USA > New York > Geography of the state of New York. Embracing its physical features, climate, geology, mineralogy, botany, zoology, history, pursuits of the people, government, education, internal improvements &c. With statistical tables, and a separate description and map of each county > Part 11
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ctantly issued execution, and Morgan was committed to close confinement in Canandaigua jail.
During the night of the 12th of September, he was clandestinely taken from jail, by a number of Masone thrown into a covered carriage, gagged and conveyed, on the evening of the 14th, to the Canada side of the Niagara river, thence taken back to the American side, and left in confinement in the magazine of Fort Niagara. He remained there till the 29th of September, in charge of Colonel King, of Niagara county, and one Elisha Adams, at which time he disappeared, and has never since been heard of. The almost aniversal impression has pre- vailed that he was murdered at that time, by the direction of members of the Masonic fraternity.
Measures were instantly taken to investigate this outrage ; but the committees appointed for this purpose, found themselves constantly thwarted, by members of the Masonic order, at this time in its most flourishing condition in this state. This opposition to an act of justice, excited the most intense feeling, among those members of community not connected with the Masons ; and the excite- ment, which, in communities lese influenced by moral principle, would have prompted to deeds of violence, bere found veat at the ballot box ; and for a num- ber of years, the anti-masons of Western New York, constituted a formidable political party.
Ere this excitement had reached its highest intensity, Gov- ernor Clinton died, very suddenly, while conversing with some friends, on the 11th of February, 1828. This painful event caused a deep sensation throughout the community.
Governor Clinton, though possessing some faulta, had been an able and zealous friend of his native state. No man ever did more to promote her best interests. Amid discouragements which would have appalled ordinary men, he steadily ad- vocated and accomplished measures which time has proved eminently conducive to her welfare. It is sufficient proof of his patriotic foresight, that amid the ridicule of his associates, he dared to stake his reputation, on the success of the system of internal improvementa. He has left an enduring record of his fame in the hearts of the people, whom his enlightened measures have endowed with plenty and prosperity.
On the decease of Governor Clinton, General Nathaniel Pitcher, the Lieutenant Governor, officiated the remainder of the term. In November, 1828, Martin Van Buren was elected Governor, and Enos T. Throop, Lieutenant Governor. Mr. Van Buren being appointed Secretary of State, in March, 1829, resigned his office, and Mr. Throop became acting Gov- ernor.
During the session of the legislature, in the winter of 1828-9, on the recommendation of Governor Van Buren, the Safety Fund Banking Law was passed. The main features of this law were conceived and drawn up by Joshua Forman, Esq. and by him communicated to Governor Van Buren, who by the aid of Thomas Olcott, Esq. of Albany, matured and presented it to the legislature.
In the autumn of 1830, Mr. Throop was elected Governor of the state. During his administration, there were a great num- ber of applications to the legislature, for aid to construct canals in different sections of the state, involving very large expendi-
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tures, and of doubtful pecuniary profit. Some of these, Govern- or Throop opposed as premature and unwise ; and his opposi- tion to them, though probably judicious, materially affected his popularity and rendered his re-election improbable.
In 1832, William L. Marcy was chosen Governor, and John Tracy, Lieutenant Governor. During the session of 1833, the bill authorizing the construction of the Chenango canal, a work attended with great expenditures, and which was strongly op- posed, passed the legislature. Mr. Marcy and Mr. Tracy were re-elected to office in 1834, by a large majority.
A law was passed, in 1835, directing the enlargement and Improvement of the Erie canal, and the construction of double locks. This law has involved the state in a debt of some mag- nitude, but when the proposed improvements are completed, they will unquestionably greatly increase its revenues.
At this session of the legislature, also, the bill to provide the schools of the state with libraries, was passed; a bill which it is hoped, will be of incalculable service to its youth. Governor Marcy and Lieutenant Governor Tracy, were, for a third time, elected to their respective offices.
In 1838, the pecuniary depression of the country produced a change in the politics of the state, and William H. Seward of Orange county, was chosen Governor, and Luther Bradish of Franklin county, Lieutenant Governor.
In 1840, the same gentlemen were re-elected.
In 1842, William C. Bouck, of Schoharie county, was elected Governor.
In 1844, Silas Wright of St. Lawrence county, who for a number of years had represented the State in the United States Senate, was elected Governor, and Addison Gardiner of Suffolk county, Lieutenant Governor.
In June, 1846, a convention, elected by the people, to revise and amend the constitution of the state, commenced its session at Albany, and in October following, reported the constitution which is found in this work, for the action of the people in the ensuing month of November. It was adopted by the people by a majority of more than 20,000 votes.
In November, 1846, John Young of Livingston county, was elected Governor and Addison Gardiner of Suffolk county, Lieutenant Governor.
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STATE OF NEW YORK.
INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS.
THE system of Internal Improvement, in which New York has taken the lead, forms an important portion of her history. It is interesting to trace the progress of the first of these mighty enterprises, which, in its completion, excited the astonishment and admiration of the whole confederacy, and even of the states of Europe.
In 1784, Christopher Colles proposed to the legislature to improve the navigation of the Mohawk. In 1785, he received $125, to make investigations relative to this enterprise. He again came before the legislature in 1786, but became discour- aged from want of success.
The subject was referred to by Governor Clinton, in his speech to the legislature, at the opening of the session of 1791; and an act passed concerning roads and inland navigation, di- recting the commissioners of the land office, to cause the lands between the Mohawk and Wood creek, in Herkimer county, and between the Hudson river and Wood creek, in Washington county, to be explored, and the probable expense of canals, be- tween these points, estimated.
The commissioners reported in 1792, and Governor Clinton communicated their report, by a message, in which he consid- ered the practicability of effecting the object of the legislature, at a moderate expense, as ascertained.
Mr. Adgate, Mr. Williams, Mr. Livingston and Mr. Barker, were the most efficient advocates of this measure in the legisla- ture. Mr. Elkanah Watson also wrote a number of essays on the subject, and, this year, the Western and the Northern Inland Lock Navigation Companies were chartered. General Schuy- ler, Thomas Eddy, Jeremiah Van Rensselaer, Barent Bleecker, Elkanah Watson, and Robert Bowne, were among their most efficient advocates. - ·
In 1796, the Western Company completed a canal, two and three fourth miles long, at Little Falls, and another, one and one quarter miles long, at German Flats ; and, in 1797, a canal from the Mohawk to Wood creek, one and three-fourth miles long, in all, less than seven miles, with nine locks.
In 1796, finding a reconstruction of their work necessary, they employed Mr. Weston, an English engineer; and when their canal would admit a passage from Schenectady to the Oneida lake, they had expended nearly $450,000. The tolls, how- ever, were so high, that few used their canal. The Niagara
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company was incorporated in 1798, to make a navigable com- munication between Lakes Erie and Ontario. It, however, never went into operation. .
The distinguished Governeur Morris seems first to have con- ceived the idea of a continuous canal between the Hudson and Lake Erie. He alluded to it, in a letter to a friend, in 1800, and communicated it to the late Simeon De Witte, the surveyor general, in 1803. His plan, however, was, to have the canal constructed with a uniform declivity of six inches to a mile, and without locks, except on the slope of the Hudson. This plan afterwards proved impracticable.
In 1807-8, Jesse Hawley, Esq., wrote a series of essays, which were published in the Genesee Messenger, urging the impor- tance of such a canal, and its immediate construction.
In 1808, Joshua Forman presented to the legislature, his mem- orable resolution, in which, after reciting in the preamble the various reasons for such a step, he proposes the appointment of a joint committee, to take into consideration the propriety of exploring and causing to be surveyed, the most eligible and di- rect route for a canal, to connect the waters of the Hudson and Lake Erie, to the end that Congress may be enabled to appro- priate the necessary sum for the construction of such a work.
This resolution passed, but so little idea had the legislature of the sum requisite for such a survey, that they appropriated only $600 for the purpose. The committee appointed were, Thomas R. Gold, William W. Gilbert, Obadiah German, and James L. Hogeboom, on the part of the house, and John Tay- lor, John Nicholas, and. Jonathan Ward, on the part of the senate. James Geddes, Esq., at that time a land surveyor, made the exploration and survey, under the direction of the surveyor general, and, in 1809, reported in favor of such a route.
In 1810, on motion of Jonas Platt, Esq., Governeur Morris, De Witt Clinton, Stephen Van Rensselaer, Simeon De Witt, William North, Thomas Eddy, and Peter B. Porter, were ap- pointed commissioners, to explore the whole route for inland navigation, from the Hudson river to Lake Ontario and Lake Erie.
De Witt Clinton, at that time a member of the senate, was induced to lend a favorable car to this great project, by the representations of Mr. Platt and Mr. Eddy, the latter of whom appears first to have advised this plan of action.
The commissioners reported, in 1811, in favor of a canal, and estimated its cost at $5,000,000. They recommended that the construction of it should be offered to the national government.
The same year a bill was passed, giving power to the com-
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missioners, (to whom were added Robert Falten and R. R. . Livingston), to consider all matters relative to the inland navi- gation of the state; to make application to the general govern- ment, and to any of the states or territories, for aid or coopera- tion; to ascertain on what terms loans could be obtained, and at what price the rights of the Western Inland Lock Naviga- tion Company could be purchased.
The general government having declined to offer aid in the enterprise, and the adjacent states and territories affording only their good wishes, the commissioners in 1812, proposed that the state should construct the canal without foreign assistance; and a bill was passed, directing them to procure loans and grants of land on the proposed route, but forbidding them to commence the canal. -
During the period from 1812 to 1815, the war with Great Britain diverted all thoughts from this enterprise, to the more argent one of defending their own firesides from ruthless inva- sion ; but, when peace returned, again this great undertaking engaged the hearts of community. The Holland Land Com- pany had granted to the commissioners more than 100,000 acres of land; and individuals some 7000 or 8000 more, towards the completion of the work.
In 1815, those opposed to the canal were so far in the ma- jority, as to obtain the repeal of the act authorizing the com- missioners to borrow 85,000,000.
This was, for the time, a virtual abandonment of the canal policy ; but, with the peace, the hopes and energies of its friends revived, and, in 1816, D. D. Tompkins, then governor, recom- mended the consideration of the enterprise to the legislature, while a host of petitions, ably drawn up, and numerously signed, were brought before that body, praying them to proceed in this great enterprise. Among the most forcible of these, was the petition from New York, drawn up by De Witt Clinton.
The report of the canal commissioners was full of interest. They recommended the construction of the middle section first, as it would be a source of profit, and would divert the trade from the St. Lawrence.
A bill was proposed to commence the canal immediately, but was modified in the senate, and finally passed, giving the com- missioners power to take the preliminary measures, such as causing a thorough survey and estimate of the expense of the route to be made, employing engineers, making further efforts to obtain aid, either from the general, or state governments, and arranging for loans and grants of land.
In 1817, a bill was passed, authorizing the immediate coa- struction of these works; although in view of their magnitude,
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alternate emotions of hope and fear predominated in the minds of the legislature. There were some whe opposed the passage of the bill. Under the new act, Stephen Van Rensselaer, De- Witt Clinton, Samuel Young, Joseph Ellicott, and Myron Holley, were appointed commissioners.
So much distrust in regard to the result of the enterprise was felt, by those living remote from the line of the canals, that they insisted on the introduction of a clause in the bill, levying a tax of $250,000, upon the lands contiguous to them. This, however, was never collected, as the means provided by the commie- sioners, proved amply sufficient, without resorting to direct taxation.
The ground was first broken for the Erie canal, on the 4th of July, 1817, at Rome, with appropriate ceremonies. De Witt Clinton, then governor of the state, was present, and took part in the services on this interesting occasion.
In 1818, the governor congratulated the legislature on the progress of the en- terprise, and urged them to persevere in its prosecution. Laws were passed, during the session of this year, authorizing the construction of the Chittenango canal, and a navigable feeder to the Erie canal; also, the examination of Buffalo creek, with a view to the construction of an artificial harbor on the western ter- minus of the canal.
An act was likewise passed, improving the financial scheme of the previous year, and authorizing the commissioners to ob- tain a further loan of one million of dollars.
In 1819, measures were taken for the commencement of the Oswego canal. In October, of the same year, that portion of the Erie canal extending from Utica to Rome, was opened for navigation; and the Champlain canal admitted the passage of boats. From this period all open opposition to the enterprise ceased.
In 1820, the property, right and title of the Western Inland Lock Navigation Company was transferred to the state, for the sum of $150,828. Messrs. Young, Holley, Seymour, and Bouck, were designated as acting canal commissioners, and received a salary for their services; while the remainder of the commis- sioners received no salary, and retained only advisory powers.
An act was passed in 1822, directing the construction of a navigable canal, to connect the Erie canal with the Onondaga lake and Seneca river. This, in connection with the act of 1819, completed the plan of what was afterwards known as the Os- wego canal.
In July, 1823, the Erie canal was navigable from Schenectady to Rochester. The price of wheat, west of the Seneca river, in consequence of the facilities af- forded by the canal, had already advanced fifty per cent.
In 1824, the Champlain canal was reported as finished. Acts were passed, authorizing further loans for the completion of the Erie canal ; for the constructionof a canal to connect Lake Cham-
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plain with the St. Lawrence, and for fixing the termini of the Erie canal, at Albany and Buffalo.
Jast at the close of the session, by a most ungenerous party manœuvre, De Witt Clinton was removed from the office of canal commissioner. This was a short lived triumph, however, as in the succeeding autumn, he was elected gov- ernor, by a large majority, and of course became one of the canal commissioners, az oficio.
In 1895, Governor Clinton congratulated the legislature on the prospect of the speedy completion of the Erie canal, and proposed the extension of the system of internal improvements, to render the Susquehanna, the Delaware, and other rivers in the state, navigable, thus affording facilities for bringing into market, the agri- cultural wealth of the state.
The canal was completed in October, 1826, and on the 4th of November, the first canal boat from Lake Erie, having reached New York, the occasion was celebrated with rejoicings, such, perhaps, as have seldom been equaled in this or any other state of the union.
The different trades and professions of the city, each with suitable badges and banners, joined in the long procession ; an immense squadron of ships, steamers, barques, &c., assembled in the bay, to witness the ceremony of the wedding of Lake Erie with the Atlantic ; and amid numerous ceremonies, and eloquent ora- tions, the glad shouts of the people went up, as with one voice. Medals were ctruck, commemorative of the interesting event, and forwarded to the soldiers and officers of the revolution, and to distinguished men, in our own, and other lands.
The whole cost of the Erie and Champlain canals was $9,130,000; the canal debt, at their completion, was $7,738,000; and its interest $413,000. The income arising from tolls, the year after the completion of the canals, was estimated at $750,- 000, exceeding, very considerably, the interest of the debt. In 1835, the debt of the canal was extinguished, mainly from the tolls.
The year 1826 was the commencement of the railroad policy in the state. In that year, Stephen Van Rensselaer and others received a charter for the construction of a railroad from Al- bany to Schenectady, with the right of enjoying the profits of the enterprise for fifty years.
The state reserved to itself, however, the power of purchasing the road, by paying to the company the excess of the cost, with interest thereon, over the profits of the work. This feature has been incorporated in all railroad charters since granted.
In 1827, the legislature made an appropriation in aid of the Delaware and Hudson canal, and determined on the most fea- sible route for connecting the Erie canal and Susquehanna river.
An act was passed in 1832, chartering a company, to con- struct a railroad to connect the Hudson with Lake Erie, run- ning through the lower tier of counties; and in 1896, a loan of the public credit to the amount of $3,000,000, was granted to the company.
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In 1833, an act was passed authorizing the construction of the Chenango canal, a work involving a large expenditure, but which, on its completion, opened a market to a large agricultural region.
In 1835, it was found that the size of the Erie canal was inad- equate to the business transacted upon it; and that the locks were worn by use, and required enlarging, and to be made double, to facilitate transportation. The legislature, therefore, the same year, authorized the application of the surplus reve- nues, arising from the tolls, to be applied to the enlargement of the canal.
In 1836, the legislature directed the construction of the Gene- see river and Black river canals, which were soon after com- menced. The financial distress in 1837-8, produced some delay and timidity in regard to internal improvements. But, in 1838, $4,000,000 were appropiated to the enlargement of the Erie canal, and the credit of the state loaned to the Catskill and Can- ajoharie, the Auburn and Syracuse, and the Ithaca and Owego railroad companies, to the amount of $8,000,000. The loan to the New York and Erie railroad company was modified at the same time.
Since that period, several companies have constructed rail- roads, forming a continuous line between Albany,and Buffalo, and the whole distance (about 400 miles) is run in less than twenty-four hours.
The Black River Canal is as yet incomplete, and the Genesee Valley Canal is only finished as far as Dansville. The New York and Erie Railroad, after long delays, is now in progress of construction, and will be completed, probably, in two or three years. The Harlaem Railroad is also rapidly progressing toward Albany. It is in contemplation to unite this with the Housatonic Railroad.
Railroads have also been projected from New York to Albany along the Hudson river ; from Ogdensburg to Plattsburg; from some point on the Harlaem Railroad to New Haven, Conn .; and from Buffalo to Erie, Pennsylvania.
In this connection, too, the Magnetic Telegraph should be mentioned. Telegraph lines have been constructed from Al- bany and Troy to Buffalo, and by way of the Housatonic Rail- road, to New York city, and others are projected. The facili- ties afforded for business transactions, by this instantaneous mode of transmitting intelligence, appear almost incredible. It is indeed one of the most wonderful discoveries of the present age.
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STATE OF NEW YORK. . .
PURSUITS OF THE PEOPLE.
IN three of the four great departments of national industry, New York occupies the first rank. Her fertile lands, under the skillful and scientific cultivation they have received, render her preeminent in the culture of the soil; her commerce is greater than that of any. other state of the confederacy ; her sails whiten every sea, and bring the productions of every clime to her marts; in manufactutes, she divides the palm with her sister states, Massachusetts and Pennsyl- vania ; in mining operations, though distinguished, she is inferior to. Pennsylvania, and the new states of Missouri, Wisconsin and Iowa.
1. AGRICULTURE. New York, though usually reckoned as one of the grain growing states, might, from the diversity of its surface, and the attention paid to the rearing of cattle, be ranked, with equal pro- priety, among the grazing states. Its mountainous districts afford rich and ample pasturage for the immense herds of cattle and sheep which dot its hills ; and the quantity, or quality, of its dairy products, are exceeded by no state of the union.
Herkimer, Oneida, Orange, Delaware, Jefferson, Chenango, Chau- tauque, Onondaga, Madison, St. Lawrence, Otsego, Steuben, Dutch- ess, Erie, Tompkins, Washington, Ulster, Westchester, Oswego, Schoharie, Cayuga, Allegany, Cortland, Monroe, Wayne, Saratoga, Rensselaer and Putnam, are the most productive dairy counties.
The most prolific grain counties are Monroe, Ontario, Livingston, Niagara, Dutchess, Columbia, Orleans, Genesee, Cayuga, Onondaga, Wayne, Oneida, Seneca, Yates, Montgomery, Jefferson and Albany. In most of these counties, wheat is the principal grain ; in a few, oats and corn are the chief crops.
The state Agricultural Society, the county societies connected with it, and the numerous and ably conducted agricultural journals, have done much for the improvement of this department of national in- dustry, in the state. The most improved breeds of cattle, horses, sheep, and swine, have been imported; every new implement of husbandry, which possesses real value, and every improvement in farming, is readily adopted.
Under the influence of this commendable zeal, much of that por- tion of the soil, which is naturally sterile, has been reclaimed; the wilderness has become like a garden, and the desert been made to bud and blossom as the rose.
2. COMMERCE. In commerce, New York not only stands fore- most among the American states, but she occupies a very high post. tion among the commercial nations of the world New York city, her principal seaport, is second only to London in commerce, and when her vast lake and internal commerce is added to this, it will be seen that she has but few rivals in this department.
New York has an extensive trade with all the commercial states of Europe ; with Arabia, India, China, Japan, and the dependencies of each ; with the various ports on the coast of Africa and South Amer- ica; with New Holland, and the islands of the Pacific and Indian oceans; with the West Indies, and the various ports of our own country.
The internal commerce of the state is principally confined to the transportation of emigrants and their furniture; the conveyance of
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the vast amount of agricultural produce of this state, and the western states and territories, to tide water, and the return of goods for this produce. This commerce has increased, with a rapidity far beyond the expectations of the most sanguine, and is yearly increasing, at a ratio of at least ten per cent
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