USA > New York > Erie County > Our county and its people : a descriptive work on Erie County, New York, Volume I > Part 20
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BUFFALO, October 20, 1809.
Hon. A. Gallatin :
SIR-During the last session in Congress I noticed the passing of a resolution for instructing the committee on commerce and manufactures to inquire into the ex- pediency of removing the custom house in the district of Niagara and Buffalo Creek from Fort Niagara to Lewiston, and from Buffalo to Black Rock. I have since un- derstood that Col. Peter B. Porter, member from this State, was the mover of the resolution. That there may be reasons for removing the custom house in the former place I do not deny, but to remove the latter at this time, I think would be highly improper. Believing that I am correct in my opinion, and believing also that to remain silent on the subject would be a neglect of duty which I owe to you, the head of the Revenue Department, I hasten to communicate a brief statement of facts for your consideration.
The village of Buffalo, where the custom house is now kept, is situate near the mouth of Buffalo Creek, and at the outlet of Lake Erie. It is a good harbor for boats. Vessels often lie off at the mouth of the creek and receive loading. The place is fast increasing in population and business. It already contains forty-three families, besides a number of young gentlemen who aré centered here in professional and mercantile pursuits.
It is the seat of justice for the County of Niagara, and has a handsome Court house and Jail nearly completed. Most of the importations heretofore from Canada have been made by the citizens of this place. Its situation for obtaining informa- tion of what is passing in the district is superior to any other place.
Black Rock is opposite the rapids in Niagara River, and is only two and a quarter miles from the center of the village of Buffalo, as the road now goes.
The land for a considerable distance below and above Black Rock, is owned by the State of New York, and no law is yet passed for the selling of it. A Mr. Miller has built a temporary house at the Rock, under the bank of the river, where a ferry house and tavern are kept.
Messrs. Porter, Barton & Co. have built a store on the Rock; one other white family and two black families compose the inhabitants of the place. About three- fourths of a mile below the rock there are two other families living on land belong- ing to Messrs. Porter & Co.
The vessels employed in the navigation of Lake Erie, when in port, lie at the
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head of the rapids in the Niagara River, and a little below a reef of rocks called Bird Island. At this place they receive and discharge their loading by boats. The distance of this place from Black Rock is one mile, and from Buffalo one and three- fourths miles; making the difference in favor of the former only three-fourths of a mile. The land opposite Bird Island is owned by the State. There is some busi- ness done on the lake in open boats. These uniformly use the harbor of Buffalo Creek.
I cannot say but in time it will be expedient to remove the Custom house from Buffalo, but at present I do not conceive there is any necessity for, or propriety in, the measure.
I have no private motives or personal interest in opposing the measure, for should I be continued as the Collector, I could as well do the business at Black Rock as at Buffalo, provided I could buy a piece of land on which to build an office, and not be- come a squatter on other's land.
I will only observe that the foregoing statement is founded on facts, and I pledge myself to prove it by unquestionable testimony if necessary.
I have the honor to be sir, with great respect, your obedient, humble servant,
ERASTUS GRANGER.
It is a pleasure at this late date to know that Mr. Granger's appeal was heeded and the port of entry remained for a period at Buffalo.
Farther on the same subject we have the following from the pen of Henry Lovejoy, written at about the same time:
Save a few houses on Main street, four or five on the lower end of Washington street, and seven or eight on the lower end of Pearl street, one unbroken and primeval forest cast its shadow over and around the whole extent, relieved only by a little ray of light where the entrance to Buffalo creek revealed to the eye a glimpse of the broad expanse of Erie's waters. The lake shore above and below the mouth of the creek was one continuous arbor of trees covered with the native grape vine and so thickly were they matted together that it was no difficult task to pass from one to another on their tangled surface. This natural arbor continued down the beach some distance below the mouth of the creek, when one came to what were called the Sand Hills; they rose abruptly from the back part of the beach, some of them to a height of forty or fifty feet, and were covered on the back with full sized forest trees to the summit; in front they were nearly barren. Between the Sand Hills and the Terrace was a dense forest, except a narrow strip called the Cranberry Marsh. The Sand Hills continued down to near Fort Porter.
Upon Turner's authority it is stated that the first religious meetings in Buffalo were held in the court house, and in 1809 the first society was organized by the Congregationalists and Presbyterians who united for the purpose, under direction of Rev. Thaddeus Osgood. Amos Callen- der was a leading member and promoter of the church, but there was no regular preacher until later.
In the same year the peculiar curve which disfigured one side of
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Main street in front of the lot taken by Mr. Ellicott, as before noticed, was straightened, probably by authority of the highway commissioners of the town of Clarence, who then had jurisdiction over such matters in the village. Surprise has often been expressed that Mr. Ellicott, with the influence that he then undoubtedly possessed, did not prevent this action, if he so desired. He had already procured stone for the building of a large residence; but the fact remains that the street was made straight and the stone used in building the new jail. The lot was not subdivided and sold until after Mr. Ellicott's death.
Although two years were still to elapse before the opening of a con- flict in which this county was to be most deeply interested, the clouds of the oncoming storm were already rising above the horizon.
CHAPTER XIII.
JUST BEFORE THE WAR.
Continued Immigration-Census of 1810-Erection of the Town of " Buffaloe"- Holland Company's Sale of Rights in Indian Territories-Completion of Court House and Jail-Settlers in Buffalo in 1810-11 -- The Firm of Townsend & Coit -- Grosvenor & Heacock-Removal of Custom House-Surveys of Black Rock -- The Old Ferry-Its Removal to Ferry Street-A Moral Society-Settlement in the Various Towns-Characteristics of the Pioneers-The Buffalo Gazette-Division of Willink-Erection of New Towns-Preparations for War.
While the inhabitants of Erie county, in common with those of all the northern frontier, heard with dread and apprehension the first faint whispers foreshadowing another conflict with England, there is no evidence that they turned aside from those pursuits that were just beginning the transformation of the wilderness to cultivated farms, and the establishment of the foundations of a city. Although it must have been apparent to all that a war with England would bring suffer- ing and possible bloodshed to all dwellers along the frontier, the tide of immigration flowed on, and during the two and a half years from the date reached in the preceding chapter until the actual outbreak of the struggle, rapid progress was made and some important occurrences took place within and near Erie county.
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The United States census taken in 1810 shows the population of Ni- agara county to have been 6,132, of whom about two-thirds were within the present Erie county ; while according to Judge Granger's record there were forty-three families and a considerable number of unmarried persons in Buffalo village. The old town of " Buffaloe " was erected on February 10, of that year, comprising within its limits all of the orig- inal Clarence lying west of the West Transit; or, to make it more clear, it comprised what are now Buffalo city and the towns of Grand Island, Tonawanda, Amherst and Cheektowaga, and the north part of West Seneca. The new town was about eighteen miles in extent north and south, and from eight to sixteen miles wide.
It was in this year that the Holland Company sold their pre-emption right in all the Indian reservations on the purchase to the Ogden Com- pany. The territory embraced about 196,000 acres, and the price was $98,000, or about fifty cents an acre. The court-house and jail were also completed in 1810, and the judicial and official machinery of Niag- ara county was set in motion. The jail stood a little north of the first court-house on Washington street. It was built of stone and withstood the flames in 1813, to such an extent that it was repaired after the war and again used.
During the period under consideration the population of the village of Buffalo received considerable accession and its business interests were materially advanced. While a few lots were sold in Black Rock in this year, and a few stores built and opened, the purchases were quite nu- merous in Buffalo, which was soon to outstrip its early rival and ulti- mately to swallow it bodily. The Holland Company's records show that in 1810 William Best, Asahel Adkins, Asa Coltrin, Eli Hart, John Mullett, Gamaliel St. John, and Nathan Toles purchased lots in Buffalo. Mr. St. John was, perhaps, in the village prior to 1810, for the record shows that he purchased inner lot 53 (on what is now Main street above Court) on January 24, of that year. It was on that lot that he built the dwelling which escaped the torch of the British in 1813, as related farther on.
Asa Coltrin was a physician and at one time a partner of Dr. Cy- renius Chapin. John Mullett, who purchased inner lot 10 (east side of Main street, second lot south of Swan) was a tailor and had a partner in James Sweeney; that lot was later occupied by Sweeney & Efner, who were long the leading tailors of the village and were succeeded by Thomas Kennett.
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JUST BEFORE THE WAR.
Eli Hart purchased inner lot 41 (corner of Main and Erie streets) September 1, 1810, built a store and early became a merchant; by sub- sequently taking his brother in law into partnership the firm became Hart & Lay. A daughter of Mr. Lay married Charles Ensign.
Oliver Forward, a brother-in-law of Erastus Granger, arrived prior to 1810 and occupied a small one-story wooden dwelling on Pearl street at what subsequently became No. 102; in an addition to that building he acted as deputy postmaster and collector of customs for Mr. Granger. The dwelling was burned in the war and Mr. Forward, in 1814, built a double two-story brick building on the site; it was for some time con- sidered the finest residence in the place. The post-office and custom collector's office were opened in the northern half of the building. Mr. Forward succeeded Judge Granger as collector and later was appointed associate judge of the Court of Common Pleas. He died in April, 1832.
Ralph M. Pomeroy about 1810 erected his afterwards famous hotel on the northeast corner of Main and Seneca streets. That was inner lot 7, which he purchased of Samuel Tupper; his hotel was opened in 1811. Raphael Cook was in Buffalo as early as 1810 and leased a building and opened a public house therein on Main street opposite Pomeroy's. "Cook's Tavern" became a celebrated hostelry and was the scene of many public meetings He left Buffalo when his house was destroyed at the burning, but returned after the war and opened a tavern on the site of the present "Tifft House." The old building occupied by him stood many years, and was known as the "Old Phoe- nix Hotel." Mr. Cook continued its proprietor until his death, April 15, 1821.
The medical profession in Buffalo received several accessions during the period under consideration. Among them was Dr. Josiah Trow- bridge, who began practice across the river in 1810, but at about the time of the beginning of the war removed to Buffalo where he practiced nearly half a century. A part of this period he was associated with Dr. Cyrenius Chapin. Dr. Daniel Chapin also settled in Buffalo at about this time and became a determined rival of Dr. Cyrenius Chapin. Of their many spirited controversies and encounters the reader will learn something in later chapters.
The arrival in 1811 of Charles Townsend' (afterwards well known as
1 Mr. Townsend was born in Norwich, Conn., on January 22, 1786. After his arrival in Buf- falo he was engaged with Mr. Coit in the transportation business until 1821. In 1813 Mr. Town- send was appointed a judge of Niagara county and administered the duties of the office with 22
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Judge Townsend) and George Coit, who came from Norwich, Conn., where they had been fellow clerks in a drug store, was an important one, particularly from a business point of view. Being possessed of means they established a drug store on Main street, on the site of the old Eagle Hotel. In the following spring they purchased the lot extending from Main to Pearl, corner of Swan; there, on the site of Townsend Hall, they built their store and Mr. Coit's residence. They sold their drug business in 1818 to Dr. John E. Marshall, father of O. H. Mar- shall. They then engaged in storage and forwarding in buildings erected by themselves at the foot of Commercial street. Subsequently they joined with Sheldon, Thompson & Co., who removed to Buffalo from Black Rock after the completion of the Erie Canal, and a great busi- ness was built up by them under the name of the Troy and Erie Line. The firm dissolved in 1844.
Abel M. Grosvenor arrived in Buffalo in 1811 and purchased inner lot 28, running through from Main to Pearl streets just south of Swan street. He was accompanied by Reuben B. Heacock,1 and they opened a store on Main street, nearly opposite the lot just mentioned, under the firm name of Grosvenor & Heacock. Each of these men married the sister of the other. Mr. Grosvenor left the city about the last of 1812 and died soon afterward.
The first hat manufactory in Buffalo was established in 1811 by the firm of Stocking & Bull (Joseph Stocking and Joseph Bull) on inner lot 11, corner of Main and Seneca streets; their store was on the Main street front and their factory on Washington street. When
ability until 1826. He was one of four (the others were Mr. Coit, Samuel Wilkeson and Oliver Forward) who mortgaged their property to the State in 1821 to procure a loan of $12,000 with which to improve the Buffalo harbor. For his uprightness of character, his sterling ability, and his unblemished business career Judge Townsend gained the high respect of his fellow citizens. He died September 14, 1847.
George Coit was born in Norwich, Conn., June 10, 1790. He was a man of great public spirit and unbounded energy, and in all the public affairs of Buffalo for about half a century he was always found among the leaders. As a member of the business firm before alluded to lie con- tributed largely to its success and was in full sympathy with his partner in the honorable busi- ness methods which characterized the firm. To him as well as to Judge Townsend was due much of the early progress of commerce on the lakes. Mr. Coit was an unostentatious man and never sought public station of any kind. He was a member of the Buffalo Historical Society, the Buffalo Board of Trade, the Water Works Co., and other local organizations. He was a member of the First Presbyterian church more than forty years.
1 Reuben B. Heacock continued among the honorable business men of Buffalo for many years and exercised a large influence in the county politically and otherwise. He was elected to the Legislature of the year 1826; was one of the foremost in organizing the hydraulic company, which afterwards utilized the waters of Buffalo Creek for milling purposes, and he was active in all good works. His death took place in 1853 and he left well known descendants in the city.
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their establishment was burned in 1813, they removed the manufactur- ing part of their business to Canandaigua and supplied their store from there.
Heman B. Potter 1 arrived in Buffalo from Columbia county probably in 1811 and began a somewhat distinguished legal career of half a century. A contemporary of Mr. Potter was John Root, locally well known as " Counselor Root," who settled in Buffalo about 1810. He practiced many years and acquired a reputation for witty repartee more than for legal learning.
Daniel Bristol, one of the earliest master builders in Buffalo, was in the village as a resident as early as 1811 and erected many of the early structures. He was father of C. C. Bristol.
As nothing had yet been done towards improving Buffalo harbor, President Madison, under date of March 16, 1811, issued a proclama- tion removing the port of entry for the Buffalo district to Black Rock, in pursuance of an act of Congress dated March 2, which provided that "the office of the Collector of Customs for the District of Buffaloe · Creek shall be kept at such place or places in the town of Buffaloe as the President of the United States shall designate." The office was located at Black Rock from April 1 to December 1 of each year, and at Buffalo the remainder of the time.
This was a triumph for Black Rock, and, while it caused temporary discouragement and dissatisfaction at Buffalo, it soon spurred forward the most energetic citizens to construct a harbor to which there could be no new rival and which was destined to be one of the most capacious and safe on the lakes.
It is pertinent to state at this point that the State Mile Strip, to which several references have been made, along Niagara River from near the foot of the present Genesee street, was laid out into farm lots of about 160 acres each. On the south side of Scajaquada Creek four lots were laid out and adjoining them a lot of 100 acres called the "ferry lot," which has already been mentioned. The triangle formed by a line running from a point where the south line of the ferry lot struck the mile line to the river, was to be reserved for military purposes, should it become necessary. The remainder of the Mile Strip, ex- tending on a curve to the village of Buffalo, was to be surveyed into a village plat and called Black Rock; this was afterwards generally
1 See Chapter XXX for biography.
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OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.
known as Upper Black Rock. The four farm lots above men- tioned were purchased by Porter, Barton & Co., in association with a few others and surveyed in 1811 into a village plat, and to distinguish it from the one above mentioned, it was called Lower Black Rock. 1
The old ferry at Black Rock was in use in Revolutionary times and according to Charles B. Norton's paper, read before the Buffalo His- torical Society in 1863, the ferry was operated at an early day by one Con. O'Neil, who lived in a hut near the rock, in which he awaited the approach of passengers. We quote from Mr. Norton's paper as follows:
In the year 1800 there was a tolerable road over the site of the present Fort street, leading to the river margin over a flat or plateau of land about 200 feet in width. Upon the northern extremity of this plateau there was a black rock, in shape of an irregular triangle, projecting into the river; having a breadth of about 100 feet at the north end and extending southward and along the river for a distance of 300 feet, gradually inclining to the southeast until it was lost in the sand. The rock was four or five feet high, and at its southern extremity it was square, so that an eddy was formed there, into which the ferry boat could be brought, and where it would be beyond the influence of the current. From the rock, teams could be driven into the boat over a connecting lip or bridge. The natural harbor thus formed, was almost perfect and could not have been made with the appliances of art a more complete dock or landing place for a boat.
Frederick Miller 2 had charge of the ferry for several years after
1 Horatio Jones and Jasper Parrish, both of whom were Indian captives in early life, were ap- pointed Indian interpreters after their release, which followed the treaty of peace between the United States and the Six Nations. During their captivity and the subsequent period of their service as interpreters, these two men gained the friendship of the Indians to such an extent that, in 1798, at a council of the Six Nations, held at Genesee River, it was decreed that a present should be made them. This present comprised two square miles of land, which was described in a speech on that occasion by Farmer's Brother as follows:
"Two square miles of land lying on the outlet of Lake Erie, beginning at the mouth of a creek known as Suyguquoydes, running one mile from the Niagara river up said creek, thence northerly, as the river runs, two miles, thence westerly one mile to the river, thence up the river, as the river runs, two miles to the place of beginning, so as to contain two square miles."
This speech was intended as a communication to the Legislature of the State, asking its co- operation in making the gift, which request was granted and the title confirmed. The village of Black Rock is situated upon a portion of the Jones and Parrish tract. Horatio Jones died in 1836, aged seventy-five years; Parrish died in the same year, aged sixty nine years.
2 Frederick Miller came to reside at Black Rock at a very early period. His name appears as the first licensed ferryman at Black Rock ferry, when the State first began to exercise jurisdic- tion over it in 1805-06. He kept the ferry and a tavern at the ferry landing until 1810, when he re- moved to Buffalo. He remained, however, but a year, when he removed to Cold Spring, where he kept a tavern. During the war he removed to Williamsville, where he remained until his death, in January, 1836. Mr. Miller served during the war of 1812 in the capacity of major of artillery. He was an uneducated man, but an energetic and useful officer. He left a large fam- ily of children; Mrs. Gen. Heman B. Potter was a daughter; the late Capt. William T. Miller and Capt. Fred S. Miller were his sons .- Ketcham, Buffalo and the Senecas.
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1806, and Lester Brace, who had visited the frontier on business in 1807, was its manager previous to the war of 1812, probably succeed- ing Miller. After peace was declared Mr. Brace opened a tavern and resumed charge of the ferry, which was closed during part of the con- flict, and continued until the opening of the Erie Canal rendered its removal necessary. It was taken to the foot of Ferry street and in 1826 Donald Fraser 1 and Mr. Brace leased it and placed a horse boat in operation, which their license from the State required them to do. Mr. Brace journeyed to Albany and brought back the necessary ma- chinery for the boat. It was simply a large wheel turning in a hori- zontal plane, on which were cogs communicating power to the main shaft. A horse walked on the surface of the large wheel. The first steamboat on the ferry was used by James Haggart, who leased the ferry in 1840.
The enterprising firm of Porter, Barton & Co. began their first trans- portation business over the portage around Niagara Falls in 1807, and just before the breaking out of the war built a large pier a little below Bird Island, where all of their vessels loaded and unloaded freight; after the war their docks below the rapids were used. General Porter settled at Black Rock in 1810. In 1812 S. Franklin was keeping a tavern at Black Rock, which he advertised to let. It stood nearly op- posite the large residence built by General Porter, which is still stand- ing and where the late Lewis F. Allen lived many years. Where in 1807 " there were no buildings in the vicinity, except the Porter, Barton & Co. warehouse, at the foot of Breckinridge street; a house which Nathaniel Sill had built on Auburn street, and a log hut on the site of Albany street,"2 a considerable settlement had grown up by the year 1812; a number of lots had been sold in 1810, but the population was then small.
It was in 1811 that a certain " Moral Society" was founded in Buffalo to which a mere allusion has been made. The following notice is self- explanatory :
1 Major Fraser was aid to General Porter at the siege of Fort Erie, when his gallartry re- ceived flattering commendation in the dispatches of the general to the commander-in-chief. He was afterward on the staff of General Brown; subsequently served at Niagara, and at a later period acted as secretary to General Porter, while engaged in establishing the boundary between the United States and Canada.
2 Paper read before the Buffalo Historical Society by Charles D. Norton in 1863.
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OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.
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