History of Ontario Co., New York, Part 7

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HISTORY OF ONTARIO COUNTY, NEW YORK.

CHAPTER VI.

PROPRIETARY CHANGES-PRE-EMPTION LINES-WILLIAMSON'S IDEAL AND THE REAL.

IT has been seen that the association represented by Phelps and Gorham had based hope of payment upon their presumed ability to purchase Massachusetts paper at half its par value and turn it in to the State at its face, but steps then in progress gave promise of a Federal Government, which would assume State debts, and, in consequence, the. State scrip rose in value to and above par. A suit instituted by the State against the association was compromised by a recon- veyance to the former of all lands not included in the Indian treaty, and the payment of that portion on the basis of values existing at the time of purchase. This change was made about 1790. The settlers having contracted to make pay- ment to the proprietors in the depreciated scrip, found themselves unable to do so, and their lands and improvements reverted to the company. During this period few sales were made by the latter, owing to difficulty of payment. Prices were low, but the poverty of the settler made ownership impossible. From date of the original purchase, Oliver Phelps had been a large share-holder, and now, by reversions and purchases, became a principal owner, and was regarded in 1795 as a highly successful business man. During those years, examples of success in land purchase had excited a mania of speculation, which involved and ruined many. One of these devices, originating at Philadelphia, found in Mr. Phelps, just elected to Congress, a victim to its delusive promises. To meet liabilities, large sums were borrowed, and security by mortgage given upon the Genesee lands. Connecticut held a large claim of this character, and employed the Hon. Gideon Granger to attend to her interests. Under his able management debts were dis- charged, involved titles cleared from incumbrance, and when appointed agent to settle the Phelps estate, the result of Mr. Granger's efforts was seen in full settle- ment of all claims, and a large property saved to the heirs. While there were not wanting those who felt inclined to censure the course of Mr. Phelps, it is gener- ally conceded that he was of incalculable service to the people of this region, and always dealt conscientiously by those who, linked with him, were drawn into the maelstrom of ruin attending land speculation. The name of Robert Morris is remembered as of one whose personal sacrifice greatly conduced to secure colonial independence. He had heard much of the Genesee Valley, and all was favorable, so that when a proposition was made by Phelps and Gorham to sell to him their entire final purchase, excepting such towns and parts of townships as had been conveyed by them to purchasers, it was favorably received, and the land changed owners. The deed of conveyance called for about two million two hundred thou- sand acres, for which Mr. Morris paid £30,000, New York currency. Soon after this heavy investment, Major Adam Hoops, a resident near Philadelphia, was sent to examine the resources of the land, and reported it equal to any in the United States in its soil, climate, and location. Survey succeeded purchase, and David Rittenhouse was employed to fit out an expedition in charge of Major Hoops, with surveying instruments of recent and valuable invention. Robert Morris bought to sell again, and to that end established agents in leading European cities. William T: Franklin, grandson of Benjamin Franklin, was the London agent who accomplished a sale to an association comprised in Sir William Pultney, John Hornby, and Patrick Colquhoun. Prior to sale, neither principal nor agent real- ised the value of what they held. Mr. Morris made the discovery when too late. Application for a quarter-million acres had been made when tidings of the sale were received. The price paid Mr. Morris for what was supposed to contain 1,100,000, and which really held 100,000 acres more, was £35,000. It has been said that Major Hoops was to have made a survey for Mr. Morris, and by the terms of sale the latter agreed to make an accurate survey of all land conveyed, and correct the former survey, which was erroneous from a fraudulent running of the pre-emption line. The survey of this, known as the "Old Pre-emption Line," was a matter of great interest, inasmuch as it was desired that the promising vil- lage of Geneva should lie eastward of its course. Two Indian traders, Seth Reed, afterwards the founder of a settlement at Erie, Pennsylvania, and Peter Ryckman, made application to Massachusetts for the satisfaction of a claim for services rendered in treating with the Six Nations, and made the proposition that a tract should be patented to them, whose limits should be defined as extending from a certain tree which stood on the bank of Seneca Lake, southward along the bank until a strip of land, in area equal to sixteen thousand acres, should be included between the lake and the State lands. Their claim was allowed, and a patent given.

Upon the sale by the State of her proprietary rights to Messrs. Phelps and Gorham, the proposition was made to them by Reed and Ryckman to unite in running the pre-emption line, each party to furnish a surveyor. Colonel Max- well was prevented by sickness from attending to the work, and his place was

taken by an associate. The line was run, and proved highly favorable to the traders, and correspondingly disappointed Meesrs. Phelps and Gorham, who, how- ever, made no re-survey, but sold their purchase to Morris, with a specification in their deed of a tract in a gore between the line and the west bounds of the Mili- tary Tract. They were influenced to this action by an offer on the part of a prominent party in the Lessee Company of " all the lands they owned east of the line that had been run."

The brothers Andrew, Joseph, and Benjamin Ellicott were the surveyors of the city of Washington, and the transit for survey by astronomic observation was made available in that work. The first, Andrew Ellicott and Augustus Porter, superintended by Major Hoops, entered upon the survey of a new line. A body of axe-men were set to work, and felled the timber a width of thirty feet; the survey was made down this line to the head of Seneca Lake, whence night signals were employed to run down and over the lake. The care taken to secure accuracy established credit in the survey, and the " New Pre-emption Line" became known as the true line of division between the respective lands. Major Hoops then examined the former survey, and found that a short distance from the Penn- sylvania line it had begun to bear off gradually till reaching the outlet of Crooked Lake; it then made an abrupt offset. A northwestwardly inclination was made some miles; then the line ran eastward till, at the foot of Seneca Lake, it struck out nearly due north to Lake Ontario. A brief observation is sufficient to prove that the site of Geneva was the attraction which caused this uncertain deviation in the surveyor's compass. The old line reached Ontario, three miles west of Sodus Bay, and the new line near the centre of the head of the bay. The . included space, triangular in form, having its acute angle near the Chemung, and its base resting on Lake Ontario, has been familiarly known as " The Gore."

Morris had attempted colonizing his tract by emigration from Pennsylvania, but the people of that State, aside from the formidable task of journeying to the Genesee, indulged a dread of the Six Nations, whose prowess had been won at the expense of many of their number, and no progress was made prior to his sale. The London associates desired to establish upon their land thriving settlements, and at the same time remunerate aud advantage themselves. They selected as their agent Charles Williamson, a man who has left his imprees in the character and prosperity of those induced by his representations and liberality to take up their abode upon the purchase.

As an ideal of proprietary settlement, the following " Account of Captain Wil- liamson's Establishment on Lake Ontario, North America," is given as a copy of an original article on the Ganesee country published in the Commercial Agricul- tural Magazine in London, England, August, 1799:

" This immense undertaking is under the direction and in the name of Captain Williamson, formerly a British officer, but is generally supposed in America to be a joint concern between him and Sir William Patence, of London; in England, Patence is believed to be the proprietor, and Williamson his agent. The land in the Genesee country, or that part of it which belongs to the State of Massschu- setts, was sold to a Mr. Phelps for five pence an acre; by him, in 1790, to Mr. Morris, at one shilling per acre, being estimated at a million of acres, on condition that the money should be returned provided Captain Williamson, who was to view the lands, should not find them answerable to the description. He was pleased with them, and, on survey, found the tract to contain one hundred and twenty thousand acres more than the estimate, the whole of which was conveyed to him. This district is bounded on one side by Lake Ontario, and on the other by the river Genesee. Williamson also bought some other land of Mr. Morris, so that he is now proprietor of more than a million and a half acres. After surveying the whole, he resolved to found at once several large establishments rather than one capital colony. He therefore fixed on the most eligible places for building towns, as central spots to his whole system. These were Bath, on the Conhockton; Williamsburg, on the Genesee; Geneva, at the foot of Lake Seneca; and Great Sodus, on Lake Ontario. The whole territory he divided into squares of six miles. Each of these squares he forms into a district. Sure of finding settlers and purchasers when he had established a good communication between his new tract and Philadelphia, and as the old road was by way of New York and Albany, Williamson opened a road which has shortened the distance three hundred miles. He has also continued his roads from Bath to Geneva, to Canan- daigua, and to Great Sodus, and several other roads of communication. He has already erected ten mills,-three corn and seven sawing,-has built a great many houses, and has begun to clear land. He put himself to the heavy expense of transporting eighty families from Germany to his settlements ; but, owing to a bad choice made by his agent at Hamburg, they did little, and after a short time set off for Canada. He succeeded better in the next set, who were mostly Irish. They put the roads into good condition, and gave such a difference to the whole that the land which he sold at one dollar an sere was soon worth three; and he has disposed of eight hundred thousand acres in this way so as to pay the first

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HISTORY OF ONTARIO COUNTY, NEW YORK.

purchase, the whole expense incurred, and has made a profit of fifty pounds. This rapid increase of property is owing to the money first advanced, but the great advantage is Williamson's constant residence on the settlement, which ena- bles him to conclude any contract or to remove any difficulty which may stand in the way; besides, his land is free from all dispute or question of occupancy, and all his settlement is properly ascertained and marked out. There has been a gradual rise in values, and a proviso is always inserted in the deed of sale to those who purchase a large quantity that a certain number of acres shall be cleared, and a certain number of families settled, within eighteen months. Those who buy from five hundred to one thousand are only obliged to settle one family. These clauses are highly useful, as they draw an increase of population and pre- vent the purchase of lands for speculation only.

" Captain Williamson, however, never aots up to the rigor of this claim where any known obstacles impede the execution. The terms of payment are to dis- charge half the purchase in three years, and the remainder in six, which enables the industrious to pay from the produce of the land. The poorer families he supplies with an oz, a cow, or even a home. To all the settlements he establishes he takes care to secure a constant supply of provisions for the settlers, or supplies them from his own store. Whenever five or six settlers build together, he always builds a house at his own expense, which soon sells at an advanced price. Every year he visits each settlement, which tends to diffuse a spirit of industry and promote the sale of lands, and he employs every other means he can suggest to be useful to the inhabitants. He keeps stores of medicines, encourages races and amusements, and keeps a set of beautiful stallions. He has nearly finished his great undertaking, and proposes then to take a voyage to England to purchase the best horses, cattle, sheep, implements of agriculture, etc. Captain Williamson has not only the merit of having formed, and that in so judicious a manner, this fine settlement, but he has the happiness to live universally respected, honored, and beloved. Bath is the chief settlement, and it is to be the chief town of a county of the same name. At this town he is building a school, which is to be endowed with some hundred acres of land. The salary of the master Williamson means to pay until the instruction of the children shall be sufficient for his support. He has built a session-house and a prison, and one good inn, which he has sold for a considerable profit, and is now building another which is to contain a ball-room. He has also constructed a bridge, which opens a free and easy communication with the other side of the river. He keeps in his own hands some small farms in the vicinity of Bath, which are under the care of a Scotchman, and which appear to be better plowed and managed than most in America. In all the settle- ments he reserves one estate for himself, the stock on which is remarkably good. These he disposes of occasionally to his friends, on some handsome offers. To the settlements already mentioned he is now adding two others, one at the mouth of the Genesee, the other at Braddock, thirty miles farther inland. Great Sodus, on the coast of this district, promises to afford a safe and convenient place for ships, from the depth of water, and it may be easily fortified. The climate here is much more temperate than in Pennsylvania. The winter seldom lasts more than four months, and the cattle, even in that season, grase in the forest without incon- venience. These settlements, are, however, rather unhealthy, which Captain Wil- liamson ascribes to nothing but the natural effect of the climate on new settlers, and is confined to a few fits of fever with which strangers are seized the first or second year 'after their arrival. The inhabitants all agree, however, that the climate is unfavorable, and the marshes and pieces of stagnant water are thickly spread over the country; but these will be drained as the population increases. On the whole, it promises to be one of the most considerable settlements in America."

It is interesting and instructive to see from that remote point a review of the locality with which we have grown familiar, to note the success of the agent, and the difficulties encountered. Trace we now the progress of Mr. Williamson as he appears outlined in his actual presence, and the progressive efforts originated with him, and tending to the prosperity of this region. He was a native of Scotland, a captain in the British army, and a prisoner in Boston till the close of the Revolution. He was in London when American wild lands were engaging the attention of capitalists, and his opinions were highly esteemed, Appointed agent, he came with his family and two assistants, Charles Cameron and John Johnstone, to America, and passed the winter of 1791-92 in Pennsylvania. He made a hasty journey to the Genesee country in February, 1792, and wrote to Patrick Colquhoun, one of the association, a retired capitalist, and a former gov- ernor in India, that the country was a wilderness without roads. Communication by road was the first necessity, and this was attempted from the south. The long trail through the wide wilderness east of the Genesee country, nor the costly water route, gave encouragement in that direction. With a party of surveyors, a road was located from Williamsport to the mouth of Canasoraga Creek, on the Genesee River. It was determined to begin settlement there, and, accordingly,

a village was laid out and named Williamsburg, eighty acres were plowed, and a number of houses built. These latter were for the occupation of a German colony. A man named Berezy had planned to win the confidence of Mr. Col- quhoun, and so far succeeded as to be permitted to select persons with whom to found a settlement. This man gathered a motley crowd of worthless material in Hamburg, and set out with seventy families for the West. They arrived in time to aid in opening the road, and were at once set to work. In the spring of 1793 they were placed in the new village. Houses, lands, tools, provisions, and stock were fully provided. A minister was engaged to serve them in spiritual matters, and a physician to regard their health. The colony, men and women, passed their time in idleness and carousal, consumed their provisions, neglected the land, slaughtered their stock, and cooked even the seed provided to put in a crop. Berezy was the source of the evil, and by him the difficulties were increased. The goods and provisions in a store established in charge of John Johnston were drawn and used, and anarchy ran riot. Williamson, accompanied by Thomas Morris, went from Canandaigua to institute a change. Berezy was interviewed, deposed, and ordered to cease control of the Germans. These were assembled, instructed, and at first seemed willing to accede to terms, but Berezy soon induced a different spirit.

One day, the Germans, led on by Berezy, drove Williamson, Morris, and others into a house occupied by James Miller, and for a time threatened his life. The settlers ran riot for days, killing the cattle for a feast, and assailing the agent and his friends. Richard Cuyler, clerk for Williamson, went to Albany for troops from Governor Clinton to quell the riot, while Berezy and some of the Germans left for Philadelphia. Judah Colt, then sheriff of Ontario, was ordered to summon a force and quell the disturbance. A body of men were raised and made a march by night to the scene of action, where the ringleaders were arrested, taken to Canandaigua, and lightly fined. The pioneers of Canandaigua and vicinity hired them, and so enabled them to pay their penalties and learn obedience to law. Their defense on trial was made by Vincent Matthews, one of those whose por- trait embellishes the court-room in Canandaigua, and this case was one of the first upon which he was engaged.

Another colony, organized by Donald Stewart, set out for North Carolina. Mr. Colquhoun proposed to Stewart to settle them in Ontario. The latter came out, and with Williamson made an exploration of the county. Their travels brought them to what is now Clifton Springs. Their attention was taken by the scenery, the appearance of sulphur, and by the odor. A joke passed upon the Highlander, that this was "just the place for a Highland colony," was resented, and the settle- ment was not made. Of many schemes of settlement, all failed save the one at Cale- donia Springs, which proved a complete success. Experience in colonial settlement from the founding of Jamestown had not taught the foreigner the impracticable character of their schetnes, and the lessons taught were costly and discouraging.

Improvements were made in the spring of 1793 at Bath. A plot was surveyed, a land office erected, and a score of log cabins put up. Here Williamson under- went an introduction to the misery consequent upon an attack of fever and ague, but improvements were continued and a saw- and grist-mill built. Emigrants from the South were attracted, and the place contained a log tavern in which John Metcalf officiated. In the spring of 1794 Mr. Williamson turned his attention to Geneva, and there began the erection of the Geneva Hotel. This famed structure, completed at the close of the year, was opened by a ball, and knew a reputation such as the magnitude of the work gave ample cause to expect. Handsomely located, supplied with all the conveniences of an English inn, and conducted by Thomas Powell, a celebrated inn-keeper of London, it stood in mag- nitude and accommodation solitary and alone. It was the Astor House of the West, the early home of men without family residing at Geneva, and the resting- place of well-to-do emigrants. The original survey of Reed and Wyckman, Joseph Annin and Benjamin Barton, was superseded by another on a larger scale. Williamson desired the town to front upon the lake, and the space in the rear was intended for park and garden. But the useful took precedence of the ornamental, and the original plan was changed. The land upon the "Gore" had been patented prior to the new line, and these patents Williamson purchased. No third line was run, but the commissioners of the land office were left to settle between patentees and the associates. As payment for money advanced in the purchase of patenta, Williamson received the same amount of land in the towns of Wolcott and Galen, Wayne County. Sodus was the next site selected on which to found a village, and roads were cut from Palmyra and Phelpstown to that locality. His appear- ance, with his corps of workers, gave new life to the settlers in the heavy forests, and the improvements which seemed possible years to come were already begun. The survey was done by Joseph Colt. In-lots contained a quarter-acre; the out- lota, ten sores. The price of the former was one hundred dollars ; of the latter four dollars per sore, while the neighboring farm lands were held at one dollar and fifty cents per acre.

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HISTORY OF ONTARIO COUNTY, NEW YORK.

The junction of Canandaigua Outlet and Mud Creek became the next focus of attention, and received the name Lyons. A settlement of a dozen persons had been made here in May, 1789. Their nearest neighbors were Robinson and the Oaks family. Joining labor with the settlers of Phelps, they opened a road to Bear's Mill at Scauyes. Other improvements followed in various localities, and in 1798 a body of Scotch emigrants came from New York westward to Johnstown, Mont- gomery County, and were there visited by Williamson. The emigrants were without money, but rich in courage and industry. They were offered land at what is known as Caledonia, the price to be paid in wheat and provisions to answer present need. Four men viewed the lands, met Williamson between Ge- neva and Canandaigua, and there upon the road the writing was drawn and the bargain made. Williamson had noted the fondness of the people for races and athletic sports, and determined upon holding a fair and races. In 1794 he estab- lished fair-grounds and a race-course at the forks of the Canascraga and the Gen- esee. Great preparations were made, and high expectations were excited. The day came, and with it settlers from as far east as Utica. Business and pleasure were united. The Indians were present in crowds, and added their ball-plays and foot-races to the sports planned by the projectors. The fair was continued annually at different places for years.

To Williamson was due the act to lay out the road of which we have spoken from Fort Schuyler to Geneva, and the construction of avenues of intercourse engaged much of his attention. Farther on is given a history of the Canandaigua Academy, an institution to which Williamson was a large subscriber, as was the case also on the establishment of the first library at Geneva in 1798. Education in him found a generous patron, and there was no popular want that he did not endeavor to supply. The company of which he was the agent were generous of means for improvement; years went by, and the income was comparatively meagre and slow. The account in 1800 gave a total expenditure of $1,374,470.10; the indebtedness upon purchases was $300,000, and the receipts but $147,974.83. As an offset to this unfavorable report, it may be said the wild lands, which were found selling at two to four shillings per acre, were now advanced to from a dollar and a half to four dollars, and aside from mills, farms, and debts due, was a tract comprising an enormous area of this land so grown in value. Williamson . had served in the British army, and this fact was the basis of distrust, and not a step for improvement could be taken without an unfavorable construction. Time and the efforts constantly showing up in his favor swept away this unjust though natural jealousy ; and in 1796 Williamson was elected by the county to the legisla- ture with slight opposition. He was a friend to the pioneer, alleviating financial trouble, encouraging the unfortunate, and sending refreshing cordial to the sick. Observant of the treacherous and unworthy conduct of English agents in Canada, he made it known to their government, and it was well for the settlers of the Genesee that Englishmen were concerned in their prosperity, and that they were represented in this county by such a man as Charles Williamson.

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History of Ontario Co., New York, Part 7

Author: Publication date: Publisher: Number of Pages: 391

Author:
Publication date:
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 391