commerce
was made up. For several years not a fourth of the exports
aggregated the imports.
The progressing Erie Canal only produced hesitation between
hope and fear; hope, that the imagined benefits might some
day be realized; fear, that so stupendous an undertaking could
not be accomplished during the ordinary longevity of human44
THE PIONEER PERIOD
life. The length of time required proved to be a surprise;
commencing the work on the fourth of July, 1817, and com-
pleting it on the twenty-sixth day of October, 1825.
Beginning the western construction of the canal in 1821, a
market was created to supply the laborers; but not enough was
produced in a wide extent of the surrounding country, for a
year or more, to meet the demand. The favorable crisis created
a new impulse of encouragement and energy, that in due time
were alike favorable to the resident producers and canal con-
tractors.
The finishing of the canal, at the period mentioned, estab-
lished the era from which date to the beginning of the greatest
progress, the flow of population was rapid, permanent, and had
something tangible for encouragement. It proved to be the
needed and reliable facility that was required to readily fur-
nish the greatest impetus to advance and prosperity. The
marketable oak, whitewood, black walnut and other timber,
that in all directions stood like rich fields of luxuriant harvest,
exuberant in growth, when controlled for commercial purposes,
were the fountain from which the strength was obtained to
enable the plodding to rely upon their own resources. Thrifty
villages were created as if moved into existence by a magic
force, establishing markets at the doors or convenient places.OF WESTERN NEW YORK.
45
CHAPTER VIII.
The fourth engraving is but a prelude to the triumphs of a
victory won, building up a country now everywhere furnishing
its own history. It is winter. Successful years have passed
since the artist introduced the pioneer and his wife to us, just
commencing in the wilderness home. The work has progressed
to consummation! The plodding, destitute pioneer, is an inde-
pendent farmer. His old “article” has long ago been ex-
changed for a deed in fee. He has added to his primitive pos-
sessions; and has secured land for his sons, either in a near
locality or some one of the western states, to make pioneers
and founders of them. He has flocks and herds, large sur-
plus of produce in his granaries, which he may sell or keep as
he chooses. He is the founder and worker out of his own for-
tune; one who in his old age should be honored and venerated,
for his are the peaceful triumphs of early, bold enterprise, as
we have seen, and long years of patient, persevering industry.
He has more than comfortable farm buildings, orchards and
fruit yards; the forest has receded in all directions; he is pros-
perous in the midst of prosperity. There is a distant view of
a rural country village that has sprung up in his neighborhood;
a meeting-house, a tavern, a few stores and mechanic shops,
and a substantial school-house. The stream that was forded
when he entered the forest with his oxen and sled, has now a
stone-arched bridge thrown over it. The artist has given us
a rural landscape in which are mingled all the evidences of
substantial wealth and earned prosperity; there is an air of com-
fort and quiet pervading the whole scene; the old pioneer, true
to the instincts and habits of his youth and middle age, is not
idle, as we can see. He has yet an eye upon his affairs, and a
hand in them; and could we look within doors one would see
the young wife that bravely penetrated the forest with him;46
THE PIONEER PERIOD
she who has lightened his burdens and solaced him in such
hours of despondency as will come upon the stoutest hearts;
transformed into the staid, aged matron; yet looking at the
affairs of the household; blending precept with example, fit-
ting her daughters for the vicissitudes, the trials and duties
of life.
Such has been pioneer life and progress in Western New
York. A fancy sketch it may be called, but yet it is a faithful
illustration, and will be recognized by all who are familiar
with the events that have attended the conversion of so large
an extent of territory, from a wilderness to a theater of wealth,
enterprise and prosperity, such as it now is.
It would be an idle tale, told in an older, foreign country, to
such as have never witnessed like scenes, and they would be
unable to realize such indomitable' American enterprise,
attempting to describe the advance that has been made during
the short period it has taken to accomplish it. ‘Rich agricul-
tural fields have become successful competitors to supply the
markets of the world from surplus productions. Mansions for
the enjoyment of comfort and luxury stand upon the ground
that was first broken to pitch a brush camp or erect a humble
log lodge. Turnpikes, Mac Adam and railroads, taken the place
of Indian trails and newly laid out by-paths. The advantages
of schools are equally enjoyed by the opulent and indigent.
Spires pointing to Heaven from elevated spots and all neigh-
borhoods, indicating free worship, wherever is planted the
“ vine and fig tree.” Mills erected at every available water-
fall, superceding the concaved stump to pound corn for the
only kind of bread. Natural and artificial hydraulic facilities,
improved and created, turning the wheels of prosperous man-
ufacture, to disseminate the works of art and stimulate the
efforts of labor. The genius of discovery sends forth to the
civilized world the advantages of useful improvements. Com-
merce has its reliable ports upon over one-half of the entire
boundary. Rockbound mountains are penetrated and valleysOF WESTERN NEW YORK.
47
overcome, creating a river to float the vast products of states,
and form tracks for the unresisted power of the locomotive.
Cities and villages exist, numerating population by tens and
hundreds of thousands, within the bounds of a territory that
in 1814 only contained 25,000 inhabitants. The foundations
have been laid and a free empire of prosperity and wealth
erected; clearing away forests and subduing glens and marshes.
It has been an intense struggle for vantage-ground, by such
as are entitled to veneration and memorial; the early pioneers
and faithful representatives, who have stood in the front rank,
during the darkest periods, and borne the hardest of the engage-
ments and vigorously gained the victory. Venerable men and
women, patterns of what constitutes the highest standard of
the character of those who may be called useful in the world,
and true citizens. Most of them have passed away, and the
few that are left are witnesses to consult, as a guide that will
not fail to direct in forming habits from the most worthy ex-
amples. Better that their voices, feeble from the natural decay
of time, should not be listened to as spectral sounds in visions
of the past; but rather as their tottering frames, and fast expir-
ing visions are wasting, be heeded, counseling the less exper-
ienced in the progress of life.NOTE TO APPENDIX.
The primary object in preparing and presenting the annexed
Appendix has been incited by a desire to illustrate in a comprehen-
sive manner the most efficient means adopted by the early founders
of Western New York to accomplish the growth and prosperity that
have been so manifestly attained by the exertions of the energetic
projectors. Notable agricultural prosperity and growth; famed
commercial and manufacturing cities raised from germs planted
in low places, and on rock ledges; advancing villages that have but
little further to reach, to grasp city charters. If is not vain to
manifest a pride in native birth and continued citizenship, such
as the author of these pages may claim; a coetaneous age, and an
attachment that has strengthened while witnessing the growth
and consecutive circles of prosperity in this important part of
the Empire State.APPENDIX.
A CONDENSED RECORD OF IMPORTANT EARLY EVENTS IN
WESTERN NEW YORK.
Western New York* comprises Ontario, Genesee, Living-
ston, Wayne, Monroe, Erie, Niagara, Orleans, Chautauqua,
Cattaraugus, Alleganyf and Wyoming Counties!
The surveys by the Holland Land Company in 1778-9
were the first steps in the conquest of a promised new and
wealthy country. The location of the Company was first at
Stafford, Genesee Co., 1798; removed to “Pine Hill” (resi-
dence of Asa Ransom), Clarence, Erie Co., 1800; final location
of the main office at Batavia, 1802.
The Holland Land Purchase* embraces all the territory
bounded as follows:	On the east by a transit linej beginning
at a point on the boundary line between New York and Penn-
sylvania, and running north to Lake Ontario, at a point near
the mouth of Oak Orchard Creek, passing six miles east of
Batavia, Genesee County; on the north by Lake Ontario and
Lake Erie; on the west by the State Mile Reserve on Niagara
river, and by Lake Erie and the Pennsylvania line; on the
south by the Pennsylvania line to the place of beginning.
The name is derived from the purchasers from Robert Morris,
residents of Holland. ||
* Referred to hereafter as W. N. Y. and H. P.
t Cattaraugus and Allegany are classed in the Southern tier; a part of Allegany is em-
braced in the Holland Purchase.
X Named from the instrument with which such lines were run. On account of the va-
riation in the compass, Ben. Ellicott of Philadelphia (a brother of Joseph) constructed
this instrument. Cutting a vista through the woods wide enough for an uninterrupted
view of the north star, the surveyor was able to run a true meridian.
|j Deed from Morris, Dec. 31st, 1798, estimated 3,600,000 acres.52
THE PIONEER PERIOD
INCIPIENCY OF SETTLEMENT IN WESTERN NEW YORK.
Commenced at Geneva (Ga-nun-du-sa-ga, New settlement).
Land office opened at Canandaigua by Phelps & Gorham,
1787, first for sale to settlers in the U. S.
Notice of land sales by Joseph Ellicott for H. L. Co., 1800.
First located settlers on the H. P.: Frederick Walters (Staf-
ford, Gen. Co.), 1799, Asa Ransom, same year (Clarence, Erie
Co.), and Garnett Davis, favored by the Co., were to erect
houses of public entertainment, first on the purchase. Isaac
Scott, William Hencher, first settlers west of Genesee River, at
Scottsville, Monroe Co., 1789. James and William Wads-
worth, at Geneseo, Liv. Co., 1790. G. R. Berry, Timothy
Hosmer, at Avon, Liv. Co. (then Littleville); Thompson and
Rice, 1789. Jared Boughton, Bloomfield, Ont. Co., 1790.
John McKay, Groveland, 1793.
First crop raised on H. P., Stafford, Gen. Co., 1799. First
wheat by Timothy Hopkins, Amherst, Erie Co., 1800. Ground
at Street’s mill, Canada.
Asa Ransom erected the first framed barn and set the first
orchard by the whites on H. P.
Harry B. Ransom, first white born on the H. P., at Clarence,
Erie Co., 1800. A sister, Mrs. Sophia Ransom Merrill, the
first white child born in the City of Buffalo. William W. Jones,
born at Geneva, Ontario Co., Dec., 1786, first white born west
of Utica, late residence Leicester, Livingston Co.
Dr. McCracken, first settled physician on H. P., on Mc-
Cracken flats, two miles west Batavia village.
First tax levied west of Genesee River (town of Northamp-
ton), Oct. 6, 1800. Value real and personal estate, $4,785,368.
Amount of tax, $8,387.11. ' Number taxed, 127.
Exclusive bachelors’ settlement started on the Oak Orchard
Creek, Orleans Co., 1811; broke up commencement of war of
1812 realizing that
“ The world was sad ; the garden was wild,
And man, the hermit, sighed—’till woman smiled.”OF WESTERN NEW YORK.	53
First P. O. on H. P. at Batavia, 1802; James Brisbane, P.
M. Augustus Porter, first P. M. in Niagara and Erie.
First council of the Seneca Indians ceding lands, at Geneseo,
Livingston Co., Sept., 1797.
ORGANIZATION OF COUNTIES EMBRACED IN WESTERN NEW YORK.
Ontario, formed from Montgomery, June 27, 1789 (named
from Lake Ontario), embraced all the following counties, which
were set off from it as follows:
Genesee, from Ontario, March 30, 1802 (named from Gene-
see River), embraced all of the eight counties on the H. P.*
Niagara, from Genesee, March 11, 1808 (name of river).
Allegany, from Genesee, April 7, 1806 (name of river); part
included in H. P., “Valley of the Allegany”; part from
Steuben, 1808.
Chautauqua, from Genesee, March 11, 1808; permanent
organization, 1811 (name of lake), in Seneca Ja-da-que, Place
where a body ascended.
Monroe, from Ontario and Genesee, Feb. 3, 1821 (from
President Monroe).
Erie, from Niagara, April 2, 1821 (named from lake).
Wayne, from Ontario and Seneca, April n, 1823 (named
from Gen. Wayne).
Cattaraugus, from Genesee, March n, 1808; permanent
organization, 1817 (until which time merged in the County
of Niagara.
Livingston, from Genesee and Ontario, Feb. 23, 1821
(named from Chancellor Livingston).
Orleans, from Genesee, Nov. 11, 1824.
Wyoming, from Genesee and Allegany, May 14, 1846.
Towns of Eagle, Pike and part of Portage, added 1846.
♦Towns of Willink, Erie and Chautauqua set off, 1804.54
THE PIONEER PERIOD
INCORPORATED VILLAGES AND CITIES IN WESTERN NEW YORK.
Ontario Co.—Geneva, incorp. April 4, 1806. Canandaigua,
{Kanadasaga), April 18, 1815. Clifton Springs, 1859.
Genesee Co.—Batavia (earliest known as “ Great Bend ”),
April 23, 1823. LeRoy, May 5, 1834. Elba, June 9, 1884.
Oakfield, July, 1858.
Monroe Co.—Rochester (first called Rochesterville), March
21, 1817; city, April 28, 1834. Brockport, April 26, 1829.
Honeoye Falls, April 12, 1833.
Orleans Co.—Albion, April 21, 1828. Holley, Sept. 3,
1850. Medina, March 30, 1832.
Niagara Co.—Lewiston,* April 17, 1822. Lockport, March
26, 1829; city, —. Niagara Falls, July 7, 1848. Suspension
Bridge, June 8, 1854. Wilson, June 25, 1858. Youngstown,
Aug. 22, 1854. Middleport, 1858. North Tonawanda, Dec. 3,
1853.
Erie Co.—Buffalo (first called New Amsterdam!), laid out
by H. L. Co. 1801, name changed 1808, incorp. April 2, 1813;
city, April 20, 1832. Black Rock added April 13, 1853.
Akron, —. Williamsville, 1850. Aurora, 1850. Lancaster,
April 13, 1849. Springville, April n, 1834J Tonawanda, 1864.
Chautauqua Co.—Mayville, April 30, 1830. Jamestown
village, March 6, 1827; city,---. Silver Creek, Jan. 8, 1848.
Dunkirk, May 15, 1837. Fredonia, May 2, 1829. Westfield,
April 19, 1833. Forestville, April 4, 1849.
Cattaraugus Co.—Ellicottville, April 1,1837. Olean, 1854.
Livingston Co.—Geneseo, April 21, 1832. Avon, June 13,
1853. Dansville, May 2, 1845. Mount Morris, May 2, 1833.
Wayne Co.—Palmyra, April 9, 1819. Newark, July 21, 1853.
Clyde, May 2, 1835. Lyons, April 13, 1854. Massedon, Nov.
1856.
♦Mapped village by act of Legislature, 1798. Ellicott recommending the location.
tPresent site of Buffalo was included in two miles square, a present from the Indians
to Horatio Jones and Jasper Parish, 1781 (captives ; Jones, 1779; Parish, 1777).OF WESTERN NEW YORK.	55
Allegany Co.—Angelica, May 2, 1835. Cuba, Nov. 11,
1850.
Wyoming Co.—Attica (orig. name, “ Phelps Settlement ”),
May 2, 1837. Perry, 1829. Warsaw, April 17, 1843.
INDIAN NAMES OF CITIES AND VILLAGES IN WESTERN NEW YORK,
INTERPRETED.
Allegany Co.—Angelica, Ga-ne-o-weh-ga-yat, Head of the
stream.
Cattaraugus Co.—Ellicottville, De-as-hen-da-qua, Place
for holding court. Olean, He-sab, Floating nettles.
Chautauqua Co.—Dunkirk, Ga-na-da-wa-o, Running
through the hemlocks. Silver Creek, Ga-a-men-da-ia, A moun-
tain leveled down.
Erie Co.—Buffalo, Do-sho-weh, Splitting the fork. Black
Rock, De-o-steh-ga-a, A rocky shore. Lancaster, Ga-squen-
da-geb, Place of the lizard. Akron, De-on-gote, Place of hearing.
Genesee Co.—Batavia, Deo-on-go-wa, The great hearing
place. Le Roy, Te-car-no-wun-na, Many rapids. Pine Hill,
Te-ca so-a-a, Pine lying up. Oakfield, Te-car-da-na-duk,
Place of many trenches.
Livingston Co.—Geneseo, O-ha-di, Trees buried. Dans-
ville, Ga-nus-ga-go, Among the milkweed. Mount Morris, So-no-
io-wan ga, Big Kettle (residence of a Seneca chief). Avon,
Ga-no-wan-ges, Fetid waters (ill-smelling).
Monroe Co. —Rochester, Ga-sko-sa-go, At the Falls. Brock-
port, Gweh-ta-a-ne-te-car-nun-do-teh, Red village.
Niagara Co.—Lewiston, Ga-a-no-geh,, The mountain neck.
Niagara Falls, Date-car-sko-sase, The highest falls. Lock-
port, De-o-do sote, The spring (referring to Cold Spring).
Middleport, Te-ka-on-do duk, Place with a sign post. Youngs-
town, Ne-ah-gay A neck. •56
THE PIONEER PERIOD
Orleans Co.—Albion, De-o-wun-dake-no, Place where boats
were.
Ontario Co.—Geneva, Ga-nun-sa-ga, New settlement. Can-
andaigua, Ga-mun-da-gwa, Place selected for a settlement.
Wayne Co.— Palmyra, Ga-na-gweh, Village suddenly sprung
up.
Wyoming Co.—Attica, Gwete-ta-a-ne-te-car-do-dh, The red
village. Warsaw, Ghi-nose-heh-geh, On the side of the valley.
INDIAN NAMES OF LAKES AND RIVERS IN W. N. Y.
Lake Ontario.—Ska-no-da-ri-o, The beautiful lake.
Lake Erie.—Do-sho-weh, Splitting the fork.
Chautauqua Lake.—Cha da-queh, Place where one was lost.
Conesus Lake.—Ga-ne-a-sos, Place of many berries.
Canandaigua Lake.—Ga-nun-da-gwe, same as Canandaigua.
Honeoye Lake.—Ha-ne-a-yeh, Finger long.
Hemlock Lake.—O-neh-da, The hemlock.
Seneca Lake.—Ga-nun-da-sa-ga, same as Geneva.
Allegany River.—O-hu-yo, The beautiful river.
Genesee River.—Gen-nis-he-go, The beautiful valley.
Niagara River.—Same as Youngstown.
MISCELLANEOUS INDIAN NAMES.
Tuscarora.—Ga-a-no-geh, On the mountain.
Oak Orchard Creek.—Da-ge-a-no-ga-unt, Two sticks coming
together.
Cattaraugus.—Ga-da-ges-ga-o, Fetid banks.
Alexander.—Do-o-sa-na, Place without name.
FIRST ESTABLISHED NEWSPAPERS AT VARIOUS LOCALITIES IN
WESTERN NEW YORK*
Ontario Co.— The Ontario Gazette and Genesee Advertiser,
(first newspaper published in Western New York); Geneva,
April 17, 1797. Removed to Canandaigua, 1799; Augustus B.OF WESTERN NEW YORK.
57
Danby. The Imperial American or Seneca Museum; Geneva,
1800, Ebenezer Eaton. The Expositor; Geneva, Nov. 19, 1806;
James Bogart. Western Respository; Canandaigua, 1804; James
D. Bemis. Changed to Ontario Repository, 1808. Ontario Free-
man,, 1803; Isaac Tiffany. Changed to Ontario Messenger, 1806;
John A. Stevens.
Genesee Co.—Genesee Intelligencer; Batavia, 1807; Elias
Williams. Republican Advocate; Batavia, 1811; Benj. Blodgett
and David C. Miller. Spirit of the Times; Batavia, Jan., 1818;
Orin Follett. LeRoy Gazette, 1826; J. 0. Balch. Farmers'
and Mechanics' Journal, Alexander, 1837; Samuel Benedict and
C. P. Turner.
Erie Co.—Buffalo Gazette, Oct. 3, 1811; S. H. and H. A.
Salisbury. Removed to Harris Hill, 1813, Buffalo, 1814.
Changed in 1819 to The Niagara Patriot; H. A. Salisbury.
When Erie Co. was formed in 1821, changed to Buffalo Patriot;
Wm. A. Carpenter, Harvey Newcomb and Guy H. Salisbury.
Black Rock Beacon, 1822; L. C. Huffman. Aurora Advertiser,
Aug. 1, 1835; A. M. Clapp. Springville Express, May, 1844;
Edwin Huff. Der Weltburger (first German Press), 1837;
George Zahm. Tonawanda Commercial, 1846; Sylvester
Hoyt.
Allegany Co.— The Angelica Republican, Oct., 1820; Frank-
lin Cowdery. The Republican Era, Ormel, 1846; Horace E.
Purdy. The Cuba Advocate, Oct. 29, 1838; Isaac C. Sheldon.
Genesee Valley Farmer, Belfast, 1853; A. N. Cole. The Rural
Budget, Wellsville, 1856; Richard O. Shunt.
Chautauqua Co .— Chautauqua Gazette, Fredonia (first in the
county), January, 1817; James Percival. Fredonia Censor, 1821;
A. C. Frisbee. Jamestown Journal, June, 1826; Adolphus
Fletcher. The Mayville Sentinel, 1834; Timothy Kilbey.
Chautauqua Whig, Dunkirk, 1834; Thompson & Carpenter.
Chautauqua Whig, Mayville, 1819; Robt. J. Curtis. Western
Star, Westfield, 1826; Henry Newcomb. The People s Gazette,58
THE PIONEER PERIOD
Forestville, 1824; Wm. S. Snow. The Silver Creek Mail, 1828;
John C. Van Buren.
Cattaraugus Co.— Western Courier, Ellicottville, 1826;
Richard Hill. Randolph Herald, March, 1842; Wm. Mason.
Lodi Pioneer, 1827; Lewis B. Edwards. The Freeman and
Messenger, Hillsdale, 1843; L. E. Smith. Allegany Mercury
(first in the county), Hamilton, now Olean, 1818; Benj. F.
Smead, F. Cowdery. Western Courier, Ellicottville, 1826;
Richard Hill.
Livingston Co.—Moscow Advertiser and Genesee Farmer
(first in the county), 1817; Hezekiah Ripley. Removed to Gen-
eseo, 1821; James Percivel. Dansville Chronicle, 1830; David
Mitchell. Mount Morris Spectator, 1834; Hugh Harding.
Nunda Gazette, 1841; Ira G. Wisner. The Cuylerville Gazette,
1847; Franklin Cowdery. The Lima Weekly, 1858; A. H.
Tilton and W. C. Miller.
Monroe Co.—Rochester Gazette (first in the County), 1816;
Augustus G. Dunby, John Sheldon and Orin Follett. The Jef-
fersonian, Clarkson, 1830; Balch. Brockport Recorder, 1828;
Albather M. Harris. Genesee Farmer (first Agricultural jour-
nal in W. N. Y.), 1831; Luther Tucker, Stevens and Goodsell.
Orleans Co.— The Gazette (first in the Co.), Gaines, 1822;
Seymour Tracy. Newport Patriot, Albion, Feb. 9, 1824;
Franklin Cowdery. Medina Herald, 1832; David P. Adams.
Niagara Co.—Niagara Democrat (first in the Co.). 1821;
Benj. Ferguson. Removed to Lockport, 1822. Changed to
Lockport Observatory; Orsamus Turner. Niagara Falls Jour-
nal, 1837; Francis and Ward. Niagara City Herald, Suspen-
sion Bridge, Oct., 1855; G. H. Hackstaff.
Wayne Co.—Palmyra Register (first in the Co.), 1817; Tim-
othy C. Strong. The Lyons Republican, 1821; Geo. Lewis.
The Newark Republican, Nov., 1829; Jeremiah H. Balch. The
Clyde Standard, 1830; E. P. Moore. The Wayne Banner,
Wolcott, 1850; John McIntyre.OF WESTERN NEW YORK.
59
Wyoming Co.—Genesee Register (first in the Co.), Warsaw,
1828; L. & W. Walker. Attica Republican, 1833; David Scott.
Genesee Recorder, Perry, 1834; Geo. M. Shipper. Pike Whig,
183$; Thomas Carrier.
RELIGIOUS AND PROFESSIONAL NEWSPAPERS.
Gospel Advocate (Universalist), Buffalo, 1823; L. S. Gross.
Buffalo Catholic Sentinel, 1853; Michael Hogan. Christian
Advocate (Methodist), Buffalo, 1850; John E. Robie. The
Buffalo Medical Journal and Monthly Review of Medical
and Surgieal Science, 1853; Dr. Austin Flint.
FIRST ESTABLISHED DAILIES.
Rochester Daily Advertiser (first west of Albany), Oct. 26,
1826; Luther Tucker and Henry C. Sleight.
Daily Commercial Advertiser, Buffalo, 1835; W. A. Carpen-
ter, Henry Newcomb and Guy H. Salisbury.
Daily Union, Geneva, May 10, 1858; W. K. Follow.
Lockport Daily Courier, 1847; Pomeroy & Fox.
Daily Advocote, Batavia, May, 1859; D. D. Waite.
Rochester Balance (Anti-Masonic), Jan., 1828; D. N.
Stephenson. Changed to The Enquirer, Weed and Heron, up
to 1830.
The Craftsman (Masonic), Rochester, 1828-9-30; E. J.
Roberts.
Note.—The annals of history, recording the advent and
progress of settlement in an unsubdued wilderness, breaking
in upon an unknown existence of a natural preemptive right,
do not furnish a more marked advance than that apparent in
Western New York. Prevalent aboriginal camp-fires to be ex-
tinguished; a new token of civilization to be placed in the
midst of ignorance, and homes to be provided from rudebegin-
ings. The press, it will be acknowledged, was earliest on its6o
THE PIONEER PERIOD
accustomed beneficiary mission. Sternly and resolutely facing
the doubtful prospect of a daily subsistence, it seems to have
been an inspiration in advance of gospel influence, and not less
potent in constructing the foundations upon which have been
reared permanent standards of morals, education, science and
public improvements, for which Western New York may claim
to compete for a position of preeminence.
The echo through the wilderness of the “ Post-rideY’s ” horn
(the only means of delivery), is well remembered as it an-
nounced the tidings of a paper from Canandaigua or Buffalo,
before and during the war of 1812. Anxiety was depicted on
all countenances as the day of reception dawned. In time of
peace, the treasured fireside comforter in lonely homes; in
time of war, a solace of anxiety or a dreaded messenger of
family affliction and neighborhood bereavement.
Discouraging, self-sacrificing, as was the incipient effort;
lonely and distant from prospective support as was the beacon
light set in the wilderness, its electrical rays of influence have
spread from darkest corners, a luminary in neighborhoods,
hamlets, villages and cities.
If it appear to the reader that biased prominence has been
given in these pages to the press and early established schools,
an excuse will be found when reflecting upon the existence of
the perpetual mementoes their influence has reared to identify
them among the principal workmen. Turning back to view
the darkest, most discouraging period, the press was in the van
of the slow moving, delving in the mud, sheet-covered wagons
and carts. Diligent cotemporary workers, uniting intelligence
with interprise, industry and perseverence, without which the
attempt to construct would be in vain, they inaugurate the
method for constructing communities; thus, maintaining a stand-
ing worthy of the position they occupy, become a strong forti-
fication to protect against ignorance and the evils of unre-
strained, misdirected action.OF WESTERN NEW YORK.
61
EARLY PUBLIC ROADS ESTABLISHED.
From Lewiston to Niagara Falls, by Wm. Stedman, to pass
the troops of Sir Wm. Johnson, in 1763. The army pressed off
the bank by the Senecas, at the “ Devil’s Hole,” June 20th,
same year.
State Road, Conewagus, Genesee River to Buffalo, thence to
Lewiston, 1797 (act of Legislature).
From Geneseo (“Big Tree”), via Moscow, Perry, Warsaw,
Aurora and Indian Reservation, to Buffalo, 1802-3-4.
Ridge Road laid out as a public highway, 1808. Alex. Rea,
Elias Ransom and Charles Harford, corn’s.
Road cut by Chauncey Loomis for H. L. Co. from Benning-
ton, Wyoming Co., through Indian Reservation to “ Big Tree ”
road, six miles west of Aurora, 1808.
FIRST REGULAR MAILS.
Grant by Legislature to Levi Street and Jason Parker, ex-
clusive right to run a stage from Canandaigua to Utica, 1804.
Street was also the first mail contractor from Canandaigua to
Buffalo through the southern settlements. Albert Hosmer the
first from Canandaigua to Buffalo. Beech from Batavia to
Lewiston and Fort Niagara, 1800-1.
John Lamberton and Mayo cut a road through Batavia, Feb.
1802.
INTRODUCTION OF RELIGIOUS INFLUENCE.
Early in the beginning of settlement the gospel banner was
erected wherever “ two or three gathered together,” to agree
in sustaining a system of public morals, based upon Christian
principles and the duty of exemplary citizens. The itinerant
method prevailing as instituted by John Wesley, principally led
in the advance movement; to it, the justice of history should
ascribe the credit of cultivating more generally a plant of vig-
orous growth. Promptly, it may be recorded, efficient influence62
THE PIONEER PERIOD
was exerted on the part of devoted workers of other religious
creeds, engaged as laborers in the wilderness vineyard, to lay a
basis adapted to the erection of permanent aids in moulding
the best constructed communities. The most useful and best
accredited avoiding sectarian inclinations, working together as
engaged in the same work and services.
Humble condition was submissively encountered by both
preacher and people. The single room of a log dwelling, and
the like commodious first erected school-house, were consid-
ered an ample provision for beginning the most enduring monu-
ments of self-sacrifice and endurance; leaving the record of a
work well done.
EARLY ESTABLISHED RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATIONS IN W. N. Y.
AND HOLLAND PURCHASE.
The earliest historical account of religious services in the
newly-discovered territory of Western New York, was by
Father Hennepin (Catholic), connected with the French voy-
agers landing at the mouth of the Niagara River (Fort Niagara),
1678.
Previous to any permanent settlement, as early as 1763,
Episcopal service was held in a log house erected for the
purpose at Lewiston, attended by a chaplain of the British
army at Fort Niagara.
For the purpose of encouraging an early advance move-
ment, to introduce Christian influence in establishing the most
desirable, well regulated communities, a generous grant was
given by the General Agent of the H. L. Co. of 100 acres to the
first organized in each town. Simultaneous or conflicting at-
tempts occurring, the gift to be divided into fifty or twenty-
five acres for each.*
* Selfish purpose prevailed in an attempt to secure the benefit wholly to one denomi-
nation. “ No,” was the prompt reply of Mr. Busti, general agent; “ I abhor sectarian-
ism; but to the first organized society of any denomination.”OF WESTERN NEW YORK.
63
[The annexed list of the earliest organized churches of the various reli-
gious denominations in the counties embraced in Western New York will
be found as authentic as records consulted would allow. Sufficient to
demonstrate the timely echo through the wilderness of the voice of the mes-
senger of “peace and good will establishing rustic temples of devotion to
God, relying upon Him for aid to conduct the pioneer “throughout the
wilderness ” in paths of prosperity, to obtain the rewards of industry, by the
possession of productive fields and the enjoyment of comfortable homes.]
•
Allegany Co.—Almond, Presb., May 1, 1797. Andover,
Cong., July, 1824. Belfast, Bap., 1807. Birdsall, M. E., 1825.
Independence, Seventh Day Bap., July, 1820.
Cattaraugus Co.—Conewango, Presb., 1816. Dayton
Bap., March, 1818. Great Valley, Cong., 1817. Leyton, Free
Will Bap., 1816. Yorkshire, M. E., 1814.
Chautauqua Co.—Pomfert, Bap., Oct., 1803. Portland,
Cong., 1817. Villenova, M. E., 1812. Westfield, Pres., 1807.
Erie Co.—First Methodist Mission on the H. P., Peter Van
Nest, Amos Jenks, from Phil. Conference, 1807. First Society,
July, same year, Clarence, by Van Nest. Glezen Fillmore,
first licensed M. E. minister on H. P. Buffalo, M. E., org. by
James Mitchell, 1809 (not permanent); reorganized by Elder
G. Fillmore, 1818, eight members, mostly transient and poor;
erected small church on Pearl St. (first in Buffalo), Jan', 1818.
St. Louis’ (Catholic), org. 1838. Friends (Quaker), org. in
Hamburg, 1806; log meeting-house erected 1807; monthly,
1808; quarterly, 1816.
Genesee Co.—Alabama, Free Will Bap., 1824. Batavia,
Epis., 1815; Cong., 1815. Elba, M. E., 1807; Bap., 1821.
LeRoy, Epis., 1822. Pavilion, Universalist, 1832. Pembroke,
Cong., 1810. Stafford, Bap., 1815.
Livingston Co.—Avon, Presb., 1795. Conesus, M. E., 1814.
Geneseo, religious organization at Lakeville, 1795. Lima,
Presb., 1795. Springwater, Bap., 1816. York, Scotch Ref.
Presb., 1816.64
THE PIONEER PERIOD
Monroe Co.—Mendon, Bap., 1809. Riga, Cong., 1806.
Rochester, Presb., 1815. Webster, M. E., 1812.
Niagara Co.- Royalton, Christian org., 1815, church erected
1818. Lewiston, Presb.org., 1815, church erected, 1817; St.
Paul Epis., 1832. Tuscarora Reservation, Indian Mission, by
New York Board of Missions, Presb., 1805; first regular meet-
ing attended by the early settlers. Cambria, M. E., 1816;
Cong., 1824. Somersett, Bap., 1820; Presb., 1832. Lockport,
Friends’ Meeting, 1819; Presb., Aug., 1823 (received the Hol-
land Land Co.’s donation, 100 acres); Grace Epis., 1836;
Niagara St. M. E., 1816; Free Cong., org. June, 1838, dedi-
cated July, 1840. Hartland’s, Friends’ Meeting, 1816. Pekin,
M. E., org. previous to 1824; first building erected, 182^; pres-
ent church, 1856.
Ontario Co.—Canandaigua, St. Matthew’s Epis. (first St.
John’s), Feb., 1799; Cong., same year. East Bloomfield, Cong.,
Nov., 1795. Farmington, Friends, 1804. Lima, Presb., 1798.
Orleans Co.—Barre, Cong., Nov., 1816. Oak Orchard,
Presb., 1817. Carlton, M. E., 1816. Gaines, Bap., 1816.
Wayne Co.—Palmyra, Presb., 1797. Arcade, M. E., 1805.
Macedon, Bap., 1800. Marion, Presb., 1808. Sodus, Bap.,
1805; Antoinette L. Brown, first ordained woman in the state;
several years minister Cong. Ch., South Butler; regular ser-
vices early as 1802.
Wyoming Co.—Attica, Bap., 1806; Cong., 1809. Bening-
ton, Bap., 1812. Arcade, Cong., July, 1813. Gainesville,
Presb., 1815. Genesee Falls, M. E., 1809; Bap., 1818. Java,
Catholic, 1838. Orangeville, Presb., July, 1812; “Society of
Corinth,” 1814. Sheldon, Epis., 1811. Rom. Cath. Mission,
1840; St. Cecilia Church permanently org. by resident
priest, 1848; early as 1805, six Baptists held meetings at the
house of Roswell Turner, church org., 1808. Warsaw, Cong.,
1814.OF WESTERN NEW YORK.
65
EARLY SCHOOLS.
In the newest settlements a log school-house was next to be
considered, after a dwelling, scarcely ample for the use of a
small family, or protection from the recurring wet and rigor of
winter. Although but here and there a bark covered cabin
dotted the wilderness home, far and wide apart, as best could
be selected, the primitive school-house was erected from logs
that grew and stood in its place, indicating the early ap-
preciation of the advantages of education,—symbols in low
condition, pointing to the triumphs of early efforts, realized
in the ultimate advance that has prevailed. Instances are not
rare to furnish evidence of highly cultivated intellects attaining
eminent distinction, nurtured and shaped within the circle of
rough laid-up log walls in Western New York.
FIRST ESTABLISHED ACADEMIES, COLLEGES AND SCIENTIFIC
INSTITUTIONS.
Geneva Union School was one of the first started in the state;
for a long time a model for establishing the prevailing system.
Canandaigua Academy, founded by Phelps and Gorham
in 1795.
The Buffalo public school system originated at a meeting of
citizens, resolving to build a school-house, March 29, 1807.
Middlebury Academy (Wyoming Co.), founded mainly by
Silas Newell, 1818 (first on the H. P.); brick building erected
in 1819.
Palmyra Academy, 1808; Union School, 1848.
Ontario Female Seminary, Canandaigua, founded, 1825.
Geneseo Academy, founded, 1826; now controlled by the
Buffalo Presbytery.
Geneva College (Hobart Free College), chart. April 5, 1824,
through the influence of the venerated Bishop Hobart.
Genesee Wesleyan Seminary (Genesee College), M. E.,
Lima, Liv. Co., founded, 1830.66
THE PIONEER PERIOD
Cary College, Oakfield, Gen. Co., founded, 1840, by Al-
fred Cary.
Aurora Academy, chartered 1833.
Lockport Union School, founded March 3, 1847.
Lewiston Academy established and endowed with proceeds
of ferry, April, 1828.
Buffalo Medical College, founded, 1846.
Buffalo Commercial College, Oct. 10, 1854.
DeVeaux College, endowed for entire support by the will of
Samuel DeVeaux; building erected, 1855-6.
Ingham University, incorp. 1857 (formerly Ingham Collegiate
Institute, founded, 1835).
University of Rochester, May 3, 1846.
Rochester Theological Seminary, Baptist, incorp. Nov. 4,
1850.
Albion Academy, founded May 1, 1837. •
Angelica Academy, May 12, 1836.
Springville Academy, Springville, Erie Co., 1830.
Wilson Collegiate Institute, Wilson, Niagara Co., 1846.
Niagara University (originally College and Seminary of Our
Lady of Angels), founded, 1856; incorporated, 1863, by Leg.
N. Y.; erected into a University by Regents, 1883, associating
medical and law departments.
EARLIEST ERECTED MILLS AND MANUFACTORIES.
Ebenezer Allen, grist-mill and saw-mill, on the site of Roch-
ester, 1788-9.
Elisha Ely, grist-mill, 1814.
Stedman, saw-mill on rapids, Niagara Falls, supposed as
early as 1763.
Ganson, grist-mill in the vicinity of Avon, 1794.
Timothy Hosmer, saw-mill on Conesus Lake, Liv. Co., 1790
Wadsworth, grist-mill, 1792.
Williamson, grist-mill at Mumfordville, near Caledonia, 1802,
Joseph Ellicott, for H. L. Co., at Batavia, 1802.OF WESTERN NEW YORK.
67
Alexander Rea, saw-mill, Alexander, Genesee Co., 1804.
William Adams, grist-mill, 1807.
Joseph Hewitt, saw-mill in Lewiston, Niagara Co., 1805.
John Hunger, grist-mill, Attica, Wyoming Co., 1805 (first in
the region of country south of Batavia).
Wm. Vary, saw- and grist-mill at Varysburgh, Wyoming Co.,
1806.
Phineas Stevens, saw and grist-mill, “Willink” (Aurora),
Erie Co., 1806.
“Portage Company/’ grist-mill, Niagara Falls, 1806.
E. Webster, saw-mill, Warsaw, Wyoming Co., 1804.
Joseph Manley, grist-mill, 1806.
Sol. Morris, grist-mill, 1808.
Wm. H. Bush, saw-mill, west of Batavia, 1806; grist-mill,
1809; carding and cloth dressing factory, 1808 (first on H. P.);
paper mill, 1817, manufacturing first paper west of Genesee river.
Van Horn, first grist-mill north of the Ridge road, Niagara
Co. (Olcott), 1811.
Otis Hathaway, first grist-mill at Lockport, 1824. L. A.
Spalding, first merchant mill, 1824-5. Frink, first saw-mill.
Jabez Pomeroy, carding and cloth dressing, Cambria, 1810.
Jacob Turner, grist-mill, Wood’s Hollow (Wales), Erie Co.,
1808-9.
Isaac Hall, grist-mill, Hall’s Hollow (Wales), 1811.
Elisha Mills, grist-mill, Huron, Allegany Co , 1809.
Griffin, grist-mill, Pike, Wyoming Co., 1810.
Isaac Wilson, grist-mill, Lindon, Wyoming Co., 1810.
Porter & Clark, paper-mill, Niagara Falls, 1823. Rope
manufactured by Porters, Niagara Falls, 1810.
Isaac Colt, saw-mill at ‘‘Devil’s Hole” on Niagara river, 1819.
SCIENTIFIC AND MECHANICAL DISCOVERIES.
The roller in place of balls for inking a form of types was
first introduced in the U. S. at Lockport, 1824, by an Irishman68
THE PIONEER PERIOD
from the city of Dublin, and first used in the office of the
Lockport Observatory. The materials used were taken into the
'woods, out of sight of every one except the constructor and
the author of these pages. Next used by Thurlow Weed in
Rochester.
The now widely used and most approved system of water
pressure, introduced in cities and villages to stay the ravages
of fire, was the result of the applied genius and mechanical
skill of Bardsell Holley, in the city of Lockport. Mr. Holley
is also to be credited with the most approved salutary system
of steam for heating purposes, by an initial “ Steam Plant ” in
the city of Lockport in 1877.
INTRODUCTION OF LEADING PUBLIC IMPROVEMENTS.
Erie Canal.—Work was commenced at Rome, Oneida Co.,
July 4, 1817. Declared open for navigation by Wm. C. Bouck,
commissioner, Oct. 25, 1826. General celebration throughout
the State. Cannons, placed at intervals, the entire line from
Buffalo to Albany, on the Hudson River, to Sandy Hook, as a
signal when the first boat left Buffalo. Report returned in two
hours twenty-three minutes. Pioneer telegraph in the State.
Cost of original construction, $7,143,739.86. Act passed for
enlargement, May 11, 1835; completed for through boats, 1842.
Total cost of enlargement, $23,000,000.
Note.—Credit for the most efficient effort that prevailed to fix upon a
direct navigable water route from Albany to Lake Erie, is due to Jesse
Hawley, through his able essays signed “Hercules,” published in the
Ontario Messenger from Oct., 1807, to March, 1808. The giant mind, and
power of influence to enforce, of De Witt Clinton, were the operating lever
to accomplish the grand design. Doubting expressions of imaginary results
did not weaken the force of the pen of “ Hercules,” nor did ridicule and
political proscription daunt the stern perseverance of Clinton. The zealous
support of Joseph Ellicott, and strong men like him, gradually fell in to build
up the State of New York's pride of public improvements. Mr. Hawley
died in Lockport, his last adopted residence, January, 1842. A rude vault
only, in Cold Spring Cemetery, marks the spot.OF WESTERN NEW YORK.
69
Rail Roads.—Mohawk and Hudson, between Albany and
Schenectady (the second applied steam in the United States),
built in 1831. Rochester and Tonawanda, second in the State,
from Rochester to Batavia (first in W. N. Y.), 1836. Com-
pleted to other localities:—Auburn and Rochester, to Roches-
ter, via Canandaigua, 1840. Batavia and Attica to Attica, 1843.
Attica and Buffalo to Buffalo, 1844. Niagara Falls from Lock-
port—. Buffalo and Niagara Falls, via Tonawanda—. Niagara
Falls to Lewiston, 1854. Rochester and Genesee Valley, to
Avon, 1854. New York and Erie, opened to Dunkirk, 1851.
The first Public Express (Butterfield & Co.), extended to
Buffalo, 1835-6; Henry Wells, first messenger.
EARLIEST NAVIGATION OF LAKES AND RIVERS FOR COMMERCIAL
PURPOSES.
“ The Griffon,” built at Cayuga Creek on site of present
village of La Salle, by the French adventurers under La Salle,
was the first sail vessel on Lake Erie; entered the lake, Aug.
7, ifi79-
French explorers entered Niagara River from Lake Ontario,
1678.
The “ Walk-in-the-Water ” was the first steamboat navigat-
ing Lake Erie; built at Black Rock, in 1818.
“ Ontario,” first steamboat on Lake Ontario, built at Sackett’s
Harbor, 1816; first trip, 1817.
First imp. of Buffalo harbor to admit vessels of any size, by
citizen enterprise, in 1820. First appropriation by govern-
ment, 1827.
EARLY FERRIES.
Licensed ferry at Black Rock; to Nathan Perry by Court
at Batavia, 1803. At term of Court, Nov., 1805, Zenas Baker,
licensed to ferry across Buffalo Creek (“Pratt Ferry”); John
Crow, another below.70
THE PIONEER PERIOD
James Barnes, across Genesee River, at Leicester, Living-
ston Co., same term of the Court as above.
Benj. Barton, Jr., a ferry between Northampton, Genesee
Co. and Northfield, Ontario Co. (Avon).
Robert Lee, licensed ferry over Niagara River, at north
end “Portage carrying-place,” June, 1804.
William G. Snyder, at the mouth of Cattaraugus Creek, 1804.
Williams established a ferry crossing Genesee River at
Rochester, 1805.
FIRST ORGANIZED SUPREME COURTS, ETC.
First Circuit Court in W. N. Y. at the inn of--Paterson,
Geneva, Ont. Co., June, 1793.
First Common Pleas, at the house of Nathaniel Sanborn,
Canandaigua, Nov., 1794. Oliver Phelps, first appointed
judge, declining, Hosmer received the appointment. Nathan-
iel Gorham, clerk; Judah Colt, sheriff; John Cooper first ap-
pointed Surrogate. Court-house, jail and Clerk's office erected
at Canandaigua (first in W. N. Y.), 1793.
Court-house and jail erected in Batavia by H. L. Co. (first
on H. P.), 1803.
First Courts of Record in the H. P. at Batavia County
Court, June, 1803; again, Nov. 1803, the first issue joined,
first jail limits prescribed (three acres), first grand jury. Next
term, June, 1804, first indictment tried. Court of Oyer and
Terminer, June, 1804, first indictment for murder; Joseph
Rhineberger, sent to State prison, New York city, ten years.
First sheriff, Robert M. Stoddard; Clerk for Genesee Co., Jas.
W. Stevens.
Asa Ransom and Wm. Rumsey were the first* appointed
Justices of the Peace on the H. P., Dec., 1801.
The first three Court houses erected:	Ontario Co., 1793;
Genesee Co., 1802; Cattaraugus Co., 1817.
First record of deeds, special act passed requiring to be re-
corded in Ontario Co., April 3, 1798, several years before theOF WESTERN NEW YORK.
71
general act. First deed executed by the Holland Land Co. to
John Young, premises near Pine Hill, Elba, Genesee Co., 1804.
EARLIEST MURDERS AND CONVICTIONS.
John Street, murdered on the Ridge Road near Cambria
Centre, Niagara Co., 1790.
John Hewett, by an Indian, at Palmer's tavern, Buffalo,
wounding three others. Tried at Canandaigua, July, 1802,—
sentenced to be hung, commuted to banishment.
First trial for murder on the H. P., James McLean, at Bata-
via, July, 1807; one-half of jury aliens, he being an alien.
Daniel D. Tompkins, presiding judge. Execution following
August.
Three Thayer brothers, executed at Buffalo, June 17, 1825.
Vividly is remembered by the writer, and a few others living
who witnessed it, the scene of gloom that gathered like a cloud
of darkness around the fatal gallows. The crime that the
three brothers, with like depraved sensibility, had committed,
seemed to have a counterpart, as represented by a morbid
public feeling and misguided action. Worthy citizens, and
those of religious proclivities, depopulating neighborhoods,
far and near, mixed with a preponderence in numbers of the
thoughtless and debased, gathered by thousands, as if to enjoy
a season of jubilee. Buffalo had a day and night population
without means to subsist, that took more than a score of years
to gain in permanent citizens. The lesson in the public
mind was a salutary one—it prevented the recurrence of a like
exhibition in the State of New York, by a law soon after passed,
abolishing public executions.
LIBRARIES AND ASSOCIATED ORGANIZATIONS.
Alexander, Gen. Co., Library, established 1811. Alexander
Rea, Harvey Hawkins, Seba Brainard, Samuel Latham, Henry
Hawkins, Noah North, Ezra M. Orsburn, trustees.72
THE PIONEER PERIOD
Batavia, Nov., 1804; Richard Smith, Wm. Rumsey, John
Branan, Reuben Town, Nathaniel Coleman, trustees (first on
the H. P.).
Buffalo, 1816.
Warsaw, 1823.
Buffalo Young Men’s Association Library, Feb. 22, 1836.
Buffalo Fine Arts Academy, Dec., 1861.
Buffalo Society of Natural Sciences, Dec. 5, 1861.
Buffalo Historical Society, 1862.
Grosvenor Library, Jan. 7, 1870. Grosvenor bequeathed
$50,000; City of Buffalo appropriating $40,000. Present No.
books, thirty-two thousand.
PUBLIC CHARITABLE INSTITUTIONS.
Buffalo General Hospital, Nov. 21, 1855; ded. June 24, 1858.
Sisters of Charity Hospital (Catholic),--.
Institution for the Blind at Batavia, established by Act of
Legislature, April 27, 1865.
Masonic.—Genesee Lodge, Hartford, Ontario Co., 1808.
West Star, Buffalo, 1812. Blazing Star, Willink (Aurora), Erie
Co., 1817. Star Lodge, Black Rock, 1823. West Star Lodge,
Sheldon, Wyoming Co., previous to 1814. Olive Branch Lodge,
Warsaw, dispensation granted by De Witt Clinton, Grand
Master, March 15, 1814. Petition recommended by West
Star Lodge, Sheldon.
REMARKABLE SEASONS.
Total eclipse of the sun occurred June 17, 1806. Dismay
was expressed upon the countenances of all; old and young.
The light of day that was but just beginning to scatter the
dismal shade of the forest, by small cleared spots, checked,
without warning, there resulted a frightful scene of mid-day
darkness. Apprehension depicted in all minds the end of time;
impressions were so indelibly stamped that old age failed to
erase them.OF WESTERN NEW YORK.
73
The coldest season experienced, 1816. No crops raised;
frost every month during the year; destitution and suffering of
the inhabitants, extending far into the year 1817, relieved by
the crop of that year. Wheat sold as high as four and five
dollars per bushel; other grain in proportion. The greatest
source of relief were the Indian Reservations, from which were
obtained over-kept corn beyond consumption or previous
market demand; Mary Jemison’s the most reliable source of
supply.
The most destructive gale, flood, loss of life and property in
Buffalo, occurred in October, 1844.
EARLIEST HISTORICAL NOTICE OF NIAGARA FALLS, AND IM-
PROVEMENTS.
Early as 1678, the explorer La Salle and the Jesuit mission-
ary Hennepin, Frenchmen, in reports of their discoveries men-
tioned the “ wonderful waterfall that exceeded anything they
had seen or heard of; the natives approached in awe of the
threatening voice of the Great Spirit/>
The incipient effort to occupy and improve for business pur-
poses was made by the brothers, Augustus and Peter B. Porter,
Benjamin Barton, Jr., and Joseph Annin, leasing of the State,
Feb., 1805, the “ Portage ”* and also the Stedman farm at
Schlosser.f The company had purchased of the State lots 1,
2, 3, 4, which included the falls and banks three-fourths of a
mile below.
In 1814 the brothers Porter purchased from Samuel Sher-
wood a “ plant ” (privilege to locate on any unsold public land)
that enabled them to secure a title from the State to Goat
Island and small islands connected, 70 acres; receiving deed
in 1816. The name derived from a small spot that had
*A privilege extending from the mouth of Niagara River to Black Rock. Adopting
the portage road of Sir Wm. Johnson, built 1763. Method of transit was by teams to
Schlosser, thence to Black Rock by boats propelled by teams and oars. A relay of teams
assisted vessels to enter the lake.
f A dilapidated English fort location.74
THE PIONEER PERIOD
been cleared by Stedman for keeping goats. First bridge con-
necting Goat Island with main shore erected by Porters, 1817;
destroyed by ice in 1818; erected the second time on present
site, 1819; present iron bridge 1857-8.
Note.—Judge Porter first reaching Goat Island, previous to 1810, found
old dates on the trees; a tree that had been cut for a.canoe; the remains of
five or six human skeletons. Dates discovered about the falls on rocks,
1711, 1712, 1745.
IMPORTANT INCIDENTS AND BATTLES ON THE FRONTIER DUR-
ING THE WAR OF l8l2.
Declaration of war, June 26, 1812. Peace declared, 1815.
Most Noted Engagements:
Battle Queenstown, Canada, Oct. 13, 1812 (British victorious).
Fort George, Canada, May 27, 1813 (Americans victorious),
village burnt.
Chippewa, Canada, July 5, 1814 (Americans victorious).
Lundy's Lane, Canada, July 25, 1814 (Americans vic-
torious).
Fort Erie, Canada, Aug. 15, 1814 (Americans victorious).
Sortie, Fort Erie, Sept. 17, 1814.
Fort Niagara surrendered by Leonard, Dec. 19,* 1814.
Lewiston burnt; the lake shore to Eighteen Mile Creek
(Olcott), and neighborhood to Niagara Falls, ravished by the
enemy. Flight of the inhabitants in the locality and surround-
ing country.
Hull's surrender at Detroit, Aug. 15, 1812. The most dis-
astrous demoralization of the western army.
Buffalo burnt last day of Dec., 1813, and first day of Jan.
1814; but two buildings remaining. The inhabitants fled,
wanderers without homes. Gen. Storrs' map, drawn by his
brother Juba the April preceding, naming the occupants and
buildings of all kinds; there were only ninety-six.
Perry's victory on Lake Erie, Sept. 10, 1813.OF WESTERN NEW YORK.
75
MISCELLANEOUS.
Boundary line between U. S. and Canada settled by survey,
1818-19. Gov. Van Ness and Peter B. Porter, on the part of
U. S.; John Ogilvie of Great Britain.
Sullivan’s expedition against the Indians, 1779, terminating
west at “ Little Beard’s Town” on the Genesee River.
Tuscarora Indians located in Niagara Co., 1780. Adopted
by the Senecas as the sixth nation, 1712.
La Fayette and son visited Buffalo, Niagara Falls, Lockport
and Rochester, July, 1825.
Louis Philippe (French noble), and his two brothers, with
Aaron Burr, visited location of Rochester, 1797; accompanied
by Robert Morris.
Kossuth visited Buffalo in 1845.
Land Office, books and papers of the H. L. Co. burnt at
Mayville, Chautauqua Co. by dissatisfied settlers, Feb. 6, 1836.
Attempt to destroy the General Office at Batavia, May of the
same year.
Red Jacket (Sa-go-ye-wat-ha, Keeper awake), principal chief
of Seneca Indians, died July 20, 1830. Remains finally in-
terred in Forest Lawn Cemetery, Oct., 1884.
Mary Jemison (Deh-he-yua-mis, Pretty, pleasant, good thing),
captured, 1755; joined the Senecas, 1759; died on Buffalo
Reservation, Sept. 19, 1833; remains removed to “Glen Iris,”
Portage, at the instance and under the patronage of the Hon.
Wm. P. Letchworth and Dr. James Shan go, her grandson,
March, 1874. The grave is curbed with memorial stones that
had marked the graves of her adopted protectors. They had
been desecrated by being used in building a public highway
culvert. Mr. Letchworth rescued them and rebuilt the culvert
at his own expensie; one result of many liberal efforts on his
part to preserve Indian antiquities.
“Book of Morman,” promulgated at Manchester, Ontario
Co., by Joseph Smith, Sept. 22, 1827. Bible published at
Palmyra, 1830; first society formed at Fayetteville, Seneca Co.,
same year.76
THE PIONEER PERIOD.
Mysterious rappings first exhibited by Fox Sisters, at Hyde-
ville, Wayne Co., March, 1849.
William Morgan taken from Batavia, Genesee Co., Sept. 12,
1826.	A misconceived act of retributive justice by a few indi-
viduals caused a criminal deed that justly incited public feel-
ing, and resulted in arousing a frenzied, unjust, indiscriminate
persecution.
Eight-year-old boy, son of David Towls, lost in Benington,
Wyoming Co., 1806; never again heard of.
The abandoned vessel “ Detroit ” sent over Niagara Falls,
1827.	Witnessed by tens of thousands assembled from var-
ious parts of the U. S., Canada and Europe, with elevated
expectations that were buried by a cheerlessly enacted farce.
First general training west of Genesee River, at Caledonia,
1807. The next year at Alexander, Genesee Co.
Sophia Ransom, first white child born in Buffalo ; born, 1798.
PIONEER ORGANIZATIONS.
First meeting at Perry, Silver Lake, 1872. Now organized
under general law as “ Historical Pioneer Association/’ Pio-
neer Association, Olcott, Niagara Co., Sept., 1877.
M. M. Noah's adventure on Goat Island, Sept., 1825.
First district school on H. P., kept by Watson in 1806.INDEX TO APPENDIX.
PAGE.
Academies, Colleges and Scientific Institutions, First established..... 65
Book of Mcirinan introduced............................................ 75
Boundary line, United States and Canada, established................... 75
Buffalo burnt.......................................................... 74
Courts, Supreme, first organized....................................    7°
Charitable Institutions, Public........................................ 72
Cold season...........................................................  73
“ Detroit ” sent over Niagara Falls.................................... 76
District School, First on H. P......................................... 76
Eclipse of the sun, Total......................................1....... 72
Erie Canal............................................................. 68
Ferries, Early........................................................  69
Fox Sisters, Mysterious rappings first exhibited by.................... 76
General training, First................................................ 76
Holland Land Co.................................................. I~5i-*75
Holland Purchase (defined)............................................  51
Incipiency of settlement............................................... 52
Incorporated Villages and Cities in Western New York....................54
Indian names of Lakes and Rivers (interpreted)......................... 56
Indians names, Miscellaneous (interpreted)............................. 56
Indian names of Villages and Cities in Western New York (interpreted), 55
Jemison, Mary........................................................   75
Kossuth’s visit........................................................ 75
La Fayette’s visit..................................................... 75
Land Office, Attempt to destroy, at Batavia...........................  75
Land Office, Mayville, burned.......................................... 75
Libraries and Associated Organizations..................................71
Lost boy..............................................................  76
Louis Phillippe’s visit..............................................   75
McLean hung...........................................................  71
Mails, First regular................................................... 61
Masonic............. .................................................. 72
Mills and Manufactories, Earliest erected... .........................  6678	INDEX TO APPENDIX.
'	f	PAGE.
Miscellaneous.........rrr-v-r-rW..................................... 75
Morgan, William..................................................... 76
Murders and Convictions, Earliest—..................................71
Mysterious rappings.......... !	;............................. 76
Navigation of Lakes and Rivers lor commercial purposes, Earliest.... 69
Newspapers, first established........................ ................ 56
Niagara Falls, Earliest historical notice of, and Improvements,. ... 73
Noah, M. M., Adventure on Grand Island................... 76
Organization of Counties.................................* *' 53
Pioneer Organizations....................................... . 76
Printing, Introduction of roller................................ ...
Public Improvements, Introduction of leading........................ 68
Public Roads, Early................................................. 61
Rail Roads................... ...»................................... 69
Red Jacket’s death and burial....................................... 75
Religious influence, Introduction of.................................61
Religious Organizations, Early established.......................... 63
Remarkable seasons..-.............................................   72
Schools, Early.......................................................65
Scientific and Mechanical discoveries............................... 67
Seneca Indians, Final council ceding lands.......................... 53
Sullivan’s Expedition against the Indians........................... 75
Supreme Courts, First organized, etc................................ 70
Thayers hung...................................................      71
Tragedy Devil’s Hole............................................     61
Transit Lines......................................................  51
Tuscarora Indians located in Niagara Co............................. 75
War of 1812, Important incidents and battles on the frontier during_ 74
Western New York (defined).......................................... 51