USA > New York > Monroe County > Rochester > Settlement in the West : sketches of Rochester with incidental notices of western New-York > Part 36
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No flour was MANUFACTURED here till 1814, when a few hundred barrels were sent to the troops on the Niagara frontier, the mill-power then existing being applied to the grists for the supply of the neighbour- hood. The conclusion of the war with England in 1815 opened our trade with Canada, when a few hundred barrels of flour were manu- factured and sent from Rochester to Montreal and other ports on Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence.
31
362*
SKETCHES OF ROCHESTER, ETC.
In 1816, between seven and eight thousand barrels of flour were sent from Rochester to the same markets. Since that time' the manufacture of the article in Rochester has increased, with some slight fluctuations, in a geometrical ratio, till we now find the city exporting chiefly by the Erie Canal about four or five hundred thousand barrels of flour, besides the supply manufactured for the city and vicinity.
Annexed is a table showing the annual average value of WHEAT, together with the extreme ranges of prices since 1814, when Rochester was first known as a market for that commodity.
1814
Average, $1 25
Range, $1 182 to 1 31
1815
1 121
1 06 " 1 182
1816
1 75
1 12}" 2 50
1817
1 53
87} " 2 25
1818
1 03
1 1 06
1819
92
56 “
1 31
1820
52
44 “ 62}
1821
40
33 “ 50
1822
62}
56 6 75
1823
96
75
31
1824
92
75
1 09
1825
73
50
92
1826
59
44
71
1827
71
62} "
85
1828
93
72
1 44
1829
1 02
75
1 44
1830
84
69 “ 1
1831
1 01
78 "
1 19
1832
99
84 " 1 12}
1833
92
75 " 1 06
1834
80
75 "
87}
1835
1 07
75 " 1 37₺
1836
-
1 48
1 182 " 2 00
1837
1 38 “ 2 15
It will be seen from the foregoing table that the great staple of our state, an article of prime necessity, has been subject to extreme fluctu- ations in value ; so much so as to baffle the calculations of the most experienced and sagacious. We see the value of a bushel of wheat some years rated at six or eight times the value in other years. It may therefore be interesting to examine some of the causes which probably produced these extraordinary fluctuations.
Very little wheat or flour was sent out of the Genesee country till after the year 1815. The crop that year was short in this quarter and in Canada ; but it did not affect prices till the following spring and sum- mer, when flour was sold in Rochester for four weeks at fifteen dollars per barrel ! Indian corn was then shipped freely from Rochester to the Canadian shore of Ontario, and commanded ready sale at York (now Toronto) for three dollars per bushel !
The "cold summer" of 1816 was not injurious to our crop; but a demand for the English market affected prices materially during the latter part of that year, and also in the years 1817, 1818, 1828, 1829, and 1831. The crop in 1828 in the Genesee country was an almost entire failure ; but being nearly or quite an average in other portions of
*363
FLOUR TRADE.
the country, Rochester prices would not have advanced near the close of that year but for a demand from England.
It is well known that, in particular districts of our country, there has been a rapid increase of cultivation of breadstuffs. But it is also known that, in other and very extensive portions of our country, agricultural enterprise has been turned to employments yielding better profits than grain-growing in those regions. Witness the extent to which the great southern staple has lately been cultivated, to the exclusion in a great degree of wheat and other grains. This, with the rapid increase of population, &c., were the leading causes of the high prices of 1835. [Might not the prevalence of a speculating mania, the withdrawal of considerable labour from productive employment, and the expansion of bank issues, be particularly included among the causes which contribu- ted to the inflation of prices ?]
The foregoing causes, combined with the entire failure of the crop in 1836 east of the mountains, in North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, and Pennsylvania, and the partial failure in the State of New- York, fully explain the causes of the existence of high prices in that year and in 1837.
In 1823 canal navigation was opened without interruption from Albany to Rochester. The want of this commercial avenue was one reason of the extreme depression of prices in 1820 and 1821 ; but the effect was chiefly attributable to the largely-increased cultivation of wheat, in con- sequence of the stimulus of high prices during the four preceding years, together with the luxuriant crops of those two years (1820 and 1821).
The crops of 1825 and 1826 were probably the most abundant for the land in seed which have been known since the settlement of the country.
It is a fact worthy of note, in relation to the wheat crop, that, in sea- sons of abundance, its QUALITY is uniformly SUPERIOR to that of other years.
It is often said, and by wise men, that the fluctuations in the value of breadstuffs are mainly attributable to expansions and contractions of the currency. The changes in currency have, of course, considerable influence ; but the preceding statements indicate the presence of far more powerful causes-causes which cannot entirely be controlled by ordinary human invention.
Although it might be expected that legislation respecting the prices of articles of absolute necessity like grain would have the effect of pre- venting extravagant fluctuations in the marketable value of such articles, such is not a consequence of the British Corn Laws. Immense fluctu- ations in the prices of grain in Great Britain have had considerable in- fluence in other countries from which that empire usually seeks supplies.
With the exception of the years 1835 and 1836, it appears that the high prices in our country for the last twenty years have been owing chiefly to the demands of the British market. And the fact deserves notice, that the greater portion of the shipments from this to that coun- try in the above-mentioned period have proved disastrous, owing to the pernicious operation of the Corn Laws.
From the perishable nature of wheat, when collected in large masses, it is unwise for capitalists to take it in seasons of abundant crops and consequent low prices, with the view of holding it till a deficient crop er an unusual foreign demand advances the prices. One remedy sug-
364*
SKETCHES OF ROCHESTER, ETC.
gests itself, as simple in itself, and worthy of adoption in some extent, to prevent a recurrence of the extreme depressions experienced in 1820, 1821, and 1826. As our farmers have now become a wealthy class, and are not forced by necessity to sell at a sacrifice, it is believed that they may be induced to adopt the plan, which is this : to retain in their own hands a portion of each abundant crop till a short crop here or elsewhere causes an advance of price, and enables them to sell at a remunerating rate. This course would enable them at all times to ob- tain fair prices for their crops, and would diminish the hazard, so that the purchasing and manufacturing of wheat could be done at a small profit.
From official data, it is found that the exports of flour and wheat from the United States to foreign countries, in seasons of ordinary produc- tiveness, do not essentially vary from what they were forty years ago. Taking periods of five years, the annual average shows an increase of but 150,000 bbls. per annum. This fact leads to an inquiry concern- ing the disposition made of the vast increase of breadstuffs from the wheat-growing states. The progress of domestic manufactures will furnish a ready solution. New-England consumes the greater portion of the surplus products of the grain-growing regions, and pays for them chiefly through the profits derived from the sale of her commod- ities in the cotton-growing states .* Thus interlocked are the various interests of the different sections of the Union.
It may be added, in conclusion, that comparisons instituted in foreign markets render it certain that nowhere in Europe, save perhaps in a small district of Poland, can the quality of the wheat produced be placed in competition with the staple product of Western New-York. And it is an essential feature of our wheat-growing district, that, unlike some regions which formerly yielded such grain finely and freely, it is rendered inexhaustible in fertility by the calcareous substratum. "The alluvion of the fetid limestone which forins its base is peculiarly adapted to the continued production of superior wheat," as has been remarked by a well-known personage. " Perhaps, also, the moistness of the climate, from its vicinity to the great lakes, contributes to this effect. It is said that a chymical analysis of Genesee wheat shows it to con- tain more saccharine matter than that of the southern states, while the latter combines with a larger portion of water in the composition of bread. This may serve to explain why southern flour is more agreeable
* A paragraph illustrative of this point has just met our view in an Albany paper : "Only two or three years ago, a very considerable bet was made that New-England did not import from the other states breadstuffs equal to a million of barrels. We observe by the official statement that the import into Boston alone in .1837 was, Of Flour,
423,246 bbls.
Bushels.
Corn,
·
1,725,173
Rye, +
86,991
1,812 164 ·
Estimated at five bushels to the barrel, would be 362,433
785,679
" The supplies sent to Boston are not probably greater than those sent to Connec- ticut, Rhode Island, Cape Cod, Nantucket, New-Hampshire, and Maine. The export to New-England of breadstuffs in 1837 was probably equal to a million and a half of barrels, which, if valued at the low price of six dollars a barrel, would amount to nine millions of dollars."
*365
FLOUR TRADE.
to the baker, but Genesee to the cater, when they come into competi- tion in our cities."
As a matter of consequence in the history of the flour manufacture, it may be mentioned that the flour and wheat destroyed by the mob at New-York on the 13th February, 1837, belonged chiefly to Rochester millers. The commodities were stored for sale under the agency of Messrs. Hart and Herrick. In consequence of the outrages from which they had suffered loss, the millers presented to the Legislature a memorial praying for protection against further calamities.
" A portion of the stock of flour now in New-York," said the memorial, "is the property of your memorialists ; and from the character of our business and the posi- tion of that city, we necessarily have almost constantly large stocks of flour in the warehouses there ; it being made the depot from whence supplies are purchased and forwarded to the different ports of our own and foreign countries. We therefore pray your honourable body that a law may be passed, making the City of New-York, in its corporate capacity, responsible to the owners of property living out of the city, and in the hands of commission merchants there, for any and all losses which may arise from mobs within its corporate limits. Or, if in your wisdom its provis- ions be extended to the destruction of all property, and a like provision be extended to all cities, villages, and towns in the state, it will meet our cordial approval.
" The disasters arising from the elements," continued the memoralists, " we can guard against by ensurance ; but who takes risks against the blind passions of an infuriated mob ? We are free to declare, that, had such a law as we now ask for been in existence for the last three years, that city would have been spared the deep and lasting disgrace of its riotous tumults. The consideration that they themselves were to pay for the destruction would have nerved those arms for defence which, to their disgrace, have lain palsied while riot after riot has spread desolation through their streets."
The concluding portion of the memorial rebutted the allegation which formed the pretext for the destruction of the flour at New-York. The importance of the subject will justify the insertion here of that portion of the document :-
" It has been gravely said by newspaper editors, who might have known better," said the memorial, "that the present high price of flour is the result of combinations to monopolize the article. This charge we declare to be without any foundation in truth.
" The unexampled destruction of the wheat crop in the important wheat districts of our country is the leading and primary cause. We are not speculators in flour, but its manufacturers. It is true, had we consented to the sale of our flour in the autumn at serious losses, we should not at this moment have property there at haz- ard; but, to avoid these losses, we have been compelled to raise large sums of money at most exorbitant rates-even present prices are paying us short of a reasonable and moderate profit on the manufacture of the article.
" As the manufacturers of the leading agricultural staple of our state, we appeal to your honourable body with entire confidence in your wisdom, and disposition to grant us, and, through us, to the great agricultural interests of the state, protection for our property from destruction by mobs.
" Hervey Ely,
" Jas. K. Livingston,
" Meech, Rice, & Co.,
"Chappell, Carpenter, & Co.,
O. E. & G. A. Gibbs,
H. B. Williams & Co.,
E. S. Beach,
" Thomas Kempshall,
Mack & Paterson, Paterson & Avery,
W. Whitney & Co., Thomas Emerson,
Woodbury & Scrantom, Joseph Strong,
" Rich. Richardson,
Charles J. Hill, Hooker & Co.,
E. H. S. Mumford.
" Rochester, February 21, 1837."
31*
366*
SKETCHES OF ROCHESTER, ETC.
As the history of Rochester and Western New-York must ever be intimately associated with that of the grain and flour trade, and as some statements have been presented respecting the prices since the origin of the flour manufacture in this region, it may not be deemed irrelevant to present now a statement of the flour market on the sea- board for the last forty years. These tables will be useful for compar- ison ; and the remarks by which the latter is accompanied will show that it has direct reference to the pretexts assigned for the destruction at New-York of the property of the Rochester Flour Manufacturers.
From the Philadelphia Pennsylvanian .- 1837.
" PRICE OF FLOUR-COMPARATIVE TABLE .- We subjoin a highly interesting table, giving a comparative view of the price of flour in this city for the first three months in the year from 1796 to the present time. For this document our acknowl- edgments are due to the kindness of a mercantile friend, by whom it was carefully and accurately prepared from authentic data. It possesses peculiar interest at the present moment, showing, as it does, the great and rapid fluctuations of the market, and stating the fact that, at periods when labour did not obtain more than half the price it now commands, flour has sold at much higher prices than those which are now complained of. In 1796, for instance, it sold as high as fifteen dollars a barrel.
Prices of Flour for the first three months of the year from 1796 to 1837 inclusive.
Years.
January.
February.
March.
1796
.$12 00
13 50
15 00
1797
10 00
10 00
10 00
1798.
8 20
8 50
8 50
1799
9 50
9 50
9 25
1800 ₺
11 50
11 25
11 50
1801 3
1802.
7 00
7 00
7 00
1803
6 50
6 50
6 50
1804
7 50
7 50
7 00
1805.
11 0.0
12 25
13 00
1806.
7 50
7 50
7 00
1807.
8 50
7 50
7 50
1808 (Embargo).
6 00
5 75
5 50
1809
do.
5 50
7 00
7 00
( In July and August
1810 < this year $11 and
7 75
8 00
8 25
$12.
1811.
18 00
10 50
10 50
1812 (War)
10 50
10 12}
9 75
1813
do.
11 00
10 00
9 50
1814
do.
9 25
8 25
8 00
1815
do.
8 00
8 00
7 75
1816.
9 00
9 00
8 00
1817.
13 50
13 75
14 25
1818.
10 00
10 75
10 50
1819
9 00
8 75
10 50
1820.
6 00
5 50
5 00
1821
4 00
4 00
3 75
1822.
6 25
6 25
6 25
1823.
7 00
6 75
7 00
1824.
6 00
6 00
6 12
1825
4 87
5 19
5 12
1826
4 75
4 62
4 50
1827
5 75
6 00
5 75
1828.
5 00
1 87
4 75
1829
8 50
8 25
8 00
1830.
4 62
4 50
4 50
1831
6 12
6 25
7 00
1832
5 50
5 50
5 50
1833
5 75
5 00
5 50
1834.
5 25
5 00
5 87
1835.
4 87
5 00
5 00
1836
6 50
6 62
6 75
1837
11 00
11 00
.
*367
FLOUR TRADE.
" While on this subject it may not be irrelevant to speak of the errors entertained by many as to the flour trade and the price which the article now commands. The advanced rates are supposed by some-as frightfully shown by the late occurrences in New-York-not to spring from natural causes, but to be the result of speculation and combination. This is a serious mistake. The failure of the crop has been great and general .* So complete, indeed, have been the disasters to agricultural industry, that foreign wheat is sent in quantities from the Atlantic cities many miles to the west, to supply the wants of the farmers themselves ; and the price of wheat, there- fore, is such that, notwithstanding the importations, the miller, even selling at eleven dollars, is barely able to secure a living profit. The flour in the cities is held, not by speculators, but by the agents of the millers living in the interior, that being the position occupied by those called flour merchants. The property in each of their storelionses, so far from belonging to them, is owned probably by twenty, thirty, or forty different individuals in various parts of the country. From this, it is evident that the attack on the stores of Eli Hart and Herrick, in New-York, was in every respect as foolish as it was wicked. They did not suffer. The injury arising from the destruction of the flour fell upon the millers in the country-the real owners ; and that prices should immediately have advanced in New-York, or That they should continue to advance there, is not to be wondered at. The miller, not disposed to place his property at the mercy of a mob, will naturally seek another market, er demand an increase of price for increased risks. Such are the beneficial effects of mobism."
MEMORANDA .- About the year 1760, the flour exported from the Colony of New-York did not exceed 80,000 barrels per annum.
After mentioning that flour was the main article of export from New-York about that time for the West Indies, Smith's History says, " To preserve the credit of this important branch of our staples, we have a good law appointing officers to inspect and brand every cask be- fore its exportation."
"The wheat, corn, flour, and lumber shipped to Lisbon and Ma- deira," it is stated in reference to the same period, "balance the Ma- deira wine imported here (at New-York)."
After the revolution, particular pains were taken to raise the charac- ter of the flour of the State of New-York. The Legislature, in 1785, passed a law requiring rigid inspection of flour ; the preamble stating that " it is necessary that great care be taken to preserve the reputation of our flour, one of the staple commodities of this state." The maker was required to brand on his name and the weight of flour.
The wheat and flour of Western New-York were, when first sent to the markets on the seaboard, acknowledged promptly to be of superior
* The extent to which this failure affected the quantity sent to the seaboard through the Frie Canal was thus stated by the Albany Argus :-
" THE WHEAT CROPS OF 1835 AND 1836 .- Assuming that the wheat crop is brought to market between the Ist of Septemher and the 31st of August, and the following results are furnished by a comparison of the wheat crop of 1835 and 1836, so far as the comparison can be made, trom the quantity coming from the Hudson River on the Erie Canal in each of the years referred to, viz. :-
" Statement of the wheat and flour left at Albany and West Troy. Bush. Bris.
From Ist Sept., 1835, to 31st Aug., 1836. .691,906 972,282
From Ist Sept., 1836, to 31st Aug., 1837. 430,857 687,658
Showing a decrease of 231,049 284,620
" Estimating five bushels of wheat to a barrel of flour, and the following results are presented, viz. :-
Flour coming to market on the canal from the crop of 1835,. . 1,105,233 barrels. Flour coming to market on the canal from the crop of 1836, .... 773,829 do.
Decrease, 331.404 do.
"This shows a decrease of the crop of 1836, compared with That of 1835, equal to 1,655,000 bushels of wheat."
368*
SKETCHES OF ROCHESTER, ETC.
quality. "The wheat of this part of the country bears the highest price in the New-York market," says a traveller in 1800, " selling for fourpence, eightpence, and a shilling per bushel more than the North River wheat, which is reckoned the next best."
" Mr. Bartles's flour," from the mills on Mud Creek, between Bath and Geneva, in 1800, " was esteemed the best ever inspected in Baltimore," to which city it was floated in arks through the Conhocton, Tioga, Susquehanna, and Chesapeake.
Rochester Mills.
Although we have elsewhere referred to the fact, we may repeat in this connexion, preparatory to a regular account of the Rochester Mills, that, in the year 1790, a mill with one pair of stones and a saw- mill were erected in what is now the city of Rochester, by Ebenezer Allen, better known as "Indian Allen," to whom the " Hundred-acre Tract" was given by Oliver Phelps on condition that he should erect such mills for the accommodation of the settlers in the surrounding country. [The " Hundred-acre Tract" formed the nucleus of the City of Rochester. Having passed through several hands into the posses- sion of Nathaniel Rochester, William Fitzhugh, and Charles Carroll in 1802, it was surveyed into a village plat in 1812 under the name of the senior proprietor, which it now bears.] Allen abandoned these mills in a few years, the business of the country being insufficient to keep them in repair. The site was on the west bank of the river, at the first fall, a few rods north of the Canal Aqueduct ; and nearly upon it now stands the red mill built by Rochester and Montgomery.
In 1807, a mill with one pair of stones was erected by Charles Har- ford at the second or Main Falls. In 1812 it was purchased by Francis Brown and Company, who enlarged it to three pairs of stones, and im- proved it for the manufacture of flour. It was destroyed by fire in 1818, when the Phoenix Mills, with four pairs of stones, were erected on the ruins. The establishment is now used by Joseph Field, and owned by William and John James. Built of stone, 61 by 102 feet-2 stories in front, and three in the rear, besides lofts and basement. See a view of part of these mills in the engraving of the mills of H. B. Williams and Company.
In 1814, Elisha Ely, Josiah Bissell, and Hervey Ely erected mills, with four pairs of stones, for manufacturing flour, at the first falls. This building, after having been disused for milling for several years, was fitted up for various mechanics, and called the " Hydraulic Building." It was destroyed in the fire of the 4th October, 1837.
In 1817, William Atkinson erected the mills at the first falls, with three pairs of stones, now owned by Meech, Rice, and Company. A partial view of these mills is given in the engraving of Emerson's Mills.
In the same year, Elisha B. Strong, Heman Norton, and E. Beach, erected mills, with four pairs of stones, at the upper step of the Lower Falls. These mills, lately owned by Hooker, Olmstead, and Griffiths (Hooker and Company), are now owned by Ira A. Thurber and Com- pany (George A. Avery and Philip Thurber). The adjoining stone building, now occupied as a Veneering Mill by A. Whipple, is yet owned, with much of the water-power at these falls, by Hooker and Company. This stone building is about 30 by 40 feet, and about 100 feet high from the edge of the river ; it is calculated for a flouring mill. The other building is of wood, with two basement stories of stone.
*369
ROCHESTER MILLS.
In 1818, Palmer Cleveland erected the mills at the second or Middle Falls, on the east bank, afterward owned by Abelard Reynolds. These mills are now owned by Orrin E. and George A. Gibbs, by whom the building has been enlarged, and the runs of stones increased from three to five. Built of stone ; 62 1-2 feet long and 52 wide ; four stories high, besides attic-and having a wooden building appended, 1 1-2 stories high, and 66 by 38 feet. These mills stand near the brink at the eastern side of the main precipice over which the river dashes, as may be seen by reference to the "Second View" of the Main Falls included in this work.
In 1821, Thomas H. Rochester and Harvey Montgomery erected the mills, with three pairs of stones, on the site of the mill built by " Indian Allen." They are now owned by Chappell, Carpenter, & Co., and lie between the mills of Joseph Strong and Thomas Kempshall.
In the same year, Hervey Ely erected the mills, with four pairs of stones, at the first falls, now owned by Elbert W. Scrantom. These mills were burnt in 1831, and rebuilt of stone the same year. Front on Water-street, rear on the river.
In 1826, Elias Shelmire erected a mill at the first falls, with two pairs of stones-enlarged by Benj. Campbell to four pairs of stones-burnt in 1833-rebuilt the same year. In 1836 these mills were taken down by order of the canal commissioners, to make room for the new aqueduct.
In 1827, E. S. Beach, T. Kempshall, and Henry Kennedy erected mills, with ten pairs of stones, at the first falls. These mills are now owned by Thomas Kempshall. The stone part of these mills is 105 feet long and 76 wide, six stories high, besides grinding-floor and attic ; wooden part 50 feet by 75, four stories high, with a wing projecting over the street and canal basin 65 by 40 feet, and four stories high. The part which projects over the basin is not seen in the engraving- and the aqueduct hides some of the lower part of the main building.
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