History of Chautauqua County, New York, and its people, Volume I, Part 8

Author: Downs, John Phillips, 1853- ed. [from old catalog]; Hedley, Fenwick, Y., joint ed. [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1921
Publisher: Boston, New York [etc.] American historical society, inc.
Number of Pages: 649

USA > New York > Chautauqua County > History of Chautauqua County, New York, and its people, Volume I > Part 8

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first church organized in the county was , founded by the Presbyterian settlers at the . Cross Roads in 1808, and was called the Chau- tauqua church. The same year the first Bap- tist church was organized at Canadaway, and was called the first Baptist Church in Pomfret. In 1808 was also formed the first Methodist Episcopal Church, and the first Methodist ser- mon preached. About the same time the Con- gregationalists were also represented here, in the person and by the work of Father John Spencer. No missionary labored so long and effectively in early years as Father Spencer. Dressed in the antique style of Revolutionary days, wearing short stockings and knee buckles, and boots quite up to his knees, he preached from house to house. Many churches were founded as the result of his work. Of all the early missionaries who labored in Chau- tauqua county, Father Spencer filled the most prominent place.

The first postoffice was established in Chau- tauqua county in 1806, at the Cross Roads on the route between Buffalo and Presque Isle.

At the beginning of the last century, what is now Chautauqua county was a part of the town of Northampton, in the county of Ontario. March 30, 1802, the county of Genesee was erected from Ontario. The boundaries of Genesee county were identical with the town of Northampton, and included all of the Hol- land Purchase, and also the Phelps and Gor- ham Purchase, east of it. What is now Chau- tauqua county became a part of the town of Batavia. April 15, 1805, by an act of the Leg- islature, the town of Chautauqua was created. It included all of the present county except the tenth range of townships, which was made a part of the town of Erie. The organization of: the town of Chautauqua was hailed with pleas -. ure by its settlers, as it gave them authority to regulate their local affairs. Prior to April, 1807, John McMahan had three times been chosen its supervisor, at town meetings held at the Cross Roads, and had met with the board of supervisors of Genesee county, at Ba- tavia. He had been chosen without reference to his political opinions. In April of this year, the first election was held in the county.

CHAPTER VIII. The Pioneer Period.

The circumstances attending the organiza- tion of the county were auspicious. The year before, the Holland Land Company had built

a land office of logs at Mayville, and placed it in charge of William Peacock. The consum- mation of the organization of the countv. to-

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A LOG CABIN, ONE OF THE FIRST IN COUNTY

THE PIONEER PERIOD

ether with the genial spring of 1811, made ich a favorable impression upon people visit- ig there, that many were induced to enter ind at the land office.

Zattu Cushing was appointed first judge of te county ; Matthew Prendergast, Philo Or- n, Jonathan Thompson and William Alex- nder, associate judges. Of these men. Mat- ·lew Prendergast was the eldest son of Wil- am Prendergast; when his father was par- oned by the king, as has been related, he was bout ten years of age. This circumstance ccurring so early in his life, undoubtedly lade a strong impression upon his youthful und, and naturally excited his sympathy in wor of King George, who had favored his ather in so momentous an affair. When the untroversy between the King and the Ameri- an people had come to an issue, he was so trongly inclined towards the Royal cause that 1 1779 he joined Abraham Cuyler's celebrated giment of Royal Refugees. The next year, ·hile a lieutenant in command of a small party om his regiment, he captured on the Long sland shore Major Bush, Capt. Cornelius onkling, ancestor of Roscoe Conkling, Capt. ogers and Lieut. Farley. Americans who had me over from the Connecticut shore on a ecret mission in the interest of the American ause. Two Americans were killed in the tfair. William Leggett, father of William .eggett. the editor of the "New York Evening ust." escaped capture. We have every rea- n to believe that William Prendergast served ith credit to himself in the cause he espoused uring the remainder of the war.

After the Revolution, Mr. Prendergast for me years resided in Nova Scotia. where he wned a tract of land. In 1808, after he came Chautauqua county, he was appointed a istice of the peace, and served as supervisor 1 1810-II. He also served as associate judge in hautauqua county many years. As such he erified the petitions of many Revolutionary aldiers for pension, and curiously enough, we 'e him presiding at a Republican meeting eld at John Scott's tavern in 1812, expressly illed to sustain the war against England, while other citizens of the county, who had een gallant soldiers of the Revolution, were t the same time participating in meetings eld in opposition to the war. Through his fe, he retained his Revolutionary costume, nd wore long hair, tied in a queue with a ather string.

The first session of the Court of Common 'leas was held at Mayville, June 25, 1811, in cott's Tavern, on the east side of Main street.

Anselm Potter, Dennis Brackett and Jacob Houghton were the first lawyers. The first meeting of the board of supervisors, in which Philo Orton represented the town of Pomfret, and Matthew Prendergast the town of Chau- tauqua, was also held in Scott's Tavern, on the third Tuesday of October. In pursuance of a vote then taken, a courthouse of wood, and later a jail, were built, at the expense of $1,500. They were built where a "large hemlock post" was placed in 1808 to mark the spot, just in front of the present courthouse.

In 1812 the town of Ellicott, with James Prendergast, the founder of Jamestown, as its supervisor, the town of Gerry, with Samuel Sinclair, the founder of Sinclairville, as its supervisor, and the town of Hanover, with Nedebiah Angell, the founder of the "Angell Settlement," as its supervisor, were erected as new towns.

Notwithstanding the propitious beginning of the new county's existence, the settlers were doomed to disappointment. The winter of 1811-12 was very inclement. A deep snowfall which remained until the last of March inter- rupted the explorations of landlookers. Yet the Holland Land Company continued to make efforts to open the county to settlement. They contracted with John Kent to build a road from his place in Villenova to Kennedy's Mills, to be laid out near the Indian path. They ex- pended considerable labor in constructing a road from Mayville to Angelica in Allegany county. This road had been so far opened as to be traveled in the winter, as far east as "Sin- clear Mills," now Sinclairville.

June 18, 1812, war was declared against Eng- land. This event created consternation upon the Holland Purchase. Chautauqua was thinly settled. It was situated upon the frontier, not far from the scene of conflict. Close along its borders and partly within its boundaries was the home of a principal remnant of the Six Nations or Iroquois, who had been the fiercest foes of the Americans in the Revolution. These circumstances greatly interrupted immigra- tion. Many actual settlers, yielding to the fears of their wives and families, were per- suaded to return to the east while others went on to the lines as soldiers or camp followers. In less than three weeks after war was declared and less than ten days after it was known in Chautauqua, although the county contained less than three thousand inhabitants, it had a full company of 113 able-bodied men on the march. The county never has since responded to a call for troops with more alacrity or rela- tively with a larger quota.

CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE

To allay the fear that the war at first cre- ated, forty-five men under Capt. James Mc- Mahan were posted at Barcelona, where a slight defense was built. About the same num- ber of men were stationed at the Widow Cole's house at the mouth of the Canadaway, under Captain Tubbs. Here it is believed the first affair of the war in which there was blood shed occurred. A boat loaded with salt, on its way to Erie, had put in at the mouth of the Canada- way in the night. In the morning a large armed schooner, probably the "Lady Provost," appeared off the mouth of the creek and sent a dozen or so of armed men in a small boat to attack the salt boat. Captain Tubbs and his men opened fire from the shore, wounding three of the British. The small boat imme- diately put back to the vessel. The Widow Cole by her assistance in the affair became the heroine of the occasion.

The Chautauqua Company that so promptly responded to the call for men at the beginning of the war, fully maintained the honor of the county on the field of battle, under its resolute commander, Capt. Jehiel Moore, the founder of Forestville. It was among the few New York militia to cross the Niagara and support the regulars at the battle of Queenstown, and among the few to stand upon the heights when they were stormed. The Chautauqua troops fought bravely, but were compelled to sur- render, with the rest of the American force. to superior numbers. Three of their number were killed in the battle, and five wounded, one mortally.

During the summer of 1813, British vessels were committing depredations along the Amer- ican shore. The "Queen Charlotte" was the most aggressive of these, making frequent de- scents to plunder the inhabitants. Capt. Har- mon was driven with his boat into the mouth of the Cattaraugus creek by the "Queen Char- lotte" and the "Hunter." They sent a boat, armed with a howitzer, up the creek in pursuit of Capt. Harmon's transport, firing upon him until the Indians from Cattaraugus Reserva - tion nearby came to his assistance, demon- strating in a practical manner their friendship to the United States. The British boat finally withdrew.

During the same summer the "Queen Char- lotte" came off the mouth of the Canadaway and sent ashore a boat manned by thirteen men, commanded by a lieutenant, with a flag of truce, under the pretense of returning goods that they had plundered from Lay's Tavern near the lake shore in Erie county. Judge Cushing happened to be there with his ox team

for a load of salt. He immediately notified the inhabitants, who rallied and fired upon the British, and wounded one of the sailors. The British all deserted but the lieutenant and the wounded sailor.

With a view to getting control of the lake, the government dispatched Capt. Oliver H. Perry in the winter of 1813 to build a fleet. On his way he stopped at John Mack's tavern at the mouth of the Cattaraugus, and was car- ried by him to Erie in a sleigh. Having dur- ing the spring and summer of 1813 built and completed his fleet, hearing that Lieut. Elliott was at Cattaraugus with about ninety soldiers, he dispatched a vessel there, and having re- ceived the reinforcement he set sail to offer battle. September 10th he gained a decisive and famous victory over the British fleet, which gave the Americans absolute control of the lake. Chautauqua county had responded 10 Perry's request for help, and some of its citi- zens participated in the battle. Abner Wil- liams, of Fredonia, son of Richard Williams, was a volunteer on board of the "Lawrence." He was killed, and his body was thrown into the lake. James Bird distinguished himself during the battle, was wounded, and was com- plimented by Commodore Perry, who was a witness of his gallantry.

During the war of 1812, the soldiers enlisted upon the frontier had little knowledge of mili- tary law, were tenacious of their rights as citi- zens, and often insubordinate. In the west- ern army whole companies and regiments that had done good service in the war would put their own construction upon the terms of en- listment, and when they considered their time out would march home, contrary to the order of their superior officers, sometimes at a criti- cal period in a campaign. This had the effect to cause the military crime of desertion to be held lightly by the rank and file. After Perry's victory the fleet returned to Erie. James Bird (previously mentioned) and others applied for discharge upon the ground that they had en- listed only for the battle, which was denied. Bird chose to follow his own view of rights, and started for home. At the time prepara- tions were being made for the invasion of Canada under General Harrison, and it was desired to hold all the forces possible for that movement. Capt. Elliott, who was in com- mand, determined to make such an example as' would tend to prevent further desertion, and to enforce better discipline. Application was made to stay the execution of Bird until the proceedings of the court-martial could be re- viewed by Perry, but Elliott denied the appli-

THE PIONEER PERIOD

:ation, and Bird was shot. Capt. Elliott was ›efore unpopular, because of his failure to oring the "Niagara" into action in the battle as promptly as it was thought he should have lone. Public feeling against him was now utensified by reason of the execution of Bird. According to one account, gathered from the descendants of persons familiar with the cir- cumstances, Bird was absent on a furlough to 'isit his sweetheart, Mary Blain, who was very 11 ; he overstayed his time, was arrested on his way back to command, taken to Erie, tried with undue haste, and sentenced to be shot ; Capt. Dobbins, who was in the immediate command at Erie, it is said, refused to sign his leath warrant, and another officer signed it.

Part of the force captured by Captain Perry was sent under guard from Erie to Buffalo. They passed the night at Richard Williams's og tavern in Fredonia, and dined the next day t Capt. Mack's tavern at Cattaraugus. Word vas sent in advance to Capt. Mack, that the American officers and their prisoners would ine at his tavern on their march eastward. Treat preparations were made to receive them. The dining room was trimmed with pine and vergreen boughs, the tables were loaded. apt. Mack carved the meat at the head of he long table, and the principal American offi- er was seated at the opposite end. The other American and British officers were seated round it. Among the maidens assisting on his occasion was Sophronia Gates, who lived one with her father in a little log house upon he shore of the lake near the mouth of the lig-sister creek, a few miles from Angola. A ew months before, an officer and boat's crew : f two men from the "Queen Charlotte," landed : 'ear the old man's house, and as a poor re- enge for some disrespectful and bitter lan- luage used by her when they were ransacking he cabin, carried the old man to the boat, not- rithstanding a spirited resistance on her part. " the old gentleman was taken on board of the Queen Charlotte" and was put ashore at hadwick's Bay (Dunkirk). The next day at usk he arrived at Mack's tavern, ragged, yeary and footsore, where he found Sophro- o da, who had sought an asylum there.

While the dinner was in progress at Capt. tack's tavern, the prisoners as merry as their aptors, the sharp eyes of Sophronia discov- red the British officer who had abducted her fther. Her hour of triumph had come. "So te tables are turned, Mr. Officer," she said in ¿ high and penetrating tone, pointing her fin- er scornfully at him. The talking ceased, and se proceeded to relate, in caustic and contemp-

tuous language, the story of the abduction of her father. She praised the officer for his brav- ery in kidnapping a feeble old man, and mock- ingly called him "a hero," and told him "a petticoat would become him better than brass buttons and gold braid." The officer made a feeble attempt to be amused at her sally, but it was a failure, but the jokes of his American entertainers and the merriment of his British friends were too much for him, and he "tip- toed" out amidst shouts of laughter from his brother officers and Yankee captors.

The chief and nearly the last event of the war in which the people of Chautauqua par- ticipated was the burning and battle of Buf- falo. In response to the call of Governor Tompkins, four hundred men from Chautauqua county, consisting of the 162nd Regiment under Col. John McMahan, comprising the greater portion of the able-bodied men of the county, marched to Buffalo, to oppose the British and Indians that were desolating the county east of the Niagara river. They par- ticipated in the attempt to stay the advance of the British at Black Rock, and in the disas trous retreat that followed, some fled disgrace- fully, while others behaved with bravery. Col. McMahan conducted himself with courage, and did all in his power to rally his men, but without success. In the affair the regiment lost James Brackett, of Mayville, an early member of the bar of Chautauqua county, killed and scalped by the Indians; Joseph Frank, of Busti, shot through the head and scalped; Mr. Pease and Mr. Lewis, from Pomfret : Aaron Nash, Mr. Bover and MIr. Hubbard, from Hanover, with several others, shared the same fate. Major Prendergast had several balls through his hat and clothes, and narrowly escaped with his life. Capt. Silsby was severely wounded, and Lieut. Forbes had cne man killed and five wounded of the twenty- one men under his command. Of the Ameri- can force engaged, of the killed, the bodies of those found were buried in a common grave near the road leading from Buffalo to Black Rock, into which eighty-nine were promiscu- ously thrown.

Unsoldierlike as was the conduct of the Chautauqua troops, they behaved fully as well as the militia from other parts of the Holland Purchase, and deserve no more censure than they. To the personal cowardice of the militia gathered from the Holland Purchase, cannot be ascribed the disastrous results of the en- gagement at Buffalo. The character of the men forbids such a supposition. They were, as a whole, resolute men accustomed to the

CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE

perils of frontier life, and their conduct, forti- tude and courage compared favorably with other people of pioneer communities. Their lives had been spent in peaceful pursuits. They had been without military instruction, except such as they had received at backwoods mus- ters. They had never been subject to military discipline, were imperfectly organized and armed, and suffering from cold and hunger. They were hurried into battle almost as soon as they reached the scene of action, against a well drilled and well officered enemy. Their officers were without military knowledge or experience. Conscious of this fact, the men had no faith in their ability to lead them, or in themselves to successfully resist the enemy. They marched without blankets, knapsacks, tents, rations, or camp equipage, and suffered much from hunger and cold.

Whatever discredit attaches to the militia for their failure at the battle of Buffalo, the conduct of the Chautauqua troops during the remainder of the war went far to redeem them. A company under Capt. John Silsby served with credit in the memorable battles of Chip- pewa and Lundy's Lane, under Gen. Brown, as a part of the brigade of Gen. Peter B. Potter. In the summer of 1814, two full companies of the 164th Regiment under Col. John Mc- Mahan, were stationed a few miles below Black Rock, where they suffered much sickness. The 385 prisoners taken at Fort Erie were placed in their charge, and marched to the vicinity of Albany. This was about the last event in which the troops participated.

At the close of the war, the county was in a most deplorable condition. Its people were absolutely poor. To add to their misfortunes, another serious calamity befell theni. The summer of 1816, known as the "Cold Season," was long remembered; cold and blustering winds swept the hills; snow fell; ice formed in every month of the year. July was accom- panied by frost and ice ; the "Fourth" was cold and raw; blustering winds swept the entire Atlantic coast. On the 5th, ice was formed as thick as window glass in New York City and Pennsylvania. In August, ice half an inch thick was frequently seen. Flowers froze, corn was killed, and all attempts to raise other crops were abandoned.

As a result, the first six months of 1817 might be termed the "Starving Season." Flour was $18 a barrel ; potatoes $1.50 a bushel ; and other articles in proportion, and difficult to ob- tain at those prices; while the price of labor was but sixty or seventy cents a day. Those skilled in the use of the rifle could to some ex-

tent provide their families with venison anı other wild meat, but many until the harvest ( 1817 subsisted wholly upon fish, milk, greer. and leeks.

Long years of financial depression and pov erty followed the war of 1812, and the life ( the settler in the backwoods of Chautauqt county was one of extreme hardship, and ye stimulated by the prospect of the building ( the Erie canal to Buffalo, the population ( the county rapidly increased. For many yea- the covered wagons of the emigrants wer constantly moving from Eastern New Yor toward the Holland Purchase. A bridge mo than a mile in length across the lower end ( Cayuga Lake was called the Caynga bridg and until the Erie canal was built was reco; nized as the dividing point between the Ea and the "Far West." For years a continuo procession of wagons passed over it, each wi a water-pail and tar-bucket dangling from tl axle-tree, and perhaps an infant's cradle basket swinging from the ash hoops over whit was stretched its cover, displaying upon tl canvas the legend. "For the Holland Pu chase," or "For the Connecticut Reserve They bore the family of the emigrant, his coo ing utensils, sleeping furniture, and sometim all of his family effects. They were often fo lowed by freight wagons, drawn sometimes 1 three, frequently by five horses. The settl who journeyed to Chautauqua county usual came in a less pretentious way, generally wi a yoke of oxen, an oxcart, or a wooden-sh sled, and a few household goods. On 1 arrival the settler would go first to the la office at Mayville and get a contract for usua about one hundred acres of land, to be paid f at two dollars and fifty cents per acre, ten de lars or fifteen dollars down, being all t money that he could raise; the balance annual installments with interest. He the with the assistance of his neighbors, wot put up a log house, after which he would ma an arrangement with the merchant at t neighboring settlement for credit to the amor of twenty dollars to fifty dollars to buy a [ or a cow, or some necessary articles at 1. store, to be paid for in black salts of lye, ma' from the ashes, when he should burn his fi fallow.

From the ashes of the burned timber t: settler obtained the first return for his lab From the manufacture and sale of black sa of lye made from the ashes, he received 1: cash to pay for his land. The settlemet of the county would have been postpor many years had it not been for this co-

EMIGRANTS EN ROUTE TO CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY

THE PIONEER PERIOD

modity. It was the chief staple of the hill towns during the first twenty-five years of their history. It was the only product that could be sold for cash, and received in ex- change for goods and groceries. It was made from the ashes of the oak, maple, beech and other hard woods. The ashes were gathered in boxes in the fallows or slashings where the timber was burned, and carried by hand to rough leaches, usually made of bark, erected at places convenient to water. The lye ob- tained was boiled in a kettle until it became a semi-solid which was called black salts. Each merchant owned an "ashery" where he received f his customers black salts and ashes which he paid for in money and in goods at the rate of $2.50 or $3 per hundred. At the asheries, the black salts were converted into potash by burning them in ovens. Later the potash was refined into pearl ash or saleratus. These com- modities were used to make soap, glass, for culinary purposes, and in many of the arts and in medicine. About the only articles that the settlers could market abroad were black salts and ashes, which after being manufactured into potash were sold in Pittsburgh or in Mon- treal to be sent to England. The only other article that would bring money was pine lum- ber which was sold in Pittsburgh and towns along the Ohio river.

The abundance of wild animals and the necessities of the pioneer made the rifle next in importance to the ax. The long, heavy, small-bored, muzzle-loading flint-lock rifle of pioneer times was not merely an instrument of diversion, but a weapon of practical utility, for it sometimes saved the pioneer from starva- tion. Its grooved barrel was three and one- half or four feet long, of good material and good workmanship, mounted on a plain stock, which extended a long way up the barrel. The rifle was an accurate and formidable weapon at short range, and only a short range was re- quired in the thick forest of the frontier. But it was the backwoodsman behind the gun that made it the deadly weapon that it was. The demands of the daily life of the settler required great skill in its use. He accurately measured his powder. The balls, run in his own bullet molds, were carefully put down by a hickory 1od, in a greased patch, and his gun was often wiped with a wisp of tow, to ensure accuracy. He knew the runways of the deer and the habits of all the game. The American rifle, and the American hunter, of which Leather Stocking was the ideal, and Daniel Boone the real representative, conquered the great wil- dernesses of America. In pioneer days Chau-

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History of Chautauqua County, New York, and its people, Volume I, Part 8

Author: Downs, John Phillips, 1853- ed. [from old catalog]; Hedley, Fenwick, Y., joint ed. [from old catalog] Publication date: 1921 Publisher: Boston, New York [etc.] American historical society, inc. Number of Pages: 649

Author: Downs, John Phillips, 1853- ed. [from old catalog]; Hedley, Fenwick, Y., joint ed. [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1921
Publisher: Boston, New York [etc.] American historical society, inc.
Number of Pages: 649