USA > New York > Erie County > Buffalo > An authentic and comprehensive history of Buffalo : with some account of its early inhabitants, both savage and civilized ; comprising historic notices of the Six Nations or Iroquois Indians, including a sketch of the life of Sir William Johnson, and of other prominent white men, long resident among the Senecas ; arranged in chronologial order > Part 18
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"In this affair, the Indian chief Young King was wounded in the foot, and we lost two or three other men.
" A British sergeant, while retreating, was shot through the leg, and lay just under the bank, a little west of Gen. Porter's house, the present residence of L. F. Allen, Esq. One of our Indians, who had just dis- charged his rifle, jumped down the bank, some twenty feet from the wounded man, and stopped to load. The sergeant partly raised himself up and attempted to shoot the Indian ; his gun missed fire. The Indian, in a paroxysm of rage, sprang upon his foe with the ferocity of a tiger, wrenched the gun from his grasp, and with one well-directed blow, knocked his brains out. The gun was an elegant, silver-mounted piece, but was broken off at the breech by the blow, but was afterwards mended and did good service.
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263
MR. JOB HOYSINGTON-MR. HODGE'S PAPER.
" In the disastrous battle fought at Black Rock on the morning of the 30th Dec., 1813, and which resulted in the defeat of our troops and the burning of Buffalo, Job Hoysington bore a most conspicuous part. Himself, and indeed all Capt. IIall's company of Buffalonians, fought most bravely. Nearly all our raw militia, amounting to nearly three thousand, many of whom had been in camp but a few days, fled at the first onset like a flock of sheep. It was a real 'Bull's Run' stampede. For more than half an hour, a few hundred of our men made a most determined resistance ; but a thousand disci- plined British troops, with a few hundred Indians on their flank, soon compelled our men to give way. Hoy- sington did so with great reluctance, and after retreating some distance with the rest, suddenly stopped and said, ' I will have one more shot at them.' In vain was he entreated not to tarry.
" Days, weeks and months passed away, but no tidings came of the missing Hoysington. But when the spring came, and the winter snows had melted away, his re- mains were found beside a log, not far from the present residence of F. Gridley, Esq, on North street. A bullet had passed through his head, and the marks of the tom- ahawk in his skull told too plainly that he fell by the hand of the savages. His empty rifle lay by his side. His remains were buried in the old neighboring burial ground.
" About the year 1850, the remains in this old cemetary, some one hundred in number, were exhumed and placed in boxes, preparatory to their removal to ' Forest Lawn.' The writer, with a friend, called to look at the remains. In one of the boxes evidently lay
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HISTORY OF BUFFALO.
the skull of Hoysington. The bullet holes and the marks of the tomahawk were too plain to be mistaken. A few days after, with other friends, he called again to view the sad relics, but the skull was gone ; no one could give any information in regard to it. Some one had taken it away ; possibly it is in the hands of some medical man in our city."
On the morning after the battle at Black Rock, when our troops were flying before the enemy, Mrs. Hoysing- ton with her children waited in anxious expectation of her husband's return, but he came not. Their house was out on Main, near Utica street. She remained until all her neighbors had gone, and great numbers of the panic- stricken militiamen had passed. At last with a heart weighed down with anxiety about her husband, she started on foot, with her little children, to follow on with the rest. She had not gone far before she was overtaken
by two cavalry horsemen. They proposed to take each, one of the smallest of her children on their horses to help her in her flight. She consented, and for many weeks she knew not what had become of her children ; at length a notice was published and Mrs. Hoysington found her children in a distant county. They had been carried home by the sympathizing soldiers, and cared for. They were returned to her in safety, and her oldest son was educated at the expense of the First Presbyterian Church in Buffalo, for the ministry, and became the cele- brated missionary to India and died recently, greatly honored and beloved.
": Among the early lawyers of Buffalo, was the venera- ble John Root, attorney and counsellor at law. He came to Buffalo in 1810. He was the cotemporary of
265
MR. JOHN ROOT.
Walden, Potter, Harrison and other early practitioners in Western New York. A book might be filled with the witty sayings and sharp repartees of " Old Counsellor Root," as he was familiarly named. These are still re- membered and often repeated by the older members of the bar, even to this day.
" Counsellor Root," is remembered as a man of gigan- tic proportions, rather stooping or round shouldered, ad- dicted to drink in his later years, yet never losing an innate propensity to utter sharp, witty sayings. In a case upon one occasion where the judge had decided a point against him, Root, in animadverting upon it, re- marked that it was only equaled by the memorable decision made by Pontius Pilate, on a well-known occasion. The judge sharply rebuked him, saying, " Mr. Root, sit down sir-you are drunk." Root slowly settled himself into his seat, muttering, sotto voce, "That is the only correct decision, your honor has made during the whole term." The court and bar could scarcely restrain the general out- burst of laughter which ran through the whole court- room.
On another occasion, he and Gen. Potter were opposed to each other in trying a case of assault and battery. Root, in the course of his argument, said he had known a case, where a man from a slight blow of a stick on the head became idiotic for the rest of his life. Potter sus- pecting the counsellor of drawing upon his imagination, rather than stating facts, interrupted him by the inquiry, " Who was it ? " Root turned slowly toward him and said in a mild voice, "I dont mean you Brother Potter."
After practicing in his profession to an advanced age, Mr. Root retired to a farm upon the lake shore in the
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HISTORY OF BUFFALO.
town of Hamburgh, but died in this city in 1846, at the age of 76. He was twice married, but left no children.
We have spoken of most of the prominent settlers in Buffalo, up to 1811, or those who were here before the war, that became permanent settlers. It now remains to speak of the transactions of this eventful period. It was during the year 1811, that fears of a war between the United States and Great Britain began to be entertained, and the people of Buffalo began to realize that their po- sition was a dangerous one in case war should be de- clared. Not the least of their anxiety grew out of the fact that the Indians residing in the vicinity were known to still hold friendly relations with their brethren, the Mohawks, who had settled in Canada, and they were known to be still under a strong British influence, ex- erted through British agents and officers, who still held intercourse with them.
In order to ascertain the state of feeling among the Indians on the subject of anticipated difficulties, Mr. Granger, the Agent, held a council with them. He ex- plained to them the nature of the difficulties between the two governments ; that it was in relation to questions in which they had no interest, counselling them in any event to remain quiet at their homes and all differences would be speedily settled upon a solid basis, while they should remain in undisturbed possession of their lands. To this the Indians replied through their chiefs, that they should remain in peace; that in no case, and under no circumstances would they be drawn into hostility with the United States, and that they should endeavor to influence their brethren in Canada, to the same course of action.
267
SPECKS OF WAR.
But when hostilities actually commenced the fear of our own Indians operated powerfully on the public mind, and caused numbers to leave the place, so that it is probable that not over one thousand inhabitants remained at the beginning of the war.
A very iritable state of feeling existed upon both sides of the river. A shot from a musket was fired across the river at Black Rock from the Canada side which occa- sioned some rather beligerent correspondence between the public authorities on both sides, but was finally sat- isfactorily explained by Col. Warren and others upon the other side, showing that the firing was the act of a mere boy, done in sport. This state of feeling however was not confined to this locality, but existed upon the whole line of the river. A public meeting was held at Lewis- ton, which passed strong resolutions in regard to a simi- lar transaction at that place, and the public mind seemed to be preparing for what soon followed. The following article appeared in the Buffalo Gazette, June 16th, 1812 :
" WAR.
"War has been so long the order of the day that it is very difficult to ascertain by the signs of the times whether we shall haveit in reality, or have it in words- mere paper shot. The information contained in this par- agraph may be of the utmost importance to the people of this country. Time will determine. On the first instant the President sent a message to both Houses of Con- gress accompanied with documents lately received from England, upon receipt of which, Congress went into secret session, and remained in conclave on the evening
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HISTORY OF BUFFALO.
of the second, when the last news arrived from Wash- ington. This message related to a declaration of war against England, as is stated in the New York papers, which also state that a bill declaring war against Eng- land had passed the House of Representatives by a ma- jority of thirty-five. The bill was sent to the Senate where it is also rumored that it was rejected by a major- ity of one ! Other accounts state in substance the same. The next mail, we expect, will further elucidate the subject."
The same paper contained the following :
" FRONTIER MILITARY AFFAIRS.
" Col. Swift returned from Albany and resumed the command of the volunteers on the Niagara River. The volunteers have all arrived on the frontier to the number of six hundred. Nathaniel Allen, Esq., member of the Assembly from Ontario County, has been appointed Pay- master to these troops, and has arrived at Black Rock, bringing with him forty thousand dollars, as we under- stand."
A courier was known to have been sent from Wash- ington to Niagara, by the British Minister at Washing- ton, with news of the declaration of war, which gave the information to the British officer in command in Canada, in advance of any official information communicated to our own officers ; and measures were immediately taken by the British to capture everything belonging to the Americans, within their reach.
269
FIRST ACT OF HOSTILITY.
The first act of open hostility was the capture of a small vessel loaded with salt which lay off the mouth of Buffalo Creek waiting for a wind. The captain of the vessel saw two large row-boats, filled with armed men, come out from under the guns of Fort Erie, and steer directly for the vessel. The wind was light; he could not enter Buffalo Creek ; his only alternative was to hoist sail and attempt to escape up the lake, but the wind failing, he fell an easy prey to the enemy. The following notice of this affair is from the Buffalo Gazette, June 30th :
" On Saturday last, at 1 o clock P. M., the schooner Com- mencement, Capt. Johnson, was lying off Buffalo Creek, waiting for a wind. Two British armed row-boats fitted out at Fort Erie, put to sea and took the direction of the schooner, meanwhile Johnson stood out with a faint breeze, intending, if the wind should increase, to double Sturgeon Point, but by the time the schooner liad beat six or seven miles up the lake, the breeze almost failed, and the boats came up with her, captured and towed her into port.
"The schooner belonged to Mr. Peter II. Colt, of Black Rock, and was loaded with salt. There were forty men on board the boats, and only three men and a boy on board the schooner. The crew of the Commencement were released on Sunday morning."
Scattered through the Province of Upper Canada were numbers of Americans-young men engaged in business for themselves, or as agents for others. These were cap- tured as prisoners of war, without distinction or excep-
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HISTORY OF BUFFALO.
tion, many of them however through the assistance of friends were enabled to escape or elude their pursuers. It was very evident that the British were much better prepared for war than the Americans, and the most ex- travagant stories of their preparation and purpose to invade our shores with a formidable army were in circu- lation. The following appeared in the Buffalo Gazette, July 14th :
" The British are understood to have about six or seven hundred regular troops stationed between the lakes from Fort George to Fort Erie. These men are generally those who have seen service in various parts of the old world.
The militia of the Province are ordered out en masse. Great discontent prevails in consequence of this requisi- ›tion, there being no help to gather in the crops ; the clamors of the people are but little short of open rebel- lion. There is no civil authority in Canada-no magis- trate will act-the martial code has usurped the civil law. Many young tradesmen in Canada will be ruined. They are required to take up arms or leave the country. They cannot collect their debts, nor bring away their property, but many have come away and left their all in jeopardy.
The British are said to have more than one hundred pieces of flying, field and garrison artillery in the differ- ent defences on the Niagara river. Fort Erie has been strengthened considerably ; a redoubt of many rods in length was thrown up on Wednesday and Thursday last, on the hill, a few rods below the house of John Warren, Jun., and directly opposite the dwelling house of Gen. Peter B.Porter, at Black Rock. * * Gen. Brock, President of
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AFFAIRS ON THE NIAGARA FRONTIER.
the Parliament of Upper Canada, acting Governor of the Province and Commander-in-Chief of his majesty's forces in Upper Canada, is at present at Newark, super- intending the various defences on the river. He is stated to be an able and experienced officer, of un- doubted courage. He came from Little York (Toronto) soon after hearing of the declaration of war, and, it was believed, with a serious intention of attacking Fort Niagara ; but, contrary to what has been reported, he made no demand of surrender." * *
Immediately on the report of a declaration of war, the militia in the neighborhood of the lines were ordered out. Gen. Hopkins, who resided a few miles east of Buffalo, on what was called the " plains," ordered out his entire brigade. Gen. Porter, who had been to Wash- ington, returned to his home at Black Rock and imme- diately assumed the direction of affairs, taking the most active and strenuous measures for defence, as nothing but an immediate invasion by the enemy was expected.
The following appeared under the editorial head of the Buffalo Gazette, June 30th, 1812 :
" Major Frederick Miller, of this town, has been ap- pointed major-commandant of the forces at Black Rock. Col. Swift has taken command at Lewiston. Gen. Por- ter arrived in town on Saturday, and, we understand, immediately sent an express to Canandaigua to expedite, with all possible dispatch, the arms and ammunition de- posited in the arsenal at that place to Black Rock. Sev- eral companies of militia, of Gen. Hopkins' brigade, have been ordered en masse to Black Rock. The light infantry company of Capt. Wells, and militia company
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HISTORY OF BUFFALO.
of Capt. Hull, are embodied, and rendezvous in this vil- lage to protect the town."
The act declaring war was published in the Buffalo Gazette, July 7th, 1812.
The most absurd and startling rumors were put in circulation every day. Mr. Granger held frequent con- sultations with the Indians-issued a proclamation, ad- dressed to the inhabitants of Buffalo, assuring them of the friendly disposition of the Indians, and that no fears need be entertained in regard to them.
Among the other rumors which were put in circula- tion, it was said the British and Indians had crossed over and taken possession of Grand Island in the Niag- ara river, which the Indians at that time claimed as their property. This led our Indians to call a meeting of consultation and conference with Mr. Granger, their agent. The result of this conference is spoken of in the Buffalo Gazette of August, 4th, 1812, as follows :
"The rumor of the British and Indians taking posses- sion of Grand Island (in the Niagara river, and owned by the Senecas) having reached the ears of the Senecas, they assembled for the purpose of counseling with their agent, Mr. Granger, on the subject. The famous Red Jacket, after having stated the information they had re- ceived, addressed the agent in the following manner :
" BROTHER :- You have told us that we had nothing to do with the war between you and the British ; but we find the war has come to our doors. Our property is taken possession of by the British and their Indian friends. It is necessary now for us to take up the business, defend
273
LOYALTY OF THE INDIANS.
our property and drive the enemy from it. If we sit still upon our seats and take no measures of redress, the British, according to the customs of you white people, will hold it by conquest, and should you conquer Canada you will claim it upon the same principles, as conquered from the British. We therefore request permission to go with our warriors and drive off these bad people, and take possession of our lands."
The rumor, like many others, turned out to be ground- less, and of course the Indians were called upon to make no further display of their patriotism at that time.
There is little doubt that this circumstance, trifling as it really was, had a beneficial effect both upon the In- dians and upon the white inhabitants. It gave the In- dians an opportunity of identifying themselves with the American cause, in a public manner, and it also served to dispel all fear that the Indians were inclined to join, or favor the British. Johnston and his son had both previously died, and there was no one left here likely to exert any influence over them adverse to the American cause, and the Indians after this public expression of their loyalty to the Government, were invited to join in the defence of the country in which they had as deep a stake as the whites. All the warriors of the Six Nations residing in their several towns and villages were organ- ized into companies and Farmers Brother was appointed their commander, with other chiefs as his subordinates, and they did good and efficient service through the war.
Although a war with Great Britain was rather looked for and anticipated by politicians and close observers of the signs of the times, yet the great mass of the people
18
274
HISTORY OF BUFFALO.
looked upon it as something remote and improbable, and when the news of the declaration of war came to be viewed as a reality, they were aroused to a sense of their exposed condition. Nothing had been done either by the State or General Government, in the way of protection or defence of the exposed inhabitants on the Niagara frontier. A peace of thirty years had served to remove the generation that had achieved our independence. It is true there were here and there a few of those who had participated in the war of the Revo- lution, but they were in general exempt by law from mil- itary duty ; the great mass of the local militia were almost entirely destitute of military experience or disci- pline. The imperfect organization of our militia system, and the imperfect instruction received at the "trainings," and annual "inspections," did little else than to bring the whole thing into ridicule, rendering the whole sys- tem a hindrance, rather than an aid, to the public defence. It was no uncommon thing for our officers who had re- ceived a thorough military education at West Point, to say that it was far easier to make soldiers out of men who had never "trained " a day in their lives, than to bring under discipline those who had acquired habits at these country trainings which they had to unlearn before the first step in military instruction could be taken. The first efforts of a few weeks to organize a defensive force on the Niagara frontier convinced the peo- ple of the real condition of affairs.
Early in September, 1812, a public meeting was called at the Court House, in Buffalo, of which the following is a notice from the Buffalo Gazette, September 8th, 1812 :
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CRITICAL STATE OF AFFAIRS ON THE FRONTIER.
" COUNTY MEETING :
" A meeting of many citizens of Niagara County was held pursuant to public notice, at the Court House, in Buf- falo, on Thursday last ; Gen. T. S. Hopkins, Chairman, Richard Smith, Esq., Clerk. The officers of the meeting having failed to furnish us a copy of the proceedings of the meeting, we can only say that a committee of five was appointed to address the Governor on the present critical situation of the frontiers, to acquaint him with the great deficiency of arms and ammunition, and pray relief, and that a general committee of safety was appointed to give all necessary information of approaching danger, and also to prevent all unnecessary alarm froin the thousand rumors and falsehoods that are constantly afloat."
Fears had been entertained that the Indians, in case the enemy should make a successful invasion, would join their ancient ally, and every indication of the loyalty of the Senecas was hailed with delight. The following is copied from the Buffalo Gazette of September 29th, 1812 :
" About one hundred and forty warriors of the Sen- eca Nation of Indians from Alleghany River arrived in town last week, and are encamped near the village. More are expected from different parts. Several confer- ences and councils have lately been held with the chiefs. They voluntarily offered to take up arms for defensive operations. Yesterday they performed a war dance in the streets of this village."
Early in October of this year, a detachment of sail-
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HISTORY OF BUFFALO.
ors from New York arrived at Black Rock, destined for the fleet which was organizing on Lake Erie.
Two British vessels-the brig Adams and the schooner Caledonia-were then lying at Fort Erie, and a plan was organized to capture them by surprise, under cover of the night. There was a double purpose in this enter- prise. The Americans were sensible of their weakness upon the whole Niagara frontier, and it was their true policy to keep up an appearance of strength by making occasional aggressive demonstrations. The vessels, al- though armed, were known to have on board very valu- able cargoes of furs. The enterprise was entirely an im- promptu affair, and was enthusiastically entered into by the newly arrived sailors, just from a long, dull overland journey-some of our own citizens entering in to it with spirit, led by the brave Dr. Chapin. An attack, in open boats, upon two armed vessels, was an act which, had it failed, would have been pronounced the height of pre- sumption and rashness ; but, as it proved successful, was characterized as a "gallant and daring exploit." None bnt brave men could have planned and executed it.
The following brief notice of this transaction is taken from the Buffalo Gazette of October 13th, 1812 :
"GALLANT AND DARING EXPLOIT.
" About one o'clock on Friday morning, three armed boats, with one hundred and two men, crossed from this shore to Fort Erie on the opposite side, for the purpose of attacking two British vessels-the brig Adams, of six guns, and the schooner Caledonia, of two guns-at anchor near that place ; one boat containing about fifty
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CAPTURE OF TWO BRITISH VESSELS.
men, another between forty and fifty, and the third six men-the first under the command of Lieut. Jesse D. Elliott, of the United States Navy, the second under Lieut. L. Watts, sailing master, and the third com- manded by Capt. Cyreneus Chapin, of this village. Owing to the delay occasioned by the darkness of the night, the attack did not commence until about three o'clock. Both vessels were boarded at nearly the same time, and captured after a resistance of a few minutes. The cables were immediately cut and the vessels taken down the river. The Caledonia anchored near the Rock. The brig was carried by the current to the west side of Squaw Island, (about half a mile from Black Rock) and run aground at a short distance from the shore. When opposite to the Rock, a heavy cannon- ading commenced from, the batteries and flying artillery from the other shore, which was soon returned from the vessels. The brig, from her situation, was much ex- posed. Those on board, however, were safely landed on our own shore.
"The Adams was soon after re-taken by the British, but the destructive fire from the Island and our artillery on shore soon compelled them to abandon her. There is. good reason to believe they lost a number of their men before they got off. * * * It being thought im- practicable to keep possession of the brig, (a very hasty conclusion, however, we fear) she was set on fire and burnt to the water's edge.
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