Our County and Its People: A Descriptive Work on Erie County, New York (Volume 1), Part 41

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

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The most important feature of change in the town of Clarence be- tween the date of the formation of the county and 1840, as far as related to the agricultural districts, was the influx of German farmers into the northern part of the town. So numerous was this immigration that almost the entire section was soon occupied by families of this nation- ality, whose judicious methods and persistent industry have made it famous for large and excellent crops. Wheat has always been exten- sively raised. The hamlets of Clarence Hollow, Clarence Center and Harris Hill received some accessions during the period under consid- eration. Orsamus Warren, father of the late James D. Warren, of Buffalo, was long a prominent business man in Clarence Hollow; he had a partner at one period and the firm of O. Warren & Co. was well and favorably known. They were succeeded in 1850 by Henry K. Van Tine. The hamlet of Clarence Center, where Robert McKillip owned most of the land in early years, had its inception in the settle- ment of David Van Tine about 1829; he opened the first store and for some years the place was called Van Tine's Corners. When the post- office was opened in 1847 the name was changed to Clarence Center and Mr. Van Tine was the first postmaster. He was succeeded by Robert · Purcell and later John Eshleman held the office. William Riegle was a merchant as early as 1835. Harris Hill, which received its name from the pioneer, Asa Harris, has always been an unimportant hamlet, 45

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excepting for a brief period just after the close of the war of 1812, as before related. The post-office there was not opened until 1847. A German Evangelical church was built there in 1833, and the Presbyte- rians built their first church at Clarence Hollow in 1836 and rebuilt it. in 1879. A Mennonite church was built in 1829 two miles north of Harris Hill under direction of John Lapp. The Methodist society at Clarence Hollow was organized in 1833, and built a stone church in the next year; it was burned in 1872 and the present church erected.

The most prominent settler in the town of Sardinia in the early years covered by this chapter was Dr. Bela H. Colegrove. He was then a young man and located in 1820 at what became known as Colegrove's Corners and later as Sardinia village. Dr. Colegrove was a thoroughly educated physician, the first one in this town, and attained a very high reputation as a surgeon. He was supervisor of the town several years and in 1822 was a member of assembly. In the following year Chauncey Hastings settled near by and soon built a store which made the nucleus of the hamlet. About two years later he erected a hotel and was mer- chant and tavern-keeper for twenty-five years or more. Soon after the settlement of these two men George S. and Thomas Collins built a carding and fulling mill south of the village and in later years estab- lished a woolen factory there. A grist mill and a tannery were built about 1835 by W. W. Cornwell; the mill passed to Bolander Brothers and the tannery to George Martin. Horace Clark had a saw mill in early years which was later owned by J. S. Symonds. The first house of worship in Sardinia village was built in 1825 by a Baptist society. A Methodist society was probably organized before 1840, and built a church in 1842.

Beyond the first settlements before described there was little marked change in the town of Tonawanda until the building of the Erie Canal. In the year 1823 Samuel Wilkeson and Dr. Ebenezer Johnson, of Buf- falo, began the construction of a dam near the mouth of Tonawanda Creek, for the purpose of raising the water and using the creek for the canal from its mouth along the northern border of the present town of Tonawanda and the greater part of Amherst. At that time, or a little earlier, Peter Taylor was keeping a tavern in a log house near the creek crossing. Wilkeson and Johnson also built a toll bridge across the creek and opened a store on the north side in Niagara county. During the year 1823 a Buffalo company was formed, in which Albert H. Tracy, Charles Townsend and others were interested, a large tract

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of land was purchased and the village of Tonawanda was laid out. While the canal was in progress, during the succeeding two years, there was much business activity there; but after its completion in 1825 the temporary excitement subsided and progress was slow for many years. Urial Driggs opened the first store of much account in 1827 and continued in business more than half a century. Joseph Bush was an early merchant, after having served as clerk in the store of Wilkeson & Johnson. Roswell Driggs kept one of the first hotels. A post-office was opened soon after 1823 and Joseph Bush was the first postmaster. Henry P. Smith was the pioneer lumber dealer, and as early as 1840 John Simpson had established saw mills and planing mills. John T. Bush, who had studied law in Buffalo under Henry K. Smith, began practice in Tonawanda in 1836, and in the following year his brother, William T. Bush, opened an office there. Both became prominent in their profession and in politics. Dr. Jesse F. Locke was the first resi- dent physician in Tonawanda, locating in the village about 1838 and continuing until his death in 1860. The later development of business interests is noticed farther on. A Methodist church had been organized but no church edifice had been erected; indeed church building through- out Erie county down to this time had been very backward, and it is quite certain there was none in the county prior to 1827, excepting the Friends' meeting house at East Hamburg. In 1827 the Baptists and Presbyterians of Aurora joined in erecting a frame church, and the Methodists built one there at about the same time.1

In the State legislation of this period is found an act passed April 23, 1829, incorporating the Ellicott's Creek Slack Water Navigation Com- pany, with $5,000 capital stock. The incorporators were Samuel Bud- long, Ebenezer Mix, Oziel Smith, and associates. The company was authorized to maintain slack water navigation in the creek named, by means of locks or dams, from Williamsville to its junction with Tona- wanda Creek.

1 The history of the towns in the county succeeding the period considered in this chapter is resumed and concluded in the Gazetteer of Towns in a later chapter.

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CHAPTER XXIII.

1840 TO THE CIVIL WAR.

Slow Increase in Population as a Consequence of the Financial Crisis-Receipts of Grain-Railroad Communication Eastward-Completion of the Ogden Purchase -Bank of Attica Removed to Buffalo-Beginning and Development of the Elevator System-The First Propeller-Era of Prosperity-Buffalo Board of Trade-Disas- trous Gale-University of Buffalo-Erie County Workhouse-Plank Roads-Growth of Roman Catholic Churches-First Gaslight Company-Buffalo City Water Works Company-Buffalo Police Department-Census of 1850-General Prosperity Through- out the County -- The German Element-The Ebenezer Society-Changes in Towns -Railroads-Lumber and Coal Trade-Shipbuilding-Banks-Increase in Area of Buffalo-Financial Crisis of 1857.

The year 1840 found Erie county with a population of 62,465, and the city of Buffalo with 18,213. One of the consequences of the finan- cial crisis through which the country had just passed is discernible in the relatively small increase in the number of inhabitants in the county from 1835 to 1840 as indicated by these figures. The increase in the city was a little less than ten per cent., and in the county at large only ten and one-fifth per cent. This is the only instance where the census shows a greater increase in the country districts than in the city in any similar period. While another five years were to pass before Erie county fully recovered from the prevailing hard times and entered upon a decade of remarkable prosperity, still there were conspicuous evidences of growth and advancement before that era was reached. For example, the receipts of grain at this port, in bushels, in 1840 were 1,075,988-almost double the quantity received in 1836, while in 1845 the quantity was 1,848,040 bushels, or approximating double that of 1840. At the same time there were received in 1840, by lake, 597, - 642 barrels of flour, against 139,178 barrels in 1836; in 1845 the quan- tity had increased to 746,750 barrels. These figures are significant and although they indicate the growth of only one commercial factor, it will be correctly inferred that other branches of business felt the beneficial influence of rapidly increasing lake commerce.

The first railroad communication eastward from Buffalo was pro-

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vided by the Buffalo and Attica line, which was constructed in 1842 and opened for traffic January 8, 1843. This company was organized prior to 1836, but its operations were postponed by the financial panic of that time. Auburn and Syracuse had been connected by rail since 1838, and Utica with Syracuse since 1839, while in August, 1841, a road was opened from Auburn to Rochester. These were the early- formed links in the great New York Central consolidation of 1853, and greatly facilitated travel and freight transportation to and from the east. Westward travel was still by boat in summer and by stage in winter. This fact inured to the benefit of Buffalo, for passengers were usually detained in the city for a meal or a day, and sometimes, when the roads were bad and weather severe in fall or spring, for several days:

In 1842 was made the final agreement by the Ogden company, per- mitting the Seneca Indians to retain the Cattaraugus and Allegany Reservations, subject to the company's pre-emption right, while the Indians gave up the Buffalo Creek and Tonawanda tracts, upon receipt of their proportionate value, as fully detailed in Chapter I of this volume. The lands thus thrown into possession of the company were promptly surveyed, divided among the members and placed in market. It will be remembered that the old towns still extended to the center of the reservation, so that this newly-opened territory belonged to Black Rock, Cheektowaga, Lancaster and Alden on the north, and to Hamburg, Aurora and Wales on the south. Settlers now began to occupy the territory of Elma and that part of Marilla not included in the previous sales of land by the Indians; but in most of the territory under consideration settlement was slow until after the return of gen- eral prosperity about 1845.

The Bank of Attica, established in that village in 1836, was removed to Buffalo in 1842, mainly through the efforts of Elbridge G. Spaulding,'

1 Elbridge Gerry Spaulding was born in Cayuga county, N. Y., February 24, 1809, and after ob- taining a good English education began studying law at the age of twenty years in Batavia. He settled in Buffalo in 1834 and two years later was admitted to practice in the Supreme Court and in 1889 as counselor of the Supreme Court and Court of Chancery. In partnership with George R. Babcock, and later with Heman B. Potter, he attained a high position at the bar. In 1846 he in- duced the late John B. Ganson to leave Canandaigua and settle in Buffalo, and the firm of Spauld- ing & Ganson was formed, which existed four years, when Mr. Spaulding retired from his profes- sion. In 1852, under a special act of the Legislature, Mr. Spaulding secured the removal of the Farmers' and Mechanics' Bank from Batavia to Buffalo and was elected its president, a position which he filled until his death. He was chosen to fill many high official positions; he was city clerk of Buffalo in 1836; was alderman in 1841 and elected mayor in 1847 by the local Whig party. In 1848 he was elected to the Assembly and in the following year was chosen to represent his dis-

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who was son-in-law of Gaius B. Rich, the owner of the bank. Mr. Spaulding's action was based wholly upon his faith in the future great- ness of Buffalo, a faith which grew stronger throughout his life. The bank was first located in Spaulding's Exchange (still standing), where it remained until 1861. It was reorganized and incorporated under the State laws in 1850, with capital of $160,000, which sum was increased on June 1, 1856, to $200, 000 and again on October 24, 1856, to $250,000.

When in 1840 the receipts of grain by lake at this port had reached the figures before given, it became a serious question with commercial men in the city how to provide adequate facilities for handling and storing the vast quantities that it was foreseen would in future years find their way hither by water or rail. It was quite clear at that compara- tively early date, though many were slow in recognizing the fact, that Buffalo was the key to the commercial situation as far as concerned grain transportation from the west. How much of the wealth and im- portance of the Buffalo of to-day are due to that fact is well known.

The 2, 000, 000 bushels, approximately, received and shipped eastward in 1841 were not handled in Buffalo harbor without much delay and arduous labor. The grain was lifted from the holds of vessels in bar- rels with a tackle, weighed in a hopper with scales swung over the hatchways and then carried into storehouses on the backs of laborers. A day's work with a complement of hands was the transfer of 1,800 to 2,000 bushels, and even this was accomplished only in fair weather. It was this state of affairs that gave to Buffalo the honor of being the birthplace of the first steam grain elevator in the world. The elevator and conveyor principle was invented by Oliver Evans before the be- ginning of the present century, and in 1841' Joseph Dart, who was then in business in Buffalo, conceived the idea of applying the principle, through the aid of steam power, to the transfer of grain from vessels.

trict in Congress. In 1853 he was elected State treasurer. In 1858 he was again elected to Con- gress and re-elected in 1800, serving four years on the Committee of Ways and Means. He was prominent in the organization of the Republican party and foremost in the campaign which elected Abraham Lincoln to the presidency. During the trying period of the war, when it became neces- sary to change the entire currency system and provide enormous resources for the government. Mr. Spaulding drew the legal tender act and the national currency bank bill, which became laws and gave him the title of " father of the greenback." For many years he was eminent as author- ity on financial affairs. In promoting the public institutions of Buffalo and advancing its general welfare, Mr. Spaulding was always among the foremost. His death took place May 5, 1897.

1 Mahlon Kingman, then a forwarding merchant in Buffalo, made an attempt, a few years earlier, to operate a crude elevator by horse-power, but it resulted in failure. Lewis F. Allen and a Mr. Lord constructed an elevator to be operated by water power in 1840 at Black Rock; it had two marine legs, one of which was on the river side and the other in the harbor. The eleva- tor was comparatively successful.

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In the face of many obstacles and discouraged by the usual predictions of failure vouchsafed to the inventor, Mr. Dart began in the fall of 1842 the erection of an elevator building on the bank of Buffalo Creek at its junction with the Evans Canal, on the site of the great Bennett eleva- tor. In comparison with the immense structures of the present day this pioneer elevator was most insignificant; its capacity was only 55, - 000 bushels, but this was doubled three years later and a second marine leg added. The machinery was designed by Robert Dunbar, who per- formed similar service in many of the later Buffalo elevators. The first vessel unloaded by the new method was the schooner Philadelphia, Capt. Charles Rogers; she was laden with 4,515 bushels of wheat, con- signed to H. M. Kinne and George Davis. The first cargo of corn un- loaded was from the South American, Capt. A. Bradley, 3, 145 bushels, June 22, 1843. During its first season this first elevator unloaded 229,- 260 bushels of grain.

The elevator system, on Mr. Dart's plan, was successful from the beginning. Within a month from the completion of the first elevator one of the leading forwarders, who had previously insisted that he and his neighbors would not pay the high rates demanded for steam elevat- ing, offered Mr. Dart' double his regular rates for accommodation in an emergency. In the early days of the steam elevator it was believed that not more than about 8,000 bushels per day could be raised from a vessel and correctly weighed. The first Dart elevator had buckets holding about two quarts each, set twenty eight inches apart; with this arrangement about 1,000 bushels an hour could be elevated. A little later he placed the buckets twenty-two inches apart and still later six - teen inches, until he thus reached a capacity of 1,800 to 2,000 bushels an hour. But that encouraging degree of success appears insignificant to the observer of to-day, who may stand beside a vessel loaded with more than 300,000 bushels of grain, and within twelve hours see it all safely stored in the bins of an elevator with a capacity of 300,000 bushels.'

1 Joseph Dart died September 27, 1879, aged eighty years.

" The second elevator was not built until 1847, when the Evans was erected; it was burned in 1863, rebuilt at once, and again burned in 1864 and rebuilt. The elevator interest continued to in- crease with the growth of the grain trade and soon competition became active and rates were re- duced. This ruinous policy was substantially stopped by the organization in 1859 of the Western Elevator Company (now the Western Elevating Association), which is still in existence, controll- ing and directing the vast system of elevators in the port. William Wells1 was the first presi-

1 William Wells was born in Buffalo in 1806 and was a son of Joseph Wells, who settled in the

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In this connection it is worthy of notice that the first propeller en- tered Buffalo harbor in 1842. She was the Vandalia, built in the previous year at Oswego, and was the first vessel of the kind on the

dent of the company and held the office three years, to be succeeded by P. B. Sternberg, and he by James C. Harrison. In 1866 William H. Abell 1 took the position, and with the exception of two years, during which A. G. Williams held it, was president until the year 1884, when he was succeeded by Charles A. Bloomer, and he by George F. Sowerby in 1890. P. G. Cook has been secretary of the association since 1890. While the Western Elevating Association is in one sense a monopoly with the power and the inclination to enforce uniform and reasonably remunerative rates, it is probable that the entire grain shipping interest has, as a whole, been benefited by its general policy. It has been freely criticised in other parts of the State and attempts have been made, particularly in the winter of 1882-83, to secure legislation for the control and regulation of the business through other means; these attempts have thus far failed. At the present time 3,500,000 bushels of grain can be received and transferred in one day by the combined elevators of Buffalo. Following is a list of all elevators ever built in this harbor :

Dart, built 1842, enlarged 1846, burned about 1863.

Evans, built 1847, burned in 1863 and rebuilt; burned 1864 and rebuilt; capacity, 400,000 bushels. Watson, built 1862, capacity 600,000 bushels; in use.

Merchants' (tower), built 1862; capacity 30,000 bushels.

Reed, built 1847, burned and rebuilt 1859-62, and again burned 1874.

Wilkeson, built 1861, burned September 9, 1862, and rebuilt; capacity 350,000 bushels; in use.

Bennett, built 1864, capacity 800,000 bushels; in use.

Coburn, built 1861; burned September 9, 1862, rebuilt as C. J. Wells in 1863; capacity, 550,000 bushels; in use.

Richmond, built 1868; capacity 250,000 bushels; in use.

Hatch, built 1848; burned and rebuilt as the Marine; capacity, 650,000 bushels.

Lyon, built 1881 on site of Main Street elevator, which was burned in 1865, and rebuilt as the Hazard in 1867; now unused.

Excelsior, built 1862, and burned in 1876.

Sturges, built 1862; burned July 30, 1866, and rebuilt in 1867; capacity, 800,000 bushels; in use.

City A, originally built in 1846; burned November 8, 1859, and rebuilt; capacity, 600,000. City B, capacity, 800,000 bushels; both in use.

Swiftsure, built about 1810; became Sterling's in 1847 and rebuilt in 1862; unused.

Sternberg A, built before 1847; burned and rebuilt 1862; unused. Sternberg B, built 1861 and burned 1883.

Commercial, built 1879; burned February 3, 1882.

Wheeler (formerly Wells), built 1861; capacity, 350,000 bushels; in use.

Niagara A, built 1867; capacity, 800,000 bushels. Niagara B, built 1881, on site of the New York and Erie, which was built in 1862; capacity, 1,200,000 bushels. Niagara C, capacity, 200,000 bushels; in use.

Tifft (formerly Plympton), built 1868; capacity, 350,000 bushels. Hollister, built 1847; burned May 22, 1853.

village in 1802. As a young man William Wells was in the employ of Joseph Dart and later as- sisted in building the first elevator. From that time until his death he was prominently identified with the elevator business. The late Chandler J. Wells and Aldrich Wells were brothers of Will- iam; the former was long interested in building and operating elevators.

' William Hawks Abell was born in Bennington. Vt., January 29, 1814, in which year his parents removed to Fredonia, N. Y. After spending about four years in Texas he settled perma- nently in Buffalo, where he was employed temporarily in the bank of Oliver Lee & Co., and as freight clerk for the Buffalo and Attica Railroad Company. After two years in the latter capacity he engaged for himself in the storage business, in which in connection with commission, trans- portation and elevator business, he continued until near his death. He was a man of excellent character and highly respected.

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lakes. She was built under an arrangement made by Josiah T. Mar- shall,1 of Oswego, and Capt. James Van Cleve with John Ericsson, the inventor, who patented this method of propelling vessels. When the Vandalia arrived in Buffalo, Captain Van Cleve (who had acquired some kind of an interest in Ericsson's patent) made a contract with Robert Hollister,' under which the latter built two propellers in 1842-3; these were the Hercules and the Samson. From this time onward the build- ing of this style of vessel increased rapidly, while the construction of side-wheel craft as rapidly declined.'

In the political field Erie county still had a large Whig majority and the Anti-Masonic movement was almost extinct. In 1842 Millard Fill- more declined re-election to Congress and William A. Mosely, of Buf- falo, succeeded him. In 1844 Mr. Fillmore received the nomination for governor, but was defeated.

In 1845 the population of Erie county was 78, 635, an increase of about 16,000 since 1840. In the city there were 29,773 against 18,213 in 1840. The era of prosperity had begun. Money was in circulation amply sufficient for public needs. Most farmers had nearly or quite

Exchange, built 1863; capacity, 500,000 bushels; in use.

Erie, built 1879; burned August 23, 1882, and rebuilt 1883; capacity, 720,000 bushels; in use. Empire, built 1861, and burned.

Ohio Basin, built 1863-4; burned about 1866.

Buffalo, built 1846, burned about 1870.

Connecting Terminal, built 1882; capacity, 950,000 bushels; in use.

Union, built and now in use with capacity of 180,000 bushels.

Coatsworth, built 1863; capacity, 650,000 bushels; in use.

Besides the foregoing elevators there are now in use the following: The Brown, capacity, 250,000 bushels; Buffalo Lake Shore Transfer, capacity, 90,000 bushels; Coatsworth, capacity, 650,- 000 bushels; Dakota, capacity, 850,000 bushels; Eastern, capacity, 1,500,000 bushels; Erie Canal, burned early in 1897 and rebuilt with capacity of 140,000 bushels; Frontier, capacity 650,000 bushels; Husted, capacity, 75,000 bushels; International (at Black Rock), capacity, 650,000 bushels; Kellogg, capacity, 600,000 bushels; National, capacity, 65,000 bushels; National and Globe Mills, capacity, 100,- 000 bushels; Ontario, capacity, 450,000 bushels; Queen City A, B and C, capacity, 450,000 bushels; Union, capacity, 180,000 bushels; Export, capacity, 800,000 bushels; Great Northern, built of steel, capacity, 2,500,000 bushels; Electric, capacity not yet estimated; all of the last three mentioned will be completed in 1897.

Not mentioned in the foregoing list are the Schreck, the William Wells and the Erie Basin, unused; and the following that have been burned: Corn Dock, September 17, 1865; Grain Dock, in 1861; Wadsworth, June 14, 1878; Excelsior, Hazard, Kinne & Wadham, and Rust & Co.

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Our County and Its People: A Descriptive Work on Erie County, New York (Volume 1), Part 41

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

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