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 37
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Early the next morning hurrying messengers reached Buffalo with the news that a British force had crossed the river, cut out the Caroline, killed fifteen or twenty men, and then set her on fire and sent her over the Falls.
As may be imagined, the excitement was intense. Rumors of every kind flew about the streets. The British had invaded
415
DESTRUCTION OF THE CAROLINE.
Grand Island. They had threatened to attack Buffalo. They had killed everybody on board the Caroline and some on shore- etc., etc. Further news, while it refuted some of these stories, confirmed the main statement. The Caroline had certainly been cut loose from the Schlosser wharf by a British force, set on fire, and sent over the Falls.
A man named Durfee was found dead on the wharf the morn- ing after the attack, shot through the brain. His body was ยท brought to Buffalo and buried, the funeral being attended by a vast and excited crowd, after which a speech of extraordinary eloquence and power was made in the park by that fiery young advocate, Henry K. Smith. For a long time it was asserted that from ten to twenty men had been slaughtered on board the Car- oline, and even the English official report stated that five or six had been killed. But after thorough investigation it was found that no one was slain except Durfee, though two or three others were wounded.
It soon transpired that the assailing expedition was sent over by Sir Allan McNab, commanding the British forces on the frontier, under an officer of the royal navy, whose proccedings were fully endorsed by Sir Allan, and by the governor-general of Canada. It was as clear a violation of American sovereignty as it would have been of English sovereignty if a successful blockade-runner, during the rebellion, had been attacked and burned in an English port by an American man-of-war. But there was some palliation in the fact that so many of the insur- gents were Americans, and Mr. Van Buren, who was then Pres- ident, was a very pacific personage. So, notwithstanding a long diplomatic contest, no redress was ever obtained.
Sir Allan McNab claimed that the Caroline had been bought by the Navy-islanders. This, however, was denied under oath by Mr. Wells, and the denial was undoubtedly true; for the whole treasury of the " patriots " would have been hardly suffi- cient to buy a canoc.
The officers and crew of the Caroline numbered ten men, and twenty-five more went on board at Schlosser, on account, as was alleged, of the lack of hotel-accommodations at that place, but probably for the purpose of crossing to Navy island the next morning. It was stoutly asserted that none of the crew or
416
SCOTT ON THE FRONTIER.
passengers were armed, but as three of the attacking party were wounded, this looks improbable. It was claimed by some that they wounded each other in the darkness.
Over these, and a hundred other controverted points, the Buf- falo Daily Star and the Daily Commercial long kept up a heated controversy, the former accusing the latter of being in the inter- est of the British, and opposed to the patriots who were striv- ing to throw off the yoke of a foreign tyranny, etc., etc., while the Commercial retaliated by charging the Star with abetting .. unlawful operations, fomenting war, etc., etc.
Meanwhile, the American authorities were taking vigorous measures both to prevent armed expeditions from going from this side, and to repel further invasion from the other. A com- pany was organized in Buffalo, called the City Guard, under Captain James McKay. By order of Gov. Marcy, Gen. David Burt called out the 47th brigade of militia, (infantry,) the larger part of whom responded, and rendezvoused at Buffalo. Ran- dall's brigade of artillery was also called out, and all its com- panies marched to the same point. The 47th brigade of infantry was entirely from Erie county, and every town furnished its quota. Among the officers were Col. Orange T. Brown, of Aurora, and Col. Harry B. Ransom, of Clarence. Randall's brigade of artillery covered a much larger district.
On the 5th of January, 1838, the President issued a proclama- tion, and sent Gen. Scott to the frontier. He was accompanied by Col. William J. Worth, as aide and chief of staff. Scarcely had he arrived, when rumors came that the British were about to cross and attack Schlosser. The troops, regulars and militia, were ordered out and marched to that point. No attack took place and they returned.
A day or two afterwards it was reported that three English armed schooners, lying opposite Lower Black Rock, were about to fire on the stcamer Barcelona, which was plying between Buf- falo and Navy island. To Lower Black Rock the troops were accordingly marched, and there, sure enough, were seen the three British schooners, lying nearly in line, awaiting the Barcelona, one of them being in American waters and not far from the shore. Scott formed his infantry along the bank, and posted his artillery on the high ground in the rear. Then the veteran
417
THE INSURGENTS DISPERSE.
general rode down to the water's edge, hailed the nearest schooner, and ordered her to draw out of American waters, and not to molest the Barcelona, which could then be seen steaming up the river, close along the American shore. After some hesi- tation, the schooner lifted her anchor and drew off across the line, and the Barcelona passed safely by.
But the "revolution" could not be kept up much longer. The British regulars and Canadian militia concentrated opposite Navy island, fiercely cannonaded the forest which covered it, and prepared to cross the channel. Rensselaer Van Rensselaer ; was brave enough, but his exchequer was low, his followers few, and the hope of reinforcements cut off by the vigilance of Scott. So, on the 15th of. January, his army fled to the American main- land and dispersed in every direction.
Their stolen cannon they gave up to the State authorities. Soon after, however, another attempt was made to furnish the disorganized "patriot" army with artillery. Five of these same cannon were in charge of a body of militia, at Tonawanda, under Colonel Harry B. Ransom. To him came a squad of men, whose acting commandant presented an order for the de- livery of the five guns, signed by Winfield Scott, major-general commanding. Ransom hesitated, but a prominent citizen came forward, declared that he knew Scott's handwriting, and that the signature was genuine. So the cannon were delivered-on a forged order. But the "patriots" were obliged to scatter for fear of the United States marshal, and the guns were again recov- ered by the State.
Meanwhile Brigadier-General Thomas Jefferson Sutherland had gone to the other end of Lake Erie, gathered a few men, and begun issuing proclamations preparatory to an invasion of Canada across the Detroit river. A body of United States regulars was forthwith sent to put a stop to unlawful proceed- ings in that quarter. It was desired to send with them a small detachment of militia as far as Erie, Pa., to watch move- ments there. Twenty volunteers were called for, and twenty men responded from the Aurora company, commanded by Captain Almon M. Clapp, then editor of the Aurora Standard.
The regulars and Captain Clapp's detachment went up the lake under the command of Colonel Worth, on the steamboat
418
WORTH AND THE VOLUNTEERS.
Robert Fulton. An incident which occurred on the steamer illustrates the character of that gallant officer. Soon after leav- ing Buffalo, the regular commissary brought the rations for both regulars and volunteers, and flung them down on the lower deck. The volunteers demurred. They said they were not used to taking their victuals off from the floor, and did not propose to begin then. The commissary roughly told them they might go without. They made known their dissatisfaction to Captain Clapp, who was in the cabin with the regular officers. He at once appealed to Colonel Worth, declaring that his men were accustomed to as decent treatment as himself, and did not relish such conduct.
"Certainly not, certainly not," said Worth ; "bring your men into the cabin here and let them have their breakfast."
So the cooks were set at work, and in a short time the squad of volunteers sat down to an excellent breakfast, and did not have to take it off from the deck, either.
Stopping at Dunkirk, the troops went to Fredonia, took two or three hundred stand of arms, stored there by the "patriots," and proceeded by steamer to Erie. A vessel on Lake Erie in January is a sight seldom seen, and the presence of one in the first month of 1838, marks the mildest winter of which there is any record as visiting this county since its settlement. When- ever, during the past winter of 1875-6, reference has been made to the weather as the mildest ever known, if any elderly resident were present, he generally answered : "Not quite ; the winter of the patriot war was warmer than this."
The lake was certainly open much longer than in 1875-6. But when the Fulton reached Erie the ice was rapidly forming, so that it was difficult to enter the harbor, and the planking of the boat was badly injured by it. The volunteers remained there eleven days and returned by land.
By this time it was thought the danger of trouble in this vi- cinity was nearly over, and Burt's infantry and Randall's artil- lery were both discharged. The Buffalo City Guard, however, had much increased in number, and was organized into a regi- ment ; the first regiment of uniformed militia in the city. James Mckay was colonel, Dr. Johnson lieutenant-colonel, and George P. Barker major.
419
PATRIOTISM ON ICE.
The ice rapidly closed over the whole lake, and this circum- stance was taken advantage of by bands of sympathizers to project another invasion of Canada. A company of the Buffalo City Guard and Clapp's volunteers were sent, one cold winter night, in sleighs, to the "head of the turnpike," in Hamburg, and thence three or four miles on the ice, toward the middle of the lake. There they found a most remarkable scene. Thirty or forty men had established themselves there on the ice, built shanties, procured a plentiful allowance of hemlock boughs to sleep on, and were awaiting reinforcements to liberate Canada !
They readily surrendered on the appearance of the troops. Only a part of them had fire-arms, but there were a large num- ber of rude pikes, cach consisting of a strong pole with a spear several inches long, and a hook of proportionate sizc. The shanties were torn down, the arms seized and the would-be heroes dispersed.
One part of their preparations was peculiar enough to deserve especial mention. Extending from their camp, in a straight line, nearly to the Canada shore, was a row of hemlock bushes, waving over the vast field of ice. It was intended that the liberating army should march over in the night. But if they did so there was danger that in the middle of the lake, with an unbroken plain of ice extending in every direction, they might lose their way and perhaps perish with the cold. For the part of the shore where they intended to land was uninhabited, and there would be no lights to steer by. So they put up that line of hemlock boughs to guide them on their conquering way, making holes in the ice with their pikes, planting the bushes, and pour- ing on water, which soon froze solid around them.
Old Dr. Chapin had been prominent during the winter, making speeches at the meetings of the sympathizers, and feeling all his youthful fires revive at the prospect of another war with England. But his waning powers were unable to keep pace with his feel- ings, and in February he sickened and dicd. He was buried on Washington's birthday with military honors, his funeral being attended by a vast crowd from whom, despite his failings, he had long been a subject of respectful attention as one of the founders of the city.
While some of the people, organized in militia companies,
420
END OF THE PATRIOT WAR.
were faithfully at work to prevent the violation of the neutrality laws, their friends and neighbors were willing to run a good deal of risk to aid the insurgents. One of the companies of Randall's artillery-brigade, belonging in Allegany county, had returned home by way of Aurora and Holland, but, owing to the badness of the roads, had been obliged to leave one of their pieces at the latter place. It was stored in a barn to await better traveling. Some of the sympathizers at Aurora determined to secure it for the use of a body of liberators, who were expected to make an- other effort to cross the lake on the ice. Accordingly, the first sleighing that came, two good teams were hitched to sleighs, which, with several men in each, started just after nightfall for Holland. Passing rapidly over the intervening ten miles, they arrived at that village, drove to the barn where the cannon was kept, loaded it into one of the sleighs, put the caisson into the other, and had the horses going down the creek-road at full speed ere any one else knew what was going on. It is not likely, however, that any one would have interfered, even if they had known, for the feeling of friendship for the insurgents was so general that few cared to oppose it, save when compelled by official duty. The stolen gun was forwarded through Hamburg to the lake shore.
Getting possession of another piece of artillery, the "patriots" assembled to the number of three or four hundred near Com- stock's tavern, in Hamburg. But on the 24th of February a detachment of regulars and volunteers, and the crew of a revenue cutter, all under the command of Col. Worth, who had returned from the West, marched out from Buffalo, surprised the camp of the four hundred "patriots," dispersed them, and captured their cannon. This was the last serious attempt to invade Canada from within the borders of Erie county.
Rumors of fighting, however, continued to come from the vi- cinity of Detroit, but the battles turned out to be of the most trivial character. By the 6th of March even these rumors ceased, and that was the end of the "Patriot War." A few of the vol- unteer militia, however, were kept in service for three months, and then returned home.
Then there was nothing for the people to think of except the universal depression of business throughout the country. For
421
BUFFALO SCHOOLS.
this, as is not unfrequently the case, they blamed the administra- tion and the party in power, and already murmurs, deep and far- extending, foreboded their temporary overthrow. There was no need of such aid to the Whigs of Erie county, as they already had an overwhelming majority, but even that majority was doubtless increased by the prevailing discontent.
The supervisors elected in the spring were nearly every man of that party, being as follows : Josiah Fullerton of Alden, Ja- cob Hershey of Amherst, Joseph S. Bartlett of Aurora, Joseph Clary of Buffalo, Thomas Durboraw of Clarence, Enoch N. Fay of Concord, Leander J. Roberts of Colden, Ralph Plumb of Collins, Levi Bunting of Eden, Aaron Salisbury of Evans, Eli- sha Smith of Hamburg, Moses McArthur of Holland, Milton McNeal of Lancaster, John Rogers of Newstead, Elihu Rice of Sardinia, William Williams of Tonawanda, and Elon Virgil of Wales.
Ebenezer Walden was mayor of Buffalo that year.
It was during this period, while war seemed imminent, and the country was overwhelmed by financial troubles, that the school system of Buffalo was reorganized. Before that, there had been no public schools there, except district schools, which were un- suited to a city, and were attended only by the children of the poorer classes. But the financial crash of 1837 brought a great many people under that designation. Most of the private insti- tutions went down. The people turned perforce to their long- neglected public schools. After one or two attempts, a satisfac- tory law was passed in the forepart of 1838, reorganizing the whole school-system of the city, on very nearly the same plan which is still maintained. Oliver G. Steele had been appointed superintendent, and he and N. K. Hall originated the law.
It devolved on Mr. Steele to put the improved system into practical operation. Its principal features were large schools, divided into departments, thorough supervision by the superin- tendent, and substantially free admission to all children residing in the city. The schools were soon made entirely free, and a central high-school, established a few years later, completed the frame-work of the system. There was great interest manifested in the subject in the summer of 1838, numerous meetings were held, and, notwithstanding much opposition, the people gener-
422
EFFORTS TO BUY THE RESERVATIONS.
ally sustained the new plan. Albert H. Tracy, N. K. Hall, Ho- ratio Shumway and Mr. Steele were especially warm in its advo- cacy, and prompt in suggesting needed improvements. In the summer of 1839 no less than six large, new school-houses were built under Mr. Steele's supervision, competent teachers were employed, and since that time the schools of Buffalo have been maintained in a condition of efficiency probably not surpassed in the State.
In the fall of 1838 the popular discontent made itself plainly visible in numerous State elections throughout the country, Governor Marcy in this State being defeated by William H. Seward, who became the first Whig governor of New York. Millard Fillmore, who had entered public life at the same time with Mr. Seward, was for the third time elected member of Con- gress from the 30th congressional district. The assemblymen chosen that fall were Jacob A. Barker, of Buffalo, Henry John- son, of Lancaster, and the Boston pioneer and soldier, Truman Cary.
The year 1838 was also marked by a most strenuous attempt to obtain possession of all the Indian lands in this county, as well as elsewhere in Western New York. A treaty was sanc- tioned by the executive department of the government, by which the government agreed to give the New York Indians 1,820,000 acres of land in Kansas, and build mills, shops, churches, schools, etc. A council of chiefs was called at the council-house on the Buffalo Creek reservation, in January, 1838. The treaty was laid before them, and also a deed by which they agreed to cede to the Ogden Company all their reservations, for two hundred and two thousand dollars; a hundred thousand for the land, and a hundred and two thousand for the improvements. It received forty-five signatures of chiefs, either actual or claimed, for it was always difficult to tell who were and who were not chiefs.
The treaty was sent to the senate, who amended it by strik- ing out the various appropriations for mills, schools, etc., and inserting the sum of four hundred thousand dollars. Mr. Gil- lett, United States commissioner, again called the chiefs to- gether, and insisted that the deed was good, even if the treaty was not ratified. General Dearborn, commissioner for Massa- chusetts, declared it was not. The treaty, as amended, was
423
NEW TOWNS.
signed by sixteen chiefs, and a remonstrance by sixty-three. By some means twenty-six more names were obtained, some say by bribing the chiefs or getting them drunk. But, after all efforts were, used there were only forty-one signatures out of all the ninety-seven claimed by both parties as chiefs, while of the seventy-five undisputed chiefs but twenty-nine were signers.
It afterwards transpired that written contracts had been entered into by which the agents of the Ogden Company agreed to pay certain chiefs considerable sums of money, besides giving them life-leases of their improvements, on condition of their doing their best to help forward the treaty and sale. These payments were to be in addition to the pay for improvements which those chiefs would receive in common with their brethren, and could only be looked on as bribes. Nothwithstanding the defective number of signatures, and the means used to obtain them, the treaty was ratified by the senate. Yet the facts brought to light caused so much popular feeling, and the determination of the Indians was so strong not to go west, that the company was un- willing to proceed to extremities, and did not attempt to remove them. The manner in which the difficulty was finally settled will be described further on.
In March, 1839, three new towns were created. On the 22d of that month the south part of Amherst was cut off and called Cheektowaga, a modification of the Indian name Jiikdowaageh, meaning "the place of the crab-apple tree." It is said to have been so named on the suggestion of Alex. Hitchcock. Amherst was the last of the very large towns of Erie county. Before its division it was eighteen miles long, besides the part on the res- ervation. Afterwards, there was no town over eleven miles in length.
Cheektowaga was already largely inhabited by Germans, and since then it has been more completely occupied by them than any other town in the county. Curiously enough, consid- ering their habit of living in villages in their native country, they dwelt and dwell entirely separate in this town. There was not, and is not, even the smallest of hamlets within its borders. Yet the soil is probably as fertile as any in the county, and it is cultivated like a garden. Doubtless its nearness to the city pre- vents the growth of villages. At the time of its erection it had
424
BRANT AND BLACK ROCK.
not even a post-office. It was organized the same year, and Alexander Hitchcock was elected its first supervisor.
On the 25th of March the town of Brant was formed by the legislature out of the south part of Evans, and a part of the Cat- taraugus reservation, nominally belonging to Collins. It included the " mile-strip " and " mile-block " sold off from that reservation in 1826. It was doubtless expected, when the town was formed, that the sale of the whole reservation would soon be consum- mated, in accordance with the "treaty " of 1838, and that Brant would thereby become a town of the ordinary size. This ex- pectation, however, was disappointed and the space outside of Indian teritory is smaller than in any other town in the county. What business there was in the town soon began to be attracted to Brant Center, where a small hamlet grew up. Brant was duly organized, and Jonathan Hascall, Jr., was elected its first supervisor.
The same spring, all that part of the town of Buffalo outside of the city was formed into the town of Black Rock. It ex- tended clear around the city from Black Rock village to the lake shore. Col. William A. Bird was elected its first supervisor. About the same time a law was passed allowing Buffalo a super- visor for each of her five wards, but I have been unable to find a full record of the persons elected, for several years afterwards. The county legislators, so far as known, for the two last years of that decade, were as follows-where but one name and no year is given, the person mentioned held both years : Alden, Josiah Fullerton ; Amherst, Jacob Hershey and Timothy A. Hopkins; Aurora, Thomas Thurston; Boston, Epaphras Steele ; Buffalo, (for 1839 only,) Ist ward, Miles Jones ; 2d, Emanuel Ruden ; 3d, Henry Root ; 4th, John D. Harty ; 5th, Nathaniel Vosburg ; Black Rock, William A. Bird ; Brant, Jonathan Has- call, Jr, ; Clarence, Thomas Durboraw ; Cheektowaga, Alexan- der Hitchcock ; Colden, Leander J. Roberts ; Collins, Ralph Plumb ; Concord, Enoch N. Fay ; Eden, Levi Bunting; Evans, Sayles Aldrich; Hamburg, Elisha Smith; Holland, Moses McArthur ; Lancaster, Milton McNeal; Newstead, Hezekiah Cummings ; Sardinia, George Bigelow and Bela H. Colegrove ; Tonawanda, Jedediah H. Lathrop and Theron W. Woolson ; Wales, Elon Virgil.
425
POPULAR SUPERVISORS.
Hiram Pratt was again chosen mayor of Buffalo, in 1839, by the common council. The next winter a law was passed that the mayor should be elected directly by the people ; Sheldon Thompson was thus elected in 1840.
It will be seen that, with three exceptions, the supervisors of all the country towns were elected both years, and many of them had already been in service for several years before, and remained so several years afterwards. In fact, it may be said that, as a general rule, supervisors were kept in office a much longer time than in these later days. Dr. Elisha Smith was elected super- visor of Hamburg twelve years in succession (from 1830 to 1841, inclusive). Nathaniel Knight was chosen supervisor of Collins nine years in succession (1824 to '32, inclusive). Imme- diately after him Ralph Plumb was elected to the same office eleven consecutive years (1833 to '43, inclusive). So that for twenty-four years there were but two supervisors of Collins. After an interval, Plumb was again chosen for two terms. For fourteen years, (1838 to '5 1, inclusive,) Thomas Durboraw, Orsa- mus Warren and Archibald Thompson held the supervisorship of Clarence, alternating almost regularly during the time, though Durboraw was the most favored, holding it six of those years.
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