USA > New York > Wayne County > Military history of Wayne County, N.Y. : the County in the Civil War > Part 5
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 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89
About one mile east of the village of Lyons, there is a . small stream which empties its waters into the Clyde river.
·
58
MILITARY HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY.
Along the eastern bank of this brook, the Seneca Indians had been accustomed to build their little wigwams in the fall of each year, and remain during the hunting and fishing season, which generally ended about the last of March. The low swamp lands and high hills east of Lyons, afforded fine hunting grounds for the Indians, where the bear, wolf, deer and fox were taken in large numbers, their skins affording a fine profit. Fish, particularly salmon, where found in great numbers in the river, or "outlet " as it was called, and afforded fine amusement for the women and children.
In the fall of 1799, there was a large encampment of the tribe stretching far up the brook ; among them a very old Indian and his squaw. The Indian was tall and straight, and when animated would seem to forget his age and move about with the elasticity of youth. On his left arm he wore a wide brass band, which covered a fearful scar. He had the reputation of having been a great warrior. He had received the title, and was known by his tribe as Captain · Johnnie Jack. Rev. John Cole, (father of Samuel J. Cole,) had bought the land upon which this encampment stood, and formed a friendly acquaintance with Captain Jack. Many winter evenings were passed in hearing Captain Jack relate his adventures. (See Wayne County History, page 97.)
The tract of country now included in Wayne county was a part of the territory of the Six Nations. In the ancient division between the tribe of Cayugas and the tribe of Senecas, the boundary is said to have been " a line running due south from the head of Sodus Bay." This corresponds very nearly to the Pre-emption Line, which afterwards constituted the Eastern boundary of the Massachusetts claim, and also the Eastern boundary of Phelps & Gorham's purchase. The meridian of Washington also passes through Sodus Bay, and is thus not far from the same ancient boundary between these noted tribes of Indians. The Six Nations were induced by British influence to take the side of England in the War of the Revolution. It thus became a military necessity for the Continental army to punish and largely to destroy this powerful combination of Indian tribes. Sullivan's expedition, in 1779, was sent upon this special errand, and the work was thoroughly exe-
59
MILITARY HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY.
cuted. Humbled, reduced in numbers and scattered, they found themselves upon the losing side at the close of the Revolution. Subsequently they disposed of their lands to the State of New York, or to the purchasers under the. Massachusetts claims.
The territory of Wayne county east of the Pre-emption Line was a part of the inheritance of the Cayugas. West of that line it belonged to the Senecas.
It is the theory of writers who have given much study to Indian history, that the mouth of the Oswego river formed a lake port for the Onondagas; Sodus Bay for the Cayugas, and Irondequoit Bay for the Senecas. The fact that there were but few Indians in this section of country in 1789, is easily accounted for by the scattering and destruction of the tribes in the Sullivan expedition ten years before. Their power was broken, their numbers were diminished, and many had scattered into other parts of the country remote from the incoming tide of emigration. The Cayugas ceded their lands to the State of New York by the treaty of Albany, February 25, 1789. This included Eastern Wayne.
The territory of the Seneca Indians was within the Massa- chusetts claim. It may be necessary to explain that this claim arose out of the original defective or incorrect lan- guage of the ancient charters.
The Kings of England and France were either poor geog- raphers or very careless in their grants of territory in the New World. In the year 1620, the King of Great Britain granted to the Plymouth Company a tract called New Eng- land, several degrees of latitude in width, and extending from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific. Charles I., in 1663, granted to the Duke of York and Albany, the province of New York, including the present State of New Jersey. This tract was bounded by what is now substantially the east line of the State of New York, extending westward indef- initely, and from the Atlantic ocean northward to Canada. Of course these two descriptions overlapped each other, and were impossible of application. The conflicting questions growing out of these facts were settled by commissioners of New York and Massachusetts, who met at Hartford
60
MILITARY HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY.
December 16, 1786. The jurisdiction or right of govern- ment over all the territory which is now the State of New York, was granted to New York. The title to the soil or the pre-emption right to purchase such title from the Indians was granted to Massachusetts, for all the territory of New York west of a meridian line drawn northward from the 82d mile stone in the north line of Pennsylvania. This line as first surveyed constitutes what is now known as the " Old Pre-emption Line." It strikes Lake Ontario at Preston's Mills, in Sodus. A dispute as to the correctness of the sur- vey led to the location of a second line known as the " New Pre-emption Line." This terminates just east of Briscoe's Cove, Sodus Bay, and is the present Eastern boundary of the towns of Sodus and Lyons.
This shows that the purchase from the Senecas of their lands was of necessity, made by the State of Massachusetts or its grantees, and not by the State of New York. The council for securing the cession met at Buffalo Creek, July 4, 1788. The tract finally ceded by the Indians was bounded east by the Pre-emption Line, and west by a line "beginning in the Northern line of Pennsylvania, due south of the cor- ner or point of land made by the confluence of the Genesee river with the Canaseraga creek; thence north on said meridian line to said point ; thence northwardly along the waters of the Genesee river to a point two miles north of Canawagus village; thence due west twelve miles; thence running northwardly to Lake Ontario by a line twelve miles from the Genesee river."
This tract was the Phelps & Gorham Purchase, or, as sub- sequently known, " the Pultney Estate." This purchase, from the Seneca Indians, included that part of Wayne county lying west of the Eastern boundary of Sodus.
The formal extinguishing of the Indian title to Wayne county is thus traced : East of the Pre-emption Line, ceded by the Cayugas February 25, 1789; west of the Pre-emption Line, ceded by the Senecas at the Council that met July 4, 1788.
Indian occupation at the commencement of settlement in Wayne county was therefore only temporary, transient as
61
MILITARY HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY.
has already been shown. They had sold their right to the soil and were gradually disappearing from the forests of their fathers, and from the ancient hunting grounds of their race.
A more precise statement as to the boundary between the Senecas and the Cayugas is furnished in the following mem- orandum, by George Conover, of Geneva, who is a very diligent student of pioneer history, and to whom the author is indebted for many facts and suggestions upon this and similar questions.
As soon as the treaty was concluded, in September, 1788, with the Oneidas and Onondagas, the Commissioners of Indian affairs directed Rev. Samuel Kirkland to proceed to the Indian country, to induce the Cayugas to attend a coun- cil, (Hough's Indian Treaties, p. 251.) His instructions were in writing, and the following extract is taken :
" As a small part of the lands of the Senecas is supposed to lie East of the Line of cession to Massachusetts, it is the wish of the Commissioners, that the chiefs of the tribes con- nected with the Cayugas, may be informed of the nature of our settlement with the Oneidas and Onondagas, and that a sufficient number of the chiefs of such Tribes to transact this business, should attend with the Cayuga chiefs; but as the latter object is small, we cannot be justified in putting the State to any considerable expense to procure the attendance of the Senecas."
The old pre-emption line had at this time been run, and went through the very center of the Old Castle, or Kana- desaga.
Reed and Ryckman procured an attendance of Cayugas, and the treaty of cession was held with them at Albany, February, 1789, and included a reservation to " a white per- son," (Joseph Paerdre,) " married to a daughter of a Cayuga, named Thaneswas," of three hundred and twenty acres, at Kashong creek, seven miles south of Geneva. This Than- eswas was a Seneca, instead of a Cayuga, and was one of the speakers for the Cayugas .- (See Hough's Treaties.)
The western bounds of the cession was the old pre-emp- tion line.
February 2, 1790, Rev. Mr. Kirkland presented the follow- ing paper to the Board-(Hough's Treaties, page 356) :
62
MILITARY HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY.
KANADASEGEA, IOth December, 1789.
BROTHER GOVERNOR OF NEW YORK ATTEND :
I have received your message by the mouth of our friend, the Minister. In your speech you wished to know of us Senecas, if we have any further demands upon you for the lands about Newtown,* on the Teyasgea,+ or if our nation have any ancient claim to any lands east of the line of Ces- sion, made by New York to Massachusetts, to which line Mr. Phelps lately purchased of our Nation, and on condi- tion it should be made to appear that our Nation have any just claim to any lands east of the aforesaid line, the Gov- ernor is disposed, in behalf of the People of New York, to make them a just compensation, for he would not have the Senecas, nor any Indians wronged out of one foot of their lands.
BROTHER GOVERNOR :-
This you desire to know. I thank you, Brother, for the just and good mind you manifest towards Indians. Brother possess your mind in peace; our Indians are all on the hunt, only one chief left at home with me, but I can give you full satisfaction on the subject of your speech. We formerly claimed a small tract of land about Newtown, on the Teyasgea, and the Cayugas, by ancient Tradition, claimed a tract towards lake Ontario, west of the line of Mr. Phelps's purchase. We Senecas, with the Cayugas, taking this matter into consideration, at our council held on Buffalo creek, last spring, mutually and unanimously agreed that Mr. Phelps's East line should be the boundary line betwixt us. We Senecas relinquished all claims to any lands east of said line, and the Cayugas relinquished all their for- mer pretensions to any lands west of said line. Therefore, we have no demands upon the people of New York for any lands east of the line run by Mr. Phelps. We, nevertheless, expect you will make the Cayugas a reasonable compensa- tion, which in your wisdom and righteousness you will determine. We wish prosperity to your government,
Brother Governor, this is all I have to say ; farewell.
KALONDOWDNEA, alias Big Tree. SAGOYADY ASTHA.
Translated and wrote by Samuel Kirkland, Missionary, and to the justness of the transaction he can make oath, if required. In presence of
SETH REED, JOEL PRESCOTT.
* Five miles below present Elmira.
+ Tioga.
63
MILITARY HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY.
The foregoing makes it absolutely certain that the'whole of Great Sodus Bay, originally belonged to the Cayugas. The Moravian Missionaries, Bishop Cammerhoff, and Rev. David Zeisbeyn, journeyed through here in 1750. At the N. E. corner of Seneca lake, they found a Cayuga village, called Nuguiaze. This shows that the cast shore of Seneca lake belonged to the Cayugas. Seneca lake, itself, doubtless belonged to the Senecas, although there may be some ques- tion even, about that, but from the fact that the Senecas owned about Newtown, on the Tioga, the lake was undoubt- edly the Senecas.
If we extend the investigation of Indian occupancy back- ward into the centuries preceding the time, when lands were ceded and settlements made, we enter upon a dim uncertain era, in which there is but little that can be determ- ined. Wayne county belonged to the Senecas and Cayugas. So much is known. The five nations occupied these lands in central New York, at the time the French made their earliest discoveries along the St. Lawrence. The Indian accounts of themselves showed that at some date before the period of French discovery, the Iroquois had lived along the St. Lawrence, and had been gradually driven southward by the Indians of Canada, until they had located all along the center of what now constitutes the State of New York. When first known to the whites, they consisted, commenc- ing at the east, of the Mohawks, the Oneidas, the Ononda- gas, the Cayugas, and the Senecas.
About 1690, after various wars with southern Indians, they incorporated into their league, the Tuscaroras, and became known as "the six nations."
So far as Wayne county has been critically examined for proofs of Indian villages ; for remains of Indian encamp- ments ; for Indian battle fields, or Indian burial places, very little has been discovered,
But few relics of Indian times have been found around Sodus Bay. Occasionally arrowheads, such as may be found in almost any part of the country, are picked up here. Mr. William Gatchel, of Huron, states that his father once found an Indian mortar near the Bay. It may account for
64
MILITARY HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY.
the scarcity of relics around the Bay, to notice that the Indians did not locate their principal villages along great bodies of water. Their homes were more easily defended if located farther into the country.
On the farm of Captain N. F. Strickland, Walworth, there is a place comprising two or three acres, over which many arrowheads have been found ; sufficient to indicate, perhaps, a village, or at least the site of a temporary encampment.
On the Moore farm, west of Walworth Corners, there is a mound having something of a peculiar appearance, as if out of place on the low ground. It has sometimes been sup- posed to be an Indian mound; but perhaps the idea has little foundation. Hon. H. H. Wheeler, furnishes the fol- lowing item :
" As late as 1815, there existed an old Indian hut, built in the style of our primitive log houses, but of small timbers, not more than six inches thick, perhaps. It stood at a place then known as the "Old Indian Camp," on the south side of the (then) " old Block House Road," half a mile west of Wheeler's Corners, my present residence. When, or by whom it was built or occupied, I never learned. Probably it was a sort of a rendezvous for a band of Indians hunting in this neighborhood, at some not very remote period."
On the farm now owned by Walter L. Cone, in the town of Ontario, many arrows have been found. They occur on a small rise of ground comprising an acre or more, situated on the north side of the Ridge road, and not far from it.
On the farm of James D. Wood, Savannah, four miles northeast of Savannah village, and a mile and a half from the Seneca river, an old well was discovered several feet below the surface; the existence of which no one knew any- thing about at or subsequent to the first settlement.
On the same farm was found, (not an Indian relic,) an ancient toad. The animal was dug out several feet below the surface, having been embedded in hard red clay. Appar- ently it had been excluded for ages from light and air. After being thrown out, it exhibited signs of life.
Just south of the line of Wayne county, considerable many relics have been gathered. In the historical rooms at Waterloo, there are several curiosities presented by Mrs.
65
MILITARY HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY.
Henrietta Barnes, of Junius-a stone hammer, stone pipe, and a horn ladle.
By William G. Phillips, of Junius, a number of arrow- heads ; also similar relics by Myron Coleman.
On the farm of L. H. Clark, three and a half miles east of Pultneyville, have been picked up arrow-heads, a stone hatchet and a pestle.
Dr. Benjamin Wilson, of Wolcott, has quite a handsome collection of Indian relics, gathered from various places in Wolcott and vicinity.
De Lancy Stowe, of Clyde, is also making a collection of Indian curiosities.
C. B. Collins, now of Clyde, relates a discovery that may have some bearing on ancient matters in this section. .
About forty-five years ago, he plowed up a fragment of a cannon on the old Collins farm in Rose. The place was in the present village of Rose Valley, in the field on the left of the road to Wolcott and near the curve. The piece was eighteen or twenty inches long, having a bore of some two inches in diameter. The plow caught in a basswood stump, perhaps a foot and a half in diameter, and as the stump was turned out the iron piece was rolled out from beneath it. There was no lettering or other marks upon it. It was thickly coated with rust, and had every appearance of having been there for a long series of years. Unfortunately the piece was not preserved.
Not more than a quarter of a mile northwest of the spot where the cannon was found, and on the farm of Thaddeus Collins, Jr., there was found about sixty years ago, an axe of peculiar shape, wide bit and light head, something like the so-called French axes found at Pultneyville.
There was also discovered an ancient piece of pottery not more than fifty rods west from the cannon. The pottery crumbled to pieces so much that no fragments of it could be preserved, nor could it be easily described.
Along the ridge of land just west, considerable many arrow-heads were picked up in the early years.
These remains indicate the location of an Indian village, or perhaps a French trading post of the early times. As the 5
66
MILITARY HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY.
Indian trail from Sodus Bay to Cayuga passed up the creek (which is now a mere rivulet running through the south part of the village of Rose), and so to Crusoe Lake, the site of this supposed trading post would be in a fertile valley only half a mile or so from the trail.
That a line of Indian posts, forts, or villages, existed in Sodus west of the village is extremely probable. There is, at this point, a range of hills rising abruptly from the Ridge Road on the north, with plateaus of considerable extent on the summits, and long, gentle slopes to the south.
The highest point is on the farm of Perry McCarty, and there the Government Coast Survey erected a temporary observatory a few years ago, the summit being determined by the officers to be 350 feet above the level of Lake Ontario. A few rods east of this point numerous Indian relics have been picked up from a space of half an acre or more-mostly arrow-heads, but one or more stone hatchets have also been found and also a flint knife eight or ten inches long, evi_ dently used for skinning animals.
On another hill, half a mile southwest, on the present farm of Lawson Arms, is also a place of one or more acres upon which arrows have been found in considerable numbers, one man stating that he has himself probably picked up two dozen or more .*
Still west of this, on the well-known Paddock farm, simi- lar relics have been found on the hill west of the barn.
To stand on these hills and note the distant views that can be obtained from them, to glance at the hills themselves, at their relation to each other and to the surrounding country, will show even to unmilitary eyes how strong and advan- tageous would be the positions indicated above.
Even when dense forests covered all the low grounds, there would be visible from these points, and particularly from the one selected by the government officers, a wide extent of the lake sweeping around almost to a semi-circle. The entrance to Sodus Bay, the "Bay of the Cayugas," would be distinctly visible. Southeast the view is extensive, it being said for years that in a clear day glimpses of build-
* Watson W. Wood.
67
MILITARY HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY.
ings in Auburn can be obtained. South and southwest there is a rolling, picturesque country, comprising views of great beauty and extent. Upon no points in all Northern Wayne could armies or villages have been so well posted for safety, for defense or for observation as upon this chain of hills.
As one stands on these breezy heights and looks out to-day upon fields rich with ripening harvests, upon farms revealing the skillful hand of civilized industry, upon homes and villages, upon schools and churches, it requires a strong effort of the imagination to reach back into the dim ages of the past and see these hills covered with wigwams, with camps and fortifications. Up these steep heights invading armies may have pressed in desperate assault, while all along the brow of the hills behind the rude fortifications of the forest stood the defenders of camp and home. On these hills council fires doubtless burned, and around them was heard the rough eloquence of the Indian orator, or the wily appeals of the French trader. From these heights the signal blaze may have easily flashed intelligence to distant points, to the Cayugas beyond the lake, bearing their name, to the Sencas at Old Castle, at Canandaigua, Victor, and even to yet more distant points. The movements of De Nonville's army, coasting the southern shore of the lake, might have thus been telegraphed to the Indians at Canandaigua, and the warriors brought together ready to meet the French com- mander before he could march overland from Irondequoit, the point where his army disembarked.
In short, whether we test the probability of Indian occu- pation upon these hills by the actual relics found, by the strong natural advantages for defense, by the extensive out- look to be obtained from their summits, by their convenience as signal points between the lake and distant places to the south, we shall easily decide that here dwelt the plumed and painted warriors, and here were located camps and vil- lages in the long, dim ages of the past.
FORT HILL, SAVANNAH.
This well known site of ancient Indian remains lies about a mile southeast of the village. It is a beautiful eminence,
68
MILITARY HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY.
and rises abruptly upon the east from the low grounds of the Seneca river. The north declivity of the hill is also quite steep, and this formation extends a short distance along the west side rendering the northern portion of the hill a distinct, bold elevation.
From the summit extending southward there is a series of gentle slopes descending to nearly the level of the low grounds on the east; towards the southwest the descent is quite steep, but does not reach so low a point as upon the other portions of the outline; and here it is somewhat connected to other hills lying upon the west. From the summit there is an extensive outlook, commanding the low lands of the Seneca, and the river itself for several miles above and below. Northward a distant view is obtained comprising small elevations of inconsiderable height and a wide extent of lower uplands. Directly west appears a range of hills not quite as high as Fort Hill; and beyond this range lies the valley and adjacent marshes of the Clyde fiver.
Fort Hill is upon the tract of country known in Savannah as "The Island," and not far from its southern boundary. The Seneca river forms what may be approximately termed the eastern boundary ; Crusoe Lake and its outlet that falls into the Seneca the northern boundary ; the Clyde river as it flowed to the Seneca before its channel was changed by the canal, the southern boundary ; while the western boundary consists of the Clyde river there flowing south- ward, and Marsh creek flowing northward into Crusoe Lake. To close the tract and make it an island there is a marsh covered with water a large portion of the time, lying between Marsh creek and the Clyde river. This marsh cannot of course differ much from the level of both the creek and the river, and must have to some extent the features of a bifurcated river, flowing in different directions at different times.
The whole " Island " was evidently a favorite resort of the Cayuga Indians ; very likely a place of residence and thickly populated. The splendid opportunities for fishing and hunting in this region of forest and streams ; its bound-
69
MILITARY HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY.
aries to some extent a natural line of defence, and its central location between Sodus Bay on the north, and the Cayuga Lake region upon the south, must have given it decided advantages, and made it a desirable place of encamp- ment or of permanent settlement.
Fort Hill was undoubtedly strongly fortified and made capable of protracted defence. The fort occupied the highest part of the summit at the northern end. It has been cleared of the ancient forest and been subjected to the leveling process of cultivation. The plow and the harrow have done their work of destruction upon the ancient lines, but the outline of the breastwork can still be fairly traced. The ground was about sixteen rods in its greatest length and eight rods in width, thus comprising from a half to three-quarters of an acre. The general figure is somewhat pear shaped, with the narrow end at the north. A portion of the way the breastwork is still quite distinct. Well in- formed persons who saw it only a few years ago before it was cleared and plowed, describe the breastwork, the ditch and the gateway, as quite prominent. From the south end of the fort down the slopes already mentioned, and dividing them in- to parallel ridges, is a slight ravine which might have formed a covered and protected pathway for friends to enter the fort even though it was hotly attacked, east, north and west.
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.