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 33
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Major Noah then delivered a speech, going through with the details of his plan, after which the procession returned to the lodge-room, the artillery fired a salute of twenty-four guns, the band played patriotic airs, and the crowd dispersed to their homes.
The same number of the Buffalo Patriot which gave a descrip- tion of the scene contained also a " proclamation to the Jews," quite as amusing as the rest of the proceedings. After declar- ing that God had manifested the approach of the day when the Jews should be reunited, and mentioning the spirit of liberality which encouraged them, the document continued :
" Therefore I, Mordecai Manuel Noah, citizen of the United States of America, late consul of said States for the City and Kingdom of Tunis, High Sheriff of New York, Counselor at law, and by the grace of God Governor and Judge of Israel, have issued this, my proclamation, announcing to the Jews throughout the world that an asylum is prepared, and hereby offered to them, where they can enjoy that peace, comfort and happiness which have been denied them through the intoler- ance and misgovernment of former ages."
The proclamation next proceeded to describe the agricultural and commercial advantages of Grand Island, and of the State of New York, in the most glowing terms. Then the judge continued :
" In his [the Lord's] name do I revive, renew and establish the government of the Jewish nation, under the auspices and protection of the constitution and laws of the United States of
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AUDACIOUS ORDERS.
America, confirming and perpetuating all our rights and privi- leges, our name, our rank and our power among the nations of the earth, as they existed and were recognized under the gov- ernment of the Judges."
How their rank and power among the nations, as they were in the time of the Judges, were to be reconciled with the author- ity of the United States over Grand Island, the enthusiastic ruler did not deign to explain. With sublime audacity he pro- ceeded to issue a series of commands to all the Israelites of the world, not one of whom, except perhaps his secretary, had ever recognized his authority.
He commanded that a census of the Hebrews should be taken throughout the world. He prohibited marriage, or giving " Keduchim," unless both parties were of suitable age, and able to read and write the language of the country they inhabited. He commanded that a strict neutrality should be observed in the pending war between the Greeks and Turks. He declared that the American Indians were in all probability descended from the lost tribes of Israel, and that measures must be adopted to cultivate their minds and reunite them to the chosen people.
Most audacious of all, he levied a capitation tax of "three shekels," or one Spanish dollar, per annum, on every Jew throughout the world, to defray the expenses of reorganizing the government and assisting emigrants. Finally he designated ten of the most eminent Israelites of Europe as commissioners to carry out his instructions.
The proclamation was signed "By the Judge. A. B. Siexas, Secretary pro tem."
.
A day or two later the redoubtable counselor, editor, major, sheriff and judge returned to New York, without having ever visited Grand Island, and that was the end of Ararat. Not an Israelite went to Grand Island, not a " shekel" was paid into the treasury, not a rabbi acknowledged the authority of the Su- preme Judge. All unanimously rejected the enticing scheme, and Noah himself, apparently becoming satisfied of its hope- lessness, utterly abandoned it immediately after his return to the metropolis.
In his description of the affair he called the services "impres-
370
NOAH SURVIVES.
sive and unique." Unique they certainly were. I doubt if a "queerer " performance has ever happened outside the limits of opera bouffe. The foundation-stone of a Jewish city is laid with masonic ceremonies, on the communion table of a Christian church, twelve miles and across a river from the site of the pro- posed metropolis, by a man claiming to be the supreme ruler of Israel without the support of a single Israelite, while an Epis- copal clergyman reads the service and the choir sing Old Hun- dred. Moreover, the ceremonies are under the escort of a detachment of New York militia, their colonel acting as grand marshal, he being at the same time district-attorney of Erie county, aiding the high sheriff of New York to set up the an- cient government of the Hebrew judges within the jurisdiction of the United States of America.
A score of exclamation points would be inadequate to do justice to the situation.
Noah did not even take care to destroy or conceal the stone memento of his folly. For several years it lay in the rear of St. Paul's church, and afterwards went through some curious mi- grations which will perhaps be narrated by-and-by.
Not the least singular part of the whole matter is that after this astonishing fiasco Noah was still able to maintain his prestige as an editor and politician. If he was the cause of wit in others, he was not without wit of his own, and in his newspaper he met the ridicule flung upon him, with a readiness and good humor that in time disarmed his adversaries. Though he could not make himself a judge in Israel, he could in New York, being appointed to preside in one of the courts of that city some years after his Grand Island escapade. He is said to have performed his judicial duties with marked ability and integrity.
There was still another grand sensation for the year 1825. The progress of the Erie canal had been anxiously watched throughout the final summer of its construction. In September there remained only the last touches at the "Mountain Ridge," where the village of Lockport was rapidly growing in the forest. On the 29th of that month William C. Bouck, the commissioner in charge of the western section, gave notice that the canal would be ready for the passage of boats, along its entire length, on the 26th of October.
37 1
GRAND CANAL CELEBRATION.
Immediately a grand celebration was resolved on, and com- mittees were appointed all along the line to carry it out. From Albany to Buffalo everybody was in a state of excitement over the canal and the celebration, and even New York took an ac- tive part. Nowhere was the feeling stronger than at Buffalo, which at length saw its hopes of greatness approaching realiza- tion. Though the adoption of that place as the terminus of the canal was perhaps the real turning-point in her destiny, yet her triumph was still liable to be checked by hostile legislation. The completion of the canal set the seal of permanent success on her endeavors, and all her people were ready for a jubilee. The whole county of Erie, too, was deeply interested .in the event about to be celebrated, for it not only provided the people with an unfailing outlet for their surplus produce, but it brought to their doors the market which a great city always affords.
As the designated hour drew near, the force at the Mountain Ridge was largely increased, and even then there was no time to spare. It was not till the evening of the 24th of October that the guard-gates were opened, and the filling of the Lake Erie level commenced, and not till the evening of the 25th that the entire canal was provided with water, and ready for naviga- tion. On that evening Governor Clinton and the New York committee arrived at Buffalo, finding everything in perfect readiness for the ovation.
On the 26th the morn was ushered in by the thunders of ar- tillery, and everybody was soon astir. At an early hour mar- shals were riding to and fro, soldiers were hurrying to their rendezvous, banners were waving from every housetop, mechan- ics of every description were assembling at the appointed local- ities, and citizens of every station were preparing to join in the joyful duties of the day. At 9 o'clock the procession formed at the park and moved down Main street, headed by a band of music and Captain Rathbun's rifle company. Then came a body of canal diggers with shovels, axe-men with axes, stone- cutters, masons, ship-carpenters, and sailors of the lake with their officers. All the mechanics of the village followed, (I doubt if one was absent) ; the representatives of each trade marching together. Then came the citizens in general, then a body of military officers in uniform, members of the village
372
DE WITT CLINTON.
corporation, strangers of distinction, canal engineers and com- missioners, followed by the orator of the day, Sheldon Smith.
Last of all, rode one who has been universally recognized as the master-mind of the work then celebrated-whose genius discerned the wisdom of the much-ridiculed project of the " Grand Canal," whose talents gave it effective advocacy, whose resolute will forced it to completion-De Witt Clinton, governor of the State of New York. A square-built, broad-shouldered man of fifty-six, his stern countenance may have hidden his feelings from the crowd, but he must have been more or less than human had not his heart beat quicker with triumph as he saw his hopes and his labors at last realized. Henceforth his position was secure. Politicians might outwit him, enemies might assail him, disease might torture him, death might soon claim him for its own, but the "Father of the Erie Canal " had achieved a place in the history of his State and nation, of which neither politicians, nor enemies, nor disease, nor death itself could rob him.
The procession, under the direction of Major John G. Camp, grand marshal of the day, moved down Main street, and thence to the canal basin, where the boat Seneca Chief, which was to make the first voyage through to the Hudson, was awaiting it. The governor and other distinguished passengers went on board. Jesse Hawley, the earliest projector of the canal in its entirety, made a short address of congratulation on the part of a committee from Rochester. Judge Forward responded on behalf of the Buffalo committee.
Then, at precisely 10 o'clock, the boat moved off, and, as it did so, a 32-pound cannon on the bank was fired. Ere its echoes died away, it was responded to by another gun far down the canal; and those who listened closely for a moment more might, perchance, have heard still another faint report, from a yet greater distance. The grand State-salute was being fired. All along the canal, from Buffalo to Albany, heavy pieces of artil- lery had been stationed within hearing distance of each other, and the shot fired at Buffalo was repeated by gun after gun, as fast as sound could travel.
After the boat had started, the procession returned to the court-house, where, after prayer and singing, Mr. Smith delivered
373
VEDDING OF LAKE AND OCEAN.
an oration on the great event, in which, after depicting the berefis which the canal, though ircomplete, had already con- ferred. he indulged in a glowing description of the blessings which it would bestow in the future. not only on the people of the Empire State, but on the many millions of the mighty West : anticipations which have been more than made good by the beneficent reality.
The services at the court-house were closed by the singing of an "ode written for the occasion," which was not, as is often the case with such productions, entirely destitute of poetic fire. The procession then re-formed and marched through several streets. Afterwards, a large number of the citizens partook of a dinner at " Rathbun's Eagle." and another body at " Landon's Mansion House.
A few minutes before sitting down, a faint report was heard to the northward.
"Ah! the return shot." cried the people, and at the same in- stant the big 32-pounder at the basin thundered forth the last shot in the State-salute. The announcement of the starting of the Seneca Chief had occupied but three hours and twenty min- utes in traveling to Albany and back by this unique telegraph.
The dinners were duly discussed, with numerous toasts appro- priate to the occasion, and the festivities of the day were con- cluded by a grand ball at Rathbun's, at which, we are told. " most of the fashion and beauty of the village attended."
The Buffalo committee, headed by Judge Wilkeson, went through to New York, and obtained a key of the water of the Atlantic, which they brought back to Buffalo. On their arrival there was a final ceremony, which reminds one of the wedding of the Adriatic by the doge of Venice. The sentiment was quite as poetic, though it must be confessed that the accessories were far less so.
The committee, with other citizens, went out upon the lake in a vessel. Then, with appropriate formalities, the water of the Atlantic was poured upon the bosom of Erie. This was the last ceremonial which celebrated the grand wedding of Lake and Ocean.
It was in 1825, or very near it, that the trustees of Buffalo changed the okl names of many of the streets to others more
374
CHANGING NAMES.
easily manageable. Vollenhoven avenue became Erie street. Cazenove avenue Court street, Schimmelpenninck avenue Niag- ara street, and Busti avenue Genesee street. Onondaga street was changed into Washington, and Tuscarora into Franklin, and terrible Missisauga was subdued to simple Morgan. Even the modest names of Oneida and Cayuga were not spared, but were changed into Ellicott and Pearl. Finally, Crow street, which commemorated the name of the pioneer landlord, was rechrist- ened Exchange, and then the reformers stayed their hands.
Another change of name was made, about this time, on the banks of the Cattaraugus. The hamlet called Aldrich's Mills became the village of Lodi. A year or two previous Mr. Ralph Plumb had purchased the solitary store there, and had begun the prominent business career which he so long and successfully pursued. Probably the name of Lodi was suggested by Na- poleon's " Bridge of Lodi." on account of the long bridge over the Cattaraugus, which connected the two parts of the village. But there was another Lodi in the State, their letters went wrong, and for a long time they never could get a post-office name to suit them.
At the election in November, John G. Camp was chosen sheriff, and Jacob A. Barker was reelected county clerk. Reu- ben B. Heacock was selected to represent the county in the as- sembly, and Judge Wilkeson in the State senate. The supervi- sors for that year, of which there happens to be a complete list extant, were as follows: Amherst, Job Bestow; Alden, Moses Case; Aurora, John C. Fuller; Buffalo, Josiah Trowbridge: Boston, John C. Twining; Collins, Nathaniel Knight; Concord, Thomas M. Barrett; Clarence, Simeon Fillmore: Evans, Na- thaniel Gray; Eden, James Green; Erie (Newstead), John Boyer: Hamburg, Thomas T. White, and after his death Joseph Foster; Holland, Asa Crook; Sardinia, Bela H. Colegrove: Wales, Ebenezer Holmes.
The State census was taken in June of this year, and showed the population of Erie county to be twenty-four thousand three hundred and sixteen. Buffalo numbered two thousand four hundred and twelve inhabitants-only one tenth of the whole population of the county.
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JUST FIFTY YEARS AGO.
CHAPTER XXXIII.
1826 TO 1830.
The Semi-Centennial .- Dr. Lord .- Purchase of Indian Land. - Abduction of Mor gan .- Excitement. - Anti-Masonry in Politics. - The Holland Company .- A Bogus Murderer .- Shooting Niagara. - A Menagerie in Trouble. - Depo- sition of Red Jacket .- Restoration .- An Erie County Cabinet-Officer. - Mili- tary .- Early Germans. - Political Matters. - Catholics. - A Classical School. Millard Fillmore .- Post-offices in 1830 .- Condition of the County. - Death of Red Jacket. - Fate of his Remains.
The construction of the canal was not, at first, rewarded by the immense business which its sanguine supporters expected. But little grain, as yet, found its way down the lake, and for several years loads were light. A large part of the business of the canal was the carrying of passengers in packet boats, a busi- ness which became quite extensive, yet did not prevent an im- mense amount of travel by stage-coach.
Few incidents of special local interest occurred during the forepart of 1826. As this is a " Centennial History," however, it would be inconsistent not to mention that in IS26 occurred the Jubilee, or Semi-Centennial, of American Independence, celebrated with great rejoicing throughout the country, and made doubly memorable by the most remarkable coincidence in his- tory -- the death of Jefferson, the author of the declaration, and of Adams, its chief supporter, just fifty years from the day of its being signed.
At the celebration in Buffalo the principal part was borne by a young man admitted the year before to the Erie county bar, of which he is now the earliest surviving member, though he has long given all his efforts to another field. I refer to John C. Lord, now the Rev. Dr. Lord, the orator of the day on that occasion.
The supervisors for the year, so far as known, were Job Bes- tow of Amherst, Moses Case of Alden, Josiah Trowbridge of Buffalo, Truman Cary of Boston, O. R. Hopkins of Clarence, Nathaniel Knight of Collins, Asa Warren of Eden, Joseph
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376
PURCHASE OF MILE-STRIPS, ETC.
Foster of Hamburg. Asa Crook of Holland, Horace Clark of Sardinia, and Ebenezer Holmes of Wales.
During this year the efforts of the preemption-owners to pur- chase Indian lands were at length rewarded with partial success. A council was held the last of AAugust, 1826, and, notwithstand- ing the remonstrances of Red Jacket and his supporters, a treaty was made by which the Indians ceded to the Ogden Company 33.637 acres of the Buffalo reservation, 33,409 of the Tonawanda reservation, and 3.120 of the Cattaraugus reservation, besides some 1,500 acres in the Genesee valley.
All of the Tonawanda reservation in Erie county was thus ceded, except a strip about a mile and a half wide and two miles and a half long, in the northeast corner of the town of Erie, or Newstead. The thriving village of Akron is on the land then purchased, near its southwest corner.
From the Buffalo Creek reservation a strip a mile and a half wide was sold off on the south side, running from a point in the present town of Cheektowaga, a mile and a half east of Cayuga creek to the east end of the reservation. Also a strip about three miles wide from the east end, (including all east of the "two-rod road" in Marilla), and finally a tract a mile wide, commonly called the "mile-strip." extending along the whole south side of the reservation.
Of the Cattaraugus reservation, besides a mile square in Chautauqua county there was ceded in Erie county a strip a mile wide along the north side of the reservation, for six miles from the northeast corner, also called in that section the "mile- strip," and a tract a mile square, known as the "mile-block." south of the east end of that strip. Both are in the present town of Brant, the north edge of that "mile-strip " being about half a mile south of Brant Center.
Red Jacket's influence was evidently waning, but he still clung to the semblance of his former greatness. After the treaty was agreed to by the greater part of the chiefs, the agent of the Ogden Company told the veteran orator that as he had opposed its adoption he need not sign it. But no ; the name of Sagoyewatha had been affixed to every treaty made by his people for nearly forty years, and must not now be omitted.
His opposition to Christianity and civilization was yearly
377
MORGAN'S ABDUCTION.
growing more bitter, and the breach between his pagan adherents and that large part of the Indians who favored progressive doc- trines was all the while becoming wider. Although his vanity prompted him to have his name in its usual prominent posi- tion, yet he afterwards tried to have the treaty set aside as fraud- ulent. On examination, however, the negotiations appeared to have been conducted with entire fairness.
As soon as practicable, the land thus purchased was divided among the several individuals who were collectively called the Ogden Company, and most of it was put in market.
That year, too, the State offered for sale its land adjoining Buffalo, on the State reservation, which came as far cast as Mor- gan street. It was appraised at twenty-five dollars an acre! The price, however, advanced very rapidly after the sale. Mr. James Miller relates that he bought twelve acres of the first purchasers for nine hundred and fifty dollars, kept it a year and sold it for six thousand.
It was in September of this year that the celebrated William Morgan, of Batavia, when on the eve of publishing his exposure of the secrets of masonry, was abducted from Canandaigua, where he had been confined in jail on trivial charges, and taken in a close carriage in the direction of Niagara river. The ab- duction created much excitement throughout Western New York, but does not appear in any way to have affected the election that fall.
In this congressional district a very bitter contest, chiefly on personal grounds, took place between Garnsey, the sitting mem- ber, and Albert H. Tracy, the ex-member, the former being elected by a small majority. Mr. Tracy had, a few months be- fore, been appointed judge of the eighth circuit by Governor Clinton, but had declined the office. Wm. B. Rochester, who had previously held it, had resigned in order to come to Buffalo and accept the presidency of a branch of the United States Bank, then established there.
By the census of 1825, Erie county had become entitled to two members of the assembly ; David Burt of Buffalo, and Oziel Smith of Williamsville, were the first elected under the new rule.
As time passed, and Morgan could not be found, the people
25
378
ANTI-MASONIC FEELING.
became still more excited. Meetings were held, and commitees of investigation appointed, and bitter language toward all ma- sons began to be used throughout Western New York. At length it was discovered that the unfortunate man had been taken from Canandaigua to Fort Niagara, thence across the river to Canada, and thence back to the fort, in the magazine of which he was kept until about the 29th of September, when all traces of him disappeared forever. . Plentiful inferences have been drawn, but his precise fate is still unknown. Some of his first abductors were discovered and indicted, but they pleaded guilty of the abduction in January, 1827, leaving the main ques- tion undecided. The feeling grew stronger and spread wider. and nowhere was it stronger than in Erie county, except per- haps in Genesee. Many masons abandoned the connection.
As the town elections approached in the spring of 1827, the prevalent excitement began to show itself in politics. In many towns, meetings were held at which resolutions were adopted that no adhering mason should be supported for any office.
The following supervisors were chosen at that time: T. S. Hopkins of Amherst, Moses Case of Alden, Thomas Thurston of Aurora, Josiah Trowbridge of Buffalo, Epaphras Steele of Boston, Nathaniel Knight of 'Collins, Otis R. Hopkins of Clar- ence, Levi Bunting of Eden, William Van Duzer of Evans, Asa Crook of Holland, Joseph Foster of Hamburg, Horace Clark of Sardinia, and Niles Cole of Wales.
During the year many masonic lodges in Western New York gave up their charters, and distrust of the institution extended to other parts of the country. Parties were in a chaotic state, nearly all men claiming to be Democrats. The most definite division was into supporters of the Adams-Clay administration, on the one hand, and of Jackson's aspirations to the succession on the other. Neither of these parties would consent to the ex- clusion of masons from office, so the ardent anti-masons advo- cated the policy of separate nominations. Some of the counties were carried by an anti-masonic ticket in the fall of 1827.
In Erie, however, that question was complicated with that of opposition to the Holland Land Company. Notwithstanding the reception of produce by the company, there was still a large indebtedness, with poor prospects of payment. When, added to
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A BOGUS MURDERER.
this, came rumors that the company was about to raise the price of land on which the time of payment had passed, there was a general desire for legislative relief. Doubts were started as to the title of the company, and the proposition that in some way its property should be subjected to very heavy taxation was re- ceived with favor. David E. Evans had succeeded Mr. Otto as agent, and during his administration the contracts were some- what modified in favor of the settlers.
At this time the veteran soldier and statesman, Peter B. Por- ter, again came to the surface of political affairs. He was almost unanimously elected to the assembly, representing a mingled feeling of opposition to masonry and to the Holland Company. David Burt was reëlected by a large majority.
In the fall, the masons charged with the murder of Morgan were brought to trial in Niagara county, the trials resulting in disagreement of the juries. While the excitement was running high an incident occurred, curiously illustrative of the proclivity of minds, at once weak, vain and vicious, to seek an evil notori- ety at every hazard. One R. H. Hill, a resident or sojourner in this county, confessed with great circumstantiality that he had been a party to the murder of Morgan. He declared that with his own hand he had cut the victim's throat, and then helped to throw him overboard from a boat, and that in doing so one of the party of murderers became entangled in some ropes, fell overboard and was drowned. He added that remorse alone had caused this confession. He was put in jail, but when the grand jury examined the matter they came to the unanimous opinion that Hill knew nothing of Morgan or his fate. The would-be culprit was accordingly discharged, a proceeding which he took in high dudgeon. Not long after, he again got himself arrested, but was again discharged, being thus finally compelled to aban- don all his hopes of fame. In the reports of the affair there is no suggestion of insanity-but insanity was not as fashionable then as now.
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