USA > New York > Genesee County > History of the Genesee country (western New York) comprising the counties of Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Chemung, Erie, Genesee, Livingston, Monroe, Niagara, Ontario, Orleans, Schuyler, Steuben, Wayne, Wyoming and Yates, Volume II > Part 37
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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65
Dr. William Coe was the pioneer physician of Le Roy, locating there in 1803. Dr. Ella G. Smith came in 1805. Others of the first part of the century were Drs. Frederick Fitch, William Sheldon, Chauncey P. Smith, Stephen O. Almy, Benjamin Hill, B. Douglas, Warren A. Cowdrey, Daniel Woodward, Nicholas D. Gardner, Alfred Wilcox, John Codman, Prescott Lawrence,
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Graham Fitch, William A. Amy, Ezekiel Kelsey, Charles Smith, Benjamin Bliss, Caleb H. Austin, Almond Pratt, Joseph C. Tozier, D. C. Chamberlain, Moses Barrett, Solomon Barrett, Asa W. Fuller.
The first physician in the town of Pembroke was Abijah W. Stoddard, who came in 1810. Dr. Charles Chaffee was the first in the town of Alexander. Either Doctor Woodward or Dr. Amasa Briggs was the first in the town of Elba. Dr. Levi Ward was the pioneer of Bergen. The first doctor in Oakfield was Andrew Thompson. In Alabama the first was Dr. Flint L. Keyes. Drs. Benjamin Davis and Ammi R. R. Butler were the pioneers in Stafford. In Bethany the first of the profession was Dr. Benja- min Packard. When the town of Pavilion was formed, Drs. War- ren Fay and Abel Tennant were actively practicing. Dr. Silas Taylor is believed to have been the first in Byron, and Dr. James. E. Seaver in Darien.
The pioneer school teacher of Batavia was Thomas Layton, who settled here in 1801, and opened a private school "east of the land office." The next school was established in 1822 by Mrs. Benjamin H. Stevens and continued for a number of years. In. 1825 two private schools were opened in the village by Rev. James Cochrane and a Miss Gardner. A year later Messrs. Nixon and. Stearns founded the Batavia Academy. Numerous other private: and select schools existed in the village in the early part of the century, prominent among them being the Batavia Female Semi- nary which opened in 1845, and the Park School, established in 1883.
The first school in the town of Alabama was opened by Henry Howard in 1817, and Charles Austin was the pioneer teacher of Alexander. The first school in Bergen was taught by Harvey Kelsey about 1805. Matilda Wedge began teaching first in Beth- any in 1808. Aaron Bailey was the first teacher in Linden. The first school in Byron was that opened in 1810 by Chester T. Hol- brook. Chester Scott taught the first class in Elba in 1817. Esther Sprout's school, established in 1806, was the first in Staf- ford. Laura Terrill's (or Tyrrell) was the first in Pavilion about 1812. Anna Horton started the first school in Pembroke in 1811. At Ganson's, now Le Roy, the first schoolhouse was built in 1801 and the first teacher was Luseba Scott, who after -.
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ward married James Ganson. Phoebe Bates taught here in 1802, and in 1803 Mrs. Stephen Wolcott was in charge. This was probably the first school taught in the county. A frame school house, the first in the county, was erected here in 1804.
About 1812 a brick building, said to have been the first west of the Genesee River, was completed at Batavia; the lower floor was used for a school, and the upper floor for Masonic purposes. Here was taught the first "common" school, authorized by legis- lative enactment of 1812. In 1847 the first union school house was located in Batavia. The union free school system of Le Roy was established in 1890. The Ingham University, originally called Ingham Collegiate Institute, was incorporated at Le Roy in 1857. The school had been established at Attica in 1835 by Miss Marietta Ingham and a sister, Emily E. It was moved to LeRoy two years later, and named the Le Roy Female Seminary. In 1852 it was given to the Synod of Genesee and the name changed to Ingham Collegiate Institute. It passed out of existence in 1893. Cary Collegiate Seminary was founded at Caryville (now Oakfield) in 1840. Bethany Academy was started in 1841, and the Genesee and Wyoming Seminary of the village of Alexander was the outgrowth of a library founded in 1811 by Alexander Rea, Henry Hawkins, Colonel Brainard, Samuel Latham, Jr., Harvey Hawkins, Noah North and Ezra W. Osborn.
It was in a house on Walnut Street in Batavia where William Morgan penned his alleged expose of the secrets of the Masonic order, resulting in the episode which created such a furore in New York State in 1826. He was born in Culpeper County, Vir- ginia, in 1775, and passed his boyhood among the mountaineers. Early in life he became a soldier of fortune and a seeker after adventure. He was a captain in General Andrew Jackson's army and won distinction for bravery at the battle of New Orleans. In 1819 he married in Richmond, Virginia, and two years later moved to Canada, where he became a brewer in the upper pen- insula, near York. Fire destroyed his business there, and he moved to Rochester, New York, and here he took up his trade of stone mason. In 1823 he moved to Batavia. In 1825 he was made a Royal Arch Mason at Le Roy. He entered Wells Lodge No. 282, which had been established in 1817. He attached his name to a petition to establish a royal arch chapter in Batavia. Upon a new petition, however, his name was omitted, and his
THE COURT RECORDS OF GENESEE COUNTY AND FILES OF THE
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EAST AND WEST TABLETS
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ERECTED 1882.
POINTS OF INTEREST. IN THE W .MORGAN.AFFAIR.
VIEW OF MONUMENT ERECTED TO WILLIAM MORGAN IN 1882 IN BATAVIA CEMETERY
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application for affiliation was rejected. This incensed him and he conceived the idea of publishing the secrets of the Masonic fraternity. He enlisted the aid of David C. Miller, editor of the Batavia Advocate, and later John Davids and Russell Dyer were affiliated with his scheme. On September 10th an attempt was made to burn Miller's printing office. On the same date Morgan was arrested on the charge of a petty theft brought by a Canan- daigua tavern keeper, and was taken to the county seat of Ontario County and there lodged in jail. On the 12th of September the alleged debt was paid by Laton Lawson and Morgan released. He was immediately taken in charge by Nicholas G. Chesebro, Edward Sawyer, John Sheldon, H. Foster and Laton Lawson, and placed in a closed carriage which proceeded westward from Can- andaigua. Morgan was never seen again. Numerous theories as to his fate have been advanced. Some stories have it that he was murdered in the magazine at Fort Niagara; others that he was taken out into Lake Ontario and drowned; that he was given into the charge of a Canadian Indian tribe as a life prisoner. Various times he was reported to have been seen in different cor- ners of the world, but none of these rumors were ever confirmed. The fact remains that William Morgan disappeared from human eyes, and his fate is likely to remain a mystery until the end of time. In the Batavia cemetery, in 1880, a monument to William Morgan was erected by the National Christian Association Opposed to All Secret Societies.
CHAPTER XLV
THE COUNTY OF NIAGARA
At the northwest corner of the Genesee Country lies the County of Niagara, one of three counties created by the act of March 11, 1808. When first erected it included the present counties of Niagara and Erie. The latter was made a separate county April 2, 1821, thus reducing Niagara to its present area of 522 square miles. The county derives its name from the river which sepa- rates it from the Dominion of Canada. Twelve towns comprise the county, which also includes the Tuscarora Indian reserva- tion. The population of the county, according to the latest cen- sus statistics, is close to one hundred and twenty thousand.
Niagara was one of the first counties in western New York to be visited by white men. As early as 1611 Jesuit missionaries were among the Indian tribes about the Great Lakes, but it is not certain who were the first to visit the Iroquois. The great falls are shown on Champlain's map of 1632; Fathers Brebeuf and Chaumonot were in this region in 1641 and other mission- aries soon followed.
Late in the year 1678 Robert Cavelier, Sieur de la Salle, with a company of sixteen persons, landed at the mouth of the Niagara River. Where Lewiston now stands LaSalle began the erection of the first building on the Niagara frontier. The record of the expedition says: "The 17th, 18th and 19th we were busy mak- ing a cabin, with palisadoes, to serve for a magazine." The next four days were devoted to the saving of their boat, "which was in great danger of being dashed to pieces by the vast pieces of ice that were hurled down the river."
On January 22, 1679 LaSalle moved up the river to a point about five miles above the falls, where he established a camp. The site of this camp is now occupied by the village of LaSalle. Here on the 26th laid the keel of the Griffon, the first vessel to sail the Great Lakes, which was completed and began her
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maiden voyage to Green Bay on August 7, 1679. LaSalle's fur- ther movements are not pertinent to this history.
About 1683 the rivalry between the French and English began to develop. Governor Thomas Dongan, of New York, protested against the French occupying or invading the Iroquois country upon any pretext whatever. Despite this protest Governor de la Barre, of Canada, in the spring of 1684, reconnoitered the shores of Lake Ontario, preparatory to a campaign against the Seneca nation. Before he could carry out his designs he was recalled by Louis XIV and the Marquis de Denonville was appointed as his successor. The complete story of Denonville's expedition and the continued rivalry of the two nations is told elsewhere, but brief reference to the subject is necessary here, in order to under- stand the early history of the region now comprising Niagara County.
In 1706 the French court conceived the idea of forestalling the English in the possession of the Niagara River. Under instructions from Paris, d'Aigremont and Chabert Joncaire met at Niagara June 27, 1707, and agreed that the place ought to be fortified. Joncaire had been a captive among the Seneca Indians, had married one of their women and had been made a sachem. Vaudreuil, then governor of Canada, recommended his employment in the scheme, because of his influence with the Indians. This gave rise to charges that Vaudreuil and Joncaire were seeking to control the Indian trade for their private benefit. These rumors reached Paris and Count Pontchartrain, the French minister of marine, wrote to d'Aigremont that "the post at Niagara is not expedient under any circumstances."
In 1720, with the consent of the Seneca nation, Joncaire established a trading post where Lewiston now stands. The Montreal merchants supplied him with goods and Joncaire "opened the first store in Lewiston." His first rude cabin was soon replaced by "a blockhouse 30 by 40 feet, inclosed by pali- sades, which were pierced with port holes." The erection of this blockhouse alarmed the English and led Governor Burnet, of New York, to establish the post at Irondequoit mentioned else- where. When Louis XV ascended the French throne he ordered a strong fort to be erected at the mouth of the Niagara River and sent over the money for the purpose. The fort (Fort
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Niagara) was completed in 1726, giving the French the com- mand of the entrance to the river.
The treaty of Aix la Chapelle in 1748 ended open hostilities between the French and English, but both nations continued their efforts to extend their dominion. In 1749 Captain Bien- ville de Celeron led a company of French soldiers and Indians across western New York to the headwaters of the Ohio River (Pittsburgh), planting leaden plates along his line of march in token of French sovereignty. The next year a small French fort was built at the upper terminus of the portage around the falls. On the other side Sir William Johnson and his lieutenants were busily engaged in enlisting the allegiance of the Six Nations. Sir Wiliam came to the Mohawk Valley as a young man in 1738, to take charge of an estate belonging to an uncle. By his square dealing with the Indians he won their confidence, with the result that he was adopted into the Mohawk tribe and made a sachem. These activities brought on the French and Indian war, during which and the American Revolution, which followed soon after, the Niagara frontier was the scene of many stirring events, which are related elsewhere in this volume.
When the English came into possession of the country along the Niagara River, in 1763, a change was inaugurated. A new fort was built at the upper terminus of the portage. It con- sisted of a stockade, within which were barracks and a store house, and it was named Fort Schlosser, after Captain Joseph Schlosser, the first commandant. Sir William Johnson employed John Stedman to improve the portage road between Fort Schlos- ser and Lewiston. The following description of this road was written in 1718:
"The Niagara portage is two leagues and a half to three leagues long, but the road, over which carts roll two or three times a year, is very fine, with very beautiful and open woods through which a person is visible for a distance of 600 paces. The trees are all oaks and very large. From the landing, which is three leagues up the river, four hills are to be ascended. Above the first hill there is a Seneca village of about ten cabins. These Senecas are employed by the French, from whom they earn money by carrying the goods of those who are going to the upper country."
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John, Philip and William Stedman had come to this region in 1759 or 1760 and built a large house at the upper landing. They were the first permanent settlers in what is now Niagara county, also within the present limits of the city of Niagara Falls. Opposite Goat Island they made a clearing and planted about one hundred and fifty apple trees-the first orchard in the county. They also cleared about ten acres on the upper end of the island, which at that time had no name. In the fall of 1779 John Stedman placed a herd of goats upon it and left them there all winter. Most of the animals froze to death and from this inci- dent the island received its name. John Stedman claimed over four thousand acres of land in the bend of the river, and also the ownership of the falls. In a petition to the legislature in 1801, to confirm his title, he stated that at the council of 1764 the Seneca Indians gave him a deed to a tract of land "bounded by the Nia- gara River, Gill Creek, and a line extending east from Devil's Hole to said creek." This deed, according to the petition, was left in the care of Sir William Johnson and was ultimately lost. The legislature denied the request and the land was subsequently sold to others. The tract claimed by Stedman was within the one-mile strip along the Niagara River. This strip was offered for sale by the state in 1805. Among the purchasers were Augus- tus and Peter B. Porter, natives of Connecticut, both of whom became prominent in local affairs.
The attitude of the Iroquois in the Revolutionary War pre- vented any organized attempts at settlement for more than a quarter century. In 1788 John Stedman was still living at the upper landing. Lewiston had then but one white resident, a man named Middaugh, who kept a tavern for the accommodation of traders and travelers. In that year Silas Hopkins was at Lewiston buying furs from the Indians. John Gould, a drover, was also there, engaged in selling cattle to the British troops, principally Butler's rangers, on the Canadian side. John Street opened a trading post at Niagara in 1790. But these were tran- sients, and John Stedman was the only one who could be regarded as an actual settler.
Another thing that had a tendency to delay settlement was the difficulty of obtaining land at reasonable prices and with a clear title. Niagara County is situated within the limits of the
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Holland Land Purchase, which was not surveyed until 1797. The state reservation, one mile wide along the Niagara River, was surveyed by Seth Pease in the fall of 1798. The lands of the Holland Company were placed on sale at $2.75 per acre. In sections of New York much nearer the established settlements land could be bought for less than half that price, and just across the river Canadian lands were selling as low as sixpence per acre. In 1800 there were not more than a dozen families in the county and in 1801 there were only forty sales of land by the Holland company to actual settlers. The number of sales annu- ally increased, especially after Niagara County was created in 1808.
From 1789 to 1802 Niagara was a part of Ontario County. For the next six years it was included in Genesee County. By the act of 1808, Buffalo was made the county seat of Niagara County. When that city was burned by the British in December, 1813, the court house and county records were destroyed. It is known, however, that Augustus Porter was the first judge of the Court of Common Pleas; Erastus Granger, one of the associate judges; Louis Le Couteulx, clerk; Asa Ransom, sheriff.
When Erie County was cut off in 1821, it took with it the county organization and buildings, leaving Niagara little except the original name. The act dividing the county designated Lewis- ton as the temporary county seat and named the following officers : Silas Hopkins, first judge; Robert Fleming and James Van Horn, associate judges; Oliver Grace, clerk; Rufus Spaulding, sur- rogate; Lothrop Cook, sheriff; Zina H. Colvin, district attorney. For some reason Cook failed to qualify as sheriff, and Almon H. Millard was appointed.
By the act of April 2, 1821, William Britton, Jesse Hawley and Erasmus Root were appointed commissioners to select a loca- tion for the permanent county seat. Mr. Britton died soon after, and when the other commissioners met they were unable to arrive at a decision. Mr. Hawley favored Lockport, Mr. Root favored Lewiston, and as neither would yield, a deadlock resulted. The Legislature of 1822 appointed another commission, composed of Junius H. Hatch, Abraham Keyser and James McKown; in the meantime a rather spirited rivalry between the eastern and west- ern portions of the county developed. Lewiston and Niagara
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worked together, in the hope that if one did not get the county seat the other would, and Molyneux' Corners entered the lists as a candidate. When the commissioners met in July, 1822, argu- ments from the different aspirants were presented, but the central location of Lockport finally won, and that place was named as the county seat. As soon as the decision was promulgated, William M. Bond, for the nominal consideration of one dollar, deeded to the county two acres of land for a court house and jail.
One section of the act of March 8, 1808, that created Niagara County contained the following language: "And be it further enacted that that part of Niagara County lying north of the main stream of the Tonnawanta Creek, and of a line extending west from the mouth of said creek to the boundary line between the United States and the dominion of the King of Great Britain, be erected into a town by the name of Cambria; and that the first town meeting in the said town be held at the house of Joseph Hewitt."
As thus created, the old town of Cambria was identical with the present Niagara County and the mother of all the other towns. Pursuant to the section above quoted, the voters of the town assembled at the house of Joseph Hewitt on April 5, 1808. Robert Lee presided; Joseph Hewitt was elected supervisor ; James Har- rison, clerk; Lemuel Cook, John Dunn and Silas Hopkins, as- sessors; Stephen Hopkins, collector. The division of Cambria began in 1812, when three towns were created. In 1821 there were seven towns in the county. Five have since been erected. The twelve towns in 1925 are Cambria, Hartland, Lewiston, Lock- port, Newfane, Niagara, Pendleton, Porter, Royalton, Somerset, Wheatfield and Wilson.
The Cambria of the present day is the remnant of the old town of that name erected in 1808. About the beginning of the last century, Philip Beach, then living near the present village of Scottsville, Monroe County, was engaged in carrying the mail between Batavia and Fort Niagara. He thus became acquainted with the country and in 1801 located on the little stream later known as Howell Creek. He was the first settler in the town. Before the close of that year his brothers, Aaron, Jesse and John, purchased lands from the Holland Company. Aaron settled near Molyneux' Corners, Jesse settled on the North Ridge, and John
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settled near Philip, on Howell Creek. Jesse Beach's wife was a daughter of Isaac Scott, the founder of Scottsville.
There is no incorporated village in the town, but there are a few small hamlets. The most important of these are Cambria, Molyneux Corners and Warren's Corners. Cambria, formerly called Cambria Center, is near the center of the town. The pioneers here were Enoch Hatch, Peter Nearpass, William Scott and a family named Crowell. Molyneux Corners was named for William Molyneux, who came into possession of the land in 1812 or 1813. It is near the north line of the town and in early years was a place of some importance. John Gould opened a tavern here in 1809, but soon sold out and moved to Cambria Center. William Molyneux was the first postmaster and kept the office in the old log building that Gould had used for a tavern. A frame hotel was erected in 1826. Warren's Corners, partly in the town of Lockport, takes its name from Ezra Warren. John Forsyth settled here in 1805. Ezra Warren served on the Niagara fron- tier in the War of 1812. With a few men he was stationed along the Ridge road to arrest deserters and for several weeks stopped at the tavern kept by Mr. Forsyth's widow. After the war he went to his home in Vermont, settled up his affairs there, then returned and married the widow. Dr. Artemas Baker, the first physician in the town, located here in 1815. A store and several shops were established here soon after the War of 1812. On the line between Cambria and Lewiston a postoffice was established in 1822, with John Jones as postmaster. The name of this office was Mountain Ridge, but was changed to Pekin in 1831. By that time John Cronkhite had built a large hotel and opened a store. Other early merchants were John Jones, James McBain and Calvin Hotchkiss.
On June 1, 1812, the Legislature erected three new towns from Cambria. One of these was Hartland, which then included the present towns of Hartland, Royalton and Somerset, and part of Newfane. It is the middle town of the eastern tier and was reduced to its present dimensions in 1824. Prominent among the pioneers were: Abel and Zebulon Barnum, Benjamin Benson, Jesse Birdsall, Daniel Brown, Oliver Castle, Benjamin Cornell, Dr. Asa Crane (the first physician), Jeptha and John Dunn, Enoch Hitchcock, David and John Morrison, James Shaw, Isaac
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Southwell, Dexter F. Sprague, David Van Horn, Ephraim Waldo and Gad Warner, all of whom came prior to 1812.
The first town meeting was called for April 7, 1813, at the house of Gad Warner. After it was organized the meeting ad- journed to the barn of Enoch Hitchcock, to obtain more room. John Dunn, a justice of the peace, presided; Ephraim Waldo was elected supervisor ; William Smith, clerk; Harry Ellsworth, David Weasner and Samuel Jenks, assessors; Amos Brownson, collector. Mr. Waldo died a few months later, and at a special election James Lyman was chosen supervisor to fill the vacancy. He held the office until 1820.
Jeptha Dunn, who came in 1807, settled east of Johnson Creek, on the Ridge road, where he opened the first inn in the town in 1809. Daniel Brown soon afterwards built a tavern on the same road a short distance west of Johnson Creek. Samuel B. More- house built a hotel at Hartland Corners (now Hartland) about 1814 and was the first postmaster there when the office was estab- lished in 1816. "Morehouse's" was a favorite place for public meetings in early days. A man named Carrington had a black- smith shop there; a store was opened a little later; Michael J. King started a basket factory at the Corners and for years Hart- land was a busy center of trade. Johnson Creek takes its name from a family which settled on its banks before the town was erected. At the point where the stream breaks through the ridge the hamlet of Johnson Creek grew up in the early years of settle- ment. John Secor opened a tavern and in 1812 started a small grocery. James and Daniel Van Horn established a general store in 1815, but sold out to George Reynolds three years later. A grist mill was built here in 1820. At that time a saw mill and a tannery were in operation.
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