USA > New York > Erie County > Our county and its people : a descriptive work on Erie County, New York, Volume I > Part 16
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In 1800 the survey of the purchase into townships was finished and a number of these were divided into lots. While in the East in this sea- son Mr. Ellicott had handbills printed, with a heading, "Holland Company West Geneseo Lands," in which he eloquently described the region and announced that it was ready for sale. He had already been appointed local agent. Paul Busti, who had succeeded Cazenove as general agent, conducted the affairs of the company with ability for twenty-four years.
The following quaint description of early Buffalo was written by William Peacock, who was a venerable citizen of Mayville at the time Mr. Ketcham published his well known work. Mr. Peacock passed through Buffalo on horseback in 1799:
The Indian path passed down to Buffalo creek about the middle of Main street, to the Terrace, on which was erected a log cabin, or house, covered with bark, and oc- cupied by Johnson, a descendant of Sir William Johnson.
ready, a part of the house being used for an office. Colonel Asa Ransom was for many years an active and enterprising citizen of the county; he was sheriff before the division of Niagara county and died in 1837, aged seventy years, respected by the community. Two of his brothers came into this region about the same time with him. Elias Ransom built a frame house on the road to Batavia about seven miles east of Buffalo, which was probably the first frame building west of Batavia ; in later years he resided in Buffalo and left numerous descendants. Amasa Ransom settled on Seneca street, Buffalo, at a later date and left a family of children.
1
129
THE REIGN OF PEACE.
A little above where the Liberty Pole now stands, and on the bank of the Little Buffalo Creek, now part of the Erie Canal, there was erected a log cabin, about twelve feet square, covered with bark, and standing about in the center of Main street. It was occupied by a Mr. Palmer, a young man, and was his storehouse, where he vended his small stock of Indian goods.
In passing down along the Indian path, (now Main street), to the Terrace, the land was covered with a very thick underbrush, small timber, and some large old oak trees; and the underbrush and small timber so overshadowed the path that, when our saddle-bags touched a bush, we would be completely drenched with rain after a shower.
There was a little cleared spot on the Terrace bank on which is now erected the Western Hotel. That little spot was covered with a green sward, on which the Indians, on a fine day, would lie and look off from the high Terrace upon Lake Erie; I must say that, to me, it was one of the most beautiful views I ever put my eyes upon. Coming out of the woods, it burst on my vision the large and beautiful sheet of water, Lake Erie; and there I offered up my prayers to God, the creator of all things, and to that Providence which guarded and protected me, young as I was- being then only nineteen years of age. It made an impression on me that will always remain, with most devout and religious remembrance.
The arrival of the Holland Company's surveyors at Buffalo Creek has been mentioned. It was a numerous company as a whole, the members of which were distributed over the vast tract to be surveyed. Those selected for Buffalo were Messrs. Pease, Smedley and Eggleston.
From the foregoing pages of this chapter it will be seen that Buffalo and the territory now comprising Erie county had not progressed far in settlement and civilization at the beginning of the present century.
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In the mean time the vanguard of the pioneers from New Jersey, the New England States and Eastern New York appeared and settled at other points on the frontier in the old Niagara county. Silas Hopkins was buying furs at Lewiston in 1788 and afterwards settled on a farm on the Ridge road. It is on record that in 1788 there was only one white resident at Lewiston, one Middaugh, who kept a tavern; he was doubt- less one of the men of that name who came to Buffalo, as before stated. John Street, father of the late Hon. Thomas Street, had a trading place at Niagara, Canada, in 1790, and was later murdered near Warren's Corners. In 1792 a traveler westward from Boston described the country through which he passed. Of the Genesee country he said it was very rich, clear of trees, producing grass ten feet high. Coming on to Niagara, a distance of ninety miles, he found "not one house or white man the whole way." The reader will note that this was years after the close of the Revolutionary war. Arriving at Fort Niagara he crossed the river, where he found a decent public house. A regiment was gar-
17
130
OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.
risoned there which he said " had the honor of dancing Yankee Doodle on the plains of Cambridge, 19th of April, 1775." He alluded to the comparatively easy task of cutting a ditch twenty three miles and con- structing a lock by which a water course could be opened to carry com- merce "through an extent of country capable of maintaining several millions of people."
In 1791 there was not a house on the site of Youngstown. In that year Joshua Fairbanks began keeping a tavern at Queenston and made his house a popular resort ; later he moved to Lewiston.
CHAPTER XI.
1800-1807.
Beginning of Commerce on Lakes Erie and Ontario-Conditions in the First Years of the Century-Tax Roll of 1800-The First School in Buffalo-Cyrenius Chapin's Negotiations for Land-Ellicott's Removal to Ransom's Grove-Gen. Wilkenson Lays Out a Road-Efforts to Establish a Fort at Black Rock-Settlers in Newstead -Genesee County Formed-Difficulty in Selling Land-Brighter Prospects-The First Murder in the County-Survey of New Amsterdam-Changes in Street Names -First Town Meeting on the Holland Purchase-Opening of the Middle Road-Dr. Chapin and Other Early Settlers in Buffalo-Prices of Land-Rev. Theodore Dwight's Description of the Village-Samuel Pratt's Arrival at Buffalo-First Post Route-Organization of Willink and Erie-Settlers Outside of Buffalo-The First Lawyer-First School House-Settlements in the Towns.
Almost contemporaneous with the beginning of permanent settle- ment along the Niagara frontier incipient commerce was opened on Lakes Erie and Ontario. The journal of Colonel Proctor (whose ex- pedition has been noticed) states that the English had several vessels on Lake Erie in 1791; it was in one of their merchant craft that he at- tempted and failed to obtain passage westward. It is well known that Judge Augustus Porter, who first visited Niagara Falls in 1795 and a few years later became a permanent resident there, left valuable records of early commercial operations on the lakes. At the time of his first visit he was advised by William Johnston, at Buffalo, to go down to Chippewa, where he could take passage westward. At Chippewa Cap- tain William Lee owned a small sail boat in which he carried passen-
131
FROM 1800 TO 1807.
gers to Presque Isle, provided the travelers would work their passage. Judge Porter, Judah Colt and Joshua Fairbanks of Lewiston, took passage on those terms and had a pleasant voyage. At that time (1795) Judge Porter states that he was not aware that a single vessel was owned on the United States side of the lakes. In 1796 he made another journey westward in connection with the survey of the Western Reserve. This surveying expedition reached Buffalo and thence proceeded partly overland and partly by water, arriving at the mouth of Conneaut Creek July 4, 1796. The record continues :
One of our four boats was employed during the season in bringing up provisions from Chippewa, and in October was wrecked in a gale off the mouth of Chetauque Creek. No American vessels had yet been built. The schooner General Tracey was built at Detroit, and in 1808 purchased by Porter, Barton & Co. and thoroughly repaired, and on her second or third trip was wrecked on Fort Erie reef in 1809.
A small vessel, the Good Intent, was built at Presque Isle by Capt. William Lee, about 1800, and was wrecked near Point Abino in 1805. In 1802 or 1803 the schooner General Wilkenson, of seventy tons, was built at Detroit, and sold to the United States during the war. In the win- ter of 1802-3 the schooner Contractor was built at Black Rock and sailed by Capt. William Lee. In 1803-4 a small sloop called the Niagara was built at Cayuga Creek on the Niagara River by the United States government, but not put into commission. Porter, Barton & Co. pur- chased her in 1806, and changed her name to the Nancy. In 1806 the schooner Mary, one hundred and five tons, was built at Erie by Thomas Wilson, and sold to the United States during the war. In 1810 the sloop Erie was built at Black Rock and sold to the United States. The schooners Salina and Eleanor were built and sailed before the war. A number of vessels owned and armed by the United States during the war, were afterwards sold and employed in the commerce of the lake.
The reader will understand from what has already been written that at the beginning of the present century only limited progress had been made in Western New York in any respect. It was still largely an unimproved wilderness, aside from the several rude frontier settlements on the Niagara River. Previous to the arrival of the Holland Com- pany's surveyors, white men in civilian dress were not often met. That survey brought in a new element, created a certain kind of business activity, and gave employment to all who applied for it. The elder Captain Mountpleasant made the following pertinent statement to Mr. Turner:
132
OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.
As soon as the surveyors had taken possession of "Bill Johnston's house at Buffalo creek," he (Mountpleasant) applied to them for employment, and was axe-man for one of the parties the first season. Mr. Ellicott used to be called the "Sur- veyor General." Whiskey distilleries in early times were quite sure to follow settle- ment, but seldom preceded it. There was a distillery at Schlosser, while the country was in possession of the British, and one of the first applications that Mr. Ellicott had for lands, came from one who dated his letter at Schlosser, and wished to turn out a copper still as the advance payment.
The following tax roll is the first one made for the territory west of the Genesee River (then all included in the great town of Northampton), and is dated October 6, 1800. It is valuable in this connection, for it contains the names of most of the settlers before mentioned and gives the assessed valuation and the tax of their respective lands. It appears that there were not more than twelve taxable dwellers at that time on the purchase; in Buffalo are found only the names of Johnston, Mid- daugh, Palmer and Lane. About fifteen names are missing from the first page of the roll :
Value of Real and Personal Estate.
Am. Tax
Value of Real and Personal Estate.
Am. Tax
Curtis, William $ 30
$ 06
Ganson, John, jr. 1,640
2.10
Carter, William
94
18
Ganson, James 12
02
Chamberlin, Hinds
284
40
Griffith, Eli
658
98
Curtis, Augustus
500
61 Hencher, William
1,036
1.64
Curtis, Jonathan 387
54
Hicks, Samuel
44
09
Campbell, Peter.
52
09
Heth, Reuber
40
09
Chapin, Henry 3,000
6.50
Hunt, Elijah
68
14
Chapman, Asa
112
23
Harris, Alpheus
72
15
Cumins, Joseph
20
04
Hall, Friend
200
30
Conatt, Samuel 38
06
Hunt, Joseph
64
13
Chamberlin, Joshua 60
12
Hopkins, Timothy 42
09
Cary, Joseph
948
1.61
Hayne, John
50
11
Coots, Timothy
396
54
Hawley, Chapman
112
18
Dugan, Christopher 1,306
1.63
Hall, Gilbert
370
52
Douglas, Cyrus
78
14
Hoit, Stephen
153
34
Davis, Daniel
572
72
Jones, H. John 140
Davis, Garret
350
45
Jones, Elizabeth
153
24
Davis, Bela
105
22
Johnson, Moses 800
1.07
Davis, Samuel
312
37
Johnson, William
2,034
3.50
Ellicott, Benjamin
600
71
Kith, M. Michael
42
09
Fish, Josiah
1,516
1.86
Kimball, John
700
1.03
Farewell, Elisha
288
37
Kent, Elijah
96
14
Fuller, David
80
12
Lane, Ezekiel
114
24
Forsyth, John.
330
43
Laybourn, Chris-
Granger, Eli
100
14
topher 470
62
Goodhue, George
176
20
Lyon, John
40
08
23
133
FROM 1800 TO 1807.
Value of Real and Personal Estate.
Am. Tax
Value of Real and Personal Estate.
Am. Tax
Leonard, Jonathan __
40
06
King, Simeon
40
10
Lewis, Seth
60
14
Hender, Stephen
12
02
Mills, William
714
94
Ransom, Asa
410
61
Mills, Lewis
72
16
Erwin, John
428
96
Mills, Alexander
80
19
Woolman, John
162
36
Mills, Samuel
250
30
Philips, William
30
07
Morton, Simeon
50
11
Carver, John 316
40
Mading, Timothy
128
16
Eli, Justin
5,000
9.91
McCloning, John
40
09
Barnard, Ebenezer
1,950
3.87
McCloning, John, jr ._
12
02
Phelps, Enoch
4,437
8.80
Middaugh, Martin
45
09
Hartford, Charles 2,333
4.62
Mayle, Lewis
30
09
King, Gideon (heirs)_ 4,500 Hinkley, Samuel
8.92
Mulkins, Henry
54
11
Stone, John 5,000
9.91
Nettleton, Philemon _
592
80
Wadsworth, James __ 34,500
68.38
Morgan, Joseph
870
1.11
Williamson, C. and
others 34,500
68.28
McPherson, Dan
100
22
Gilbert, Warren 2,190
2.60
Patterson, Lawrence
500
90
Colt, Judah
1,320
2.61
Pebody, Stephen
86
18
Morris, Thomas
4,200
8.32
Palmer, John
482
72
Hall, Amos 700
1.38
Pangman, William
300
66
Holland Company,
3,300,000
5,231.62
Redford, John
130
19
Williamson, Charles
155,150
307.41 .
Stimson, Leonard
52
11
Williamson & Phelps
100,000
219.14
Stoughton, Amaziah_
164
21
Craigie, Andrew
50,000
73.96
Sheffer, Peter
4,260
5.36
Ogden, Samuel.
50,000
109.57
Scott, Isaac
1,108
1.45
Cottinger, Garrit
50,000
109.57
Shelly, Phiros
150
18
Church, Philip
100,000
219.14
Scott, Salmon
796
95
Unknown
27,210
59.41
Scoonover, Jacob
731
1.00
Leroy & Bayard
82,000
179.68
Thompson, Adriand- ner
30
Phelps & Jones sup- 07
Utley, Asa
901
1.17
posed to be owned
Olmstead, Jeremiah .
120
29
by Thomas Morris 40,960
89.36
Wilber, Charles
60
31
Joseph Fitts Simmons
Walther, Frederick __
488
68
Joseph Higby
600,000
1,314,84
Wemple, Henry.
27
17
42
10
Total
$4,785,368
8,387.11
King, Thomas
30
07
NOTE .- Many of these names were wrongly spelled on the roll, but have been corrected as far as postively known.
The first steps towards establishing a school in Buffalo were taken in
-
M'Naughton, John
48
11
Quivey, Norton
70
15
Rhau, Alexander
85
12
Stimson & Jones
200
29
Leroy & Bayard 40,000
87.66
84
19
134
OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.
1801, as shown in Mr. Ellicott's journal. In August of that year Joseph Palmer, brother of the tavernkeeper, acting for the inhab- itants, applied to Mr. Ellicott for a lot on which to build a school house. On the 14th of that month Mr. Ellicott recorded the following in his journal :
Went to Buffalo Creek, "alias" New Amsterdam, to lay off a lot for a school house, the inhabitants offering to erect one at their own expense.
No deed of this lot was given and probably no school house was built, at least of any permanent character, until several years later, as noticed farther on. During a part of that period the Middaugh house, or a portion of it, was used for a school.
Mr. Ellicott's journal supplies also the information that two mission- ary preachers were at New Amsterdam as early as January, 1802, and that one of them, Rev. Elkanah Holmes, preached to the settle- ment at least once, a year earlier. The other missionary was named Palmer, but he probably passed the place merely as a visitor, leaving to Mr. Holmes the honor of being the first preacher to settle there.
Dr. Cyrenius Chapin made a journey to Erie county in 1801 and had some negotiations with Mr. Ellicott in relation to purchasing a lot in Buffalo. After his return from the east he wrote Mr. Ellicott from Sangerfield, Oneida county, saying that himself and friends would buy a township at Buffalo Creek, adding :
Forty respectable citizens that are men of good property have signed articles of agreement to take a township if it can be purchased, and will pay ten per cent. when we receive the article.
The land not having been surveyed the proposition could not be en - tertained. 1
John Crow was probably one of the above named "forty." He moved from Whitestown to Fort Erie and thence to Buffalo in 1801-2. He occupied a house on the west side of Washington street and south side of Crow near the corner. The house was said to have been built by Johnston, the trader, and was of logs. Crow built a frame addition to it. The street on which the house stood was subsequently given its present name, Exchange. He also kept Crow's tavern, elsewhere men- tioned. Crow removed to Hamburg in 1806, and thence to Pennsyl- vania in 1817.
1 Ketcham's Buffalo and the Senecas, Vol. II, p. 143.
135
FROM 1800 TO 1807.
Zerah Phelps was probably another of the associates mentioned by Dr. Chapin; in June, 1804, he purchased inner lot No. 1. Henry Chapin must have been in Buffalo as a resident as early as 1801, for in March of that year he asked the privilege of Mr. Ellicott of cultivating vegetables on a lot on the south side of Seneca street.
Mr. Ellicott's appointment as local agent for the sale of the Holland Company's lands dated from October 1, 1800, and in January, 1801, he located his office in part of Asa Ransom's dwelling at what is now Clarence Hollow.1 He did not well like his situation, but philosoph- ically made the best of it. He wrote in his journal on February 17 as follows :
My present situation is gloomy, for the want of society, our nearest neighbors be- ing eighteen miles distant. On the 26th he records: " Last night lodged at this house upwards of forty people, men, women, and children, moving principally, or all, to New Connecticut [Eastern Ohio] and Presque Isle.
Under the date of March 24 is found this remarkable entry :
Some drunken Indians here; but this is hardly worth recording, as these people are seldom sober when whiskey can be had in sufficient quantity to make them other- wise. However, there is one circumstance worthy of mention and that is, one of them is on his way from his village to Canandarque to replevin a gun which he had pawned at a still-house in that place for whiskey to the amount of five shillings. His whole journey on account of this five shillings costs him two hundred miles travel. ยบ
In May of this year (1801) Gen. James Wilkenson arrived on the western frontier of the State, with a commission to open communica- tion by land between Lakes Erie and Ontario, and a party of survey- ors and soldiers to aid him. He sought Mr. Ellicott's counsel in the matter. Anticipating that the work might cause dissatisfaction among the Indians, he wrote that he hoped Mr. Ellicott and General Chapin would "prevent any obstruction from that quarter." The route was located as it afterward existed, and Wilkenson directed Major Porter, then in command at Fort Niagara, to employ the soldiers of the garri- son to open the road. This was accomplished in the season of 1802 as far as the brow of the mountain at Lewiston and thence to a mile west of Tonawanda Creek, and bridges were built over that stream and Cayuga Creek. The timber was cut down, but not removed, and the road remained in that condition until 1809, when Joseph Lan-
1 Mr. Ellicott dated his letters promiscuously "Pine Grove," "Ransom's Grove," "Ransom- ville," as his fancy dictated at the time.
2 Ketcham's Buffalo and the Senecas, Vol. II pp. 146-49.
136
OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.
don, Peter Vandeventer and Augustus Porter were appointed commis- sioners for its further improvement, under an appropriation by the Legislature of $1,500. While Wilkenson was on the frontier he located the site of a fort at Black Rock, and the general government applied to the State Legislature for a cession of land for that purpose. This was refused and the fort was not built, thus augmenting the defense- less condition of the frontier in the war of 1812.
In the summer of 1801 John Thompson, the surveyor, built a saw mill on the site of Williamsville, and a blockhouse for a dwelling. The latter was subsequently covered with clapboards and a large frame upright added to it, in which condition it stood until recent years. The mill, if started at all, was soon abandoned.
On the 3d of November, 1801, Asa Chapman made the first contract for land in the town of Newstead (township 12, range 3), which was then just ready for sale. Chapman took lot 10, section 8, the price for which was $2. 75 per acre. He probably did not settle on the land, as he was living in Buffalo a little later. In the same month Peter Van- deventer took four lots in sections 8 and 9 (Newstead), built a log house in 1802, and opened a tavern, which became a popular resort. Timothy Jayne also purchased in that town in this year; Otis Ingalls was already settled there, and Orlando Hopkins and David Cully located either in 1801 or 1802. In the closing month of the year Gov. George Clinton commissioned Asa Ransom a justice of the peace; this was the first appointment of a white official in Erie county.
Genesee county was formed from Ontario in 1802 and included all of the State west of the Genesee River. Northampton was divided into four towns, one of which was Batavia, which included the Holland Purchase and the reservation along Niagara River. Batavia was made the county seat, and Mr. Ellicott removed there the same spring. The fame of the region was gradually extending and settlement began. There was some difficulty at first in disposing of the Holland Com- pany's lands on account of the demand for ten per cent. cash; the price set was $2.75 per acre. Many who wished to buy had very little or no money; others who could pay this advance were reluctant to do so upon land which would at once demand time and expense to clear. On this subject Mr. Ellicott wrote :
If some mode could be devised to grant land to actual settlers, who cannot pay in advance, and at the same time not destroy that part of the plan which requires some advance, I am convinced the most salutary results would follow.
137
FROM 1800 TO 1807.
Moreover there was active competition between the Holland Com- pany and the sellers of land on the Western Reserve, at Erie, in Can- ada, and in other parts of New York State, which delayed settlement in Erie county. There is great difficulty, indeed it is practically im- possible, in many cases to give the names of the first settlers in various parts of the county, excepting as they were discovered by earlier writ- ers and placed on record in print, as the books of the Holland Com- pany show only the names of those who agreed to purchase land; these were not, in many instances, actual settlers. The first record of a pur- chase in the county, made in the regular course of settlement, is under date of March 12, 1801, when Christopher Sadler took a contract, or " article," as it was termed, for 234 acres on lots 1 and 2, section 6, town 12, range 6; the tract was about a mile east of Clarence Hollow.
The Holland Company records are unreliable also as to actual set- tlers, from the fact that soon after lands were placed in market the practice began of placing on the books the names of men who paid one dollar with the understanding that at any time within a year they could make a first regular payment and take their article. Under this arrangement speculation 'began to some extent, men paying the dollar and hoping that during the year they could sell at a profit. In a few instances, also, persons settled in the county without purchasing land. But from the Holland Company's books, with records in the Erie county clerk's office, and the memory of early settlers who gave infor- mation to Ketcham, Turner and others, a reasonably full account can be made of the progress of settlement.
Others besides Mr. Sadler who took land in 1801 were John Hains, Levi Felton and Timothy S. Hopkins before mentioned.1 Mr. Hop- kins came into the county in 1799 and took charge of Johnston's saw mill, before mentioned, which was then the only one in the county.
Mr. Ellicott evidently was anxious and disappointed at the slow sales of land. While he had anticipated that the natural advantages of the region and the favorable terms offered would cause a rapid influx of settlers, he had not taken into consideration the scarcity of money. On December 4, 1801, he wrote as follows from " Pine Grove" to Mr. Busti:
I have made no actual sales this fall where the stipulated advance has been paid. I begin to be strongly of the opinion you always expressed to me (but which I must
1 See sketch of Gen. Timothy S. Hopkins in Vol II.
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138
OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.
confess I rather doubted), that few purchasers will come forward and pay cash for land in a new country. 1
However, with the opening of another year the prospects brightened, and Mr. Ellicott informed the agents that many settlers were preparing to establish their homes as soon as the spring opened. This was under date of Ransom's Grove, February 14. The list of the settlers of the year in what is now Clarence includes the names of Gardner Spencer, Abraham Shope, John Warren, Frederick Buck, John Gardner, Re- solved G. Wheeler, William Updegraff, Edward Carney, and Elias Ransom. In the same year land in township 12, range 5 (Newstead) was charged to John Hill, Samuel Hill, William Deshay and possibly a few others. Nearly all of these became settlers and all located on or near the old Buffalo road.
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