Our County and Its People: A Descriptive Work on Erie County, New York (Volume 1), Part 15

Author: Truman C. White
Publication date: 1898
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 1017

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THE REIGN OF PEACE.

CHAPTER X.

THE REIGN OF PEACE.

Beneficent Results of the Revolutionary War-British and American Treatment of the Indians Compared-Emigration Westward-Early Importance of Fort Erie- Origin of the Name of Buffalo Creek-Miss Powell's Description of an Indian Coun- cil-Rev. Samuel Kirkland's Journal-First Permanent Settler at Buffalo-Col. Thomas Proctor's Expedition-The First Inn Keeper at Buffalo-William Johnston's Title to Erie County Lands-Early Settlers.

We now come to a period in the history of Erie county which was productive of pleasanter scenes and events than those described in foregoing chapters-a period during which the rude reign of war, with its unnumbered terrors, gave place to the gentle sway of peace.

The Revolutionary war, while impoverishing the nation and ruinous to many individuals, was not barren of beneficent results. A large part of the Continental army, drawn from other States, was frequently encamped in or marched through this State. The officers and soldiers thus became familiar with the lands and mingled with the people, mar- ried wives among them, and returning to their homes, gave glowing accounts of the many attractions of this region, thus early exerting an influence to bring hither the adventurous New Englanders.

The treaty of Fort Stanwix (as it is familiarly known) was made Oc- tober 22, 1784, extinguishing the title of the Indians to all lands west of the line fixed by the treaty, and guaranteeing them peaceable pos- session of the territory east of the line.1 In contrast with the course followed by Great Britain, which made no provision for her Iroquois allies, the United States not only gave the Indians lands on which to dwell, but endeavored to guarantee them in their possessions as defined by the treaty alluded to. As late as 1790, when the great sachems, Cornplanter, Half Town, and Great Tree, complained to Washington that they were being despoiled and ill-treated in many ways, they were assured by Washington that their rights should be protected and that

1 See Chap. I.

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the provisions of the treaty of Fort Stanwix should be observed by the white men. They were, to be sure, ultimately forced to give up their lands, but for the time being they had little cause for complaint.

With the close of the war emigration westward assumed considerable activity, many of the pioneers following Sullivan's old route as far as the Genesee River, whence they proceeded to Lewiston. Soon after 1790 a road was opened to the crossing at Black Rock. From Batavia the road followed the high ground on nearly the same course as the old stage road, turning to the right on the hill at York street, Buffalo. Fort Erie was then the business center and the only one in that imme- diate vicinity until after 1800; from there the first settlers drew most of their supplies, communication therewith being principally from the mouth of Buffalo Creek directly across. Most of the western shore of the river from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario was settled and cultivated before the forest was much broken on this side, excepting at the car- rying-place, where the Steadman farm was considerably cleared. From Buffalo Creek a road extended to Black Rock along the beach of the lake, which was in use until after the war of 1812.

The treaty of Fort Stanwix was the first public document in which the name, Buffalo Creek, is found, while the Gilbert narrative applies that name to the creek in writing. A great deal of local historical labor has been expended in efforts to discover the reason for giving the name of the now almost distinct monarch of the prairies to this rather insignificant stream. The chief point in dispute has been as to the buffalo having roamed as far east as this vicinity, thus giving the In- dians inducement to apply the name to the creek. There is at this time no necessity for entering into further discussion of this subject, for it has been, as we believe, conclusively established that the buffalo formerly inhabited this region and was gradually pushed westward, and that his name was adopted for the stream on the banks of which the settlement of Buffalo began.

Some interesting and valuable glimpses of Buffalo and its vicinity, as it appeared between the close of the Revolution and the beginning of the present century, are found in existing records, all aiding in per- fecting the story of the county. A Miss Powell (who was probably a sister of the Captain Powell already mentioned) was on the frontier in 1785. From Fort Niagara she, in company with Mrs. Powell and several British officers, came up the river in boats to Fort Erie, and on the following day attended an Indian council at Buffalo Creek. The real

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interest of her letter centers in her description of this council and its .participants. She wrote:

We saw several chiefs at their toilet as we passed along to the spot where the council was held. They sat upon the ground with the most profound gravity, dress- ing themselves before a small looking glass, for they are very exact in arranging their ornaments. I am told one of these fellows will be an hour or two in painting his face; and when any one else would think him sufficiently horrible, some new conceit will strike him, and he will wash it all off and begin again. . At this meet- ing there were not many of the fair sex. Some old squaws, who sat in council, were present, and also a few young ones, to dress the provisions. . We then went up to a very beautiful spot. The tall trees were in full leaf, and the ground covered with wild flowers; and we were seated on a log in the center, where we could see all that passed. Upwards of two hundred chiefs were assembled and seated in proper order.

After a further description of the proceedings of the council, Miss Powell went into raptures over the manly and dignified appearance of the Indians, and particularly of Captain David, who, she asserted, bowed with more of grace than the Prince of Wales and made the finest appearance she ever saw in her life.

In the autumn of 1788 the missionary, Rev. Samuel Kirkland, went westward through the State to Fort Niagara and Buffalo, keeping his customary journal; but it contains little of local interest. In the fol- lowing brief extracts he touches upon his experiences in Erie county :

Saturday, 25th [of October] .- Left Niagara for Buffalo Creek. Was advised to travel on the west side of the river, as some of the Buffalo Indians were expected to be on their way to Niagara, by way of Fort Erie, particularly the chief, called Skendyoughwatti, and the second man of influence and character among the Senecas at the Buffaloe.

The missionary was detained several days at Fort Erie, not having a pass, for which he was compelled to hire an express to go to Niagara. His journal continues:

31st .- Early this morning reached the capital village on the Buffaloe. The chief sachem, called in English, Farmers Brother (alias Oghwaiyewas), immediately sent off runners to the Onondaga and Cayuga settlements, and assembled the Indians be. fore noon, when I was introduced and delivered my message [concerning the treaties for their lands] and continued in council with a small number till near midnight.

Mr. Kirkland returned east just before the close of the year.

In 1789 the county of Ontario was erected from Montgomery, em- bracing substantially all the territory west of Seneca Lake.

At about the date under consideration (1789) and certainly before 1791, the first permanent settler located at Buffalo. This was Cornelius

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Winne (Winney), a Dutchman who migrated west from the Hudson River country. He built a small log store on the site of Buffalo and began trading with the Indians; it stood at the foot of the hill which then descended towards the creek from the site of the Mansion House. Captain Powell had an interest in Winney's store. It should be remem- bered that the site of Winney's store was about four miles from the prin - cipal Seneca, village, but scattered huts stood all the way down the creek to Farmer's Point, as it was termed, where Farmer's Brother lived. In giving Winney the honor of being the first permanent white settler, it is not forgotten that William Johnston was there for a consid- erable time much earlier; but he can scarcely be considered then a per- manent resident. There is slight evidence also of a negro named Joseph Hodge, or "Black Joe," being established as a trader on Cat- taraugus Creek in 1792, and he may have been there a few years earlier.

In April, 1791, Col. Thomas Proctor was sent on a westward mission by the War Department, to pacify the Indians in the West (against whom St. Clair was then preparing to move). The Indians were con- tinuing depredations on the frontier and it is believed they received en- couragement in their deeds by the British, who still held the frontier posts. Proctor visited Cornplanter's villages on the Allegany, whence he proceeded to the Cattaraugus settlement, accompanied by Corn- planter and many of his warriors; from there he followed down the beach to Buffalo Creek, where he made efforts to induce the Senecas to use their influence to stop Indian hostilities in the West. At that time Red Jacket had risen to an influential position, and when he heard Proctor's purpose stated in a council, he questioned his authority. This Proctor substantiated, and on the following day Red Jacket de- declared his determination to remove the council to Niagara. To this Proctor demurred, and the Indians compromised by sending there for Colonel Butler. Two or three days later Butler arrived at Winney's store and requested the sachems and head men to meet him, which they did on the 4th of May. The details of the council proceedings and other negotiations are of little interest here; it need only be stated that Proctor made preparations for his expedition farther west, and was overjoyed when Red Jacket arose and announced that the women had decided, after proper consultation, that the sachems and warriors must aid the commissioner and that a number of them would accompany him to the West. But obstacles appeared. The British officer, in command opposite Fort Niagara, refused Proctor's request

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to be taken on a British merchant vessel up Lake Erie, the chiefs re- fusing to go in an open boat. Moreover, Red Jacket had to be bribed; he wanted liquor for a big dance before the departure; his house needed a floor; he wanted a special allowance of rum for his wife and mother -also a little for himself. All these things were perforce supplied by Proctor, but, as stated, the expedition was abandoned and Proctor left for Pittsburg on the 21st of May, after having passed nearly a month at and near Buffalo. Proctor gives us no description of the settlement, but in his journal of the day of his departure for Pittsburg, he made the following entry :

Settled with Mr. Cornelius Winney for liquors, etc., had for the Indians occasion- ally, 25, 5s, deducting thirty-two dollars for a horse sold to him, bought of Mr. Maxwell at Tioga. Also gave a white prisoner that lived with said Winney, nine pounds four and a half pence.

A man named Hinds Chamberlin visited Buffalo Creek in 1792, and wrote as follows:

We arrived at the mouth of Buffalo Creek the next morning. There was but one white man there. I think his name was Winney, an Indian trader. His building stood first as you descend from the high ground. He had rum, whiskey, Indian knives, trinkets, etc. His house was full of Indians. They looked at us with a good deal of curiosity. We had but a poor night's rest. The Indians were in and out all night, getting liquor.1

As early as 1794 William Johnston took up his residence in a block - house which he erected near Winney's store, at the mouth of Buffalo Creek on land procured from the Indians, as described farther on. At about the same date Martin Middaugh, a Dutch cooper, and his son-in- law, Ezekiel Lane, settled near Johnston in a log house which they built with his consent. Middaugh and his brother had previously kept a public house at Lewiston. Somewhat later Middaugh left this log house and "squatted " on the south side of Buffalo Creek, above the foot of Main street, probably with Ellicott's consent, and remained there until his death in 1825.ª

In the year 1795 there was at least one public tavern at Buffalo It is probable that a man named Skinner kept some kind of a public

' Ketcham's Buffalo and the Senecas, Vol. II, p. 128.

* It is believed that Middaugh left no male descendants. The descendants of Lane claimed the land on which Middaugh lived on the west side of the creek ; and their contest with the heirs of Mr. Ellicott, or those who claimed to be the legal owners, gave rise to what was known as the " Middaugh land suit," which occupied our courts for many years, and was finally decided ad - versely to the heirs of Middaugh .- Ketcham's Buffalo and the Senecas, Vol. II, p. 134.

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house there as early as that; he certainly did a little later. John Palmer built his public house in 1795 and opened what may be consid- ered the first regular inn. It was at this house that the French duke, De la Rochefoucauld-Liaincourt stopped in 1795, while on a journey through this region. On his way to the Seneca village he staid over night and left the following record of his experiences:

We at length arrived at the post on Lake Erie, which is a small collection of four or five houses, built about a quarter of a mile from the lake.

We met some Indians on the road and two or three companies of whites. This encounter gave us great pleasure. In this vast wilderness a fire still burning, the vestiges of a camp, the remains of some utensil that has served some traveler, ex- cite sensations truly agreeable, and which arise only in these immense solitudes.

We arrived late at the inn, and after a very indifferent supper, we were obliged to lie upon the floor in our clothes. There was literally nothing in the house; neither furniture, rum, candles nor milk. After much trouble the milk was pro- cured from neighbors, who were not as accommodating in the way of rum and can- dles. At length some arriving from the other side of the river [Fort Erie], we sea- soned our supper with an appetite that seldom fails, and after passing a very com- fortable evening, slept as soundly as we had done in the woods.

Everything at Lake Erie, by which name this collection of houses is called, is dearer than at any other place we visited, for the simple reason that there is no direct communication with any other point.

Some were sick with fever in almost every house. ·

Palmer must be recorded as the first regular tavernkeeper at Buffalo. He was appointed one of the seven pathmasters west of the Genesee River in 1801, and remained at Buffalo until 1802, as shown by a public record which mentions the road leading "from Batavia to the mouth of Buffalo Creek, near John Palmer's house." He married a daughter of Lewis Maybee, whose home was a few miles below Black Rock on the Canada side. After her death he married her sister, who went back to her parents after her husband's death and kept what was long known as Mother Palmer's tavern.

Sylvanus Maybee was a brother of Lewis and in 1796 kept a little store in a log building on the west side of what is now Main street, about twenty rods north of the Exchange street line.1

William Johnston was the first land owner at Buffalo and for a num- ber of years was the most prominent man of the place. He was re- spected by both white families and Indians and died in 1807. His con-

1 Mr. Maybee bought inner lot 35 in 1804, but did not long remain in the place, removing to the mouth of Cattaraugus Creek soon after 1800. The lot passed to James McMahan. The May- bees were then from Canada and probably originally from the Mohawk Valley.

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nection with land titles at Buffalo was peculiar. The fact has been stated in Chapter I that the New York reservation excluded the Hol- land Company's boundaries from the waters of Niagara River, and from the shore of Lake Erie one mile southerly from the river; it therefore became an object of importance for the company to secure a landing-place and harbor at the mouth of Buffalo Creek, with land on which to found a village. Johnston had procured from the Indians, by gift to his son by a niece of Farmer's Brother, a tract of two square miles of land which included the site of the city of Buffalo. He also made an agreement with the Indians under which he became possessed of a certain mill site about six miles from the mouth of the creek, with timber land adjoining, on condition of his supplying the Indians with plank and boards for their buildings near by. Johnston, of course, had no title in law, but the Indians showed an inclination to insist on the tract being included in their reservation, unless a compromise was made with Johnston. Under these circumstances the Holland Company made an agreement with him, which was fulfilled, under which John- ston agreed to surrender his right in the two square miles of land and to use his influence to induce the Indians to leave this tract and the mill site out of their reservation, while the company agreed to convey to John- ston 640 acres, including the mill site and timber lands, with forty-five and a half acres of the two square mile tract which would include the buildings and improvements then owned by Johnston, four acres of which was to be situated on "the point." These lands, as afterwards definitely located were bounded north by Seneca street, west by Wash- ington street, and south by the Little Buffalo Creek, containing forty- one and a half acres; and another tract bounded east by Main street, southwesterly by Buffalo Creek, and northwesterly by Little Buffalo Creek, containing about four acres. Johnston's house was situated on the larger tract on what became outer lot 94 of the original survey, near a spring.1

A foot note in Ketcham's work, from which we have quoted, gives the following information regarding Johnston, which is of importance in this connection :

Since the publication of the first volume of this work, the author has visited an aged lady, a sister of the late Colonel Warren of Fort Erie, for the purpose of ob- taining more authentic information in regard to Capt. William Johnston. She says

' This spring was ultimately purchased by Mr. Le Couteulx, with a surrounding lot, the lot ex- tending diagonally across Exchange street to the Little Buffalo Creek (Hamburg canal).

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he was a half brother of Col. Powell, who after the close of the revolutionary war. resided on the Niagara river below Fort Erie. The mother of Col. Powell married a Col. Johnston, and William Johnston was a son by this connection, and was an officer under the British government. Col. Powell died at an advanced age, a few miles from Fort Erie. It is probable that Capt. Powell spoken of in the " Narrative of the Gilbert Family," who married Miss Jane Moore, and the Col. Powell spoken of by Mrs. Hardison, the aged sister of Col. Warren spoken of above, is the same in- dividual, and the house of Capt. Powell mentioned in the journal of Col. Proctor in 1791, was at the place it is said by Mrs. Hardison Col. Powell resided.

The campaign of Anthony Wayne, begun in 1794, in which the western Indians were wholly subdued, together with the tardy surren- der by the British of Fort Niagara and other posts in July, 1796, taught the Indians as a whole that their best future policy was to cultivate friendly relations with the Americans. From that time forward there was little to complain of in their general conduct.

It was not until July 4, 1796, that Fort Niagara and other frontier posts were finally and fully surrendered by the British. Down to that time the relations of the people on either side of the boundary had not been cordial and the peculiar situation without doubt had a tendency to retard settlement at many points.

In that year the little cluster of houses to which the name "Lake Erie " was beginning to be applied, received an important addition. Asa Ransom, who had removed from Sheffield, Mass., in 1789 and set- tled at Geneva to carry on his trade of silversmith, took his wife and infant daughter and journeyed westward to Buffalo, where he built a log house on the terrace near the site of the liberty pole. There he continued the manufacture of ornaments for the Indians and such other articles as he could sell. Another daughter was born to this family in the fall of 1797, who was the first white child born on the soil of Erie county, so far as known, and the first in this State west of the Genesee River, outside of Fort Niagara. This daughter subsequently became the wife of F. B. Merrill, who was an early clerk of Niagara county. Mr. Ransom did not long remain at Buffalo, as noticed farther on.

The first general agent of the Holland Company was Theophilus Cazenove. Preparatory to placing their lands in market, he, in 1797, employed Joseph Ellicott as chief surveyor to lay out the tract on the plan described in Chapter I. Mr. Ellicott had already surveyed a tract in Pennsylvania for this company.' In the the fall of the year just

1 Thomas Butler wrote for Turner's History of the Holland Purchase as follows: In 1797, dur- ing a vacation in college, I came home to Niagara. Joseph Ellicott, a surveyor named Thompson,

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JOSEPH ELLICOTT.

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named he came on westward with six or eight assistants, accompanied by Augustus Porter, who was employed as a surveyor by Robert Mor- ris. To first determine the number of acres in the purchase they started at its northeast corner and followed the shore of Lake Ontario to the Niagara, thence up the river to Lake Erie and along that lake to the west boundary of the State. It was on this journey that Mr. Ellicott first saw and appreciated the desirability of the site at the mouth of Buffalo Creek for a village or a city.

The surveying campaign began in earnest in 1798, for which elabo- rate and extensive preparations were made. There were eleven sur- veyors besides Mr. Ellicott, each provided with a corps of assistants. A part of the force under John Thompson came by way of New York and westward over the customary route to Buffalo, where a part of the outfit was left for use on the western part of the purchase, while the remainder was taken to Williamsburg, on the Genesee, where a sur- veyors' storehouse had been established. These two points were the first principal stations and depots of the surveyors; but before the close of 1798 the principal headquarters was made at the Transit Line (which was surveyed by Mr. Ellicott in person), at the point then known as the Transit storehouse. After running the east line of the purchase Mr. Ellicott remained most of that season at Buffalo Creek, where there was a cluster of cabins that had been called "Lake Erie"; this appellation was dropped when the survey began and the name "Buffalo Creek," or New Amsterdam, was transferred from the Seneca village to which it had previously been applied. During the years 1798-99 surveying went on briskly, and during the first named year Mr. Elli- cott never lost sight of his purpose to make room for a city at the foot of Lake Erie. The arrangement with Johnston described in this chap- ter was largely the result of his efforts in this direction. While that arrangement gave Johnston his mill site on Scajaquada Creek, it left the site of Buffalo largely open to sale and improvement; it made the north boundary of the Buffalo Creek Reservation, instead of being ex- tended due west along the line of William street and striking the State reservation near Fourth street, as would otherwise have been the case, turn a little east of East Buffalo (so called) and run southwest to the creek and thence to the lake.

and six or eight others were just starting from Schenectady with bateaux on their way to the Holland Purchase. I came in company with them. I found Mr. Ellicott a very agreeable travel- ing companion. Our route was via Oswego and Lake Ontario .- Turner.

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In the list of lot buyers in New Amsterdam for 1804 appears the name of William Robbins. He was a blacksmith and settled there as early as 1798, his shop being situated at one time on the west side of Main street.

When Mr. Ellicott moved the headquarters of the surveyors to the Transit storehouse in 1798, James Brisbane, who was his principal clerk and agent, followed and continued in the same capacity. He first saw the settlement at Buffalo in that year and from personal statements made by him Mr. Turner drew the following picture of the place at that time:

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Our County and Its People: A Descriptive Work on Erie County, New York (Volume 1), Part 15

Author: Truman C. White Publication date: 1898 Publisher: Number of Pages: 1017

Author: Truman C. White
Publication date: 1898
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 1017