USA > New York > Monroe County > History of the pioneer settlement of Phelps and Gorham's purchase, and Morris' reserve; embracing the counties of Monroe, Ontario, Livingston, Yates, Steuben, most of Wayne and Allegany, and parts of Orleans, Genesee, and Wyoming. To which is added, a Supplement, or Extension of the pioneer history of Monroe county > Part 14
USA > New York > Allegany County > History of the pioneer settlement of Phelps and Gorham's purchase, and Morris' reserve; embracing the counties of Monroe, Ontario, Livingston, Yates, Steuben, most of Wayne and Allegany, and parts of Orleans, Genesee, and Wyoming > Part 14
USA > New York > Livingston County > History of the pioneer settlement of Phelps and Gorham's purchase, and Morris' reserve; embracing the counties of Monroe, Ontario, Livingston, Yates, Steuben, most of Wayne and Allegany, and parts of Orleans, Genesee, and Wyoming. To which is added, a Supplement, or Extension of the pioneer history of Monroe county > Part 14
USA > New York > Yates County > History of the pioneer settlement of Phelps and Gorham's purchase, and Morris' reserve; embracing the counties of Monroe, Ontario, Livingston, Yates, Steuben, most of Wayne and Allegany, and parts of Orleans, Genesee, and Wyoming. To which is added, a Supplement, or Extension of the pioneer history of Monroe county > Part 14
USA > New York > Ontario County > History of the pioneer settlement of Phelps and Gorham's purchase, and Morris' reserve; embracing the counties of Monroe, Ontario, Livingston, Yates, Steuben, most of Wayne and Allegany, and parts of Orleans, Genesee, and Wyoming. To which is added, a Supplement, or Extension of the pioneer history of Monroe county > Part 14
USA > New York > Wyoming County > History of the pioneer settlement of Phelps and Gorham's purchase, and Morris' reserve; embracing the counties of Monroe, Ontario, Livingston, Yates, Steuben, most of Wayne and Allegany, and parts of Orleans, Genesee, and Wyoming. To which is added, a Supplement, or Extension of the pioneer history of Monroe county > Part 14
USA > New York > Steuben County > History of the pioneer settlement of Phelps and Gorham's purchase, and Morris' reserve; embracing the counties of Monroe, Ontario, Livingston, Yates, Steuben, most of Wayne and Allegany, and parts of Orleans, Genesee, and Wyoming. To which is added, a Supplement, or Extension of the pioneer history of Monroe county > Part 14
USA > New York > Genesee County > History of the pioneer settlement of Phelps and Gorham's purchase, and Morris' reserve; embracing the counties of Monroe, Ontario, Livingston, Yates, Steuben, most of Wayne and Allegany, and parts of Orleans, Genesee, and Wyoming. To which is added, a Supplement, or Extension of the pioneer history of Monroe county > Part 14
USA > New York > Wayne County > History of the pioneer settlement of Phelps and Gorham's purchase, and Morris' reserve; embracing the counties of Monroe, Ontario, Livingston, Yates, Steuben, most of Wayne and Allegany, and parts of Orleans, Genesee, and Wyoming. To which is added, a Supplement, or Extension of the pioneer history of Monroe county > Part 14
USA > New York > Orleans County > History of the pioneer settlement of Phelps and Gorham's purchase, and Morris' reserve; embracing the counties of Monroe, Ontario, Livingston, Yates, Steuben, most of Wayne and Allegany, and parts of Orleans, Genesee, and Wyoming. To which is added, a Supplement, or Extension of the pioneer history of Monroe county > Part 14
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
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 | Part 66 | Part 67
* See Appendix, No. 5.
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mated ; long years it must be, as they thought, if ever, before the goodly land, of which they had thus had glimpses, could become the abode of civilization. The consummation was not speedy, but it come far sooner than in that dark hour, they allowed themselves to anticipate. In less than four years after Sullivan's expedition, the war of the Revolution was ended by a treaty of peace ; but almost ten years elapsed before the conflicting claims of Massachusetts and New York werc settled, and Indian titles had been extinguish- ed, so as to admit of the commencement of settlement.
The tide of emigation to the Genesee county, was destined to come principally from New England. A brief space, therefore, may be appropriately occupied in a sketch of the condition of the citizens of that region, after the Revolution, in the vortex of which they had been placed ; and in this, the author has been assisted by the. venerable Gen. Micah Brooks, whose retentive memory goes back to the period, and well informs us in reference to the men who were the foremost Pioneers of the Genesee country. The sketch is given as it came from his hands : --
" It was my lot to have my birth under the Colonial Government. In childhood, I saw our fathers go to the field of battle, and our mothers to the harvest field to gather the scanty crops. Food and clothing for the army was but in part provided ; and at the end of the war, the soldiers, who had suffered almost beyond endurance, were discharged without pay ; the patriots, who had supplied food and clothing for the army, had been paid in Government paper, which had become worthless ; the great portion of laborers drawn from the farms and the workshops, had reduced the country to poverty ; and commerce was nearly annihilated. The fisheries abandoned, the labor and capital of the people diverted into other channels, and the acts of peace had not returned to give any sur- plus for exportation. A national debt justly due, of $100,000,000, and the Continental Congress no power to collect duties on imports, or to compel the States to raise their quotas. The end of the war brought no internal peace. In 1785, Congress attempted to make commercial treaties with England, France, Spain and Portugal ; each refused ; assigning as a reason, that under the Confederacy, Congress had no power to bind the States. Spain closed the Mis- sissippi against our trade, and we were expelled from the Mediter- ranean by Barbary pirates ; and we were without the means to
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fight them, or money to buy their peace. The attempt of the States to extend their commerce was abortive ; salt rose to $5 and $8 per bushel ; and packing meat for exportation ceased. Massa- chusetts prohibited the exportation of American products in British bottoms; and some of the States imposed a countervailing duty on foreign tonnage. Pennsylvania imposed a duty on foreign goods, while New Jersey admitted them free of duty.
" During the war, various causes had operated to make a new dis- tribution of property : - those equally friendly to the British had secretly traded with the enemy, and supplied them with fresh provi- sions, while their troops were quartered in various parts of the country ; thus filling their pockets with British gold. At the close of the war, a large amount of British goods were sent into the country, absorbing much of its precious metals ; tending to render us still dependent on British favor. While all those whose time'and property had been devoted to the cause of liberty and independ- ence, were scarcely able to hold their lands, taxation brought dis- tress and ruin on a great portion of our most worthy citizens. Time was required by those who had lost their time and property, to re-establish themselves in their former occupations; yet, some of the States resorted to vigorous taxation, which created discon- tent and open resistance. The great and general pressure, at this time, seemed to create a universal attempt of all creditors to en- force in the courts of law all their demands before they should be put at hazard by the sweeping taxation, which was evidently coming.
"It may be well to call to mind the condition of the country, as to law and government. At the period of the Declaration of Inde- pendence, we had neither constitutions nor government, and the people took the power into their hands to conduct the affairs of the nation. The people, in their primary assemblies, attempted to car- ry out the recommendations of the American Congress ; and that in many instances, by town committees ; and to furnish recruits for the army. The citizens of a town would form themselves into classes ; each class to furnish a man, equipped for service. The towns punished treason, arrested and expelled tories, levied taxes, and cordially co-operated in all the leading measures of that day, so far as related to our National Independence.
" In 1786, '7, a boy, I saw the Revolutionary fathers in their
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primary assemblies. The scene was solemn and portentous! They found their common country without a constitution and govern- ment, and without a union. The supposed oppressive measures of an adjoining State had so alarmed the people of a portion of it, that open resistance was made for self-protection, and the protec- tion of property. An army, in resistance to a proceeding of the courts of law in Massachusetts, had been raised, and had taken the field. Col. P., a man of gigantic stature, and a soldier of the Rev- olution, with his associates in arms, entered the court-house at Northampton, silenced the court ; and in a voice of thunder, order- ed it out, closing the doors, and using the court-house as his castle. In the county of Berkshire, a General, with three hundred volun- teers, had taken the field, in open resistance to State authority ; and the blood of the citizens had been shed, and the execution of State laws had been suspended. Other sections of our country were in a state of insurrection, and no prospect of relief from any source of mediatorial power then existing. The appalling scenes that followed, filled the American people with fear and dread. The distress that existed, might be an apology for the resistance of the laws, which was afterwards regretted by those who partook in it, a number of whom I saw who had left their homes and wandered as fugitives to evade the punishment that the law would inflict on them.
" A new field was now opened to exhibit the powers, genius and energies of the American people. They soon discovered what was essential to their security and prosperity ; and in their deliberations, moved and adopted an ordinance, or constitution, which they de- clared to be 'in order to form a more perfect union, establish jus- tice, ensure domestic tranquility, and provide for the general de- fence ; promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity ;' and, although defects and doubts of its renovating power existed, yet, in a spirit of concilia- tion, they adopted it.
At the time the new constitution went into effect, a new class of laborers appeared. These sturdy boys, who were taught in business habits during the war, had grown to manhood, and with redoubled energy, repaired the depredations which contending armies had spread. And many of those soldiers who composed Sullivan's army, and who had penetrated the western wilds of this
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State, to chastise the savages for cruelties inflicted on their friends and relations; those who had viewed the beauties of the Genesee, and the rich table lands of Western New York, resolved to leave the sterile soil, the worn and exhausted lands of New England, and with their families, under the guidance and protection of a kind Providence, gathered their small substance, pioneered the way through a long wilderness, to the land of promise - the Genesee country.
In 1796, in common with the sons of New England, I had a strong disposition to explore the regions of the west, and avail my- self if possible, of a more productive soil, where a more bountiful reward would relieve the toil of labor. I traversed the Mohawk, the Susquehannah, the Seneca and the Genesee. I saw the scatter- ed Pioneers of the wilderness in their lonely cabins, cheered by the hope and promise of a generous reward, for all the temporary privations they then suffered. Their hearts were cheered with the sight of a stranger, and they greeted him with a welcome. I found in most of the pioneer localities, that three-fourths of the heads of families had been soldiers of the Revolution. Schooled in the prin- ciples that had achieved that glorious work, they only appreciated the responsibilities they had assumed, in becoming founders of new settlements, and the proprietors of local, religious, educational and moral institutions. These Pioneers inherited the principles and firmness of their forefathers; and whatever in reason and pro- priety they desired to accomplish, their energy and perseverance carried into effect. They subdued the forest, opened avenues of intercourse, built houses and temples for worship, with a rapidity unknown in former ages. For intelligence and useful acquirements they were not out done in any age ; and were well skilled in all the practical duties of life. In seven or eight years from the first en- trance of a settler, a number of towns in Ontario county, were fur- nished with well chosen public libraries."
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CHAPTER IV.
PHELPS AND GORHAM'S PURCHASE OF MASSACHUSETTS - OLIVER PHELPS, HIS ADVENT TO THE GENESEE COUNTRY, AND HIS TREATY WITH THE SENECAS : - NATIIANIEL GORIIAM.
OLIVER PHELPS was a native of Windsor, Connecticut. Soon after he became of age, the resistance to British oppression com- menced in the colony of Massachusetts, and he became an active partizan, participating in the revolutionary spirit, with all the zeal of youth and ardent patriotism. He was among the men of New England, who gathered at Lexington, and helped to make that early demonstration of intended separation and independence. Soon after, without the influence of wealth or family distinction - with nothing to recommend him but uncommon energy of character, and a reputation he had won for himself - though but a youth, he was enrolled as a member of the Massachusetts Committee of Safety. When the troops of Connecticut were first organized, and had taken the field, he entered the service of a contractor of the army, and soon after had an appointment in the commissary department, the duties of which he continued to discharge until the close of the Revolution.
On the return of peace, he settled in Suffield, Massachusetts. He held in succession, the offices of member of Assembly, Sena- tor, and a member of the Governor's council. Robert Morris having been at the head of financial affairs during the Revolution, Mr. Phelps had made his acquaintance, and for a few years after its close, business relations brought them frequently together. Maj. Adam Hoops, who had been the aid of Gen. Sullivan, in his expe- dition to the Genesee country, was a resident of Philadelphia, and an intimate acquaintance of Mr. Morris. It was during interviews with them, that Mr. Phelps was confirmed in a favorable opinion of
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this region, and the inducements it held out to enterprise, which had been acquired by the representations of his New England neigh- bors, who had been in Sullivan's expedition.
Soon after Massachusetts became possessed of the pre-emption right by deed of cession from New York, he resolved upon being interested in the purchase of one million of acres; and for this purpose associated himself with Judge Sullivan, Messrs. Skinner and Chapin, William Walker, and several of his friends in Berk- shire. Before they had matured their plans however, Nathaniel Gorham had made proposals to the Legislature for the purchase of a portion of the Genesee lands. Mr. Phelps had a conference with Mr. Gorham, and to prevent coming in collision, they mutually agreed, that Mr. Gorham should merge himself with the association, and consider his proposition as made for their common benefit. He had proposed the purchase of one million of acres, at one and six- pence currency per acre, payable in the "public paper of the com- monwealth." The House of Representatives acceded to the propo- sition, but the Senate non-concurred. In a letter to one of the associates, announcing the result, Mr. Phelps, observes : - " We found such opposition in the Senate. and so many person's ears and eyes wide open, propagating great stories about the value of those lands, that we thought best to postpone the affair until the next session." This was at the session of 1787.
The effect of Mr. Gorham's offer was to bring competitors into the field, and others had resolved upon making proposals before the legislature again convened in April, 1788. Another compromise was made which admitted new partners, and embraced all who had any intention of purchase, in one association, of which Messrs. Phelps and Gorham were constituted the representatives. They made proposals for all the lands embraced in the cession of Massa- chusetts, which were acceded to; the stipulated consideration being $100,000, payable in the public paper of Massachusetts ; the price
NOTE .- In addition to the knowledge Mr. Phelps had acquired of the country as above indicated, some carly explorer had given him a written account of it from which the following is an extract :- "The country is so favorable to fruit, that the apple trees destroyed in the late war, have sprung up and already bear fruit. The flats and in- tervals of which there are a great quantity, are superior to any on Connecticut River. There are many salt springs; an Indian was working at one of them last summer, when I was in the country, with an old broken pot-ash kettle. and he never made less than a bushel a day.'
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of which being much depressed, it was selling at a high rate of discount.
So much accomplished, the share holders held a meeting, appoint- ed Gen. Israel Chapin to go out and explore the country ; Mr. Phelps the general agent, whose first duty was to hold a treaty with the Indians, and purchase the fee or right of soil ; Mr. Gorham as an agent to confer with the authorities of New York, in reference to running the boundary or pre-emption line ; and Mr. William Walk- er, as the local agent of surveys and sales.
The Lessees and their "long lease," was an obstacle duly con- sidered by the purchasers, for they were aware of the exertions they were making to thwart the commissioners of New York, and had no reason to anticipate any thing less from them, in their own case. Massachusetts had joined New York, in declaring the leases illegal and void, but the association were well advised that they could not succeed in a treaty with the Senecas, against the powerful influences the Lessees could command, through their connection with Butler, Brant, Street, and their associates in Canada, and the Indian traders and interpreters in their interest. A compromise was resolved upon as the cheapest and surest means of success. Proceeding to Hudson, Mr. Phelps met some of the principal Les- sees, and compromised with them upon terms of which there are no records, but there is evidence which leads to the conclusion, that they were to become shareholders with him and his associates. The Lessees on their part, contracted to hold another treaty with the Indians at Kanadesaga, surrender their lease of all the lands west of the Massachusetts pre-emption line, and procure for the same, a deed of cession, Phelps & Gorham, for themselves and associates, to be the grantees.
Mr. Phelps returned to New England and made preparations for attending the treaty at Kanadesaga, which was to be convened and carried on under the general supervision of John Livingston, the principal agent of the Lessees. In all confidence that the arrange- ment would be consummated, Mr. Phelps started upon his advent to the Genesee country with a retinue of agents, surveyors, and assis- tants, prepared to take possession of the country and commence operations. Arriving at Schenectady on the 8th of May, the party put their baggage on board of batteaux and arranged to go on horse- back to Fort Stanwix, as far as there was any road, and from there
9
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embark in their batteaux. Mr. Phelps wrote from Schenectady that they were likely to be delayed there by the non-arrival of Mr. Livingston ; that he had met many unfavorable rumors, the purport of one of which was that the Indians had refused to treat with Livingston, and that they had " taken up and whipped several persons" in his interests who had preceded him at Kanadesaga. On the 13th he wrote to Col. Wadsworth, of Hartford, that Livings- ton had arrived, with his provisions and goods for the treaty, that all was on board of batteaux, and the expedition was about to move on ; but he adds, that an Oneida Indian had just arrived from the west with the information that Brant has " got the Indians collected at Buffalo creek, and is persuading them to take up the hatchet, and if possible not to treat with us." He expresses his fears that the treaty will fail ; and adds his regrets, as he thinks it will " keep back settle- ment a whole year."
Mr. Phelps did not arrive at Kanadesaga, (Geneva,) until the first of June. On the 4th he wrote to one of his associates, Samuel Fowler, informing him that the Indians had not collected, that But- ler and Brant had collected them at Buffalo creek and persuaded them not to treat with Livingston. But inasmuch as Livingston had sent out runners and interpreters, he is in hopes they will yet be collected. "I am well pleased," he says, " with what I have seen of the country. This place is situated at the foot of Seneca Lake, on a beautiful hill which over looks the country around it, and gives a fine prospect of the whole lake, which is about forty miles in length. Here we propose building the city, as there is a water carriage from this to Schenectady ; with only two carrying places of one mile each. I design to set out to-morrow to view the Genesee Flats."
After waiting at Kanadesaga until the 17th of June, Mr. Phelps made up his mind that the Lessees would be unable to fulfil their contract, and informed their agent, Mr. Livingston, that he should proceed independent of them or their lease, to treat with the Indians.
NOTE. - In addition to other letters of introduction he had provided himself with in case of necessity, he procured one at Kanadesaga from Dominique Debartzch, the French Indian trader at Cashong, who wielded more influence then among the Senecas than any one man had, since the days of the Jesuit Fathers, and Joncaire. He had essentially aided the Lessees as the reader has observed, and now as zealously es- poused the interests of Mr. Phelps. Among Indian traders, interpreters, and it may almost be said, missionaries, at that period, " every man had his price," and it was generally payable in land, in case it should be obtained.
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He had by this time discovered that there was a " screw loose" between the "New York Genesee Company" and the "Niagara Genesee Company" and that they were pulling in different directions. Inferring that the balance of power was in the hands of the Niag- ara Company, Mr. Phelps taking the Indian trail, proceeded to Niag- ara, where he met Butler, Brant and Street. He secured their co-operation, and they agreed to procure a gathering of the Indians at Buffalo creek for the purpose of holding a treaty with him. Mr. Phelps, rejoined his friends at Kanadesaga where he remained until a deputation of chiefs waited upon him to conduct him to the coun- cil fire they had lighted at Buffalo creek,* where he and his party arrived on the 4th of July.
Negotiations were commenced. The Rev. Mr. Kirkland was present, appointed by a law of Massachusetts to superintend the treaty and see that no injustice was done to the Indians, and his assistant, superintendent, Elisha Lee, Esq. of Boston. The inter- preters were James Deane and Joseph Smith, William Johnstone, Mr. Kirkland and several others. Besides these, there were also present, John Butler, Joseph Brant, Samuel Street, the officers of Fort Niagara. The Lessees, following up Mr. Phelps, were repre- sented by John Livingston, Caleb Benton and Ezekiel Gilbert. Chiefs of the Onondagas, Cayugas, and the Mohawks were also present.
On the opening of the council, Mr. Phelps produced the commis- sion given him by the Governor of Massachusetts: f had it inter- preted ; and made a speech, explaining the object of the treaty ; the right he had purchased of Massachusetts, &c. Most of the Seneca chiefs, of which there was a pretty full delegation present, were for selling a portion of their lands. They, however, stood out as to the quantity. They had come to the treaty, determined upon making the Genesee river the eastern boundary of their ces- sion, and they stoutly resisted innovation west of it for several days : but finally yielded, and fixed the western boundary as it was
* Red Jacket was at the head of this deputation. Afterwards, in 1790, at a council at Tioga, when complaining to Mr. Pickering of some wrong in reference to Mr. Phelp's treaty, he said :- "Then I, Billy, and The Heap of Dogs, went to Kanadesaga and took Mr. Phelps by the hand, and led him to our council fire at Buffalo creek."
t Says Red Jacket, in his complaints to Mr. Pickering, at Tioga : - "Then all know, and Mr. Street knows, that Mr. Phelps held up a paper, with a seal to it, as big as my hand. When he opened his mind to us, we took it hard."
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afterwards established. Mr. Phelps, in a statement he made of the transactions, says, "the council was conducted in a friendly and amicable manner." The negotiation then turned upon the price to be paid ; and Mr. Phelps and the Indians failing to agree, they mu- tually appointed John Butler, Joseph Brant, Elisha Lee, as referees, who agreed that Mr. Phelps should pay for the tract purchased, five thousand dollars, and an annuity of five hundred dollars for ever. The Indians had consented to take for the quantity of land they were conveying, a sum which would amount to a fair proportion of what the Lessees had agreed to pay for their whole country, and this was the basis upon which the price was fixed.
The lands thus ceded, constituted what is now known as Phelp's and Gorham's Purchase ; its eastern boundary, the Massachusetts' pre-emption line ; and its western boundary, a line " beginning in the northern line of Pennsylvania, due south of the corner or point of land made by the confluence of the Genesee river and the Can- ascraga Creek ; thence north on said meridian line to the corner, or point, at the confluence aforesaid ; thence northwardly along the waters of the Genesee river, to a point two miles north of Cana- wagus village ; thence running due west twelve miles ; thence run- ning northwardly, so as to be twelve miles distant from the western bounds of said river to the shores of Lake Ontario." Within these boundaries, were contained, by estimation, 2,600,000 acres.
Soon after arriving at Buffalo Creek, Mr. Phelps saw that the Lessee agents would embarrass his negotiations - at least, cause delay - and he, therefore, made a compromise, stipulating the con- veyance to them of the four townships named in another connec- tion ; besides, as may well be inferred, paying their immediate agents well for a forbearance in the work of mischief, in which they were so persevering. Their release of so much as was in- cluded in his purchase, was interpreted to the Indians.
The Niagara Genesee Company, Butler and his associates, in ad- dition to their interests in common with all the Lessees, had an in- dependent claim for convening the Indians ; and by their influence,
NOTE. - With the story of the "Mill Site," the reader will be familiar. The au- thor finds no record of it; but it may well be presumed, that Mr. Phelps, in urging the extension of his purchase beyond the Genesee river, spoke of building a mill at the Falls; and in all probability, promised to do so for the mutual benefit of the In- dians and the white settlers ; for immediately after the treaty, he gave the 100 acres to Ebenezer Allan, upon condition that he would erect a saw-mill and grist-mill.
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in fact, enabling Mr. Phelps to accomplish his purpose. This was, probably, arranged by a promise on the part of Mr. Phelps, to give them an interest in common with himself and associates. *
Mr. Phelps, before leaving the country, set surveyors to work, under the direction of Col. Hugh Maxwell, to divide the newly ac- quired country into townships; and, having fixed upon Canandai- gua as the primitive locality, the focus of intended enterprise, re- turned to Suffield. All retired as winter approached, and left the whole region in possession of its ancient owners.t Arrived at home, Mr. Phelps reported, by letter to his principal associates, the result of his embassy. " You may rely upon it," says he " that it is a good country ; I have purchased all that the Indians will sell at pre- sent ; and, perhaps, as much as it would be profitable for us to buy at this time." Mr. Walker, after having remained in the country until nearly the setting in of winter, returned and was present at a meeting of the associates in January. He reported that he had sold and contracted about thirty townships. At this meeting, a division of the land took place; a large proportion of the shares were but small ones, the largest portion of the lands falling into the
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