USA > New York > Monroe County > Rochester > Settlement in the West : sketches of Rochester with incidental notices of western New-York > Part 34
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t On some maps, and in most statements, but two falls are noticed at Nunda or Portage.
VIEWS ON THE GENESEE IN ROCHESTER. The Port of Rochester. five miles south of Lake Ontario at the well 1.
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THE GENESEE RIVER.
beautiful-the ravine worn through rock by the river (leaving perpen- dicular banks of from two to four hundred feet) being scarcely less won- derful than the cataracts of the stream.
Descending from the high lands of Allegany and emerging from be- tween rocky banks of great height, the Genesee courses through a re- gion of opposite character-a region unsurpassed in fertility, and replete with charms rivalling those with which poetry has invested the flowery meadows of Old England. Rarely does the eye rest upon a lovelier scene than the valley of this stream presents from the villages of Gene- seo* or Mount Morris, which are built on declivities on either side of the flats. Here are the beauties of nature most harmoniously blended with the elements of agricultural wealth. At this portion of the VALLEY OF THE GENESEE the prospect is bounded by the swelling uplands on either side and the Allegany hills in the southern distance. "The Gen- esee Flats in particular, to which, probably, the Indian appellation refer- red, must strike every eye as peculiarly worthy of the name," remarks the intelligent chronicler in Peck's Directory of Rochester for 1827. "These flats are either natural prairies or Indian clearings; of which, however, the Indians have no traditions. Contrasting their smooth ver- dure with the shaggy hills that bound the horizon from Avon southwardly, and their occasional clumps of spreading trees, with the tall and naked relics of the forest, nothing can strike with a more agreeable sensation the eye long accustomed to the interrupted prospects of a level and wooded country. Had the Indians who first gave this name to the val- ley beheld the flocks and herds that now enliven its landscape, and the busy towns with spires overlooking it from the neighbouring hills, the boats transporting its superabundant wealth down its winding stream, and the scenes of intellectual and moral felicity to which it con- tributes in the homes of its present enlightened occupants-and had they been able to appreciate all this, they would have contrived the long- est superlative which their language could furnish to give it a name."t
* " A tract of about 1200 acres, situate in a bend of the river at this point, is usually called Big-tree, or the Big-tree Bend tract, from an Indian chief of the name of Big-tree, who, with his little band of Senecas, cultivated the flats in this bend when the whites first settled in 1790," said Spafford in 1824. " Here are now Wadsworth's Farms, cele- brated for their fertility, products, and stock ; and these flats are very productive of hemp, first raised here in 1801, now extensively cultivated in this county. In Fall-brook, beside these flats and near the river, there is a cascade of near 100 feet perpendicular. This town was first settled in the summer of 1790 by William and James Wadsworth, principal proprietors, who came from the State of Connecticut." * * * * " In 1797 1 found the settlements but feeble, contending with innumerable difficulties," adds Spafford. "In order to see the whole 'power of the country,' a military muster of all the men capable of bearing arms, I waited a day or two and attended 'the training.' Major Wadsworth was then the commanding officer ; and, including the men who had guns and who had not, with the boys, women, and chil- dren, it was supposed that nearly 200 persons were collected. This training, one of the first in Ontario county, was held at Captain Pitts's, on the Honeoye, and lasted all day and night." The Honeoye is a creek that joins Genesee River between Rochester and Avon ; and on it is situate the flourishing village of Honeoye Falls, formerly Weat Mendon.
T As we have some curiosity in examining what was said about this country by the early settlers, we quote a note by Captain Williamson, as found in Maude's Travels :-
" It is difficult to account for these openings (large tracts of land free of timber), or for the open flats on the Genesee River, where 10,000 acres may be found in one body, not even encumbered with a bush ; but covered with grass of such height that the largest bullocks, at thirty feet from the path, will be completely hid from the view. This kind of land, from the ignorance of the first settlers in regard to its quality, was
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SKETCHES OF ROCHESTER, ETC.
The pleasantness of the valley from Geneseo to Rochester is prover bial. The stream is extremely serpentine in its course for the greater part of this space.
Various thriving villages are scattered along the banks ; and the thou- sands who visit the AVON SPRINGS* find the country as agreeable as the mineral waters are salutary. The bridge across the river at Avon, on the road between Canandaigua and Buffalo, was the first crossing- place erected on the Genesee, nearly twenty years before ROCHESTER existed even in name.
The Falls of the Genesee in Rochester are remarkable for their ap- pearance as well as for their hydraulic power, as may be conjectured from the fact that the river is precipitated about 260 feet within the city limits. Though the mere business man may calculate the hydraulic value of the falls in dollars and cents, they afford a scene valuable beyond price to the geologist and mineralogist. By one who can " look on Na- ture with admiring eye," an hour spent in rambling along the banks in and around Rochester could rarely be more pleasantly appropriated. The deep channel worn by the river displays occasionally on either side pre- cipitous banks, exhibiting various strata, petrifactions, &c. ; and those who are curious in such matters imagine they discover in superincum- bent rocks marks of the attrition of water strongly corroborative of the prolific theory respecting the ancient height of Lake Ontario.
Nor is this section destitute of historic interest. Tradition recounts adventures from which the pen of IRVING might be profitably employed in sketching illustrations of the aborigines and scenery of his native state. The valley of the Genesee was the theatre of many scenes important in the history of the Six Nations-those bold warriors whose conquests over other tribes from Canada to Georgia won for them the title of the ROMANS OF AMERICA. t
supposed to be barren ; and six years ago (in 1792) would not have, sold for twenty- five cents an acre-it is now, in 1798, reckoned cheap at ten dollars an acre."-And not dear in 1838 at ten times its price in 1798.
* Among the earliest settlers at this early-settled point on the Genesee, the Hosmers may be named ; from the present head of which family, George Hosmer, we have gathered many particulars respecting the early settlements ; some of which are im- bodied in the appendix. William C. H. Hosmer, son of Judge H., is known as the author of several beautiful poetical contributions to the periodical and daily press ; some of which refer to the former occupanta and principal scenes of the Genesee Valley.
t Among the historical events connected with the Genesee, it may be mentioned that, in 1683, M. Delabarre, the governor-general of Canada, mnarched with an army against the cantons of the Five Nations. He landed near Oswego ; but, finding him- self incompetent to meet the enemy, he instituted a negotiation and demanded a con- ference. "On this occasion," says De Witt Clinton, "Garangula, an Onondaga chief, attended in behalf of his country, and made the celebrated reply to M. Delabarre. * * * The French retired from the country with disgrace. The second general expedition waa undertaken in 1687 by M. Denonville, governor-general. He had treacherously seized several of their chiefs, and sent them to the galleys in France. He was at the head of an army exceeding 2000 men. He landed in Irondequoit Bay [about four miles from Genesee River], and, when near a village of the Senecas, was attacked by 500, and would have been defeated if his Indian allies had not rallied and repulsed the enemy. After destroying some provisions and burning some villages, he retired without any acquisition of laurels. The place on which this battle was fought has been, within a few years, owned by Judge Porter of Niagara. On plough- ing the land, three hundred hatchets and upward of three thousand pounds of old iron were found, being more than sufficient to defray the expense of clearing it."
VIEWS ON THE GENESEE IN ROCHESTER.
*351
WATER-POWER OF THE GENESEE.
The Water-power of the Genesee.
Calculations have been made that the quantity of water generally passing in the Genesee River at Rochester is about 20,000 cubic feet per minute. The water-power has also been estimated as equal to about two thousand steam-engines of twenty horse power ; and, esti- mating horse-power as valued in England, it has been computed that the hydraulic privileges at Rochester may be made worth ten millions of dollars per annuin. Those who made these calculations more than a dozen years ago did not include more than one half the fall within the city limits-for the city includes double the amount of fall which was contained within the village limits. So that, even by the calculations heretofore made, the value of our water-power might be estimated at about double what was formerly stated. But the increased skill with which the water privileges are now being improved-the extent of the fall permitting the water to be used over and over again, in some cases three or four times on the same lot, if required-renders idle all calcula- tions of specific value. With falls and rapids causing a descent of about 260 feet within the city limits, the water-power of the Genesee at Rochester may, for all practical purposes, be deemed ILLIMITABLE.
The greatest flood ever known in the Genesee River occurred in the fall of 1835. Nothing equal to it has occurred within the knowledge of the earliest settlers in Rochester and its vicinity. Although it was un- precedented, it may find frequent parallels ; for, as the country becomes better cleared, the water (from the rain or thawing snow) will more sud- denly find its way to the river than could be the case from wild land. The influence exercised on the character of many streams by the im- provement of the country is a subject worthy of attention.
The greatness of the flood of 1835 may be inferred from the fact that the quantity of water which then passed was estimated at two mil- lions one hundred and sixty-four thousand cubic feet per minute ! Ima- gination may picture better than pen can describe the foaming and roar- ing of such a mighty flood rushing over rapids and falls forming at Ro- chester a descent about 100 feet higher than the perpendicular pitch of Niagara.
This estimate was made by HERVEY ELY, after experiments in meas- urement made with his usual circumspection, the results of which were politely furnished to us at the time. Much damage was done by the flood along the Flats of the Genesee, from Mount Morris down to Ro- chester. A Le Roy print mentioned that the Genesee overflowed the whole Flats, and did much damage to hay and corn. The water cov- ered the road clear to Le Roy's mill, a distance of more than a mile on the way from Avon to Le Roy. The new bridge at the Lower Falls in Rochester was swept away, and other bridges sustained damage. Much care was requisite to preserve the main bridge in the city. Buffalo- street was overflowed as far west as the Arcade, and goods were injured in cellars. " While we have been suffering for the want of rain in this section," says a New-York paper in publishing the accounts from the Genesee country, " the western part of the state has been deluged."
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SKETCHES OF ROCHESTER, ETC.
Views on the Genesee River in the City of Rochester, commencing north- ward and approaching from Lake Ontario.
View I. exhibits the appearance of the Port of Rochester at the Ontario Steamboat- Landing, at the north line of the city, about five miles from the lake. The largest vessels on the lakes can ascend the river to this point. There is a winding road from the wharves up the bank; and there are three railways for facilitating the business between the vessels and the warehouses on the upper banks, which are here about 160 feet high.
View II. represents the two steps of the Lower Falls, about half a mile south of the Steamboat-Landing. The first step is about 25 feet ; and at this point there is a dam for throwing the water into races on both sides of the river for supplying various mills and other manufacturing establishments. The second or last step is 84 feet. On the east bank of the river (left side of the engraving) is represented a fragment of the framework of the celebrated structure called "Carthage Bridge," an account of which, and of the fate of Catlin at these falls, is elsewhere given in this volume.
View III. The Third Water-power. 'The dam which creates hydraulic privileges here is nearly equidistant between the Middle or Main Falls and the Lower Falls. The tract contains about 38 acres of alluvial soil, and a stone wall is built to prevent the encroachments of the river and to promote the arrangements for hydraulic power. As the engraving shows, this tract is like the tract whereon are built the mills, &c., at the Lower Falls, considerably below the level of the surrounding banks. But it is a pleasant spot, and must soon be much improved, from its proximity to the centre of business and the increasing demand for water-power in the centre of the city. The towers of churches and tops of other buildings will, by comparison with other engravings, readily indicate the position of this water-power. The buildings shown in the distance on the west bank are those more fully exhibited in the (first) view of the Main Falls. This Third Water-power was formerly owned by Elisha Johnson and L. Tousey, but has passed into the hands of a company, consisting of Dr. Alex- ander Kelsey, of Rochester, Col. James Lorimer Graham, of New-York, and others. In addition to the wall constructed to guard the banks against the river and to pro- mote hydraulic operations, a bridge is to be erected immediately by the company, and millraces opened, as shown by the dark lines on the tract.
View IV. The Middle or Main Fall, 96 feet high ; viewed from the east side of the river, including a section of the city called the "Frankfort Tract" on the west bank, exhibiting many valuable mills, manufactories, &c. The Gothic tower seen in the distance is that of the Catholic church. From a small island in the river at the brink of these falls, Sam Patch demonstrated by his last leap that "some things can be done as well as others."
View V. also represents the Middle or Main Fall, a second view, taken from a curve in the bank, which enables the spectator to look up the river as far as the bridge which connects Buffalo-street on the west and Main-street on the east bank of the river. It will be noticed that the buildings erected on piers along the north side of the bridge are shown in the picture. The spires of several churches and the towers of the Arcade and Rochester House are likewise seen in the distance. The tower of St. Paul's appears above the outbuildings attached to the Genesee Falls Mills of O. E. and A. G. Gibbs-which mills are in the foreground, on the brink of the east side of the falls. The railroad bridge of the Rochester and Auburn com- pany will cross the Genesee within a few rods of the brink of these falls.
View VI. represents the Great Aqueduct of the Erie Canal across the Genesee River in the City of Rochester. This is as the new aqueduct will appear, varying in some respects from the present edifice. The new work will be completed in about three years-during 1840. It will strike the east bank south of and adjoining the mills of Hervey Ely ; the present aqueduct connects with the canal on the east bank north of those mills. The large building at the west end of the aqueduct (on the right of the picture) is part of the mammoth Mills of Thomas Kempshall. The jail, which is situate on an island in the river, is seen over the second arch from the west side. The high ground in the distance is that of which the corporation purchased about fifty acres for the purposes of a city cemetery, designed to be laid out like the celebrated cemetery of Mount Auburn near Boston, &c. The First Fall of the Gen- esee in Rochester, which might be better described as a rapid, is about 16 feet, and is a few rods south of the aqueduct, nearly abreast of the jai).
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VIEWS ON THE GENESEE IN ROCHESTER.
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7 % 7. 117 11 11
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GENESEE RIVER NAVIGATION.
TRANSPORTATION ON RIVER, LAKE, CANAL, &c.
Genesee River Navigation.
The Genesee River is navigable for steamboats and other lake vessels from the north line of the city to Lake Ontario, a distance of five miles. From near the south line of the city the river is navigable by smaller vessels for about forty miles, as far as Fitzhugh's warehouse on the Canaseraga Creek, between Mount Morris and the residence of Colonel Fitzhugh, in Groveland, near Geneseo. (Colonel F. was an associate of Colonel Rochester and Mr. Carroll in buying and laying out the Hun- chester the river navigation is interrupted by a succession of falls and dred-acre Tract.) Between the north and south line of the City of Ro- rapids, making an aggregate descent in that short distance of 266 feet.
A small steamboat ran for a couple of seasons between Rochester and the villages southward along the river, touching at Scottsville, Avon, York, and other points, for the purpose chiefly of towing the freight- boats loaded with the grain and other products accumulated at the thri- ving villages of the rich valley of the Genesee. The communication between the Erie Canal and the Genesee River is now being much im- proved by an arrangement partly connected with the Genesee Valley Canal. It will shortly be practicable for the Erie canal-boats to cross Genesee River without reference to the aqueduct, a matter of much consequence ; guarding as it will against any detention of navigation in case the old aqueduct fails before the new one is completed. The present feeder is being improved, and a corresponding cut is making on the west side of the river as far south as the feeder dam, say a mile and a half from the Erie Canal. The cut on the west side of the river serves as part of the Genesee Valley Canal ; and thus both canals and the river navigation south of Rochester are advantageously connected by means that secure the canal navigation from interruption in case of difficulty about the aqueduct ; a policy recommended strongly by the citizens in 1832-3 in a memorial remonstrating against the plans for rebuilding the aqueduct which were recommended in a special report from the canal commissioners. Although the Genesee Valley Canal will probably withdraw the business chiefly from the river for the extent to which the river is now used, the navigation of the latter is worthy of notice here. The river boats used for bringing wheat to Rochester are, we believe, owned by Mr. Kempshall, Mr. Ely, and other flour manufacturers. William Tone, residing a few miles south of the city, owns several boats, and has done much of the transportation. Scots- ville, York, Avon, Geneseo, Moscow, and Mount Morris, all have warehouses to accommodate this navigation ; and large quantities of wheat are thus brought down in hoats alongside the Rochester mills,
Lake Ontario Navigation.
The first steamboat that touched at the port of Genesee or Roches- ter was the "Ontario," in 1817, on her passages between Sackett's Harbour and Niagara Falls. The Martha Ogden afterward touched on her routes up and down the lake. For a few years past, several of 30*
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SKETCHES OF ROCHESTER, ETC.
the best steamboats on Lake Ontario have regularly touched at the City of Rochester, affording eligible and frequent opportunities for inter- course with the various towns on the British and American shores of Ontario. Travellers to or from Niagara Falls may now have their choice of conveyances ; by canal packets or lake steamboats, by stages on the Ridge-Road, or by railroad between Rochester and Batavia, con- necting by a short stage with Lockport, where a railroad running to the falls intersects others running to Lewiston and Buffalo. The steam- boat United States, Capt. Van Cleve, touches regularly at Rochester on her passages up and down the lake, offering facilities to travellers for Quebec or Niagara Falls, &c. The steamboat Traveller, Capt. Sutherland, plies regularly between Rochester and the Canadian towns between Coburg and Hamilton at the head of the lake, including the capital, Toronto. The steamboat Oswego, and two or three others, have usually touched regularly on their passages up and down ; but, owing to the varying arrangements, we will only add that, for a few seasons past, steamboats have arrived and departed almost daily for dif- ferent points on the lake.
A railroad from the Steamboat-Landing at the port of Rochester, at the northern line of the city, connects business and travelling with the Erie Canal and the Tonnewanta railroad in the southern part of the city.
The first warehouse built at this point for the lake trade was erected by Levi Ward, Jr., Elisha B. Strong, Levi H. Clarke, and Heman Nor- ton ; the two latter now reside in New-York. It yet stands, with its inclined plane for the transit of goods between it and the vessels lying at the foot of the steep bank whereon it is located. Capt. John T. Trowbridge, now of Milwaukie, and John W. Trowbridge and Charles H. Greene, now of Oswego, were formerly in business here ; but the two principal warehouses are now owned by Hooker, Olmstead, and Griffiths, John Thompson being agent.
In 1818 the exports from the Genesee River down the lake to Mon- treal market during the season of navigation were 26,000 bbls. of flour, 3653 bbls. pot and pearl ashes, 1173 bbls. pork, 190 bbls. whiskey, 214,000 double-butt staves, together with small quantities of other articles, all valued at $380,000.
In 1819 the exports in the same way amounted to 23,648 bbls. flour, 8673 bbls. pot and pearl ashes, 1451 bbls. pork, 500,000 staves, 50,000 feet square timber, which, together with small quantities of other arti- cles, were valued at $400,000.
In 1820 the exports from the Genesee River for the 'Canada market were 67,468 bbls. flour, 5310 bbls. pot and pearl ashes, 2643 bbls. beef and pork, 709 bbls. whiskey, 179,000 staves, together with small quantities of corn, oil, lard, ham, butter, cider, &c., valued at $375,000. The prices of produce had fallen greatly ; the general price of flour was $2 25 a $2 50 per bbl. ; of wheat 37 cents per bushel ; and corn from 20 to 25 cents.
In 1821 the price of produce fell so low in Canada, and the canal, partly finished, having opened other and better markets, the quantity of produce sent from Genesee River to the Canada market became so much reduced, that farther statements are not made in the account from which is taken the notice of the above exports.
The attention of the citizens, withdrawn to too great an extent for some years from the subject of lake navigation, is now turning strongly
Young
fartenson S ..
VIEWS ON THE GENESEE IN ROCHESTER.
The Middle, or Main Falls, 96 feet perpendicular. looking from the east bank westward across and northward down the stroom
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TRANSPORTATION BUSINESS.
upon its importance ; and well it may, for with the growth of the coun- try along the shores of our inland seas this city must have its full share of benefits. Whatever improvements are made at the rapids of the St. Lawrence or around the Falls of Niagara cannot be indifferent to us-for our steamboats and schooners may thus have direct intercourse between Rochester and the shores of the upper lakes, or with the cities of the St. Lawrence, if not through that noble river to the Atlantic Ocean.
In 1836 wheat to the amount of 200,000 bushels was imported from Canada, under heavy duties, by some of the Rochester dealers in that article.
No one who reflects upon the subject can doubt that the lake trade will prove, ere long, far inore beneficial to Rochester than the superfi- cial observer may now imagine.
Canal Transportation Business.
The statements already presented indicate the great value of the transportation business to the people of Rochester.
On the 29th of October, 1822, the first canal-boat loaded with flour left Hill's Basin, on the east side of the Genesee in Rochester, for Little Falls on the Mohawk, the canal being then navigable no farther eastward, and the Rochester Aqueduct being unfinished.
In the first ten days after the opening of navigation in the spring of 1823, 10,000 bbls. of flour were shipped from Rochester for Albany and New-York. On the 7th of October in the same year the canal aqueduct across the Genesee River in Rochester was completed for navigation, the whole work upon it having occupied two years and a quarter; preparations having been made in August, 1821, by William Britton, assisted by 30 convicts from the Auburn State Prison, although the contractor (Alfred Hovey) did not commence the erection till the 17th July, 1822. The opening of navigation through the aqueduct was celebrated by the passage of various boats, escorted by the mili- tary companies, masonic societies, and citizens generally. The first boatload of flour that crossed the aqueduct from the western side of Rochester was shipped from the warehouse of Daniel P. Parker, who received the first consignment of merchandise from the eastward that crossed the aqueduct, and who is now agent at New-York for the " American Transportation Company."
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