History of Cattaraugus County, New York, with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Some of Its Prominent Men and Pioneers, Part 25

Author: Franklin Ellis and Eugene Arns Nash
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During the consideration of this bill in Congress it was strongly opposed in the Senate, on the ground that it would open the door to a wholesale plundering of the nation ; but it does not seem likely to have such effect, for whereas, before the passage of the act, a very few ambitious ones of the tribe who were fortunate enough to get into position and power in their government assumed the right to those lands, and leased them to white settlers, appropriating all the income of the leases to their individual use, the revenue from future leases is made payable into the treasury of the nation, where of right it belongs. The Quakers, those steadfast and uncompromising friends of the Indian race, seem to have taken such a view of the case, and to have approved the enactment of the law ; one of the most prom- inent members of their society having accepted an appoint- ment on the board of commissioners to lay out the villages.

On the 23d of March, 1875, in accordance with the pro- visions of the act, President Grant appointed Joseph Scat- tergood, of Pennsylvania, John Manley, of New York, and Henry Shanklin, of Kansas, commissioners to locate villages within the Allegany Reservation. These gentlemen pro-

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HISTORY OF CATTARAUGUS COUNTY, NEW YORK.

ceeded to perform the duty assigned them ; re-established the boundary lines of the Reservation as surveyed by R. M. Stoddard in 1798, located and established the bounda- ries of the six villages, and filed duly certified maps of the same in the office of the county clerk, their certificate ac- companying the maps being dated "Salamanca, N. Y., Twelfth month (Dec.) 30, 1876." At each of the fifty- one angles in the boundary line of the Reservation, the commissioners caused to be set a monument six inches in diameter, five feet long, and marked on the side facing out : " Treaty 1794. Washington, President. Allegany Indian Reservation." On the Reservation face : "1 (to 51). U. S. Survey, act of Congress, 19th of February, 1875. Grant, President. U. S. Commissioners, Joseph Scattergood, John Manley, Henry Shanklin."

It is a general opinion that the Indian race is slowly but steadily diminishing, and that the day of their extinction is not very far distant. This is certainly an erroneous be- lief as regards the Senecas, who are (very slowly, to be sure) increasing. The total Indian population of the Allegany Reservation in 1865 was 814; in 1875, it was 865,-an increase of 51 souls in ten years.

This population is almost entirely agricultural, there being no other industry worth mentioning prosecuted among the Indians of the Reservation ; and yet its agricultural im- provements, and its farming statistics, would be considered exceedingly meagre- if applied to a white population of half its numbers, who had made that one vocation their specialty for a period of more than three-quarters of a cen- tury. The following are the figures for this Reservation for the year ending June 1, 1875 :

Lands improved by Indians on the Reservation .- At Horse-Shoe, 602 acres, by 31 farmers; at Jimesontown, 855 acres, by 35 farmers ; at Cold Spring, 741 acres, by 44 farmers; at Old Town, 699 acres, by 34 farmers. Total on Reservation, 2897; being an improvement of less than one acre in ten of the total area of the Reservation, and leaving of lands uncultivated by Indians 27,581 acres out of the 30,478 acres included within its boundaries.

The statistics relating to the quantities and cash value of their stock and products for the same time are as follows : Stock, $13,941 ; tools, $2634; acres planted, 1025; tons of hay, 696; oats, 5768 bushels ; buckwheat, 2120 bushels ; corn, 9455 bushels ; potatoes, 1010 bushels ; peas, 187 bushels; beans, 222 bushels ; apples, 4200 bushels; maple- sugar, 1792 pounds; maple-syrup, 109 gallons; butter, 14,495 pounds; garden, $85; cattle, 353; horses, 106; sheep, 32; swine 189 ; pork, 12,715 pounds; poultry, $329; eggs, $120; honey, 60 pounds.

The condition of the Indians on the Cattaraugus Res- ervation is more prosperous than upon the Allegany. Concerning the former, C. E. Fink, Esq., who recently made a survey of the reservation, said, " The Indians re- siding here are mostly farmers, many of them having large and well-cultivated fields, good, substantial, well-furnished painted dwelling-houses, and other farm buildings. Their farms are well stocked with horses, cattle, and hogs. But few sheep are raised.

" The Iroquois Agricultural Society was organized in 1859. The nineteenth annual fair commenced September

17, 1878, and continued four days, at which over one thousand dollars in premiums was offered, competed for, and paid to those only of Iroquois lineage ; it all being in- stituted, managed, and controlled exclusively by the Indians. The exhibition of stock, manufactured articles, and farm products was fully equal to any of the county fairs held by the whites in this part of the State."

On this Reservation as on the Allegany, the first improve- ment (the erection of a saw-mill in 1801) was promoted by the Quakers, and chiefly paid for out of the funds of the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting. A Presbyterian Church was established here about 1845, and their first edifice built in 1856, at a cost of about six thousand dollars. A Methodist Church was organized on the Reservation in 1859, and a meeting-house erected in 1862, at a cost of three thousand dollars. The Baptists organized here about 1860, and built a church in 1866, costing about twenty-five hundred dollars.

The Thomas Orphan Asylum, for orphan and destitute Indian children, was established (by special act of Legisla- ture) in 1855. It is situated on the Erie County side of Cattaraugus Creek, about one mile from the village of Versailles. The total valuation of its property is about twenty thousand dollars. It receives an endowment of eight thousand dollars annually from the State, and has now about eighty-five pupils. An industrial school was com- menced in 1873, and its house completed in 1874; being built from funds furnished by the Indian Department at Washington, by contributions from charitable institutions, and private persons. A council-house was built in 1865, by Indian mechanics, at a cost to the nation of two thousand five hundred dollars. The population of the Reservation is as follows : Senecas, 1435 ; Cayugas, 145; Onondagas, 40; Tuscaroras, 1; making a total of 1621. The area of the Cattaraugus Reservation is between twenty-one thousand and twenty-two thousand acres, located in the counties of Erie, Chautauqua, and Cattaraugus; only a small portion of the area, and a still less proportion of its improvements, being in this county.

The common-school statistics of the Reservations, for the year 1876, were as follows :

Whole number of Indian children, of school age, on the Allegany and Cattaraugus Reservations. 843 Whole number attending school some part of the year. 671

Average daily attendance .. 423

Average number of weeks taught. 32

Number schools on Cattaraugus Reservation 10

teachers employed ..

schools taught on Allegany Reservation

teachers employed ..

The State paid for the support of these schools, in the year named, $4978.88, of which $4125.30 was for teachers' wages. The teachers employed are nearly or quite all Indians.

In reference to this people-their progress and destiny -there exists a diversity of opinion. It is believed by many that, considering how much has been done for their advancement, their progress should have been far greater, and that there is little in their present condition to en- courage the hope of any considerable improvement in the future. Their best friends and champions, the Quakers, entertain an entirely different view. There is no doubt that the chance which located them upon the best lands

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HISTORY OF CATTARAUGUS COUNTY, NEW YORK.

in Cattaraugus was an unfortunate one for the growth and prosperity of the county ; but there are few, if any, who will deny that being so located, they are entitled to as full a measure of protection and justice as would be extended, under the same circumstances, to the most enterprising and enlightened community.

CHAPTER XIII.

MILITARY HISTORY OF CATTARAUGUS.

THE last war with England, in 1812-15, was the first public emergency requiring the calling out of troops after the beginning of settlements in Cattaraugus. To this the county contributed no quota (beyond a few individual en- listments), for the population was then very small, and the settlers within this wilderness were already engaged in another warfare,-the ceaseless fight to procure bread for their wives and children, and to guard their cabin doors from the assaults of the gaunt wolf of hunger.

In the war against Mexico-1846-48-there was no regiment nor command raised here, though numerous en- listments of men from Cattaraugus helped to fill companies raised outside the county.

The real military history of Cattaraugus commenced in those spring days of 1861 when the signal to arms came booming from the guns of beleaguered Sumter, and rever- berated across the hills and streams from ocean to lake. And it is a history of which her people may well be proud. From the time when the President's first call for men was made known until the death of the great rebellion made further calls unnecessary, the young men, and the middle-aged men, and not unfrequently the old men, of Cattaraugus responded to each appeal with an alacrity and patriotism not excelled in any county of the State or Union.

The whole number of men contributed by this county to the armies of the United States, during the memorable period from 1861 to 1865, was very little short of three thousand five hundred, and it is a fact (though at first thought it seems incredible) that men from Cattaraugus County served as soldiers in more than one hundred and eighty different Union regiments, of which the following is a nearly complete list :

12th N. Y. Vol. Infantry.

44th N. Y. Vol. Infantry.

14th "

47th "

15th

49th

18th

50th

52d

21 st

54th

23d

24th

27th

64th (six companies).

5th

7th

9th

11th

1st Minnesota Vol. Infantry.

7th

4th Massachusetts Vol. Inf.

40th

48th

5th Massachusetts Cavalry.

20th Connecticut Vol. Infantry.

39th "

40th

82d =

85th (two companies).

1st N. Y. Cavalry.

86th N. Y. Vol. Infantry.

2d "

89th

4th

90th

5th (one company).

91st

6th

8th N. Y. Cavalry.

94th

9th (two companies).

96th

10th N. Y. Cavalry.

97th

11th

98th

12th

99th

13th

100th

15th

102d

16th

104th "

18th

105th (one company).

20th

24th

25th

1st N. Y. Vet. Cavalry.

115th

116th

117th

120th

123d "

50th

129th

130th

136th

98th

137th

140th

111th

145th

1st Penna. Rifles.

1st

Cavalry.

Artillery.

149th

14th Ohio Vol. Infantry.

21st

67th

73d

157th "

159th

160th

161st

164th =

165th

166th =

169th

171st

45th

58th

73d

185th =

157th

2d Ill. Cav.

9th " ic

3d Iowa Vol. Infantry.

10th "

12th "

18th "

27th "

3d Iowa Cavalry.

4th Wisconsin Vol. Infantry.

5th

17th

32d

1st Mich. Vol. Infantry.

4th "

5th

28th

65th N. Y. Vol. Infantry.

29th

31st =

32d

34th

35th =

36th

73d

76th

78th =

19th "

27th "

4th Vermont Vol. Infantry.

13th U. S. Regular Artillery.

6th Missouri Vol. Infantry.

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18th

20th

1st N. Y. Artillery.

4th

66th " :

9th

13th (one company).

14th "

15th N. Y. Artillery.

16th "

Ist N. Y. Independent Battery

12th "

38th N. Y. Vol. Infantry.

70th

71st

72d

189th

194th =

199th "

1st N. Y. Mounted Rifles. 2d N. Y. Mounted Rifles.

103d

2d Ohio Cavalry. 3d «

9th Illinois Vol. Infantry.

25th

34th

42d

179th

184th "

154th (eight companies, and a good part of a ninth). 155th N. Y. Vol. Infantry.

83d

93d

103d

141st

144th

146th "

147th

109th N. Y. Vol. Infantry.

111th

112th

3d Penna. Vol. Infantry.

6th

9th

42d

102d

187th

188th

58th

61st

8th

: 67th " :

37th (two companies).

81st "

17th N. Y. Veteran Infantry. 8th United States Infantry.

19th

93d

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HISTORY OF CATTARAUGUS COUNTY, NEW YORK.

and nearly one hundred men in the United States navy, including several men on board the " Kearsarge," which sunk the notorious privateer " Alabama" off the coast of France.

In the fever of excitement which succeeded the issuing of the seventy-five thousand call of April 15, hundreds of Cattaraugus men, whose zeal and patriotism would permit no delay, hastened to enlist at Buffalo, Elmira, New York, and other points, rather than to wait for the organization of companies at home. There was no delay, however, in the taking of preliminary measures for the formation of compa- nies here, but there was an almost total ignorance of the means and methods to be used to accomplish the desired end, and there was great fear that the number of men to be accepted from Cattaraugus would be so small that many must be disappointed in their desire to enter the service; and this, too, helped to swell the number of those who made haste to enlist in regiments forming outside the county.

THE 37TH REGIMENT.

The state of feeling, and the condition of doubt and anxiety then existing here, may be understood from the tenor of a letter of inquiry, addressed about that time to a gentleman from Cattaraugus County, then residing in Wash- ington, by Patrick H. Jones, of Ellicottville, afterwards successively adjutant and major of the 37th New York Regiment, colonel of the 154th New York, and later, brig- adier-general. The letter was as follows:

" ELLICOTTVILLE, May 10, 1861.

"JOHN MANLEY, ESQ.

"SIR,-We are in the fog here concerning the manner in which the men enlisting under the President's last procla- mation are to be mustered into the service; if the necessary authority can be procured before the meeting of Congress, or a sufficient light thrown upon the subject by the War Department. Cattaraugus wants to furnish a regiment if they can go under their own officers, etc. This county will get only a couple of companies in under the State volun- teer system. You are the only representative of ours that I know of in Washington. Will you procure us the neces- sary information and forward to me ?

"Our men are anxious to know. An early reply will oblige the citizens of this place. Will you also send the same to Capt. L. G. Harmon, of Allegany, in this county ? " Yours truly, P. H. JONES."

In accordance with the above request application was made at the War Department, and all the desired informa- tion was at once and most courteously furnished by Major (now Major-General) I. McDowell, and, with the requisite blanks for enlisting and mustering men, copies of " Army Regulations," etc., was forwarded without delay to Ellicott- ville and Allegany, as desired. Recruiting progressed with great rapidity, and in a few days two companies were raised, being composed in considerable part of members of the old 64th Regiment of militia, Col. T. J. Parker. These two companies, full in numbers, and christened respectively the "Chamberlain Guards" (under Capt. Luke G. IIarmon) and the " Cattaraugus Guards" (Capt. William T. Clarke), left about the 20th of May for Elmira, where they were placed in barracks for a few days. Capt. Harmon's com-

pany was the last to reach the rendezvous, and their arrival (the hour of which had been announced by telegraph in advance) was thus mentioned by a member of the other company: " Cheer after cheer rent the air, and shout fol- lowed shout, at the idea of meeting our old neighbors. And sure enough, at the train's appointed time, out marched the ' Chamberlain Guards,' as noble a set of fellows as ever pulled an oar or drew sight on a deer; and what added to our enjoyment was to see our townsmen, A. G. Rice, Esq., and Sheriff Gregory, following up as file-closers."

The companies left Elmira in the night of the 25th of May, arrived in New York on the following morning, and were in due time mustered into the United States service for two years, to form a part of the 37th Regiment New York Volunteer Infantry,-Capt. Harmon's company being desig- nated as "H" company, and Capt. Clarke's as "I" company -Col. (Judge) John H. McCunn, a politician of New York City, a man profoundly ignorant of all military matters, and (as was alleged by some) of questionable loyalty to the Union, but of boundless conceit and overbearing in his disposition. Dissatisfaction at their prospective connection with this regiment and its officers manifested itself even before leav- ing Elmira, and was strongly foreshadowed in a letter from a member of Capt. Clarke's company, from which this is an extract : " There seems to be a great and growing disposition on the part of ' the powers that be' to snub the scattering companies from the country in the organization of regiments, and to so use them as to advance the interests of ambi- tious men in the cities in their aspirations for positions as field-officers. Whether the game will finally succeed with us can better be determined after we arrive in New York than now ; but one thing will be understood, that we left Cattaraugus for the express purpose of fighting, and, if necessary, we are willing to commence it at any time and in any manner. We think we know our rights, and ' knowing, dare maintain.'"

Such ebullitions of indignation were not uncommon at that time among men who, fresh from the freedom of civil life, found themselves the subjects of real or imaginary wrong, but had not yet learned that threats against military authority were futile. It was not long before they had the opportunity to note the effect of insubordination, as at- tempted by their brave colonel.

The 37th left New York by railway on the 23d of June, arrived in Washington on the following day, and were encamped not far from the Old Capitol, at " Camp Mary," -so named in honor of the wife of President Lincoln. Here they remained until the morning of Sunday, July 21, when they crossed the Potomac by ferry to Alexandria, and from thence moved forward into Virginia; while as they advanced towards the front, the dull boom of ar- tillery was borne down to their cars from the field of Bull Run, growing more and more distinct as the day wore on, and before reaching Centreville, fugitives from the battle- field were met in great numbers, making for the Potomac. Before evening the regiment faced to the rear, and passed the night at Fort Ellsworth, where they remained on duty for three days; then were on duty for several days at the slave-pen in Alexandria, which was followed by a short stay in camp near Fairfax Seminary.

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HISTORY OF CATTARAUGUS COUNTY, NEW YORK.

It was while the regiment was thus encamped on the Virginia side that its utterly worthless and incompetent commander, the tap-room politician of New York, J. H. McCunn, met with the " accident" which closed his mili- tary career. The facts concerning this occurrence were, that an order having been issued from the headquarters of the army prohibiting any and all officers below the rank of brigadier-general from visiting Washington without a pass, the colonel of the 37th did visit that city in defiance of the order; and, while there, was met on Pennsylvania Avenue by a detachment of the provost-guard, under com- mand of Second Lieut. Hunter, of the regular army, who, as in duty bound, politely asked McCunn for his pass (ig- norant, it may be, of the civic distinction of the personage whom he challenged, and certainly ignorant of the fact that our colonel was an aspirant to the honors of a brigadiership, and already considered the coveted star as good as on his shoulder), to which demand the colonel of the 37th scarcely deigned a reply. The result was that he was, by Lieut. Hunter's command, taken in charge by a file of the guard, and a little later found himself lying under charges pre- ferred by Col. Porter, of the United States army, provost- marshal of the District of Columbia, " for conduct unbe- coming an officer and gentleman." He was glad to escape the consequences of these, by a retirement from the com- mand of the regiment. He resigned Sept. 25, 1861, and was succeeded by Col. Samuel B. Hayman, an excellent officer of the regular army, who took command Sept. 28, and continued with the regiment during all its term of service. The lieutenant-colonel was John Burke, of New York, who resigned Feb. 2, 1862.

But before this most desirable result was attained the two Cattaraugus companies had had justice done them by being detached from the regiment, and so relieved from the wrong and insult of remaining under the immediate com- mand of McCunn. This was accomplished mainly by the influence of Hon. R. E. Fenton,* but materially assisted by the Hon. A. G. Rice. An order was procured from Gen. Mansfield, and approved by Gen. Scott, directing their detachment. McCunn in some way procured the suspen- sion of this order, but, on Mr. Fenton's representations, it was again issued by Gen. McClellan and served on the col- onel on the 31st of July. It was, however, suppressed by him until the 5th of August, when a peremptory order from the commanding general brought him to his senses, and then he very blandly told Capts. Clarke and Harmon that he had an order from headquarters to detach them on special service, and that as there was no help for them they must immediately report with their companies to Gen. Mansfield, in Washington. The regimental order to that effect read as follows :

" Capt. Harmon, of Company H, and Capt. Clarke, of Company I, will report to Gen. Mansfield, Washington, with camp and garrison equipage." The order was received with demonstrations of the wildest delight by the two com- panies, and in an incredibly short space of time knapsacks

were packed, tents struck and rolled, and the march to Washington commenced. On reaching the city, Company H was ordered to guard the east end of the Long Bridge, and Capt. Clarke's company ordered to report to Major Haskin, at Fort Washington, fourteen miles below Wash- ington, on the Maryland side of the Potomac. The idea of being separated was hardly relished by the companies, but they were well pleased with the general result which took them from the regiment, and so, shouting to each other " Good-bye, boys," each company left for its respective post of duty. But the separation was destined to be short, and on the 10th of August Capt. Harmon's company was re- lieved from duty at the bridge and ordered to Fort Wash- ington, where the reunion of the companies was a most joyous one.

The Cattaraugus companies remained at the fort for more than eight months, employed in garrison duty and drill. The commandant of the fort, during the first part of their stay, was Maj. Haskin, who was succeeded, in February, 1862, by Col. Merchant. Both these were artillery officers of the regular army. Under their command the men had an opportunity, such as was enjoyed by few volunteer com- mands during the war, to attain a perfect knowledge of the soldier's duty, and this opportunity they fully improved.

But their pleasant tour of duty at last drew to an end, and on the 15th of April, 1862, they left the fort and pro- ceeded down the Potomac and up the York River to the vicinity of Yorktown, where they rejoined the regiment, which was then attached to Berry's Brigade of Gen. Phil. Kearney's Division.

On the evacuation of Yorktown by the enemy, on the morning of May 4, they joined the pursuing column, and participated in the bloody battle of Williamsburg, Va., on the following day. In that engagement Company I, Capt. Clarke, was the color company, and sustained heavy loss. Capt. Harmon's company occupied the right, and suffered comparatively little. The next engagement in which they took part was that of Fair Oaks, May 31, and June 1, 1862. From that time for three weeks they were in camp at Savage Station. During the Seven Days' Fight (June 26 to July 1) they participated in the action of Charles City Cross-Roads and Malvern Hill. From the last-named field they retired with the army to Harrison's Landing, and re- mained until the evacuation of that position in August, when they marched down the Peninsula by way of York- town, embarking there for Alexandria, from which place they marched to join the army of Gen. Pope, and arrived in time to take part in the second Bull Run battle. After this they remained at Upton's Hill, near Alexandria, until, upon the alarm of Stuart's raid into Maryland, they were moved to Edwards' Ferry, on the upper Potomac, and being regarded as unfit for duty, by reason of sickness and deci- mation, remained stationed there until the army recrossed into Virginia, in pursuit of Lee, after the battle of Antietam.

When General Burnside assumed command of the army and moved to the Rappahannock, the 37th also moved to join the forces encamped at Falmouth, opposite Fredericks- burg, and joined in the battle at the latter place on the 13th of December, 1862. After that bloody and disastrous engagement they participated in the miseries of the famous

* During the controversy that followed concerning the detachment of these companies, McCunn represented at headquarters that Messrs. Fenton and Rice were designing politicians, anxious to break up his regiment in order to get one for themselves.

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History of Cattaraugus County, New York, with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Some of Its Prominent Men and Pioneers, Part 25

Author: Franklin Ellis and Eugene Arns Nash Publication date: Publisher: Number of Pages:

Author: Franklin Ellis and Eugene Arns Nash
Publication date:
Publisher:
Number of Pages: