History of Chautauqua County, New York, and its people, Volume I, Part 89

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 89

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STEAMBOATS OF CHAUTAUQUA LAKE

signed by Herreschoff, of American cup defender fame. There were other boats brought to Lake Chautauqua, but nearly all that ply the lake were home built. The fleet now owned and operated during the open season by the Lake Chautauqua Navigation Company consists of six steamers : The "New York," carrying capacity 850; "Buffalo," 800; "Cincinnati," 750; "Cleveland," 500; "Chadakoin," 75; "Mayville," 75.

August 14, 1871, the most terrible calamity that ever visited this section occurred at Whitney's Landing, in the bay of the same name, on the western shore of Lake Chautauqua. The steamer "Chautauqua," which left Jamestown at four p. m. with about thirty passengers and crew on board, increased by half a dozen at Bemus Point, had come to the dock to take on wood, and while lying there the boiler exploded, tearing the boat to pieces and filling the air with flying timbers and human bodies. The sound of the explosion was heard miles away, and assistance was quickly forthcoming. The explosion occurred at 6.20, the steamer having been lying at the dock for about ten minutes, the engine room apparently deserted, with the steam gauge rising. Suddenly, with- out warning, came a terrific report, the whole bow of the boat going into the air in pieces. The stern was rent in fragments, and for twenty rods around the water and land was covered with broken timbers, with here and there a mangled bleeding form. Every part of the boiler was blown out of the boat. Four persons were instantly killed and four more did not survive the night. The dead were: Mrs. J. C. Cochrane; Mrs. Perry Aiken; Mrs. Jerusha Hopkins and her two daughters, Misses Julia and Eunice; Iduca Eells, a child of four years; Mrs. Samuel Bartholomew; and Henry Cook, colored. The badly injured were: John Bemus, Alvin Plumb, Dan. P. Eells, W. S. Cameron, James M. Murray, captain of the "Chautauqua ;" Fred Johnson, pilot; Joseph Brown, Caleb Norton, Cornelius Shaw, Mrs. Elizabeth Leach. The marvel was that any escaped.

The answer to the call for help was immediate, doctors and supplies being hurried to the spot as soon as the news of the tragedy spread. Houses nearby were opened, and the farmers were at once on the spot with such sup- plies as they could furnish. The houses of A. H. Whit- ney, Alonzo Whitney and Norman Newbury sheltered the dead and the dying, and all night long these families min- istered to the injured.

The cause of the explosion was found to be careless- ness on the part of those in charge of the engine and boiler. This sad happening cast a gloom over the lake section and was long the subject of much speculation as to the party or parties responsible for the great loss of life and for the destruction of the steamer. An excellent photo of the boat taken after the explosion appear in this work.

Probably the most interesting steamer on the lake from a romantic point of view was the old steamer "James- town," commanded by Captain "Ted" Grandin, who made history for himself and his boat. He was an imposing figure when fully dressed, and, occasionally wearing a big stovepipe hat, he stood with one foot on the rail issuing his commands in no gentle voice or language, but it was remarkable how well he was obeyed. Those were days of keen competition, and when two steamers made a landing at about the same time, rival agents and crews frequently had fistic encounters over passengers await- ing their coming. Racing was frequently indulged in, but the "Jamestown" was a slow moving boat and could not compete in speed contests, but she was popular never- theless, and always carried the crowd. The moonlight excursions on the "Jamestown" were very popular, the many quiet, secluded corners lending themselves will- ingly, it would seem, to the couples who, after dancing

on the upper decks, would seek their shelter, as lovers will. In fact the boat carried an atmosphere of pleasure, and when that dreaded marine foe-fire-swept her from the lake, the many who had trod her deck on pleasure bent sincerely mourned as though for a friend.

The two fastest boats of the period were the "Hia- watha" and the "Cincinnati," owned by rival companies. The captains of these boats never declined a race against each other, although the "Cincinnati" was a shade the faster boat. The rules of the lake decreed that when two steamers were approaching the same landing, the one first at the whistling buoy had the right of way, but in the heat of a race this little rule was sometimes overlooked, and dire were the results. On one occasion the "Hia- watha" and the "Cincinnati" reached a whistling buoy simultaneously, and both made for the landing, the "Hia- watha" on the inside first reaching the dock. So great was her speed, however, that the lines thrown out to check her speed parted, and she swept along, taking a few spiles from the dock with her. The "Cincinnati," checking her speed sooner, quickly made the dock, and carried off all but a few of the waiting passengers which the beaten "Hiawatha" backed in and took on board.

The "Josie Bell" one day attempted to save time by cutting across Busti Bay, but miscalculating, ran aground on the shoals, her passengers having to be taken off in small boats to a steamer sent to their assistance.

The "Louise" on one occasion was racing with one of the large steamers in the narrow outlet, and, coming too close, the suction from the larger boat drew her against the gunwale and a serious accident was only averted by those on the "Louise" scrambling quickly on board the large steamer. The laws were adequate but were not always observed, the rival captains taking long chances, and if successful were the "heroes" of the moment.

Captain Ted Grandin was the most picturesque of the old-time captains, and the best known. Among the own- ers, Henry Harley was conspicuous. He was a man of great energy, and whatever he touched he vitalized and endowed with new life. Thus when he obtained control of a lake line of steamers a new era was ushered in. He built a handsome summer residence on the shores of the bay at Long Point, the writer's father being for nine years superintendent of the Harley estate. Those were happy years for the lad, who had nothing to do but amuse himself and aid in amusing others with boat, rod, or line. Long Point in those days was the favorite picnic grounds, and nearly all excursions or picnics came there for the day. Volumes could be written concerning the methods Mr. Harley used to popularize the lake and his lake boats. One season he brought the Madrigal Boys, a choir of thirty voices, from New York, and had them give daily concerts on the lake boats. The boys camped at Long Point, and in their natty sailor suits proved a strong attraction, while their sweet singing won all hearts. On the lawn of the Harley mansion a great flag pole was erected, from the top of which an American flag floated from sunrise until sunset. It was the custom for every steamer of the Harley line to salute the flag when passing the house, and woe be to the pilot who "forgot."

But the old days have gone, and steamboating on Chau- tauqua Lake is now a modern business, the gayhearted crowds which thronged the boats now being divided into smaller parties traveling to lake points by private con- veyance, auto or yacht, by trolley or steam car, the glory of the steamers having in a measure departed. But the beauties of the outlet and the lake remain, and of all who visit the resorts of the old lake there are none who carry away such pleasant recollections as those who made the circuit of the lake from the Jamestown docks on one of the excursion steamers.

374

CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE

POLITICAL CHAUTAUQUA. By Benjamin S. Dean.

The following discussion relating to the politics of Chautauqua county for more than a century, is the work rather of the late Hon. Obed Edson than of myself. Shortly before his death he placed in my hands a manu- script heretofore unpublished, and which brought the political history of the county down to and including the sensational campaign of Theodore Roosevelt in 1912, authorizing me to make such use of it as I might deem proper. Beyond a few incidental corrections, I have made no changes in the story which Mr. Edson has left us, merely bringing the narrative down to date, and I am sure a discriminating public will find greater pleasure in what Mr. Edson has prepared for them, than in any- thing I could have produced. Mr. Edson was essentially an historian; he has given us an interesting grouping of the characters who have been the moving spirits in the political life of the county, with just enough of its geography and development to afford a background for their activities, and with this I leave it to the more gifted pen of Hon. Obed Edson. B. S. D.

Chautauqua is the western county of the State of New York, and one of the largest. It is bounded north by Lake Erie, east by Cattaraugus county, south and west by Pennsylvania. Its northern part lies with- in the basin of the Great Lakes, its southern and largest part within the Valley of the Mississippi. These parts are separated by a range of grass covered hills. Their highest summits are elevated more than 2,000 feet above the ocean, and more than 1,400 feet above Lake Erie.

The county remained, until the first year of the last century, an unbroken wilderness without an inhabitant. The Holland Land Company had then recently acquired the ownership of all its lands, to which the title of the Indians had been extinguished by the treaty of Big Tree in 1797. Col. James McMahan, the first person to acquire a title and settle upon the land that he had purchased in 1802, built his log house where the old road cut by the French in 1753 from Lake Erie to Chautauqua Lake was crossed by an ancient Indian trail that led into the West. The place where he set- tled was originally known as the Cross Roads, and is now within the present village of Westfield.

The county was rapidly settled, at first by emigrants from Pennsylvania. Until the year 1805, its territory was a part of the town of Batavia, County of Genesee. During the early years of settlement it was practically cut off from communication with the remainder of New York by a great wilderness. Supplies for the settlers were brought up in small boats from Pittsburgh, then a town of 2,000 inhabitants. Buffalo at that time was but a settlement in the woods, known as New Amster- dam, containing but sixteen dwelling houses, some of them of logs, scattered principally along its main street. John Crowe's tavern at the corner of Main and Ex- change streets was then the only house of entertainment.

April 5, 1805, the new town of Chautauqua was created, which included all of the present county of Chautauqua, except the Tenth range of townships. It derives its name from its famous lake, which is elevated 1,300 feet above the ocean, and lies wholly within its borders. The lake derives its name from the Seneca word Ga-dah-quah, which originally meant "the place or lake where the fish was taken out," and referred to an incident related by the Indians that happened before Bicunlles' de Celoron's expedition over it, to the Val-

ley of the Mississippi in 1749. The word was rendered in French as "Tcha-da-Koin." This expedition of Celoron, and the burial of leaden plates by him, were the first overt acts that led to the French and Indian War.

When Chautauqua became organized as a town, John McMahan, the brother of James, was chosen its first supervisor. At the first general election held there, in April, 1807, Alexander Hamilton, the leader of the Federalists, having been killed in 1804, in a duel by Aaron Burr, Thomas Jefferson and the Republicans were practically without opposition. In the State of New York there were three Republican factions-the Clintonians, who supported Daniel D. Tompkins for governor ; the adherents of the Livingstones' families, who supported Morgan Lewis; and the Burrites. The latter and the Federalists divided their vote between these two Republican candidates. In the town of Chau- tauqua the election was held the first day at the house of William Bemus, at Bemus Point, on Chautauqua Lake. The election officers then walked through the woods to the Cross Roads and held the election there, at the tavern of the widow Perry. The forenoon of the third day it was held at Hezekiah Baker's, at Can- adawa, now Fredonia. In the afternoon it was held at the house of Orsamus Holmes', in Sheridan. In all, 69 votes were polled, of which Tompkins received 41 votes, and Lewis 28. The relative strength of the Re- publicans and Federalists in the town at this time can- not be determined by reason of the nature of the elec- tion. There is little doubt, however, that it was strong- ly Republican, and continued so during the Frontier Period.

In 1808, Genesee was divided into four counties- Genesee, Niagara, Cattaraugus, and Chautauqua, giv- ing Chautauqua its present boundaries. At the same time, Chautauqua was divided into two towns; the eastern was named Pomfret, and the western Chautau- que. In February, 1811, it was fully organized as a separate county, and its Frontier Period closed. The settlers who came when the county was in a forest condition were frontiersmen, accustomed to roughing it in the wilderness, and were often more skilled in the use of the ax and the rifle than the implements for cultivating the soil. In after years the settlers who came before 1811 were regarded with a pioneer respect not awarded to those who came later.

The year previous to the organization of the county, the Holland Land Company had built a land office at Mayville, and put it in charge of William Peacock, who during the Pioneer Period was the leading citizen.

The county was organized with Zattu Cushing as county judge-a distinguished pioneer, the grand- father of Lieut. William B. Cushing, the hero of many daring exploits in the Civil War. Mathew Prendergast was chosen associate judge. He had been an officer in Abraham Cuyler's regiment of loyalists in the Rev- olution. His father, William Prendergast, ten years before that war had been tried and convicted of high treason for leading a band of anti-renters in Putnam county against the King's soldiers, in which some of the soldiers were killed. Having been pardoned by the King, he became a loyalist. He and his sons, notwith- standing his revolutionary record, were prominent and respected citizens of Chautauqua county, and were among the first to be honored with important public positions.

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POLITICAL CHAUTAUQUA

The first session of the Court of Common Pleas was held June 25, 1811, in Scott's Tavern in Mayville. Ansalem Potter, Jacob Houghton and Dennis Bracket were the first lawyers. The first meeting of the Board of Supervisors, then consisting of two members, was held there in October of the same year.

June 18, 1812, war with England was declared. It is believed that the first event of the war resulting in bloodshed, was a conflict between part of the crew of the "Lady Provost," and some of the inhabitants of the county assembled at the mouth of the Canadaway creek near Dunkirk. Less than three weeks after the declaration of war, although the county then contained less than 3.000 inhabitants, it had a full company con- sisting of 113 ablebodied men on the march to the scene of conflict, under Capt. Jehial Moore. This company was among the few New York militia that crossed the Niagara, and supported the regulars in storming the Heights of Queenstown. Three of their number were killed in the battle, and five wounded. Soldiers from Chautauqua county also served in the battles of Lundy's Lane, and in other engagements.

Party feeling ran high during the war. The first political gathering convened in the county was a Re- publican meeting held December 23, 1812, at John Scott's tavern in Mayville. Mathew Prendergast, although he had been a loyalist during the Revolution, and was in the military service of King George the Third, was its chairman. Resolutions were there adopted sustaining the war, March 17, 1813. A meeting was held in Pomfret by the Federalists who opposed the war, at- tended by delegates representing counties of Western New York, that composed the Assembly district. Thom- as Martin was the president. Jacob Houghton of Pom- fret was nominated for the Assembly. He was the first candidate put in nomination by a political conven- tion held in the county. Jonas Williams, the leading lawyer of Buffalo, was nominated by the Republicans and elected. Daniel D. Tompkins, the Republican can- didate for governor, received 57 majority in the county over Stephen Van Rensselaer, the Federal candidate, in a vote of 553

The last real effort of the Federalists in Chautauqua county was made in the election of 1816, when Daniel D. Tompkins was elected governor over Rufus King, the Federal candidate. In Chautauqua county, Tomp- kins received a majority of 42. At this election Jediah Prendergast, son of William Prendergast and brother of Mathew Prendergast, was elected to the Assembly hy the Republicans. He was the first inhabitant of the county that was chosen to the Legislature. His brother, James Prendergast, the founder of the city of James- town, had been beaten the year before as the candidate of the Federalists for the Assembly.

Governor Tompkins being now elected vice-president, resigned his office of governor, and DeWitt Clinton was elected to fill the vacancy. Clinton was popular in the western part of the State because of his friendship to the projected canal. In the election in 1817, he received in Chautauqua county 605 votes; only seven votes were polled against him. At this election, Dr. Jediah Pren- dergast, whose term was to close in the Assembly, was elected State Senator by the Republicans, for the western senatorial district, then composed of fifteen counties. He was the first person chosen to that body from Chautauqua county. His brother, John J. Pren- dergast, of Herkimer, at the same time represented an eastern district in the State Senate.

Long years of financial depression followed the war of 1812. Yet stimulated by the prospect of the build- ing of the Erie canal, the population of the county rapidly increased.

In 1820, the Federals suffered the fate destined to a party not in sympathy with the manes, and that dis- trusted the virtue and intelligence of the people. That year the Federalists practically ceased to exist as a party. The Republicans thereupon divided into two wings-Clintonians, whose candidate for governor was DeWitt Clinton; and Bucktails, whose candidate was Daniel D. Tompkins. His official term as vice-presi- dent had now come toward its close. Clinton was elected governor. In Chautauqua county, he received 744 votes, and Tompkins 455. In 1821 the Bucktails wing of the Republican party had complete control of the State, and may be said to have then become the Democratic party. Clinton having decided to be a candidate for governor, Joseph C. Yates was put in nomination in opposition. In Chautauqua county, Clin- ton received 1689 votes; only ten votes were polled against him. The county having been organized into one Assembly district, James Mullett, Jr., a talented and eloquent lawyer, who had no keener an advocate in his own county, and no superior in Western New York, was elected to the Assembly, and David Eason, also from Chautauqua, Senator. Dr. Elial T. Foote was appointed the first judge of the county to succeed Zattu Cushing, who had now served ten years.

The presidential election for the year 1824 was now approaching. The Republicans were without opposition. In Chautauqua county, the electoral bill which gave to the people the power of choosing presidential elec- tors was popular, and meetings were held there in its support. Those of the Republicans who were opposed to the congressional caucus system now took upon them- selves the name "People's Party," and DeWitt Clinton was nominated by them for governor, and was elected over Samuel Young in the fall of 1824. At this elec- tion, Daniel G. Garnsey, of Dunkirk, was elected to Congress, and was the first citizen of Chautauqua county chosen to that office.

As neither of the candidates for president received a majority of the electoral college, the election was made by the House of Representatives, resulting in the choice of John Quincy Adams.

During the early period in the history of the county, as we have seen. it gave a small Republican majority. Later, when the Federal party had become extinct and the people were divided between the Clintonians and Bucktails, or Tammany wing of the Democratic party, the Bucktails were in a decided majority, except when DeWitt Clinton himself was a candidate. He was very popular, and always carried the county, generally by a large majority.

In 1826, Clinton was elected governor, and carried Chautauqua county by a majority of 227. The same year, John Birdsall was appointed circuit judge of the Eighth Judicial District of the State. He became a resident of Chautauqua county, and represented it in the Senate and Assembly. He afterwards went to Texas, and was there appointed Chief Justice of that republic by Sam Housten, and later its attorney-gen- eral.

In 1826. an event occurred of comparatively small public importance, but which greatly excited the people of Western New York, and finally changed its political complexion. No lodge of Free Masons existed in that part of the State, until the last war with England, and at its close but one : Western Star Lodge at Buffalo. In 1816, Forrest Lodge was established at Fredonia, in Chautauqua county. A little later, Mount Moriah Lodge was established at Jamestown, Summit Lodge at May- ville, Sylvan Lodge at Sinclairville, and Hanover Lodge at Forestville. In September of that year, William Morgan, a Royal Arch Mason, a printer by trade, re-

376

CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE

siding at Batavia, threatened to publish a book that would reveal the secrets of Free Masonry. He was feloniously abducted by some criminal and misguided men, said to have been Masons, and it is believed was never afterwards seen. A committee appointed by the Legislature reported that Morgan was murdered, and that was the general belief, although no positive evi- dence was obtained that such was the fact. Intense indignation followed the perpetration of this offence, which was generally believed to have been committed by persons connected with the Masonic fraternity. In consequence of this belief, excitement against Free Masons ran very high, and was manifested in various ways. An edition of Morgan's book was published in Westfield, Chautauqua county; also a book claiming to reveal the secrets of the order entitled "Light in Masonry" by Rev. David Barnard, who became a resi- dent of Chautauqua county. Masons resented as false the charges so implicating their order. Feeling was so bitter, however, that the Masonic lodges of the county ceased work, and eventually surrendered their charters. The question entered into the social and religious rela- tions of life, divided families and churches. In some instances, ministers and others, members of religious societies, who were Masons, were compelled to absolve their connections with their church. Striking instances of this spirit existing in the county could be given did space allow.

It would be unjust however, to say that all who were intolerant and bitter in their denunciations, were insincere. A nefarious crime had been committed, and many leading and upright citizens were actuated by a sincere and just desire to bring its perpetrators to jus- tice. The movement, however, fell quickly into the hands of the politicians. Favored by the disintegration of the old Federal party and the chaotic condition of politics at the time, the people were easily led away from the landable purpose of bringing to justice crim- inal offenders, to a political attack on the institution of Free Masonry and all of its members.

Early in October in the same year, a putrid body was found on the shore of Lake Ontario, and assumed to have been the body of Morgan. The remains were buried with great parade at Batavia. A multitude of people marched in the funeral procession; a funeral discourse was pronounced, and the opportunity improv- ed with great effect to excite public sentiment against Masons. The body was afterwards disinterred and proved to have been the body of Timothy Monroe, who had been drowned in the Niagara river. Anti-Masonic politicians, however, were not baffled by this damaging discovery. A leading one pronounced the body to be "a good enough Morgan until after the election," which soon ensued. However, at this election, which oc- curred in the fall of 1826, the county went Democratic, and gave a majority of 227 for DeWitt Clinton, a Democrat and a Mason, for governor, over William B. Rochester, the Adams candidate, who was also a Mason.

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History of Chautauqua County, New York, and its people, Volume I, Part 89

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