USA > New York > Niagara County > Souvenir history of Niagara County, New York : commemorative of the 25th anniversary of the Pioneer Association of Niagara County > Part 36
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IN STAGE COACH DAYS.
When Judge Augustus Porter traveled from Cana- dlaigua with his family, in 1806, he was his own teamster and occupied four days in the journey. Other pioneers made their way through the wilderness in the same way. It was about 1816 that the stage route over the Ridge Road to Lewiston and Niagara Falls was established.
PIONEER RAILROAD.
In 1835 Niagara felt the impulse of its pioneer rail- road, which was built between the border and Lockport. It was a wooden strap line, and the depot was in front of the Cataract House at the foot of Buffalo Avenue. Horses were used for about two years, and then steam locomotives of light construction were substituted. Switching was done right in the street in front of the hotels, and it was con-
sidered fortunate that these hostelries had such excellent railroad facilities. This line was opened in 1836, and the same year a railroad was completed between Buffalo and Niagara Falls. The first conductor on this latter line was Samuel Hamlin, and the first baggageman, George Hamlin. Horses were used to draw the cars. The depot of the Buf- falo road stood at the northeast corner of Falls and Main Streets, where the road had a little shed. Later the road ran to the corner of Falls and Prospect Street, where the depot office and machine shop were located-the present stone building standing there having been the machine shop. Their office was the old yellow school house built by Judge Porter, and which had, up to this time, been occupied as a village school for some years. About this time the first tax for school purposes was levied, and a new two-story frame building erected in the oak grove which then covered the corner of Falls and Second Streets. This old school building is now standing alongside the railroad tracks be- tween Second and Niagara Streets. Beyond the school house of those days was the lime kiln, and children were warned not to go further than this lime kiln for fear of being captured by wild animals.
The first railroad made one trip a day between Niagara Falls and Lockport, the trains frequently being from seven to eight hours behind time. The Lockport and Niagara Falls Company was bought out in 1851 by the Rochester. Lockport & Niagara Falls Railroad Company, organized December 10, 1850. The old track was abandoned. On June 25, 1852, a special party, including the directors, passed over the new line, and the regular service was instituted June 30. 1850. On May 7, 1853, the lines hereabouts were consoli- dated and became the New York Central, the line which ever since has been, and continues to be, a material factor in the development of Niagara Falls. The Canandaigua and Niagara Falls line was opened to Niagara Falls and Sus- pension Bridge in 1853-54. This company had a mam- moth freight house that stood near where the cold storage warehouse now stands at the north end of the city. It was several hundred feet long and after it was abandoned by the railroad it became known as John Quick's barn. The Sus- pension Bridge depot of this line stood on Main Street near the present switch and signal tower. The freight house on Second Street is an old Canandaigua structure.
With the changes in the ownership and operation of the line to Buffalo and the line to Lockport new depot facilities were demanded, and this led to the construction of a depot at the corner of Falls and Second Street, the line from Lockport building the wing extending to the north, and the Buffalo line building a wing that extended east, but which has since been changed. The company that built the railroad to Lewiston was incorporated September 9, 1852, and was known as the Niagara Falls & Lake Ontario Rail- road Company, its inspiration being to reach the lake at Youngstown. The work of this company commanded much attention because of the great cut it made through the rock between this city and Lewiston. The road was opened to Lewiston in 1854, and on October 21, 1855, a train ran to Youngstown. This part of the line was later taken up. It is now owned by the New York Central. What is known as the Erie Road came to town in 1870-71.
THE YOUNG FAMILY.
While the Porters and others were aiding in building up and developing the resources of Niagara Falls, other pioneers were arriving in the locality and establishing homes, Among the very earliest of these were John Young,
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(born May 29, 1752), and family, who reached the Town of Niagara, June 1, 1810. They came from Lancaster County, Pa. The party numbered fourteen persons, consisting of John Young, his wife, five sons, Christian, Samuel, Jacob, John and Charles, and two daughters, Catharine and Polly. Christian and Samuel, sons of John Young, were both mar- ried when they came, so that Christian's wife and son, Wil- liam and daughter, Sally, and Samuel's wife and son, Jonas, were also members of the party. John Young died August 8, 1811, about two years after he came to Niagara. In De- cember, 1813, all the Youngs went to Sparta, Livingston County, returning to Niagara in the harvest season to gather their crops, but it was 1817 before they again made Niagara their permanent home. After coming to New York, Christian Young had three more sons, John, Samuel and Benjamin, and one daughter, Mary Ann, while Samuel Young had two more children, Elizabeth and Charles. Of Christian Young's sons, William was the only one that married, and Christian M., of Thomas Street, David of South Avenue, William of Fourth Street and Mrs. Coleman, also of Niagara, are his children. John, Samuel and Benja- min remained bachelors; Samuel still living at Young's Corners. The children of Jonas Young alive today are Samuel P., in Russia; Henry C., on the old homestead, Military Road; Jonas F., in Pennsylvania, and Maria, who lives with Henry. Charles, son of Jonas, had two children, who live on the Military Road. When John Young and family arrived in the Town of Niagara they were obliged to cut a road through the timber from the mouth of Gill Creek to lot No. 17 of the Holland Land Purchase.
THE WITMER FAMILIES.
John and Abram Witmer were two more pioneer set- tlers who left Pennsylvania in 1810 and 1811 to settle at Niagara. They were eighteen days in making the trip, arriving here in September. Isaac Swain came to Niagara in 1805, and settled on the Military Road where it crosses Gill Creek. On the arrival of John Witmer he made his way across a road Swain had cleared from the Devil's Hole to his clearing of thirty or forty acres, and this he bought of Swain, who moved to the Town of Porter. Abram Wit- mer came in 1811. It is said that the Swain clearing and that sold by Stevens to Christian Young were the only im- provements on the Military Road at that time. With the coming of John and Abram Witmer and their families new factors in development were added, for these men were full of enterprise and industry. John Witmer in 1817 built a saw mill on Gill Creek, near where he lived. This mill was in operation for many years, and the old mill pond is still familiar to many who consider themselves young in years. From the Witmer mill lumber was supplied for many build- ings in the surrounding locality. John Witmer's family consisted of his wife and nine children, seven sons, Christian, Benjamin, Abram, John, Samuel, Henry and Rudolph, and two daughters, Barbara and Nancy. Abram Witmer's fam- ily at this time was a wife and four children, Christian H., Abram, Jr., David and Joseph, and after coming to Niagara four more children were born to them, their names being, Esther, Tobias and Elias (twins), and Fanny.
The members of Christian H. Witmer's family alive today are Jacob M. Witmer, John M. Witmer, Elizabeth Witmer, of this locality, and Mrs. Fanny Emig of York, Pa. Abram M. Witmer, who died May 10, 1899, was also a son of Christian Witmer. This Christian Witmer was the man who ran the old Porter grist mill on the upper rapids, bnd also the grist mill on the high bank near the lower steel arch
bridge, first operated by Silas Olmstead and enlarged by the Witmers. On September 17, 1859, while working about the raceway of the lower rapids mill he fell into the water and was carried through the whirlpool rapids to death. Abram Witmer, Jr., had one son, Joseph S. Witmer, of Lockport. David Witmer's family living today are one son and four daughters, Christian Witmer, Mrs. Barbara Lamp- kins, Miss Fanny Witmer, of this section; Mrs. Esther Crabtree, in the West, and Mrs. Sarah Canfield of this coun- ty. Of the family of Joseph Witmer there are living today, Miss Maria Witmer, Mrs. Franklin Pletcher, this city; Mrs. Joseph Kline, Lockport; Mrs. Lauer, this city, and Elias K. Witmer, of Lockport. Esther and Tobias, children of Abram Witmer, are deceased, but Tobias left sixteen chil- dren, one of whom is Mrs. Daniel Schmitt. Elias Witmer never married. He resides on the old Witmer homestead east of the city. Fanny Witmer is now Mrs. Fanny Lieb, of Missouri.
AFTER THE WAR OF 1812.
The war of 1812-14 was a set-back to the border lo- cality, and some who had come to this section returned to the interior. However, in the years following the strife Niagara attracted many settlers. Samuel Tompkins came in 1815. In 1816 Eli Bruce settled on the Lockport Road, and Rev. David M. Smith preached both in Lewiston and Niagara. Ferris Angevine came in 1818 and selected a place above Cayuga Creek, moving to the present Angevine farm three years later. About 1818 or 1819 Epaphroditus Emmons settled in the Schlosser locality and erected a two- story frame building about the old stone chimney, which then was a relic of the burning of 1813. The Portage Road knew Isaac Smith previous to 1819, about which time Thomas W. Fanning came to Niagara. In 1822 Aaron and Stephen Childs, brothers, known to old settlers as "Deacon" and "Sinner" Childs became residents. Stephen Childs settled near the whirlpool, and Aaron Childs on property he later sold to Orson Childs, a son of Stephen Childs. Henry H. Hill settled on the River Road and Peter D. Bachman and James Ward on the River Road in 1825, the same year that Daniel Remington and family came from Livingston County. They lived with Charles Goff and family on the only clearing at that time between the home of the Youngs and Cayuga Creek. At this time there was only one settler between the Youngs and the Witmers. George Shipman came from Canada in 1825, and Rev. Horatio A. Parsons settled between the Falls and Cayuga Creek in 1826. In 1828 Martin Vogt came to Niagara, from Pennsylvania by way of Buffalo. They traveled by team, and as they neared the Falls they passed the night with Samuel Tompkins at La Salle. Next day's jaunt brought them to Pierce's tavern, near the corner of Main Street and Portage Road, and the next day they made their way out through the bush to Beck's Corners, later known as Pletcher's Corners, and named after Daniel Pletcher. Martin Vogt bought land in the eastern part of the city, and his family grew up here. One of his sons was the late Jacob J. Vogt. Jacob B. Vogt is a son of Jacob J. Vogt, who died June 2, 1902. Jacob J. Vogt's homestead was near the Devil's Hole. Christian Binkley came to Ni- agara in 1832. Uriah and Jeremiah Binkley were his sons. In 1833 Joseph Graves came from Massachusetts. He had a son, Lyman C. Graves, who lived on the Packard Road on land bought by Martin Vogt from the Holland Land Purchase. With Ambrose Packard, Lyman Graves had a
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SOUVENIR HISTORY OF NIAGARA COUNTY, NEW YORK.
lime kiln. Ambrose Packard came to Niagara from Massa- achusetts about 1832. In addition to his lime kiln business he was interested in farming and fruit growing.
EARLY RESIDENTS.
The late J. M. Buttery, father of Mrs. W. D. McEwen and Miss Buttery, Earl, Robert and John Buttery, came to the town of Lewiston in 1830 and to Niagara in 1856. He located on a farm on the high bank by the whirlpool rapids, at a point where a Mr. Titus had built a saw mill that was operated by cable power obtained from a raceway at the water's edge. A stairway led to the slope below, and as this became a popular scenic point, Mr. Buttery had the enter- prise to erect a passenger elevator at that point in 1869. Buttery's elevator became famous the world over, but after the Gorge Road was built the elevator was allowed to go out of service. On April 18, 1901, Chief Otto Utz, of the city fire department, was called upon to destroy the old elevator shaft by fire, which was done on that date. In 1838 Daniel Dietrick came from Pennsylvania and settled at La Salle finally. Between 1840 and 1850 the locality grew rapidly. The year 1849 brought John Burdette, and 1850 the late A. M. Chesbrough. Burdette was the pioneer fruit grower of La Salle and his success led others into the business. In 1830 the Town of Niagara had a population of 1,401, and by 1840 it had decreased to 1,277, but in 1850 it reached 1,951 ; in 1860, 6,603; in 1870, 6,832, and in 1875, 6,861. John Mayle and John Hoehn, who came in 1850 and died March 31, 1887, were early settlers at Pletcher's Corners. George L. Brown came to Niagara Falls in 1855; Wesley P. Brown in 1855; Henry Clark was born in Niagara Falls, October 29, 1826; L. H. F. Hamilton came to the Falls in 1847; Charles B. Ousterhout came in 1853; John S. Pierce was born here March 10, 1827; George W. Wright came to the Falls in 1859; Samuel P. Young was born in the Town of Niagara in 1836. James Davy and family came to the Falls from Kingston, Ont., in 1836. The family lived in the River House near the Cataract House, and in the winter of 1837-38 their house was burned. James Davy and Abraham Davy and Mrs. H. C. Adams, of this city, and Mrs. Jacob Williams, of Chicago, are children of the first named James Davy, which family has always been prominent at Niagara.
GENERAL PETER B. PORTER'S COMING.
In 1841 General Peter B. Porter, brother of Augustus Porter, and a member of the firm of Porter, Barton & Com- pany, moved with his family from Black Rock to Niagara Falls, where he died in 1844. General Porter left a son and a daughter, Colonel Peter A. Porter and Miss Elizabeth Porter, the latter dying unmarried. Col. Peter A. Porter was born in Black Rock in 1827. Two years of his life were spent at the Heidelberg University, in Germany, and in European travel. He was twice married. In 1861 he was elected to the Assembly, and when the rebellion broke out he contributed liberally to the fund used in organizing the Porter Guards. He organized the Eighth Reginient and was commissioned Colonel. He participated with that regiment in all the battles in which it was engaged up to the time of his death, June 3, 1864. He was survived by his widow, two sons and a daughter, but the latter died when quite young. His two sons are Hon. Peter A. Porter and George M. Porter. Peter A. Porter's sons are Peter A. Porter, Jr., Cabell Breckenridge Porter and Preston Buel Porter.
CONSTRUCTION OF THE FIRST BRIDGE.
Between 1840 and 1850 the north end of the present city began to command attention as Bellevue. Railroads
had pierced the locality and there was talk of a bridge over the gorge. The two villages were rivals for the structure, but in 1847 it was decided to erect it on the site of the present lower steel arch. Connections were made between the cliffs by Homan Walsh, a boy who flew his kite and al- owed the string to settle across the gorge. It was a ques- tion of how to proceed with the bridge construction after the decision to build it had been made. In January, 1848, Judge T. G. Hulett and General Ellet, the latter the con- tractor, and the former an engineer, met in the Old Eagle tavern to discuss the matter. They talked of using a cable- way, but the design of the car to be operated on it was in doubt. Both men occupied old-fashioned rocking chairs. and leaping to his feet and asking General Ellet to do the same, Judge Hulett pulled the two vacant chairs together, saying, "There is the shape of your car, or basket." His suggestion was adopted. When the cableway was erected passengers were carried from bank to bank for $1. With connections made between the cliff, two small towers 25 feet high were framed. One was erected on the east bank of the river, and the other taken by teams around by the Lewiston ferry and erected on the opposite bank. While this work was going on a thirty-six strand cable, 1, 160 feet long, was made. On this cable the iron basket was operated by means of a rope about a windlass on either side. The first crossing was made while people on both banks cheered. Work was then commenced on the construction of a foot bridge. Towers were raised and eight cables of seventy-two strands each were strung. Then a small bridge was swung across the gorge under these eight cables. This bridge was but three feet wide and hung from the cables by suspenders attached to cross ties. The work of erecting this slender bridge proceeded from both sides, meeting in the center of the gorge. People were allowed to cross by paying twenty-five cents, which went to the contractor. Another small bridge was swung from a similar set of cables from similar towers standing forty feet apart, and between the two slender bridges the iron basket was operated. When this second bridge had been carried out 250 feet from the east bank and 150 feet from the west bank, a tornado swept down the gorge from the southwest. Six men were working on the bridge at the time. In an instant their lives were endangered. The structure was torn apart, and boards were carried in all directions. On the far extremity the men were left, swinging back and forth sixty feet over the river, 150 feet below, the only support of the remnant on which they held being two strands of No. 10 wire. The rain fell in torrents. The wind lowered, and then, with a single man, William Ellis, who volunteered, in it, be taking a ladder, the iron basket was sent out. Connection between the basket and broken section of the bridge on which the men were, was made with the ladder, and one by one they passed into it, all being drawn ashore. Repairs were made, and after the two small bridges were erected they were drawn together, and a bridge erected about six inches below, the original small bridges being removed as fast as the en- larged bridge was completed. After a railing was put up, Contractor Ellet drove a horse and buggy over the structure and later crossed in a carriage drawn by a span of horses. At this time the contractors and the directors of the bridge company had trouble. General Ellet went to Wheeling, where he had a contract to erect a bridge over the Ohio, and it is alleged that Messrs. Hulett and Jonathan Baldwin were approached to desert him, which they refused to do, but apprised Ellet of the situation, the idea being to
SOUVENIR HISTORY OF NIAGARA COUNTY, NEW YORK.
187
O. W. CUTLER.
HANS NEILSON
ARTHUR C. HASTINGS.
JAMES F. MURPHY.
HENRY T. ALLEN.
MAJ. JAMES LOW.
J. C. LEVEL.
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SOUVENIR HISTORY OF NIAGARA COUNTY, NEW YORK.
strengthen the bridge then standing and not to go on with the work as originally planned. The sheriff had a hand in the trouble. A barricade was erected on the boundary line at midstream: The case was carried to the courts, and on October 17, 1848, the rights of the contractor were being fought. Finally, the trouble was adjusted. The foot bridge was a great success, and the work of building a rail- road suspension bridge was begun. This was a double-deck structure, the lower deck being for foot and carriage travel and the upper deck carried a single track for railroad traffic. The structure was of wood with great stone towers.
The first crossing on the railroad tracks was made on March 8, 1855, by the locomotive "London." This loco- motive advanced on the bridge from the Canadian side. Her tender was loaded with men, among them Mr. Roebling and officers of the bridge company. American and British flags fluttered side by side. The engine passed back and forth four times, but did not come to the American side be- cause the tracks were not connected. The bridge com- manded much attention and created excitement. One who witnessed the doings on Sunday, March 18, 1855, wrote as follows: "Awful violation of the Sabbath by the long trains of freight cars with multitudes of men on the top of them crossing and recrossing the bridge and shifting of freight will not soon be forgotten by those there who revere the Holy Day. The curse of God will rest on this bridge is my firm belief." On March 19, 1855, the first passenger train, drawn by the "David Upton," with Upton himself a passen- ger, crossed the bridge.
In 1880 the wooden truss was replaced by a steel truss, without interrupting traffic, and in 1886 the stone towers gave way to towers of steel. John A. Roebling was the engineer of the great railway suspension bridge, and in re- building the structure L. L. Buck was in charge. For over ten years the reconstructed bridge met the demands of travel, but on April 9, 1896, work on the foundations for the abutments of the new steel arch started. The work of erecting the steel superstructure of the arch began Sep- tember 17, 1896, and on July 29, 1897, the great bridge was tested with success. From abutment to abutment the span is 550 feet, with two approach spans each 115 feet long. It has a double track on the upper deck, and the lower deck is used for carriages and pedestrians. Its construction more than doubled the crossing facilities, and where on the old suspension bridge the length and weight of trains were limited, trains of any weight and length speed over the arch. This was the first steel arch erected across the gorge. The erection of iron began at both sides of the river, the last section being placed in the center. The iron of the arch was erected about the suspension bridge, which was kept in full operation, on both its decks, during the period of construction. In every way it was a truly marvelous work, as was also all the bridge building on this site in previous years.
Soon after the lower steel arch was completed the Bridge Company held a three days' celebration. This was in the nature of an English fair, and balloon ascensions, tight rope walking, in fact all country fair features were prominent. Each evening there was a remarkable display of fireworks, and this was the finest pyrotechnic display ever witnessed in Western New York.
THE NAME SUSPENSION BRIDGE CREPT IN.
It was the construction of the original suspension bridge that forced the name "Niagara City" to give way to
the name "Suspension Bridge" for the village located about the east end of the structure. This bridge building period was one of great activity, and the little hamlet grew with wonderful rapidity. Many men who became prominent in the village history came to the old town in those days, and the earliest of the on-rush alive today recall that all the business was done down "under the hill," close about the bridge. On top of the hill there was a hickory forest, and up on "Bunker Hill," right at the lower Main street rail- road crossing of today, was the home of Elihu P. Graves. Up through the woods was the Childs house, still standing on Main Street, and further up was the Pierce tavern. The postoffice was established about 1848-49. It stood on the site of the present Erie approach to the steel arch, and was in a store. Dr. Collier was the first Postmaster. The Childs house was the mansion of the section. As far back as 1843 "Bellevue" was the name used for this section of the city. In the latter fifties and early sixties "Niagara City" and "Suspension Bridge" were both used, and in 1874 "Sus- pension Bridge" was officially recognized, but this name had become well established years before that date. In the early days of the village that section of Whirlpool Avenue, above the hill at Cleveland Avenue, was known as Rail Road Avenue, while below the hill this present avenue was known as Spring Street. That section of the present Main Street in the former village of Suspension Bridge was known as Lewiston Avenue, while in the village of Niagara Falls it was known as Ontario Street. Up to 1850 all the business of the village of Suspension Bridge was on Spring Street, but in the next few years it began to creep up the hill. There was evidence of growth; necessity of expansion, "for the place was destined to be a city some day." Men who took part in the early development, coming here within the few years after the suspension bridge was started, were General Charles B. Stuart, J. V. E. Vedder, father of James Vedder and Thomas Vedder, Charles Addington, John Fisk, the late Captain John Symmes, W. O. Buchanan, Rodney Durkee, (father of Charles S. Durkee) and whose widow is still living in the city, aged eighty-one years; Frederick Wiedenmann, James Watson, the late Dr. R. J. Rogers, Dr. W. H. Wallace, Ignatz Reiss, Marcus Adams, William Har- roun, Solomon Neale, Patrick Whelan, Mark Whitbeck, Christian Barthau, Conrad Burns, William Carr, Adam Sickinger, Jacob Dunlap, Konrad Fink, Jacob Bingenheimer, George H. Pierce, I. H. Arnett, F. W. Swain. Solomon Neale is alive today at the age of eighty-five. He was one of the earliest settlers in the Niagara region, having come here in 1843. For seven years he owned and worked what. is known as the Skipper farm, and in 1850 he became a resi- dent of Bellevue. He kept a general store until December 31, 1877, when he retired from active life.
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