USA > New York > Niagara County > Outpost of empires; a short history of Niagara County > Part 14
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26
But the American party had strong opposition. Some leaders recognized the danger to freedom in the ideas held by Know- Nothings. In the Niagara Falls election of 1856, James Trott and Peter B. Porter ran on the Anti-American party ballot, opposing Parkhurst Whitney and Theodore Hulett. In the election, although Whitney and Hulett won in Niagara Falls, the rest of Niagara County went Democratic, thus defeating the American party.
The Irish and Germans did not take Know-Nothing attacks calmly. Gangs of Irish workers attacked the people wearing Know- Nothing buttons and hats. In Lewiston they stoned the home of a leading Know-Nothing and got shot at for their trouble. But violence led only to more violence. It settled nothing.
Manchester took time For a time, as the Know-Nothing party was out to celebrate be- coming the village of Niagara Falls getting started, the people of Manchester forgot the Know-Nothing turmoil. In 1848 they took time out to celebrate the incorpo- ration of their village. The name was legally changed from Manchester to Niagara Falls. But villagers could not long forget issues facing the nation.
As the Know-Nothing squabble rose and fell, a more deadly issue took shape. It loomed darkly over Niagara County and soon blotted out local bickerings. Striking deep into the soul of Ameri- cans, the slavery issue nearly destroyed the nation.
The slavery issue divides Niagara County
Strangely enough, the slave issue split communities where most people hated slavery. Before the fire and smoke of civil war ripped the nation apart, the Fugitive Slave Law started arguments in Niagara County. Passed in 1850, this law made it a crime to aid runaway slaves or to refuse to help hunt them down.
How did people feel about obeying the fugitive slave law?
Wherever people gathered they argued whether the hateful law should be obeyed. Many people saw a danger in refusing to obey the law. They foresaw all laws disobeyed and lawless gangs plundering and burning the countryside. But others saw the law chaining men in slavery and those enforcing it as partners of the slave owners.
The underground railroad violated the law The Fugitive Slave Law also aimed a blow at the Underground Railroad, a secret system for aiding runaway slaves. Anti- slave people set up hiding places called "stations" along the way north to Canada. They hid slaves until night; then "conductors" carted them to the next station further north, and so on until the slaves reached Canada. Bordering Can- ada, Niagara County was an important Underground Railroad center. To capture escaping slaves, federal and local officers were instructed to guard bridges leading to Canada. But hundreds of slaves dodged the police and reached freedom in Canada.
87
Some people in Niagara County acted as "station masters" (station operators), or as conductors. They operated stations in Ransomville, Lewiston, Niagara Falls, and Lockport. From Wilson and other places along the lake, small boats set sail at night with a few slaves bound for Canada. Most communities in Niagara County aided the Underground Railroad in some way. Even the Niagara Falls Gazette from time to time published reports of the number of slaves who escaped to Canada.
Tales of exciting escapes have become part of Niagara County's history. One slave was caught in Lake Erie, miles from shore, using a door as a raft. Wave-tossed, exhausted, and half-dead, he clung to the door and his hope of freedom. He was picked up by a lake boat and later made it to Canada. Underground Railroad con- ductors hid slaves in carts, wagons, and boats. They dressed them as women or slipped them into Canada in barrels and crates. Many times slaves reached Canada just in time to escape their owners and the sheriff.
But aiding runaway slaves was a crime. Although people hated slavery, some believed the law should be obeyed or changed. To the average person, however, upholding the law meant favoring slavery. For the public, no middle ground was possible and people in the middle fell under attack from both sides.
Washington Hunt felt Out of the swirl and confusion over the failure to obey would slave law arose the figure of Washington bring war Hunt, Governor of New York. In 1828, at the age of seventeen, Washington Hunt had come to the village of Lockport. He worked as a frontier store clerk and later in the small law office of Lott Clark. In 1834 Hunt began practicing law, handling Clark's cases for the Albany Company, a company that had helped develop Lockport's Lowertown. In 1835 he bought up unsold lands of the Albany Company. Hard-working and honest, he soon prospered along with booming Lockport.
His friends urged him to enter politics and he joined the Demo- cratic party. Shortly after this he held his first political job, that of county judge. But he left the Democratic party because of President Jackson's easy money policy and entered the Whig party. There he rose rapidly. From 1842 to 1849 he was a member of Congress. In 1850 Hunt was the Whig choice for Governor of New York. The convention nominating him was a stormy one; it tore the Whig party apart. Many anti-slave Whigs attacked Hunt's attitude towards the Fugitive Slave Law. But with the help of President Millard Fillmore he won the nomination and later the election, by a narrow vote. As governor, Hunt supported canal improvements
and obedience to the Fugitive Slave Law. In his legislative message, he urged lawmakers to uphold the law, hateful as it was. Failure to obey, he warned, would plunge the country into civil war.
During his term, public hate of slavery rose like a flood, sweep- ing everything before it. Again cunning politicians rode the wave of public feeling into office. But Hunt stood his ground. He lost the election for governor in 1852 by a large vote and was forced from the Whig party. He joined the Know-Nothing party, still hoping to avoid civil war. In 1860 he was chairman of the Constitutional Union party, and in the election he worked to keep New York from voting for Abraham Lincoln as President.
Helping slaves escape from Western New York to Canada.
88
The year 1864 saw Hunt at the Democratic convention, attack- ing Lincoln and demanding peace with the South. He might have felt differently had he been with Niagara County troops in Vir- ginia. Although it meant more fighting, war weary soldiers cast their votes for Lincoln in 1864. With the Civil War raging, many northerners looked upon Washington Hunt as a copperhead. Three years later, in 1867, Hunt died in New York City at the age of fifty-six.
The Civil War comes
On March 4, 1861, a raw wind whipped through the streets of Washington, D.C., lifting dust clouds high into the air. Soldiers squatted on roof tops and at windows overlooking a newly-erected platform. Warned of a plot to kill Lincoln, they studied the crowd massed below for signs of assassins.
Standing on the platform amid a group of officials, Abraham Lincoln took his oath of office. Then the tall, bony man, dressed in black, gave his speech. Bareheaded, his brown hair windblown, he spoke to an uneasy crowd. Seven southern states had already with- drawn from the Union and others tottered on the edge, ready to follow. The question of war loomed darkly in many people's thoughts. And they wondered what the awkward-looking man from Illinois would do about it. They were soon to have the answer.
At four-thirty on the warm morning of April 12, Southern cannons fired at Fort Sumter, South Carolina. Two days later this Union fort in Charleston harbor surrendered and the Northern troops marched out of the ruined fort to waiting boats. President Lincoln called for 75,000 volunteers to put down the Southern rebellion. The Civil War had begun.
How did Niagara help fight the war?
On April 15, the day after Fort Sumter fell, the people of Niagara Falls scattered leaflets in the streets, calling for a rally to save the Union. That evening, citizens flocked to the New York Central Railroad station. General Parkhurst Whitney, aged war- rior of the War of 1812, rose on unsteady feet and urged the crowd to defend the Union. A cheering and yelling throng took his words to heart.
The 28th volunteers was organized
In a short time two patriots of 'Niagara Falls, Theodore Gould and Justin Ware, began to raise a company. When enough men had volunteered, the group was organized as Company I of the 28th New York Volunteers. Gould was made captain and Ware, his lieutenant.
Lockport's citizens also rallied to the call to arms. E. W. Cook and William Bush, local merchants, opened their shops to enlist volunteers. Flags and patriotic signs decorated their shop windows. A small, brightly-dressed band added music to the activity. An excited crowd gathered to watch and to shout praise to the laughing and gay young men who lined up to enlist. Thrilled villagers treated their new volunteers as heroes. No party, dinner, or social gathering was a success without some volunteers present.
Lockport raised four companies, A, B, C, and G, for the 28th New York Volunteers. Cook and Bush became captains. Dudley Donnelly was appointed commander of the 28th Regiment. The whole village was whipped up with excitement over getting the companies outfitted and ready to leave.
Villagers of Niagara Falls and Lockport turned out with speeches, parades, prayers, and tears for their departing volunteers. Wealthy people in Niagara Falls raised $7,000 to support the families of men off fighting. In Lockport a similar group also aided volunteers' families.
The 28th suffered heavy casualties In July, the 28th skirmished with the enemy amid the green hills of Virginia's Shenan- doah Valley. Their attempt to detain the Southern army failed and they straggled out of the Shenandoah into winter quarters in Maryland. Adding to concern over the fail- ure of the campaign was news of troubles back home. The $7,000 raised to care for the families of the fighting men was quickly used up. The families sent letters telling of hardships and rumors that men had to serve only three months. Spirits drooped lower. Finally Colonel Donnelly wrote to the Niagara Falls Gazette and to the Lockport Union urging families not to write any more letters about three-month enlistments.
Winter passed and the 28th made ready for the summer cam- paign. The "Fighting 28th" earned its name on August 9-12, 1862. Invading Virginia, Northern armies clashed with a Southern army commanded by the mighty Stonewall Jackson. At Cedar Mountain, southwest of Culpepper, Virginia, the 28th smashed into a larger Southern force and flung them back. Counter-attacking with rein- forcements, Southern troops hit Union lines.
In the patches of woods near Cedar Mountain, the 28th grappled with the Southern force. Dodging, hiding, firing, the lines moved together. When the fighting became too close for muskets, bayonets flashed in bloody hand-to-hand combat. The woods caught fire. Blinded by smoke, the armies groped for each other. Lines broke into groups, fighting private wars in a sea of green and smoke.
89
Cries of the wounded, fearful of being left to burn, added to the confusion.
When the fighting ended in a Northern withdrawal, few men of the 28th answered muster. Men listened in silence to the roll call and looked around each time a comrade failed to answer. Colonel Donnelly had fallen among the rest. The remaining men formed four companies and in a later battle many of those still alive were taken prisoner.
The 8th New York Heavy Artillery fought at Cold Harbor
While the 28th were in Virginia, Colonel Peter A. Porter of Niagara Falls organized the 129th, later known as the 8th New York Heavy Artillery. Men from all over Niagara
County, and particularly from Niagara Falls and Lockport, flocked to enlist.
In the summer of 1864, the "Bloody 8th" was encamped at Cold Harbor, Virginia, commanded by General Grant and facing the entrenched veterans of General Lee. During the stifling heat of June 1 and 2, poor judgment by high officers delayed the Union assault against Lee. But by sunset of June 2, a vast Northern army prepared to attack.
Expecting a dreadful slaughter, many Union soldiers, including Niagara County men, wrote their names on papers pinned to their uniforms so their bodies could be identified next morning. They wrote their final letters home as the last rays of the sun disappeared behind Southern lines. A cooling rain fell during the night, easing the misery from the stifling heat. It stopped toward morning and the dawn came hot and humid as soldiers made a last equipment check.
As the dawn cleared away the last quiet shadows, the earth trembled as cannon fire tore the morning apart, opening the attack. Then, blue-clad Union troops swept forward across open ground into the crashing shot and shell from Southern defenders. Caught in a cross-fire of artillery and muskets, the blue line staggered and then collapsed. In twenty minutes 7,000 Union soldiers lay broken, bleeding, and dead on the field. Meanwhile, Southern forces, pro- tected by their trenches, lost few men.
After the Union line was stopped those still alive scooped shal- low pits with tin cups and plates. Hugging the ground, they heaped a few inches of dirt between themselves and Southern fire. Any movement to aid the wounded drew a volley of musket fire. The day burned on, and men squirmed at the endless screams of the wounded a few yards away.
With nightfall, Union troops frantically dug trenches. When the sun rose next morning, they were well protected from Southern fire. But it was not until June 7 that a truce allowed troops to bury the dead. By that time the smell of death added to the sickening misery of Cold Harbor. Finally, on June 12, Union forces withdrew.
Cold Harbor, June 3, was a place of death for the 8th Heavy Artillery. Colonel Peter A. Porter, leading his men, fell among the dead. He lay with most of the "Bloody 8th" before the southern lines. The 8th left more men sprawled before the Confederate lines than any regiment except one. More than three-fourths of the regiment died in that twenty minutes. But part of the 8th lived to witness the Southern surrender at Appomattox.
Lockport and Niagara Falls received the news in shocked grief. Not even at Cedar Mountain had so many Niagara County men died. People searched newspaper casualty lists for news of relatives and friends. Citizens talked about the battle in hushed voices, and many families mourned the dead. Many people wondered why the endless slaughter of their young men continued.
Other important men and units left Niagara County to fight. Charles B. Gaskill, a lieutenant with the 44th Infantry, was wound- ed, taken prisoner and released. Colonel Lewis Payne of North Tonawanda, with the 100th, witnessed the surrender of Lee at Appomattox. The 151st and the 2nd Mounted Rifles had many enlistments from Niagara County. Finally, Niagara Falls organ- ized the Porter Guards in memory of General Peter B. Porter, hero of the War of 1812.
Most people at home supported the war
While armies smashed each other to pieces in Virginia, Niagara County showed a strange mixture of patriotism and dis- loyalty. On one hand, groups such as the Patriotic Citizens Fund raised money to help soldiers and their families. The Niagara Falls Soldier's Aid Society even sent Julia Griffin as a volunteer nurse to aid soldiers at the front. Time after time, women's groups made drives to raise money for the troops.
But there was another side to the war at home. While death lists grew longer day by day, some people thought of nothing but enjoying themselves. After the first drop in business passed, the newly-rich people who made money in war production, flocked to Niagara. Newspapers advertised boat rides, outings, and weekend excursions. The famous Cataract, International, and American Hotels in Niagara Falls did a tremendous business. Niagara County was caught up in a whirl of dances and parties. Each party giver tried to outdo the others. Elegant dresses appeared even at small
90
social affairs. Famous visitors like Mrs. Lincoln and her son Robert added glitter to the social life of wartime Niagara County.
While Niagara County men fell in battle, "skeedaddlers" tried to sneak by guards at the bridges to Canada to escape the army. Copperheads, people opposing the war, had small determined groups in Niagara Falls, North Tonawanda, and Lewiston. Moving through the night, they held meetings and nailed posters to trees urging people not to fight. After each Union loss, they appeared bolder. Ex-governor Hunt openly opposed Lincoln. Toward the end, a weary people began to ask themselves if saving the Union was worth the loss of life.
W hat tragedy followed the surrender?
In April, 1865, news of Lee's surrender to Grant at Appomattox reached Niagara County. Wildly happy crowds flooded the streets. A grateful people offered prayers for lasting peace. And when the first troops returned home, Niagara County greeted them with bands and cheering crowds.
A few days later, stunning news ended the rejoicing. A shocked nation learned of the assassination of President Lincoln. Silent crowds streamed into Buffalo as his body lay in state before going on to burial in Springfield, Illinois.
Lockport City and North Tonawanda Village celebrated incorporation
In the midst of this excitement, Lockport celebrated its incorporation as the first city in Niagara County, and North Tonawanda was officially incorporated as a village.
Trouble with Canada and the Panic of 1873 followed war
Why did Fenians fail to achieve their purpose?
Shortly after Lockport city and North Tonawanda village were incorporated, more trouble started along the Niagara Frontier. After the Civil War a secret Irish brotherhood, the Fenians, drifted toward Niagara County. They planned to capture Canada, involve the United States and Great Britain in a war, and so win inde- pendence for Ireland. The invasion of Canada in the summer of 1866 was more like a comedy than a war. A few hundred Fenians landed at Fort Erie and after the "Battle of Ridgeway," they retreated to the United States. The Fenians tried another invasion in 1870, but the United States Government rounded up the ring- leaders and the invasion collapsed.
Why did panic strike?
Between 1865 and 1873 Niagara County enjoyed a boom period which had begun with the war. Business expanded rapidly and people spent money wildly. When the war was over, all looked forward to lasting prosperity. But the day of reckoning came, and the good times came to a sudden end. Banks and business folded and wide-spread unemployment caused hardships among the poor. But by 1875 Niagara County had recovered and was moving ahead in a spurt of new growth. Interest in harnessing the power of Niagara caused a period of industrial growth that in time made the area a world leader in hyro-electric power.
The year 1875 marked the end of a half-century of struggle in Niagara County. During this time the region had changed from a half-settled frontier to a thriving section of the state and nation. Surviving cholera, hard times, Know-Nothings, the slave issue, and the Civil War, it merged to take its place on an equal footing with other parts of the nation.
10. Niagara County reflects national growth
For Niagara County, the half-century before 1875 was a time of growth. In these fifty years a struggling frontier became a settled section of the nation. In the next twenty-six years, between 1875 and 1901, Niagara County played a more important role in national growth. It was no longer concerned only with local prob- lems. In its own way it faced political scandals, tariff issues, labor trouble, Pan-Americanism, and President McKinley's assassina- tion.
Political scandals influence the election of 1876
What scandals weakened the Republican party?
Fraud involving the whiskey tax and Indians caused excitement
Gradually the Panic of 1873 passed and the coming election for President turned people's thoughts toward politics. As the 1876 election neared, the campaign centered around the dishonesty of Republicans in
91
Lumber was an important resource in Niagara County.
office. Republican President Grant, ex-commander of the Union Armies, had chosen some men for office who betrayed his trust. Underhanded deals and outright thievery took place during his years as President. Democratic newspapers used big headlines to report Republican political scandals. Newspapers had front-page stories about inspectors and whiskey makers who cheated the government of whiskey taxes. This gang, known as the Whiskey Ring, was only one of several groups involved in wrongdoing. Another headline scandal involved the Secretary of the Interior, Belknap, and some of his trader friends who cheated the Indians. These scandals, as well as earlier ones, gave Democrats plenty of ammunition for the coming election.
The Canal Ring shocked Niagara County
As political scandals hit the nation, New York and Niagara County were shocked at political dishonesty in their own backyard.
The investigation of canal frauds reached into many communities ; in Lockport it involved some of the leading families in the city.
In May, 1875, excited people read the newspaper accounts of the grand jury indictments against canal officials. The Canal Superintendent, his henchmen, and several others were charged with stealing money from the state. They had made false state- ments about work done on the canal and had charged the state for more hours of work than had really been done. They also were charged with making out payrolls listing men not even working on the canal. When the state had sent payroll money, the Canal Superintendent and his friends paid off the actual workers and kept the rest of the money.
The Canal Superintendent's gang was not the only one mixed up in the canal scandals. Canal Commissioners were also under
attack for fraud. The law said that no commissioner could have any business connections with any company dealing with the canal. But one commissioner's lumber company on Eighteen Mile Creek filled most canal orders for lumber. And his lumber mill used over- flow canal water to run its machinery.
The grand jury indictments had the usually quiet city of Lock- port buzzing. Citizens began to suspect other city officials. Re- publican newspapers stirred up further excitement by printing attacks on the Canal Ring that was led by rival Democratic leaders.
What was unusual about the election of 1876?
As the 1876 election of president drew near, the campaign became more heated. Republicans had to defend President Grant and his dishonest friends. When the Democrats pressed them too hard, Republicans reminded Democrats of the Canal Ring. The Democrats, led by the Lockport Times, pressed the attack and clashed with the Republicans, defended by the Niagara Falls Gazette. Through these newspapers, Democrats and Republicans carried on a running battle in the months before and after the election.
In the summer of 1876 the Republicans chose Rutherford B. Hayes to run for president against Samuel Tilden, Democratic governor of New York. In the weeks before the election, the Times and Gazette pounded each other in a last minute attempt to win votes. On election day, thinking the battle ended, they sat back and waited for the election returns.
But the battle was not finished. Tilden swept Niagara County, but he needed one more electoral vote to win the Presidency. Four states showed two sets of returns, one for Tilden and one for Hayes. The election depended on which set of returns would be counted.
92
The Lockport Times claimed Tilden elected, but the Niagara Falls Gazette was just as strong for Hayes. The final task of choosing the new president fell upon Congress. A special committee of eight Republicans and seven Democrats investigated the returns from the four states. Months passed as the committee fought over the returns. Tilden needed only one more electoral vote, and Hayes needed all the disputed votes to win. When the committee finally reported, every electoral vote went to Hayes. The Democratic mi- nority on the committee could not get one vote for Tilden.
The Lockport Times angrily attacked the report as another example of Republican treachery. The Gazette, meanwhile, was equally strong in its support of the committee. Rumors of mob violence had both newspapers worried. The Gazette made a plea for law and order. Samuel Tilden and Democratic newspapers also urged the people to accept the committee's decision. Although they accepted the result, Democrats bitterly nicknamed Hayes, "Old Eight to Seven."
The Republicans take over county politics
Although Niagara County voted Democratic in 1876, the Re- publicans swiftly regained control of county politics. Four men brought this about-General Benjamin Flagler and Major James Low of Suspension Bridge, and Colonel Timothy Ellsworth and John Merritt of Lockport. These Republican leaders bossed county politics until 1917.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.