USA > New York > Steuben County > History of the settlement of Steuben County, N.Y. including notices of the old pioneer settlers and their adventures, 1853 > Part 18
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
275
THE BATTLE OF DANSVILLE.
In the midwinter of 1814, the bareheaded express- rider, galloping through the frozen forests, brings start- ling tidings. The British Lion, bounding forth from the snow-drifts of Canada, with icicles glittering in his mane, has pounced upon the frontiers of the Republic .. Black Rock is taken! Buffalo is burned ! General Hall's militia have been captured and generally eaten. The supervisors of Niagara County have been thrown into the grand whirlpool. The floodgates of invasion have been opened, and the whole standing army of Great Britain, with several line-of-battle ships, and an irregular horde of Canadians and Esquimaux, is now rolling Eastward with fire-brands and artillery, break- ing furniture, shattering flour-barrels, burning cabins, blowing up mills, and terrifying the wives and children of our fellow-citizens.
Since Col. Simcoe, brandishing his two-edged sword on the ramparts of Toronto, beckoned those "black war- elephants" out of the billows of Ontario, there had not been such a martial ferment in our county, as arose at this alarming intelligence. Before the horse tail of the express-rider vanished beyond the Chimney Narrows, the murmur of war arose from the valleys like the humming in a disturbed bee-hive. The Brigadier blew his gathering horn, and all the cavaliers and yeomen, in the uttermost corners of the county, hurried to their regimental mustering grounds. A draft was ordered of every second man.
One battalion mustered on the Pulteney Square, at
276
Bath. The snow was deep and the wind keen, but the soldiers stood formed in a half-moon, with the fortitude of Siberians. Col. Haight, mounted upon a black char- ger, rode up with great circumstance, and made a vig- orous and patriotic speech, calling for volunteers, and exhorting every man to go forth to the battle. If half the corps volunteered, a draft would not be necessary. Nearly the requisite number offered themselves at once. Then the deluding drum and the fanciful fife began to utter the most seducing melodies. The musicians again and again made the circuit of the regiment, as if surrounding the backward warriors with some enchant- ment. Drummers pounded with marvellous energy, and the fifers blew into their squealing tubes with such extraordinary ardor, that if the safety of the republic had depended upon the active circulation of wind through those "ear-piercing" instruments, all appre- hensions of danger from the invaders might have been instantly dismissed. Occasionally a militia-man broke from the line and fell in behind the musicians ; but the most of the legionaries who had resisted the first ap- peal, stood in the snow, proof against drums, fifes, and the Colonel's rhetoric. . The draft to complete the corps was finally made, and the battalion started for the seat of war in high spirits. A great rabble followed their enlisted comrades to Dansville in sleighs. A very uproarious column it was. At Conhocton the army en- camped. Houses, barns, pens and haystacks, over- flowed with fire-eaters.
In the meantime the Canisteo country had been wide awake. Col. James McBurney, hearing the Brigadier's
277
alarming horn sounding its portentous quavers afar off, mounted his snorting war-steed, and gathering together his boisterous myrmidons from the sawmills and gorges, set forth in hot haste .* At Dansville, the two battal- ions met and united."" Their descent from the forests of Steuben was like an irruption of the Goths of old. The chieftain of Canisteo opened the battle after the ancient fashion, by a single combat in the presence of the combined battalions. A broad-breasted barrel of whiskey stood forth in its wooden mail, made thrice se- cure by hoops of seasoned hickory. This grim foe the undaunted Ostrogoth assailed with an axe, and, at the first blow, beat open his head. The barbarians set up a howl of triumph, and, crowding around, drank like the Scandinavians out of the skull of their vanquished enemy. The battle then became general. Streets and bar-rooms resounded with tremendous uproar. Dans- ville was captured, and her citizens knew no peace till the invaders sank down, from exhaustion, to dream that they had just fought a great battle on the Genesee Meadows, in which the British fled before them, scam- pered toward Canada like a multitude of rats, ran into the Niagara, and were now sailing around in the great whirlpool-cannon and horses, officers, non-commission- ed officers, musicians and privates-while the Prince Regent, according to the sentence of a drum-head Court Martial, was hanging by his heels from an oak tree, and the lion and unicorn, yoked like bullocks to the tri-
* Col. Wm. Stephens, of Canisteo, was his Major, and Col. J. R. Stephens, of Hornellsville, Adjutant.
25
278
umphal car of Colonel Haight, were dragging that vic- torious consul around the Pulteney Square of Bath.
News arrived that the invaders had retired into Canada. The drafted battalions were discharged and returned again to their homes. The Canisteo Alaric covered the retreat in a masterly manner, and saw to it that none of the Steuben County fire-eaters who had been put hors du combat by the enemy were left to the tender mercies of the Dansvillains. Certain young men who were entirely captivated by the free and vo- ciferous spirit of the Canisteo and followed the Goths of Col. McBurney to their own valley, relate at the present day with laughter the adventures of the re- treat, and talk of the life and hospitalities of the val- ley with great satisfaction.
The muster, the march, the carouse, and the retreat were the prominent features of this campaign, of which Timour the Tartar might be proud. It was known to the soldiery afterwards as the " Battle of Dansville."
S.Mit . woben
THE END.
P
5
APPENDIX.
ORGANIZATION OF STEUBEN COUNTY.
The County of Steuben was detached from the old County of Ontario and constituted a separate County in the year 1796. At the time of its organization it was divided into six towns, viz : Bath, Canisteo, Dansville, Fredericton, Middletown and Paint- . ed Post. Since the organization, one tier of towns has been ta- ken from the western side of the County and attached to Alle- gany County, the territory constituting the present town of Bar- rington and Starkey with part of the town of Jerusalem has been . taken from the northern towns and annexed to Yates County, and one quarter of a Township, including the village of Dans- ville, has been given to Livingston.
COUNTY JUDGES.
William Kersey, appointed 1796
Geo. C. Edwards, appointed 1826
James Faulkner,
1804 Ziba A. Leland, 1838
Samuel Baker, 60 1814
Jacob Larrowe, 1843
Thomas McBurney,
1816 William M. Hawley, 1846
James Norton,
1823 David McMaster, elected 1847
Jacob Larrowe, elected 1851.
COUNTY CLERKS.
George D. Cooper,
1796
David Rumsey,
1829
Henry A. Townsend,
1799
William H. Bull,
1832
John Wilson,
1815
William Hamilton,
1838
Edward Howell,
1818 Paul C. Cook, 1844
John Metcalfe,
1821
Philo P. Hubbell,
1850
SHERIFFS.
William Dunn, appointed 1796 | John Magee, John Wilson, 1800
elected 1822
John Kennedy,
0-1825
1
280
Dugald Cameron,
66 1805
Alvah Ellas,
1828
Jacob Teeple,
1809
George Huntington,
1831
Howell Bull,
1811
John T. Andrews,
1834
Thomas McBurney,
66 1812 Henry Brother,
1837
Lazarus Hammond,
1814
Hiram Potter,
66
1840
George McClure,
1816 Hugh Magee,
1843
Henry Shriver,
1819 Henry Brother,
66
1846
John Magee,
1821
Oliver Allen,
1849
Gabriel T. Harrower, elected 1852.
SURROGATES.
Stephen Ross, appointed
1796 William Woods, appointed 1827
Henry A. Townsend, "
1800
Robert Campbell, jr.
1835
George McClure,
1805
David Rumsey, jr. 66 1840
John Metcalfe,
1813
Ansel J. McCall, .. 1844
James Brundage,
David McMaster, elected
1847
Jacob Larrowe, elected 1851.
POPULATION OF STEUBEN COUNTY.
Population in
1790
168 | Population in
1820
21,989
1830
33,975
1810
7,246
1840 46,138
Population in 1850
62,969.
POPULATION ACCORDING TO THE CENSUS OF 1850.
FIRST ASSEMBLY DISTRICT.
Bath,
6185
Pulteney,
1815
Reading,
1435
- Wheeler,
1471
Tyrone,
1894
Urbana,
2079
Prattsburgh,
2786
Wayne,
1350
SECOND ASSEMBLY DITRICT.
Bradford,
2010
Lindley,
686
Caton,
1215
Orange,
1887
Campbell,
1175
Painted Post,
4411
Cameron,
1663
Addison,
3723
Erwin,
1477
Woodhull,
T 1769
Hornby,."
13.14
Thurston,
7.26
1800
1,788
-
-
281
THIRD ASSEMBLY DISTRICT.
A voca,
1574
Troupsburgh, 1656
Conhocton,
2006
Green wood,
1186
Dansville,
2545
West Union,
950
Howard,
3144
Jasper,
1749
Hornellsville.
2637
Canisteo,
2030
Hartsville.
854
-
Wayland,
2067
VOTES POLLED AT THE GENERAL ELECTION IN 1852.
For
For
FRANKLIN PIERCE, 6880
WINFIELD SCOTT, 5236
AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIONS, &c.
Acres of Land improved. 336,981
unimproved. .338,415
Cash value of farms .. $13,581,268
Value of farming implements and machinery. $ 676,792
LIVE STOCK.
Horses .. 12,744
Asses and mules
.4
Milch cows .. 21,584
Working oxen 6,744
Other cattle 27,162
Sheep ..
156,776
Swine.
23,939
Value of live stock.
$ 2,155,090
PRODUCE DURING YEAR ENDING JUNE 1, 1850.
Wheat, bushels of .653,484
16,033 Rye, 66
Indian corn,
297,717
Oats 66
913,948
Wool, pounds of. 399,543
Peas and beans, bushels of 45,202
Irish potatoes, bushels of. 360,725
Sweet potatoes, 66
... 245
Barley
153,056
Buckwheat, "
115,390
-
282
Value of orchard products. $ 30,565
Wine, gallons of .. . 285
Value of produce of market gardens.
$.
3,740
Butter, pounds of. . 1,918,465
Cheese, pounds of 210,889
Hay, tons of. 111,869
Clover seed, bushels of. .1,386
Other grass seeds. 4,479
Hops, lbs. of. .424
Flax, lbs. of. 16,241
Flax seed, bushels of. .1,276
Silk cocoons, lbs. of. .2
Maple sugar, lbs. of. 294,897
Molasses, gallons of .. .3,547
Beeswax and honey, lbs. of. .94,991
Value of home-made manufactures $ 76,287
Value of animals slaughtered. $296,798
SKETCH OF THE GENERAL HISTORY OF SETTLEMENT IN WESTERN NEW-YORK.
The first European visitants of Western New York were the French. During the first thirty years of the seventeenth cen- tury the English made their earliest settlements in New Eng- land and Virginia, the Dutch on the Hudson river, and the French on the St. Lawrence. One hundred and fifty years afterwards the English were lords of. the Continent. At the beginning of. the race, however, the French. displayed a more. daring genius for adventure and conquest than their competitors. While the English Colonists were yet doubtfully struggling for existence on the Atlantic shores, and the Hollanders, with beaver-like prudence strengthened their habitations at Fort Orange and New Amsterdam, French adventurers had ascended the Great Lakes, and before the end of the seventeenth century, crossed thence to the Mississippi, deccended that river to its mouth, and established trading posts and missions half way across the continent .*
* Date of Cartiers Voyage to Hochalaga (Montreal,) 1534
" Settlement at Quebec,
1608
" Plymouth, 1620
" New York, 1613
٤٤٠٠٤٠ " Jamestown, 1607
Marquette's Voyage down the Mississippi, 1673
56 .. " La Salle's Western Explorations. 1682
283
During the first century of French dominion in Canada, their relations with the fierce proprietors of Western New York were not peaceful. Champlain, the founder of Quebec, soon after his advent to Canada, gave mortal offence to the Five Nations, by assisting their enemies, the Hurons and Algonquins in a battle near Ticonderoga, where the fire-arms of the Europeans gained for their confederates victory over the Iroquois. From that time down to the beginning of the eighteenth century, the implacable enmity of the red leaguers harrassed the colonists of Canada. The expeditions of the French Governors into the territory of their foes gained for them little beside disgrace. From about the year 1700, however, the influence of the Jesuit missionaries, and the prudence of the Governors preserved peace between the former beligerents, and neutrality on the part of the savages in the contests of France and Great Britain. When the great rivals joined in the final struggle of 1754, the four Western tribes of the Six Nations* even took up the hatchet for the French. Ten years later the English were supreme in North America.
In 1771 the county of Albany embraced all the northern and western part of the province of New York, and extended from the Hudson river to the Niagara. In 1772 the county of Tryon was formed. It embraced all that part of the state lying west of a North and South line running nearly through the centre of the present county of Schoharie. It was named in honor of Sir William Tryon, the provincial governor. The boundary' between the British and Indian territory as agreed upon in the treaty of 1768, ran from Fort Stanwix, pear Oneida Creek, Southward to the Susquehanna and Delaware.
The settlement of this district was commenced early in the 18th century, when nearly three thousand German Palatinates emigrated to this country under the patronage of Queen Anne. Most of them settled in Pennsylvania; a few made their way in 1773 from Albany over the Helderberg to the bottom lands of Schobarie creek and there effected a settlement. Small colonies from here and from Albany established themselves in various places along the Mohawk, and in 1772 had extended as far up as the German Flats, near where stands the village of Herkimer.
In 1739, Mr. John Lindsay, a Scotch gentleman, founded the settlement at Cherry Valley, which in a few years became the
*The Tuscaroras joined the Five Nations in 1712.
284
home of a most worthy and intelligent community, mostly of Scotch and "Scotch-Irish" origin. €
The gallant family of Harpers settled at Harpersfield in 1768, and about the same time settlements were planted near Una- dilla, and scattered families took up their residence in other districts. The population of Cherry Valley was short of three hundred, and that of all Tryon county not far from ten thou- sand inhabitants when the Revolution opened.
For twenty years previous to the Revolutionary war, Sir William Johnson lived at Johnstown, the capital of. Tryon county, by far the most notable man bearing a British commis- sion in the American provinces. Emigrating from Ireland in, the year 1737, as agent for the Mohawk estate of his uncle,. Sir Peter Warren, he early obtained distinguished reputation and influence-rose to high military command, and in the last French war, by his victory over Baron Dieskau, at Lake George, and his successful seige of Fort Niagara, gained fame, fortune, and a Baronetcy. From that time till near the rupture between, the Crown and the Colonies, he lived at Johnson Hall, near Johnstown, Superintendent of Indian affairs for the Northern provinces, with princely wealth and power, displaying an administrative genius superior to any which had before been at the service of the British government in America. In the year 1774, an Indian Council was held at Johnstown, at which were present a large number of the warriors of the Six Nations, besides many high civil dignitaries of the provinces of New York and New Jersey. In the midst of the council Sir William suddenly died. On the 13th of July he was borne from the Hall to his grave, followed by a great concourse of citizens and Indians, and lamented by all.
At the time of his decease, his department included 130,000 Indians, of whom 25,420 were fighting men. The Six Nations numbered about 10,000, and had two thousand bold and skillful warriors. Colonel Guy Johnson, son-in-law of the late Superin- tendent, succeeded Sir William in this important post.
In a few months the long gathering political agitations of the Eastern provinces broke out into open and determined rebellion. The patriots of Tryon county hailed with enthusiasm the tidings from Boston, and met to express sympathy with their friends in New England, and to organize for similar measures. Guy Johnson became the leader of the loyalists. Sharp discussions and correspondence between him and the revolutionary com- mittee followed, and in a few months Colonel Johnson abandoned his residence at Guy Park, and attended by a formidable body
.
285
o^ Indian and Tory adherents, among whom were Col. Claus, the Butlers and Brant, made his head quarters at Fort Stanwix, afterwards at Oswego, and finally at Montreal. To the latter place Sir John Johnson, the son and heir of Sir William, followed him with a body of three hundred loyalists, chiefly Scotch.
Then followed the bloody border wars of New York and Pennsylvania. The British Government having determined to commit the dastardly and disgusting wickedness of setting ten thousand savages upon the scattered frontier settlements of the United Colonies, found in the Johnsons and Butlers fit dispensers of massacre to the Northern borders. A brief notice of the in- cursions into Western New York, must suffice in this place.
It was not till the campaign of 1777 that the citizens of Try- on county felt the power which had been enlisted against them. Rumors of savage invasion it is true had alarmed them, and a re- ported concentration of Indians at Oquago (now Windsor) on the Susquehanna, excited at one time much apprehension. In July of that year Gen. Herkimer, of the Tryon county militia, marched to Unadilla with 300 men, and there held an interview with Brant, the celebrated war-chief, who also appeared with a force of warriors. The Indians manifested a decided leaning toward the English, and the conference, after nearly becoming a deadly affray, terminated.
In a few days afterwards it became necessary for the General to issue a proclamation, announcing impending invasion. Bur- goyne with his well appointed army of 7,500 regular troops be- side Canadian and Indian auxilaries, had reached Ticonderoga on his march from Montreal toward N. York, and Gen. St. Leger with about 2000 soldiers and savages began his march from Oswego, with orders to take Fort Schuyler, and pass down the Mohawk to Johnstown, and to fortify himself there. On the 3d of August he arrived before Fort Schuyler, and found the garri- son under Col. Gansevoort, prepared for a determined resistance. Gen. Herkimer with 800 militia marched to reinforce the garri- son. Apprised of this, St. Leger detached a body of soldiers and Tories under Brant, and Col. Butler to watch his approach, and if possible to intercept his march. A desperate hand-to-hand battle was fought on the 6th of August in the woods at Oriska- ny, a few miles from the Fort. The militia were surprised, and suffered severely for their negligence. The rear division of the column gave way at the first attack, and fled. The forward di- vision had no alternative but to fight. "Facing out in every di- rection they sought shelter under the trees, and returned the fire of the enemy with spirit. In the beginning of the battle,
286
the Indians, whenever they saw that a gun was fired from be- hind a tree, rushed up and tomahawked the person thus firing before he had time to reload his gun. To counteract this, two men were ordered to station themselves behind one tree, the one reserving his fire till the Indian ran up. In this way the In- dians were made to suffer severely in return. The fighting had continued for some time, and the Indians had begun to give way, when Major Watts, a brother-in-law of Sir John Johnton, brought up a reinforcement consisting of a detachment of John- son's Greens. The blood of the Germans boiled with indigna- tion at the sight of these men. Many of the Greens were per- sonally known to them. They had fled their country and were now returned in arms to subdue it. Their presence under any circumstances would have kindled up the resentment of these militia, but coming up as they now did in aid of a retreating foe, called into exercise the most bitter feelings of hostility .- They fired on them as they advanced, and then rushing from behind their covers attacked them with their bayonets, and those who had none, with the butt end of their muskets. This contest was maintained hand to hand for nearly half an hour .- The Greens made a manful resistance, but were finally obliged to give way before the dreadful fury of their assailants, with the loss of thirty killed upon the spot where they first entered."-( An- nals of Tryon County.)
The Americans lost in killed nearly 200, and about as many wounded and prisoners. The Indians according to their own statement lost 100 warriors killed; and the tories and regulars about the same number. Gen. Herkimer was wounded, and a few days after the battle died. During the battle an efficient sally was made from the Fort by Col. Willet. On the 22d of August, St. Leger, alarmed at the rumored approach of Arnold, abandoned the seige, and retired in great confusion, leaving be- hind a great part of his baggage.
In the summer of 1778, Brant made his head-quarters at Oquago and Unadilla, and there mystered a band of Indians and Tories, ready for any barbarity which might offer. The inhabi- tants of Cherry Valley threw up rude fortifications, of the need of which the hovering parties of enemies gave warning. Sev- eral attacks and skirmishes occurred along the frontiers. In July of this year, Col. John Butler made the celebrated incur- sion into Wyoming. After ravaging that ill-fated valley, Col. Butler returned to Niagara, but the Indians again took their station at Oquago. In the month of November, Capt. Walter Butler, a son of the devastator of Wyoming, to gratify a person- al resentment, obtained from his father a detachment of 200
287
" Butler Rangers," and permission to employ the 500 Indians which Brant commanded at Oquago. Under circumstances which proved the Tory commander to be the most pitiless barbarian of the troop, their united forces assailed the little settlement of Cherry Valley, on the morning of the 11th November. Through the inexcusable neglect of the officer in command of the Fort, the farmers were surprised in their houses, with several officers from the Fort, who were their lodgers. The commander of the post, refusing to yield himself a prisoner, fell by the tomakawk. A piteous scene of massacre and devastation followed. The ·Senecas, the most untameable of the savages, with some tories, were first in the Fray, and slew without mercy or discrimina- tion. Brant and his Mohawks, less inhuman here than their barbarous or renegade allies, plied their hatchets with less fury. The buildings and stacks of hay and grain were fred. The troops in the Fort repelled the attack of the enemy, but were not strong enough to sally from their intrenchments. At night the Indians had begun their march homeward, with about forty prisoners. On the following day a detachment of militia arriv- ed from the Mohawk, and the last prowling parties of Indians disappeared. The Annalist of Tryon County says, "The most wanton acts of cruelty had been committed. but the detail is too horrible and I will not pursue it further. The whole settlement exhibited an aspect of entire and complete desolation. The cocks crew from the tops of the forest trees, and the dogs howled through the fields and woods. The inhabitants who escaped with the prisoners who were set at liberty, abandoned the set- tlement."*
* In the summer of 1781, Col. Willett met and defeated Major Ross and Walter Butler, at Johnson Hall. In the rapid retreat which followed, Capt. Butler was pursued by a small party of Oneida Indians who adhered, alone of the Six Nations, to the American side. Swiming his horse across the West Canada Creek, he turned and defied his pursuers. " An Oneida immediately dis- charged his rifle and wonnded him and he fell. Thowing down his rifle and his blanket, the Indian plunged into the creek and swam across. As soon as he had gained the opposite bank, he raised his tomahawk, and with a yell, sprang like a tiger upon his fallen foe. Butler supplicated, though in vain for mercy. The Oneida with his uplifted axe, shouted in broken English, " Sherry Valley ! remember Sherry Valley !" and then buried it in his brains. He tore the scalp from the head of his victim, still quiv- ering in the agonies of death. and ere the remainder of the Onei- das had joined him, the spirit of Walter Butler had gone to give up its account. The place where he crossed is called Butlers Ford to this day." -- (Annals of Tryon County.)
·
288
During the same year McDonald, a tory, with 300 Indians and tories was ravaging the Dutch settlements of Schoharie .- " What shall be done ?" said Col. Harper, the bold partisan, to Col. Vroeman, the commander of the Fort, while the enemy were scouring the country around. "O, nothing at all," the officer replied, " we be so weak we cannot do anything." Col. Harper ordered his horse and laid his course for Albany-rode right down through the enemy who were scattered over all the country. At Fox's Creek he put up at a tory tavern for the night. He retired to bed after having locked the door. Soon there was a loud rapping at the door ? " What is wanted ?" " We want to see Col. Harper." The Col. arose and unlocked the door, seated himself on the bed, and laid his sword and pistols before him. In stepped four men. "Step one inch over that mark," said the Colonel, " and you are dead men." After talk- ing a little time with him they left the room. He again secur- ed the door, and sat on his bed till daylight appeared. He then ordered his horse, mounted and rode for Albany, and the enemy were round the house. An Indian followed him almost into Al- bany, taking to his heels when the Colonel wheeled and pre- sented his pistol. Next morning the Schoharie people heard a tremendous shrieking and yelling, and looking out, saw the en- terprising partisan amongst the enemy with a troop of horse .- The men in the Fort rushed out, and the country was soon cleared of the whole crew of marauders.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.