USA > New York > Monroe County > Rochester > Settlement in the West : sketches of Rochester with incidental notices of western New-York > Part 32
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1,715
Peltry,
224,899
472,981
Stone,
837
688
Salt,
860
19,977
Ashes,
368,842
2,344
2,112
Rye,
Potatoes,
1,040
The toll at Rochester in 1836, $190,000 55, exceeded by about $16,000 the toll of the previous year ; so that about one quarter of the whole increase of toll on the canal in 1836 occurred at this city.
The toll collected in 1837 amounted to $179,083 54, a smaller dimi-
334
SKETCHES OF ROCHESTER, ETC.
nution from the sum of the previous year than might have been expected amid the general stagnation in the business of the country.
Capt. Israel Smith is the present collector of canal toll at Rochester.
THE ROCHESTER OR GENESEE DISTRICT.
This revenue district has a frontier of about seventy miles on Lake Ontario, extending from Oak-Orchard Creek in Orleans county to So- dus Bay in Wayne county. A port of entry was established at what is now known as the harbour of Rochester in the year 1805, when Sam- uel Latta, residing at the junction of the river and lake, in the village of Charlotte, was appointed the first collector. Jesse Hawley held the office of collector for several years ; and in 1829 Jacob Gould, residing in Rochester, was appointed collector of the district, following Mr. Hawley. A deputy collector is stationed at Pulteneyville, Wayne county ; another, Hiram Bumphrey, is stationed at the Ontario Steam- boat Landing, in the northern part of the City of Rochester ; a third, Henry S. Benton, is stationed at Charlotte, at the junction of the river and lake, five miles north of the north line of the City of Rochester. Asahel S. Beers is also a deputy collector and inspector of the district. There is a lighthouse at the west side of the mouth of the river, in Charlotte. Another lighthouse, to be built of the best materials, will be erected immediately at the northern extremity of the west pier of the artificial harbour which is now being constructed by the United States government for benefiting the navigation, and which is particularly de- scribed in the notice of the " Harbour of Rochester."
Since the appointment of General Gould as collector of the Roches- ter or Genesee District, the office of Superintendent of the Lighthouses on Lake Ontario has been connected with this collectorship.
The misapprehensions or misrepresentations prevalent for a while respecting the Rochester or Genesee District induced the editors of the daily newspapers of both political parties to insert the following com- munication, in justice to the business and supervision of the district. The feeling which caused the publication of the article in the Roches- ter Daily Democrat and Rochester Daily Advertiser prompts its inser- tion here, as a matter not irrelevant either to the business of the dis- trict or the history of the city.
(From the Rochester Daily Democrat.) ROCHESTER OR GENESEE DISTRICT.
It will not readily be forgotten that frequent reference was made three years ago to the circumstance that the revenue collected in this district was then insufficient to pay the officers. The fact was seem- ingly overlooked, that in few districts of the Union, particularly on the interior waters, is there much revenue collected ; the imports of dutia- ble goods being made in a few important districts, like New-York, Philadelphia, Boston, Baltimore, Charleston, New-Orleans, &c. It seemed to be forgotten that, if the frontiers, in the interior as well as on the seaboard, were left without officers to prevent contraband trade in districts where sufficient duties were not usually accruing to pay
335
HARBOUR OF ROCHESTER.
hose officers, the enormous revenue collected annually in New-York, &c., would speedily be reduced by the facility of smuggling goods, es- pecially on our inland frontiers.
The Genesee or Rochester District extends on Lake Ontario from Oak-Orchard Creek to Sodus Bay, about 70 miles ; and in few whole districts in the interior has as much revenue been collected as at the single port of Rochester. Yet, although the revenue of the district is chiefly collected at the port of Rochester, revenue officers must be stationed at Pulteneyville and other points, though the duties collected there be insufficient to pay their wages, as was the case under a former administration. The salaries of all the officers of the district, including the collector, have usually amounted to from $3500 to $4000. This amount exceeded the revenue collected in the district till within the last two years ; and if it were correct formerly, as was seemingly al- leged, that " the pay of the officers should be proportioned to the small revenue then collected," the rule would work rather differently just now, as the duties collected in 1835-36 were, in the former year, about $26,000, and in the latter year about sixty thousand dollars. These sums were chiefly collected at the City of Rochester. The "spoils" would indeed be worth contending for were there now "four dollars paid for collecting every one dollar," to use the phraseology employed formerly on the subject. As it is, the simple per centage for collecting this $60,000 would, by the former law, amount to almost double the sum at which the collector's salary has for some years been fixed-while the other emoluments formerly allowed would now swell the income of the collector alone to about $4000 per annum ; a sum about four times larger than he now actually receives, and about equal to the whole amount now and heretofore paid yearly to all the officers of the dis- trict, including himself.
These statements are made, not to revive old feuds or partisan ani- mosities, but in justice to the district and port of Genesee or Roches- ter, which were formerly needlessly depreciated, as well as to the offi- cers of the district.
Harbour of Rochester.
An extract from the last report of the officer superintending the con- struction of the artificial harbour at the junction of Lake Ontario and the Genesee River will explain the nature of the government works for accomplishing an object of such high importance to the port of Ro- chester and the navigation of Lake Ontario. In his communication of the 24th October, 1837, addressed to Gen. Gratiot, the chief engineer at Washington, Lieut. WILLIAM SMITH, of the corps of United States Engineers, gives these interesting particulars of the improvement in progress under his superintendence in the harbour of Rochester :-
" The west pier extends two thousand six hundred and seventy feet into the lake, and the east pier two thousand six hundred and thirty- four. They are both twenty feet wide, with the exception of a small part of each, which is but sixteen. They consist of cribwork, each crib being sixteen or twenty feet wide and thirty feet long. The cribs are formed of side-pieces, centre-pieces, ties, and flooring ; to every two side and one centre stick there are four ties : the ties, which run across the piers instead of being carried up the one directly above the
336
SKETCHES OF ROCHESTER, ETC.
other, break alternately backward and forward, to secure greater strength in the side timbers, and to afford places upon which a portion of the stone with which the cribs are filled may lodge.
"Piles have been driven on the outside of the cribs, but they appear to have been productive of no very good effect ; stones thrown in by their side preventing the irregular settling of them much better.
"The average height of the piers above the surface of the water is nearly three feet. The width of the harbour at its mouth is four hun- dred and forty-six feet ; and as the piers are not exactly parallel, it be- comes broader as you enter.
" To obtain a correct delineation of the bottom of the harbour, sec- tions were made across it sixty-six feet apart, and soundings taken at the end of every ten feet. Horizontal planes were passed at one foot apart, and their intersections with the bottom ascertained. The ac- companying drawing will give a tolerably accurate idea of the present state of the harbour. From it it will be seen that the greatest depth in the channel between the piers is twenty-three feet, and the least twelve feet four inches ; and that, at the entrance of the harbour, there is sev- enteen feet water. Within the piers, and to a distance of about three miles, the average depth of the river is twenty-eight feet.
" As both piers ran across what was once an extensive shoal, it was to be feared that a deposition of sand would take place immediately beyond the mouth of the harbour ; but, on examination, it is found that there is no appearance whatever of the formation of any shoal there. From the centre of the channel between the piers, where the water is seventeen feet deep, out to twenty-two feet water, the descent is as gradual and as regular as the natural shore of the lake. The least depth of water beyond the end of the piers is sixteen feet.
" The piers have been finished three years. The large shoal over which they ran has been entirely removed ; and as there is now no evi- dence of the formation of any bar beyond them, it is reduced to an al- most absolute certainty that any farther prolongation of the works into the lake will never become necessary.
"From the position of the piers and the width of the harbour at its mouth, whether the wind be from the northeast, north, or northwest, it can be entered with equal facility. This is undoubtedly a very great advantage, and one of which the navigators of the lake will avail them- selves ; for vessels, when caught in a severe gale, if it be possible to make this harbour, run to it for safety.
" For the purpose of contrasting the present state of the harbour with the condition of the mouth of the river previous to its improvement, the old line of eight feet water has been laid down on the accom- panying drawing. The channel was then crooked, and the depth of water on the bar between eight and nine feet. Besides the want of sufficient water to allow the largest-sized vessels to enter, it was only when the wind was in a particular direction that vessels of any size could enter at all. There is now a channel four hundred and fifty-six feet and over wide, perfectly straight, with a sufficient depth of water for any vessel that navigates the lakes.
1
" The whole work being an extent of pier something over a mile, has, from its commencement to the 30th September last, cost $118,000. By means of this expenditure, a very superior harbour has been obtain- ed at the mouth of the Genesee River ; and though the attempt to form
*337
HARBOUR OF ROCHESTER.
an artificial one was at first but an experiment, it is an experiment which has been attended with perfect success.
" It now becomes a matter of great importance to secure perma- nently the advantages that have been obtained.
" When the works were examined by Col. Totten, of the engineer corps, he recommended, as a means of rendering them permanent, the conversion of the woodwork above low water mark into masonry. His plan was to build on the sides of the piers strong stone walls, using hydraulic mortar ; to fill the intervening space with rubble stone, and to cover the top with flagging stones."
[Here follows a plan of masonry for giving the greatest practicable degree of solidity and strength to the piers.] " The most convenient height for the piers above the surface of the water is six feet ; and as the waters of Lake Ontario are subject to a change of level of about two feet, they will be built seven feet above the lowest low water mark.
" To render it practicable to reach the end of the western pier [on which the new lighthouse is to be built immediately] even in the most boisterous weather, a parapet wall three feet high and three feet thick will be added. This is indispensably necessary, for the light at the end of this pier is of course much more needed in stormy weather than in fair. The space between the walls will be filled with rubble stone, and the top paved with heavy flagging stones."
To effect the completion of the harbour on the plan submitted by Lieut. Smith, the superintendent, that officer estimates the expense yet to be incurred at $160,000; of which there would be required for 1838, $50,000; 1839, $60,000; 1840, $50,000.
In viewing the great advantages already attained, and which should be speedily and permanently secured to the navigation of Lake Ontario, it cannot be doubted that Congress will promptly vote the requisite means. The growing trade of the lake generally, as well as the par- ticular interests of the City of Rochester, imperatively require the exer- cise of enlightened liberality in this respect.
The sum of $25,000 has been appropriated by Congress for the work to be done in 1838 on the Rochester harbour.
Ezra M. Parsons and Silas Ball have been the contractors for the work since the improvement of the harbour was commenced. The recent appointment of a gentleman like Lieut. Smith to superintend the improvement has been very satisfactory to those of our citizens who have taken most interest in the important enterprise.
29
338*
SKETCHES OF ROCHESTER, ETC.
GREAT PUBLIC WORKS IN WHICH ROCHESTER IS INTERESTED.
1. Erie Canal Enlargement, with the rebuilding of the Great Aque- duct across Genesee River in Rochester ;
2. The Genesee Valley Canal, from Rochester to the Allegany River at Olean ;
3. The Rochester and Auburn Railroad,
4. The Tonnewanta (or Rochester and Batavia) Railroad, Links in the chain between the lakes and the Atlantic.
5. The improvement of the Port of Rochester by the erection of ex- tensive piers, &c., at the junction of the river and lake-by the United States Government.
Besides these, there are some minor works, such as the Railroad con- necting the Erie Canal and the Ontario Steamboat-Landing within the city limits, &c.
1. Erie Canal Enlargement.
The important project of expediting the enlargement of the Erie Ca- nal has just received the approbation of the Legislature. Four millions of dollars are to be applied annually till the completion of the work, which object will probably be accomplished in about four years. The original appropriation was but the annual nett revenue of the canals-a sum which would not suffice for the enlargement in twelve or fifteen years. Thus happily has triumphed the policy proposed by the West- ern Convention that met at Rochester in January, 1837, for urging the speedy enlargement of the great water-way-the proceedings of which convention are noticed in the article on the " Progress of Improve- ment."
Now that adequate means are provided for expeditious operations- now that the people of the state are becoming aroused to the impor- tance of the work-it may not be thought premature to suggest to the canal commissioners the propriety of adopting the important plan of walling the canal throughout its whole length. Some may consider the project too great for accomplishment now in connexion with the other expensive work ; but we doubt not that it will very shortly be generally considered advantageous to the state in various ways that the walling should be made simultaneously with the enlargement. The increased volume of water in the enlarged canal will render walling necessary, to prevent the calamities which would result from the breaches to which an enlargement without walls would considerably subject the trade and other interests of the state; while a solid safeguard of masonry on both sides would enable the canal to be rendered navigable earlier every spring, by rendering unnecessary the delays now requisite to repair earthen banks, &c. With such walls to protect the banks against washing away by the motion of the water, increased speed might be obtained even with horse-power on the enlarged body of water ; and it is not at all improbable that small steamboats would then be used to considerable extent-quickening much the transit of goods and pas- sengers.
The wall would require to be about ten feet high on each side, from the foundation below the bottom-level rising about two feet above the
.
*339
ENLARGEMENT OF THE ERIE CANAL.
surface-level of the water. The height of the two walls added together for the whole length of the line would be equivalent to about three hun- dred and fifty miles of solid masonry twenty feet high !
With such improvements, the Erie Canal would be indeed worthy of its great destiny in connecting the Atlantic Ocean with our inland seas ; an object comparable in magnificence with the wall of China and the Pyramids of Egypt.
It is to be hoped that this project will be pressed steadily on the at- tention of the canal commissioners.
Some particulars connected with the enlargement of the canal are given in the article about the " Progress of Improvement." The whole policy of the work is of vast interest to Rochester, connected as this city is with the transportation business, &c.
The engineers stationed at Rochester for the fourth division of this work are Nathan S. Roberts and M. M. Hall. We are indebted to Judge Roberts, who was creditably concerned in the original construc- tion of the Erie Canal, for the following particulars of the principal fea- ture in the enlargement of that canal on the Rochester section. As this will probably be the most extensive aqueduct in the world, the par- ticulars will doubtless prove interesting to many readers :
The new aqueduct at Rochester, now in progress, to be constructed alongside of the old edifice over the Genesee River, being the most westerly portion for the enlargement of the Erie Canal at present under contract, contains the following dimensions and general outlines.
The trunk of the aqueduct, exclusive of the wings and weigh-lock, is 444 feet long, and including the wings at the east end and the weigh- lock at the west end of the trunk, is 848 feet long. The parapet walls forming the sides of the trunk are 10 feet thick at coping and 11 feet 10 1-2 inches thick at the water-table, and are covered with a coping one foot thick and 11 feet wide, which is to support the railings. The width of the water-way of the trunk at the top-water line is 45 feet, and at its bottom, which is to be formed of cut stone, is 42 feet 8 inches. The aqueduct is to be supported on seven arches-segments of a circle ; the chord of each is 52 feet, and the versed sine is 10 feet ; the interior arch line is 56 93-100 feet, subtending 84ยบ 43' 44" of a circle. The arch stones forming the thickness of the arch are three feet long at the piers and abutments, and two feet six inches at the crown. The courses of the arch stone vary in thickness from 17 inches at the spring to 11 inches at the crown, with a keystone of 16 inches.
The weight and thrust of the arches is supported by two abutments and six piers, formed of large blocks of compact gray limestone, cut to joints which when laid shall not exceed 1-8 of an inch thick, and based on the solid rock forming the bed of the Genesee River. The width of the abutments and piers is ten feet at their base, and they hold this width five feet to the spring of the interior arch line. The skem- backs are then placed, meeting in the centre of each pier, and in their rise of two feet three inches reducing the piers on their top to six feet wide : each pier then receives a binding course across of two feet rise and six feet long, forming the entire width of the top of each pier. This last course, together with the skembacks, give a firm support to the thrust of the interior and exterior arch lines at the foot of each adjoin- ing arch.
From the base of the piers to the top of the water-table is 18 feet six
340*
SKETCHES OF ROCHESTER, ETC.
inches, and from the top of the water-table to the top of the coping is eight feet six inches, making the whole height from the base of the piers to the top of the coping 27 feet. The width of the aqueduct, or length of each pier on its foundation, is 75 feet 6 inches ; and deduct from this the steps at each end of the piers, and the vertical batter of one to twelve of its rise, and it gives the width across the top of the trunk, over the coping, of a pilaster equal to 69 feet 2 inches.
The stone of which the aqueduct in all its parts is to be constructed is of the best and most durable kind, being compact gray limestone. All the stone composing the abutments, piers, arches, water-table, lining of the trunk, and coping, and also the exterior of the spandrells, pilas- ters, parapet walls of the trunk and of the wings, is to be obtained at Onondaga or Lockport, and the interior of the spandrells and parapets is to be composed of stone from the bed of the Genesee River. All the stone first mentioned is to be cut to exact given dimensions or to pat- terns, and with such care and exactness that, when laid, no cut stone joint is to be more than 1-8 of an inch thick, including the necessary mortar ; and the stone composing the interior, as above stated, is to be well hammer-dressed to parallel beds, and so laid as to have not more than 1-2 an inch joint ; the whole to be laid in the best of cement mor- tar and grout, and to be impervious to water.
The stones composing all parts of this massive work are proportion- ably large, to ensure strength, solidity, and permanency to the struc- ture, and likewise to give a bold and appropriate appearance.
The following are the principal items of labour required in construct- ing this great work, viz .-
Cubic yards.
Rock to be blasted and removed out of the bed of the Genesee River in preparing the foundation for the abutments and piers,
and to give a free passage for the floods of the river under the new arches, estimated at 30,000
Masonry in the foundation of the east and west wings, and of the weigh-lock up to water-table, including the new arches over the west and east millraces 9000
Masonry in the new weigh-lock and the foundation of the offices on its north wall (which is not yet under contract) is esti- mated at 2000
Masonry in the aqueduct and wings, as estimated when com- pleted
15,380
Progress of the Work .- Of the above work the amount done of each kind up to this time (January, 1838) is as follows, viz .-
Cubic yards.
Rock taken out of the bed of the Genesee River 20,000
Masonry laid for the foundation of the weigh-lock, the west mill- race arch, the west and east wings, and all the centring and cut stone for the east millrace arches, are prepared and deliv- ered, amounting to 6000
Cut stone for different parts of the aqueduct, prepared and mostly delivered, amounting to 2500
Materials for the centring for the aqueduct are delivered and mostly framed to the form required to support the arches.
Force Employed .- Captain Buell has employed near 100 men through the summer in blasting rock in the bed of the river and on other parts of
*341
GENESEE VALLEY CANAL.
the foundation of the aqueduct ; and Messrs. Kasson and Brown, con- tractors for the aqueduct, have a force of near 200 men employed at Onondaga and other places in preparing and cutting stone for the aque- duct. Their progress for some months past has been very favourable, and it is expected will so continue until the aqueduct is completed, which is to be in October, 1839.
Improved Weigh-Lock connected with Aqueduct .- In connexion with the west wing of the aqueduct is the weigh-lock and the canal offices. This weigh-lock is on an improved plan : its dimensions are the same as other improved locks. In its location, its chamber ranges nearly parallel to the line of navigation through the aqueduct, with double gates at each end. Over the weigh-lock a stone building is to be erected, 80 feet in length by 48 feet in width, and two stories or 20 feet in height. Besides the weighing apparatus and the weighmaster's office, the building is to contain the offices of the inspector, the superintendent, and the collector of tolls. So that a boat from the east or from the west enters the weigh-lock, is weighed, inspected, and pays her toll, and, without further hinderance, passes out at the opposite gates of the lock and pursues her course ; and, at the same time, two boats from op- posite directions, and not requiring to be weighed, can pass each other outside of the weigh-lock, as the passage is so spacious that two boats may pass each other without interference or delay in any part of the aqueduct.
Agents and others engaged in the forwarding business will experi- ence a great convenience and saving of time and expense in having all these offices thus located, as being convenient for boats passing east or west, and in a very central position for the business of the City of Rochester.
2. The Genesee Valley Canal, from Rochester to the Allegany River at Olean.
The engineers stationed at Rochester, in connexion with the con- struction of the Genesee Valley Canal, are Frederic C. Mills, Henry Stanley Dexter, J. B. Stillson, Daniel Marsh, S. V. R. Paterson, George D. Stillson, Burton W. Clark, and Daniel M.Henry.
As it is our wish to present the reader with statements as nearly official as practicable respecting the actual condition of all the public improvements connected with Rochester, we called for information at the Genesee Valley Canal Office in the city. The chief en- gineer, Mr. Mills, and the principal resident engineer, Mr. Dexter, were temporarily absent from Rochester on official duties ; but we were po- litely furnished by J. B. Stillson, one of the assistant engineers, with the following memoranda, which embrace some matters not included in the account of this canal inserted in our account of the progress of im- provement in the canal system :
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