USA > New York > Livingston County > History of Livingston County, New York, from its earliest traditions to the present together with early town sketches > Part 56
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Most picturesque of all who lingered around that dying council fire was the figure of old Solomon O'Bail, "Ho-way-no-ah," the grandson of that wisest of Seneca chiefs, John O'Bail, "Ga-yant-hwah-geh," better known as "Cornplanter." His strong, rugged face, deeply seem- ed with the furrows of advancing age, was typical of his race and of his ancestry and was expressive of a remarkable character. His dress was of smoke-tanned buckskin with side fringes and all a-down his leggings were fastened little hawk-bells, which tinkled as he walked. Shoulder sash and belt were embroidered with old-time bead work and around his arm above the elbows were broad bands or armlets of sil- ver. From his ears hung large silver pendants and, strangest of all his decorations, deftly wrought long ago by some aboriginal silver- smith, was a large silver nose-piece that almost hid his upper lip. His headdress was an heirloom made of wild turkey feathers fastened to the cap with such cunning skill that they turned and twinkled with every movement of his body.
He had been an attentive listener to all who had spoken, and as the memories of the past were awakened, the significance of the occasion filled his heart and the expression of his honest face showed that he was deeply moved. Especially significant to him was the presence at this council fire of the Mohawk chief, Colonel Kerr, and the burden of his soul was that the broken friendship of the League should once more be restored. His speech was the most dramatic incident of the day. Rising gravely in his place he said :
"Brothers: I will also say a few words. In olden times, on occa- sions of this kind, after lighting the council-fire, our fathers would first congratulate each other on their safe arrival and their escape from all the perils of the journey from their widely separated homes to the scene of the council. In the Ga-no-nyok (speech of welcome) the orator would wipe the sweat from the brows of the guests and pluck the thorns from their moccasins. Next, and most important, thanks would be offered to the Great Spirit for their preservation and
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safety. Imitating the example of our fathers, while we felicitate our- selves on our safe arrival here and our presence on this occasion, we, too, give thanks to the Good Spirit who has kept us until this moment.
"Brothers: It is true, as has been said by the speakers who preceded me, that our fathers formed and established a mighty nation. The confederacy of the Iroquois was a power felt in the remotest regions of this continent before the advent of the pale face, and long after the white men came and began to grow numerous and powerful the friendship of the Iroquois was courted as Dutch and English and French struggled for the contest. They poured out their blood like water for the English, and the French were driven from this great island. Our fathers loved their nation and were proud of its renown. But both have passed away forever. Follow the sun in its course from the Hudson to the Niagara, and you will see the pale faces as thick as leaves in the wood, but only here and there a solitary Iroquois.
"Brothers: When the War of the Revolution was ended, our Great Father, General Washington, said that he would forget that we had been enemies, and would allow us to repossess the country we had so long called our own. Our brothers, the Mohawks, chose, however, to cast their lot with the British, and followed the flag of that people to the Grand River, in Canada, where they have ever since sat under its folds. In the last war with England the Mohawks met us as foes on the war-path. For seventy-five years their place has been vacant at our council-fires. They left us in anger.
"Brothers: We are now poor and weak. There are none who fear us or court our influence. We are reduced to a handful, and have scarce a place to spread our blankets in the vast territory owned by our fathers. But in our poverty and desolation our long-estranged brothers, the Mohawks, have come back to us. The vacant seats are filled again, although the council-fire of our nation is little more than a heap of ashes. Let us stir its dying embers, that by their light we may see the faces of our brothers once more.
"Brothers: My heart is gladdened by seeing a grandson of that great chief Thay-en-da-na-ge-a (Captain Brant) at our council- fire. Ilis grandfather often met our fathers in council when the Six Nations were one people and were happy and strong. In grateful remembrance of that nation and that great warrior, and in token of
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buried enmity, I will extend my hand to our Mohawk brother. May he feel that he is our brother, and that we are brethren."
The Indian character is reticent and hides the outward evidence of deep feeling as unmanly, but as the aged man spoke, the tears rolled down his furrowed cheeks and as he turned and held out his beseech- ing, friendly hand to the haughty Mohawk strong ejaculations of approval broke from the lips of all his dusky brethren. With visible emotion Colonel Kerr arose and warmly grasped the outstretched palm.
"My Brother," said he, "I am glad to take your hand once more held out in the clasp of friendship; the Senecas and the Mohawks now are both my people."
"My brother," said O'Bail, "may the remembrance of this day never fade from our minds or from the hearts of our descendants."
As speaker after speaker had addressed the council, the hours slipped swiftly by and only the embers of the fire still glowed when, at a pause towards the close, there came a surprise for all who were pres- ent, as one of the pale-faced guests quietly arose, and stepping to the charmed circle of red-skinned orators, spoke to them in their own tongue. It was the tall figure of Orlando Allen of Buffalo, then in his seventieth year, who addressed the council. As a boy of sixteen years he had come to Buffalo to live with Dr. Cyrenius Chapin, while it was still a rude hamlet, encircled with forests, which were the hunt- ing grounds of the Senecas, who were then still living on the Buffalo Creek and its tributary streams. He had learned their speech and had known their fathers face to face and now he spoke first in their own language to these, their children. He addressed the council in Seneca as follows:
"Brothers: I also will say a few words and would be glad if I might speak to you as once I could in your own tongue, so as to make my words clear to your understanding.
"Brothers: This valley of the Genesee, where your fathers once ruled, is filled with remembrances of old days and we are gathered here to revive those memories. This is of great importance, as is the preservation of this old council house, which your fathers parted with when they gave up their lands, but which has once more been restored.
"Brothers: The words for my thoughts come more slowly in your speech than in former days when I knew it well, so I will speak now in my own language. Neh-hoh,-that is all."
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An outburst of ejaculation testified to the pleased surprise and gratification of his Indian auditors; then, turning to the group of pale-faces beyond the circle, he spoke in English at considerable length in interesting reminiscence of the past. He had known Red Jacket, Cornplanter, Young King, Captain Pollard, Destroytown, Blacksnake, Little Billy, Shongo and many besides, and related many incidents connected with these celebrated characters, as he had heard them from their own lips. In his youth it was the custom each year in the month of June for the Indians to gather in large numbers at Buffalo, to receive their annuities through the hands of Captain Jasper Parrish, the United States sub-agent, and Captain Horatio Jones, the government interpreter. Both had been Indian captives and perhaps no incident that he related was more interesting to his hearers than the story of how the latter ran the gauntlet at this old council house at Caneadea.
A characteristic incident was that related by Mr. Allen regarding Cornplanter, whose grandson sat before him. The aged chief was a man moulded for greatness, whose influence and whose word were potent with his people. Upon one occasion, at the annual council at Buffalo Creek when Cornplanter was present, a vigorous discussion arose as to the repayment to a white creditor of $500, which he had loaned the Senecas to defray the expenses of a delegation sent by them to Washington. Some of those present argued that a portion of this money had been used to pay the charges of an Oneida who had accom- panied the delegation, and that therefore the Senecas should not repay the full amount. The trader very justly claimed that he had loaned the money to the Senecas, who had pledged themselves for its repay- ment and that he could not be responsible for the way in which they had spent it. In those days the annuities were paid in silver dollars and half-dollars and the sum had been counted out and lay upon a
small table in the council house. The discussion waxed warm and it began to look as if the trader might lose a portion of his loan, when old Cornplanter, who had been sitting in silence, arose and asked the trader the amount of his claim. Pointing to the money on the table, he said, "Is that the correct amount, interest and all?" Upon being answered that it was, he took the trader's hat and sweeping into it the pile of coin from the table, handed it to the claimant; then turning to
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the council, said, "The debt is paid; my name is Cornplanter, " and quietly resumed his seat.
When Mr. Allen had ended his interesting address, President Fill- more, with a few kindly words, presented, on behalf of Mr. Letch- worth, a specially prepared silver medal to each of those who had taken part in the council. As old Buffalo Tom came forward when his name was called, he thrust his hand into his bosom and brought forth a very large silver medal which was suspended from his neck. "Perhaps," said he, "I ought not to have one; I have got one already which old General Jackson gave me." He was assured that he was entitled to both, and now his children treasure them as heirlooms.
This ceremony ended, Nicholson Parker, who made the opening speech, arose and in a few words, gravely and softly spoken in his native tongue, formally closed the council. Then turning to the white guests, whom he addressed as his "younger brothers," he spoke the farewell words.
"We have gathered in council here to-day," said he, "the repre- sentatives of the Mohawks, who guarded the easterly door of the Long House, and of the Senecas, who kept its western gate. It has been to us an occasion of solemn interest, and as one after another of my brothers has spoken around the council fire that we have lighted, we have rehearsed the deeds of our fathers who once dwelt in this beauti- ful valley, and in the smoke of that council-fire our words have been carried upward. Our fathers, the Iroquois, were a proud people, who thought that none might subdue them; your fathers when they crossed the ocean were but a feeble folk, but you have grown in strength and greatness, while we have faded to but a weak remnant of what we once were. The Ho-de-no-sau-nee, the people of the Long House, are scattered hither and yon; their league no longer exists, and you who are sitting here to day have seen the last of the confed- erate Iroquois. We have raked the ashes over our fire and have closed the last council of our people in the valley of our fathers."
As he ended his voice faltered with an emotion which was shared by all present. He had spoken the last words for his people, fraught with a tender pathos that touched the hearts of those that heard him with a feeling of that human brotherhood in which "whatever may be our color or our gifts" we are all alike kin.
For a few moments there was a becoming silence and then David
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Gray-name beloved of all who knew him-the poet-editor of the Buffalo "Courier, " rose and read :
THE LAST INDIAN COUNCIL ON THE GENESEE.
The fire sinks low, the drifting smoke Dies softly in the autumn haze, And silent are the tongues that spoke In speech of other days. Gone, too, the dusky ghosts whose feet But now yon listening thicket stirred; Unscared within its covert meet The squirrel and the bird.
The story of the past is told, But thou, O Valley, sweet and lone ! Glen of the Rainbow ! thou shalt hold lts romance as thine own. Thoughts of thine ancient forest prime Shall sometimes tinge thy summer dreams And shape to low poetic rhyme The music of thy streams.
When Indian summer flings her cloak Of brooding azure on the woods, The pathos of a vanished folk Shall haunt thy solitudes. The blue smoke of their fires once more Far o'er the hills shall seem to rise, And sunset's golden clouds restore The red man's paradise.
Strange sounds of a forgotten tongue Shall cling to many a crag and cave, In wash of falling waters sung, Or murmur of the wave. And oft in midmost hush of night, Shrill o'er the deep-mouthed cataract's roar, Shall ring the war-cry from the height That woke the wilds of yore.
Sweet Vale, more peaceful bend thy skies, Thy airs be fraught with rarer balm A people's busy tumult lies Hushed in thy sylvan calm. Deep be thy peace ! while fancy frames Soft idyls of thy dwellers fled, - They loved thee, called thee gentle names, In the long summers dead.
Quenched is the fire ; the drifting smoke Has vanished in the autumn haze: Gone, too, O Vale, the simple folk Who loved thee in old days. But, for their sakes-their lives serene- Their loves, perchance as sweet as ours- O, be thy woods for aye more green, And fairer bloom thy flowers !
William Pryor Letchworth.
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4
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It was the fitting close to a memorable day. The "dappled shadows of the afternoon" rested on hill and valley as, one by one, the picturesque figures of those who had that day so strangely linked the present with the past, left the old council house, bright colors and feathery plumes mingling with the autumn foliage and the softly dropping leaves until all had vanished. The "story of the past" had once for all been told, but around those ancient, weather-beaten walls, which had once more welcomed the children of those whom it had known long ago in the days of its prime, there lingers still the re- membrance of their last council fire-a memory that cannot be for- gotten. 1
America has been blessed with no more devoted philanthropist than he to whom David Gray so happily and affectionately refers as the "Valley's Good Genius;" and whose loyalty to the by-gone actors in memorable events in the history of Western New York and intense interest in rescuing those events from oblivion have made this chap- ter possible. For half a century the energies and resources of William Pryor Letchworth have been applied without stint to the improve- ment of the condition of the indigent and every other class of unfortu- nates who become the 'subjects of public care. Actuated by the tenderest sympathy for misfortune and suffering in every form, his marvelously clear and broad minded conception of the best methods of charitable work, his close study and observation of the subject in this country and abroad, his knowledge of men, his wisdom, his un -. erring judgment and his practical view of things have been the in- spiration and initiative of the best that we have today in the splendid charities system which obtains in the State of New York, and no man identified with the history of this county has more honored her or rendered in his field of labor more distinguished service to the State than this great humanitarian, who, retired from active official life, is passing his years in the midst of the impressive surroundings which we have described, in the consciousness of having accomplished a work which will endure long after the monuments his generosity has erected have crumbled to dust.
Mr. Letchworth was born at Brownville, N. Y., May 26th, 1823. In the early part of his business career he was engaged in a wholesale importing and manufacturing business as a member of the firm of I. From Mr. Howland's sketch of the "Old Caneadea Council House, etc.
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Pratt & Letchworth of Buffalo. During that period he was active in founding the extensive malleable iron works at Black Rock. The making of malleable iron was then regarded as a difficult process; nevertheless, the enterprise proved highly successful, both practically and financially.
In 1859 Mr. Letchworth made his first [purchase of property at Portage, the landed estate, wliich has since been enlarged by ad- ditional purchases, lying partly in Livingston and partly in Wyoming counties.
Notwithstanding his close occupation in business affairs, Mr. Letch- worth found time to gratify his tastes for the fine arts and further the establishment of liberal enterprises, among which was included the Buffalo Fine Arts Academy. Mr. Letchworth was elected President of the Buffalo Fine Arts Academy in 1871 and held the position for three years. When he entered upon his office the Academy was heav- ily burdened with debt, its expenditures for years previous having far exceeded its income. A committee previously appointed by the Board of Directors to investigate the financial affairs of the Academy had recommended its dissolution. With the efficient aid and co-oper- ation of such men as Joseph Warren, Philip Dorsheimer, Henry A. Richmond, Sherman S. Jewett and L. G. Sellstedt the debts of the Academy were discharged, the art gallery was extended, and a hand- some permanent fund established for sustaining the Academy. More- over, a plan of management was adopted whereby the receipts more than counterbalanced the expenditures, while the privileges of the Academy were enlarged. At that time a Fund Commission consist- ing of three members was created by an act of the Legislature to care for the permanent fund of the Academy. Mr. Letchworth was elected one of the commissioners, and held the office previous to his resignation for about twenty years. The financial embarrassments referred to occurred in the early growth of the fine arts interest in Buffalo and before the royal gift of Mr. Albright had glorified a large city.
In 1873 Mr. Letchworth retired from business with a view to de- voting himself wholly to works of charity and benevolence. In that year he was appointed by the Governor, John A. Dix, a State Com- missioner of Charities, and entered at once upon his duties. £ In 1878 he was elected President of the State Board of Charities, and stood at
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the head of this department of State by annual elections for ten suc- cessive years. During his connection with the State Board of Chari- ties nearly the whole of his time was taken up in the discharge of the duties devolving upon him as a Commissioner. These included in- spections of the poorhouses and the great city almshouses, institutions for the care and reformation of the young, homes for the aged, and, in fact, all the public and private charitable institutions of the State. In 1875 he inspected all the orphan asylums and juvenile reforma- tories in the State, containing altogether 17,791 children, and made a report thereon for the Legislature, embracing upwards of 500 pages. Special attention was given to the children in the poorhouses and almshouses, and the demoralizing influences surrounding them were shown in their true light. In a report made by him, which was trans- mitted to the Legislature in 1875, he recommended the passage of a law requiring the removal of all children over two years of age from the poorhouses and almshouses of the State and forbidding their commitment to these institutions thereafter. This recommendation was adopted by the Legislature, and resulted in the removal of sev- eral thousand children from these places of demoralization and plac- ing them under wholesome moral influences. About three years were devoted to bringing about this reform.
Mr. Letchworth's sympathies were keenly alive to the wrongs to which the insane were subjected, and his long-continued and strenu- ous efforts in their behalf have resulted in great benefit to this un- fortunate class. In order to inform himself as to the best methods adopted in other countries for their care, in 1880 and 1881 he made a careful inspection of the most noted institutions in Europe and also a critical examination of the boarding-out systems of Scotland and Belgium. In making these researches, which extended to England, Scotland, Ireland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Belgium, Holland, France and the German states, he spent about seven months. The result of his labors, with the conclusions drawn from them, was embodied in an illustrated volume entitled "The Insane in Foreign Countries," which has become a standard work of reference.
In 1886 Mr. Letchworth was appointed chairman of a commission of five persons to locate an asylum for the insane in northern New York. This important duty, involving a prospective expenditure of several million dollars, was performed on his part with the same con-
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scientiousness that characterized all his public work. The entire territory was travelled over twice in company with one or more of his fellow commissioners. On making their report it was found that the members of the commission were not in accord, and, to their great regret, Mr. Letchworth and Dr. Wise, Superintendent of the Willard Asylum, felt compelled to make a minority report. On the presen- tation of the reports to the Legislature a protracted and bitter con- troversy ensued, resulting finally in the adoption of the minority re- port. This action of the Legislature proved to be of incalculable ad- vantage to the State. The St. Lawrence State Hospital, containing on the first of August, 1904. 2,075 inmates, including officers, em- ployees, and patients, is situated in a bend of the St. Lawrence River a few miles below Ogdensburg. Its site embraces nearly a thousand acres of fertile land especially adapted to garden tillage. The insti- tution has two unlimited sources of pure water supply and means of *discharging its waste into the swift current of the St. Lawrence. Centrally located with reference to the population of the district it is designed to accommodate and surrounded by magnificent scenery, it is safe to say that, with all its advantages, its site is unsurpassed by that of any institution of its kind in the country.
Mr. Letchworth's benevolent efforts have also been directed towards benefiting the epileptic class, for whom adequate means of relief do not even now exist. Pursuant to a call made by medical men and laymen interested in the care and treatment of epileptics residing in different parts of the United States, a meeting was held in the Acad- emy of Medicine, New York City, on the 24th of May, 1898, at which measures were discussed for promoting the welfare of epileptics and especially for providing further special provision for their care, which was then sadly deficient. It was decided at the meeting to organize a National Association for the Study of Epilepsy and the Care and Treatment of Epileptics. This was accordingly done by the election of a corps of officers and the adoption of a constitution and the forming of by-laws to govern the work. Mr. Letchworth was elected Presi- dent, and Dr. Wm. P. Spratling, Superintendent of Craig Colony, Secretary. Under the guidance of an executive committee composed of Drs. Frederick Peterson of New York, William N. Bullard of Boston, Wharton Sinkler of Philadelphia, Ira Van Gieson and C. A. Herter of New York the work of the Association was immediately begun.
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At that time there was no general source of information from which a knowledge of what had already been accomplished in the way of general provision for epileptics could be derived. Mr. Letchworth set out to supply this need, and after an exhaustive research, pre- pared and dedicated to the Association his illustrated work entitled "Care and Treatment of Epileptics," which, in no sense designed as a medical treatise, presented the different views of many distinguished specialists in therapeutics as related to epilepsy. Later, with the same object in view, with the assistance of Secretary Hay, who ad- dressed letters upon the subject to many American ministers abroad, asking their co-operation with Mr. Letchworth, much interesting material relating to epileptics and their treatment in foreign coun- tries was collected. This was printed with the papers and discussions of the first annual meeting of the Association, which was held in Washington, D. C., in 1901. This, with the first-named work, pre- sented a vast amount of information and profitable suggestion upon this important subject, showing the progress made for special pro- vision in colonies and otherwise to that time.
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