USA > New York > Niagara County > Biographical and portrait cyclopedia of Niagara County, New York > Part 7
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BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
glance be taken at the life, habits, customs, and manners of the early settlers.
The settlers usually came bringing all their worldly store-consisting of the bare necessities of life-on pack horses. After arriving at their destination, the first thing done was the selection of a cabin-site. This selection was always determined by a good spring or stream of water. Now trees were felled and cut into logs to build the cabin. This done, a day was set for the "raising," and every one within five or six miles was notified. The neighbors turned out en masse, and the round logs (sometimes they were hewn) were rapidly placed in posi- tion. At each corner was an expert hand with an ax to saddle and notch down the logs so low that they would come nearly together. The usual height was one story - sometimes a story and a half. The gable was made with logs gradually shortened up to the top. The roof of clap-boards was now placed on and secured by heavy weight- poles. The puncheon door was swung on wooden hinges, and a puncheon floor laid of slabs placed down with the hewed side up, and fastened with wooden pins driven through holes bored at each end, and down into the heavy sleepers. At a convenient height in the side of the cabin, an aperture was made by leaving out part of a log, and this space was filled with a few panes of glass placed lengthwise, or paper greased with hog's lard was substituted, to let in the light, while here and there a loop-hole was made, so that the cabin might be con- verted into a fort in case of attack by Indians. A door-way was cut through one of the walls, and split or hewed pieces, called door-cheeks, reaching from the bot- tom to the top of the opening, were pinned
to the ends of the logs with wooden pins. A wood latch was placed on the inside of the door. To this latch was attached a leather string, which was placed through a hole in the door, four or five inches above the latch. By pulling on this string from the outside, and thus lifting the latch, admittance was gained to the cabin. The inmates made themselves secure during the night by pulling in the string. The interstices or cracks be- tween the logs were closed with mud. The larger cracks or chinks were first partly closed with split sticks before the mud was applied. The building was generally com- pleted without the use of a single nail. To the cabin was added a stone chimney, ex- tending nearly across one end of the house, with a hearth of such ample dimensions as to accommodate a back-log of such size, that a horse was often required to draw it into the cabin in front of the fire-place, into which it would be rolled with hand-spikes. The cabin up and floored, the crowd at the "raising" would assemble before the door and while away the time till supper, by indulging in feats of strength and- dexterity. Supper would consist of corn-bread and a fine array of wild meats. The settlers would then scatter to their homes, carrying with them their trusty rifles-inseparable companions in those days of lurking and blood-thirsty Indians. The furnishing of the cabin was quickly accomplished. Blocks with legs inserted, answered for stools and chairs ; and for wash-tubs, soap-barrels, and the like, troughs were used. The table was often two slabs, securely fastened on stout pieces driven into the wall, and supported at their other ends by rude legs. Wood plates were to be seen; and the table that could afford a full set of pewter plates and
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OF NIAGARA COUNTY.
spoons was thought to be something ele- gant. Their bedstead, in many cases, was but "rails or poles, kept up by forked sticks and cross sticks in the wall." Over the door-way laid the indispensable rifle on two wooden hooks, probably taken from a dog- wood bush, and pinned to a log of the wall. Along the wall would hang divers garments. Entering the house, often the first thing that greeted your gaze was the loom, upon which the women wove tlie home-made clothing of that day, called linsey-a warm and lasting cloth made of flax and wool. Beside the loom stood the spinning-wheel. During the day the door of the cabin stood open to afford light; and at night, through the winter, light was emitted from the fire-place, where huge logs were kept burning. Candles and lamps of rude manufacture were used. The candles were usually made of tallow, but sometimes of beeswax and tallow, and occasionally lard was added to the compound. These candles were called "dips," being made without molds, by simply dipping the wicks of twisted rags or flax into the melted tallow. Several wicks would be attached to a stick and thus simultaneously immersed, then lifted and placed where the adhering tallow would quickly cool. While these cooled others were dipped, and this process had to be repeated many times before the candles were large enough for use. The melted tallow was usually poured into a kettle of boiling water, on top of which it floated, and this gave the depth necessary for forming the candles. The Germans from Pennsyl- vania brought with them a curious iron lamp, in which lard was used. A very common substitute for a lamp in those early days was a saucer filled with lard, in which a twisted rag wick was placed. Sometimes
a broken tea cup was used, or a large turnip scraped out and filled with lard. In some localities pine knots were used.
A single room generally served the pur- poses of kitchen, dining room, sitting room, bed room, and parlor. In some families there were from six to ten children, who, with their parents, were crowded into this one room. In one corner was the father and mother's bed, and under it the trundle- bed for the smaller children. The larger children lodged in the loft, which they reached by a ladder in another corner; and sometimes they made tracks to and from their beds in the snow driven through the crevices by the wind. Often in the winter would they awake to find their beds covered with snow. Sometimes, as the family in- creased, an addition was built to the cabin, and another room added.
The settler cleared out a patch for corn, planted it, built his bear pens, and spent every spare moment in the forest hunting, as meat was to be his principal food until he could clear out his patch into a field large enough to provide him with a crop sufficient for his needs.
War of 1812 .- No other county in the Union witnessed as much or suffered more from the war of 1812 than Niagara county. A treaty was effected by the United States with the Scnecas, but the Mohaws went to the English. The Niagara frontier was protected by seven hundred poorly equipped men, under command of General Amos Hall, who was succeeded by General Stephen Van Rensselaer. He assembled over twenty- five hundred militia at Lewiston, while only three hundred light artillery and one thous- and regular infantry were at Fort Niagara. Van Rensselaer threw a force across the river under Colonel Solomon Van Rensselaer
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BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
and Captain Wool, who captured Queens- town Heights. Later in the day Lieutenant- Colonel Winfield Scott crossed and assumed command. The British hurried up rein- forcements, while the New York militia, so eager in the morning, now refused to leave their own State, and thus Scott, unsupported, was overpowered, and compelled to surrender his force of six hundred men to the English. After being exchanged, Scott took part in the expedition which captured Fort George, which was placed in charge of General Me- Clure, who abandoned it in December, 1813, and foolishly burned the English village of Newark. His next inexcusable blunder was to allow the surprise and capture of Fort Niagara, with its garrison of four hundred and fifty men, by the British, who held it until the war was over. On the same day, December 18, 1813, the British and Indians captured Lewiston, which they burned in retaliation for Newark. The Indians rav- aged the territory of the county to such a degrec that one-half of its inhabitants fled castward for safety until the red storm of murder and desolation was over.
General Van Rensselaer resigned after the battle of Queenstown Heights, where many a general would have done far worse than he did. His successor, General Smyth, issued a couple of extravagant proclamations, but failed to accomplish anything, and was re- moved. His successors were men of military ability, and although the Niagara frontier was not prominent in the operations of 1814, yet it was protected to a considerable extent.
During 1814 the inhabitants of the county returned in large numbers to their homes, but were only able to raise a scanty harvest, and two years later, when many families were coming into the county from
New England, a series of frosts ruined very promising crops and caused wheat to sell for three dollars per bushel. From 1816 to 1821, when Niagara county was created, settlements increased in number, while the advantages of the Niagara frontier drew many of the best citizens of New England and Pennsylvania to become residents on its soil, where their labors were rewarded with abundant harvests, but lacked means of access to market-a drawback which was remedied in a few years by the eonstruc- tion of the Erie canal.
County Formation .- The present territory of Niagara county was a part of the follow- ing eounties for the respective times specified :
Albany, from 1683 to 1772.
Tryon, 1772 to 1784.
Montgomery, 1784 to 1788.
Ontario, 1788 to 1802.
Genesee, 1802 to March 11, 1808.
As a part of Montgomery county, Niag- ara was included in the German Flats district, while under Ontario it was in the town of Northampton, and when made a part of Genesec county was placed in the town of Batavia.
On March 11, 1808, a bill was passed creating the county of Niagara, which em- braced the present territory of Niagara and Erie counties. This bill and its history the historians of the county have all failed to give, so far, and have only stated the terri- tory of the present county was organized as the town of Cambria, which was divided, June 1, 1812, into the towns of Cambria, Niagara, Hartland, and Porter. The county- seat was at Buffalo until April 2, 1821, when Niagara county was divided into the counties of Niagara and Erie, with their present boundaries.
1
NIAGARA COUNTY COURT HOUSE,
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OF NIAGARA COUNTY.
The first commission to locate a county- seat in 1821 was: Erasmus Root, who favored Lewiston or Molyneaux; William , who died before they met, and Jesse Hawley, whose selection was Lock- port. As they could not agree, a new com- mission was appointed in 1822. It consisted of James M'Kown, Abraham Keyser, and J. H. Hatch, and they chose Lockport, where they purchased in July, of W. M. Bond, a two acre lot for county buildings. The present court house was completed in 1825, and the clerk's office in 1856. Court was held at Lewiston until 1823, when it held its first session at Lockport on the second floor of Miller & Sons' Exchange hotel. The first county officers were ap- pointed in 1821, and were as follows: Lothrop Cook, sheriff; Oliver Grace, clerk ; Silas Hopkins, James Van Horn, and Rob- ert Fleming, judges.
The towns of the county have been organized as follows :
Cambria, Marchi 11, 1808.
Hartland, June 1, 1812.
Niagara, June 1, 1812.
Porter, June 1, 1812. Royalton, April 5, 1817. Lewiston, February 27, 1818. Wilson, April 10, 1819.
Somerset, February 8, 1823.
Lockport, February 2, 1824.
New Fane, March 20, 1824. Pendleton, April 16, 1827. Wheatfield, May 12, 1836.
We give below the county and State officers elected front Niagara county from 1821 to 1879, as compiled from printed lists, but not having verified it by the court house records or State election returns, we can not give it as official, but presume it is correct.
CIVIL ROSTER, 1821-1879.
In 1808 Niagara, Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Genesee, and Ontario counties constituted the fifteenth congressional dis- trict. In 1822 Niagara, Erie, and Chau- tauqua became the thirty-third district, and ten years later Niagara and Orleans consti- tuted the thirty-third district, which was changed in 1842 to the thirty-fourth, and in 1851 to the thirty-first district. In 1862 Niagara, Genesee, and Wyoming were formed into the twenty-ninth district, which was changed in 1873 to the thirty-first dis- trict. Niagara county has furnished the following members of the United States House of Representatives :
NIAGARA CONGRESSMEN.
1809-1811, Peter B. Porter, Niagara Falls.
1811-1813, Peter B. Porter.
1815-1817, Peter B. Porter.
1831-1833, Bates Cook, Lewiston.
1837-1841, Chas. F. Mitchell, Lockport.
1843-1849, Washington Hunt, Lockport. 1853-1857, T. T. Flagler, Lockport.
1861-1863, Burt Van Horn, New Fane.
1865-1867, Burt Van Horn.
1867-1869, Burt Van Horn.
Niagara county has been successively a part of the eighth, the twenty-eightlı, and the twenty-ninth State senatorial districts.
STATE SENATORS.
1829, George H. Boughton, Lockport. 1830, George H. Boughton, Lockport. 1837, Samuel Works, Lockport.
1838, Samuel Works, Lockport.
1839, Samuel Works, Lockport.
1840, Samuel Works, Lockport.
1841, Samuel Works, Lockport.
1842, Samuel Works, Lockport.
1843, Saniuel Works, Lockport.
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BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
1844, Samuel Works, Lockport.
1858, Horatio J. Stow, Lewiston.
1859, Horatio J. Stow, Geo. D. Lamont.
1860, Peter P. Murphy, Royalton. 1861, Peter P. Murphy, Royalton. 1866, Richard Crowley, Lockport.
1867, Richard Crowley, Lockport.
1868, Richard Crowley, Lockport.
1869, Richard Crowley, Lockport.
1878, Lewis S. Payne, North Tonawanda. 1879, Lewis S. Payne, North Tonawanda.
Niagara constituted one assembly district until May 3, 1836, when it was divided into two districts. From 1846 to 1857 the first assembly district consisted of the towns of Lockport, Niagara, Pendleton, Royalton, and Wheatfield. In 1857 Niagara was changed to the second, and in 1866 Cambria to the first district.
ASSEMBLYMEN.
1823, Benjamin Barlow, Jr.
1824, Daniel Washburn.
1825, Daniel Washburn.
1826, William King.
1827, John Garnsey.
1828, John Garnsey.
1829, John Garnsey.
1830, Samuel De Veaux.
1831, Henry Norton.
1832, Henry Norton.
1833, Henry Norton.
1834, Robert Fleming, Jr.
1835, Henry McNeil.
1836, Hiram Gardner.
1837, Reuben H. Boughton, Davis Hurd, Hiram McNeil.
1838, Davis Hurd, Peter B. Porter, Jr.
1839, Davis Hurd, Peter B. Porter, Jr.
1840, Peter B. Porter, Jr., Francis O. Pratt.
1841, Peter B. Porter, Jr., "Francis O. Pratt.
1842, Thomas T. Flager, Francis O. Pratt. 1843, Thomas T. Flager, John Sweeney. 1844, John Sweeney, Luther Wilson.
1845, Levi F. Bowen, John Sweeney. 1846, Lot Clark, Morgan Johnson.
1847, Benjamin Carpenter, Christopher H. Skeels.
1848, Elias Ransom, Solomon Moss, Mor- gan Johnson.
1849, Hollis White, Morgan Johnson.
1850, George W. Jermain, James Van Horn, Jr.
1851, Abijah H. Moss, Jephtha W. Bab- cock.
1852, Abijah H. Moss, Jephtha W. Bab- cock.
1853, Geo. W. Holley, Reuben F. Wilson.
1854, Robert Dunlap, Reuben F. Wilson.
1855, Linus J. Peck, Ira Tompkins.
1856, William S. Penn, John Gould.
1857, Elisha Clapp, John Gould.
1858, Burt Van Horn, John W. Labar.
1859, James Sweeney, Burt Van Horn.
1860, Thomas T. Flager, Burt Van Horn.
1861, Henry P. Smith, Oliver P. Scovell.
1862, Benjamin H. Fletcher, Peter A. Porter.
1863, Benjamin H. Fletcher, William Morgan.
1864, James Jackson, Jr., William Mor- gan. 1865, Albert H. Pickard, Guy C. Hum- phrey.
1866, Solon S. Pomeroy, Guy C. Hum- phrey.
1867, Elisha Moody, William Pool.
1868, Ransom M. Skeels, Benjamin Far- ley.
1869, Ransom M. Skeels, Benjamin Far- ley.
1870, Lewis S. Payne, Lee R. Sanborn. 1871, Jolm E. Pound, Lee R. Sanborn.
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OF NIAGARA COUNTY.
1872, Isaac H. Babcock, George M. Swain. 1873, Isaac H. Babcock, George M. Swain. 1874, Artemus W. Comstock, Orville C. Bordwell.
1875, Artemus W. Comstock, Orville C. Bordwell.
1876, Amos A. Bissell, Jonah W. Brown. 1877, Anios A. Bissell, Sherburne B. Piper.
1878, Joseph D. Loveland, Sherburne B. Piper.
FIRST JUDGES OF THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS.
1823, Silas Hopkins.
1828, Robert Fleming.
1833, Nathan Dayton.
1836, Washington Hunt.
1841, Elias Ransom.
1846, Jonathan L. Woods.
COUNTY JUDGES.
1837, Hiram Gardner.
1851, Levi F. Bowen.
1852, Elias Ransom.
1857, Alfred Holmes.
1865, George D. Lamont.
1868, Hiram Gardner.
1873, Levi F. Bowen.
SURROGATES.
1821, Rufus Spaulding.
1822, Willard Smith.
1831, Hiram Gardner.
1836, Jos. C. Morse.
1840, Henry A. Carter.
1844, Josiah K. Skinner.
1851, Thomas M. Webster.
1855, Mortimer M. Southworth.
1859, George W. Bowen.
1863, Henry D. Scripture.
1867, John T. Murray.
1871, Joshua Gaskill.
1877, George P. Ostrander,
DISTRICT ATTORNEYS.
1821, Zina H. Colvin.
1830, Elias Ransom, Jr.
1833, William Hotchkiss.
1836, Jos. C. Morse.
1836, Robert H. Stephens.
1839, Jonathan L. Woods.
1843, Alfred Holmes.
1845, Sherburne B. Piper.
1847, Sherburne B. Piper.
1850, George D. Lamont.
1853, John L. Buck.
1856, Andrew W. Brazee.
1859, Mortimer M. Southworth.
1874, Frank Brundage.
1877, Benjamin J. Hunting.
SHERIFFS.
1822, Almond H. Millard.
1825, Eli Bruce.
1827, John Phillips.
1830, Hiram McNeil.
1833, George Rynall.
1836, Tamerlane T. Roberts.
1839, Theodore Stone.
1842, James A. Cooper.
1845, Franklin Spaulding.
1851, Elisha Clapp.
1854, Chester F. Shelley.
1857, Benjamin Farley.
1860, George Swain.
1863, James D. Ames.
1866, Alfred Ransom.
1869, Oscar E. Mann.
1872, Norman O. Allen.
1875, Joseph Batten.
COUNTY CLERKS.
1822, Asahel Johnson.
1825, James F. Mason. 1828, Henry Catlin.
1834, Abijah H. Moss.
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BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
1837, Hiram A. Cook. 1840, David S. Crandall.
1843, James C. Lewis.
1845, Edwin Shepard. 1845, Jonn Van Horn. 1848, George W. Gage. 1851, Lewis S. Payne.
1854, Wilson Robinson.
1857, Nathan Dayton.
1859, Charles H. Van Duzen.
1859, Charles H. Symonds.
1862, William S. Wright.
1865, Lewis S. Payne.
1868, George B. Wilson.
1871, Peter D. Walter.
1874, George L. Moot.
1877, Amos W. R. Henning.
COUNTY TREASURERS.
1848, Thomas T. Flagler. 1851, Alfred Van Wagoner.
1854, William J. Dunlop.
1857, John Van Horn.
1860, Morrison W. Evans.
1863, Jacob M. Chrysler.
1866, Josiah L. Breyfogle.
1869, Hiram Benedict.
1872, S. Curtis Lewis.
1875, S. Curtis Lewis.
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTORS.
1836, Hiram Gardner. 1840, Davis Hurd, Peter B. Porter.
1848, Solomon Parmele.
1852, Wm. Vandervoort, S. B. Piper. 1856, Wm. Keep.
1872, M. C. Richardson.
STATE OFFICERS FROM NIAGARA COUNTY.
Washington Hunt, governor, 1850 to 1854. Bates Cook, comptroller, 1839. Peter B. Porter, secretary of state, 1815. G. G. Clark, prison inspector, 1862.
G. H. Boughton, canal commissioner, 1840.
Hiram Gardner, canal commissioner, 1858. James Jackson, canal commissioner, 1873.
MEMBERS OF STATE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVEN- TIONS.
1846, Hiram Gardner and John W. Mc- Nitt.
1867, Thomas T. Flager and Levi F. -
Bowen.
Erie Canal .- No other agency has been as influential in the development of the material wealth and the great prosperity of Niagara county as the Erie canal, whose construc- tion was an era in the growth of the State, and an important event in the history of the nation. It gave to Niagara county in- crease of population, new towns and cities, direct communication with the markets of the world and a wonderful wealth of water power for present manufacturing purposes and numberless unborn industries of the future.
In 1724 Governor Colden urged the im- provements of the natural channels from the Hudson to Lake Ontario. In 1803 Governor Morris suggested an artificial river through the central highlands of New York, while James Geddes, a surveyor, re- ceived the idea favorably, and Jesse Hawley was the first man to champion the idea of a canal from Lake Erie to the Hudson, through the press of the State. Joshua Forman first proposed its construction, in 1808, in the legislature, where he secured $600 for a survey, which was made by Geddes, from Lake Oneida to Lake Erie, as well as that from Lake Erie eastward, which latter route he urged as being the only possible one. In 1810 the legislature appointed a committee, of which Governor Clinton, Mor-
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OF NIAGARA COUNTY.
ris, and Peter B. Porter, were members, to examine Geddes' suggested route. They reported favorably, and recommended its construction by the State, at an estimated expense of $5,000,000. Aid was asked of congress, which the war of 1812 prevented, and also caused the repeal of an act of the New York legislature authorizing a five million loan for the construction of the pro- posed canal. After the war the subject was again agitated, and in 1821 the western part of the canal was put under contract, and its route through Niagara county led to the founding of the city of Loekport. The cutting through of the ridge at Lock- port was the last work done between Albany and Buffalo. The length of the eanal was 363 miles, cost $7,143,780.86, and increased in width from twenty-eight feet at the bot- tom to forty feet at the top. De Witt Clinton was it great champion, and witnessed its opening on October 26, 1825, when a flotilla of five boats started from Buffalo for the first through passage from lake to sea- port. By the firing of cannon at every five or six miles along the way, the news of the opening at Buffalo was eonveyed to New York and the ocean. From 1835 to 1860 the canal was widened to seventy feet by seven in depth, and shortened to 3503 miles in length. Its enlargement eost $30,000,000; yet it has more than paid for itself, besides developing the State and add- ing to the wealth and prosperity of the whole nation.
La Fayette's Visit. - In 1824 the Marquis de La Fayette was invited to visit this country, whose independence his sword had helped to win, and the American frigate " Brandywine," so named in honor of the battle where he was wounded, was sent to bear him across the Atlantic. His journey
through the several States was a continual ovation, and the man who refused the crown of France received more than kingly honor in the " great republic " of the new world.
He reached Buffalo, New York, in June, 1825, visited the falls of Niagara, and was received at Fort Niagara with a salute of guns. Ile spent a night at Kelsey's hotel at Lewiston, and then went to Lockport, which had sent an escort to meet hini, and at that place embarked in a packet for the east.
Gilbert Mottier Marquis de La Fayette, whose name is written, in a celebrated biographical work, as Marie Paul Joseph Roch Yves Gilbert Mottier de La Fayette, was born on September 6, 1757, in France, where he died in 1834. After the distin- guished part which he took in the estab- lishment of American Independence, he returned to his native land, in whose history he was a prominent eharacter as an oppo- nent of the French Revolution and the ambitious designs of Napoleon Bonaparte. He married the Countess De Noailles, and left a family of three children.
Morgan and Anti-Masonry .- Fort Niagara was a great battle-ground between French and English, Indian and English, and Amer- ican and English, and in 1826 was destined to be the spot from which William Morgan disappeared. Morgan was a Freemason, and resided at Batavia, New York, where he purposed to publish an exposition of Free- masonry. Judge Roberts says that "He was arrested for debt, and imprisoned in jail at Canandaigua. He was taken secretly from that jail and conveyed secretly to Fort Niagara, where he was kept until September 19, when he disappeared. The Masons were charged with his abduction; and the abdue- tion and murder were in turn laid at the
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BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
door of the Anti- Masons." " A political party was formed by the opponents of Masonry, and named the Anti- Masonic party. It soon became powerful in the State, and in 1830, in a poll of a quarter of a million votes, failed only by 8,000 votes of electing a governor of New York.
In 1832 this party attained to national proportions, and put forward as its candidate for the presidency William Wirt, who re- ceived the seven electoral votes of Vermont. Ten years later and the Anti-Masonic party had passed out of existence, after a short and unsuccessful career, while the organization which it sought to break down has grown stronger, day by day, until it now numbers its members by thousands in every State of the Union.
Patriot War .- During 1837-38 a feeble insurrection was maintained along the northern frontier of New York against the Canadian authorities, and received much aid and comfort from many of the residents of Niagara and other counties of New York. W. L. Mackenzie, J. J. Pappineau, and Rensselaer Van Rensselaer were the patriot leaders along the Niagara frontier. With 700 men and twenty cannon they seized Navy island, on the Canadian side, which they fortified. On December 29th the little steamboat "Caroline " made two or three trips with supplies to Navy island, and then lay up at Schlosser landing, where that night she was captured by a British force, which fired and sent her over the falls. Our government resented this invasion of New York soil, and sent General Scott with an armed force to protect the Niagara border, which he did effectually. In 1838 Van Rensselaer abandoned Navy island, and the last attempted invasion of Canada from St. Lawrence county met with signal defeat,
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