USA > New York > Monroe County > Rochester > Settlement in the West : sketches of Rochester with incidental notices of western New-York > Part 24
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"' ' When his legs were cutted off, did fight upon the stumps.'
She kept the dog at bay, and parried the blows of her as- sailants with a degree of skill not unworthy of a profes- sional boxer. But her shaggy hide soon became the trophy of him whose cornfield she had measurably devastated."
Thus recently was slain, at a place which is now nearly central in a population of 20,000, the largest bear ever found in this region. The fact furnishes a striking illustration of the greatness and suddenness of the changes which the first settlers of Rochester have witnessed.
First Allotment and Settlement.
The first allotments for a village were made in 1812 ; when Nathaniel Rochester, Charles H. Carroll, and William Fitzhugh surveyed the Hundred-acre 'Tract for settlement under the name of " Rochester." The history of this tract is elsewhere particularly traced ; and it is sufficient now to say that it was the same land which Phelps and Gorham deeded to Indian Allen in 1790, on consideration of having a mill erected to accommodate the few settlers in the surrounding country. It was part of the larger tract of twelve by twenty- four miles on the west side of the Genesee, which Phelps and Gorham had previously obtained from the Indians for the purposes of a millyard ! It had passed from Allen into the possession of Sir William Pulteney-from the agent of whose estate (Charles Williamson) it was purchased in 1802 for $17-50 per acre by the persons who thus made arrange- ments for founding a village upon it. This Hundred-acre Tract, as will be seen by the map of Rochester, lies directly abreast and west of the First Falls, from the dam at which water is now conveyed in races for valuable machinery on both sides of the river.
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SKETCHES OF ROCHESTER, ETC.
Other allotments for settlement were made during the same year. Immediately north of the Hundred-acre or Rochester Tract, Matthew and Francis Brown and Thomas Mumford bought and laid out the tract directly abreast and west of the main or Middle Falls, which are ninety-six feet high, and from a dam at which water is now thrown into races on both sides of the river. This tract was previously occupied by Mr. Hanford, who had a couple of loghouses, and likewise a little mill, which is noticed in connexion with the Allen mill in the account of the " Early Millers of the Genesee." The allotment was called " Frankfort," after the name of Francis Brown. Opposite this Frankfort Tract, and on the east side of the Main Falls, Samuel I. Andrews and Moses Atwater laid out a tract of considerable size during the same year-the millrace on which now derives water from the same dam that supplies the Frankfort tract.
[The farm of Enos Stone, whereon the bearfight occur- red, was not divided into lots till 1817, when a portion of it was included with the other tracts in the village corpora- tion, and surveyed and subdivided by Elisha Johnson, a purchaser from Mr. Stone. It lies on the west side of the river at the First Fall, opposite the original Rochester Tract -the same dam supplying water to the machinery on both sides at that point.]
The condition of these tracts at the period of these prepar- atory arrangements may be inferred from the preceding re- marks by De Witt Clinton and others. The first dwelling on the Rochester or Hundred-acre Tract was erected by Hamlet Scrantom in 1812, where the Eagle Tavern now stands. During the same season, Ira West opened a small store of goods on the same tract, and Abelard Reynolds was appointed postmaster. The whole receipts of the postoffice for the first quarter fell short of three dollars and fifty cents. On the Stone farm, on the opposite side of the river, Isaac W. Stone opened a small tavern, which was the only one at Rochester for two or three years. This tavern was one of the two little frame dwellings that existed hereabout in the beginning of 1812-as represented in the frontispiece of this work. [It yet remains-a frail monument of " ancient times"-in St. Paul's-street, opposite the second Methodist Church.]
" In 1813 there were three houses built and occupied on the west side of the river," says an authentic account of
1
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EFFECTS OF THE LAST WAR.
those primitive days. " The land where the county build- ings (courthouse, &c.) now stand was cleared, sown with wheat, and afterward used as a pasture." The first Pres- byterian and St. Luke's churches are also among the edi- fices which have been erected since in this pasture lot. Ex- cepting a millrace opened by Rochester & Co., there is no- thing further noticed of the progress of improvement in these parts in 1813.
In 1814 some attempts were made to commence mercan- tile operations ; but that little improvement could have been made during that year, or for some time afterward, will appear from the sequel.
Effects of the last war with Great Britain in retarding the progress of Rochester.
The settlement of Rochester, commenced almost simul- taneously with the last war between this country and Great Britain, was almost wholly checked by the alarm created by the movements of the belligerents. The hostilities along the Niagara caused a concentration of troops there, which left defenceless this point, then comparatively unimportant. 'The mouth of the Genesee was therefore not unfrequently visited by the British fleet under Sir James Yeo, commander of the hostile forces on Lake Ontario. The apprehension of attack prevented many from settling here as they had designed, and even caused the removal to more secure places of some who had already located hereabout.
The distress of which the war was productive in this region was vividly portrayed in 1814 by the " Committee of Safety and Relief" at Canandaigua, in a communication to the mayor and other citizens of New-York. Among the pa- pers of the New-York Historical Society that communica- tion is preserved ; and from it a copy has been procured, the insertion of which here may be excused by the fact that its general statements are not inapplicable to the then condition of Rochester and its vicinity, threatened by the frequent ap- pearance of the British fleet on the lake off the mouth of the Genesee. The letter ran thus :
" Canandaigua, 8th January, 1814.
" Gentlemen-Niagara county, and that part of Genesee which lies west of Batavia, are completely depopulated. All the settlements, in a section of country forty miles square, 22
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SKETCHES OF ROCHESTER, ETC.
and which contained more than twelve thousand souls, are effectually broken up. These facts you are undoubtedly acquainted with ; but the distresses they have produced none but an eyewitness can thoroughly appreciate. Our roads are filled with people, many of whom have been re- duced from a state of competence and good prospects to the last degree of want and sorrow. So sudden was the blow by which they have been crushed, that no provision could be made either to elude or to meet it. The fugitives from Niagara county especially were dispersed under circum- stances of so much terror, that, in some cases, mothers find themselves wandering with strange children, and children are seen accompanied by such as have no other sympathies with them than those of common sufferings. Of the families thus separated all the members can never again meet in this life ; for the same violence which has made them beggars has deprived some of their heads and others of their branches. Afflictions of the mind so deep as have been allotted to these unhappy people we cannot cure. They can probably be subdued only by HIS POWER who can wipe away all tears. But shall we not endeavour. to assuage them? To their bodily wants we can certainly administer. The inhabitants of Canandaigua have made large contributions for their re- lief, in provisions, clothing, and money. And we have been appointed, among other things, to solicit further relief for them from our wealthy and liberal-minded fellow-citizens. In pursuance of this appointment, may we ask you, gentle- men, to interest yourselves particularly in their behalf? We believe that no occasion has ever occurred in our country which presented stronger claims upon individual benevo- lence ; and we humbly trust that whoever is willing to answer these claims will always entitle himself to the precious rewards of active charity.
(Signed),
" Wmn. Shepard, Thad. Chapin,
" Moses Atwater, N. Gorliam,
" Z. Seymour, Thos. Beals,
" Myron Holley, Phineas P. Bates,
" Committee of Safety and Relief."
This letter was addressed to De Witt Clinton, then mayor of New-York city, and to Col. Robert Troup, Gen. Clarkson, John B. Coles, Thos. Morris, Moses Rogers, Robert Bowne, and Thomas Eddy.
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THREATENED NAVAL ATTACK.
An endorsement appears on the letter, to the effect that " resolutions proposed by the recorder ( Josiah Ogden Hoffman) were passed unanimously by the New-York cor- poration, granting $3000 for the relief of the sufferers," dated January 24, 1814. On the 18th of February the Legislature appropriated $50,000 " for the relief of the in- digent sufferers in the counties of Genesee and Niagara, in consequence of the invasion of the western frontier of the state, including the Tuscarora nation of Indians and the Canadian refugees : the money to be distributed by Graham Newell, William Wadsworth, and Joseph Ellicott."
A serious alarm, attended by some amusing consequences, occurred in May, 1814, when Sir James Yeo, with a fleet of thirteen vessels of various sizes, appeared off the mouth of the Genesee, threatening the destruction of the rude im- provements in and around Rochester. Messengers were despatched to arouse the people in the surrounding country for defence against the threatened attack. There were then but thirty-three people in Rochester capable of bearing arms. This little band threw up a breastwork called Fort Bender, near the Deep Hollow, beside the Lower Falls, and hurried down to the junction of the Genesee and Lake On- tario, five miles north of the present city limits, where the enemy threatened to land; leaving behind them two old men, with some young lads, to remove the women and chil- dren into the woods, in case the British should attempt to land for the capture of the provisions and destruction of the bridge at Rochester, &c. Francis Brown and Elisha Ely acted as captains, and Isaac W. Stone as major, of the Ro- chester forces, which were strengthened by the additions that could be made from this thinly-settled region. Though the equipments and discipline of these troops would not form a brilliant picture for a warlike eye, their very awk- wardness in those points, coupled as it was with their saga- city and courage, accomplished more perhaps than could have been effected by a larger force of regular troops bedizzened with the trappings of military pomp. The militia thus hast- ily collected were marched and countermarched, disappear- ing in the woods at one point and suddenly emerging else- where, so as to impress the enemy with the belief that the force collected for defence was far greater than it actually was. (The circumstances here related are substantially as mentioned to the writer by one who was then and is now
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SKETCHES OF ROCHESTER, ETC.
a resident of Rochester.) An officer with a flag of truce was sent from the British fleet. A militia officer marched down, with ten of the most soldierlike men, to receive him on Lighthouse Point. These militiamen carried their guns as nearly upright as might be consistent with their plan of being ready for action by keeping hold of the triggers ! The British officer was astonished : he " looked unutterable things." "Sir," said he, "do you receive a flag of truce under arms, with cocked triggers ?" "Excuse me, excuse me, sir : we backwoodsmen are not well versed in military tactics," replied the American officer, who promptly sought to rectify his error by ordering his men to " ground arms !" The Briton was still more astonished ; and, after delivering a brief message, immediately departed for the fleet, indica- ting by his countenance a suspicion that the ignorance of tactics which he had witnessed was all feigned for the oc- casion, so as to deceive the British commodore into a snare ! Shortly afterward, on the same day, another officer came ashore with a flag of truce for farther parley, as the British were evidently too suspicious of stratagem to attempt a hos- tile landing if there was any possibility of compromising for the spoils. Capt. Francis Brown was deputed with a guard to receive the last flag of truce. The British officer looked suspiciously upon him and upon his guard ; and, after some conversation, familiarly grasped the pantaloons of Capt. B. about the knee, remarking, as he firmly handled it, " Your cloth is too good to be spoiled by such a bungling tailor ;" alluding to the width and clumsy aspect of that garment. Brown was quickwitted as well as resolute, and replied jocosely that " he was prevented from dressing fashionably by his haste that morning to salute such distinguished vis- iters !" The Briton obviously imagined that Brown was a regular officer of the American army, whose regimentals were masked by clumsy overclothes. The proposition was then made, that, if the Americans would deliver up the pro- visions and military stores which might be in and around Rochester or Charlotte, Sir James Yeo would spare the settlements from destruction. "Will you comply with the offer ?" " Blood knee-deep first !" was the emphatic reply of Francis Brown.
While this parley was in progress, an American officer, with his staff, returning from the Niagara frontier, was ac- cidentally seen passing from one wooded point to another ;
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THE CLOSE OF THE WAR.
and this, with other circumstances, afforded to the British " confirmation strong" that their suspicions were well found- ed ; that there was a considerable American army collected ; and that the Yankee officers shammed ignorance for the purpose of entrapping ashore the commodore and his forces ! The return of the last flag to the fleet was followed by a vigorous attack in bombs and balls, while the compliment was spiritedly returned, not without some effect on at least one of the vessels, by a rusty old six-pounder; which had been furbished and mounted on a log for the important oc- casion. After a few hours spent in this unavailing manner, Admiral Yeo run down to Pulteneyville, about 20 miles eastward of Genesee River, where, on learning how they had been outwitted and deterred from landing by such a handful of militia, their mortification could scarcely restrain all hands from a hearty laugh at the " Yankee trick."
The Close of the War
Permitted the checked tide of improvement to roll onward again.
In 1815, Hervey Ely, Josiah Bissell, and Elisha Ely finished the "red mill" (afterward called the Hydraulic Building, and now burnt). Samuel Hildreth, of Pittsford, commenced running a stage with a mail twice a week be- tween Rochester and Canandaigua ; and a private weekly mailroute was established between Rochester and Lewis- ton, dependant for support on the income of the postoffices on the route.
In 1816, the first religious society (Presbyterian) was formed, consisting of 16 members-a small paper called the Rochester Gazette was commenced-a millrace was fin- ished by Brown and Mumford, and a cotton factory was commenced on the Frankfort Tract-a tavern was opened by Abelard Reynolds on the Hundred-acre Tract, Buffalo-street -a commencement was made in the business of purchasing produce from the neighbouring country. The population, numbering 331 at the beginning of the year, was not ascer- tained at the close.
Thus have we traced all that we find worthy of notice as illustrative of the condition of the place previous to the act by which was created
22*
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SKETCHES OF ROCHESTER, ETC.
E
The Village of Rochesterville in 1817-
From which period the commencement of ROCHESTER may be fairly dated, the difficulties interposed by the war having prevented any considerable improvement before the year 1816. The improvement of the place in various ways be- tween that period and the year 1837-forming the first score of years since the place was lawfully organized under a village charter-are sketched under appropriate heads. We preface the account by some notices of the proceedings of the Corporation, under the village and city charters, between the years 1817 and 1837-THE FIRST TWENTY YEARS.
Corporation of Rochester.
(The persons marked thus * are dead-the absent thus t.)
1817. June 10. The first board of trustees elected under the village charter consisted of Francis Brown, * President ; William Cobb,* Everard Peck, Daniel Mack,t Jehiel Bar- nard. Hastings R. Bender, Clerk ; Frederic F. Backus, Treasurer.
First fire company formed, October 9, 1817.
1818. May. The election resulted in the choice of Fran- cis Brown, Daniel Mack, Everard Peck, Isaac Colvin, t Ira West .* Mr. Brown, President ; Moses Chapin, Clerk ; Frederic F. Backus, Treasurer.
1819. No election held-the old trustees continued in of- fice. The name of the village corporation was changed from " Rochesterville" to " Rochester," the original name, by an act of the Legislature.
1820. The new board consisted of Matthew Brown, Jr., Moses Chapin, William Cobb, Charles J. Hill, Elisha Tay- lor .* M. Brown, Jr., President; Moses Chapin, Clerk ; F. F. Backus, Treasurer.
1821. The only change in the board consisted in the choice of Warliam Whitney in place of W. Cobb, deceased.
1822. The board consisted of M. Brown, Jr., President, H. R. Bender,t . Charles J. Hill, S. Melancton Smith,* Warham Whitney. H. R. Bender, Clerk ; F. F. Backus, Treasurer.
1823. M. Brown, Jr., President ; Jacob Graves, William P. Sherman,* Abner Wakelee, S. M. Smith. Rufus Beach,t Clerk ; F. F. Backus, Treasurer.
1824. John W. Strong,t President ; Warham Whitney,
259
CORPORATION OF ROCHESTER.
Anson Coleman,* Jonathan Packard, Ashbel W. Riley. R. Beach, Clerk ; F. F. Backus, Treasurer.
1825. The powers granted to the village corporation were found to be inadequate to a good police regulation ; and the question was agitated during the fall, whether ap- plication should be made for a city charter, instead of apply- ing for an increase of power to the old corporation ; but, after considerable discussion, the project of a city charter was declined by the people, and the Legislature amended the village charter by vesting ampler powers in the board of trustees.
1825. M. Brown, Jr., President; Phelps Smith,* Frederic Starr, William Rathbun,t Gilbert Evernghim .* R. Beach, Clerk ; F. F. Backus, Treasurer.
1826. First election under a new village charter. The village divided into five wards. Trustees elected : first ward, Wm. Brewster; second, M. Brown, Jr. ; third, Vincent Mat- thews; fourth, John Mastick ;* fifth, Giles Boulton. t Rufus Beach, Clerk ; F. F. Backus, Treasurer ; Raphael Beach, Constable and Collector. The president was M. Brown, Jr.
1827. First ward, Frederic Whittlesey ; second, Ezra M. Parsons ; third, Jonathan Child; fourth, Elisha Johnson ; fifth, A. V. T. Leavitt. Elisha Johnson, President ; Rufus Beach, Clerk ; John B. Elwood, Treasurer ; Stephen Sy- monds,t Collector.
1828. First ward, Ebenezer Ely ; second, E. M. Parsons ; third, Ephraim Moore ; fourth, Elisha Johnson ; fifth, Na- thaniel Rossiter.t E. Johnson, President ; F. Whittlesey, Clerk ; F. F. Backus, Treasurer ; D. D. Hatch,* Collector.
1829. First ward, John Haywood ; second, S. S. Allcott;} third, Robert L. M.Collum ; fourth, Elisha Johnson ; fifth, Wm. H. Ward. E. Johnson, President ; Hestor L. Ste- vens, Clerk; Seth Saxton,* Treasurer ; Robert H. Stevens,t Collector.
1830. First ward, William Pease ;} second, Joseph Med- bery ; third, Jonathan Child, in place of J. Packard, declined; fourth, Adonijah Green; fifth, H. Bissell. J. Medbery, President ; Samuel L. Selden and Isaac R. Elwood, Clerks ; Seth Saxton, Treasurer ; A. Newton, Collector.
1831. First ward, Rufus Meech ; second, M. Brown, Jr. ; third, Jacob Thorn ; fourth, Harvey Humphrey ; fifth, N. Rossiter (President). A. W. Stowe, Clerk; Eben. Ely, Treasurer ; Lester Beardslee,* Collector.
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SKETCHES OF ROCHESTER, ETC.
1832. First ward, Samuel L. Selden ; second, William Rathbun ; t third, Jacob Thorn ; fourth, Daniel Tinker ; fifth, Orrin E. Gibbs. J. Thorn, President ; A. W. Stowe, Clerk ; Eben. Ely, Treasurer ; Seth Simmons, t Collector.
1833. First ward, Wm. E. Lathrop ; second, Fletcher M. Haight ; third, E. F. Marshall ; fourth, Daniel . Tinker ;t fifth, N. Draper. F. M. Haight, President; Isaac R. El- wood, Clerk ; Ebenezer Watts, Treasurer ; James Caldwell, Collector.
First election under the City Charter.
1834. After several applications made to the Legislature, and after controversies respecting the mode of appointing justices of the peace had defeated the passage of an act for the purpose at the previous session, the CITY OF ROCHESTER was chartered in the spring of 1834.
On the incorporation of the village in 1817, about 750 acres were included within its limits. The city charter in 1834 extended the bounds so as to embrace upward of four thousand acres. For a considerable distance in the northern part, the city includes a comparatively narrow strip on both sides of the river-being thus extended northward so as to comprehend the Lower Falls and the Ontario Steamboat Landing-as may be seen by the map of the city presented in this volume. The lands thus brought under the jurisdic- tion of the corporation was part of the Carthage Tract on the east and the M'Cracken Tract on the west side of the Lower Falls and Steamboat Landing ; notices of which tracts are elsewhere given.
1834. June. Three supervisors were elected by general ticket, viz., Erasmus D. Smith, Abraham M. Schermerhorn, and Horace Hooker. The aldermen and assistants were-
First ward, Lewis Brooks, Alderman ; John Jones, As- sistant.
Second, Thomas Kempshall, Alderman ; Elijah F. Smith, Assistant.
Third, Frederic F. Backus, Alderman ; Jacob Thorn, Assistant.
Fourth, A. W. Riley, Alderman ; Lansing B. Swan, As- sistant.
Fifth, Jacob Graves, Alderman ; Henry Kennedy,t As- Bistant: 1
The first mayor elected by this board was Jonathan
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OFFICERS OF THE CITY.
Child ; Vincent Matthews, Attorney and Counsel ; Samuel Works,t Superintendent ; John C. Nash, Clerk ; E. F. Marshall, Treasurer ; William H. Ward, Chief Engineer.
1835. The supervisors elected were Joseph Medbery, Charles J. Hill, Jared Newell. The aldermen and assist- ants were-
First ward, Hestor L. Stevens, William E. Lathrop.
Second, M. Brown, Jr., J. H. Blanchard.
Third, James Seymour, Erastus Cook.
Fourth, Joseph Halsey, Nathaniel Bingham.
Fifth, Isaac R. Elwood, Butler Bardwell.
Jacob Gould was chosen Mayor ; Ashley Samson, Attor- ney and Counsel ; Kilian H. Van Rensselaer, Superintend- ent ; 'Theodore Sedgwick,t Treasurer ; Ariel Wentworth, Clerk ; William H. Ward, Chief Engineer; L. B. King, Marshal.
1836. March. An amendment to the charter allowed a supervisor to be chosen in each ward. There were elected,
First ward, Maltby Strong, Supervisor ; A. S. Alexander,* Alderman ; J. Haywood, Assistant.
Second ward, Joseph Medbery, Supervisor ; Warham Whitney, Alderman ; Joseph Alleyn, Assistant.
Third ward, Thomas H. Rochester, Supervisor ; Joseph Strong, Alderman ; Jonathan Packard, Assistant.
Fourth ward, Elisha Johnson, Supervisor ; Manly G. Woodbury, Alderman ; Mitchel Loder, Assistant.
Fifth ward, Elisha B. Strong, Supervisor ; William H. Ward, Alderman ; David Scoville, Assistant.
Abraham M. Schermerhorn was elected mayor, and on his resignation in a few weeks Thomas Kempshall was elected to the vacant mayoralty. William S. Bishop, At- torney and Counsel ; Theodore Chapin, Superintendent ; Patrick G. Buchan and Jasper W. Gilbert, Clerks ; Erasmus D. Smith, Treasurer ; Theodore Chapin, Chief Engineer ; Joseph Putnam, Marslıal.
1837. The elections resulted in the choice of the follow- ing persons :
First ward, Lyman B. Langworthy, Supervisor ; Hestor L. Stevens, Alderman ; Kilian H. Van Rensselaer, As- sistant.
Second ward, John Williams, Supervisor; Sylvester H. Packard, Alderman ; W. Barron Williams, Assistant.
Third ward, Thomas H. Rochester, Supervisor ; Joseph Strong, Alderman ; John Hawkes, Assistant.
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SKETCHES OF ROCHESTER, ETC.
Fourth ward, James H. Gregory, Supervisor ; M. G. Woodbury, Alderman ; Schuyler Moses, Assistant.
Fifth ward, Jared Newell, Supervisor ; Lewis K. Faulk- ner, Alderman ; James Williams, Assistant.
Elisha Johnson was elected mayor ; Ashley Samson, Attorney and Counsel ; Isaac R. Elwood, Clerk ; Alfred Judson, Chief Engineer ; Lucius B. King, Marshal.
1838. Another amendment of the city charter abolished the distinction of alderman and assistant, and provided that the aldermen should be divided into two classes, one of which should be elected for two years, and the other for one year. The elections resulted in the choice of the fol- lowing persons :
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