USA > New York > Erie County > Buffalo > A history of Buffalo : delineating the evolution of the city > Part 19
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In 1838 the Genesee Valley Canal, tributary to the Erie, was constructed and the first foundry was started. In 1840, the first carload of freight was sent over the Auburn and Rochester Railroad. In 1842, a new aqueduct over the Erie was completed at a cost of $600,000. In 1844, the first telegraph office was opened in Rochester by the New York, Albany and Buffalo Company, and the census showed a population of 23,533. In 1846, the Western House of Refuge was established and coal was first consumed by the manufactories. In 1849, Corinthian Hall, erected by Wil- liam A. Reynolds, in the rear of the Arcade, was dedicated. It was, for many years, the principal auditorium of the city, many notable gatherings and addresses by eminent men and concerts and dramatic representations taking place within its walls. Therein Jenny Lind sang in 1851. It voiced the "golden age of the lyceum," and therein, in 1858, William H. Seward delivered his "irrepressible conflict" speech, one of the most renowned, as well as one of the most persuasive, of American political utterances. In 1850, the city was divided into ten wards. In 1851, a new court
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house was built at a cost of $70,000, and coal for domestic use was introduced. In 1860, steam fire engines were sub- stituted for hand machines. In 1861, Abraham Lincoln spoke at the New York Central station on his way to his inauguration as President; and later, at the call of the nation to arms to quell the rebellion against it, the best and bravest of the sons of Rochester responded.
In 1870, the Powers building, at the southwest corner of West Main and State streets, an immense structure for stores, offices, etc., of stone, glass and iron, seven stories high and surmounted by a tower, begun in 1868, was finished. In 1874, the city building on Front Street was built and the City Hall, a handsome edifice of blue limestone, was occupied. In 1876, the Hemlock Lake water system was installed. In 1879, the Elwood Memorial building, a commodious stone block, was erected, on the southeast cor- ner of Main and State streets, and the first "hello" of the telephone was heard. In 1881, "Maud S." trotted a mile in 2:1012 at the Rochester Driving Park, the fastest time until that date recorded on a trotting course. In 1882, ground was broken for the elevated tracks of the New York Central Railroad. In 1883, the Germans of Roch- ester celebrated the bicentennial of German colonization in the United States. In the same year, the Warner Observa- tory and the Powers Hotel were built. In 1884, the Rey- nolds Library, subsequently housed in the superb Reynolds mansion on Spring Street and endowed by Mortimer F. Reynolds, was founded; and the semi-centennial of the city was observed by commemorative addresses and much of "pomp and parade." In 1887, the Wilder block, the Ger- man-American insurance building and the Ellwanger and Barry block were begun, and the Lyceum Theatre, a rarely elegant edifice of its kind, was opened. In 1892, the Sol- diers' Monument in Washington Square was dedicated,
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RECENT DEVELOPMENT
President Harrison participating in the ceremonies. In 1896, the present court house of New Hampshire granite, Romanesque in design, with a frontage on West Main Street of 140 feet, a depth of 160 feet, a height of four stories and admirably adapted for the service of the county, was com- pleted. In 1907, the State Arsenal on Washington Square was converted into Convention Hall, a vast auditorium capable of accommodating thousands. In this year also, the Rochester Trust and Safe Deposit Company completed and occupied its chaste, yet costly, marble structure, thus consummating the architectural distinction of the "four corners," as with the Powers, the Elwood and the Wilder buildings it at once sentinels and adorns the historic spot; and 1908 witnessed the construction of two new and im- mense hotels-the Seneca on the east and the Rochester on the west side-both demanded by the constantly increasing throng of guests within the city gates.
To the public service Rochester has contributed its full share of able officials. It has had two lieutenant-governors, two secretaries of state, two state treasurers, an attorney- general, a superintendent of insurance, a superintendent of banks, a superintendent of public works, and four regents of the University of the State of New York. It has had 14 state senators, two circuit judges and one vice-chancellor, under the constitution of 1821, and one chief judge and four associate judges of the Court of Appeals, and ten Supreme Court Judges under the constitutions of 1846 and 1895.
The following have been the mayors of the city: 1834, Jonathan Child; 1835-36, Jacob Gould; 1837, Abram M. Schermerhorn and Thomas Kempshall; 1838, Elisha John- son; 1839, Thomas H. Rochester; 1840, Samuel G. An- drews ; 1841, Elijah F. Smith; 1842, Charles J. Hill; 1843, Isaac Hills; 1844, John Allen; 1845-46, William Pitkin; 1847, John B. Elwood; 1848, Joseph Field; 1849, Levi A.
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Ward; 1850, Samuel Richardson; 1851, Nicholas E. Paine; 1852, Hamlin Stilwell; 1853, John Williams; 1854, Maltby Strong; 1855, Charles A. Hayden; 1856, Samuel G. An- drews; 1857, Rufus Keeler; 1858, Charles H. Clark; 1859, Samuel W. D. Moore; 1860, Hamlet D. Scrantom; 1861, John C. Nash; 1862, Michael Filon; 1863, Nehemiah C. Bradstreet; 1864, James Brackett; 1865, Daniel D. T. Moore; 1866, Samuel W. D. Moore; 1867-68, Henry L. Fish; 1869, Edward M. Smith; 1870, John Lutes; 1871, Charles W. Briggs; 1872-73, A. Carter Wilder; 1874-75, George G. Clarkson; 1876-89, Cornelius R. Parsons; 1890-91, William Carroll; 1892-93, Richard Curran; 1894, George W. Aldridge; 1895, Merton E. Lewis (acting) ; 1896-99, George E. Warner; 1900-01, George A. Carnahan; 1902-03, Adolph J. Rodenbeck; 1904-07, James G. Cutler; 1908-09, Hiram H. Edgerton.
There are 130 churches in Rochester, the various denomi- nations being represented numerically as follows: Baptist, 18; Christian, 2; Christian Science, 2; Congregational, I ; Evangelical, 3; Evangelical Association, 2; Holland Chris- tian Reformed, 1; Jewish, 11; Lutheran, 13; Methodist Episcopal, 10; Methodist Episcopal African, I; Methodist Free, 1 ; Methodist Puritan, 1 ; Presbyterian, 16; Protestant Episcopal, 12; Reformed Church in America, 3; Reformed Church in United States, 1; Roman Catholic, 20; Second Adventist, 1; Unitarian, 1; Universalist, I ; other religious societies, 9. The oldest religious society is the First Pres- byterian, its organization being effected August 22, 1815; its earlier services were held in a wooden building on State (then Carroll) Street. A stone edifice was completed in 1824, on the site of the City Hall, and retained for nearly fifty years, when the present house of worship on Plymouth Avenue was consecrated. St. Luke's (Protestant Episco- pal) is the next in foundation, July 14, 1817. It has kept
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CHURCHES AND EDUCATION
the same location, on South Fitzhugh Street, from the be- ginning, its sanctuary having been built in 1825; its in- terior, however, having been remodeled and refitted in 1867. The First Baptist is the third in sequence, having been started, in 1818, in a school room directly south of St. Luke's. Its present fine edifice is on North Fitzhugh Street. St. Patrick's Roman Catholic Church, now of cathedral emi- nence, dates from 1818 and its first structure was on the present site at the corner of Platt and Frank streets. The oldest Jewish society (Berith Kodesh) dates from 1848 and its synagogue, at the corner of Grove and Gibbs streets, from 1846.
Other churches have been organized as the needs of the community and the zeal of their promoters have prompted, until the number stated has been attained. Among those of superior architectural significance are the Roman Cath- olic cathedral, the First, Second (Brick), Third and Cen- tral Presbyterian, St. Paul's, Protestant Episcopal, the First Methodist and Asbury and the synagogue, Berith Kodesh. Rochester is the see city of the Roman Catholic diocese of the same name, erected in 1868, with Bernard J. McQuaid as bishop, who is yet at its head, distinguished as one of the foremost scholars and administrators of his communion.
Education in Rochester had its genesis in 1813 in the dame school of Huldah M. Strong in a little room over Jehiel Barnard's tailor shop, at the corner of State and Main streets and, in the latter part of the same year, a school district was constituted and a building, one story in height, was put up on South Fitzhugh Street. Of this school Aaron Skinner was teacher. Its date was coincident with the creation of the public school system of the State, but it is difficult, at this distance, to determine whether or not the school was connected with the system, which, at that time, had meager funds for distribution. The land was donated
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by Rochester, Fitzhugh and Carroll and the cost of the building, principally, if not wholly, borne by the citizens. Other schools, both public and private, followed from time to time, and Rochester bore its part in fostering popular instruction, with which the cities were identified more closely than the rural districts, they maintaining the free school in its full meaning previous to 1848, while the State did not ordain it until 1867. The public schools, incor- porate in the State system, upon the township plan and proceeding under the mayor and alderman as commis- sioners, grew with the growth of the municipality until, in 1841, the first city board of education was organized, with Levi A. Ward as president and I. F. Mack as superin- tendent and, a year later, there were fifteen districts, with 2,300 children in attendance, at an annual cost of main- tenance of $13,000. Leading citizens memorialized the Legislature, so early as 1830, to provide a central school of secondary education in each town of the State, but the free high school was not realized in Rochester until 1857, when the institution that subsequently became known as the Free Academy was established. The board of education was for a long period, composed of commissioners elected by wards, but such government proved cumbersome and lacking in wise and efficient supervision and the board was reconsti- tuted in 1900, to consist of five members elective by the people at large, with terms of four years each. A marked improvement has since taken place both in business admin- istration and methods of instruction and the public schools now rank deservedly among the first in the land. There are two high, one normal training and 34 graded schools, their buildings being commodious, convenient and attract- ive-ornaments to the localities in which they are placed. George M. Forbes is president of the board, and Clarence F. Carroll, superintendent. The cost of maintenance for
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THE GREAT UNIVERSITIES
the school year, 1907-08, was $904,415.20, of which $78,- 362.46 came from the State, and $816,052.74 from local taxation and other sources. The local tax levy for 1908-09 is $797,848. The number of children registered in the public schools is 29,693, and in parochial schools 11,032.
There are 26 parochial (three of academic grade) and 32 select schools, the latter including Hebrew, commercial, correspondence and music schools, and that splendid eleemosynary institution, the Athenæum and Mechanic In- stitute, in which free instruction in drawing, music, domestic science and housekeeping has been given to thousands of pupils, the site of which embraces that of the homestead of Col. Rochester and the usefulness of which is due, largely, to the benefactions of Rochester citizens, and especially to those of George Eastman and the late Henry Lomb.
Rochester is the seat of one of the leading institutions of higher education in the State-the University of Rochester. It is a college under Baptist auspices, but undenominational in conduct. Its first class was graduated in 1851. It is situated on a campus of 24 acres, fronting University Avenue, in one of the most eligible sections of the city. Its buildings are Anderson Hall, completed in 1861, Sibley Hall, erected in 1874, by Hiram Sibley, the Reynolds Memorial Laboratory, built in 1866 by Mortimer F. Rey- nolds, the Eastman Laboratories, presented by George East- man in 1906, and the Alumni Gymnasium. There are no college dormitories, but the members of the Greek letter fraternities lodge in their respective chapter houses. The faculty throughout has been of excellent calibre, chairs being held by Dewey, Kendrick, Raymond, Robinson, Quinby, Ward, Morey and others of national reputation, while the presidents, of whom there have been three, have all been highly distinguished. They include Martin B. Anderson-1853-88-who, with his broad knowledge, his
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analytical and illuminating quality as a teacher and the force of his character, ranks among the few great American educators of the 19th century; David Jayne Hill-1889-96- brilliant as an author, orator and diplomatist, ambassador of the United States to Germany, and Rush Rhees, incum- bent since 1900, scholarly and magnetic in speech, alert in administration and rapidly appreciating in the esteem of educational circles. Until 1900, the university curriculum was exclusively for males, but, in that year, in view of the public demand and of a contribution of $50,000, through a committee of Rochester women, with Susan B. Anthony at its head, females were admitted on "the same terms and conditions" as males. The degrees of bachelor of arts, of philosophy and of science are conferred in course. The number of students registered in 1907-08 was men 244, women 129-total, 373. The graduating class numbered 32 men and 21 women-total, 53. The whole property of the University is $1,533, 154.48, of which $572,759.48 is invested in land, buildings, etc., and $770,486.84 in securities. The expenditures of the year were $81,497.51. In even an allu- sion to the work of the University, a sterling influence it has exerted cannot be ignored. A large proportion of its alumni has not only come from, but has returned to, the city, and, informing both its professional and business life, has exalted and purified its intellectual and moral tone, thus rendering its society exceptionally refined and cultivated.
The Rochester Theological Seminary is among the promi- nent institutions of the Baptist denomination. It was founded in 1850, is located at the corner of East Avenue and Alexander Street, and is richly endowed, principally by John D. Rockefeller and John B. Trevor; after each a hall is named. It has invested in land, buildings and library, $402,048.40, and in permanent securities, $1,637,157.03. Augustus H. Strong, D. D., has been president since 1872,
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LIBRARIES AND THE PRESS
and there is a faculty of 13 members. It graduates classes of about 25 annually. St. Bernard's, a leading seminary for the training of priests of the Roman Catholic Church, was established by Bishop McQuaid in 1893. J. J. Hartley, D. D., is prorector, and there are 12 members of the faculty and 163 seminarians.
Rochester is well provided with libraries. The Reynolds contains about 70,000 volumes, being especially full and valuable in its reference department. The library of the Appellate Division of the Fourth Department has about 31,000 volumes, and the law library in the Powers building, for the sole use of tenants, has a considerable collection. The library of the University has 48,000 volumes, that of Rochester Theological Seminary 35,000, and that of St. Bernard's 12,000. The Mechanics' Institute has a small, but well-selected, library, and in the public school libraries there are 82,617 books, to which 12,115 were added during the past year.
The press of Rochester has, from the first, been a power in Western New York, and has enlisted in its service many able business men and accomplished writers. The pioneer printer was Augustine G. Dauby, who started the Gazette in 1816; and, in 1818, Everard Peck entered the field with the Telegraph. A number of local newspapers have been eminently successful financially. The list of those who have made enviable reputation in various editorial capaci- ties is a long one and includes, among others, Thurlow Weed, who, after a residence of six years in Rochester, went to Albany, in 1830, there to found the Journal and become the most skilful politician of his day; Henry O'Reilly, well known for his "Sketches of Rochester"-a storehouse of in- formation; Edwin Scrantom, hardly less known for his fertile reminiscences of local events; George Dawson, as- sociated for many years with the Albany Journal; Isaac
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Butts, brave, terse and uncompromising with his pen; Luther Tucker and Daniel D. T. Moore, authoritative in agricultural journalism; Leonard W. Jerome, who, after a bright career as editor of the American, accumulated a princely fortune in the metropolis; Robert Carter and Joseph O'Connor, who divide the honors for scholarly culture and lucidity of style; Frederick Douglass, the Chrysostom of his race ; Rossiter Johnson, poet and encyclo- pædist; Isaac H. Bromley, Isaac M. Gregory and George T. Lanigan, famous as wits; William Purcell, supreme as a controversialist; Samuel H. Lowe, graceful and politic in expression ; William F. Peck, of wide knowledge, diligent in research, accurate in statement, and the author of the best local histories extant; George H. Ellwanger, with his crisp and sparkling monographs on flowers and fruits and the epi- curean table; Charles Mulford Robinson, who has written intelligently and attractively on civic art, and has been con- sulted in the beautifying of many American cities; Robert Bridges, of melodious measures, now associate editor of Scribner's Magazine; Edward S. Martin, editor of Harper's Weekly, a gentle and philosophic essayist ; Samuel G. Blythe, a linguistic acrobat, in vogue as a magazine con- tributor; Louis M. Antisdale, the present editor of the Herald, and William H. Samson, managing editor of the Post-Express, both filling their places admirably and effec- tively, the latter a recognized authority on Indian annals and relics. There are now seven daily (one German), two semi-weekly, 13 monthly (one Spanish), and one quarterly, issues of the Rochester press. Authors of standard works are Lewis H. Morgan, whose "League of the Iroquois," "Ancient Society" and kindred studies rank him among the first of modern ethnologists, and James Breck Perkins,-for a time a member of Congress, whose "France Under Riche- lieu and Mazarin," "France Under the Regency," and
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SCIENCE AND CHARITIES
"France Under Louis XIV" place him among leading American historians.
The Rochester Academy of Science was organized in 1881, and the Rochester Historical Society in 1888. Their objects are revealed in their names. There are a number of literary and professional clubs, the most of which also par- take of a social character. Among them are the Club, usually styled the Pundit, the Fortnightly, the Humdrum, the Kent, the Library, the Ethical, the Wednesday Morning, the Browning, the Shakespeare, the Modern History, El Circulo Espagnol and the College Women's. The Roches- ter, Genesee Valley, Eureka, Whist, Friars and Monroe are the principal purely social clubs, and the various patriotic and race associations have here located chapters and lodges.
The charity of Rochester is proverbial. Nowhere does wealth lay its offerings upon the altar of beneficence more freely, or the passion of giving permeate all classes more fully. All infirmities are ministered to and all misfortunes are alleviated. Eleemosynary institutions are numerous and all are amply equipped and well managed. The State has a hospital for the insane and the county its almshouse. The Western New York Institute for Deaf Mutes was in- corporated in 1876, and, while it is partially maintained by tuition fees, it is authorized to receive a number of pupils at State charge, by appointment of the State Commissioner of Education. It has a fine structure on North St. Paul Street, valued at $125,000. Z. F. Westervelt has been prin- cipal since its foundation. The Female Charitable Society is the oldest philanthropy, dating from 1822. It is without buildings and accomplishes its mission through district visitors. The Home of the Friendless and the Industrial School are both highly useful and have been the recipients of many donations. There are five orphan asylums-the Rochester, in support of which Protestant sects generally are
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united; the Jewish, St. Joseph's, St. Mary's (for boys), and St. Patrick's (girls),-the latter three under Roman Catholic supervision. The local hospitals are among the best appointed and best equipped in the State, served gratuitously by the ablest physicians and surgeons, and de- riving large revenues from the bounty and devises of citizens and from annual fairs, which are liberally patronized, and are events in the city life. They are the City, the Homeo- pathic, the Hahnemann and St. Mary's, the last named under the direction of the Sisters of Charity. Among other charitable institutions are the Church Home (Protes- tant Episcopal), the Baptist Home, the German Home for the Aged and the Door of Hope; and, among societies, the American Ladies' Benevolent, a branch of the National Red Cross, Bavarian Benevolent, Humane Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, Mecklenburger Benevo- lent, Baden Sick Benevolent, Prevention of Cruelty to Chil- dren, Swabian Benevolent, Woman's Educational and In- dustrial Union, and various others, under the control of the Roman Catholic and Jewish communions, respectively, both of which are zealous in good works. The Young Men's Christian Association was organized in 1875, and the Young Women's in 1883. Each has a large and active member- ship.
The cleanliness, safety and health of Rochester are con- served by its splendid water system, which has no superior in the purity of its supply or in the fidelity and economy of its management. It is owned and operated entirely by the municipality. It has two divisions-public and domestic use and fire protection. The works, first utilized in 1876, were completed under the supervision of an eminent engi- neer, J. Nelson Tubbs, but have since, from time to time, been enlarged and improved. The sources of supply, through gravity, are from Hemlock and Canadice, two beau-
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WATER SUPPLY AND PARKS
tiful lakes of signal purity, in Livingston County, about 29 miles south of Mt. Hope reservoir, the main distributing reservoir within the city limits. There is an intermediate reservoir at Rush, 10 miles beyond Mt. Hope. The first conduit laid consists of 9.627 miles of 36-inch and 2.92 miles of 24 wrought, inch riveted pipe and 15.70 miles of 24-inch cast-iron pipe. A newer conduit includes 2.252 miles of brick facing six feet in diameter and 25.94 miles of 38-inch riveted steel with 1.47 miles of 3.6-inch cast-iron pipe. The capacity of the Mt. Hope reservoir is 24,278,101 gallons, with a water surface of 51/2 acres; that of Rush, 74,525,902 gallons, with an area of 14 acres. Still another, the Cobb's Hill (unfinished) will have a capacity of about 140,000,000. The elevation of Hemlock Lake above the heart of the city is nearly 400 feet. There are about 320 miles of distrib- uting pipe of this division in the city. The Holly, or fire protection, division, obtains its supply from Genesee River, and has about 326 miles of distributing pipes and 3,550 hydrants. It is a great safeguard against conflagrations, of which Rochester has had very few in recent years. The daily average consumption of the whole system is 16,410,000 gallons. The cost of the works up to January 1, 1908, was $7,816,204.83; the revenues for 1907 were $588,303.98; the operating expenses, $198,343.93 ; the amount applied to the liquidation of funded indebtedness, $280,749.69, and to bet- terments, $85,476.68.
In a city which is in itself a park from center to circum- ference, wherein the elms spread their branches and the fathers set breathing places in the thoroughfares, there would seem to be less necessity for public parks than in places less favored; and yet the one has but fed the desire for the other, which was attained, in 1888, in the projection of one of the most elaborate park systems in the country. Much credit is due to the late George W. Elliott who, in the press
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and in the Common Council, urged the movement, but the late Dr. Edward M. Moore, who, from his varied knowl- edge and consistent public spirit was long held to be the "first citizen" of Rochester, and, from its inception until his death in 1902 was president of the park commission, is gen-
erally regarded as the father of the system. It has, from the first, enlisted in its behalf as commissioners men of zeal and devotion to their work. Alexander B. Lamberton is now president of the board, and Calvin C. Laney is, and has been, for many years, superintendent and engineer. A few words must suffice for an altogether insufficient description of this magnificent undertaking. There are three principal parks-the Genesee Valley, the Highland, and the Seneca. The first, at the south end of the city, contains 535.08 acres, through which the river flows, with gently sloping banks, and level lands beyond, on either side. Ancient trees are preserved, and lawns and winding paths and pleasure grounds have been skilfully fashioned. The second, in the near neighborhood of the first, includes 54.69 acres, and is exceptionally beautiful in flowers, both native and exotic. The third, below the lower falls, where the river sweeps through a deep chasm, is remarkable for the grandeur of its scenery and the extent of its outlook. Its domain is 211.06 acres. The cost of these park lands was $318,368.48. There are numerous small parks and squares scat- tered throughout the city, their entire acreage being 1,472.07. George Eastman has recently given to the city a lot of 1,500 feet frontage adjoining the Cobb's Hill reser- voir, which will add considerably to the park demesne.
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