USA > New York > Erie County > Centennial history of Erie County, New York : being its annals from the earliest recorded events to the hundredth year of American independence > Part 30
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334
EVANS, COLLINS AND SARDINIA.
southern boundary, and thence narrowed by the lake to about four miles and a half on its northern boundary.
By the same law the excessively long town of Concord was subdivided into three towns. That part comprised in townships Six and Seven, range Eight, and in three tiers of lots on the west side of townships Six and Seven, range Seven, was formed into a new town named Collins. That part comprised in town- ship Seven, range Five, and three tiers of lots on the cast side of township Seven, range Six, and in the portion of township Six, range Six, north of Cattaraugus creek, was formed into a new town named Sardinia.
Collins was named by Turner Aldrich, the most prominent of the old settlers, after his wife's maiden name. General Nott states in his reminiscences that he named Sardinia after his favor- ite psalm-tune. He says that "Concord," " Wales" and " Sar- dinia " were all well known tunes in the old psalm-book, "Sar- dinia" being his especial delight. Seeing that "Wales" and "Concord" were immortalized by their names being given to towns, he determined that his own favorite should receive equal glory. So he claimed his privilege as the oldest resident, and succeeded in getting the new town named Sardinia.
335
THE NEW COUNTY.
CHAPTER XXX.
MISCELLANEOUS.
The New County .-- Niagara Perpetuated .- Change of Characteristics .- Change of Names. - White's Corners. - Abbott's Corners. A Black Wolf .- An Effect - ive Blow. -- A Curious Couple. - A Wolf's Strategy. - Trapped and Slain. An Impromptu Gallows. - Pigeons. - Black Rock .- Condition of Buffalo .- Some of its Lawyers. - Anecdotes of John Rool.
On the second day of April, 1821, a law was passed, enacting that all that part of the county of Niagara north of the center of Tonawanda creek should be a separate county, by the name of Niagara, while the remainder should thenceforth be known as Eric.
Thus at length was formed and named the great county, the annals of which I have the honor to record. It had the bound- aries specified in the first chapter, and those boundaries it has ever since retained.
As stated in chapter eighteen, the old county of Niagara was perpetuated in most respects in the county of Eric rather than in the one that bore the ancient name, since the former retained more than half the area, two thirds of the population, the county seat, the county records and most of the county officers. In every respect except the name, Eric is a continuation of old Niagara, organized in 1808, while the present Niagara is a new county, organized in 1821.
Doubtless the reason for giving the old name to the smaller and less important county was because the great cataract, which makes Niagara's name renowned, was on its borders, and it was felt that there would be an incongruity in conferring the name on a county which, at its nearest point, was three miles distant from the famous Falls. (Even this is probably nearer than most people suppose, but it is a trifle less than three miles from the cataract to the lower end of Buckhorn island.)
The reader and the author have now arrived at a turning point in the history of the county. Not only was its name changed,
336
CHANGE OF CHARACTERISTICS.
but it so happens that that change is very closely identical in time with an important change in its general character. Hith- erto it had 'been a pioneer county. Henceforth it might fairly be called a farming county.
There was no particular year that could be selected as the epoch of change, but 1821 comes very close to the time. Previ- ously the principal business had been to clear up land. As a general rule, there was little money with which to build comfort- able houses, little time even to raise large crops, except in a few localities. After a time not far from 1821, although there was still a great deal of land-clearing done, yet it could not be called the principal business of the county.
The raising of cattle and grain for market assumed greater im- portance, and in fact from that time forward, the county taken as a whole, though still a newish country, would hardly be called a new country. Yet there were a few townships almost entirely covered with forest, and everywhere the characteristics of the pioncer era were closely intermingled with those of a more ad- vanced period.
Probably the most conspicuous manner in which the change was manifested to the eye was by the material of the houses. Hitherto, log houses had been the dwelling-places of nearly all the people outside of the village of Buffalo. Even the little vil- lages, which had sprung up in almost every township, were largely composed of those specimens of primeval architecture.
But with improved circumstances came improved buildings. After the time in question, a majority of the new houses erected in the county were frames, and every year saw a rapid increase in the proportion of that class of buildings over the log edifices of earlier days.
When Erie county was named it contained thirteen towns. At that time there were but ten post-offices in it, but there were several others established a little later. The ten were situ- ated at Buffalo, Black Rock, Williamsville, Clarence, Willink, Smithville, Barkersville, Boston, Springville, and Eden. The Eden post-office, as has been said, was in Evans, on the lake shore. That of "Barkersville" was at the old Barker stand in Hamburg, at the "head of the turnpike." "Willink " was at Aurora village.
337
WHITE'S CORNERS, ABBOTT'S CORNERS, ETC.
Besides these there had been one, and probably there was still one, called "Hamburg," at John Green's tavern.
Although the post-office at what is now Hamburg village had been called "Smithville," yet the name never stuck, and even the old one of "Smith's Mills" began to fade away. Thomas T. White had lately settled at that point, engaging heavily in busi- ness, the Smiths had sold their mills to other parties, and ere long the place began to be known as "White's Corners." This was its only name for over forty years, and it is still generally known by it, notwithstanding its present legal title, "Hamburg."
Mr. Seth Abbott also moved to the place previously known as "Wright's Corners," not far from this time, and built a large public house there. His son, Henry Abbott, engaged in trade there, the old name fell into usc, and for over half a century the little village has been known only as Abbott's Corners.
At most of the post-offices mentioned, there was the nucleus of a village, but there was none at "Barkersville," nor at the " Eden " post-office, in Evans. Whatever of metropolitan pos- sibilities there were in the latter town manifested themselves at "Wright's Mills," which cre long began to be called "Evans Center," but where there was as yet no post-office.
There were also the nuclei of villages, but without post-offices, at "Cayuga Creek" (Lancaster), Alden, Hall's Mills (or Hall's Hollow), Holland, Griffin's Mills, East Hamburg and Gowanda.
Notwithstanding these signs of improvement, and the general transformation of the county from a land-clearing to a land- tilling district, the farmers met with incessant discouragement. Keeping sheep was their especial difficulty, yet sheep must be kept, for there was no money to buy clothes. The wolves were almost as troublesome in peace as the Indians in war.
Besides the gray-backed prowlers, an occasional bold, black wolf was seen, though very rarely. One, which had killed over fifty sheep in Lancaster, came into the open fields within a fur- long of Mr. Clark's house in the day time, and caught another. Young James Clark and his brother saw the raid but were un- able to prevent its successful execution. They, however, set a trap for the dark slayer, and had the good fortune to catch him.
The bounty then was ten dollars. Afterwards it was, in some towns, from sixty to ninety dollars ; whelps half-pricc. An
338
AN EFFECTIVE BLOW.
Indian is reported to have made $360 in one forenoon, catching young wolves. It was generally supposed that many hunters, both Indians and whites, were in the habit of letting old she- wolves escape-in fact of guarding against their discovery by others-in order to get an annual revenue from the whelps. In this case it was the wolf that laid the golden eggs.
On several occasions the citizens in different parts of the county got up grand wolf-hunts, forming long lines and beating the woods for miles, or trying to enclose them in circles, but I have heard of none that were successful. The " Anaconda Sys- tem " did not work any better then than in later years. The wily marauders always found a loop-hole of escape.
While these elaborate preparations usually failed, one of these public enemies was frequently slain by the simplest means. A Mr. Patterson, living a little south of Mr. Oren Treat's, in Aurora, is said by that gentleman and others to have killed one, near 1820, at a single blow. Hearing a noise in a kind of outside pan- try attached to his house, he picked up an unloaded gun and ran out. A big wolf jumped out of the pantry window. With all his might Patterson struck him with the breech of his gun, and his wolfship fell to the ground. On bringing a light the old musket was found to be broken short off at the breech, and the wolf lay stone dead ; the single, well-directed blow having broken his neck.
But the most remarkable of these primitive raiders, and the only one for whose exploits I have further room, was an old she- wolf which infested the territory of Collins and North Collins. According to Messrs. Wheeler and Hale before mentioned, Mr. George Southwick, of Gowanda, and others, she was a marauder of most surprising intelligence and accomplishments.
In that she slaughtered sheep, she was like the rest of her race. But her especial forte was to form an intimate acquaint- ance with most of the large dogs of the vicinity. Those that she could not tempt into forbidden paths she fought with and whipped, and thus she was mistress of the situation so far as the canine race was concerned.
Her most particular friend was a dog belonging to Levi Woodward, in the present town of North Collins. This canine Antony and lupine Cleopatra would roam the fields at night
339
A STRANGE COUPLE.
in company, killing sheep by the dozen, and retire to the swamps in the day-time. Frequently a number of men would turn out and follow them, but without avail, and they would perhaps come back the very next night and kill more sheep.
The dog occasionally came around his master's house, but it was thought best not to kill him, as it was hoped he might be used to cause the destruction of the more dangerous offender. So a bell was put on him, and he was left to seek the company of his mistress, the project being that when that bell was heard at night some one should get up and kill the wolf.
But she would never go by a house in his company. The bell has been heard coming along a road, toward a lonely house, when the owner would arise and wait, with loaded rifle, the ap- pearance of the great marauder. But presently the dog would go trotting along, alone. The next morning it would be seen by the tracks that, while the dog trotted carelessly by, the wolf had gotten over the fence some distance from the house, gone around, and reëntered the road on the other side.
At length the people of the neighborhood three miles south- ward from North Collins became satisfied that she had a litter of whelps in the vicinity, and thought they could at least cap- ture them, even if the old one was too much for them. They made up a company of fourteen, which searched the woods until at length the prize was found in a lair made in the boughs of a basswood, which had been felled for browse.
Seven puppy-whelps, half-dog, half-wolf, were taken from the lair, and just as the last one was drawn out, the maternal head of the family put in an appearance, a short distance away. The men seized their guns, but, ere one of them could take aim, the madam comprehended the situation and vanished in the forest.
The scalps of her unfortunate family were taken to Springville, and thirty dollars apiece received for them from the proper offi- cials, sixty dollars being the bounty on full-grown wolves. Young Hale, who was one of the party of fourteen, received fifteen dollars for his share. Since the whelps were only half- wolf, a question might have been raised by casuists as to whether the captors were entitled to more than half the usual bounty, but since both father and mother were sheep-killers, probably the officials thought the spirit of the law was complied with.
340
IGNOMINIOUS EXECUTIONS.
Madam Wolf did not return to that neighborhood, but estab- lished herself on the farm of Samuel Tucker, about a mile from North Collins, and began to make her accustomed raids. Mr. T. determined to ensnare her, but knew that she had always avoided traps with remarkable skill, and therefore took extra precautions. Having killed a calf, he placed a part of it in a corn- field, putting in the midst of the bait a common fox-trap which had been dipped in melted tallow, and heavily coated with that material. This destroyed the smell of the iron, and the gray depredator was at last outwitted and caught. A heavy clog being attached to the trap, she was unable to drag it away, and daylight revealed her misfortune to her enemies.
Word was sent out, and the men and boys from miles around assembled to see the dreaded foe of the sheepfold. She was slain amid universal rejoicing, and Mr. Tucker received sixty dollars for her scalp.
Her canine friend met with a still more ignominious fate. One Sunday he ventured to approach a house whence all the family had gone to a Quaker meeting, save one woman. Recognizing the sheep-slayer, she determined on his destruction, but having no fire-arms, or not knowing how to use them, she was obliged to depend on strategy.
First she arranged a rope into a slip-noose. Next she pulled down the long, heavy well-sweep and fastened it to the curb. Then giving the dog some food, she invited him up to the well, managed to slip the noose over his neck, fastened it to the small end of the sweep, and loosened the sweep from the curb. The heavy end went down with a rush, and in an instant the sheep- killer was hanging a dozen feet above the ground.
Besides the four-footed wild game, pigeons were a frequent resource in their season, especially for the Indians. Not merely the few that can be shot as they fly, but the vast numbers that can be obtained from their nests. The banks of the Cattarau- gus were celebrated as their resorts, and a little west of Spring- ville, on both sides of the creek, there were millions of nests.
The whole tribe used to go out from Buffalo creek to get a supply. They were obtained by cutting down the trees, and of this, as of all other work, the squaws at that time did the greater part. Mr. C. C. Smith, of Springville, says he has seen the
34I
BLACK ROCK AND BUFFALO.
squaws cut down trees from two to three feet through, getting fifty or sixty nests from one tree. Each nest contained a single "squab," that is a fat young pigeon, big enough to eat, but not big enough to fly. Occasionally, but very rarely, there were two in a nest. These were scalded, salted and dried by the thou- sand, furnishing food most acceptable to the Indians and not despised by the whites.
While the country was thus divided between raising crops, starting villages and hunting game, the embryo city at the head of the Niagara was beginning to make rapid progress. At the time of the formation of Erie county it had nearly two thousand inhabitants.
Black Rock, too, which had long remained an insignificant hamlet, was now rapidly advancing, and was making desperate efforts to secure the termination of the grand canal. General Porter had returned home from his work of locating the inter- national boundary, had resumed a portion of his former influ- ence, and was the leader of the Black Rock forces in their con- test with Buffalo.
As Black Rock still had the only harbor in the vicinity, as not a ship was built at, nor sailed from, any other American port within a hundred miles, her chances of success appeared good, and the little village grew even faster than Buffalo. It was mostly situated on Niagara street, at the foot of the hill north of the site of Fort Porter.
In Buffalo, the main part of the business was transacted on Main street, between Crow (Exchange) street and the court- house park. There were also numerous residences in the same quarter. Other dwellings, more or less scattered, occupied parts of Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga and Tuscarora streets, for these were still the appellations of the highways now known respect- ively as Ellicott, Washington, Pearl and Franklin. There were also a few dwellings on the cross-streets. The town was sup- posed to be rich enough, and the people gay enough, so that some one had built a place of entertainment called the Buffalo Theater, but there are indications that it was not very largely patronized.
Near Chippewa market there was a swampy place, and a gully carried its waters toward the river, crossing Main street
342
THE BAR IN 1820.
near Chippewa. All the northeastern part of the present city was low ground, unoccupied and untilled. Not far up Busti avenue (Genesee street) there was a log causeway, whither the girls and boys went in summer to pick the blackberries growing beside it.
As far up as Cold Spring, an irregular line of forest came up to within from forty to a hundred rods of Main street. About this time, or a little later, after a grand squirrel-hunt, lasting all one day, the two parties of hunters, which had been led by two young lawyers, Frederick B. Merrill and Joseph Clary, met the next day to count their game at a spring near Delaware street, just north of Virginia. They selected that place because there the woods came from the west to Delaware street, affording a pleas- ant shadc.
Mr. Clary was a new addition to the Erie county bar, in which he afterwards took a fair rank. There were none as yet, how- ever, of that remarkable galaxy of lawyers who, fifteen years later, made the bar of Erie county celebrated throughout the State. Albert H. Tracy was probably the peer in intellect of any of them, but he devoted himself largely to politics, and seldom appeared in the legal arena.
Potter, Walden, Harrison, Sheldon, Clary, Moseley, Moulton, and "Old Counselor Root" were the leading practitioners. Sheldon Smith came a little later. Counselor John Root, a big, round-shouldered, slouching man, whose practice was beginning to decline on account of drink and idleness, was the "charac- ter" of the Erie county bar in 1820. Two-thirds of the jokes and sharp sayings related by the older members of the bar, are attributed to "Old Counselor Root." Asin other cases of a similar kind, it is quite likely that he has been saddled with more than is really chargeable to him, but there is no doubt of his great readiness in repartee and tact in management.
H. W. Rogers, Esq., has collected a number of anecdotes of Mr. Root, in his essay before the Historical Society, entitled, " Wits of the Buffalo Bar." Some of them I will transfer into this " Miscellaneous " chapter, to give a side-light on the men and manners of half a century ago.
He was not inclined to spare even the court, and on one occa- sion, when somewhat excited by liquor, in commenting on an
343
"OLD COUNSELOR ROOT."
adverse decision of the judge, he declared that it could only be compared with the celebrated decree of Pontius Pilatc.
"Sit down, Mr. Root, sit down," angrily exclaimed the judge; "you are drunk, sir." The old counselor slowly sank into his chair, saying, in rather low tones, but loud enough to be heard by all around :
"That 'is the only correct decision your honor has made during the whole term." The court and bar were compelled to laugh, and Root escaped without further censurc.
Some time afterwards a young lawyer, who perhaps thought he could be as brusque before the court as the old counselor, re- ceived an unfavorable decision with the indignant exclamation that he was astonished at the judgment of the court. He was immediately arraigned for contempt. Finding himself in trouble, hc besought Root to help him.
The latter drew himself up to the utmost of his great height, and, in the most solemn and dignified manner, besought the court to pardon the offender.
"I know," said he, "that our brother is to blame. But he is young-quite young. If he had been at this bar as long as I have, your honor, he would long since have ceased to be aston- ished at any decision which this honorable court might make."
The Court of Common Pleas, in the absence of its first judge, was once held by the senior sidc-judge. Not being overstocked with brains, and being entirely without experience as a presiding judge, business dragged sadly under his administration. Thc lawyers made irrelevant motions and interminable speeches, and the court was powerless to control them. One morning the temporary presiding judge and several lawyers, among whom was Root, met in the court-house hall, just before the time for opening court. Something was said about the slowness of the proceedings, when the judge observed: "I only wish some way could be devised for shortening the lawyers' tongues."
"Perhaps, your honor," said the old counselor quietly, "the same object could be effected by shortening the judges' ears."
In those times a charivari, or "horning," was the frequent accompaniment of a wedding. On one occasion, occurring in Amherst or Clarence, the father and brothers of the bride re- sented the advent of the discordant crowd around their home by
344
A FERTILE SOIL.
firing on them with guns loaded with peas, wounding two or three of the number. For this they were duly indicted and brought to trial. Counselor Root defended them.
One of the wounded persons, a rough, unkempt-looking fellow, testified to the shooting, and to being hit with peas in the calf of the leg. On the cross-examination, Root insisted that he should pull up the leg of his pantaloons and show where he was shot. The witness hesitated but did as requested, displaying a limb thickly covered with dirt. It looked as if it had never known the use of soap or water.
"There" said he, pointing to a spot even more thickly in- crusted than the rest, "is where the peas went in."
"And when," queried Root, "did the shooting occur?"
"About six weeks ago," replied the witness.
"Oh, nonsense!" exclaimed the counselor, "if there had been any peas planted in that soil six weeks ago, they would have been four inches high by this time!"
345
OFFICIAL AND POSTAL.
CHAPTER XXXI.
1821 TO 1824.
Official and Postal .- Military and Journalistic. - Dramatic Scenes. - Kauquatau Condemned. - The Flight and the Return. - The Wiles of So-onongise. - The Execution .- The Arrest. - A Primitive Court-room. - The Trial. - Red Jacket's Philippic .- Impotent Conclusion. - Ellicott's Resignation. - The Old- est Physician .- A Sardinia Merchant .- Buffalo Harbor .- Ingenious Channel- Cutting. - A Warlike Pile-driver .- Loss of the Walk-in-the- Water. - A Haz- ardous Bond. - First Work on the Canal. - New Constitution. - Officers under it .- Other Officials .- Millard Fillmore. - A Vigorous Race .- Alden and Erie. - " Cayuga Creek."-Beginning al Tonawanda .-- Other Matters .- An Uneventful Year. - Easier Payments.
In the spring of 1821 Judge Forward was elected to the State senate, but neither of the two assemblymen from this district were residents of Erie county. Roswell Chapin was appointed surrogate in place of Dr. Johnson. Later in the season Samuel Russell was chosen a delegate to the State constitutional con- vention. The supervisors for the year, so far as known, were Ebenezer Walden of Buffalo, Oziel Smith of Amherst, O. R. Hopkins of Clarence, Ebenezer Holmes of Wales, Lemuel Wasson of Hamburg, James Green of Eden, John Twining of Boston, Mitchell Corliss of Holland, Elihu Rice of Sardinia, and John Lawton of Collins.
A new post-office was established during the year at East Hamburg, with Lewis Arnold as postmaster, and one at Wales, with Wm. A. Burt as postmaster. The latter gentleman had pre- viously begun the business of merchandising in Wales, by sell- ing a few goods in his house, according to the custom before spoken of. From one of the "military commissions" so fre- quently published at this era, one learns that in 1821, Abner Currier, of Holland, was made colonel, and Josiah Emery, of Aurora, lieutenant-colonel, of the 170th regiment of infantry ; Hiram Yaw, of Boston, colonel of the 48th regiment, and Robert Kerr, lieutenant-colonel. About this time Truman Cary resigned a commission as lieutenant-colonel. Necessarily,
23
346
STARTLING EVENTS.
I mention only the officers of whom there happens to be a record. Frederick Richmond, of Springville, was a brigadier-general about the same time.
The change of name of the county made it necessary for the two newspapers in it to drop their old appellations. So the Ni- agara Patriot (whilom the Buffalo Gazette) became the Buffalo Patriot, and the Niagara Journal, the Buffalo Journal.
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