History of Chautauqua County, New York, Part 30

Author: Edson, Obed, 1832-; Merrill, Georgia Drew, editor
Publication date: 1894
Publisher: Boston, Mass. : W.A. Fergusson
Number of Pages: 1068

USA > New York > Chautauqua County > History of Chautauqua County, New York > Part 30

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CHAUTAUQUA, April 28, 1814.

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN : This may certify that Wmn. Harris, of the county and town above mentioned, aged 47 years, about 5 feet, 7 inches high, of a black complexion, born of free parents in the state of Rhode Island, town of Scituate, hath made before me such proof of his freedom, that I am fully convinced of his freedom as to the pretense of any person to the contrary notwithstanding. Given under my hand,

MATTHEW PRENDERGAST.

One of the judges of the court of common pleas of said county. Recorded April 22, 1814. J. DEXTER, Town Clerk.

New York in 1799 had adopted a gradual emancipation act at which time she had upwards of 20,000 slaves. In 1817, upon the recommendation of Gov- ernor Tompkins, her legislature passed another act declaring all slaves resid- ing within the state free on the 4th of July 1827. Eight slaves and their masters were residing in Chautauqua county in 1817.

Still another event occurred in 1817, which, notwithstanding the mis- fortunes that had befallen the county, denoted that it was making progress and emerging from its primitive condition to take rank with the older counties. In January the Chautauqua Gazette was established in Fredonia. It was the first newspaper published in the county. James Percival was its editor. It was afterwards issued by Carpenter and Hull and by James Hull until 1822 when it was suspended. In 1823 it was revived by James Hull and continued until 1826 when it was united with the People's Gazette from Forestville, and its name was changed to Fredonia Gazette. It was published a short time by Hull and Snow, removed by Hull to Dunkirk, and in a few months to Westfield and united with the Chautauqua Phoenix.

The second term of President Madison having expired, James Monroe was chosen to succeed him. . Gov. Daniel D. Tompkins was elected vice- president. Tompkins had now served ten years as a Republican governor of New York. He was very efficient in the support of the government in its war measures, and was one of the ablest governors the state had ever had. He resigned his office a few days before March 4, 1817. In April a general election was held to fill the vacancy. Dewitt Clinton, who had taken a prominent part in the politics of the state and nation and was an eminent and unwavering Republican, was made the candidate of that party. He was strong in the western part of the state because of his friendship to the projected canal. The Federalists, who had now practically ceased to exist as a party, strongly favored his election, and placed no candidate in the field against him. He was elected substantially without opposition. In Chautauqua county he received 605 votes, only 7 votes were polled against him.

In 1789, during the administration of President Washington, a society was founded by William Mooney, a citizen of New York city. One of its

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objects was to prevent the consolidation of power in the general government of the United States. At that early day it was feared that under the system of government that had been adopted the independence of the state govern- ment and the common liberties of the people were threatened by the powers given to the general goverment. Its purpose was in this respect quite in accordance with the sentiments of the Republican party to which it allied itself. At first it took no part in politics. It finally became a political institution, taking ground with Thomas Jefferson. It rallied to the support of James Madison, and has since been an important factor in state and national politics. It was allied to the Republican party as long as that existed, and to its successor, the Democratic party, since that time. It was called the " Tammany society," and took its title from a celebrated Delaware chief. Tammany Hall, called the " wigwam," was erected for its meetings. Its officers were given aboriginal names. It has a grand sachem, 13 sachems, a sagamore or master of ceremonies, and a " wishkinkie " or door-keeper. The 12th day of May was kept as its anniversary. The council fire, the calumet or pipe of peace, and the tomahawk were mentioned and symbolized in its laws and ceremonies. Tammany proper is a charitable and social organ- ization, entirely distinct from the general committee of the Tammany Democ- racy.

We have given a partienlar description of this society for the reason that it had now become an important factor in politics. It has since exercised a great influence throughout the state, extending often to Chantanqua county. Of the members of assembly at this first meeting of the legislature under Clinton's administration, nearly all who belonged to Tammany Hall opposed Clinton. An order of the Tammany society on certain festal occasions wore the tail of a deer in their hats, and so the opponents of Governor Clinton came to be called " Bucktails," which eventually became the name of a strong and indenti dl portion of the Republican party in the state. The supporters of Governor Clinton were called " Clintonians."

At the election held in April 1817, Eliphalet Dewey was elected sheriff, and Dr. Jediah Prendergast, who had served a term in the assembly, was elected state senator by the Republicans from the western senate district, then composed of the 15 western counties of the state. He was the first per- son chosen to that body from Chautauqua county. His brother, Dr. John J. Prendergast, of Herkimer county, at the same time was sent from the middle district. When Dr. Jediah Prendergast was nominated for senator, it was understood that it was for a full term of four years. Isaac Wilson was nom- inated at the same time by the Republicans to fill vacancy of one year, but, by the law, the candidate who had the greatest number of votes was elected to fill the longest term. At the election which followed Wilson received 15,009 votes, Jediah Prendergast 14,985 votes, Jedediah Prendergast 91 votes

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and Jed Prendergast 10 votes, in all 15,086 for Prendergast. A question arose as to which was entitled to the long term. It was proved to the satis- faction of the committee of the senate by the oath of 42 electors that had voted for Jedediah Prendergast that they intended to vote for Jediah Prender- gast, which would have given him 18 majority over Wilson. Yet, after a discussion in the committee of the whole in the senate (in which Col. Samuel Young opposed Prendergast's claim) the four years' term was assigned to Mr. Wilson, and the short term to Prendergast. Mr. Wilson's claim was sup- ported by the Bucktails and Mr. Prendergast's by the Clintonians. Mr. Prendergast was believed to have been then a Clintonian. Vet Hammond says in his " Political History of New York " that "Doctor Prendergast from that day became a zealous Bucktail. I leave it to the philosophical inquirer into the action of the human mind to account for this conversion." On a previous page Hammond says Doctor Prendergast was an "upright and good man."

July 9th of this year the first circuit court of over and terminer was held in the county by Hon. Ambrose Spencer, one of the most distinguished and able men of the state. This term corresponded with the circuit term of the present supreme court, and was the highest of the courts hell within the county. All the ceremonies then deemed essential to its dignity were duly observed. The judge, escorted by the sheriff, his deputies, and the con- stables armed with staves of office, marched to the courthouse, where the escort opened to the right and left, and the judge, preceded by the sheriff, entered the courtroom. The example furnished in judicial propriety was followed at the November term by the common pleas in the appointment of a regular crier to open and adjourn court. This duty, before that time, had been performed by inexperienced constables who had read the proclamation from a book of forms, or had repeated it as dictated by the clerk or judge. Moses E. Stetson of Mayville was appointed the first crier. Otis Dexter was appointed June 1818, and Abel Wilcox of Jamestown in February 1820. Charles B. Rouse who had been clerk of the board of supervisors from the organization of the county (with the exception of its last meeting) and post- master at Mayville from February 12, 1813, had been charged with various crimes, among them robbing the mails. He was tried at the term held in July for larceny, but was acquitted to the great dissatisfaction of the people. The charge and rulings of the judge it was believed pro lneed the result. Jolin C. Spencer, son of the judge, and afterwards secretary of war, was the prosecuting attorney. He was mach disgusted at the judge's charge and the verdict of the jury. Ronse afterwards emigrated to Missouri where he was shot while standing in the door of a hotel in St. Louis. His marderer was convicted and hung.

May 28, 1818, the first steamboat that navigated Lake Erie was launched

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at Black Rock 139 years after the launching of the Griffon, the first vessel that had ever sailed over its waters. This steamboat was named " Walk-in- the-water," partly because it did walk in the water, and partly in honor of a Wyandot chief of that name. The arrival of the Columbus caravels at Detroit on their way to the World's Fair at Chicago in 1893, revived the. recollections of an old resident of the appearance of that craft on her first trip. He says :

" That old historical boat would look just as curious to-day passing the magnificent modern lake craft as did the small boats in which the discoverer of this country crossed the Atlantic. The coming of the ' Walk-in-the-water ' had been like the former heralded far and wide, and her appearance called forth as inneh joy and more wonderment than the present strangers. It is fair to presume that scarcely a person in this whole western country had seen a water-craft propelled by steam, until the ' Walk-in-the-water ' steamed up the Detroit river. It is said that the Indian contingent, in particular, were wild with excitement and could hardly believe their eyes. There is. almost as much difference between the 'Walk-in the-water' and one of our modern lake boats as there is between Columbus's craft and the modern greyhounds which bring this country into such intimate relations with Europe."

This notice of a trip of the " Walk-in-the-water " to Mackinaw to carry goods for the American Fur Co., is given in a New York City paper of May 20, 1819. " The swift steamboat, 'Walk-in-the-water,' is intended to make a voyage early in the summer from Buffalo on Lake Erie, to Mackinaw on Lake Huron, for the conveyance of a company. The ship has so near a resemblance to the famous Argonautic expedition in the heroic ages of Greece, that expectation is quite alive on the subject. Many of our most dis- tinguished citizens are said to have already engaged their passage for this splendid adventure." The "Walk-in-the-water" made weekly trips from Black Rock to Detroit and back, stopping at Dunkirk and the other principal towns on the American shore. Her rates of fare from Black Rock were $3 to Dunkirk, So to Erie, $12 to Cleveland, $15 to Sandusky, $18 to Detroit. The facilities for travel afforded by this boat brought Chantanqua county a little nearer the East, lessening the time and increasing the comfort of pas- 'sengers from and to Buffalo. The "Walk-in-the-water" was ruined in a squall near Buffalo in November 1821, and never after navigated the lake. It was succeeded by the "Superior," the second steamboat on the lake, in May 1822. 1

During court-week in June ISI8, the Chautauqua County Medical Society was organized. Dr. Elial T. Foote was elected president, Samuel Snow vice-president, Fen Demming Secretary, treasurer and librarian. Oris Crosby, John P. M. Whaley and Henry Sargent censors. The pioneer phy- sicians were unusually able men, fully up to the standard of the present. They possessed high attainments in their profession, and often varied accom-

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plishments beyond the needs of their vocation. The practice of medicine in Chautauqua was a most laborious pursuit. A physician's ride extended over a wide and sparsely settled country. The roads were bad, usually bridle- paths, and often the physician would have to go by forest-paths on foot, with his medical bags on his arm, to visit his patients. During the inclement seasons his labors were ardnous and fatiguing in the extreme. Prior to 1809 there was no licensed physician in the county. During the first seven or eight years of the settlement, when sickness came to the cabins of the pio- neers, they depended upon roots, herbs and simple remedies, and the knowl- edge and experience of their wives and mothers.

Dr. McIntyre, who settled at Mayville in the fall of 1804, was probably the first person who made pretensions to a knowledge of the healing art. He claimed to have obtained his skill from the Indians, and, like other pre- tenders, had many believers. Long advertisements of his skill appeared in many numbers of the Chautauqua Eagle.

Dr. Squire White was the first educated licensed physician of the county. He came to Canadaway in IS09, was born at Gilford, Vt., Nov. 20, 1785, studied medicine with his brother Asa White in Sherburne, N. Y., and with Dr. Joseph White of Cherry Valley (one of the most celebrated physicians and surgeons in the state). Dr. White had great medical knowledge, was an excellent physician, had an extensive practice, and was perhaps the best- known physician in the county for many years. He was greatly esteemed for his talents and attainments outside of his profession. He was chosen the first surrogate of the county, served three terms in the assembly, and died April 2, 1857.

Dr. John E. Marshall was the second physician. He came to Mayville in October 1809, was born at Norwich Conn., March 18, 1785, and studied medicine under Dr. Philemon Tracy of Norwich. He was surgeon of the 2d regiment of New York State militia in the war of 1812. In 1815 he removed to Buffalo where he took a front rank. During the prevalence of the cholera in 1832, he was the health physician of Buffalo. He was the first county clerk of Chautauqua county. He was afterwards clerk of Niagara county when it embraced Erie and Niagara counties. He died in Buffalo in 1838.

Dr. Jacob Burgess was the third physician. He came in the fall of 1811 and settled at Silver Creek. He also was a man of more than ordinary acquirements. He was born in Lanesboro, Mass., in 1785, and died in Silver Creek in 1855. Rev. Chalon Burgess is his son.

Dr. Jediah Prendergast, came also in 1811 and settled at Mayville. He was born at Pawling, N. Y., May 13, 1766. He was licensed to practice in Rensselaer county. He first settled at Thorold, Canada, where he had an extensive practice. He practically went out of practice in Chautauqua

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county, but kept a small stock of medicine at his store, where he often pre- scribed for patients.

Dr. William Prendergast, son of Matthew, came to Mayville about the same time as his uncle Jediah, with whom he had studied medicine in Can- ada. He was soon fully in practice, but the bad roads and scattered popula- tion caused him in 1815 to abandon his profession, and devote his attention to agriculture. He died March 11, 1857.

Dr. Lawton Richmond in ISHI settled near the present village of Dewitt- ville. His practice extended from that place to the Cross Roads. He removed to Indiana in 1817, returned to Chautauqua in 1827 or 1828, and practiced medicine until about 1834 when he removed to Pennsylvania.

Dr. Henry P. Sartwell was born in Berkshire county, Md., about 1790. He commenced practice in Mayville in 1812. He removed to Yates county in 1815, where he became distinguished as a botanist.

Dr. Elial T. Foote was the next physician. He was born in Greenfield, now Gill, Mass., May 1, 1796. He read medicine in Sherburne, and attended lectures in New York city, was licensed by the Chenango county Medical Society, and subsequently received the honorary degree of M. D. He came to Jamestown in the spring of 1815. He was the first physician to settle in the south part of the county. Dr. Foote soon became a most prominent citizen and held important offices. He was several times member of assem- bly, and at one time sheriff. He succeeded Zattu Cushing as first judge, and held that position for 20 years. For many years there was scarcely an enterprise to promote the material interests of the county in which he did not take a leading part. He was also active in movements to promote its moral and religous welfare. Dr. Foote was an able man, and a leading Democrat or Repulican when the names were synonymous, and during many years was very influential in political affairs. The official positions he held, and the prominent part that he took in public affairs, brought him in con- tact with the pioneers, made him thoroughly acquainted with their lives, and familiar with the early history of the county, and led him to take a deep interest in its preservation. Soon after: 1820 he commenced to collect information relating to the early settlement of the county and its subsequent history, which he continued until his death, although during many of his later years he resided at New Haven. No one has contributed so much in time or money, or rendered such valuable services as he, in preserving the . facts relating to its history. His son, Horace A. Foote, of New York, has much of the valuable material so carefully collected by him. Judge Foote died in November 1877.

In May 1815, a few weeks after the arrival of Dr. Foote, Dr. Laban Hazel- time (born about 1790, died May 4, 1852,) settled at Jamestown. There were bnt 12 families there at that time. For nearly 40 years he gave his whole.

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time to the practice of medicine, and was the best-known physician in the south part of the county. He was an excellent physician, thoroughly educated and unusually successful. He was a man of literary and scientific attainments, and as a citizen was greatly respected. We copy from the "Early History of Ellicott" by his son, Gilbert Hazeltine, some extracts which show the hardships incident to the practice of medicine in a new county.

The roads were few and almost impassable ; the traveling was entirely on horseback and mostly on old Indian trails, and the wilderness was full of howling wolves and sereeching panthers. When a boy we have listened by the hour to the recital of adventures in the deep forests of those days of Dr. Foote, Dr. Hazeltine, and others with the wild animals of the woods. And we well remember that in their opinion they were not so much to be dreaded as most people imagined ; that they seldom attacked a man if they had a chance to get away, except when famished by extreme hunger. Panthers were seldom seen and probably were not numerous. The bear was considered the really dangerous animal in our forests. The doctors were frequently overtaken by the darkness when pursuing these paths or trails, and when miles distant from any road or habitation, and when their intelligent horses would stand still and refuse to go farther. They would then tie their horses to the nearest sapling and build a fire near some large trees ; seat themselves at its roots and place their saddles and saddle blankets over their legs for protection. So wearied were they that frequently they would sleep soundly, although the last sounds that saluted their ears were the deep howl of the wolf, the wail of the panther or the lynx, or the screech of the owl and the various noises of a well inhabited forest. During the first years, Dr. Hazel- tine generally traveled with a small dog, which he considered an almost infallible protection, and who on more than one occasion piloted him out of the woods. He found that his horse would readily follow the dog in the woods on a dark night, when he would not move a single step without him. In traveling these primitive woods the great danger consisted in leaving the old, well-beaten trail to go around a windfall, or to seek a more promising place to ford a stream, or foolishly thinking they could take a more direct course to the place they desired to reach. To leave the trail was generally a preparation for spending a night in the forest. Physicians frequently took rides that required two or three days to accomplish. Dr. Hazeltine frequently went to Warren and below, and on several occasions as far from home as Franklin, Pa. It now seems almost impossible that any one could or would endure the hardships, dangers and privations which were the common lot of physicians when the country was a wilderness, and when the pay received for their services would not equal that received by a sawyer in one of the mills. If any class of liman beings who have ever lived deserved the gratitude of their fellows and liberal pensions for benefits gratuitously bestowed, it was the pioneer physicians of southern Chautauqua.

Dr. Samuel Snow commenced practice in Canadaway in February 1816.

Dr. Fenn Demming commenced practice at the Cross Roads in 1815. Ile was surgeon in the U. S. army in the war of 1812, and was at the attack

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on York (Toronto), was present at the death of General Pike, was subse- quently taken prisoner, confined at Montreal, and finally paroled.

Dr. Marcus Simons came carly and practiced medicine at Westfield and Portland.

Dr. Henry Sargent came in 1817. He was born in New Chester, N. H., April 4, 1790, graduated at Dartmouth Medical College in the winter of 1811 and 1812, married Leonora Tudor of New Chester in 1813, removed to Sinclairville in 1817, from thence to Carroll in 1825, and to Warren in 1833.

"Dr. Orris Crosby was born in Litchfield, Conn., Jan. 2, 1791 ; went to Canada, in 1809, to study medicine with an uncle ; and in June, 1813, was put in prison, and handcuffed for vindicating his country's cause. In July he was put on board the fleet on Lake Erie by order of Commodore Barclay. September 10, 1813, he was shot in the breast by Lieut. John Garland of the British navy, because he would not fight his countrymen, and was left for dead. This same Garland was slain in the action ; but Crosby survived, and carried during life the marks of the wound, and of the British handcuffs on his wrists. After Perry's victory, Dr. Crosby, having gradually recovered, went to Genesee county and resumed his medical studies ; was licensed there by the medical society in June 1817, came with his uncle, Eliakim Crosby, to Fredonia, opened a drug store, and commenced practice."

These were the pioneer physicians of the county. As it increased in population, the number of physicians increased also, and in 1840 there were 50 licensed in the county.

CHAPTER XXIX.

IS19-1820.

"Cold as the monumental stone Shall sleep forgotten and alone, In the embrace of death." -James II. Price.

0 N THE first day of May, 1819, the second newspaper of the county was established at Mayville. It was the Chautauqua Eagle, and con- tinted for about a year. But few numbers of the Chautauqua Gazette, the first newspaper, have been preserved and we are unable to speak of it as fully as we would like. Its editor is said to have been a man of ability, and his paper a creditable sheet. We have better information con- cerning the Chautauqua Eagle. It was read with a lively interest by citi-

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zens long since passed away. A little space may be properly devoted to the editor and his paper, that something may be known of the intellectual taste of the carly settlers, and of the kind of literature furnished them.

Robert J. Curtis, editor of the Eagle, in letters to Judge E. T. Foote gives a sketch of his own history, and enlightens us as to the independent roving life of the printer of early years., He was born in Elizabethtown, Pa., in 1791, of Quaker ancestry and learned the 'printers' trade at Meadville before 1812. When war broke out he was setting type in eastern Pennsylvania, and when he heard of Hull's surrender, he laid aside his composing stick, and journeyed on foot over the mountains nearly the whole length of the state to Meadville, where he enlisted. He served creditably ou the frontier and was honorably discharged at Buffalo. He then went to Erie where he started the Northern Sentinel. Commodore Perry was at the time building his fleet. His headquarters being at Erie, Curtis enjoyed the society of the officers. He formed the acquaintance of the gallant Captain Brooks of the marine corps, which finally grew into a friendship. As Curtis walked with him to his boat when he embarked before the battle of Lake Erie, Brooks said, "Curtis I shall never see you again. We will have an engagement, and I shall be killed." So it was, Brooks was cut in two by a cannon-ball on the Lawrence. When Perry returned to Erie accompanied by General Harrison, Curtis spent an evening with them at the house of the Hon. Thomas Wilson, then a member of Congress, and had the rare privilege of listening to des- criptions of the famous battles of Put-in-Bay and the Thames, immediately after they were fought, from the lips of these famous men.

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History of Chautauqua County, New York, Part 30

Author: Edson, Obed, 1832-; Merrill, Georgia Drew, editor Publication date: 1894 Publisher: Boston, Mass. : W.A. Fergusson Number of Pages: 1068

Author: Edson, Obed, 1832-; Merrill, Georgia Drew, editor
Publication date: 1894
Publisher: Boston, Mass. : W.A. Fergusson
Number of Pages: 1068