Landmarks of Orleans County, New York, Part 6

Author: Signor, Isaac S., ed
Publication date: 1894
Publisher: Syracuse : D. Mason
Number of Pages: 1084

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The families of these settlers were clad in cloth which the industry of their wives produced ; for the wheel and loom contributed a part of the furniture of nearly every house, and " black salts," extracted from the ashes into which the forests were burned were almost their only resource for money with which to pay taxes and purchase a few indispensable supplies. The completion of the Erie Canal in 1825 ameliorated to some extent the condition of these settlers, but still the land debts of many weighed heavily on them.

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CHAPTER V.

Indian Trails-The Ridge and the Ridge Road-The Lake as an Early Avenue of Transportation and Travel-Construction of Early Roads-Building of Mills-Legisla- tion in Relation to Road-making-Map of 1809.

The details of making the first paths through a trackless wilderness by the adventurous pioneer become deeply interesting to the reader who can imagine the condition of the face of the country at that time. Where now the vision of the observer sweeps over a cultivated land- scape, showing all the familiar evidences of civilized occupancy by closely associated and busy people, the cleared fields presenting an area far greater than that of the woodland, the pioneer might at any given point in his toilsome journey try in vain to see more than a few rods from his position, unless it were heavenward. Hemmed in on every side by the monarchs of the wood, he would, unless he had learned the mysteries of woodcraft like his native predecessor, or had a guide in man or compass, be as much lost as if he were in mid ocean. Yet, by the exercise of patient industry and untiring perseverance, the pioneer found his way through the wilderness, and while his heart was light and his spirits exalted, he laid the foundations of his home beside Indian trails or the rude roadways he was able to make.

In their journeyings hither and thither through their domain the Indians, in the course of time, by a sort of natural selection, adopted the nearest and most available routes of travel. To these they adhered, and they came to be permanent trails, which the white settlers adopted as their first roads. As time went on the routes of many of these trails were adopted for the great thoroughfares which now traverse the country, as may be learned by an inspection of a map prepared by the renowned ethnological and Indian investigator, the late L. H. Morgan.

The principal trail of the Six Nations traversed the State of New York between the Hudson and Niagara rivers on the route subsequently utilized for the Erie Canal and Central Railroad, though not exactly

ORLEANS COUNTY.

coincident with these thoroughfares at all points. Passing west from Batavia it left the Tonawanda swamp, according to Turner, " nearly southeast of Royalton Center, coming out on the Lockport and Batavia road in the valley of Millard's brook, and from thence it continued on the chestnut ridge to the Cold Springs. Pursuing the route of the Lew- iston road, with occasional deviations, it struck the Ridge road at Warren's. It followed the Ridge road until it passed the Hopkins marsh, when it gradually ascended the mountain ridge, passed through the Tuscarora village and then down again to the Ridge road which it continued to the river. This was the principal route into Canada, crossing from Lewiston to Queenston, a branch trail, however, going down the river to Fort Niagara. During the latter years of the last century and early in the present one this road was used as a route over which to drive cattle for the supply of the soldiers on the Niagara River and the settlers on the border. At about the close of the last century the Holland Land Company improved this road so that sleighs might traverse it in winter, and a weekly mail was carried over it, and it was the first road laid out north from the main roads between Batavia and Buffalo.

The existence of "the Ridge " was, of course, known to the Indians, and it is said that Augustus Porter learned of it from them and caused a road to be traced along it in 1798. The historian, Turner, says that it was first discovered by the whites in 1805, and that "it was not, however, known in its full extent throughout that region until some years after." He says, "The Ontario trail " came west from Oswego and followed the ridge " west to near the west line of Hartland, Niagara county, where it diverged to the southwest, crossing the east branch of the Eighteen-Mile Creek, and forming a junction with the Canada or Niagara trail at the Cold Springs."

This route was utilized by the early immigrants, but the want of bridges, and obstructions by large trees, rendered travel over it some- what difficult. The Legislature of New York in April, 1814, appointed commissioners and made an appropriation of $5,000 for the improve- ment of this road. This appropriation and the labor of the inhabitants along the road rendered it passable. It was first surveyed by Philetus Swift and Caleb Hopkins under an act of the Legislature passed Feb-

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ruary 10, 1815 ; and on the 22d of March, 1852, an act was passed for its re-survey. John Le Valley, Governor Daniels, and William J. Babbitt were the commissioners and Darius W. Cole, of Medina, was the surveyor. It is a six rod road and is one of the pleasantest in Western New York.

Prior to the construction of the Erie canal the lake was the avenue of transportation between this region and the east, and in that early time it was naturally supposed that the excellent harbor at the mouth of Oak Orchard Creek would make that an important port. The agents of the Holland Land Company, therefore, early discerned the impor- tance of opening an avenue of communication to that place. Accord- ingly, in 1803, a survey was made of what has since been known as the Oak Orchard road, from Batavia to the mouth of Oak Orchard Creek. It was run on the general route of an Indian trail, over which the natives had passed to and from their fishing places on the lake. It was laid out four rods in width, the timber was cut away, and the rough, primitive road was early constructed. This and the Ridge road were the routes by which the early settlers came, and to the country along these roads the settlements were for some time limited. The Oak Orchard road was the first laid out in the county.

About 1813 Andrew A. Ellicott established a mill on the Oak Orchard Creek at what is now Shelby Center. To promote the sale of the land in that vicinity, by facilitating access to this mill, a highway was cut by the company from Shelby Center to the Oak Orchard road near the county alms house. This was the first east and west road that was opened south of the Ridge road, and it is still in use.

In 1805 the Holland Company established works north from Medina for the manufacture of salt, and to afford access to these works two roads were opened ; one running south to the old Buffalo road, and the other southeasterly to the Oak Orchard road. They were called the Salt Works roads; and after the manufacture of salt was abandoned they were discontinued.

About the year 1824 the inhabitants along the Ridge road celebrated the 4th of July by cutting out a highway from the ridge north to Waterport, which is now the road leading from Eagle Harbor to Water- port.

ORLEANS COUNTY.

An act of the Legislature passed April 2, 1827, appointed John P. Patterson, Almon H. Millerd, and Otis Turner commissioners, and Jesse P. Haines, of Lockport, surveyor, to locate a highway four rods in width between Rochester and Lockport "on or near the banks of the Erie canal." This road was surveyed, and the survey was recorded in the counties and towns through which it passed. Only such portions as the public convenience required were opened, and the franchise lapsed by non-use. It was called the State road, and that portion of it which traverses Albion is now known as State street.

An act of the Legislature of April 7, 1824, authorized the overseers of highways in Shelby to " open the road leading through the said town, from Batavia to Lockport, four rods wide in addition to present width, on that. part of the Indian Reservation lying on the south side of said road, from the house of John Wolcott . as far west as the road is laid out on the north line of the Indian Reservation."

On the 5th of April, 1828, commissioners were appointed by the Legislature to lay out the highway "from the center of the town of Sheldon, Genesee county, to the Erie canal in Orleans county," passing through Bennington, Pembroke, and Gerrysville. And again, on the 27th of April, 1829, a road was opened under similar legislation from Albion to Olean, by way of Batavia, Attica, etc. In April, 1852, the road across Tonawanda swamp from Elba to Barre was laid out on the line between the first and second ranges of the Holland Company's survey. The various other minor highways followed as they were needed, and were soon supplemented by plank roads, the Erie Canal and the railroads, which will be noticed as we progress.

The early inhabitants bridged the various streams in a primitive manner, which sufficed until the increased travel demanded something better, when legislation was invoked for the purpose. On the 15th of April, 1825 the supervisors of Orleans county were authorized by the Legislature to raise $1,000 by tax to bridge Oak Orchard Creek at the head of the still water in the then town of Oak Orchard. Silas Joy, Asahel Byington and Robert M. Brown were the commissioners ap- pointed. March 21, 1828, similar authority was granted to raise $1,000 to bridge the same stream "at the place where the State road leading from Rochester to Lockport crosses the creek," Otis Turner,

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ORLEANS COUNTY.

William C. Tanner, and Harry Boardman were the commissioners. On the 25th of April, 1829, the supervisors were authorized to raise $1,500 to bridge Oak Orchard and Marsh Creeks in Carlton, "in such manner as to unite the three sections of the town now divided by the said creeks." In the same year the supervisors were authorized to build a bridge over Sandy Creek in the town of Murray at a cost of $1,000. Later improvements of this character will be noticed in the histories of the several towns.

CHAPTER VI.

Early settlements -- Character of the Pioneers-Their Hardships and Privations -- The War of 1812-15 -- Effects of the " Cold Summer"-Early Mills and Manufactures -- The Morgan Case-The Lake and Its Traffic -- Town Organizations and Formation of the County -- Establishment of Schools and Churches.

The great purchase by the Holland Company which we have de- scribed, and the easy terms offered by them to buyers of small tracts, was instrumental in promoting settlement in the western part of the State. But the counties lying upon Lake Ontario, or parts of them at least, were not settled so early as the territory a little farther south. At the first the sales of the Holland Company were not numerous, but they rapidly increased as the beauty and fertility of their lands became better known. As far as Orleans county is concerned, it was almost an unbroken wilderness down to the beginning of the present century. A writer who passed through Western New York in 1792, left the fol- lowing record :

Many times did I break out in an enthusiastic frenzy, anticipating the probable situation of this wilderness twenty years hence. All that reason can ask may be ob- tained by the industrious hand ; the only danger to be feared is that luxuries will flow too cheap. After I had reached the Genesee River, curiosity led me on to Niagara, ninety miles-not one house or white man the whole way. The only direction I had was an Indian path, which sometimes was doubtful. At eight o'clock in the evening I reached an Indian town called Tonnoraunto ; it contains many hundreds of the sav- ages, who live in very tolerable houses, which they make of timber and cover with

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bark. By signs I made them understand me, and for a little money they cut me limbs and bushes sufficient to erect a booth, under which I slept very quietly on the grass. The next day I pursued my journey, nine miles of which lay through a very deep swamp; with some difficulty I got through, and about sundown arrived at the Fort of Niagara.

Turner writes that two or three log and one framed hut at Buffalo, and two or three tenements at Lewiston, were all the improvements on the Holland Purchase before the close of 1799; and at the end of the century there was little more accomplished than the addition of a few families along the Buffalo road. The sales of the Holland Company in 1801 were 40 in number; in 1802, 56; 1803, 230 ; 1804, 300 ; 1805, 415 ; 1806, 524 ; 1807, 607; 1808, 612; and in 1809, 1160.

In 1803 Joseph Ellicott laid out a village at the mouth of Oak Orchard Creek, which he named " Manilla," hoping that a harbor might be established there for lake transportation. In the spring of that year James Walsworth settled there as the pioneer of Orleans County,1 and the first settler on the lake shore between Braddock's Bay and Fort Niagara.

Referring to Mr. Walsworth's settlement and a few others of the first decade of the century, Mr. Turner wrote as follows :

Walsworth and the few others that located at Oak Orchard, were all the settlers in Orleans before 1809, except Whitfield Rathbun, who was the pioneer of all that part of the Ridge road in Orleans county embraced in the Holland Purchase (that is, west of the transit line.) Settlement had just begun at the mouth of Eighteen-Mile Creek, in Niagara, and at Johnson's Creek in Orleans, in 1806. Burgoyne Kemp settled at the Eighteen-Mile Creek in 1808. There was then settled there William Chambers and --- Colton, and there was one family at Johnson's Creek on the Lake. At that period there was no settler between Lake and Ridge in Niagara or Orleans.

West of Oak Orchard and on the Ridge the earliest settlers of prom- inence were Ezra D. Barnes, Israel Douglass ( the latter the first mag- istrate north of Batavia ), Seymour B. Murdock and his sons, and Eli Moore. Besides these, George Houseman settled at the site of Lyndon- ville, in Yates, in 1809 ; a Mr. Gilbert in Gaines about the same time; Epaphras Mattison in Murray in 1809, and others in the following

1 In order to avoid confusion the name "Orleans County " will be often used in referring to the history of the first quarter of this century, and, of course, prior to the organization of the county. It will be understood that when the county is thus mentioned, reference is had to the territory afterwards and now embraced within its limits.

ORLEANS COUNTY.

year ; Alexander Coon in Shelby in 1810 ; and the first clearing on the site of Albion village ( then in Barre ), was made in 1811, prior to which a few families had come into that town. Further settlements in the several towns will be followed in detail in the town histories in later pages.

The first settlers in the county were chiefly natives of New England, and possessed the traditional Puritan energy, thrift and economy. They came, sometimes by single families, and occasionally two or more families in company, secured their lands, built their primitive log houses in which so many eminent Americans have been cradled, neighbor aiding neighbor, cleared away sections of the forest and began life under circumstances scarcely to be appreciated by their descendants of to-day. Hardship and privation were everywhere present during the early years. Money was scarce and markets were distant, while the products which would bring money were few in number and limited in quantity. To get grain ground the settlers were obliged to carry it to Niagara or to Genesee Falls, until mills were built within the county. Sickness, especially fever and ague, was prevalent, and the doctors were often far away. The scarcity of breadstuff, at least in a ground state, was perhaps felt during the first ten years of settlement more than any other privation.

Buying his land on easy terms, and inspired with the vigor of young manhood, the pioneer thought the road to independence would not be a long nor a very hard one; but many of them were disappointed in this. The meagre crops raised on the small clearing were needed for home consumption ; or, if there was a small surplus, it could not be sold. The roads to market were often impassable for teams ; sickness demanded the time and the resources of the well members of the family; interest accumulated, and it is not a wonder that many wanted to sell and go away. The number of the discouraged and helpless would have been much greater had not the Holland Company been extremely lenient with its debtors.

Orleans County was sparsely settled at the outbreak of the war of 1812-15, the few inhabitants being chiefly located along the Ridge road. This is one of the reasons, and probably the principal one, why it suffered so little from the effects of that war. It requires people and 8

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property to satisfy the ravages of war, and it is not known that a single hostile incursion was made into what is now Orleans county. But it was a period of anxiety and fear for those who had settled here, which was aggravated by the proximity of the frontier at and near Buffalo. In that vicinity the conflict was actively carried on at times, and the Ridge road became the highway of flight for many refugees eastward.

The first news of what seemed to be an impending attack on this im- mediate locality in the winter of 1813-14, was brought by William Burlingame. He lived near the western border of the town of Gaines, and John Proctor, who lived four miles farther east, has left it on record that Burlingame came to his house, called him out of bed and asked him to arouse the people on to the eastward. Proctor mounted his horse and before daylight had visited all the inhabitants as far east as Clarkson. The effect of this action was prompt and a large company of men were on the move early the following morning to check the expected enemy. The organization marched to near Lewiston, where they remained on duty about two weeks. Mr. Proctor, with several others, went to Fort Erie in September , 1814, and performed excellent service there. One of the company named Howard was killed ; one named Sheldon was wounded, and Moses Bacon was taken prisoner. Several bullets passed through Proctor's clothing.

Not long after the breaking out of the war the people of Gaines or- ganized a company and elected Eleazer McCarty, captain. Of the operations of this company in the campaign Judge Thomas wrote as follows :

In December, 1813, the British burnt Lewiston and news was brought to Captain McCarty by the fleeing inhabitants, that the British and Indians were coming east on the Ridge. He sent a messenger to John Proctor, the only man who had a horse in the settlement, to carry the news to Murray, and call the men together to resist them. The next morning the company was enroute towards the foe. The next night they came in sight of Molyneux Tavern, ten or twelve miles east of Lewiston, and saw a light in the house. Captain McCarty halted his men and advanced himself to recon- noiter. Approaching the place he saw British and Indians in the house, their guns standing in a corner. He returned to his men and brought them cautiously forward ; selected a few to follow him into the house, and ordered the remainder to surround it and prevent the enemy from escaping. McCarty and his party rushed in at the door and sprang between the men and their guns and ordered them to surrender. The British soldiers and Indians had been helping themselves to liquor in the tavern, and some

ORLEANS COUNTY.

were drunk and asleep on the floor. The surprise was complete. Most of the party surrendered ; a few Indians showed fight with their knives and hatchets, and tried to recover their guns, and several of them were killed in the melee. One soldier made a dash to get his gun and was killed by McCarty at a blow. The remainder surrendered and were put upon the march towards Lewiston, near which our army had then arrived. One prisoner would not walk. The soldiers dragged him forward on the ground a while, and getting tired of that, Henry Luce, one of McCarty's men, declared with an oath that he would kill him, and was preparing for the act when McCarty in- terfered and saved his life. McCarty encamped a few miles east of Lewiston. While there he went out with a number of his men and captured a scouting party of British soldiers returning to Fort Niagara laden with plunder they had taken from the neighbor- ing inhabitants. McCarty compelled them to carry the plunder back to its owners and then sent them prisoners of war to Batavia. After fifteen or twenty days' service, McCarty's company was discharged and returned home. Most of his men resided in Gaines, and comprised nearly all the men in town.

Most of the inhabitants of Orleans county who did not go to the frontier, fled from their homes. Among other settlers within the limits of this county who took part in that war were Justus Ingersoll, who lived in Shelby and Medina ; who joined the army in 1812, as ensign in the 23d Infantry, was in the celebrated charge on Queenston Heights, was twice wounded and received promotion to a captaincy. Allen Porter, who settled in Barre in 1816, was drafted in 1812, and was present in the memorable sortie at Fort Erie in September, 1814, also Reuben Root and his father, of Yates. Samuel Tappan, of Yates, afterwards a judge in the county, who was in the service as adjutant and captain, and took part in the fighting at Fort Erie and in the battle of Lundy's Lane ; Joseph Hart of Barre, Robert Treadwell, of Gaines, Hubbard Rice and Chauncey Robinson, of Murray, Amos Barret, David Hood and Jeremiah Brown, of Ridgeway, all called out one or more times to defend the frontier against the enemy. The latter (Mr. Brown) left the following record :

In the war of 1812 I was called to the lines to defend my country. I received notice on Friday night ( 1812 ) about 9 o'clock, to be in Canandaigua on the next Mon- day morning at 10 o'clock to march to Buffalo. I hired a man and woman to take care of my sick wife and child during my absence, while I responded to the call. I was then an officer in the militia, and I marched on foot with the rest of the officers and men to Buffalo, where we arrived the second day after the battle. Our company was the first that arrived and assisted in collecting the dead.

Others of the inhabitants probably took part in the war; but the number of settlers within the limits of the country was then small, and

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consequently the effects of the war were less conspicuous than at many other points. With the return of peace those who had left their homes returned, immigration revived and prosperity was restored, except as it was temporarily checked by the remarkably cold season of 1816. The crops of this year were almost wholly destroyed and provisions of all kinds became very scarce and prices abnormally high. Flour reached $15 a barrel and wheat $3 a bushel, while money was also scarce. These conditions continued through the year 1817. Live stock almost starved in many instances. Gideon Freeman of the town of Gaines, chopped over fifty acres of woodland for his cattle to browse during the winter of 1816-17, and six of them died from starvation. The family of Levi Davis had nothing to eat for three weeks before harvest time but some small potatoes, milk and a little butter. In the month of June, 1816, Jeremiah Brown, of Ridgeway, who has been mentioned as a soldier of the war of 1812, went to Farmington to get food for several families who were in danger of starvation. He ob- tained a load of corn at one dollar a bushel, which gave temporary relief to many. There was much sickness in the county in early years, and this was aggravated by the scarcity of food. Mr. Brown made another journey to Farmington in the winter of 1816-17, and bought two tons of pork, at ten dollars per hundred, and paid three dollars per barrel for salt. Levi Davis, of the same town, has left the record with Judge Thomas that previous to the opening of the Erie Canal he paid seventy-five cents a yard for sheeting and the same for calico, and on one occasion paid fifteen dollars a barrel for salt. But the summer of 1817 brought good crops, and by 1821, so active had been the farmers in raising wheat, and so difficult was it to get it to market, that it fell in price to twenty- five cents a bushel.

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Landmarks of Orleans County, New York, Part 6

Author: Signor, Isaac S., ed Publication date: 1894 Publisher: Syracuse : D. Mason Number of Pages: 1084

Author: Signor, Isaac S., ed
Publication date: 1894
Publisher: Syracuse : D. Mason
Number of Pages: 1084