USA > New York > Pioneer history of the Holland Purchase of western New York : embracing some account of the ancient remains > Part 52
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 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69
THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY
Asta, LOmer a a Tiden
1
-
CREHEN
OF WM ENDICOTT & CO N Y
Loris de bordento
L
501
HOLLAND PURCHASE.
$20 per acre; and for parts of inner lots 87 and 88, (35 feet,) $175. No other sale in that year. In 1820, J. D. Hoyt, paid for outer lot 69, $30 per acre; Ralph M. Pomeroy, for outer lot 70, $35 per acre. There were but four sales in this year. In 1821, M. A. Andrews paid for inner lots 202 and 203, $200; for outer lots 120, 121, 127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 132-in all 79 acres-$25 per acre. Roswell Chapin for inner lot 133, $250. Sally Haddock, for 33 acres, outer lot 28, $150. Ebenezer Johnson, for lots 100 and 102,-one acre -$200. Moses Baker, for lots 23 and 24, $400. Gilman Folsom for lot 198, $150; under a stipulation, to have "a framed house built in one year." Avery C. Tiffany, for lot 201, $180; was to erect a "brick house." John Rickard and Isaac Hampton for lot 199, $150; were to build "a framed or brick house, immediately."
About the middle of September, 1821, under the new agency of Mr. Otto, and a policy differing from Mr. Ellicott's with reference to conditions of sales, occupation, improvements, &c .; and with the prospect that the Erie Canal would terminate at Buffalo; a new impetus commenced; sales of lots were brisk. Before the close of the year, 91 lots were sold; the prices of inner lots ranging from $80 to $250; outer lots from $12 to $17 per acre. In 1822 there were 64 sales made; in fact, all that remained of the original plat of New Amsterdam; the prices not varying materially from those cited of 1821. A large portion of the original plat of New Amsterdam was sold in the nine months, ending June Ist, 1822.
LOUIS STEPHEN LE COUTEULX.
Louis Stephen Le Couteulx de Chaumont, was born at Rouen, in France, on the 24th of August, 1756. He was the only son of Anthony Le Couteulx, a counsellor at law, and delegate to the Parliament of Normandy. He was the head of the eldest branch of the Le Couteulx family.
This family, which originated in Normandy, was ennobled in 1505, on account of some service rendered the government, with the privilege, usually denied to the nobility, of engaging in com- merce. It always enjoyed high distinction and formed many
NOTE. - All that part of the city lying east of Ellicott Street, (which runs northerly and southerly about ten rods east of the Court House, ) and all north of Chippewa Street and south of Terrace, were denominated onter lots by the Holland Company, and sold, by the acre
502
HISTORY OF THE
alliances with distinguished families in France, particularly with that of La Fayette.
He was destined for the magistracy; having no taste for that occupation, entered the commercial house of his relations, who had establishments in France and many other parts of Europe.
Understanding the English and Spanish languages, he was sent to London and Cadiz, where he passed several years.
In September, 1786, he married, in Paris, Miss Clonet, whose father held an honorable office in that city. She was a niece of General Touzard, who came to America with General La Fayette, during the Revolutionary war, and lost an arm in our service. This did not prevent him from remaining in the employ of our government until his death, which occurred in 1811.
Immediately after his marriage, Mr. Le Couteulx was sent to the United States to negotiate a settlement of accounts with the house of Robert Morris. He arrived with his wife at New York on the 15th of December, 1786, and repaired to Philadelphia, whither his business called him. Having arranged the accounts with Mr. Morris, and being pleased with this country, he rented a house in Trenton, New Jersey, where he remained until the July following. He then purchased an estate in Bucks county, near Philadelphia, of about two hundred acres, called " La Petite France."
Wishing to become a citizen of the United States, he made his first declaration on the 7th day of July, 1787, and eventually obtained his certificate of naturalization.
The climate of this country not agreeing with his wife, he accompanied her to France the 17th of October, 1789, with his two sons, and returned alone to Philadelphia, the 17th of February following.
He was among the first who introduced merino sheep into the United States, having imported a pair from Spain, in 1789, which he presented to Robert Morris. They were sent from Cadiz by the house of Le Couteulx, not without great difficulty and risk, as the Spanish government had forbidden their exportation under severe penalties.
Having arranged his business with Mr. Morris, and being fond of traveling, he set out on horseback, accompanied with a servant, and visited the greater part of the United States. This occupied him two years, a part of which time he spent among various tribes of Indians for the purpose of studying their manners and customs
503
HOLLAND PURCHASE.
During this sojourn among the Indians, he was adopted by the Senecas. He wrote an interesting journal of his travels which unfortunately has been lost.
After finishing his travels, he established himself in business at Albany in the spring of 1795, where he continued to reside for many ycars.
He set out in the month of September, 1800, with a large quantity of merchandize destined for Detroit, where he had determined to reside, in case he found it a good market for his goods.
The usual route of travel to Detroit at that early period, was by way of Fort Niagara, Fort George, and Queenston to Chippewa, and Fort Erie, where shipping could be obtained direct to Detroit.
On landing at Fort George on the 7th day of October, 1800, he was arrested by the English, on suspicion of being a French spy, and sent prisoner to Quebec, where he endured a rigorous captivity from the 4th day of November, 1800, until the 29th day of July, 1802, when he was released in consequence of the ratification of peace between Great Britain and France.
During his detention, strenuous exertions were made by his friends to procure his release, and the Government of the United States in vain claimed his discharge as an American citizen.
His affairs experienced sad derangement during his long captivity, but with what he could save from the wreck of his fortune, he soon after purchased from the Holland Company several lots in the then village of New Amsterdam-(now Buffalo.)
Mr. Le Couteulx came to reside in Buffalo in the year 1804, soon after employed some Canadians to construct him a frame house opposite Mr. Crows, on the site of the building now known as the "LE COUTEULX BLOCK," and in which he lived until the burning of Buffalo, with his second wife, whom he married a short time after his release from his captivity.
He was soon after employed by the Holland Company as an agent for the sale of their lands in Buffalo and its vicinity, and was appointed first Clerk of Niagara county, the 26th of March, 1808, which office he continued to hold until the war of 1812.
He then removed to Albany, where he had still a small property, and re-established himself in business in that city.
He received the appointment of Forage Master in the service of the United States towards the close of the late war, which he held until June, 1815.
504
HISTORY OF THE
He was elected Sergeant at Arms by the Constitutional Conven- tion of 1821, and also by the New York Senate.
He soon after returned to Buffalo, where he resided until his death, which occurred October 16th, 1839, at the age of 84 years. His wife had died the year previous.
Thus have we sketched the prominent events of the life of Louis Stephen Le Couteulx, one of the earliest pioneers of Buffalo. He died regretted by all who were capable of appreciating his good qualities. As a private citizen, no one was more worthy of the general esteem and consideration in which he was held.
He was a kind father, affectionate husband, and firm friend. He was honest beyond suspicion; as a Catholic, he strictly observed all the requirements of his religion, and especially those of the Gospel, which induced him to regard all the unfortunate as his brethren, and to afford them assistance without reference to their religion.
In the discharge of his public duties he was distinguished for his integrity, his zeal, and his affability.
Although a foreigner by birth, no one excelled him in love of his adopted country, or more highly appreciated its institutions, and he was ever ready to sacrifice his personal interest for the general good. Some proofs of this may be found in the donations he has made to the city of Buffalo and other corporations, for benevolent purposes. He was the founder of St. Louis Church, erected by the Catholics on a large lot fronting on Main Street, in the City of Buffalo, which he presented to the Bishop of New York, and his successors in office, for that purpose, and for the construction of which he contributed a large share of the funds. He also gave another lot to the Irish Catholic congregation, on which they have recently crected a church.
In acknowledgement of these benevolent acts, and to perpetuate his memory, the Common Council of the City of Buffalo procured his portrait to be painted a short time before his death, and have placed it among those of the mayors of the city, in the Common Council chamber.
In 1804, Major Adam Hoops, whose name has occurred in con- nection with the earliest movements of the Holland Company in this region, purchased about ten thousand acres of land at Olean Point, and commenced founding a settlement there. Ebenezer F.
505
HOLLAND PURCHASE.
Norton was interested with him in the purchase. At that early period, and in fact, until the completion of the Erie Canal, Olean Point, the head of navigation on the Alleghany river, was deemed to possess important advantages, as will be seen in connection with other accounts of early movements in that quarter. Anticipations were entertained, the fulfilment of which has been postponed, but which are in a fair way to be yet realized. It is here that the Genesee Valley Canal enters the Alleghany river; it is where the Erie rail road comes upon its banks; and it is the point up to which the river will in all probability, in the course of a few years, be made navigable for steamboats.
Major Hoops, and his brother Robert, settled there, and built a small log house, in the same year the purchase was made. Pre- vious to the commencement of the settlement of the Holland Purchase, there was a small isolated settlement on the Osway, in Pennsylvania, adjoining the line of this state. Although a little beyond our bounds, it is quite too remarkable to be passed over :- Francis King, a member of the Society of Friends, came from London to Philadelphia, an adventurer in the new world, in 1795. In '97, at the suggestion of some capitalists of Philadelphia, he set out as a land explorer; after journeying over the wild regions of western Pennsylvania, for weeks in the forest, camping out; losing his way, and coming near famishing for food, he found his way out of the woods, and returning to Philadelphia, his representations induced Keating & Co. of that city, to purchase of Wm. Brigham Esq. (who had purchased of the state,) 300,000 acres of land in what is now Potter and M'Kean counties. The explorer became the resident agent of the owners. In the summer of '98, he came upon the purchase, with a few hired hands, and put up a log build- ing on the Osway, near the present village of Ceres, or Cerestown. His son and three daughters, joined him in his wilderness home in '98. There are few instances of pioneer life, so isolated, and that too, of a family who had been transferred from the largest city of Europe. Their nearest neighbors for two years, were in Dyke's settlement, at what is now Andover, in Allegany county, N. Y. The nearest neighbor in Pennsylvania was at the distance of fifty- six miles; no supplies could be obtained short of a journey of one hundred and forty miles, to a settlement on the Susquehannah. The pioneer settler used to send his son once a month, on a pack horse road to the nearest P. O. (Williamsport,) for his letters.
506
HISTORY OF THE
The journey used to be made on foot, and in all cases, involved the necessity of camping out one night going and coming. In 1800, several families came in.
Francis King died in 1814. He was succeeded in the land agency, by his son John King, whom the author found last summer, a resident near Ceres, in a quiet and romantic spot, his hospitable mansion surrounded by shrubbery, and a display of fine floral and horticultural taste. It is a wild spot even now. The road to it from the Allegany river, is most of the way through a dense pine forest, along the base and sides of a mountain, and the settlement, with a pleasing rural aspect, reminds one of the descriptions of secluded retreats among the mountains of Switzerland. If any of our readers should take a summer ramble in that direction, to breathe pure air, angle for trout in the streams, or indulge in the chase; they should not fail to visit Ceres, and make the acquaint- ance of John King, or "Quaker John" as he is sometimes called.
His residence for a half century, having been in close proximity to the Holland Purchase, he was enabled to give the author many reminiscences of early events.
Soon after the Hoops settled at Olean, they were joined by the Russell and Read families. There followed soon after, settling on village plat, and upon Oil creek, Elisha Johnson, Ebenezer Reed, James Brooks, Zacharia Orsterhout, James Green. The early tavern keepers were Sylvanus Russell, and Jehiel Boardman; the early merchants were Levi Gregory, and Ebenezer Lockwood; the carly physicians were Norman Smith, A. C. Bennett, and Andrew Mead, the last of whom still survives.
The first saw mill built on the upper waters of the Allegany, was on the Osway, a mile and a half above the mouth, by Athertor: and Horton; or rather this was the first built to make lumber as an article of commerce. Francis King had built a saw mill at Ceres in '99, to accommodate the settlers. He built a grist mill at Ceres in 1801; before that, all the corn of the settlers was pounded in mortars; no mill within one hundred miles. Lumber was first taken down the river from above Olean in 1807. It was sawed in King's mill.
In 1809 or '10 Olean Point began to become the place of em- barkation for emigrants, and for a long period, in portions of each year, great numbers assembled there, built arks, and embarked on their way down the Allegany and the Ohio. For a few years
507
HOLLAND PURCHASE.
pending the completion of the Erie Canal, every spring, the emi- grants awaiting the opening of navigation on the river counted to the number of thousands; are said to have amounted to over three thousand in 1818. On that as well as other occasions, the great ·numbers accumulating there, created great scarcity of food. The river would remain closed longer than they had anticipated, supplies of provisions would be exhausted; and that too, at seasons of the year when the state of the roads made it extremely difficult to get provisions in. The families of emigrants, far exceeding the capa- city of public and private houses, were obliged to erect tents and shantees to live in. Flour has sold at Olean upon such occasions, as high as $25 dollars per barrel, and pork, for $50. In numerous instances cmigrants would become penniless, before they could get down the river. Sometimes large numbers of emigrants would commence their journeys towards the last of sleighing, intending to reach Olean just before the breaking up of ice in the river; the snow would go off before their journey was accomplished; sleighs would be left and wagons substituted; and then followed long days and weeks of slow progress; (the roads almost impassable;) depri- vation and suffering. This affords the reader a glimpse of what it was to emigrate to the western states, before the facilities were afforded that now exist. How slow must have been the progress of settlement at the west, in the absence of the Erie Canal, and the facilities to transportation upon the Lakes which it promoted! Vast as have been the benefits of the Erie Canal at home, it has speeded the founding of a new empire at the west.
Although it is going some years beyond the period we have generally so far embraced, in tracing the progress of settlement, we will add in this connection some account of the early advent of Friend's missions upon the Allegany Reservation, obtained from John King. The mission was first established in the year 1798, by the Yearly Meeting of Philadelphia. Joel Swayne, Halliday Jackson, Chester Simmons, three young Friends from Chester county, Pa. became residents upon the Reservation, locating about five miles below the Cold Springs. They became teachers of agri- culture and other arts of civilized life; and school teachers. The Yearly Meeting soon after purchased three hundred acres of land of the Holland Company, and built a saw mill and grist mill. The mills did work for the white settlers, upon the usual terms, and furnished lumber, and ground corn for the Indians, free. Robert
508
HISTORY OF THE
Clendenon, from Chester county, Pa. with his wife and two daugh- ters, occupied the mission station as early as 1812. Under his supervision the mills were rebuilt that had been first built by Jacob Taylor and Jonathan Thomas. The Clendenon family remained there four years; the daughters were school teachers, and taught the squaws to sew, knit, spin and the duties generally of house keeping, as practiced in civilized life. One of them is now the wife of John King, and the other resides with him. They are familiar with the character and habits of the Indians, and manifest a deep interest in their welfare. One of them informed the author that there were descendants of Sir William Johnson now residing upon the Allegany Reservation.
The author was amused, and it is presumed the reader will be, with the reason that John King gave for the slow progress of settlement and improvement on the Allegany. He said it was owing to the easy facilities of getting away from there; that the new settlers would get dissatisfied, discouraged, and had only to get together a few slabs, form a raft, and be carried with the cur- rent of the river to a new home. He inferred that there were periods with most of those who attempt the settlement of new countries, when they would back out, or go further on, if they could do it as easily; and he added, what many a pioneer settler will sanction, that there are many prosperous citizens of the whole region of Western New York who have reason to be thankful that there were formidable obstacles to getting away in early days of privation and endurance.
A brief abstract of memorandums made in conversation with John Green, the son of the early pioneer, James Green, will embrace some of the earliest events in that region :-
I came with my father to Olean in 1806. He was the first supervisor of Olean; used to go to Batavia to attend the sitting of Board of Supervisors; the town of Olean was all Cattaragus. He built a saw mill on Haskell's creek in 1808, the first mill built for the lumber business on the Allegany.
I am now the oldest resident of Cattaragus county. The first death and funeral in Cattaragus were those of Husten. He was killed by the springing of a tree, while getting out spars on the river, in 1807. There was no one to take the lead of any religious service; it was as much as we could do to get together enough to bury him. Marius Johnson, Esq. son of Elisha Johnson, was the first born male child in Cattaragus, and a sister of mine, the first female.
509
HOLLAND PURCHASE.
I remember the execution of a squaw on the Allegany, in 1807. She was convicted of witchery. The principal proof against her was that she had foretold that some of the Indians would die, who were very sick at the time. Cornplanter was absent; when he returned he disapproved of it; the Prophet, who had been the prin- cipal means of condemning her, was obliged to go to Canada to get rid of the vengeance of the surviving relatives. The execution was a horrid one; the executioner, an Indian by the name of Sun Fish, struck her on the head with a hatchet; she came to and groaned, when he cut her throat with a knife.
I had a long and familiar acquaintance with Cornplanter. I have no doubts as to his parentage. He was the son of O'Bail, all Irishman, who was an Indian trader; his mother was a Seneca squaw. His Indian name was Ki-en-twa-ka, which means a large cornfield; it came in consequence of his cultivating large cornfields, when he resided down the river, near Pittsburgh. He died in 1837 or '38, aged 100 years. He was a strong minded man, always temperate: he had a great veneration for Washington. He had no education, has often brought papers to me to read and explain to him. He was a confirmed pagan; he once favored a Methodist Missionary upon the Reservation-was rather disposed to favor religion-but relapsed into paganism. He was for a long time, opposed to schools, for the reason that learning had so bad an effect upon his son Henry.
Mr. Green located on the Allegany, at Great Valley, where he now resides, in 1813. He has consequently, for a long period, been a neighbor of the Indians on the Allegany Reservation. He is familiar with much of their history, and speaks their language. When he settled at Great Valley, there was no other white inhabitant on the Allegany below Olean.
In these brief sketches appertaining to the neighborhood of the Allegany, one who may well be considered the "oldest settler," should not be overlooked :- Governor Blacksnake, head chief of the Allegany Reservation, still survives. His residence is in a small framed house, on the river, a mile and a half above Cold Springs. He has passed his hundredth year, but yet walks erect, travels a good deal, spends most of his time visiting his numerous descendants, and giving his people the benefit of his counsels. Although a pagan, he is vet tolerant, and makes no serious opposition to missionary efforts. It was during last summer, that he gave to an intelligent informant of the author, a pretty distinct declaration of his religious views. He said he was an old man, familiar with the ancient rites
510
HISTORY OF THE
and customs of his people; that the mission of the Saviour was to the white and not to the red man; that with the Indians, the christian religion is an innovation. In his speeches in councils, he urges the Indians to habits of temperance; advises them to cultivate their lands and build comfortable houses. His memory of events, is retentive, and it embraces a period of ninety years; the wars of his own people, their wars with the English, and the border wars of the Revolution. His descendants are to the fifth generation. He is one of the few who have survived, and realized what the familiar language illustrates: - " Arise daughter, and go to your daughter, for your daughter's daughter, has got a young daughter."
Peter R. Crouse, an educated, intelligent half blood, is a resident at the Cold Springs; his wife is a grand daughter of Mary Jemison. His father, then a boy fifteen years old, was taken prisoner during the border wars of Pennsylvania, conformed himself to Indian habits, married a squaw, aud spent his life, as a matter of choice, among his captors. There are fifty of his descendants living. From the son who has been named, the author gathered some interesting facts, in reference to the Indians upon the Allegany Reservation :- They now number about nine hundred. They chiefly consist of two tribes, the Senecas and Onondagas; the Oneidas, a few in number, have recently been adopted by the Sen- ecas. Jacob Blacksnake, a son of the Governor, generally presides in council. The early Friend's mission establishment is still kept up. The Presbyterians have besides, two mission establishments upon the Reservation. There are four schools. The general tendencies upon the Reservation, are to agricultural and general improvement.
By a reference to the preceding list of settlers, and the townships settled, it will be observed that up to Jan. 1st, 1807, the pioneers of Chautauque were along and near Lake road, from Cattaragus creek to Pennsylvania line, and in the vicinity of Mayville and Jamestown.
Mrs. Marshall, the relict of the late Dr. Marshall, of Buffalo, who still survives and resides in the city with her son, Orsamus H. Marshall, Esq., is a daughter of the early pioneer in Chautauque, Orsamus Holmes. She remembers distinctly the events attending the advent of her father, with his family, in June, 1805. Arriving at Buffalo, after spending a night in the humble travelers' home of John Crow. There was but the beach road upon the lake, for
511
HOLLAND PURCHASE.
them to travel to their new home in the wilderness. Crossing Buffalo creek at its mouth, on the bar, their progress was a slow and tedious one. All the inhabitants then on the route were the family that preceded Judge Barker, eight miles up the lake, a family at Eighteen Mile creek, Capt. Sydnor, at Cattaragus creek, and a family by the name of Dickinson, at Silver creek. Mr. Holmes' location was three miles east of Fredonia, on the main road. Mrs. Marshall names all the settlers along on the road, in 1805 and'6; the reader will find them by referring to list of names, and the townships along the lake shore, in Chautauque. Mr. Holmes died in Ohio, where he had gone to reside with a son, in 1835. Dr. Marshall, who was the first physician in Mayville, and the first County Clerk of Chautauque, died in Buffalo, in 1838.
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.