USA > Pennsylvania > Potter County > Genesee > Genesee echoes : the upper gorge and falls area from the early days of the pioneers > Part 7
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She-nin-jee did not come to the Genesee with her but was to follow in the spring. However, he died before starting the jour- ney. Two years after his death, Mary refused a chance to return to her own people, even hiding out for days in the weeds to pre- vent being taken to the white people for the bounty they offered. When Thomas was three or four years old, Mary was married to Hiokatoo, by whom she had four daughters and two sons-Jane, Nancy, Betsey, Polly, John, and Jesse. Jane died when fifteen. Her other children lived at Gardeau with her. Soon after the Revolutionary War, her Indian brother offered her freedom. She
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refused, preferring to live out her life with her Indian family and friends.
In 1811 negotiations began for the sale of her lands, and after a special act of the Legislature, permitting Mary to become a citi- zen able to convey lands, she sold all but a two-mile square to Micah Brooks, Jellis Clute, and Henry B. Gibson. In 1831 she decided to leave Gardeau and spend the rest of her life with friends on the reservation near Buffalo, where she died Septem- ber 9, 1833. She was buried in the cemetery near the Seneca Mis- sion church, and a marble slab was erected with the following inscription :
In Memory of The White Woman MARY JEMISON Daughter of Thomas Jemison & Jane Irwin
Born on the ocean, between Ireland and Phila., in 1742 or 3. Taken captive at Marsh Creek, Pa. in 1755, carried down the Ohio, adopted into an Indian family. In 1759 removed to Genesee River. Was naturalized in 1817. Removed to this place in 1831.
And having survived two husbands and five children, leaving three still alive; she died Sept. 19, 1833 aged about ninety-one years, Having a few weeks before expressed a hope of pardon through JESUS CHRIST "The counsel of the Lord that shall stand."
Mary Jemison was said to have been uninterested in efforts to give her religious instruction, but after going to the Buffalo Creek Reservation, and not long before her death, she sent for the missionaries at the Seneca Mission. Mrs. Asher Wright, the one who called on Mary, found her ill on a bed of straw. Mary became quite emotional, recalling her capture by the Indians and being unable to sleep.
She related how, on the second night of her capture, her mother had taken her aside and told her, "My child, you are old enough to understand what a dreadful calamity has come upon us. We may be separated tonight, and God only knows whether we shall ever see each other again. Perhaps we may be killed and you may be spared. I want you to remember what we have
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THE GARDEAU RESERVATION
taught you, and, above all, never forget the prayer which you have always repeated with your little brothers and sisters. I want you to say it every day as long as you live. I want you to promise me you will not forget." Mary had promised, and remembered her mother calling after her when they parted, "Be a good girl, Mary, and God will take care of you."
Mary said she had remembered the prayer for a good many years, and regardless of how tired she was, or where she was, she had repeated it every night. But as time went on and her cares increased, she began forgetting, until finally she could not recall a word of it. Now in her sickness-she had realized she wanted very much to remember and could not. Mrs. Wright read to her and then repeated the Lord's prayer in English. When the prayer was finished, Mary wept and said those were the words her mother had taught her, forgotten these many years, yet recog- nized when her life was drawing to a close and her heart was seeking peace.
Mary Jemison's three daughters, who lived on the Seneca res- ervations near Buffalo, all died in the autumn of 1839, aged sixty-nine, sixty-three, and fifty-eight years, leaving large fami- lies of children and grandchildren. Jacob Jemison, Thomas' sec- ond son by his last wife, went to Dartmouth College in the spring of 1816, where it was said he was an industrious scholar. After two years there, he returned to Buffalo where he passed through a regular course of medical studies and was later ap- pointed an assistant surgeon in the United States Navy. He died aboard ship in the Mediterranean when he was about forty years old.
Hiokatoo died in November, 1811, at the age of one hundred and three years, after an illness of four years. He was buried with the full honors of the tribe.
In 1817 a great landslide occurred near the Indian burying ground at Gardeau after a long rain. Twelve to fifteen acres of the west hill, some two hundred feet high and composed of white clay, slid down into the bed of the river and half across the Flats, covering twenty-five or thirty acres of land, filling the river bed and turning the stream across the Flats above the slide and around it to the east bank. A raft of saw logs moored for the night was buried under the slide. It has since been known as the
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"Great Slide." John Jemison took the incident to be ominous of his own death. He was killed a few days later.
Below Gardeau Flats is another flat area called Smoky Hollow -300 to 400 acres divided by a ridge of land crossing the valley, one end of which was washed away, leaving what has been called "Clute's Nose."
Mary Jemison's house stood, in part, on the site of the Eveland house at Gardeau. Russell Gontol (?) was the first white man to own the Jemison homestead. It was bought by Greig agents, sold to a Mr. Lockwood, then to R. Van Sickle who sold to Harmon Eveland, owner in 1871. Polly Jemison's house was eighty rods from the Jemison homestead and about sixty rods from the Great Slide. Nehemiah Westbrook was the first white man to own Polly's place. He sold to Simeon K. Westbrook, he to Elijah Strong, whose son Charles inherited it and sold to James R. Olm- sted of LeRoy. Mr. Olmsted owned it in 1871. The old burying ground was about one thousand feet north of Polly's house on the west side of the road. Later, the road ran over the plot and the headstones were used to build a culvert.
At one time, Mrs. Nancy Green, who was the daughter of Mary Jemison and lived on the Gardeau Flats, had eighty horses. About her home were many acres of wild plum trees among which the horses roamed, eating the leaves as high as they could reach, leaving a perfect canopy overhead.
During Civil War days the family of John A. Lester lived at Gardeau. Mr. Lester's paternal grandmother was Betsey Baker Lester. She was from a long line of Quakers who lived in Salem, Mass. Because of religious persecution, they left Massachusetts and finally settled at Quakertown, Wyoming County. She mar- ried John A. Lester and they lived in what is believed to have been the Eveland place at Gardeau. Mr. Lester enlisted in the 136th N.Y. Volunteers, Company D, and trained at Camp Wil- liams. Mrs. Lester and their five small children, the eldest twelve years, remained in the home on the Flats. During a flood one night, Mrs. Lester realized the house was in danger of being washed away and in some way fastened it to a tree with a log chain and saved the home. She died just before Mr. Lester reached home after the war. The five children were placed in the homes of Quaker friends. Fred lived with Allen Divers at
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Quakertown and was later married and worked as a plumber at Warsaw. Miss Edith Lester, Warsaw village clerk and village his- torian, and Arthur Lester, prominent attorney for more than sixty years, still live in Warsaw. Arthur married Frances Tice, of Lamont, a schoolteacher who taught at one time at the Glen Iris school.
Not more than two miles from the home of Mary Jemison on the Gardeau Flats, some of the early settlers, like the Bradt fami- ly, came to live. Margaret Bradt Sutherland is a descendant of that family and author of the narrative poem, The Life of Mary Jemison, Indian Captive, which is presented in pageantry by the Castile Historical Society annually near Letchworth Park. Assist- ing in the pageant and featuring a number of Indian dances, is the Dan-non-gwah Indian Dance Team-a group of Boy Scouts from Genesee, Livingston, and Wyoming counties, trained under the direction of William Ingersoll, Dr. Charles Bartlett, and the late Stuart Wilcox. They have become experts in the art of the ancient dances of the Senecas.
Mrs. Sutherland has given much time and thought to putting into verse the life of the famous Mary who, on her way to Perry, would stop to visit the Bradt family. Love of the beautiful coun- try where Mary once lived, and where Mrs. Sutherland still makes her home, has inspired many a lovely line. The story of Mary's life is filled with fascinating incidents, both sad and joy- ful, made vivid by Mrs. Sutherland's pen, and enacted in the midsummer pageant. (The pageant story in book form can be obtained from Mrs. Sutherland at Castile, N.Y.)
The following contribution has come to me from James H. Van Arsdale III of Castile, who has been interested in valley relics and lore all his life.
HIDDEN TREASURE NEAR GARDEAU FLATS
"In the early 1930's when I was between ten and fourteen years old, my father arranged to have Ed Marsh, son of Tom Marsh, take me on my first Indian relic hunting expedition at Gardeau Flats. George Walker also went along. Ed showed us where three different Indian burial grounds were located and we dug to a depth of about four feet in each location but found
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no signs of Indian remains. Whether the landslides had covered them too deep for us to reach, or whether we were in the wrong spots I do not know. I dug in these areas again later but never found any signs. We also hunted in the bean field around Mary Jemison's cabin and found a few arrowheads and many flint chippings.
"Ed told us a story which I later had good reason to remem- ber. He said that at one time two groups of Indians held a meet- ing near or at Gardeau. Each group had some money in a chest. Finally they had a disagreement and one group took all the money and hid it some place in the valley. Ed said that in the early 1900's, a group came up to the area one summer and searched for some time for the treasure. They had been sent by one of the museums in New York City but had no luck in their search.
"Four or five years after I went with Ed to Gardeau, I was hunting again down there in June in the bean field. I picked up what appeared to be a lock (my Uncle Charles later told me it was the lock to a chest). A few minutes later in the same area I picked up a silver Spanish coin about the size of a nickel, dated 1809. Although I hunted for some time in the area I found nothing else.
"Now the flats have been left untilled for many years and the weeds grow eight feet tall where I found the coin. I wonder if they are hiding the remains of the Indian's chest full of treasure, or was it just a strange happening?"
CHAPTER XIII
FROM SAWMILL TO FEDERAL DAM
GIBSONVILLE was a little town on the road running parallel to the Genesee River-known as the Smoky Hollow Road. Founded in 1812 by settlers working their way into the Genesee Country, it had also served as a refuge to some Indians and rene- gade white men after the Revolutionary War. In 1792, Indian Allen built a sawmill on the Silver Lake Outlet, where lumber was sawed for the building in the vicinity. In 1796 a large inn was built half a mile above the mill. It was two stories high, of solid oak, sheathed with two-inch plank and sided with the best pine siding, for protection if the Indians became hostile.
Mary Jemison was a frequent caller, her home being about three miles south on the Gardeau Reservation. Gibsonville was just north of her boundaries. The inn was the social club for the vicinity. Balls were frequently held. The settlers went there to transact business and justices of the peace frequently held court in the barroom. Gibsonville rapidly became a village of commer- cial importance. Water power was excellent. Soon a woolen mill, a paper mill, and a grist mill were built. There were two black- smith shops, a wagon shop, shoe shops, and a store. It was the shipping point on the river for Rochester markets. The road leading south was the main route into Allegany County then.
Several stories are told of early incidents. Among some Frenchmen who came after the French Revolution broke out, one made his home at the inn and later built a cabin on the Smoky Hollow Road. The story has it that because he was liber- ally supplied with money he was robbed and murdered, his body being thrown into the river.
A peddler who carried an expensive lot of laces and silks, and who was supposed to have a bag of gold, stopped at the inn one stormy winter night. He and his horse disappeared, but his ghost was seen for years afterwards!
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Below Gibsonville there was a quarter acre of land along the river, in a secluded spot, said to have been used by thieves to hide the horses they had stolen.
A noted wrestler, Kale Burse, issued a challenge for a match to be held on the lawn in front of the inn. It was accepted by a Seneca Indian from the Gardeau Reservation. A great crowd gathered for the event. The men staked money on Burse while the Indians put up blankets, furs, pipes, bows and arrows, and even parcels of land. After being thrown three times by Burse, the Indian said, "White man heap strong," and the Indians could never again be induced to hold another wrestling match.
About 1824 the paper mill was bought by a wealthy man from Schenectady who lost money on it and died a poor man. Before leaving Gibsonville, his wife said the curse of God would rest on it through all eternity. The little village dwindled away. Where once more than fifty dwellings stood, a lone pillar of stone, remnant of the CCC camp built there in the 1930's, stands to mark the site of the community. The last house was dis- mantled in 1955. Gibsonville is a "vanished village."
In 1813, Mount Morris consisted of four frame dwellings and twenty-two log houses. Most of the road toward Nunda was through unbroken forest. A plank road crossed the flats. There were only two streets. Two Rogers brothers came from New York and persuaded Messrs. Murray, Oliphant, and Ogden, wealthy men, to come to Mount Morris and buy real estate. The first dam, of timber, was built in 1827. In 1830 the first bridge was built over the Genesee between Mount Morris and Leicester, next to the dam. It was washed away in 1832 and rebuilt two years later.
Mrs. Harry A. Chase of Rochester writes that her grand- father, Hugh Harding, arrived in Mount Morris in 1834 and was connected with the early press for some years. He stopped at a small inn owned by John Percival. Percival's daughter Emily be- came his wife and was the mother of three sons and two daugh- ters. When Mrs. Chase's father was quite young he drove the stage from Mount Morris to Nunda and, sometimes, to Castile.
From 1785 on, there were records of floods in the Genesee River. No steps were taken to prevent flood damage until after the flood of 1865, when extensive areas of productive land in the
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Genesee Valley were destroyed, and cities and villages subjected to disastrous effects of inundation. Various types of investigation were made and in 1894 a bill was presented to the Legislature providing for a dam above Mount Morris, but it failed to pass. Again in 1895 a bill was vetoed. In 1896 an appropriation of $10,000 was made to investigate sites, including Mount Morris and Portage. Several estimates were given for both sites in 1905. Such reports were the cause of much worry to William P. Letch- worth, who sought ways to protect his beloved Glen area.
Mr. Letchworth deeded his property to the state of New York and it was accepted in January, 1907, thus assuring that water would not be diverted from the Falls.
The earliest serious floods on record were in 1785, 1803, and 1805. Other later ones included the following:
1813, June 20-Caused by a three- or four-day rain, followed by torrential rain; the flood carried away Colonel Rochester's sawmill at Rochester.
1835, October 23-Greatest flood known up to that time.
1857, February 8-Carried away Main Street bridge in Rochester.
1865, March 17-20-Heavy snowfall followed by a thaw and rain; damage to Rochester reached the million-dollar mark. Worst on record.
1875, March 16-Serious flood for Rochester.
1889, June 1-The day following the Johnstown flood; no serious damage done at Rochester.
1890, September 10-13.
1894, May 20-23-Flats between Rochester and Mount Morris flooded.
1896, April 4-Valley flats flooded.
1902, March 3-Flood from melting snow.
1902, July 5-9-Heavy rainfall on ground already saturated by rains; at An- gelica on July 6 the precipitation was 4.5 inches. The flood above Por- tage was the heaviest ever known; loss of growing crops was heavy all along the Genesee Valley.
1904, February 6-7-An ice jam formed as the result of a thaw January 22- 25 and obstructed the flow of water from a thaw on February 6-7. The weather turned colder and prevented a more disastrous flood.
1913, March 24-April 2-Third greatest flood.
1916, March 26-April 8-Second greatest.
1916, May 15-22-From extremely heavy rainfall.
1927, November 30-December 3-From general rain.
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More recent records have been obtained from the District Engi- neer, Buffalo District, Corps of Engineers, U.S. Army, and the Rochester Gas and Electric Corporation. Some details are given below.
1929, February and June-From excessive rainstorms.
1935, July-Intensive three-day rainstorm, affecting southeastern portion of Genesee basin. The station near Dansville on Canaseraga Creek reported the maximum peak flow on record.
1936, February and April-Excessive rainfall over a six-day period; entire watershed affected.
1940, March and April-Caused by melting snow, with accompanying rain.
1942, July-Intense rainfall of relatively short duration, flooding upper Gene- see basin.
1950, March-Rain and melting snow; a cold month, with a rapid thaw near the end, checked by colder weather.
1956, March-Average snow cover, but warm period with over 1.5" of rain caused maximum flow early in runoff.
The Rochester Gas and Electric Corporation bought up the water rights for the Mount Morris dam about 1924, but the dam, as a federal flood-control project, was not started until 1948. It was finished in 1951, except for grading and removing buildings and equipment. The last bucket of concrete was poured October 31, 1951, forty-three months after the project was begun. At one time 550 men were employed. If filled to the top of the spillway, the water level would be the same as that at the foot of the Lower Falls in Letchworth Park. Such a test has not yet been reached, but on March 14, 1956, the water was backed up nearly to Denton's Point and the big trees in St. Helena were covered except for their very tops. There had been a week of heavy rain and melting snow to fill the huge reservoir to the greatest depth since it was built. The vast lake was proof enough of the value of the dam in flood time.
Of the land formerly owned by the Rochester Gas and Elec- tric Corporation, some areas were deeded to the Park as early as 1926. An additional 3,000 acres was appropriated by the state in 1951. In 1954, the company deeded a final 323 acres for a nominal consideration, in order to round out the Park's holdings.
CHAPTER XIV
THE FALLS AREA IN THE CIVIL WAR
THE FIRST NEW YORK DRAGOONS
CLOSELY RELATED to the history of Portage, and dear to the hearts of thousands, were the 130th Volunteers, later known as the First New York Dragoons. Many of them were recruited from Wyoming, Allegany, and Livingston counties. All were from the 30th Senatorial District as residents or workers. Indeed, when they were organized July 25, 1862, it was as the "30th Senatorial District Regiment, New York Volunteers." Trained at Camp Williams, on what was always called "the old parade grounds" (almost directly across the river from Inspiration Point in Letchworth Park), the regiment was mustered in on September 2 and was ordered to the front. One thousand strong, the men marched to the station at Portage Bridge, where thou- sands of people had gathered to bid them farewell.
The spirits of the soldiers remained high, despite conditions they encountered. With stops at Washington, D.C., and Nor- folk, Va., they reached Suffolk on September 13, 1862, a week after leaving Portage. It was their home for about nine months, as well as a training school for the ordeals to come. The regiment was converted into cavalry July 28, 1863, being designated on August 11 as the 19th New York Cavalry and a month later (September 10) as the First New York Dragoons.
During the term of its service, the regiment captured 1,533 prisoners, 19 pieces of artillery, 21 caissons, 240 artillery horses, 40 army wagons and ambulances, 160 animals of draught, and 4 battle flags. Of the 1,414 men enrolled, 461 were killed or wounded, 131 died of disease, and 33 died in Confederate pris- ons, including Andersonville. At Todd's Tavern, the regiment sustained the heaviest loss in one action of any cavalry regiment during the war. As infantrymen, the 130th was a unit of the 7th Army Corps; as cavalrymen, the organization was with Sheridan.
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After much research, it has been possible to compile lists of engagements and local men from Beer's Wyoming County His- tory, and these are reprinted herewith. All of the places named are in Virginia.
ENGAGEMENTS
1863
Deserted House, January 30
Siege of Suffolk, April 11-May 3
South Quay, June 12
Franklin, June 13
Baltimore Cross Roads, June 26
Manassas Plains, October 16
Culpeper Court-House, November 20 1864 Stannardsville, March 1
Todd's Tavern, May 7
Spottsylvania, May 8
Anderson's Ridge, May 10
Yellow Tavern, May 11
Meadow Bridge, May 12
Mechanicsville, May 12
Hawes's Shop, May 28
Old Church, May 30
Cold Harbor, May 31 or June 1
Trevilian Station, June 11-12
Darby Town or Deep Bottom, July 27-28
White Post, August 10
Appomattox Station, April 8
Appomattox Court-House (Lee's Sur- render), April 9
ROLL HEADQUARTERS
REGIMENTAL OFFICERS: Alfred Gibbs, colonel; Thomas J. Thorpe, lieutenant colonel; Rufus Scott, major; George R. Cowee, adjutant; Abram B. Lawrence, quartermaster; George B. Lemans, commissary; T. Kneeland, surgeon; John Patterson, Joshua B. Purchase, D. C. Fowler, Robert E. Rae, James Saunders, assistant surgeons; Albert W. Tallman, sergeant-major; John W. Bonnond, quartermaster-sergeant; Andrew J. Lorish, commissary-sergeant; Adelbert J. Worclen and George D. Waldo, hospital stewards; Walter H. Jackson, chief bugler; Robert Cameron, saddler.
COMPANY A
OFFICERS: James E. Bills, captain; John P. Robinson, George T. Hamilton, William W. Winegar, first lieutenants; Charles L. Daily, William G. Luther,
Liberty Mills, December 22
Gordonsville, December 23
1865 Dinwiddie Court-House, March 31
Five Forks, April
Sutherland Station, April 2
Amelia Court-House, April 4
Sailor's Creek, April 6
Newtown, August 11 Kearneysville, August 25
Shepardstown, August 25 Smithfield, August 25 Opequan Mills, September 19 Winchester, September 19
Mount Jackson, September 23 New Market, September 25
Port Republic, September 25 Cross Keys, September 28 Tom's Brook, October 8 Strasburg, October 14 Cedar Creek, October 19
Newtown, November 12 Bloomfield, November 29
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THE FALLS AREA IN THE CIVIL WAR
Thomas J. Burr, second lieutenants; Darius Mattison, Merritt W. Norton, George W. Curtis, Edgar A. Day, Darius W. Luther, Silas Dewey, sergeants; Benjamin C. Smith, Isaac Baker, George Harrington, George W. Jones, Ten Eyck Van Liew, Simon E. Welch, George N. Barrell, corporals; William H. Boyd, farrier; Harvey B. Orcutt, blacksmith; John M. Hall, wagoner; James L. Wade, Frank C. Needham, buglers.
PRIVATES: Parmer R. and Aaron Karns, Burns; Joseph Gilbert, Carlton; Alfred Bigelow, John Briggs, George C. Belden, Andrew A. Chapman, Joseph Leggett, Eugene D. H. Land, Nyrum Rathbone, Lyman G. Simons, Elias West, Ansel B. Smith, Marcus A. Atwell, Henry L. Cummings, D. W. Harrington, William J. Sheldon, William H. Wing, Castile; Robert Kershaw, East Gaines- ville.
Marcus Granger, Henry M. Hardy, George H. Walker, Edward P. Hunt, Gainesville; Wilber E. Brainard, Germania; John Dibley, Hamilton Center; Charles Callaghan, Hunts Hollow; Latham H. Ayer, Moscow; Dwight C. Borden, Naples; Loren Johnson, North Java; Jerry Driscoll, Nunda; Zaddock Barnes, Daniel Leddick, John A. Wilson, Perry; John Haley, Lyman A. Camp- bell, Nelson Pettie, Charles T. Wolcott, Pike; C. Delevan Jackson, Portage.
Cyrus Ketch, Wallace; Rufus C. Jefferson, Warsaw; Warren M. Brown, Wiscoy; Lewis B. Knox, Redding Center; Levi R. Buck, Edgewood, Ill .; George W. Burr, Independence, Iowa; Michael B. Brennan, Portsmouth, Va .; Theodore Strawberger, Schenectady; and others: John Clocharta, John Dug- gan, Lewis Blackman, Charles H. Brooker, Gottlob Brightlop, Charles Beres- ford, Isaac Barton, John Brenell, Albert Butler, William H. Campbell, Patrick Cary, Marcus Curtiss, Daniel Ferguson, John P. Francis, John Harpe, M. Hungerford, Jerry McGuire, Dennis McGuire, John McGuire, William Mahan- na, Michael Masterson, Nathaniel Royce, Reuben Salsberry, James Smith, Charles H. Starks, E. H. Stanley, William Stratton, John Staerly, George Van- derwalker, John P. Walker, George Wessels, James Williams, Theodore Wasterson.
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