USA > New York > Livingston County > History of Livingston County, New York, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 22
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"Here again the boundless waste of waters fills the mind with renewed astonishment ; and here, as in turning a point of wood the lake broke on my view. I saw riding at anchor nine vessels, the least of them 100 tons.# Can you bring your imagina-
* See history Town of Groveland.
Hosack's Memoir, 250.
# The first vessel on Lake Erie-the Griffon-was projected and built by the adventurous Cavalier de la Salle in 1679, and left her anchorage near the foot of Squaw Island, in Niagara River, August 7, 1679. She reached Washington Island, at the mouth of Green Bay , but perished in a storm on the return voyage in September of that vear, together with her crew and cargo, which, with the vessel, was valued at 50, 000 or 60, 000 francs. The Building and Voyage of the Griffon, by O H Marshall. The first steamboat on Lake Erie was the Walk in the W'ater, which was launched at Black Rock, May 28. 1818, and wrecked near Buffalo on the night of Oct. 31, 1821. Doc. Hist. 11I., 1194. Buffalo Commercial Advertiser. Nov. 7, 1879.
* Hammond's History of Madison County, 128-130.
HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.
tion to realize this scene ? Does it seem like magic ? Yet this magic is but the early effort of victorious industry. Hundreds of large ships will in no distant period bound on the billows of these inland seas. At this point commences a navigation of more than a thousand miles. Shall I lead your astonishment to the verge of incredulity? I will. Know then that one-tenth of the expenses borne by Britain in the last campaign would enable ships to sail from London through Hudson's River to Lake Erie."*
In 1803, in a conversation with Simeon De Witt, who was then and had long been Surveyor-General - of this State, Mr. Morris adverted to the long cher- ished " project of tapping Lake Erie and leading its waters, in an artificial river, directly across the country to Hudson's river ;" but DeWitt, with his intensely practical mind, regarded it as a chimeri- cal scheme, and related it on several occasions in a spirit of levity, among others to James Geddes, a surveyor, who, in 1794, moved from Pennsylvania with the facilities for manufacturing salt, and loca- ted near the Onondaga salt springs, from whence, in 1804, he was sent to the Legislature. Mr. Geddes was strongly impressed with the idea, and untiringly pursued his investigations in regard to the nature of the intervening country, thus acquir- ing data which not only made him an ardent advo- cate of the project, but enabled him to create a public sentiment in its favor, so that it was made a political issue, and in April, 1807, Judge Joshua Forman, of Onondaga county, was elected to the Assembly as the representative of its advocates and supporters.
October 27, 1807, the first of a series of articles from the pen of Jesse Hawley appeared in the On- tario Messenger, over the signature of Hercules, strongly advocating the construction of the canal. March 21, 1808, in consonance with a resolution previously introduced by Mr. Forman, the Assem- bly passed a bill instructing the Surveyor-General "to cause an accurate survey to be made of the rivers, streams and waters, (not already accurately surveyed,) in the usual route of communication between the Hudson river and Lake Erie, and such other contemplated route as he may deem proper, and cause the same to be delineated on charts or maps for that purpose accompanying the same, with the elevations of the route, and such explana- tory notes as may be necessary for all useful infor- mation in the premises." The Senate concurred April 6th, and on the 11th of that month six hun- dred dollars were appropriated to carry out the pro- visions of the resolution.
Upon James Geddes was devolved the task of making these surveys ; and January 20, 1809, he submitted his report to the Surveyor-General, who afterwards wrote that it marked out a route " almost precisely in the line which, after repeated, elaborate and expensive examinations, has been finally adop- ted," and thus was "the fact satisfactorily estab- lished, that a canal from Lake Erie to Hudson's River was not only practicable, but practicable with uncommon felicity." *
The favorable report of Judge Geddes silenced much local opposition, and induced the Legislature, March 15, 1810, to unanimously authorize the or- ganization of a Board of Commissioners consisting of Gouverneur Morris, Stephen Van Rensselaer, De- Witt Clinton, Simeon De Witt, William North, Thomas Eddy and Peter B. Porter.
May 8, 1811, Robert R. Livingston and Robert Fulton were added to the commission, who were empowered to employ engineers to make further surveys, and to apply to the National and State governments for aid.
June 19, 1812, the commission was authorized to purchase all the right and interest of the West- ern Inland Lock Navigation Company, with cer- tain provisos, and to borrow five millions of dol- lars to be used in the construction of the canal ; but the ensuing war necessitated a suspension of operations, and April 15, 1814, the law authorizing this loan was repealed.
The project was revived in the fall of 1815, and in March, 1817, the new board of commissioners, con- sisting of Stephen Van Rensselaer, De Witt Clinton, Samuel Young, Joseph Ellicott and Myron Holley, made an elaborate report, and from revised esti- mates placed the cost at $5,000,000. April 15, 1817, the bill which established the canal policy of the State passed the Legislature, after a sharp and talented controversy.
The Canal Commissioners were authorized by that law to commence constructing the canals from Lakes Erie and Champlain to the Hudson. The first contract for the Erie canal was made June 27, 1817, with John Richardson, of Cayuga county ; and the first spadeful of earth was raised at Rome, with appropriate ceremonies, July 4, 1817. Ninety- four miles of canal, including the lateral branch to Salina, were completed in the autumn of 1820, on the middle section ; and Oct. 26, 1825, it was fin- ished the entire length, a distance of three hundred and sixty-three miles, at a cost of $7, 143,789.t
* Hosack's Memoir, 257.
* Canal Laws, I., 40, 41.
t State Engineer's Report, 1878, p. 85.
105
COMPLETION OF THE ERIE CANAL.
The final completion of the canal was a signal for an outburst of the wildest enthusiasm along its entire length, and the event was celebrated with imposing ceremonies at New York and other points on the 4th of November, 1825. As the first boat,* with Governor Clinton on board, entered the canal at Buffalo, on the morning of October 26th, the fact was signalled to New York by means of cannon previously stationed at intervals of a few miles along the entire length of the line and down the Hudson.
Within the first decade after its completion the necessity for its enlargement was felt, and this work, which was ordered May 11, 1835, was com- menced in August, 1836, and completed in Sep- tember, 1862, at a cost of $36,495,535. This improvement reduced its length from 363 miles to 350} miles ; changed the number of locks from 83, each 90 by 15 feet, to 72, each 110 by 18 feet ; reduc- ing the number of feet of lockage from 675.5 to 654.8 ; increased the width at the top from 40 to 70 feet, and at the bottoni from 28 to 56 feet, and the depth from 4 to 7 feet ; and increased the burden of boats from 75 to 220 tons. The difference in length was occasioned by a change in route in various places.
The completion of the Erie canal exerted a marked influence on the industries of the counties bordering upon it, and measurably benefited those more remote from it. To Livingston county it was only the prelude to and precursor of a subsequent enterprise, which brought within the reach of its citizens the full fruition of its advantages. The tedious, toilsome and unreliable water route to that great artery was still, as formerly, its chief depend- ence. The Genesee was navigable for boats be- tween Mt. Morris and Rochester from an early day, but up to the time of the building of the Erie canal the regular commercial navigation between these points was not more frequent than once in two weeks. In May, 1824, the canal boat Hazard, the pioneer of its craft on the Genesee, and owned by Sanford Hunt, of Nunda, made the passage of the river, carrying a load of pine lumber, ashes, &c., from Nunda to Albany; and in July of the same year, Captain Bottle, with the steamboat Erie Canal, first navigated the Genesee by steam, making the trip from Rochester to Geneseo. The event was suitably recognized by the citizens of
* This was the first after the completion of the canal. The first packet boat, the Oncida Chief, of which George Perry, a resident of Sullivan, Madison county, was captain, commenced running between Utica and Montezuma, in July, 1820. Three trips were made each week, each trip occupying two days. The fare, including board, was $+. The following year the canal was open to Schenectady.
Geneseo and Avon, as it stopped at the latter place on its way up the river. The day following his arrival at Geneseo, Capt. Bottle acknowledged the compliment of the generous reception given him by taking a large company of ladies and gentlemen on an excursion up the river. Subsequently a stock company, in which citizens of this county were interested, attempted the navigation of the river between Rochester and Geneseo with the Genesee, a stern-wheel steamboat of small capacity, designed to carry passengers and tow river boats; but the enterprise proved unsuccessful, and it was abandoned after two seasons, during the first of which the boat was commanded by Captain Wil- liam W. Weed, and the second, by Capt. John Dallson.
Immediately on the completion of the Erie canal measures were taken by the residents of the Gene- see valley to improve the water communication with it ; and the idea of a canal as a substitute for river navigation early took definite shape. In the spring of 1825, a bill authorizing a survey for a canal in the Genesee valley was introduced in the Legislature, but failed to receive the sanction of that body. June 15, 1825, Phillip Church, Daniel H. Fitzhugh, William H. Spencer, Ira West, Jon- athan Child and Heman Norton issued through the columns of the Livingston Register, a call for a public meeting of those interested in the construc- tion of a canal along the Genesee and Canaseraga valleys, also from the Genesee to some point on the Alleghany. The movement thus auspiciously begun, notwithstanding the continued agitation and the many meetings subsequently held in various places in its interest, did not receive official encouragement until 1834, when surveys were authorized and made, and the cost of construction estimated by F. C. Mills, the chief engineer engaged in it, to be $2,002,285 .* The construction of the Genesee Valley canal was authorized May 6, 1836,t and the contracts awarded therefor during the three succeeding years.
* The estimated cost at contract prices was $4,900, 122. Report of the State Engineer and Surveyor of the Canals of the State, 1878, p. 96.
t It is proper to state that a respectable and influential minority advo- cated with much ability the improvement and use of a part of the river in connection with the canal, for the reason that, as they believed, it would effect a " saving of more than a quarter of million dollars to the State, and at the same time render greater facilities to trade at a period of inter- rupted navigation in the spring and fall, when a canal, supplied with water from the summit level of the Genesee Valley canal, would be locked with ice," A public meeting held in the court house at Geneseo, Dec. 16, 1836, was largely attended by citizens of .\von, Geneseo and York, but from which those from the southern towns in the county were conspicu- ously absent, and Calvin HI. Bryan, George Hosmer, Allen Ayrault, Charles Colt, Joseph ₺. Bloss and Elias Clark were appointed to present and urge these views on the attention of the Legislature.
106
HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.
It was completed to Dansville, November 1, 1842 ; to Olean, in November, 1856; and to Mill Grove pond, connecting with the Alleghany, (to which point its extension was authorized in 1857,) in December, 1861, Its completion to the various points within the county was hailed with enthusi- astic demonstrations of joy. The entire length of the canal, with side cut, was 1243 miles. The total cost of the canal and reservoirs was $6,433,842. It was 42 feet wide at the top and 26 feet at the bottom, with a depth of four feet, giving it a capac- ity for boats of 50 to 55 tons burden .* It had 112 locks, each 90 by 15 feet, with a total lift of 1,128,875 feet ; 28 were built of stone, at a cost of $10,000 each ; 73, of composite, at a cost of $8,000 each, and 11, of wood, at a cost of $5,000 each. Eight of these were on the Dansville branch, eleven miles in length, with an aggregate lift of 82.6 feet.
This canal extends from Rochester to Mill Grove pond, near the Pennsylvania line, and enters Livingston county in the northeast corner of the town of Caledonia. Thence it extends in a south- westerly direction on the west side of the river, which it crosses at Mt. Morris, thence following the Cashaqua valley to Nunda, where it deflects to the west till it again reaches the river, which it crosses on a wooden aqueduct, forty feet high, at Portage- ville, where it leaves the county. The Dansville branch intersects it at the Shaker settlement, in the south-west part of Groveland, and pursues a south- easterly direction to Dansville, crossing the Cana- seraga at Comminsville,
The most difficult and expensive portions of the work were encountered between the Dansville branch junction and Portageville. The original plan included, besides deep cuttings, heavy rock excavations, the aqueduct across the Genesee and a tunnel through the high hills near Portageville;t but such were the obstacles encountered in the latter undertaking that the project was abandoned after much expensive labor had been performed on it. The following description of the tunnel appears in Disturnell's Gazetteer of the State of New York, published in 1842, while that work was in progress :-
" The trunk of the tunnel is to be 27 feet wide, 20 feet high and t, 180 feet in length; the entire excavation * * *, including the gallery, shafts and lateral drifts, will amount to more than 25,000
* Report of the State Engincer und Surveyor on the Canals of the State, 1878, p. 96. On page 84 of the same work it is stated that the average burden of boats on the Genesce Valley canal was 70 tons, and the maximum burden, 76 tons.
1 The project of tunneling the hill was adopted on account of the treach- erous nature of the earth composing it, as explained in the chapter on geology, and abandoned for the same reason.
cubic yards. * * * Since the excavation has been commenced, such is the character of the rock, thrown together apparently by nature in loose masses and blocks, that it now appears that the entire roof and sides of the tunnel will require arching with solid mason work. Indeed temporary arches of wood have been found necessary during the progress of almost every successive yard of the work. It is by far the greatest undertaking of the kind that has been attempted in our country. The whole region through which the canal here passes, also possesses great interest ; the tunnel running near by and parallel to the Genesee, which here has a perpendicular bank of about 400 feet."
On the abandonment of the tunnel project, the engineer adopted what long seemed an equally un- promising one; but after overcoming many per- plexing difficulties he succeeded in placing the canal on the treacherous hillside, overlooking the deep gorge of the Genesee, and overshadowed by the towering hill above, thus accomplishing a most remarkable engineering feat.
In the early part of its existence and for many years this canal exerted a marked and beneficial influence on the industries of the country through which it passed, though it was an onerous burden on the State treasury. The advent of the railroads, however, soon demonstrated that it had outlived its usefulness, and foreshadowed its abandonment, which followed in 1878, the order directing its abandonment being issued September 30th, 1878. The evidences of its existence are rapidly vanishing.
Pending the prolonged effort to secure favorable legislation in the interest of the Genesee Valley Canal, its friends, becoming impatient of delay, and feeling the urgent demand both for increased and improved facilities for transportation, turned their attention to the project of constructing a rail- road through the Genesee Valley; and in 1831, five years after the first railroad company in this State was incorporated, and the year in which the first railroad in the State was opened to the public,*
* The Mohawk and Hudson Railroad Company, incorporated April 17, 1826, built the first railroad in this State between Albany and Schen- ectady, a distance of seventeen miles. The work of construction was commenced at Schenectady, July 29, 1830, and about the zcth of July fol- lowing, the road from the top of the hill at Albany to the brow of the hill at Schenectady, a distance of about 12 1-2 miles, was completed and for- mally opened September 24, 1831. Previously, however, the road was regularly operated by horse power. The science of railroad engineering was then in its infancy, and the art of surmounting grades by locomotive steam power was then unknown; hence, both termini were inclined planes, up which the cars were drawn by stationary engines, and balanced by means of a car loaded with stone descending an opposite track. The road was completed through its entire length in the spring of 1832. The first cars used upon it were stage coach bodies placed upon trucks ; and . the first train, of three coaches, was drawn by the engine De W'itt Clinton, which made the return trip, with five cars, in thirty-five minutes. The inclined planes were used till about 1840, when a portion of the route was changed for a line with grades that could be worked with locomotives. This road now forms a part of the New York Central and Hudson River R. K. - Hough's Gazetteer of New York, 126, 145.
107
RAILROAD ENTERPRISES.
a series of meetings were held along the line of the proposed railroad, which culminated in the passage of an Act on the 22d of March, 1832, incorporating the Dansville and Rochester Railroad, for the con- struction of a steam railroad from Dansville to Rochester. This favorable legislation was joyfully received by the friends of the enterprise, promi- nent among whom, in this county, were Charles H. Carroll, Hezekiah D. Mason, Allen Ayrault, Wil- liam A. Mills, C. H. Bryan, James Faulkner, Felix Tracy, D. H. Fitzhugh, James McCurdy, John Young, S. G. Grover, William H. Spencer, William Lyman and others, and in July, 1832, surveys were commenced. The public, however, were not pre- pared for such an enterprise, and after ineffectual efforts to secure the requisite amount of stock, it was abandoned by its projectors.
The next railroad enterprise to engage the at- tention of the people of Livingston county was the Genesee and Pittsford Railroad, which was incor- porated May 21, 1836, but, like its predecessor, was not constructed.
The construction of a railroad from Attica to Hornellsville, for which purpose the Attica and Hornellsville Railroad Company was incorporated May 14, 1845, with a capital of $750,000 was the next railroad project which agitated the people of Livingston county ; and a sharp competition ex- isted in the effort to determine the choice of one of two proposed routes through the county, one of which extended through the western and southern parts of the county, and the other and shorter one, and the one finally selected, through the south- western corner, entering the county and crossing the river at Portage, near the center of the west border of that town, which it crosses in a south- easterly direction, also the south-west part of Nun- da, leaving that town and the county near the center of its south border. The time for the com- pletion of this road was extended to April 11, 1849; and April 9, 1851, other roads were allowed to take stock. March 3, 1851, the capital was in- creased, and the company allowed to purchase the Buffalo and Rochester Railroad, from Attica to Buffalo, and to change its name, which it did April 16, 1851, to the Buffalo and New York City Railroad. The road was completed and in operation between Portage and Hornellsville in January, 1852, and the following year was open its entire length-ninety-one miles .* That portion of the road from Attica to Buffalo was sold to the Buffalo, New York and Erie Railroad; and that
portion from Attica to Hornellsville, changed to the Buffalo branch of the Erie, December 12, 1862. It is now owned and operated by the New York, Lake Erie and Western Railroad.
This road crosses the Genesee at Portageville on a magnificent wrought-iron bridge, erected in 1875, at a cost of about $75,000, in place of the famous wooden structure, which was destroyed by fire, and was completed August 25, 1852, at a cost of $175,000. It was the largest wooden railroad bridge in the world ; being 800 feet long, and 234 feet above the river bed. The present bridge is eighteen feet longer than the old one and one foot higher. It is a Pratt truss bridge, consisting of ten spans of fifty feet each, two of one hundred feet each, and one of one hundred and eighteen feet. It rests upon six double towers, each com- posed of four hollow iron beams, in sections, six- teen inches square. These are seventy feet apart at the bottom, and wide enough at the top for double tracks. They rest upon moveable steel rollers, which admit of adjustment as heat or cold may expand or contract the structure. The whole is supported by stone piers. The first iron work was put up June 13th, and the last, July 16, 1875. Its sustaining power is 20,000 pounds to the square inch
During the construction of this road through Portage, in July, 1851, a riot which threatened ser- ious results occurred among the striking work- men engaged in its construction, and render- ed it necessary to apply to the civic authori- ties of Livingston and Wyoming counties for aid in quelling it. A desperate encounter en- sued in which several of the rioters were shot, two fatally, and it was not until the militia was summoned to the scene that the emeute was quelled. The Big Tree Artillery, of Geneseo, were summoned and repaired to the scene of action.
In 1849, the project of constructing the New York and Erie Railroad (which was opened June Ist of that year to Elmira,) through the Cohocton instead of the Canisteo Valley from Corning was discussed and enlisted the earnest support of the people of this section in favor of the former route. The latter, however, being decided on, a separate railroad was resolved on through the Cohocton Valley from Corning, and June 26, 1850, the Buf- falo and Cohocton Valley Railway company was formed to effect that object. Two feasible routes were reported from Bath to the Genesee ; one known as the Honeoye route, which would cross
· The length of the road from Attica to Hornellsville is 59.848 miles.
108
HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.
only the towns of Lima and Caledonia in this county, and the other, the Conesus route, which was two miles shorter, and was adopted with Buffalo instead of Rochester as the western ter- minus. This enters the county on the south line of Springwater, passes northerly through the west- ern part of that town, the central part of Conesus and the western part of Livonia, to its north line, and to the south-west corner of Lima, where it deflects to the west, and reaches the Conesus out- let, which it follows in most of its course through the southern and central parts of Avon, to the north line of Avon village, where it again deflects to the west, and crosses the town of Caledonia diagonally in a north-westerly direction, leaving the county in the north-west corner of the latter town. March 3, 1852, it was changed to the Buffalo, Corning and New York Railro ad Com- pany ; and subsequently that portion of the road extending from Corning to Batavia was sold to the Buffalo, New York and Erie Railroad, which was organized in 1857. It is now leased by the Newer York, Lake Erie and Western Railroad, belong- ing to the Rochester division of that road. Forty- four miles of the road were completed in 1852, and an additional forty-six miles in 1853, in July of which year trains were running regularly be- tween Corning and Caledonia.
The project of a railroad through the Genesee valley was revived, and June 7, 1851, the Roches- ter and Genesce Valley Railroad Company was or- ganized for the purpose of building a road from Rochester to Pittsburgh by that route and char- tered July 2, 1851, with a capital of $800,000. James S. Wadsworth of Geneseo and Freeman Clark of Rochester were the prime movers in this enterprise. Amon Bronson of Rochester, was also prominently identified with it. The route was sur- veyed in 1851, by MeRea Swift, assisted by Edward Everett. The work of construction was com- menced in 1852, and was completed to Avon, a dis- tance of 18.261 miles, in 1854. About $100,000 were expended for grading, masonry and right of way on that part of the line between Avon and Mt. Morris. At this point the means of the com- pany gave out, and its subsequent efforts to com- plete the road were unavailing. Oct. 1, 1858, the road was leased to the Buffalo, New York and Erie Railroad Company for ten years, with the privilege of renewal at the same terms. The lease was sold and assigned to the Erie Railway Company, and the road is now leased and operated by the New York, Lake Erie and Western Rail-
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