USA > New York > Livingston County > Geneseo > A history of the treaty of Big Tree : and an account of the celebration of the one hundredth anniversary of the making of the treaty, held at Geneseo, N.Y., September the fifteenth, eighteen hundred ninety-seven > Part 1
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TREATY OF BIG TREE
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ROBERT MORRIS
A HISTORY OF THE TREATY OF BIG TREE
AND AN ACCOUNT OF THE CELE BRATION OF THE ONE HUNDREDTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE MAKING OF THE TREATY, HELD AT GENESEO, N. Y., SEPTEMBER THE FIFTEENTH EIGHTEEN HUNDRED NINETY-SEVEN
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Published by the Livingston County Historical Society
A. O. BUNNELL, PRINTER, DANSVILLE, N. Y.
F 127 HIL76
INTRODUCTION
1863715
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INTRODUCTION
A T THE annual meeting of the Livingston County Historical Society, held in 1896, it was determined that the one hundredth anniversary of the meeting of the Treaty of Big Tree should be celebrated in some appropriate manner under the auspices of the society. Accordingly, at the following annual meeting a committee was appointed to have the entire matter in charge ; such committee consisted of William A. Brodie, Chairman ; E. Fred Youngs, George B. Adams and Charles D. Newton, of Geneseo ; Asael O. Bunnell of Dans- ville; Chauncey K. Sanders of Nunda; S. Edward Hitchcock of Conesus ; and the president-elect, William A. Wadsworth, and the secretary-elect, Lockwood R. Doty, ex-officio.
On the 15th day of September, 1897, the anniversary ceremonies took place at Geneseo. A large number of guests representing other Historical Societies in the State, and others, were present, including Mr. Gouverneur Morris, the eldest male descendant and great grandson of Robert Morris, and Mr. A. Sim Logan and Mr. Andrew John, mem- bers of the Seneca Nation of Indians, representing the contracting par- ties to the treaty.
A short business meeting was held at the society's log cabin, pre- sided over by the vice-president, S. E. Hitchcock, in the absence of the President, who was detained in a western state by illness, followed by an informal reception there. At 1:30 o'clock a visit was made in car- riages to the site of the Council House and the Headquarters of the Treaty Commissioners. At 2:30 o'clock exercises were held in the spacious chapel of the Normal School building, which had been cour- teously tendered to the society by the Principal and Local Board. These exercises consisted of choral and orchestral music rendered by students of the Normal School under the direction of Mr. W. W. Kil- lip of Geneseo; Prayer by Rev. J. E. Kittredge, D. D., of Geneseo ; address by the Chairman of the Committee, W. A. Brodie; Historical Address by John S. Minard, of Fillmore, N. Y., and presentation of various Historical Documents by Dr. George Rogers Howell, Archivist of New York State Library, who also presented to the society, on behalf of Mr. Gouverneur Morris, a photographic copy of Rembrandt Peale's portrait of Robert Morris.
A banquet was spread for guests of the society, numbering about one hundred, in the gymnasium of the Normal School building at
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Treaty of Big Tree
six o'clock; responses to toasts proposed in a felicitous man- ner by Vice-President Hitchcock, were made by Col. John R. Strang of Geneseo; Hon. Gouverneur Morris of Detroit ; Hon. Wallace Bruce, Mr. A. Sim Logan and Mr. Andrew John of Versailles, N. Y.
Exercises were held in the evening at the Normal Chapel, consist- ing of music, an address by Hon. Wallace Bruce on the subject "A Great Century," and a short speech by Mr. A. Sim Logan.
The committee were assured by all who attended the celebration that it was entirely successful and most appropriately conducted.
It is sought in the following pages to preserve the history of this most important treaty and the incidents attending this celebration of its one hundredth anniversary. Maps, portraits, papers and corres- pondence have been added to enhance its historical as well as general interest so far as practicable. The address of Mr. William H. Samson of Rochester, delivered before the Society in 1894, was the first compre- hensive and completely accurate account of the Treaty and the nego- tiations leading up to it, and is reproduced entire. I wish to express my obligations to Hon. William P. Letchworth, Mr. Howard L. Osgood and Mr. William H. Samson for special aid in collecting the matter here presented, which is offered to the public in the hope that it will redound in some measure to the credit of the Livingston County His- torical Society.
LOCKWOOD R. DOTY, Secretary.
AFTERNOON MEETING
PRAYER BY REV. J. E. KITTREDGE, D. D.
A LMIGHTY GOD, our Heavenly Father, thou art the God of the years and of the centuries. Thou art from everlasting to everlasting. We adore thee reverently; we worship thee heartily, thou our Creator, Benefactor, Redeemer ; we offer thee at this hour, with the acknowledgement of individual un- worthiness, our humble, grateful praise.
Accept, we beseech thee, our hearty thanks for life, with all its meaning and precious possibilities, its blessed conditions and environ- ment, the goodly heritage that is ours in this garden of the Lord through the compact we recognize of a hundred years ago ; for mater- ial comfort, social amenities, and educational and religious gifts: for freedom of thought and action; for incentives to all highest things; for opportunities of good and the promise of life everlasting through Jesus Christ our Lord.
We bless thee for an historic past, for an ampler present, for a future so grand in promise. We thank thee for the wonderful century we celebrate today. We thank thee for the good men and women who came hither years ago-choice seed of thy selecting ; for their Christian enterprise ; for the homes they built, the churches and schools they founded, the courts of justice they established ; for all forces that touch and guard the highest interests of man.
We thank thee for human brotherhood, O thou Our Father. Thou hast made of one blood all the peoples of the earth. May we bear this kinship well in mind. May thy blessing rest on those who represent here the earlier and the earliest occupants of this soil. Bless this great commonwealth and the broad land we love. Extend thy grace over all the earth.
Crown with thy favor this special occasion. Instruct us by its historic memorials. Be with those who present them to us, those who speak and those who listen. Bless those whose memory reaches back toward the opening of the century. Bless those whose heart is in the living present and whose eye is toward the future. May thy benedic- tion be upon us all. And this we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
HISTORICAL ADDRESS BY HON. JOHN S. MINARD
m EASURED by its effect upon the material prosperity of Western New York, the treaty of Big Tree, which was concluded 100 years ago today, stands second to no other event in its whole history; for upon that occasion was extinguished the title of the Seneca nation of Indians to all the territory, the right of pre-emption to which the state of New York had ceded to the commonwealth of Massachusetts, which lies west of what is known as the Phelps and Gorham purchase, with the exception of several reservations, unimportant in extent, in the immediate neighborhood of their principal villages.
With commendable propriety, therefore, the Livingston County Historical Society has provided for a proper commemoration of the event, and we are assembled today within sight and hearing distance of the scene of the treaty, for the purpose of celebrating with exercises becoming the character of that event, the centennial anniversary of that important preparatory step toward the appropriation and settle- ment by the whites, of the territory treated for, and which made an occasion like this a possibility.
In treating the subject assigned to me, I will consider briefly, the territory which was the subject of negotiation; notice some of the early explorers and pioneers; consider the causes which led to the transaction; sketch some of the leading characters who took part in the business ; give a synopsis of the proceedings; and then consider the effect of the treaty in stimulating settlements and inaugurating improvements.
One hundred years ago the territory which was treated for at the council fire of Big Tree, presented a decidedly primitive condition of forest ; of vast extent, of trees innumerable, of shrubs of many kinds, of herbage in endless variety ; broken only by occasional open flats along the rivers and larger streams, which were tilled by the Indian women, and yielded bounteous crops of corn, beans, squashes and other vegetables, when only slightly stirred by their rude instruments of husbandry. It was a land of lofty summits, and lovely and reposeful valleys and lowlands ; of silvery lakes, gushing springs, gurgling rills, babbling brooks, winding streams, foaming cataracts and beautiful cascades. This wilderness was thickly peopled with deer, bears,
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Treaty of Big Tree
wolves, panthers, beavers and other animals, and the lakes and streams were fairly alive with fish of many kinds. A sparse population of Seneca Indians, the most powerful and warlike of that famous confed- eracy of the Six Nations, the League of the Iroquois, which has chal- lenged the admiration of historians, and won for its people the proud distinction of "Romans of the West," inhabited the valleys of the Gen- esee and Allegheny rivers, and Cattaraugus, Tonawanda and Buffalo creeks, along the courses of which streams they established their prin- cipal villages. Within its limit was situated the old chief town of Ga-o-ya-de-o (Caneadea), which for years was the western door of the long house of the Iroquois, and the beautiful flats along the Genesee were said to have been the terrestrial paradise of the Senecas. La Salle and Hennepin in 1679 had coasted along the southern shore of Lake Ontario, gazed with awe and admiration upon Niagara Falls, con- structed the Griffin, and launched the first sail boat on the waters of Lake Erie. In 1682 La Salle had discovered Chautauqua lake, and sixty-seven years later De Celoron had recorded its name.
In the autumn of 1700 Colonel Romer with a few attendants, made his way up the Genesee to a point near Belvidere, thence to the famous oil spring near Cuba, and thence on to the Allegheny and Ohio; and in 1720 Charlevoix, coasting along the southern shore of Ontario, sent his lieutenant, Chabert Joncaire, over the same route pursued by Colo- nel Romer. At the time of the treaty, Lemuel B. Jennings, Captain Nobles and James and William Wadsworth had settled at this place ; Ebenezer Allen had commenced operations in Mt. Morris; Horatio and John H. Jones in Leicester ; Buffalo had only four or five houses; Na- thaniel Dyke had made a beginning along the line between Wellsville and Andover, and Major Moses Van Campen, the famous scout and Indian fighter of the Revolution, Rev. Andrew Gray, and the McHen- rys had founded homes in Almond. Over the possession of this won- derful region had arisen, way back in the times of British dependency, a dispute between the colonies of New York and Massachusetts. Mas- sachusetts claimed it under a grant from King James I. to the Plymouth Company, bearing date Nov. 3, 1620, and New York laid claim to the same territory, by virtue of a grant from Charles II. to the Duke of York, dated March 12, 1664, and the voluntary submission of the Six Nations to the crown in 1684. This contention, all owing to faulty and overlapping property descriptions in the grants, was dropped during the
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Treaty of Big Tree
period of the war only to be resumed after the restoration of peace, and continued till December 16, 1786, when the states, which in the new or- der of things had succeeded the colonies, had the good sense to settle the matter by commissioners appointed for the purpose, New York retaining the sovereignty, and ceding to Massachusetts the right to pur- chase the title of the Indians, in other words, the right of pre-emption.
So many years having been spent in the controversey, both states had become tired of it and Massachusetts was anxious to avail herself of the proceeds of the sale of her rights. The depressed condition in which the states were left at the close of the war had begun to wear away, the population of the seaboard districts had become somewhat crowded, indeed in some places actually congested, and many faces were turned interior-ward, in quest of new homes. As a result, the spirit of speculation was aroused, and capitalists turned their attention to investments in land. Among these speculators were Oliver Phelps and Nathaniel Gorham, who soon commenced negotiations with Massa- chusetts, for the purchase of her right to pre-emption. The negotia- tion was successful, the contract bearing date March 31, 1788, giving the consideration and terms of payment, to quote the instrument, as "three hundred thousand pounds, in consolidated securities of this commonwealth, or two thousand pounds specie, together with two hundred and ninety thousand pounds in like securities, Messrs. Phelps and Gorham being required to give security for the payment of the same, "one-third in one year, one-third in two years, and one-third in three years."
Messrs. Phelps and Gorham were anxious to make an early pur- chase of the Indian title, and thus be enabled to dispose of their lands, or a part at least, in time to apply the effects upon their contract with Massachusetts, and hustled things with such vigor and celerity, that on the 8th of July, 1788, at Buffalo Creek, was concluded a treaty, by which the sale of all the lands of the Indians east of a boundary which to quote the conveyance, was: "A meridian which will pass through that corner or point of land, made by the confluence of the Shanahas- gwaikon creek, so-called (Canaseraga), with the waters of the Genesee river ; thence running north along said meridian to the corner or point last mentioned ; thence northwardly along the waters of the said Gen- esee river to a point two miles north of Shanawagerus village, so-called (Canawaugus); thence running in a direction due west, twelve miles ;
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Treaty of Big Tree
thence running in a direction northwardly, so as to be twelve miles distant from the most westward bends of the said Genesee river, to the shore of the Ontario lake," and about two and one-half million acres were embraced in the tract. The consideration was £2,100 and an annuity of $500.
The legislature of Massachusetts on the 21st of November, 1788, passed an act, vesting the title to this land in Messrs. Phelps and Gor- ham, they relinquishing all the lands west of this tract, which were included in the contract. Though not entirely pertinent to the subject, it may still in a sort of parenthetical way be observed, that to this deed was appended the name of Governor John Hancock, not, how- ever, in his own hand, as appears by the accompanying explanation: "The secretary signed his excellency's name, by his order, he being unable to put his signature by reason of the gout in his right hand." So, incidental to our investigations the very important historical fact is disclosed, that on the 21st of November, 1788, His Excellency Gov- ernor John Hancock was afflicted with the gout! On account, how- ever, of the advance of the securities with which they were to make their payments, Phelps and Gorham were unable to meet their engage- ments with Massachusetts, and so reserving two townships (Tp. 10 R. 3, and Tp. 9. R. 7) Canandaigua and Geneseo (?), they sold the tract to Robert Morris, who had begun to turn his attention to land specula- tions. Mr. Morris held it but a short time, and turned it over to Sir William Poulteney and others in England, at a profit, it has been said, of something like $160,000.
These successful transactions made Mr. Morris eager for more lands upon which he could realize still more profits. On the 11th of May, 1791, he secured from Massachusetts the pre-emption right to all the lands in the state of New York west of the tract purchased by Messrs. Phelps and Gorham. For this it is said that he paid the sum of $333,333.33. Mr. Morris held this tract but a short time, and in 1792-3, sold it to a syndicate of Holland capitalists, afterwards known as the "Holland Land Company," reserving the eastern portion, about 12 miles in width , parts of which he had sold to other parties, or placed as security for loans as in the case of the Church tract. This came to be called the "Morris reserve." One condition of this sale was that Mr. Morris should extinguish the Indian title, and until such time as he should perform that part of the agreement, the syndicate reserved
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Treaty of Big Tree
£37,500 of the purchase money. Mr. Morris at this time had a son, Thomas, about 21 years of age, who had received a liberal education at Geneva and Leipsic, and was then engaged in studying law. He was a promising young man, of good natural ability, fine presence, and had the happy faculty, as the sequel will show, of quickly discovering the motives of men, of being quick to act, and quite likely to do about the right thing in a case of emergency. This son, Mr. Morris determined to settle in the new country, "as an evidence of his faith in its value and products ;" it is safe to presume also, with an eye to his future usefulness in effecting the purchase of the Indian lands. Readily com- plying with the wishes of his father, Thomas left Philadelphia in the summer of 1791, and following what was then called "Sullivan's path,' he reached Newtown in time to attend Pickering's council. At the council he made the acquaintance of many of the leading Indians, who were so favorably impressed with him, as to give him the name O-te- ti-ana, which Red Jacket had borne in his younger days.
Pursuing his journey to Niagara, he stopped on his return, at Can- andaigua, with which place he was so much pleased as to make it his home. He was admitted to the bar, and in 1794 attended the first court ever held in Canandaigua. In 1794-5-6, he was a member of assembly from Ontario. From 1796-1801 he was state senator, and from 1801-1803, was a member of congress.
Robert Morris was naturally quite anxious for a final settlement of matters with the Holland syndicate, but owing to the war between the Western Indians and the United States, in which, however, the Six Nations were not involved, he deferred making any formal over- tures to the Senecas, till peace was restored, as he feared that in case he should succeed in buying their lands during the progress of the war, they could the more easily be induced to join the Western tribes in hostility to the United States. At last peace with the Western Indians having been restored, Mr. Morris in August, 1796, directed a letter to President Washington, wherein he asked that a commissioner be ap- pointed to preside at a treaty to be held with the Seneca nation, for the purpose of enabling him to "make a purchase in conformity with the formalities of law," of the tract of country for which he had already paid a large sum of money. In this letter he stated, "My right to pre- emption is unequivocal, and the land is become so necessary to the growing population, and surrounding settlements, that it is with diffi-
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Treaty of Big Tree
culty that the white people can be restrained from squatting or set- tling down upon these lands, which if they should do, it may probably bring on contentions with the Six Nations. This will be prevented by a timely, fair, and honorable purchase." Accordingly in due time, Isaac Smith, a member of congress from New Jersey, was appointed, but having received the appointment of judge of the supreme court, he declined to act, and Colonel Jeremiah Wadsworth, a distinguished member of congress from Connecticut was appointed in his place.
The time had now arrived when active and immediate prepara- tions for the treaty were in order. The fact that the Indian village of Big Tree, though not situated upon the territory for which negotia- tions were to be instituted, was so very accessible to the people of the Senaca nation and was the nearest village to reach from Philadelphia, New York, and Canandaigua, doubtless had much to do in fixing it as the place for holding the treaty. The 20th of August, 1797, was set as the time. Mr. Morris had appointed his son, Thomas, and his friend, Captain Charles Williamson, as his agents, but Mr. Williamson, hav- ing other engagements, was able to be present only a small part of the time ; which threw the burden of responsibility entirely upon Thomas Morris.
Robert Morris prepared a most elaborate and carefully written letter of instructions to his agents, giving his directions and sugges- tions under twenty-four separate and distinct heads. In his prefatory remarks he said : I am to sustain all the expense ; this circumstance does not induce a desire to starve the cause, or to be niggardly ; at the same time, it is natural to desire a consistent economy to be observed, both as to the expense of the treaty, and the price to be paid for the lands." He inclosed with his letter a written speech, with which he proposed that his son should open the treaty. The third article sug- gests that "The business of the treaty may be greatly propelled prob- ably, by withholding liquor from the Indians ; showing and promising it to them when the treaty is over." Article 6 reads : "Annuities of from $20 to $60 per annum may be given, to influential chiefs to the extent of $250 or $300 per annum."
Article 7 says : "Captain Brandt, although not belonging to the Seneca nation, yet being an influential character, he must be satisfied for his services, on as reasonable terms as possible, after the purchase is made." "Jones and Smith, as interpreters, are to do their duty fully
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Treaty of Big Tree
and faithfully, or I will not convey the lands contracted for with them, but if they do their duty, the deeds for those lands shall be delivered upon the receipt of the money they are in that case to pay." It was also provided that Mr. Johnson, of Niagara, and Messrs. Dean and Parish, should be employed as interpreters and compensated with reas- onable liberality." Article 12 read : "Mr. Chapin will render any services that consist with the duties of his station, and must have a proper compliment or compensation." 14: "The whole cost and charges of this treaty, being at my expense, you will direct everything on the principle of a liberal economy. The Indians must have plenty of food, and also of liquor, when you see proper to order it to them."
"The commissioners, their secretaries, interpreters, and all who are officially employed at or about this treaty, must be provided for at my cost." A herd of cattle was driven along, and stores of provisions of various kinds in liberal quantities had to be transported over bad roads, in some places hardly any roads at all, to the scene of the treaty. In Doty's history of Livingston county is found this list of provisions and presents, which with the prices extended, gives something of an idea of the magnitude upon which the enterprise was carried out :
1,500 rations of beef, one day at $5 per hundred $75 00
1,500 rations of flour at $2.50 per 100 pounds. 38 00
1,500 rations of whiskey, 25 gallons at $1.50. 37 00
1,500 rations of tobacco .. 5 00
These for 30 days would amount to $4,650.
750 3-ft. blankets at $2. 1,500 00
750 2} ft. blankets at $1.50 .. 1,125 00
150 pieces blue shrouding, 24 yds, each at $1 per yard. 3,600 00
100 pieces green leggings stuff, 18 yds. in piece, twilled 3-4 wide at
1,350 00
200 pieces com. calico, at 4s, 14 yds. per piece.
1,370 00
50 yds, com. Holland, at 4s, 24 yds per piece. 600 00
500 butcher or scalping knives.
35 00
50 bags vermillion. 100 00
300 pounds powder.
600 00
800 pounds lead.
50 00
100 small brass kettles, of 4 to 6 qts.
100 00
50 brass kettles of 12 qts.
100 00
100 black silk handkerchiefs, presents for the chiefs in broad- cloth, red or green, of good quality. 100 00
Amounting in the aggregate to. $15,360 00 and several cows to give to the squaws. Two pipes of wine were brought along, probably mainly for the commissioners, secretaries, in- terpreters and other officials and visiting gentlemen,
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Treaty of Big Tree
The state of Massachusetts appointed General William Shepard to attend and represent the commonwealth ; Captain Israel Chapin, who had succeeded his father, General Chapin, as superintendent of Indian affairs, was to be present ; William Bayard of New York, Joseph Elli- cott, and possibly some others, were to guard the interests of the Hol- land syndicate, and James Rees, afterwards of Geneva, was to act as secretary on the part of Mr. Morris. There were quite a number of other whites there, attracted perhaps as much by the desire to see, and learn what was going on as anything else ; some who came seeking opportunities to make something if the chance was presented, and some chronic mischief makers, intent on meddling, and thus making it a hard job to effect the purchase. The Indians were more prompt in their appearance than were the whites. Many arrived before the day appointed, and nearly all were there by the 20th. Glowing accounts of the marvellous wealth of Mr. Morris the merchant prince of his day, had come to the ears of the Indians. They had been told of the lavish distribution of fine presents which would be made, of the fat hogs and oxen that would be served out to them, with other dainties in great pro- fusion, with whiskey in limitless quantities ; that it was indeed to be a feast of fat things. The effect of these stories was to draw a large crowd of Indians together. Those only who were too old, or too young, too badly crippled, or too sick to go stayed at home, and a solemn and awfully prophetic stillness pervaded the grand old woods. Only at Big Tree, where a hundred camp fires were lighted and a hundred kettles swung were there any signs of life. It has been said that the first oxen killed were "devoured raw, reeking in the blood," so hungry had the crowd become. It was, without a doubt, one of the largest assemblages of Seneca Indians ever seen. The names of fifty-two sachems, chiefs and warriors are appended to the conveyance which was made and executed at this treaty, but of all this number a few only can be noticed and briefly at that. Young King was in one res- pect the most important Indian character at the treaty, for, had he been so inclined, he could have arrested the whole proceeding, and prevented the sale of their lands. He arrived late, and the Indians would proceed no further until everything had been made known to him, and received his approval. He was a lineal descendant of Old Smoke, or Old King, the leader of the Indians at the Wyoming mas- sacre.
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