History of Monroe county, New York with illustrations descriptive of its scenery, Palatial residences, Part 27

Author: McIntosh, W. H. cn; Everts, Ensign, and Everts, Philadelphia, pub
Publication date: 1877
Publisher: Philadelphia : Everts, Ensign and Everts
Number of Pages: 976

USA > New York > Monroe County > History of Monroe county, New York with illustrations descriptive of its scenery, Palatial residences > Part 27

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On June 24 the regiment lay in a fortified camp, three miles south of Peters- burg, having left the advanced line, where it had relieved two regiments. While in this line sharp skirmishing had been in progress, whereby one man was killed and three wounded. The explosion of a mine beneath a rebel furt way made the signal for a tremendous cannonade, followed by a charge.

On July 23, Company G, with six Cohorn mortars,-one hundred and twenty- pound pieces, -passed to the rear of the Eighteenth army corps, which was reserve tor che Vinch corps, by whom the assault was to he made. The company worked all night to plant their pieces and prepare their position, and were supplied with three hundred rounds of ammunition. As the earth, guns, and garrison rose in the air from the explosion, fire was opened, and two hundred and seventy-seven rounds delivered. A battery, their mark, was silenced, and the company were complimented for the abilities shown. Companies I and K were oo the skirmish line, and lost lightly. Nine companies engaged in the disastrous charge sustained a loss of sixteen billed, thirty wounded, and three hundred and twenty missing. The regiment met heavy loss at Reais' Statiou, and worked hard upon the forts, redoubts, and breastworks. so formidable in extent and strength. Other organiza- tions were transferred to the Fourth in June, 1865, and the regiment was mustered out September 26 following.

The Fourteenth Regiment, Veteran Heavy Artillery, originated at Rochester shortly after the muster-ont of the old Thirteenth Infantry. Colonel Elisha G. Marshall was duly authorized to euter upon the work of enlisting a regiment of' heavy artillery, and by July 15, 1863, had ahout three hundred men in camp an. Lake avenue, mainly veterans of the Thirteenth. The evening of that day, orders came for the command to leave for New York city. to aid in restoring order. There were about two hundred men in the ranks when the cars were taken next day. Arrived at Albany. they were there halted and provided with arms, rations, and quarters, and remained till August 15. Two detachments were sent on special doty,-one to Lockport, the other to Charlotte.

On September 2 Henry R. Randall had enlisted one hundred and fifty meu. Two companies, three hundred men, left for New York by special train on De- cember 18, 1863. The lieutenant-colonel was Clarence II. Corning; the major. William HI. Reynolds; adjutant, Job C'. Hedges : quartermaster, Adolph Shu- bert; and surgeon, Isaac V. Mullen. The command lay quietly in camp till the advance across the Rapidan. early in May. 1964, and whether in the charge at Spott- sylvania and Petersburg, in acting at Cold Harbor, Weldon Railroad, Poplar Spring Church. or Hatcher's Run. in each and every trial the command acquitted itself with credit. When the telegraphie summary brought news from Grant . army, the list of casualties bure testimony to gallant and veteran behavior. When the swing to the left had brought the Ninth army corps before l'eter horz. the Fourteenth Regiment, nine hundred and thirty strong, was on June IG drawn op in line of battle with the division to make a charge upon the works and endeavor to take the place. The First brigade lel the division. The Fourteruth New York on the second line, the Second Pennsylvania on the third line. The urlet cima to fix bayonets, and not to tire a shot till the breastworks were taken. The ions moved forward, and met a cutting fire, which routed the first line, when the Four- teenth charged over them, advancedl two thousand yards, seall the enemy s breast works, and captured a battle-flag, a general, and three honderd pressure The works were fuld two hours when, ammunition fading and sulopreinte coming down frau Richmond, after a hard fight, the Fourteenth wus drin a ku k

HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY, NEW YORK.

from their hard- and well-won ground. In this charge Colonel Marshall was wounded. Major Job C. Hedges was shot dead while leading his battalion. Major W. F. Reynolds and C'aptain Snyder were captured, and J. P. Clary. adjutant, narrowly escaped. Of nine hundred and thirty men who entered on the charge, aiz hundred and forty-nine came out. The regiment occupied the works when retaken, and took its turn on the front line. Major Lorenzu I. Jones led the Fourteenth from June 17 till Augu -: 19, at which time he was wounded. On the morning of July 28 the Petersburg mine was exploded, and the Fourteenth led in the unlucky and ill-conducted charge which followed. The low sustained was about ffly in killed and wuunded, hesides many missing. On the morning of March 25, 1865, a rebel division charged upon Forts Steadman and Haskell, garrisoned by the Fourteenth, and carried both works. The enemy were soon drivea out with heavy loss, having killed, wounded, and captured two hundred and fifty-three men. The regiment lost no prestige in this reverse, and won an andoring and honored name as a stanch and reliable organization.

The history of the various organizations so far outlined, and not overdrawn, is indisputable evidence that Monroe citizens were as devoted and patriotic upoo the battle-field as they have always been industrious and law-abiding at home. Amid disaster and panic, the Monroe soldiers bore themselves with honor, lust no colors, and returned to receive the congratulations of fellow-citizens with laudable pride. Breaking ranks, the old soldiers commingled with the populace, and the war of the rebellion passed into history.

CHAPTER XXXIII.

CONCLUSION.

THE limits of knowledge are but the margin of truth. Incursions have been made into the region of the past. We have essayed an outline of the history of Monroe. We have beheld her territory in its native lusuriance and solitary mag- Dificence, when the damp. rich soil was dense with forest growth, and the noble Genesee rolled in unmarked grandeur and undiminished volume over the rocky ledges at the " Falls," to the level of the northero lake. Again the land was peopled with the fiercest of the aboriginal tribes ; game of all kinds abonnded in the woods ; the Indian orchard and the field of corn proved wonderful in fertility, and the venturesome pioneers from the east began their westward march, estab- lisbing their solitary huts in spots of clearing on the ontposts of civilization,-the unclei of settlement.

Briefly we have contemplated the overtures of France and England to wio alliance from the confedersted nations, and marked the ineffectual expedition of De Nonville through the eastern bound, of' Monroe, to be met and cowed by a hastily-assembled band of Seneca warriors. Again Sullivan's evening gun, reverberating amidst the forests, gave warding to merciless Indians to remove their families from villages to be burnt and fields laid waste, while State conven- tions, seconded by private enterprise, prepared the western region for survey, sale, and occupation.

Parties and families, colonies and individuals, journeyed or voyaged to the Lands bordering upon the Genesee ; villages sprang up in locations of convenience and natural advantage, and the site of a rude and lonely mill, in the region of rocks, the dens of incumerable serpents, rapidly developed to the proportions of a magnificent and populous city. The growth of numbers and the call of com- merce instigated and compelled tho furmation of Monroe, while the aurvey of highways, the building of bridges, and the discovery and utilization of the Ridge

road opened the way for the entrance of the colonist, and the exit of produce in its eastern market.

Wayne's victory in the west crumbles the hopes of the Iroquois, and Piler. ing'a treaty forever quiets apprehension of Indian violence. Bateaux navicat- the upper Genesee, while schooners ply upon the luke, and introduce a commerce in pearlash, lumber, and the best of grain.

In geographical feature, we have noted a region equal in temperstore, salubri. ons in climate, picturesque in scenery, and rich in the natural products of th .. soil, and, withal, favored by a water-power beautiful to behuld, valuable as a Dioto ?. No land ever yielded such wheut as the valley of the Genesee, or in so great abun. dance, and no community of agriculturists has done more for husbandry than the farmers' societies of Monroc. For years the Rural New Yorker was the or an of intelligent cultivaturs, and the innnineroble valuable suggestions which eurich-) its columns have been of influence unknown in extent and unmeasurable in vaise The canon of the Genesee, below the f'alls, has opened wide the book of nature, an ! revealed the structure of the rocks, to excite the curious and interest the student. Rapid in growth of population, and famed for the sterling qualities of her citi- zens, we have regarded a community ever prompt and decided in measures of polity and public utility, whose ranks have furnished numerous examples of hich personal wurth, honoring distinguished public station, while the masses have achieved a noble record as a law-abiding and industrious people.

Again the route of the Eric conal has been surveyed, the war of words and the clash of conflicting opinion has been closed by popular vote, and an oficial and popular demonstration has marked the opening of a grand water-way from lake to ocean ; then was seen to begin a prosperity for the county whose con- tinnance has produced the elegance, taste, and refinement of the highest civiliza- tion, and associated industry io manufacture and transportation, famous in extcot, and celchrated in its quality.

The pocket-boat was scen to be withdrawn while yet the teams upon the tow- path go and come across the Genesce, over the grand aqueduct, and pomerous boats convey, as half a century since, the bulky products of the west to eastern marts.

The rail-car ran along the Tonawanda, and the locomotive made its first excur- sive trip to Canandaigua ; then everywhere, all over the land, the manis for railroad building spread, and knew no abatement in Monroe until the grand New York Central, immense in estent, wealth, and business. vital to the city, and a creature of its enterprise, transports the traveler with celerity and ease, and conveys its tons of freight with cheapness and dispatch.

In Monroe private enterprise has no lack, public institutions have few superiors. Aberrant intellect finds Samaritan treatment in an asylum conducted by the most skillful ; moral depravity in youth of both seses is arrested and estirpated by the benevolent and disciplinary agencies of a well-condocted State institution, while the sturdy vagrant and the petty offender are made, by their labor, to remoncrate society for the burden of their support.

In warfare against English arrogance and oppression, the bearing of Monroe militia has been seen to intimidate a squadron, and, in a contest for national es- istence, the young men of this county, exceptionally equaled, were never excelled in heroism upon the march and hattle-field, and in contempt of danger where called by daty, as is seen in their history ag organizations and their record as in- dividuals.

We have written with interest, and cleaned from manuscript, volume, and old files of pupers with diligence. The result accepts a progress encouraging as a contrast, wonderful as a spectacle, and simple in the tracery of unusual naturd advantages wisely and generously turned to account. Early anticipations have been more than realized in past and present achievement, and the future of Mon- roc is a destiny of unfaltering progress. May tho fruition of the noblest and fondest expectations of her citizens meet aruple realization, and the prosperity of her varied and extensive industries experience no decline !

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PLATE VI.

VIEW OF WHAT IS NOW MAIN ST, ROCHESTER, IN 1812. AND AS IT IS IN 1877. THE LOG CABIN OCCUPIED PRESENT SITE OF POWERS BLOCK

( ROCHESTER SAVINGS BANK , PORENS SLOCK & TONFR .)

RIVER PASSES UNDER STREET OF MIDDLE FOREGROUND

HISTORY OF ROCHESTER.

IT has been the policy of men in all ages to preserve by tradition, inscription, monument, or manuscript, the memory of individuals and events associated with the founding of a city, state, or nation. As there is a sorrow and solemnity in the decline or fall of a great comumer ial miart, there is an interest attached to initial movements and an importance given to characters whose real worth tuay or way not have to do with their part of the primitive stage of development.

America has been productive of startling changes. Events have transpired within the domain of the republic whose effects still impress and sway the older Dations. States have been carved from an expanse of wilderness, and cities have grown up like an exhalation. Presage and opinion have been at fault. convenience and facility have been potential, and the traveler of' one period, looking upon an attractive natural scenery in the seclusion of a forest, has returned to behold a city with awarming thousands, replete with the products of the soil. resonant with the butn of manufacture, and abounding with the treasures of art. At the commence- ment of the present century it was said of the present site of Rochester, that " it was a God-forsaken place, inhabited only by mu-krats and visited only by strag- gling trappers,-a place through which neither man could travel nur beast gallop without fear of starvation er fever and agne " Children of the original founder have not yet passed away, and a great and beautiful city stands by the Falls of the Gengsee. Ascend the tower of the Powers block, and look out at midday opon the scene beneath and stretching far around you. Lofty buildings, beautiful churches, bandsome streets, a teeming myriad of population meet the sight. Along the stone-walled canal bont after boat is passing; from the Central depot freight and passenger trains come and go at brief intervals. Industry, athoence. and enjoyment are evidenced in every quarter. There seems no merchandise but bag its mart, no interest without its representatives. All facilities for travel abound-the car upon the stony street or the miles of' walk for the passing throng. The melody of bells proclaims the passing hour, and the shriek of the steam- whistle announces the cessation or renewal of a multiforin industry. Tell no stranger that within a human lifetime this vast and varied change from solitude to highest form of civilization, this transformation of' a forest to a magnificent city, has taken place. Realization has exceeded promise, and truth has been stranger than fiction.

Iwok we now upon the causes which rendered growth uncertaie, and consider the agencies which sprang into operation and have rendered the future =s brilliant in promise as has been the past in fruition. A score of towns and villages had attained considerable size and much prominence while the forest remained un- bruken where a city was soon to be. Canandaigua had been the capital of' Ontario a quarter century, and longer yet Geneva had had an occupation and a name, before an evidence was given that the city of the valley of the Genesee would have an origin. It was out that the advantages of hydraulic power were not seen, for the falls were frequently visited by tourists and enterprising mien ; and it was but that a mart was not needed, for from the earliest times an idea prevailed that >mewhere in Monroe of to-day a town would grow up commensurate in impor- Lance with the temperate climate, excellent sod, and increasing population.

CAUSES OF DELAYED SETTLEMENT.

The village and then city is a result, not cause. Its existence is a uccessity. Origin may be accidental ; growth depends upon an outward support and inherent Piaucer life required little save the products of hoine industry ; tradi-men had become fartuers, and the shop by the wayside of the loom in the Log cabin were the industries of detached settlements and provided for local wants. Aside from supplying the wants of new-comers, the farmer looked away to Albany As his market, and thither his wagons went with grun and returned with indis- fonosble articles of use To grind wheat and corn rude mills were numerous upon the small streams, and the liusted current was proportioned to the demand made upon it. The water-power of the tienere was not valued because it was not ne led. The time had not come when the superior wheat grown in the valley .houbl be grunnil and make famous the doar and the flouring mills of this portion

of western New York. Not until a recent date have the lands bordering opon Lake Ontario found complete settlement. Cummerce centred nut upon a water- ronte, but along the old Buffalo road, and nuclei of settlement gave a temporary growth to hamlets now the sites of tine farins. All along the lake was a dark, dense fringe of forest, abounding in marshes, and the haunt of the fever plague of the pioneer settler. Individuals and small parties adventured into these regious, and had scarcely made an opening in the forest ere disease attacked and laid whole families prostrate. It is on record that in those early years sixty persons died in one year from a population of less than three thousand, and sometimes almost neighborhood would emigrate temporarily to the older and healthier communities, making their exodus with cart and sled along the winding roadways of the forest. The traveler, meeting such a western caravan, was impressed with the reality of a strife with nature, and these, the disabled, seeking hospitable care to recuperate and then to return to the perilous encounter. The upas of fever reigned in all the region about the F.dls of the Gencsee. and the Panama canal of later celebrity seemed no less burdened with the miasta of an exceeding fertility. Illustrative of the discouraging result of pioneer effort in this quarter, Wheelock Wood, a settler in Lima during the winter of 1755, within a few years erected a saw-mill tipon Drep Gally creek, within the present city limits, and bad but fairly begun labor ere his workmen were taken sick and were required to be removed to their homes. The mill went to ruin. because there were none willing to brave exposure to disease almost certain to follow its operation." Men will march sternly with bowed heads to the charge, they will traverse the wildest lands and the broadest seas; but to settle in a spot where the insidious attacks of an enervating disease are sure of being made, was as if the portals of u treasure-house were guarded by a potential evil, whose ruthless influence repelled every invasion of its province.

THE MILL-YARD TRACT AND THE FIRST MILLER OF THE GENESEE.

Oliver Phelps, general agent of the association for the purchase of Genesce lands, made a treaty near Canandaigua, on July 8, 17SS, by which the Indian title to all that region east of the Genesee river was extinguished. The Senecas looked uneasily upon the encroachments of the Americans, and refused to sell their territory west of the river named. However, the proposition of Mr. Phelps to build a mill at the falls for the mutual benefit of the Indians and white settlers, if the former would sell a mill-site, was favorably received, and accordingly a tract extending twelve miles west of the Genesee, and northward to Lake Ontario. was sold to the contractors, and this was confirmed to them by the legislature of' Massachusetts, in November following. It was mutually agreed by the Indians and Mr. Phelps that the mill-yard should be bounded east by the Genesce. south by a line near Avon, west twelve miles, thence to the lake. The western line w.is run due north by Hugh Maxwell, the surveyor, and as the river hears east of north, the mill-yard was in excess of the purchase. It is not here that is noted the Triangle truet, but to give the dimensions of the celebrated and historical mill-yard. The good faith which ever characterized the dealing of Oliver Phelps with the native proprietors of the land won their confidence and ntfection, but when, soon after, the mill was built. and that diminutive structure was compared with the area of the " yard," their stoicism could not restrain their expressions of astonishment. The gift was permitted to rest unchallenged, but the exclama- tiun, " kanskonchicos," the Seneca for waterfall, ever after became the Indian namo for Mr. Phelps.

Soon after the conclusion of the treaty, a gift was made to Ebenezer Allen of the one-hundred-acre tract, conditionel upon his erection thercon of a mill. During the summer of 1789, a saw-quilt was put up at the falls and timber cut for a grist mill, which was raised in the early period of the following winter It is interesting to note here the detads concerning this structure, because it was the first mill in the valley, and to outline the life of him who. as its operator, is known as the first miller of the tienesce. The building was of poor construction and of ill location. In accordance with the custom of the day, the frame, wluch

HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY, NEW YORK.

was twenty-six by thirty feet, was of the heaviest timber. An invitation was sent to all the settlers in the valley to attend the raising, and they came. Two days were occupied at the task, and the back woodsmeo numbered fourteen persons. Rum was procured from a trader, who came up the river in his boat while the raising was in progress, and a lively celebration marked the completion of this initial enterprise. With all the advantages natural to the locality, the race was so constructed that it was dry in midsummer and surcharged with water in winter. The one pair of mill-stones were taken from a neighboring quarry, and found well adapted to their purpose. The mill as run could grind but ten bushels a day, and had a capacity, under proper management, for sixty. To this pioncer mill came inhabitants from places far remote, and settlers had their grinding here whose cabins stood full a score of miles to the eastward. When the Allen mill was raised, there were not in the country, west of the old pre-emption line, fifteen hundred white people ; and, save the Indian clearings and the improvements upon the flats of the Canasoraga and Genesee, there were not two cleared sections in all that expanse known as Ontario.

Jared Boughton, of Victor, in the fall of 1790 set out with a double ox-team for the Allen mill, and while yet four miles from the river came to the terminus of the road. A dense forest and marshy grounds lay on the direct mute. and the pioneer was obliged to make a detour and cross the hills east of Mount Hope, and thence reached the river. Here he belled his oxen and turned them loose to browse while he backed his grain across and down the river to the mill. When success was attainable only by such means, every expedient was tried to supply mills nearer home, and the Allen mill, isolated from settlement and wanting in converging roads, found little to do. In general, a miller was kept at the struc- ture, and he alone was the occupant of all the present site of the city of Roches- ter, and he had not enough of business to enable him to make repairs. There were times when the premises were deserted. and when the mills of Meadon, Wilder's Point, and other places were not in running order, settlers repaired to the lone mill on the Genesee-by canoe upon the stream, along the Indian trail, or by the road from Pittsford, to Stones', and following the ridges south to Mount Hope; arrived at the cabia repairs were made, the wheel started, the grist ground, and the mill again left in solitude. The mill and the one-hundred- acre tract were sold by Allen to Benjamin Barton. Sr .. in the spring of 1792. Samuel Ogden, of New York city, bought of Barton, and in 1794 transferred its ownership to Charles Williatason. This energetic agent was not ignorant of the capacities of the location, but the landa whose increase in value he sought were else- where, and while Sodus, Geneva. Bath, and other places were seats of hotels, mills, and stores, the Falls of the Genesee were ignored. In 1795 the mill property was placed in charge of Colonel Fish, by whom improvements to the amount of five hundred dollars were made; yet little was done. and the mills gradually went to decay. In 1798 the saw-mill was in ruins, and a few years later the grist- mill became neglected and gave way to other structures. Mr. Maude, an intelli- gent English traveler, visiting this region in 1708, wrote concerning the falls, aud spoke of having minutely inspected them. He says, " Rattlesnakes are fre- quently seen at these Falls. I ascended the bauk at the middle falls, which bank is in some places perpendicular, and joised my servant, who had heen waiting two hours, and had begun to fear some accident had befallen me. In a few minutes I joined Colonel Fish at the mill. This mill is so much out of repair that the settlers on the west side of the river are obliged to resort to the mill at Rundient, which from Bradloe is at least eighteen miles. besides having a river to cross. The saw-mill built by Allen is already ruined, and Colonel Williamson proposes to build a new grist-niill a few feet higher than the present one. It will be then out of the way of ice and backwater ; and, by taking the race from a more favor- able part of the river, where, in the driest seasons, the channel has six feet of water close along shore, it will have a never-failing supply of water ; and as, in conse- quence of the falls, there must be a portage at the place, the race is to serve the purpose of a canal, not only to float logs to the saw mills, but for the river craft to discharge and take in their lading." Mr. Maude states that Colonel Fish, the miller, had no accommodations for travelers, not even a stable, and he was com- pelled to go down to the landing, where, at Gideon King's, he enjoyed a hearty meal, consisting principally of wild pigcous, and expresses his satisfaction by the assertion that " Mr. King is the only respectable settler in this township, in which there are twelve families,-four of which are at the landing." Such were the impressions and expressions of a traveler of nearly fourscore years aen. The changes of recent date would present food for reflection, subjects of admiration, and satisfaction. It may be briefly said of Indian Allen that he was a fiend in cruelty, n Turk in yoluptnousness, the first white resident upon the site of Rochester, and the connecting liuk of savage sort between rude fark woodsmen in priniitive civilization and the aboriginals of the forest. He died in 1811, in the Delaware town on the De Trench, and left behind him "two white widowa and one squaw to lament his loss."

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History of Monroe county, New York with illustrations descriptive of its scenery, Palatial residences, Part 27

Author: McIntosh, W. H. cn; Everts, Ensign, and Everts, Philadelphia, pub Publication date: 1877 Publisher: Philadelphia : Everts, Ensign and Everts Number of Pages: 976

Author: McIntosh, W. H. cn; Everts, Ensign, and Everts, Philadelphia, pub
Publication date: 1877
Publisher: Philadelphia : Everts, Ensign and Everts
Number of Pages: 976