NYPL RESEARCH LIBRARIES 3 3433 06252760 5 }:.'■' '■>.': :>,•■',((■' i'l f:',r.;;^-„:'v:.;;!;$.i li:;,:-;!'.-, ■:•;;■(!•■ :■:;, k'h4i:'cfcv',., ■^.' •„i.'a!M<:'.-;: , ,'.■; _J. (►ii^^'iK" •••■'■■ ^ ^'/:i':,U:*;r-r'-; :•■':■ ':' ■•"■{ ■■':■":--'■ ■:' (,.. .■.|.,:t'. 'vxTi :. !^;'>'.'.:;',' •Vc. ■i-:.iM- 1 if- .,'''-;'-'-,'lt;si:' IV I.M.I'.,-'.. '.l'. :■- .f. . I-';,: .'•j;t;. ■•!)'l'!''; \- AA A HISTORY OF Ontario County, New York and Its People BY CHARLES F. MILLIKEN ILLUSTRATED VOLUME 1 Lewis Historical Publishing Co. New York 1911 PUBLIC LIBRARY 534613 ASTOR, LENOX AMD TtLDEN FOUNDATK3H8. R 1912 L Copyright Lewis Historical Publishing Company 1911 Times Presses, Caiiandaigua. New York. PREFACE. \\ licllicr llnon^h sonic fnrlnilous hut hcm-firi-iit ci nnhination of soil aiid walci' aiid climate, or on account of an adx'antaj^^e of location, or in tni'l licrancc of a l)i\inc plan, the people who liave jxissessed W estcrn New ^ Ork ha\e had a larj^'c and important inllucncc on the conntr\- as a whok'. This was tiau- when Lohnnbns discoxcrcd tiie continer.t, and a handful of lro(|uois sa\ai;"es domin.'ited the whole \a>t wildei"ness. it wa> true durm^- the ihi'ce centuries that followed when not c\en the '•alor of the hfench at the .\oi"lh, the enterprise of the l)uicli at New \ oi'k, or the chixalry of the Spaniards at the South. wUh swoid, or cross, or coin. C(;uld make jirogress toward the coiKjuest of the cox'eted land. it was trui' when at last Xew I'-n<>iand sol(lier\-. oneninL!' the wa\' for Xew Pjisjland thrift and Xew Kno-land cultuie. broke the ])roud spirit of the indian confederac}'. and w hen Xew I^n^iand from its new \-antai;"e orround in the Genesee <'()uiUry diffused its tongue, its ])olitical ])rinciplcs. and its religious faith to the uttermost ])arts of the land, it is true today, even it w hat some of the Xew ^ Ork ])apers used to call the "Canandaigua rule" in politics is broken, wlien a W estern Xew \'ork Congressman makes tlie tariff law for the coutitry. when the State governs its elections and controls and taxes the li(|uor irat'tic under the laws drafted i)\- an ()ntario county legislator, when the preachers in tamous i)ul])its. the editors of great metroi)olitan news])apers. and w oidd-eminent scientists claim W e.-^lern Xew ^'ork as their l)irtli- i)lace. and when its sons and grroidsons. its daughters ami grand- daughters, it ma\' truihfully be said, play a not insignificant part in shaping the destinies of the Great W'est. The author of this Histor\- of ()ntario C"ounty has made no iK' atLcm])t to glean the fields \\hich ha\e been co\ered by preceding ' writers, or to repeat in detail the stor\- of discovery, settlement, and ^ development. He has sought rather to give in narrative form ^s«t> account of tlie ex'cnts which ha\e serxed to comiect the ci\il Sdivisi(ui known as (Ontario count\- with the larger world, and thus tt) emphasize the honorable part w hich it has had in the development i->\ Western XFew York and the important influence it has exerted iv PREFACE. upon the i)olilic;il b.istory of tlie State and Nation. For the facts upon which tlie narratixe is founded, he is largely indebted to the original historicin of the Thelps and Gorham Purchase, ]\Ir. O. 1'urner, to Dr. Noah T. Clarke, to Mr. George S. Conover, to 'Sir. Ir\ing W. Coates, and to other writers of local history, and also to the county newspapers whose files form a mine of information as invaluable as it is inexhaustible. To those who ha\'e assisted in preparing this record, either through material furnish.ed, or in the writing of particular chapters or the several town histories, the author, or, more properly, editor, returns sincere thanks. Most of the portraits with which the volume is illustrated are reproductions of oil paintings which hang on the walls of the County Court room in Canandaigua, a collection of the greatest interest to the student of pioneer days and of the later political history of the county as well. The re]:)roductions. though in some cases exposing too plainly the ravages which time has wrought in the original pictures, depict the personal characteristics of the subjects with a faithfulness that no written description could equal. CHARLES F. MILLIKEN. Canandaigua. N. Y.. September 15, 1911. CONTENTS OF VOLUME 1. Pa^e 1. I'lll': LMJIAX OCCUPANCY. Orij^iii of the Red Men Who Occupied Western New York at the Time of tlie Discovery of America an Unsolved Mystery — The Legend of Bare Hill — Three ICpochs — The Seneca Capital Kanadesaga and Otlier Principal Towns — Strength Broken by Sullivan's I^xpeditimi in 17W 1-11 \n II. 'C( COMING Ol' Till-: WHITE MAN. French Traders and Priests the iMrst White Men to Enter the Seneca Country — French Explorers and French Soldiers Followed — Sullivan Opened the Waj^ for the Pioneers — Settlement Delayed by Disputes as to Title — The Phelps and Gurhani Purchase — Sale of Land to Settlers 12-20 III. THI': I'TRST SETTLEMENT. A Party of Pioneers frcmi Massachusetts Enter the Genesee Country by an All-Water Route — Their Settlement at Canandaigua — Israel Chapin Appointed Indian Agent by President Washington — A Period of Apprehension- — The Pickering Treaty of 1794 • 21- 35 IV. "THE MOTHER OF COUNTIES." The Organization of Ontario County Cotemporancous with the Election of Washington as President of the United States — Its Original Princely Domain — Unsuccessful ICfl'ort to Set It Off in a New State — Other Counties Erected from Its Original Territory — Rapid Settle- ment and Development 36- 50 V. THE COUNTY BUILDINGS. They Reflect the People's Respect for Law and Regard for the Unfor- tunate — In the Court House Centers the Count}' Consciousness — Successive Jails — The County .Vims House — The County Laboratory and the County Tuberculosis Hospital, the First Institutions of the Kind in the State 51- 61 VI. ONTARIO'S FIRST HALF CENTURY. Her Politics and Politicians — Early Elections — Snap Methods — Ontario I'irm in the Federalist Faith — The County's Representation in Con- gress and the Legislature — Succession of County Officers — Oliver Phelps a Candidate for Lieutenant-Governor 62-69*" VIT. POLITICAL CRISES. Ontario County in the War of 1812 — Building of the Erie Canal — Western New York Rejoices at Completion of the Great Work — Abduction of William Morgan — Resulting Excitement in the "Infected District".. The .\nti-Masonic Campaign — Francis Granger a Candidate for Governor 70- 7S vi CONTENTS OF VOLUME I. Page VITT. RISE OF ANTI-SLAVERY FEELING. William H. Seward Defeated as the First Whig- Candidate for Governor —"The Tippecanoe and Tyler Too" Campaign of 1840— The "Rais- ing" of a Log Cabin in Canandaigua — An Honored Ontario County Citizen Named as Postmaster-General in President Harrison's Cabinet 79-86 IX. POLITICAL REVOLUTION AT HAND. Ontario County's Protest against Repeal of the Missouri Compromise — — Conscience Whigs Obtain a Newspaper Organ — A Roll of Honor — Call for County Anti-Nebraska Convention — Delegates Elected to State Convention — -Resclutions against Slavery Extension 87-96 X. MYRON H. CLARK ELECTED GOVERNOR. ^Ir. Clark's First Public Ofifice That of Sheriff of Ontario County — Gained Prominence in the Senate as an Advocate of the Maine Law — Gubernatorial N^ominee of the Seward Whigs, Free Soil Democrats, and Prohibitionists — Beginnings of the Republican Party 97-107 XI. THE FIRST FREE SOIL CONVENTIONS. The X'ew Coalition of Free Soilers Adopt the Name Republican — Men Identified with the Movement — A Tangled Local Campaign — Union Ticket Put in the Field by Republicans and Democrats — Opposing Know Nothing Candidates for County Offices Win at the Election . 108-117 XII. ONTARIO IN THE 1856 CAMPAIGN. Growing Strength and Confidence of the N^ew Party — Fremont the Stand- ard Bearer — Free Soil Democrats Unite with the New Political Organization — John C. Fremont Nominated for President — District and County Conventions — Republicans N^ame a Complete Ticket ..118-124 XIII. THE NEW POLITICAL LEADERS. The Campaign in Ontario County for "Free Speech, Free Press, Free Men, Free Labor, and Fremont" — Clubs Organized and Meetings Held — Joshua R. Giddings Speaks in Canandaigua, His Native Town — Success Won in the County and State, but the National Ticket Defeated 125-134 XIV. THE LINCOLN-HAMLIN CAMPAIGN. Ontario County a Center of Political Interest — Organization of the '"Wideawakes" — One of the Candidates for the Presidency Formerly a Resident of Ontario County and a Student in the Canandaigua Academy — Speaks at a Rig Meeting near Clifton Springs — Loyal in ' the Hour of Defeat 135-141 XV. OLD ONTARIO IN WAR TIME. \ Twice Invaded by Armies of Civilized Powers. First by Denonville. then by General Sullivan and His Continentals — The Simcoe Scare » Ontario Militia in the War of 1812— The Whole County in a Tumult \ —Relief for the Refugees— The Troublous Days of 1861-5 142-148 ' CONTENTS OF VOLUMR I. vii Page XVT. TTIE COUNTY IN 'rill-. CIVIL WAR. A Palriotii I'lil])!! — Citizens Make LarKc I'inanfial C(intril)ntinn^ in Sii])- porl of the Union Cause — ReeruitinK llu- Annies — Canandai^ua Academy's Part — Treasonable Utterances — 'i'lif Ontario Volunteers and Tlu'ir (i.illant Kcrord — Tlu' Cnuiity Ke|)rcscnt'-(| in Tu entv-nine 1 )ilY( mil KcLjinicuts 149-157 xvii. vicToin' CROWNS 1111-: struggtj-:. ( )ntario Conntx- Heroes — Tlu' i'.oy Who Xover KclunR-d to Claim His Scythe or His lielrnthed — The Hoard of Sui)ervisors in tlu- War — The Women's Aid Orjj;anizations — The Xevvs of Richmond'-^ h'all and How It Was Celebrated — Memorials of the Creat Strnj^^gle 15S-164 XVTTT. THE CAST 1I\T.F CF.XTURV. (^ntarJM County's Inlluence in Slate and Xational I'dlitir- Perpetuated — The State Statutes Known as the Blanket I'.allol Law and Liquor Tax Law, and the National Tariff Act Known as the i^ayne Law, the W'lrk of Its Representatives — The Later County Ofticers ....165-177 XIX. THE ONTARIO COUNT\' COURTS. I!y Major f'liavlcs .\. Rioliaiilsoii. Tlieir ()r.t;ani/ation — h'irst Sessions Held at Patterson's Tavern in Geneva and at Sanhorn's Tavern in Canan(lai}.?ua — Anecdotes of Judges. Lawyers and Jurors — Tin Morgan Abduction — Eutiitive Slave Law Case — Conviction of Susan I!, .\nthony — Other Celebrated Civil and Criminal Trials 17.S-204 XX. THE IMJiDlC.XL I'ROl" ICSSION. I!y John 11. Jewett, M. D. Dr. Moses Alwater, the h'irst Physician ti> Settle en ihe Phelps and Gorhani Purchase — A Pioneer Physician Who Took Strong Ground .Against lUecding — A Piiysician's Diary — Dr. Ldsou Carr. .Skilled in -Medicine, Surgery and Dentistry, and an Excellent .Musician as Well — The Later Physicians 205-220 XXL THE COUNTY AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. I!y William H. Warficld. ( )ntario County Settled by Men Attracted by Its .\gricultural ( )pp' irtiuii- lies — The l-'irst Wheat Grown on the Genesee Tract — Pioneers Organize a County Agricultural Society in 1S19 — The First County F'air, Cattle Show, atid Plowing Match — Li>t of the Officers — The Grange 22\-22S XXII. THE TOWN OF F.RfSTOL. By Sarah G. P. Kent 229-242 XXIII. rilh: TOWN of CANADICI':. P.y Albert H. Tibbals. . .243-253 XXTV. 'illh: rOWX Ol" C AXANDAIGUA. P.y Charles F. Milli- ken 254-265 XXV. Till-: VILLAGE (^1' CA XAX DAKil' A. P.y Charles F. Milliken 266-309 vni CONTEXTS OF VOLUME I. Page XXVI. THE TOWN OF EAST BLOOMFIELD. By Carolyn Buell 310-320 XXVII. THE TOWN OF FARMINGTON. By Albert H. Steven- son 321-327 XXVIII. THE TOWN OF GENEVA. By Sidney B. Reed 328-330 XXIX. VILLAGE AND CITY OF GENEVA. By Charles D. Vail, L. H. D 331-379 XXX. THE TOWN OF GORHAM. By Lewis C. Lincoln 380-393 XXXI. THE TOWN OF HOPEWELL. By Irving W. Coates. .394-405 XXXII. THE TOWN OF MANCHESTER. By John H. Pratt, -M. D 406-424 XXXIII. THE TOWN OF NAPLES. By William R. Marks 425^440 XXXIV. THE TOWN OF PHELPS. By Edwin F. Bussey 441-44Q XXXV. THE TOWN OF RICHMOND. By George W. Patter- son, Jr 450-463 XXXVI. THE TOWN OF SENECA. By Levi A. Page 464-472 XXXVII. THE TOWN OF SOUTH BRISTOL. By George E. Richards 473-483 XXXVIII. THE TOWN OF VICTOR. By George Simonds 484-498 XXXIX. THE TOWN OF WEST BLOOMFIELD. By Rev. New- ton W. Bates 499-505 ILLUSTRATIONS. Page Bare Hill, Canandaigua Lake 3 Talk with the Indians at Bufifalo Creek in 1793 25 Pickering Treaty Memorial 3^ First Ontario County Court House 52 Old Ontario County Jail 58 Sullivan Memorial 143 MAPS. Page Map of the Phelps and Gorham Purchase 19 The Original County of Ontario, 1789-1796 37 The County of Ontario. 1796-1802 40 The County of Ontario, 1802-1821 42 The County of Ontario, 1821-1823 44 Present County of Ontario, 1823-1911 46 F"irst Plotting of Canandaigua Village. 1789 269 CONTENTS ol' VOJ.L'Ml-: I. ix PORTRAITS. Page Pafje Adams. William M 161 l.amp.irt. William H 10.3 Adams, William II., cddcr 1.S5 Lapham, lahriduc G 105 Atwatcr. Dr. Mo.ses 206 Lincoln, Cyrillo S 175 Barnard, Daniel D 1'97 Marks, Walter 159 Barlow, Abner 222_ Mason, I'Vancis 176 Beals, Thomas 59 Matthews, Vincent 179 Bcmis, James D 289 Mattison, Jacob J 116 Brooks, Micah 11 McLonth, Thomas J 95 Brunson, Edward 122 Metcalf, Jabez H 199 Bnrnett, Jean L 172- Milliken, Nathan J 88 Callister, John 202 Murray, Albert G 85 Church, Captain Philip 69 Parker. Stephen II 355 Clark, Myron II 100 Parrish, Captain Jasper 27 Clarke, Dr. Noah T 153 Phelps, Oliver 15 Cole, Henry S 194 Porter, Augustus 22 Comstock, Harlow L. 166 Porter, General Peter 1> 71 Dewey, Jedediah 94 Pottle, Emory B 126 Douglas, Stephen A 137 Raines, Jcdm 170 Duncan, Alexander 274 Rochester, Nathaniel 75 Dwight, Rev. Henry 361 Sa-go-ye-watha, or "Red Jacket". 31 Fitzhugh, William 223 Shcrrill. Colonel Eliakim 155 Folger, Charles J 168 Sibley, Mark 11 64 Foot, Samuel A 115 Smith. James C 128 Garyan-wah-gah, or "Cornplanter". 29 Smith. William H 131 Gibson, Plenry B 282 Spencer, Ambrose 60 Gorham, Nathaniel 17 Spencer, John C 73 Granger, Gideon 76 Stoddard, Robert W 191 Granger, Francis 81 Taylor, Henry W 119 Granger, Gideon, 2nd 226 Wadsworth, James 145 Greig, John 225 Wadsworth, William 224 Hicks, Edwin 139 Welles, Henry 55 Howell, Nathaniel W 65 Whiting, Bowen 189 Howell, Alexander H 66 Williams. George N 163 Howell, Thomas M 113 Williams. Dr. William A 209 Howey, Joel M Ill Willson, Jared 84 Hnbbcll, Walter 67 Wood, William 56 HISTORY OF ONTARIO CX)UNTY I. THE INDIAN OCCUPANCY. Origin of the Red Men V/ho Occupied Western New York at the Time of the Discovery of America an Unsolved Mystery — The Legend of Bare Hill — Three Epochs — The Seneca Capital Kanadesaga and Other Principal Towns — Strength Broken by Sullivan's Expedition in 1799. "In the unrenicinberecl ages, Ages nearer tlie beginning. In the days that are forgotten, From a cloud above this mountain. Came the voice of Ha-wen-iie-j^a, Came the call of the Great Spirit. Greatly seemed the eartli to trein))Ic. Trembled in the tliroes of labor. From her womb sprang forth a people. Sprang the brave Nun-do-wa-o-no. On her bosom then he nursed them. Till they grew a mighty nation. Taught them words to form a language. Raised up great men for their chieftains. Gave them totems for their tribe signs, Gave them names by which he knew them. Called tiicni all the Great-Hill People." —Charles T. Mitchell. As to the origin of the i)eople who first possessed the land which is now comprised in Ontario county, we know nothing. These first inhabitants left no record in mysteriously carved monu- ment or on chiy tablet. We do not even know whether they came from []](_■ north and reaching whal is now tlie connly's geographical center cauglil the fust glimpse of Canandaigua lake and its beauti- ful environs from the lowlands at its foot: or from the east and through the portal of what is now Vine X'alley stood enraptured before the glories of a Canandaigua sunset; or perchance from the west or st)uth and from the foothilK of the Alleghanies had spread before their eyes the marvelously beautiful vista of lake and valley and undulating hill and plain which make up its diversified area. 2 HISTORY OF ONTARIO COUNTY We do not know whence, these mysterious people came, or by what way they came, Init aac do know that the magic of the scene entered their souls as it has the souls of their pale-faced successors and that they afterwards made it their Chosen Spot. The only mementos we have of the red man's occupancy in this region are numerous fiint arrow heads, plowed up here and there in the nelds, remains of a numl)er of forts, specimens of uni(|uely dec- orated pottery, pi])e-l)owls, pots of red ochre, strings of wampum — from which we may read that the original inhabitants li\ed by the chase, fought in deadh' conflict one A\ith another, had ta>ted of the fruit of good and evil that grows on the tobacco stem, had the com- mon human weakness for adornment and sought to tone down their high cheek bones and ornament the coppery sheen of their com- plexions by adventitious means, had fond to store and wealth tn barter. But it is doubtful if the oldest of these tri\'ial records go hack much before the time when the Spanie^h sovereigns, blind tn the misfortunes which the enterprise was destined to bring upon ihc'r country, employed the Genoese navigator to explore the realms of Far Cathay. Tradition, tlie onl}' form of history known to the red man. is unreliable as to dates, but the best authorities agree in i)lacing the organization of the famous Iroquois confederacy at not earlier than the discovery of America bv Columbus. Back of that was chaos — or, perhaps, the ]\Iound Builders. Following it was a development among the Indians of what is now known as Central and \\ cstern New York that was nowhere else paralleled by men of their race. It was not until the lieginning of the sixteenth century that the Irocjuois, or Five Nations, became known to the European ])ionecrs. They were then found occupying the whole of Northern New York, from the Hudson on the east to the Genesee on the west. Bv the year 1700, they had extended their dominion over half the continent, and, by the adoption of the Tuscaroras, had become the Six Nations. But, while we recognize the genius of the Iroquois for political organization, unique among savage peoples, and their ])rowess in war, we may safely douV^t whether they would have ever developed a civilization worthy the name. However that mis^ht have been, we know that after carvinof out an empire from the red peoples of the continent, and after having for a century played French against English and English against THPl INDIAN OCCUPANCY 3 French with a skillful (liplomac3^ they easily succumbed to the white mail's gold and i1k- w liite man's rum. ;ind, within twelve years after the close of the Rcxolutionary \\ar. had hcen practically dis- possessed of their rich domain and were settled on widely scattered reservations. BARE HILL. CANANDAIGUA LAKE. Nun-da-wah, the Great Hill from which, Legend says, the Seneca nation of Indians had their origin. Hence their name Nun-do-wa-o-no, or ("ircat Hill l'eo|>lc. Elevation, 855 feet above the lake, 1,540 feet above the sea. Western New York was possessed by the Seneca branch of the Iroquois confederacy, their dominion, following the conquest of the Neuter and Eric tribes by the Six Nations about the year 1650, extending to the Niagara ri\ cr at the west. They were the Keepers of the Western Door, 'idiev were the Xun-do-wah-oaah, or Nun- do-wa-o-no, the Great-Hill people, ascribing their origin to Nun-do- wah or Bare Hill, on the east shore of Canandaigua Lake, where their progenitors Ii\ed and wliere thc}^ were put in imminent peril of utter destruction In' n monstrous serpent, which circling itself about the fort ];iy w itii its months open at tlie gate. The legend 1)\- whicli they thus explained their birth as a nation, constitutes one of the most interesting of the stories by which primitive peoples have sought to explain the why and how of existence. Handed down from fatlier to son. and from father to son again, among the Senecas themselves, it has been as oft told by writers of the white race, in prose and in verse and with many variations. Some of the versions are romantic in the extreme, but 4 HISTORY OF ONTARIO COUNTY that ui\eii Ijv Henrv R. Schoolcraft, the eminent American anti- quarian, in his "Notes on the Irofjnois," pnbh'shed in 1846. is vouched for !)}• that author as from a nati\e source and is probabh^ as near to the original as any that has been written. 'Mr. School- craft wrote : "While the tribe had its seat and council f-re on this hill, a woman and her son were living- near it. ^\-hen the boy one day caught a small two-headed serpent, called Kaistowanea. in the bushes. He brought it home as a pet to amuse himself, and put it in a box, where he fed it on bird's flesh and other dainties. After some time it had become so large it rested on the beam of the lodge, and the hunters were oldiged to feed it with deer: but it soon went out and made its abode on a neighboring hill, where ii maintained itself. It often went out and sported in the lake, and in time became so large and mischievous that the tribe were put in dread of it. "The}^ consttlted on the subject one evening, and deternn'ned to l^y next morning; 1)tit with the light of the next morning the monster had circled the hill and la\- with its double jaws extended ijefore the gate. Some attempted to pass out. but were driven back; others tried to clim1) o\er its boch. l)Ut \vere unable. Hun- ger at last dro\e them to desi)eration. and thev made a rush to pass, but only rushed into the monster's double jaws. All were devoured but a warrior and his sister, who waited in vain expec- tancy of relief. "At length the \varrior had a dream, in which he was showed that if he woidd fledge his arrows with the hair of his sister, the charm would prevail over the enemy. He was warned not to heed the frightful heads and hissing tongues, but to shoot at the heart. Accordingl)^ the next morning he armed himself with his keenest weapons, charmed as directed, and i)ol(llv shot at the serpent's heart. The instantaneous recoiling of the monster pro\-e(l that the wound was mortal. He began in great agony to roll down the hill, breaking down trees and uttering horrid noises, until he rolled into the lake. Here he slaked his thirst, and tried by water to mit- igate his agony, dashing about in fury. At length lie vomited up all the i)eoy)le whom he had eaten, and iimuediatelv expired rnul sunk to the bottom. "The fort was immediate!}- deserted, and all who had escaped THE INDIAN OCCUPANCY 5 went with their dehxcrer to, and iixcd their council lire on, the west shores of Seneca Lake, where Geneva now stands." There is usually added, in \ niiication of the lej:^-cnd, mention of the fact that the blackened trunk of the oak tree from which the Seneca youth fashioned the annw which was destined to save his people from entire destruction, stood .m mnmpeachable wit- ness (Ml the otherwise 1)arreu crest of the hill within the memory of men yet living- : that the path which the (King reptile cut through the forest as in his death struggles he rolled down its side has never since borne tree or slinib, whence the name "Bare Hill"; and that the i^etrified heads of his victims, fooli>hl\- called geodes i)y modern scientists, are found to this da\ along the shores of the lake. Mr. Irxing W. ("oales, ihc eminent Indiancdogist, divides the |)eriod ol the Seneca occu])ancy of the territory now embraced in ( )ntario county into three se])arate epochs, w hich he designates as the .\ncient, the Middle and the Recent. W hat particular ])eriod of time A\as covered by the Ancient epoch he does not atlenijjt to state, but the fact of that epoch, he asserts, is attested b\ ruins of old fo!titication>, stranue and often elaborate burial places, rude weapons that almost partake of the lorms of the paleolithic, with faint traces of village sites in remote location--. To this epoch. sa\s Mr. t'oates. belong the old village site and burial ])lace of (ienundawah at the foot of IJare Hill on the east side of ( ".anaudaigua lake; the singular palisaded town on tile Aloifat farm on a. iiend ot the ("anaudaigua outlet in the town ot I'helps, where i-'oriions of a ditch and earthwtjrks \-et remain; the ancient \illage, which was also palisaded, a short dis- tance south of Llifton Si)rings; al-o the one .about one mile west on the Jackson farm, slight traces of \\ hich are left ; another, a small lishing \illage on the soutli bank of the outlet near the ham- let of Manchester ("enter in the town of ?.lanchester. Also must we class in this earl)- Indian ocv^upanc\' the wurk described b_\- .S(|uier. situated about three and one-half miles northwest of (le- ne\a, east of the i^i\<.l Castle road, A\hich was three hundred feet long, built on high ground and easily defended. In addition to these, irregular works called "forts." on ]-»rominent elevations in mau\' towns of the county, as well as man}- camp sites more or less pennaueut along uearl\- all the streams and lakes, have been discovered, while skeletons of an early age. including- many of un- 6 HISTORY OF ONTARIO COUNTY usual size, have been unearthed from gravel beds, and flint arrows, celts, and stone gouges, as well as many ornaments of stone, bone, and shell, scattered over whole townships, attest the pres- ence of the early red men in this favorite hunting ground. The Middle epoch of Indian occupancy of the county dates from the beginning of the period in which European intercourse with the aborigines of the State began. It differs vastly from the Ancient epoch in the fact that we have actual knowledge of the red inhabitants of the region from accounts written by white men who visited them in their homes and villages. Wentworth Green- halgh, by some termed an Englishman, by others a Dutch trader, in the spring and summer of 1677, visited all the Five Nations and the Senecas in particular, and made minute observations, not only counting the houses in tlie different villages and noting their sur- roundings, but also numbering the warriors. His account gives the Senecas, who at this time mostly resided within what are now the limits of Ontario county, l.OUO warriors, and named their four principal villages situated in the western part, as Canagora, I'ioto- hatton, Canoenada, and Keinthe. Of these, Canagora, or, as it was called by the French Abbe Belmont, who accompanied DeNonville in his expedition of 1687, Gaensera, and by others Gan- nagaro, Gananagaro, or Canagora, according as different writers attempted to express or spell the Indian gutttirals, was the capital and was sitiuited on Boughton Hill ifi the present town of Victor. It had 150 houses and was the "St. James" of the Jesuit fathers. Totiakton, or Tiotohatton, or Tohaiton, or Sonnontonan, was on a bend of the Honeoye creek, where it makes a somewhat abrupt turn in a northeasterly direction, .'iud was in what is now the town of Mendon, Monroe county. This was the "La Conception" of the Jesuit fathers, and numbered 120 houses, "being ye largest of all ve houses wee saw, ve ordinarv beino- 50 to 60 foot lonsr with 12 and 13 fires in one house." The town of Canoenada, Onnu- tague, or Gannogarae, was situated about four and one-half miles south of Gannagaro on the east bank of the Ganarcjua or Mud creek in the extreme northeast corner of the present town of East Bloomfield. It was peopled chiefly by captive Hurons, and was, it is believed, the original "St. Michael'' of the Jesuits, wdiere Father Fremin labored from 1679 to 1681. It had 30 houses, according to Greenhalgh, and was "well furnished with Corne." Keint-he, or Onnennatu, or Gannondata, or Gandachioragon, the other Seneca THE INDIAN OCCUPANCY 7 town spoken of by the French and l)uich traders of the period, was about a mile soutli of the present viUage of Honeoye Falls and had 24 houses. Here was the Jesuit Mission of "St. John." Following the niva^iou of the Seneca country by J)e XcMuille in July, 1087, when lie destroyed ilir capital (iannagaro, the inhab- itants of that settlement migrated eastward, settling in what is now the town of Hopewell and e>tal)lishing there a town called Onna- ghee, the site of which has been given jjarticular study by Mr. Coates and has been a prolilic source (jf arrow heads, beads, Jesuit rings, crucifixes, and amulets and other interesting relics. Just north of this in the same to\\ii another small \illage sprang up, while Gannogarae, the village of the capti\e Hurons which De- Nonville also destroyed, was remo\ed, according to the best evi- dence obtainable, first to the W hite S[)rings, two miles southwest of Geneva, and became known as Ganechstage. This settlement was visited in 1720 by Schuyler and Livingston and in 1726 by Capt. Exert liancker. It in turn was broken up by an epidemic of smallpox in 1732, but later, in 1750, a New Ganechstage was found by the Moravian missionaries, Cammerhoff and Zeisberger, located at Slate Rock or lUirrell's Creek, fixe nnles ftirther south. It was a few years later, following the abandonment of the settlement or "castle," of Onnaghee, which must have occurred previous to 1750, the time of the \-isit of Cammerhoff and Zeisber- ger, that Kanandarcjue, "Place Chosen for Settlement," or poeti- calh' interpreted "The Cdiosen Spot." sprang into being at the foot of the beautiful lake of that name. Kanadesaga. or Ganundasaga. as given b)' Lewis FI. J\l organ, near the foot of Seneca Lake, the home of their most exalted chief. Sayencpieraghta, or "Old Smoke," as he was irreverentl\- called by the whites, succeeded Gannagaro as the Seneca cai)ital or "(diief Castle." This last settlement cen- tered about one of the palisade fcM'ts built b}' Sir W'm. Johnson in 1756 to attach the Iroquois to the British interest. Thus the Senecas, who prior to the De Xonville invasion had migrated to the westward, seem afterwards to have retraced their steps and founded new settlements in what is now the eastern part of Ontario county and soon had large and fertile corn fields there that rivaled those which the French had found and destroyed at their former homes. Up to this time the Senecas, unlike the other nations of the Iroquois confederacy, had been inclined to side with the French 8 HISTORY OF ONTARIO COUNTY in the contests which continually waged between that people and the English, but the victories gained by the latter in 1756 and 1759 won their favor, the French intiuence over them rapidly declined, and by 1703 the devoted Jesuit fathers had been supplanted hv missionaries nf the Protestant faith. In 1765, the Rev. Sam- uel Kirtland. with the approval of the influential representative of the l-'-nsflish g-overnment. Sir William Johnson, settled at Kana- desasra. and survivino- many vicissitudes thereafter exerted a large and civilizing influence over the Senecas. r>ut while all of these missionaries, Jesuit and Protestant, labored zealously and at untold personal suffering and risk, and g-ained the respect and in some instances the full confidence of the chi'dren of the forest, they made little headwa}- in their efforts to turn the Iroquois from their savage ways or convince them that they stood in need of a change of religious faith. Indeed the red man felt that he worshipped the same Cxrcat Spirit as did his \\hite brother. Mr. Coates dates the beoinuino- of what he calls the Recent epoch of the Indian occu])ancy of Ontario cotmt}' from the first efforts of the Colonies to throw off the \oke of the English king. In this great struggle, the iro(jU()i>. with the exce])tion of a jjortion of the Oneidas and Tuscaroras, \vere adherents of the king, and the land of the Senecas, ])reser\'ed as it had been from appropria- tion or settlement by either French or English, and suffering little permanent injury from the hostile incursion of De NonviHe's armv in 1687. was the grainery and the place of reiuge of the predatory l>an(ls of warriors that under the lead of Col. John Butler and cnher British officers ravaged the border towns in the eastern part of the State and in Pennsylvania, the fame of whose bloody deeds at Cherry Valley and Wyoming carried terror to patriot settlers and soldiers alike. It was to destroy this base of supplies for destrtictive incur- sions that General John .SulH\an. in x\ugust and Septeml^er, 1779. acting under orders from General \\'ashington. the commander of the Continental armies, led an in\ading force up the Susquehanna and Chemung \alle3's and into the very heart of the Seneca coun- try. Having united the division which he personally led with an- other that had entered the region by way of Schenectady and the Mohawk. Sullivan engaged and defeated an allied force of British regulars and Senecas. led by Col. Butler and the great war chief TIlIi INDIAN OCCUPANCY 9 i^rant, in a pitcluil aiid dccisiNc haiiK- ai W-wlown (now lilmira), 1)111 olhcrwisc Iio was al)!f lo cai'iw uiu |1]^ imrpose witlioui hloml- sIkmI, ilioii-^h n<»t till' k'ss i"iit lik'ssK'. In this hncl siiinim-)- t-aiii| )aiL;n Siilli\an and liis 5000 Coilti- iKMitals instilU'il into ilu' h-hini4ton was loni;- to reach and >tron<4 to punish ihos'. who chose to do the lilood\- \\(>rl< ot' the Tories. The destniclion of forty oi" more ])o])nloiis and widl Imih \illaL;e>, niinier- (His ripenint;- helds ot L^ram, and lari^e oichards, to say nolhin<^ of the loss in flight ini;- strength snltered at Xewtown. taught a lesson ne\er forj^otten. h'oreinost ainoniL; the \illa,L;es destroyed was Kanadesag'a, which is described in the diaries ot some of Snlh'van's officers as a place of some lifty houses, with thirty more at a little distance, ar- raiii^ed in an irregular mannei- with the stockade and the block honses erected l>\- Sir W illiam Johnson in 1756 in the center. In this xiliai^e, reached by the army on September 7, and like most of the others \isited found ik'serted. was located also the "council house"" spoken of b\' the Kew Sa.muel Kirtland on the occasion of his lirst \isit to the Senecas in 17^?. Ii was the capital or chief "( astle"' of the Seneca nation at this time, and sni'roundinm' it. to (piote the lain.;iiarth and east. The i^reat trail leading" westward followed substantially the coui\sc of Nvhat is now the "'rurn])ike,"' with the exception of a slii^ht xariation from the present villag'e of Flint C'reek to Canan- daig'ua lake, in which distance it bore to the south and came out on the east shore of the last named la.ke. Crossing;" the out'et and continuino- along- the fo(^t of the lake, the trail wound up the hill- side in a northwest direction to what (leneral Sullivan called "the elegant town" or Castle of Kanandarime. I'his \illage consisted of 10 HISTORY OF ONTARIO COUNTY some thirty houses, which like those at Kanaclesaga, together with the vegetable gardens near by and orchards in the vicinity, were "immediately burned" (Sept. 10), and the army marched on the next day to the west, to the foot of Honeoye Lake, where was located a village of ten houses ^^■ith its corn fields and orchards. General Sullivan extended his march and his work of devastation westward to the Genesee, and returning left behind him nothing but ruins and desolation. The order of General Washington "to lay waste all the settle- ments around, so that the countr}' may not onl}- be overrun but destroyed," had been faithfull}- carried out. It was a ruthless, cruel work, imt one absolutely necessary for the protection of the patriot settlements, and it was eflectual. \\ hile a few small Seneca ^•illages had been oxerlooked, the power of the Iroquois confederacy was forever broken. The spirit of the bloodthirst}- allies of the Tories was humbled by the destruction of their homes and the larger portion of them scattered to the west- ward and settled anew in \illages west of the Genesee, near the shores of Lake Erie, along the Alleghany and Xiagara. The period of the Indian occupancy of Ontario county had passed. But the territory now embraced in Ontario county was never "occupied" by the Indians in the sense which that word carries as applied to its present population. Although there is evidence of numerous Seneca settlements in the county, the fact should not be accepted as indicating any general occupancy of the land. The settlements heretofore mentioned anrl many others of lesser size were of different periods. The relics w hich are found on their sites, varying as they do from those exclusivel}- of the stone age to those that show an admixture of glass beads, iron hatchets and copper ornaments, with religious tokens and remnants of old muskets and sabers, all of European manufacture, prove to the discriminating student that some of these settlements A\ere of orreat acre, their w'hole history antedating the appearance of either the white trader, priest or soldier, while others clearly we're more recent and of \-arious periods. As it has heretofore appeared, the Iroquois was prac- tically a nomad. The severe climate in which lie lived necessitated somewhat substantial shelters, but his dwellings w^ere simple and quickly constructed out of the l^ark and branches that strewed the forest. He was a gregarious being, and for companionship with his kind or for protection against enemies, located his homes in THE INDIAN OCCUPANCY 11 groups of some size, but lii.- Iiousclioltl l)elongings were exceedingly limited and casiK' m()\rd and lie liad no d- in New York State, and 2767 of these were Senecas. 12 HISTORY OF ONTARIO COUNTY II. COMING OF THE WHITE MAN. French Traders and Priests the First White Men to Enter the Seneca Country — French Explorers and French Soldiers Fol- lowed — Sullivan Opened the Way for the Pioneers — Settlement Delayed by Disputes as to Title — The Phelps and Gorham Purchase — Sale of Land to Settlers. The first white man to enter the country of the Genesee was a I'rench trader or a French priest. Champhiin in his explorations of 1615 j^enetrated the Iroquois country, but did not come further west than Oneida lake. In 1669 La Salle, with I'^athers De Casson and Galiuee. visited the principal Seneca Indian ^•illag■e, then tweiUy miles south of Irondequoit bay, and continued his journe)' to a burning spring', su])posed to i)e that which is located near Bristol Center, Ontario county. The Martpiis De Xonville. in July, 1687. in a campaign which was undertaken with the intent of punishing the Senecas for their alleged inhos])it- able treatment of French traders, and of stopping their warlike in- vasions into Xew France, marched down from Irondecpioit bav into the very heart of the Seneca country, and ambushed bv the Indians at Gannagaro (BoughtcMi Hill) engaged there in the onl\- actual battle between armed forces known to have occurred in what is now Ontario county. But before these French explorers had spied out the country or these French caxaliers had ])erformed their bloody task, white traders had followed the Indian trails and bought for beads and bullet^ and for that yet more seducti\e and destructixe medium of barter, rum, the ])cltries which they in turn exchanged in the eastern markets for good coin of the realm. Before the soldier also, and certainly close on his heels, marched the devoted Jesuit fathers. At least Father Chaumonot is known to have visited the Seneca towns as early as 1657, and in 1668 J'\'ither Fremin became a resident missionary among them, built a coMiNc; oi'- Till' wiirri': man 13 ciiapel ;il ( landon^-arae nn llie (iaiiar(|ua i Mud (reek), and lal)ori-d to teach llieiii tlie tnitli> of the (hristiaii rehL^iiiii. hi 1765. follow- ing the rise ol h^ns^iish inihK'nec, ihe l\e\. .Samuel Kirkland. the Hrst i'roteslaiit lui^sion.aiy to xiMt the .^euecas, had extended hi> laliors to Kanadesai;;!. At (leue\a some wliiu' iradei's had settled. an followini^" the discover)' of America i)\' C Olumhus. W esteni Xew \'ork remaiiu'd in ])f)ssessi()n practically uudis])nted of the .Seneca hraiich of the lro(|unis con- federacy. Tradei's had bought what the Indian^ haale. Jesuit missionaries had ])reache(l and taught and nicidcnt all\- hurued. and hrench soldiers had d<.'stro\ed the homes and the stores of j^rain of the al)orii.;inal possessors, hut the "lono- house" of the .Six Xation> remained unshaken, and while the tides of con(|uest and settlement swuiiiL;' around to the north and turther to the west, this "dreat Western W ilderness." as it was s])okeii of in tlu' hooks of the time, remained ])racticall\ .i terra incoi^nita to the white man. W'estern Xew N'ork, thus jjrotecled aL;ainst a])propriat ion hy the hreuch. was sa\ed to huii^lish immigration, the ICiii^I'lish ton,!4'ne and the k'ni^lish faith. At U-ast the streni^th of the rrotiiu^is antrv and euteriirise. As a consequence they carried back with them to their homes, after the war was over and the vic- tory won. livelv recollections of this laud of promise and hopes that could oul\- be satisfied bv the transfer of themselves and their fam- ilies to the west. 14 HISTORY OF ONTARIO COUNTY But ten years elapsed after the strength of the Senecas had been broken and Sullivan's soldiers had gone back to their homes before the work of actual settlement could begin. Following the war of the Revolution came first the doubts involved in the rival claims of New York and Massachusetts. These were not settled until December 16, 1786. when under tlie terms of the agreemem ettected at a convention of commission- ers, representing- the two states, held at i-Iartford, Conn., Massachu- setts formal!}- acknowledged the sovereignity and jurisdiction of New York over all territory Ixing west of the ])resent east line of that state : and New York ceded to Massachusetts the preem])tiou rioht. or fee of the land, subject to the title of the natives, to all that part of the state lying- -west of a line beginning at the 82nd milestone m the PennsAlvania boundary and running due north to Lake Ontario. Tins was the l'reem])t;on line famous in the sub- sequent historv of AA'estern New York. The title to all land west of this hue. exce])ting onh' a twcnty-mde \\ ide strip east of the Niagara ri\er. was cedetl to Massachusetts, though thereafter to be a part of the State of New York. Massachusetts had it to sell. New York to goxern. In the tract thus disposed of was about six n-iillion acres of land. The interests of the region were involved later in the attempts of the so-called Lessee companies to ac(|uire possession of the Iro- quois lands by 999 vear leases, but the unlawful attempt was hap- pily foiled, and although the Massachusetts purchasers thought it wiser, or, perhaps, cheaper, to grant the "lessees" some concessions in compromise, they had only to secure the consent of the Indians in order to enter upon legal possession ruid begin the settlement of the lands for which they had contracted. Oliver Phelps, of ^fassachusetts, who had acted as a commis- sariat of the Continental forces during the Revolution and who had become interested in the stories told by the soldiers of Sullivan's arm\-, had the sagacitv to foresee that a land of such natural beauty and yielding" so bountifully under the rude agriculture of the Indians, was destined to be the seat of a vast civilized population. He accordinglv made arrangements with a number of friends to purchase a tract of a million acres. Later he became associated with Nathaniel Gorhruu, a prominent citizen of Afassachusetts. who had made plans to a similar effect. In 1788, yet more associates were admitted in order to avoid unprofitable rivalry, and the company roMTNG or Tiir wTrri"i' man 15 agreed to purchase of Massachusetts all the laiuls t'nil)raccd in the cession of the preemption ri^lil fi-oni Xew ^'<)^k. the stipulated consideration l)ein^- o()(),()()(i ixmnds sterliuL:. or ahoul Sil.OOO.OOO in llie depreciated ])a])ei' cnn-ency of tiic state. Tlie purchase was subject to the Indian title, and with the pur- f extiniiuishinu' tlii^ Mr riiel])s. in Jul}-, 1788, made his first \ isit to the Genesee conntrw In a treat}-, concluded at liutTalo creek, he linallx' succeeded in i^-ettini;' tlie red men to relinquish ])ossessit)n of a tract of about 2.- 600.000 acres. This tract was the eastern pai't of that for whose l)urchasc he and his associates had contracted with the State ot Massachusetts. It end^raced the land lyin^' between the Preeni])- tion line on the east, and, i^cn- crally speaking-, the (jcnesee river on the west, k'or this domain, which was thereafter known as the rhelps and (iorham Purchase, Mr. Phelps agreed to pay the Indians $5,000 in cash and an an- lun'ty of v$500 forever. Mr. Phelps found the country to more than meet his expecta- tions. As the officers of Sulli- \an's arm\- had described it in their sexeral diaries, it was a heax'ily tind)ered ccnintrw with occasional clearings and hcie ami there an Indian orchard, ami OLIVER PHELPS. Oliver Phelps was a native of Windsor, Conn. He served in the commissary depart- ment of the Colonial .\rmy, and settling at Suffielcl. Mass., at the close of the Revolution, he held successively the offices of Nfcmbcr of .Assembly, State Senator, and Member of the (Governor's Council. He assisted in the organization of the Plielps and Gorham syndi- cate in 178S and acted as the representative of tliat company in the exploration of the • ienesce country and in negotiations for the extinction of tlie Indian title lo the land. He ri-moveil to Canandaigna in I80J. and though disappointed through the failure of the land enterprise to yield the cxpectcil returns, he had a large part in the development of this region. He served as First Judge of the Coun- ty from the date of its organization. 1789, until 179.^ and he represented the western district of the State in ilie Ninth Congress. 1803-05. Jesse Hawley wrote of Mr. Phelps that he was "the Secrops of t!'- «"-■■•■ -^rc Coun- trv. Its inhabitants owe a r i to his memorv in gratitude for his '- >. ; loneercd cultivated fields on which the In- '>»• t'l^"" ..tl'C «''<'"n.ess of this Canaan of the West. He died in Canandaigua in 1809. dians raised corn, beans, squash ^^ed 60 years. and watermelons. Mr. l'hel]>s wrote to his associates, '*Vou may rely upon it that it is a good country." Colonel Hugh Maxwell, who 16 HISTORY OF OXTARTO COUNTY had come on with .Mr. I 'helps and had beg^iin under the latter's direction lo srirxev the newly accinired land into townships, wrote to his famiix- in Alassachusetts. "The land in this country is exceed- ing good, but it wants good inhabitants." The first stakes had thus been dri\ en in the white occupancy of Western Xew York. But at tliis juncture, after having settled with the Indians and set surveyors at work, and engaged choppers to cut a road through the woods from !-"ort Stanwix. Phelps and Gorham found themselves unable to carry out the contract the}- had made with the State of Massachusetts. The paper currency of the state w'as worth, at the time thev made the contract, only about 20 cents on a dollar, but before pay day arrived its value had risen to nearly par. and in 1789. with the consent of the ^lassachusetts legislature, thev relinquished their claim to all the original purchase, except that in which they had been able to extinguish the Indian title. In the running of the Preem])tion line, in 1788. a blunder, or more probably a fraud was comnu'tted which was the occasion of much >ubsef|uent controversy and embarrassment, and resulted in the selection l)v I'helps and Gorham for their head(|uarters, of "a beautiful situation and good ground for a town plot," west of Can- andaigua lake outlet, instead of at Kanadesaga as first intended. The line which was run from the xnith was deflected toward the west at a point south of Seneca lake. This was accomplished, at the instigation, it is belie\ed. of unscru])nlous lessees, during the tempo- rary absence of Col. Hugh Maxwell, the surveyor representing the Massachusetts purchasers, and ^^•hen the line was brought back to due north. ])revious to or at Col. Maxwell's return to the work, it had been shifted enough to the west to pass westward of Geneva. Though it is generally conceded that Col. Maxwell was entirely unconscious of the deviation in the line, it was early suspected. Oliver Phel])s. in a letter to William \\"alker. the agent who had been sent into the new country to open at Canandaigua what is entitled to be known as the first otfice for the sale of land to settlers ever established in America, wrote, September 19. 1788: "I am still dissatisfied al)()ut our east line. I am sure it cannot be right." But it vvas not corrected and Geneva brought back into Ontario county until 1793. The "gore" between the true and the fraudulent Preemption lines contained 85.896 acres of land, and as the State of Xew York- had promptly sold or granted the land up to the line which it COMING OF rill«: WHITK MAN. ] supposed marked tlie liinii ol ilir Massachusetts j)reempti(^n. much trouble followed llie discovery of the surx'eyor's "mistake." The .State and Captain W dlianison acting;- for the association ol' .Massa- chusetts j)ut"cliasers cooperated to rxtin^uish the claims of the owners of the land in (|uestion, and later the State settled with tlir latter i)}' i.;i\in!L;' them from one and a half to six acres of public lands for each acre surrendered in 1 lie "u'ore." Inthespring of 1789 Xathan- iel (^orham, Jr., Israel ("lia])in and a mimher of other ])ioneers en- tered the purchase, Agent Walker o-pened his land olTice, the sur\-ey was under \\a\-, anold under one- sixth of a dollar per acre, referring the purchasers to us for the mode of payment uidess the\- ])a\ the money down, 'bhe lands uiion tlu' (ienesee ri\er are to be con- sidered as more \aluable, and we think that they will undoubtedly axerage one-third of a dollar i)er acre; but as those townships will probably differ much in their value, the price will accordingly differ. NATHANIEL GORHAM. Xatlianiel (iorhatu, tlie elder, who was the associate of Mr. I'helps in ihe management of the IMiclps and Gorhani property, and acted for the company in conferences with the Massaclnisctis State authorities and in the iietfotiations for the establishment of the Pre- emption hne, was never a resident upon the I'lirchase. His home was in Charleston. .Mass.. where he was born in 17J8. He died in Uoston, Mass., in 1769. His son. Nathaniel ("iorliam, Jr., of whom unfortunately no por- trait is known to exist, came to Canandaigua in 17S9 and acted as the agent of his father in the immediate management of the busi- ness of the company. He was an early Supervisor of the town, was President of the Ontario bank for a number of years, and held other important positions in the communitv. 18 HISTORY OF ONTARIO COUNTY \\'e suppose the l)est elear flat will brin^" one dollar ])er aere. while some of the adjoiniiiii' land may be very ordinal"}-, but we c;innot entertain an idea but thev will average the one-third of a dollar ])er acre." He wrote that a great number of the best sur>-eyors could be obtained to go into the new country at 9s per day and take their i)a)- in lands, or at 7s 6d in cash. On October 5 of the same year. Agent A\"alker reported that he had sold "to (ien'l Chapin &. Capt. Dickinson No. 10 first tier at Is lOd per acre, to Ciend ChajMu & Capt. Noble No. 11 second tier at Is lOd, and to the same Gentlemen No. 10 second tier at Is 8d, all N. \'ork currency; have likewise sold to Messrs. Talmage and Bartle in No. 1-4 in the first tier about half a townshii). at Is /d, all the cash to be paid 1st next May: a number of other towns are exploring by different gent'm in \iew of ptirchasing, in fine the prospects of a rapid settlement is as great as could l)e reasonably expected." In the wild land speculations that marked the history of this region ten years later, good farm land brought as high as $r> i)cr acre, an enormous price considering the condition of the cottntrx' antl the lack of all means of transjiortation exce])t that afforded b\- ox teams OAer execrable roads or b}- bateaux on tuu-elial)'e water courses. The speculators knew the land, howexer. It only needed their gift of imagination, or the exalted faith of a Col. Maxwell, to ])iclure the future realities of this countr}-. To the men from New England's rocky farms, the rich and tillable lands of W estern New York had possibilities that warranted the ]^aying of e\en S5 an aci-e for them. Col. Maxwell while engaged in the surveys of 17(S8 had written his ^vife back in Massachusetts: "I have no doubt that in the course of a \ery few A-ears there will be man\- w <)rshii>i)ing assemblies of Christians where now the wild lieasts howl, and that •he time is not far distant when this wildness shall blossom a< the rose." Col. Maxwell x.vas a veteran of the Rex'olution, ami 53 years old wdien he wrote thus enthusiasticallv. But before the value of the lands in their ])urchase came to be widel}^ appreciated, and l)efore, even, they could be adxantaged bv the wave of speculation referred to, Phel])s and Goidiam found them- selves unable from the proceeds of the sales to settlers to meet their maturing obligations and proceed with the allotment. Tliex- therefore availed themselves of the opportuinty that offered in COM l.\(, < )]• Wlliri- MAX. 1" /' -l A /; / ' \ y 1 /? / ^ ' CKMtrVMt'Wt MAP Oh THE PHELPS AND GORHAM PURCHASE. his map shows the I'lieli'.s ami l.orha.ii puichaM- as il was between ISUJ and •S*'^. It reduced fac-siniile of the rare original and is the n.ost correct map extant of the Fhelps IS a re ans and Gorham. but which the latter relinquished. He sold all but about 500.000 acres of the last mentioned tract to the Holland Company in 1792 and '93. conditioned upon the extinguishment of the Indian title. This last was l^rought about in 1797. Thus at last the title to all of ^^'estern X^'ew York had ])assed from Massachusetts to private ownership, and barring only about 3,500 square miles of reservation, the Indians had surretulercd lo the same interests their claim upon the land. The era of the aboriginal in U^estern N'ew York had tinaM\- closed and that of the white man had opened. Twv. i-iKST sr/r'ri.i-.Mi'.XT. 21 III. THE FIRST SETTLEMENT. A Party of Pioneers from Massachusetts Enter the Genesee Country by an All-Water Route — Their Settlement at Canan- daigua — Israel Chapin Api)ointed Indian Agent by President Washington — A Period of Apprehension — The Pickering Treaty of 1794. Iiitd the (ireat Western Wilderness, as Central and Western W'w \ oik was then called. ear]\- in Ma\-. in 1 7SQ. there came a little ]);irty <>t Xew I'^nglanders. l)ent npon spying out the land and making hollies r(|nenlly hecanic a resident of ilallield. ill the same C(aiiUy. As to his earlier years, little can he ascertained, l»nt that they were sneh as to eonnnand the respect and confidence of his tow ns])eople. is evidenced h\' the fact that from \7()2. wlieii he was only 22 years of a^e, io 17X7. when he became interested in the I'hel])^ and ( lorhani purchase, there was hardly a year Imt what lie was elected to some town ofhce. W hen I'aul l\e\eia' carried tiie news from I rxinf^ton on a certain historic niji^ht, he was captain of a conipan\- of Minme Men who responded to the alarm, and tlioni;h it does not a])])ear that he stood amoni( the emliatt'ed farmers at Concord the next da\-, it ma\' be presumed that he wisiied he did. riiis irreLitd.'ir service lasted onh^ sex'en dax's, hnt he enlisted in tlie Patriot arm\- on the 27th of -\pril. 177.^. lie was at Sarat<»^a at I lie M'.i-render of lUirg-oyne, in 1777, and the same year attained the rank of Major. In Octoher of that year he became a Lieutenant Colonel, and, in hehruarx of the \'ear followin*''. Colonel in the Mas^achn^-etts militia' then he aded as Hri<;adicr (lenera', was in the cami)ai^-n against (Jnehec, and was Inniorably discharLi^ed .\o\emi)er 21, 1779. TiiriuM- says that in addition to his services in the field dnnn.i;' the l\e\ iilnlion. General C ha])in was occasionally a sub-contractor, or ai;enl of Olixer Pheli^s, in itnrchasing- supplies for the army. On one occasion he was re(pie:-ted h)' Mr. I^help^^ to obtain a "t'me yoke of fat catt'e for (ienera! \\'ashin,i;"ton's table." bollowim;- the i)nrcha.>-e of westeiai land from the State of Massaclmsetls, .\])ril 1, 17XS, Ceneral Cha])in was appointe«l by the associates in the enterprise to explore the countrw and upon the retinal of Mr. Phelps from his journey to Kanadesat^a and Xiai^ara. in the eaiK summer, and the i)nrchase by Mr. Phelps from the Indians (f the tract between tiie Preemption line and the ( ienesee ri\er (the so-called Phelps and Gorhaiu purchase), he came into the country for the first time. William Walker, appointed to the oflice of local a^ent, was here also, and the two men. in Se|)tember. explored the practicability of the outlet as a means of communica- tion with the East, beofan the cuttino- of a road throu.q:li the woods from Kanadesaoa to Canandaigua and thence to the Genesee. started siuwevors upon the work of mapping- the tract, located the 24 HISTORY OF ONTARIO COUNTY. site of what was to become the village of Canandaigua, and erected a small log house there for the storage of supplies. Then, as Agent Walker reported, "the season being so far advanced, and the difficulty of erecting- buildings in any degree comfortable for our- selves, and the large number of purchasers who present themsehes so great." they decided to return east and wait until the next spring before establishing themselves on The Chosen Spot. The founding of the settlement at Canandaigua \\"as made at a ■lime of gravest danger. T'ressed further and further into the wilderness by the con^.tanth' augmenting influx of white settlers, the Indians \\ere naturally restless. As one of the squaws, per- mitted ro participate iri the Pickering Council, expressed it. the}- had l)een "pressed and 5(juee: of the u])rising of their brothers iti the West. It was at this critical juncture, \vhen council after council had been held without a\ai!. and restlessness might at any time break out into open hostilities, that the Secretary of A\'ar. General Knox, selected General Cha|Mn, then the leading citi.zen of the settlement at Canandaigua. as the man for the luAir. and appointed him to the office of Deputy Superintendent of the Six Nations. His commission to this service was dated .\pril. 1792. The letter from Secretary Knox appointing General Chapin to this highly responsible position urged the latter to impress upon the Indians that it was the "hrm determination of the United States that the utmost fairness and kindness should be exhibited to them. That it was not only his desire to be at peace with all the Indian tribes, but to be their guardian and ]:)rotector against all injustice." In a subsequent letter of instruction, the Secretary wrote that it uas the ardent desire of the I'resident that a "firm peace should be established with the neigh.boring tribes of Indians, on such pure principles of justice and moderation as will enforce the approbation of the dispassionate and enlightened part of mankind." But. the TTTK FIRST SETTLEMENT. 25 C t» (rt '/) n ^ C 1- ' . *-• ^ tl C 'I o " ■-•S-5 «>>-•- r- a*- . — C _ ^ J£ V ""^ r " w — < - - ti '■'■• b - - = =. fe •■-: i ..;: = .. — ' ■" c ^ .' Xi -x '^ ~ ' < £ _ « , ♦^ 4j n Z 4-=^- CO •_ u u 5 d ~ i: = 2: *- a 2 H ^ V ^ - 3 >>cc: x'~ tL; -• a •= = ""_-^^ .- — ,r -ir r; o = •- i - ^1 or''- "S JP "n 26 HISTORY OF ONTARIO COUNTY. Secretary concluded, "if the hostile Indians should, after having had these intentions of the Government fully laid before them, still persist in their depredations in the frontiers, it will be considered as the dictates of humanity to endeavor to punish with severity so incorrigible a race of men. in order to ]irevent other tribes in future from a like conduct." How Avell the Superintendent carried out the desires of the President, and how successful!}' he avoided resort to the alter- native so emphatically set forth by the Secretary, may be understood from what follows. The first dut\- devolved upon Suiierintendent Chapin was to induce |ose])h lb-ant, the famous Seneca chieftain, to visit Phila- delphia, then the seat of Government. Brant had refused to accompanv a delegation from the Six Nations a short time before, deemine it beneath his dignity to go with a drove of Indians. But he yielded to the urging of the Sui)erintendent, came to Canan- daigua, and from here he was escorted by Israel Chajun, jr., and other attendants, \ia .\lbany and Xew ^"(M-k, to Philadelphia. The wi'y Brant, halting between his obligations to the British and his inc'iuation to all\- himsc'f with the go\ ernment of the I'nited J^tates. was careful to make no derinite iM-omises, and his visit fai'ed (»f the puri)Ose to secure his active mliuence in behalf of peace. Upon the return of the Brant party. Secretary Knox wrote the Superintendent regretting that he himself did not make tlie journey to Philadelphia, and adding: "As >ou at ])resent are regarded favorablv. as well for your zeal as your economy, it will be expedient to you tltat these princijiles be manifest in all your future conduct. and while von continue to make the pid)lic good the rule of your miction, you may ])r()ceed vith confidence as you may depend upon support." That he clid continue to make the pul)lic good the rule of his action is attested by the fact that he continued to the end of his life to have the support of the (government and that no word of disparagement or criticism of his work is to be found in the pul:)lic archives. There followed a long ])eriod during which the Genesee country was in a state of constant a])prehensi()n. Time and again the settlers were alarmed by the report that the Indians had gone on the war ])ath. Dreams of massacre distm-hed the sleep of the people or. many a night. Throtigh it all, the calm, imperturbable, strong figure of General ("h;ii)in held its wa}-. and the settlement came to Till- kST si'/r'rrj'.Mi^x'T 27 reiy n])(>n liini ;is its (Icfciidcr, as be Iirul l)fcn from the hco-iiiniiii^ its leading citi/cii. Mi-^ rner^y \\a> uiilla_J4<4'in<;'. Ilis saj^acity never failei!. 'rinou^li his iniliuiice. confci-cncc- alter o inference was held with hostile liKhans at the \\\'st. He kept in closest touch with the Senecas neai" Iionie, and 1)\ (li])lo macy, h}- his th( in m.^ii nndt-i-stand- in<^" of their chai'actei", li\- assert- inti" on occasion the streniL^lh of public mone\- — lar:.;'e for those days — passed throui^h his hands, w'thout suheriuiLi' from attrition, an.d for all this and nmch more the (ieneral recei\ed the numih- cenl annual salary of $500. lie wrote the Secretary (^f War in 17^)3, L;"i\ini;- it as his opinion that the establishment of a pro])- erly e(pui)ped school for the In- dians west of the Genesee ri\-er CAPTAIN JASPER PARRISH. .(;is,jci r.-irrish, wlio was the loyal assislant of ("leneral Israel Cliapin in Iiis work a^ the att'-'iit of tlie Ciovcninient. was horn near the hcail waters of the Delaware river in this State ill 1767 and died in Canandai^ia in iNxi. When only eleven years old, while working in a field with his father, he was siii|>riscd and captured by a band of Monscc Iii.lians. Me sjieiit the succeeding six years as a ca.itive in that tribe and among the Dela- wares .Tini the Mohawks, being finally re- leased in 17.S4 as the result of a treaty stipu- lation by which the Six .\ations gave n . .11 v\hite ea|)tives. Retinning to his fain:' renewed llis ac(|uaiiitance with the Mi .. language, acted as interpreter at several councds with the Indians, and in April, 1792, uas appointed oflicial ("lovernment niterpreter and instructed to reside at Canandaigua. Was the priiici|ia! interpreter at the council held in I'ananilaigiin under direction of Colonel riinotliy Pirkeriuit in 1794, was i--- ' -'i. agent in ISd.'. an; be provided "for the inhabitants of the frontier.'' The State appointed commissioners to take necessary steps for defense. Governor Clinton recommended that a deposit be made at "Canadaqua in Ontario Countv." of one hundred weight of powder and a proper quantity of lead, etc., and the commissioners directed that a block house be erected here and furnished with a piece of cannon. General Chapin represented the National Government in a council with the restless Indians at Buffalo, June 15, to consider vexed questions growing out of the controversy over the western boundary, and as a result he urged the negotiation of a general THE FIRST SETTLEMENT. 29 treaty as the only iikmiis wliicli could kcf]) the Six Nations from joining the dangerous Imliar. (■(Mifederacy in the West. GARYAN-WAH-GAH. OR ' CORNPLANTER." Coniplantvr was a Seneca chief: born ni t'();ie\vauj;iis. on tiie (ieiiesee river, in I7i2; died on the Cornplanter reservation in Penns>lvania, l-'eLruary 17, 18,16; was a half breed, son of an Indian trader named John (''Hail. He was a warrior of inidoubtcd prowess, and led the Seneca allies of the British in the War of the Revolution in forays upon the patriot settenicnts in Xew York and Northern Pennsylvania, Init after its ciose became the firm friend of the Americans and aided in securing the Fort Stanwix treaty »( 1784; also took prominent part in the council at Au Glaize in 1792 and in that in Catiandaigua in 1794; was often a jealous rival of Red Jacket. To this letter from General Ciiai)in. the Secretary of War replied: "Y'our ideas of a conference are adopted. It will be held at Canandaigua on the 8th of September. Colonel Pickering will be 30 HISTORY OF ONTARIO COUNTY. the cc)nni]is>iuner, to be assisted 1)\- _\ou in all respects. Xotify the Six Xations that their father, the President of the United States, is deeply concerned to hear of any dissatisfaction existing- in their minds against the United States, and therefore invites them to a conference, for the purpose of removing all causes of misunder- standing and establishing a permanent peace and friendship between the Unired States and the Six Nations."' General Cha]:)in lost no time in >i)reading the news of the proposed council. He visited their villages in person and conferred with their chiefs, and he sent runners to Ruffalo creek and to Canada to counteract British interference. The council which was finally assembled in Canandaigua as the result of these eiTorts was one of the most important ever held in the countrv. It v>-as certainly the most notable event in the earlier historv of Ontario county, and as ])icturesque as it was notable. The Government made ample provision for the council. Great stores of food, trinkets, iicjuor and tobacco were gathered here. General Chapin spared no eli'ort to fulhll his promise to the Indians that he \\ould "hang on h\g kettles."' CoMnel Timothv Pickering, selected by President Washington to act as the Commissioner in behalf of the Government, was one of the most distinguished men of the time. A graduate of Harvard College, he had studied law, and had I^een active in the exciting events preliminarv to the Revolution. He led a Massachusetts regiment in that war. At its close he had risen to the position of Quartermaster General. In 1791 he became Postmaster General in President Washington's cabinet; the year following his service at the council in Canandaigua he was appointed Secretary of W ar. and in December of the same year he \vas transferred to the State Department. He also ser\ ed several years in Congress. The assembliu"- of the Indians here was retarded b\ their desire to learn the outcome of the contest then waging between General W a}ne and the hostiles in the West, but when the news came, as it did earh- in October, that \\^avne had been successful, the business of the council progressed with reasonable speed. Fortunately we have a graphic account of the proceedings of the Pickering Council by an eye witness, in the shape of the journal of William Savery, a member of the Society of Friends, present at the request of the Indians to see that they were fairly treated. The council, which was to have opened early in September, was not THR FIRST SI'TTLEMENT 31 fnil\' orm-ani/.ed until tlic IStli of ilic following- niontli. and it conliiiucd in almost daily session until the litli of .\'i i\ c-niher, whcMi SA-GO-YE-WAT-HA. OK "RED JACKET." Red Jackcl, .so nanu'd because 'f U.c i icldy i ii.broidered scarlet jacket wliicli lie afTected. u.is liorn about 1759, either near what i.s now Canv ga on the west bank of Cayuga I-ake, where a monument commeiiioratin. and fmall\- to secure their signatures to the treaty. As an instance of what was constaiub- taking ])lace in the Chapin door yard during the ijrogress of this council, the following is quoted from P'riend Savery's journal: "14th of the IVnth month— -The party of Senecas, headed by the Farmer's Brother, Little Billv, etc., bavin"- arrived, last evening;-, within four miles, ^\ ei-c expected this afternoon : btit ha\ ing to I)aint ar.d ornament iheniselx-es before their jjublic entrN', the\- did not arrive till 3 o'clock this afternoon. The ( )neidas, Cayugas, and Onondagas were diawn nj), drosed, and ])ainte(l, with their arms l)repared for a. salute, before General Cha])iirs door. The men able to bear arms marched in, assuming a good deal of importance, and drew Li]) in a line facing the Oneidas, etc. Colonel Pickering. General Chapin, ami many white people being ])resent. The Indians fired three rounds \\hich the other Indians ans-wered by a like number, making a long and loud echo through the woods. Their commanders then ordered them to form a circle around the Commissioner and General Chapin: then, sitting down on the TWK I'TKS-r SRTTT.KM I'X'r. 33 ground. tlio\' (I(.-li\cro(l :i spcccli, tliv )u;l;1i llic l-'arnu-r's P.rotluT. ;in(l rctiiiiicd tlic sirni,L;.s nl waminini \^ liicli w ri'c sent tlicni wltcn llicx' w c 1 <-• i"r( iiu'sU'd 1(1 0(>nK' to tlu' ti'c.'itw ( (ihmc'l Pu-kciMiiL' an.swrrcd PICKERING TREATY MEIVIORIAL. I Ins Wuuhltr iiU'iiiiinciil. coinnieiiujiatiiiy llit: coiux'il lielil l)y Colonel '1 imotliy Piclcering aiiil otiier representatives of tlie United States Governnitnt witii the Six Nations, at Canantlaigua, in the summer of 1794, was erected in 1902 by Dr. iHvight H. Burrell, an officer of tlie Ontario County Historical Society. It is a granit'e boulder weighing approximately 30 tons, and is located on the Court House Square. tlicip ill tlu' usii.'d CI iin])li!noiitar\ iiiaiiiicr, and ordered several kettles of rnni \i: l)e hron^lil. attei' drinking wliicli tliey dis])erse(K and went to ))re|)are their eanii). l^acli cliiet delivered a luindle ot Slicks. ans\\-eral)le to the iniinber of ])ei"S()ns. men. women, and enildren. under his eiDiiniand. wliich amounted to 4/2. Pliey made a irnl\- terrille and warhk'e a])i)earanee." Tlie follow iiii^- day I.OOO Indians had asseniMed, and this nnmher was atle]-wa]-(k inereased. It w.-'is indeed a i-emai-kahle ^allierin^- of red men. inclndini;- not onl\ those noted. Imt also Ked lacket. the fanion> orator: Corn- pianier. e(|nall\ famous as a wai" chief: Little I'.eard. h^ish Carrier. L dear Sk\-. and inan\- others, jemima \\ iikinson was drawn to the settlement hv the exent. and with Tolonel rickerinj;". William vSa\ery and others, was entertained by yonn^ Thomas Morris. Jasper Parrisli. as the of^cial interpi-eter. wri< .Superintendent Cha]")in s most efficient cnadint(n". 34 HISTORY OF ONTARIO COUNTY. The conferences of the Indians, clad in all their sava^g^e finer}-. about the bit;- conncil hres : the repeated adjournments made necessary l)v the drunkenness of the chiefs and sachems ; the denounc- ing by Colonel Pickering of a white man named Johnson as a British spy; the bursts of eloquence by Red Jacket and other gifted sons of the forest : their Aisits of ceremony upon each other and upon the distinguished officers of the Government ; the busy life in the camps that were pitched in the woods surrounding the village and that consisted of rough tepees of bark and botighs-; the horse racing, dancing, and other, sports that hlled in man\- of the leisure hours; the meetings for worship and praise conducted in the forest bv the Godly Quakers on e\erv First day: the falling of seven or eight inches of snow on the 25th of Octobei" : the killing of a hundred deer in one day within a few miles of the \illage — these were some of the picturesque events of the great council. The treaty was written on parchment and signed in du])licate by abotit fifty of the sachems and wdr chiefs. [n a letter to the Secretary of ^\ ar in the month following the signing of the Pickering treatv. December, 17^H, General Cha])in wrote: "-My journe}' to LeBoeuf. I shall e\"er believe, was the means of preventing the Six Nations from lending their assistance to their Western brothers, as thev term them : and in which I got ni}' present sickness, from which I am fearful I shall never recover. But. believe me. sir. to be useful to the frontier upon which I live and my country in general, has been the prevailing object of my pursuits." The forebodings of the patriot in reference to his health proved too well founded. He continued to decline until the 7th of March. 1795, when he breathed his last. He was 54 years of age. The news of his illness and death was receiA-ed with jirofound sorrow, not only throughout the region to whose interests he had devoted six strenuous years of his life, but at the Xati(^nal Cai)ital also, where his services to the conntrx- were known and ap])reciated. The Indians, too, grieved over his departure as that of a true friend. At a council held in Canandaigua soon after his death. Red Jacket made a speech, in the course of which, addressing Ca])tain Israel Chapin, the General's son. and Captain Jasper Parrish. his inter- preter, he said : 'T wish you to pay attention to what T have to sav. We have lost a good friend : the loss is as great to us as to you. We consider THE FIRST SETTLEMENT. 35 that we of the Six Nations, as well as the I'nited States, ha\e met with a i^reat loss. A person that we looked np to as a father, a person appointed to stand between ns and the L'nited States, we ha\e lost, and it ^^i\es ns j^Teat uneasiness, lie has taken iL^^reat l)ains to keep the chain of friendship hrit^ht between ns and the ITnited States; now that he has gone, let ns ])revent that agreeable- ness and friendship, which he has held uj) between us and the United States, from failing-. "Brothers, it has been customary among the Six Nations, when they have lost a great chief, tf) throw a belt in his ]:)Iace after he is dead and gone. We have lost so many of late that we are destitute of a l)elt, and in its ])lacc present son with these strings of wampum. "Brothers, as it is a custom handed down to us by our fathers. to kee|) uf) the good old ancient rules: now we visit the gra\'e of our friend, we gather leaves and strew them o\er the grave, and endeavor to banish grief from our minds as much as we can." The chiefs then directed that a message be sent to the Presi- deiU informing him that the "person whom he had ai)pointed for us to communicate our minds to. has left us and g(jne to another world. He with greatest care communicated our minds to the great council tire." The message also asked that the General's son. Captain Israel Chapin, be appointed to the office made vacant by the former's death. This was done, and the son faithfully carried on the work laid down bv the father. 36 HIS'^()K^' ()!•■ OXTARIO COUNTY. IV. " THE MOTHER OF COUNTIES." The Organization of Ontario County Cotemporaneous with the Election of Washington as President of the United States — Its Original Princely Domain — Unsuccessful Effort to Set It Off in a New State — Other Counties Erected from Its Original Territory — Rapid Settlement and Development. Tlie six lumdred rind f(irt\- sf|nare miles of territnrx' imw embraced in the connl}- of ( )nt;irio lias had a \-aried history. W hen hrst known lo white men. it \\a>^. as we ha\e seen, in the jealons and r.n(iisi)nte(i ])ossession of ihe Seneca Indians. Then when the dis- ])iites ^Towin^i' ont of the conilictim; ^''ants of the h.n^lish kin^s had been settled, rnid the Indian title. 1)\ hook or crook, by --word or treaty, had been extin_i;nisheart of Monlgomer)- count}", which, if ()ntario is to be known as the .Mother of C'onnties. shotild be hailed as the (irandniother of ("onnties. for it foi'nu'rlv constituted all the State west of the l)elaware river and a line extending north throngh Schoharie and .dong the east lines of the ])resent counties of ^lontgomerx', I'tdton and Hamilton, continued in a straight line to Canada. It inchuled territor\- that is now com|)rised in not less than thin\-six counties. And to go back' another generation. .Mbany was the great-grandmother of coun- ties. U]) to 1772 it end)race(l everything within the colony of .\ew "TT1I<: Mo'nil'.K Ol" ("(H'XTIES." o/ 38 HISTORY OF ONTARIO COUNTY. York north and west of its present limits, and at one time also the whole of Vermont. But to return to our subject. The ]Vlother of Counties. Ontario, contained in 1789, all the State west of the Preemption line, including- both the Phelps and Gorham and the Morris or Holland purchases. It had an estimated area of six million acres. and a year later, in 1790, the Federal census showed that it had a total white population of 1075, or something less than one five- thousandth of a man. woman and child to the acre. The legislative act by which Ontario county was organized provided that "Whereas the County of Alontgomerv is so extensive as to be inconvenient to those who now are, or mav hereafter settle, in the western part of the county," all that part described should thereafter be "one separate and distinct county, and be called and known by the name of Ontario." Whether there were heartburnings over this division of Mont- gomery county, or whether the citizens in its more thickly populated eastern portion resented the presumption of the handful of pioneers who had settled in Canandaigua and t)ther border towns and desired to set up by themselves, neither record nor tradition states. Prob- ably the easterners were cjuite content to let go a territory so remote, so clifficult of access, and so much of a wilderness. But General Chapin and the other men who were directing the organi- zation of government in these border towns were soon holding elections, levying taxes, and erecting public buildings. Within three years after the org-anization of the new countw provision had been made for raising the sum of 600 pounds for building a court house and gaol at "Canadagua," with the additional sum of "one shilling in the pound for collecting the same." One of the first and most threatening problems with which the organizers of the county of Ontario had to deal was that involved in the attempt to make it a part of a new and distinct common- wealth to be set off from New York State. This ambitious ])roject was involved, it is believed, in the original operations of the lessee companies alluded to in a preced- ing chapter. The jiarent of these companies, *'The New York Genesee Land Company," organized by men of wealth residing in liie eastern part of the State, first sought to nullify the agreement made at the Hartford conxention of December 16, 1786. through long term leases made with the unsophisticated sons of the forest 'THE MOTHER OF< COUNTIES." 39 then acknowledged to be in actual possession of the land. On November 30, at a council held at Kanadesaga, the land company induced tlic sachems or chiefs of the Six Xations to lease to it all the land in the State west of the Preemption line, for a period of y9y years, for an annual rental of two thousand Spanish milled dollars. By means of this le.ise the coni])any sought to acc|uire and hold possession of the lands to which Massachusetts had been accorded the preenii)tion right of i)urchase from the Indians. But the .scheme failed. The lease was at once ])ronounced null and void bv ("io\ernor Clinton, and he was empowered to use the force of the State if necessary to prexent intrusion or settlement upon the lands claimed by the lessees. It was following this miscarriage of their plot, and after they had thankfully accepted in compromise a ten mile square grant on the .Military tract in the northern part of the State, that the gentle- men of the land company re\'ealed or revived what from the start was probably their real purpose. Then agents of the company sought to enlist the residents in the Genesee tract, title to wdiich in tlie meantime had been lawfully accpiired bx" the Phelps and (iorham Company, in a mo\ement to set u]) a new State. John l.ixingston and Caleb Benton, two of the iiUriguers, issued a circular calling ui)on the people to hold meetings and sign petitions for the erection of a new State to eml)race the whole of central and western New N'ork, including the then existing counties of Otsego, Tioga, Herkimer, and Ontario. This attemi)t to organize a movement of secession met with no encouragement. At a meeting held at ''Canandar([ua,'' November 8, 1793, at which ''all the judges and Assistant judges, and a large Majority of the justices of the i^eace, together with all the inhabi- tants, convened from different parts of the County on that Occasion," were present, and at which Hon. Timothy Hosmer, first judge of the county, acted as chairman and Nathaniel Gorham, Jr., as secretary, public sentiment found expression in the adoption of resolutions resenting "the ill timed and improper attempt." These resolutions set forth "the impossibility of the proposed State's defraying expenses of the most moderate government that can l)e devised," pointed out "the impolicy as well as injustice of raising by enormous taxes on uncultivated lands such a revenue or of devoting to those expenses property purchased under the faith of the States of New York and Massachusetts, and of drawing into 40 HISTORY OF OXTARIO COUNTY fiiili o 00 a re O = X < H 2 O c c nmahl\- in the streets. A correspondent who .sii^iied hiniseU' "('i\-is," in the ( )nlario Repositorx' of l)ecend)er ](>. that \ ear, ihscnssed a |)ro|)osed organ- ization of a new connt\- "to consist ])artl\ of territory winch now belongs to this,"" referred to tln' fact that neighboring towns take different sides of tlie question, and stated that such discnssitms, especially Avhen pnbhc, generad) become "intemi)erale and result in bickerings and hatre(h"" There was e\iilentl\' (Hscnssion as lo the most desirable sha])e for a count \ establishment, and "("i\'is" atlniittcd that a scpiare shajjc was the hesi, but argued that "circum- stances may exist in man\ cases of suhicient weight to render e)ther shapes most convenient."' It was proposed at this time that the western tier of towns of ( )ntario be sei>arated and together with the eastern tier of (ienesee be erected into a count}', to contain it was estimated a population of 4,650. "("i\is" referred to the fact that the \ear before a ])oriion of the counl\ api)lied to be incorpor- ated with Seneca, l)Ut he argued that it was "a misf(n-tune to the peace of - > H 2 ■X} O .H X H "THE MDTTfKR Of- COUNTIES." 45 inhabitants of Canandai^ua and se\ci-al other towns of tlic county of Ontario con\-C!K' report argued that after the cession of the towns on the w'est side embraced in Monroe and Livingston. Ontario still had a population of 60.000 and that "the time nuist come at son-ie ])eriod not distant if not here" \vhen "for the convenience and interest of the inhabitants" other new counties should be created from its territory. This report went on to declare that "whenexer a coiupact population, approximating 20,000 inhab- itants and with con\enient territory, are unanimously in fa\or (^f organizing a new count}-, a ])i-oper regard to the ])rinci])les of Republican government ;ind to the maxim that all citizens of such government are entitled to e(jual ])olitical privileges, requires that the Legislature should grant aid:" and, therefore, "the committee 46 HISTORY OF ONTARIO COUNTY. o> CO CM 00 < h Z O o > 2 O u H 2 CO "THI" Mr)Tr!FR OF ("OUNTTES." 47 being con\-ince(l in si)itc of llie remonstrances recei\-e(l that a majoritN- of the ])eoi)le (liiH'etlx- in!ei"e>tcMl want the erection of a new connt\," reconnnended that "the relief sou^ln f(,r -cxcral \-ears"' shonld then he i^rantei'. ( iideon ( d'an^er. the senior, then one of tlie nunnhers of the State Senate from the wotern (hstrict. votech and ])resnmahl\- talked, "No," and the hill was defeated in the ni)])er hon>e i)\' a \"ote of 15 to 14 ( h'ehrnary 24, iSil ). In lS2,"). ho\ve\'er, two nioi'c secticn^ ot ( )iitario's shnmken area were cnt off, a ])art on the sonthe.ast hem^- erectt'd into the conntv (4 ^^■ltes, and the towns of L\-oiis, .Scxhis. Williamson, Ontario, r,alm\ra and Macedon. .-ind ;i i)ai't ot IMudps were nihtetl to the Seneca towns of W'olcott and ( ialen to form the new conntv of AVayne (.\])ril 11, 1S2,^). To make onr record of the snecessi\e cli.'in^'es in the coiifni-ma- tion of ()ntario conntv com])lete, we nnist not nei^lect to state that it had two s)nall accessions of territorx' in the eaidier vears of existence as an independent c-i\il dix'ision. ( )n h'ehrnaiw 21. 17*'], while it still had the ma^-nilicent i)ro])ort ions of the orii^inal Mass- achusetts cession, a stri]) of Aionti^omerx connt\ west of Seneca lake was annexed. This was the "( lore," which thron^h a fanlt in the original snr\e\' was omitted from the first i)lottini4' of the connt\'. The "Gore" now constitntes parts of Ontario, ^'ates and Sclunder counties. A small tract in the fork of Crooked, or Kenka lake, was taken hack from Steuben conntx. l"ebi-nar\ 2?, 1814. This .also is now a part of Yates county. Idle i)r(H'ess of disnunnberment, or di^■ision, so fai- as it related to the tei'ritory that had succeeded lhroui;h these man\- xicissitndes in retaining- the name of Ontario conntv, was sus])ended with the birth of Wayne in lS2.v Tdic ])rocess, for the time at least, had gone far enough. (~)ntario was mother to enough daughters. \u the period of thirty-fcmr years in which it had been going on. not less than six counties had bet'n erected directlw in whole or in jiart. from Ontario territory, anrl 1)\- 1854, when the xoungest grand- daughter, Schuyler, was organized, the family group that calls her mother and grandmother had gro^\•n to the proj-yortions it has since maintained — fourteen counties. That period of thirty-four years, ending with 1823. had been great with i^ronn'se for the region under consideration. Its popu- lation had increased from a little more than a thousand in the vear 48 HISTORY OF OXTARIO COUNTY. following its organization a? the cmnty of (Ontario to the great ao-rrrepfate of 217.000: the he£jinninii> of two of the country's great cities, Buffalo and Rochester, had been made within its limits, each being a village of something over 2.000 inhabitants in 1820; thri\ing villages, with churches, academies. ])ublic schools. l)anks. newspapers, and taverns, had sprung u]) in every part of the domain: the forest had made way for grass and grain fields of large extent: mills for the grinding of their ])roducts were erected: high- wavs were laid out : a thri-\ing. enter|)rising and growing ])(ji)nlation was established in comfortable iiornes : an no longer. l)ut after all they were vears of ])romise only, and the most piophetic eyes could hariih >ee in them the marvelous realization on which we look. In the ninet\- vears that ha\e since elapsed the po])ulation of what was the original ( )nl;irio county has grown tt) o\er a million and a (piarter of ])eoi)le. a ])opulation exceeding that of the whole State of .Mar\ land, and thnt of eithei one of eighteen other States of the L'nion : the two villages of FJuitalo and Rochester, with 2,00(^ inhabitants each, have become (1910) cities of 423.71.^ and 2 IS. 14^). respectively: the Erie canal has been com]>leted. and is now l)ractically superseded by a railroad system that better serves the public need, but that in turn is threatened l)\ the competition of the rapidly extending trolley lines: petroleum and electricity for lighting, the telegraph, the telephone, and a thousand other discov- eries and inventions, now so common ^tiral-N^e^. forget our grand- fathers were without them, have all come within these few years. The jiresent Ontario county, insignificant as are its proj^ortions as compared with those it had at organization, is not by any means unworthy of the name it bears. Though shorn of so luuch of its original territory, it is still the Chosen Spot of Western Xew ^'ork. and deserves the honorable fame it is accorded, its ])opulation being 522^6. according to the Federal census of 1910. "Till": MOTMI-.K (II- COrNTIKS."' 49 The First Census. Under tlu' statute of jamiar\' 11 , 1~(S'), 1)\- whidi ()iitari() was .-.ct off from Monli^omcry. the justices ol the ( Oui't of Sessions were authorized to di\ide the ei)uut\ luto di^tiMi't^ as the\- sliould deeui e.\i)e(heiit. The ])riniiti\e division. Turner slates, constituted fi\e districts, as follows: "l)istrict d ( "anandai^ua." "District of Tol- land," "District of Sodns," "District of Seneca."" and "District of Jerusalem."" hor one ;)r two )-ears this dixision was little more than nominal, e\ce])t m the district ot ( auandai^ua whose or<;'ani- /ation in eltect included the eutii-e i"ount_\ . Al the time of the t'ensus of 17*^0. howe\er, accoidiuL;' to the returns of the .Assistant I'niled .State>- .Marshal, (ieneral .\mos llall. ( )ntario coinit\- mcludeil the tour "towns" of Canandai^i^ua. I'!i"\\in. (icnesee. and Jerusalem, and had a total |/oi)ulation ot 1()75. with an enumeration of 204 heads of fannlies. including" 11 sla\-es. ( )f this nund)er the town or district oi ( 'auaudaiL^ua. which must liaxe coni])rised the !L;i"eater part (if what is now the countx' of ()utario, had SS head^ of families, two slaxes, and a total |)oi)ulalion of MA. The heads of l.imilies as listed 1)\- (ieneral Ma.ll were as follows: l.atty. Janu'.s Day, ivus.sci, JmIih F>enton. David Sweet, Camstock, Xatliaii, WluH'tmi. Samuel Phelps, Ez/.a Reed, Israel Kioe, Giirliam, Xathaniol, Jr.. Allen. Reuben Sniitli, David I'^sq. Ilerard, W'ebli ^^ Pierce, Phineas Sanhourue, Xatlianiel \\ hite. iMirsytli, Easther Eellows, Juhn Cunisluck. Daniel Sniitli. Thomas Smith. Joseph Sniitii, Jerem- Snn'tli. Harry Eish, James D. Wilder, Gamaliel r.arden, Thomas Chapin, Genl. Israel Wilder. Ephraim Reed, Seth, Esq. Clark, John Rice, Aaron Whitney, Jonathan Dudley, Martin Spencer. Aaron Warner, Srilonion P>ates, Phineas Goodwin, James Okes, Walker, Caleb Goodwin, William - Kilbourn. Jose])h Colt, Jndah, Es(|r. Eisher. Nathaniel Whitcond), John Barlow, Abner l"ellow>. Genl. Juhn Stevens, Phineas Brainard. i)aniel Rice, Epiiraini Tuttlc, Fienjamin Holcomb, Seth Rice, Lot Robinson, John D. Brocklebank. James Hubble. Matthew Granger. Pierce Castle, Lemuel liarns, John Rriggs, Erancis Wells, Benjamin ., Chapin. Oliver Pierce, Michael Ereeman, John -Norton, Nathaniel Tibl)et, Benjamin Lapum, .M^raham Addams, John Hall. William H;ilhaway. Tsaak Rogers. Michael Potter, Arnold Harrington, X^athaii Sa.ge, Allen Gates, Daniel ^IcCundier, John Bou.ghton, Se\-mour Sweets. Harrington, Joshua Boiighton, Gerard Warren, Thomas Smith, Elijah Norton, Zebulon Chapin, Israel, Jr. Pane, John Taylor, Elijah Piatt, Smith, Jacob 50 HISTORY OF ONTARIO COUNTY. Formation of the Towns. The county of ( )ntario as now constituted contains sixteen towns and a city, as follows: Bristol. Canadice, Canandaigua, East Bloomfield, Farmington, Gene\'a, Gorham, Hopewell, jNlanchester, Naples, Phelps, Richmond. Seneca, South Bristol, Victor, and ^\'est Bloomfield, and the city of tjene\a. The territory embraced in the present limits of the county was original!}' laid out in towns as follows: Bristol, Canandaigua, Bloomfield, Farmington. Jiaston, Burt. MicUUetown, Phelps. Pitts- town, and Seneca, all of which were formed under an act of the Legislature of 1789. Subsequent changes in the names and boundaries of the towns were as follows: hhe town of Easton became Lincoln in April. I8O0, and Gorham one year later. Middletown was changed to Naples, April (k 180S. Pittstown became Honeoye, April 6, 1808, and Richmond, April 11, 1813. Victor Avas formed from Bloomfield, Alay 26, 1812. Hopewell was formed from Gorham, March 29, 1822. Burt was renamed Manchester, April 6, 1822. Canadice was formed from Richmond, A]>ril 1.^, 182^': a j^art of it was returned to that town in \^^<^k South Bristol was taken from Bristol. March 8, 1838, and a part was annexed to Richmond in 1848. but restored in 1852. West Bloomfield was formed from Ijloomfield. I'ebruary 11, 1833. The town of CJenexa was erected by the Board of Super- visors from Seneca, November 15, 1872. The city of (ieneva was formed from the town of Geneva under act of the Legislature of 1897. THE COUNTY BUILDINGS. 51 V. THE COUNTY BUILDINGS. They Reflect the People's Respect for Law and Regard for the Unfortunate — In the Court House Centers the County Con- sciousness — Successive Jails — The County Alms House — The County Laboratory and the County Tuberculosis Hospital, the First Institutions of the Kind in the State. As the record of chnrcli l)uilding- and school building in towns affords an index to the moral and intellectual progress of the people, so the story of the l)iiildings in which a county houses its courts. ])reser\es its archives, contines its criminals, or cares for its poor, evidences its consciousness of a conuiuuiity of interests and its apprehension of its responsibility to the unfortunate. About the court house especially centers the county conscious- ness. In the history of its development ma>' be found marks of the growing respect for law and order, respect for authority, respect for all that constitutes organized government. As the court house has fallen into decay or been enlarged or replaced, so is the attitude oulli of present court liousc. Was moved in 1825 to \. \V. corner of Main and Cross streets, where it stood when this picture was made, and was used as a postoffice ; was moved to Coach street in 1859. used as a store house and was demolished in 1899. Scene of the trial of many famous cases, including that of "Stiff Armed Cieorgc," whom Red Taci\et, the Indian orator, defended against the charge of murder. But the young county, moved by a spirit of enler])rise and liberality which has happily ever characterized its provision for public needs, lost no time in erecting a building to be devoted to the use of the courts, and within {\\c years after the first white men had settled in Canandaigna sncli a building, commodious, well proportioned and well furnished for that day, Avas completed and put into use. This was in 1794, when the entire population of the county did THE COUNTY BUILDINGS. 53 not much exceed a thousand souls and when the tax entailed, 600 pounds, constituted a burden nuich lai'i^er in ])r()j)orti()n than that invohc'd in the recent vH^l ()(),()()() impruvenienl. ll marked the first step in the deteiMuinat ion of the ])ioneers to keep abreast — na\', ahead — of the time- in ma1tei"s of pnbhc im])ro\-ement. The hrst com"! house was a wooden structure and was located on the i)ublic S([uare. innnedi;itel\' scnilh of the present l)uildinL;". In it were held the courts of Common I'leas. ])resided o\'er by the tirst judges of the count)', ()li\er IMiel])S, Timotlu' liosmer, John Xicholas, and Xathaniel \\ . Ilowell, and at its bar practiced such lawxei's as John C. Spencei-. I'etei" !*>. Porter. .Mark II. .Siblev. jai'cd Wilson, hrancis (ir.'iui^i'r and John ( ireii;'. in it were cr)n- ductcd man\- of the famous trials ot the earlx' da\s. includin.L;' that of Jcnnma W ilkinson, the "Cni\ers;d i-'riend."" who was l)roug'ht here in the }'ear LSdO, from her "New Jerusalem" on Keuka Lake, to answer the charge of bias]:)hemy. Tlie grand jury failed to f]n{\ an indictment against liei'. and upon in\itation she deli\-ered a sermon before the presiding judge, And)rose Spencer, and the jm"oi"s and others in attendance on the court. In tins building also look ])lacc the trial of the Indian, "StifT Armed (icorge," on a ch:irge of nnn"dei', when the famous .Seneca orator. Red Jacket, m.'ide an eloi|uent plea for the defense. ddiis tirst court house ser\-eil the pur])ose thirty \-ears, and then to meet the deiuands of the county, rapidly de\-eloping in wealth and populati(Mi, though airead)' shrunken territorially to its preserit size, a new and more substantial building was erected. I his was in 1S24. the xcav following the county's last loss of lerri- itiry, that now cMnbrace(| in \\ a\'ne and ^';^tes counties. The corner stone was laid on Juh' 4 of that \-ear. This building marked the second step of ])rogress and cost $6,000. fotn- times as nnich as its i^redecessor. It was erected on the southwest corner of the ])ublic s(|uare, and there for the eig'hty- se\'en years \\-hicli ha\e since ela])sed it has stood unmo\ed, though b.arely a\"oiding collision with the intruding railroad. In it also were conducted maiiy trials famous in the State's history, the most n()table of which ])erhaps was that of the men implicated in the abduction of William AForgan. the renegade Mason. Today, as the town house of Canandaigna and maintained for the joint use of the town and \ illage, it remains a useful and handsome public building. 54 HISTORY OF ONTARIO COUXTY. Upon tlie completion of this more substantial and dignified building, as stated, in 1825, the "old" or first court house was moved across the street and located at the northwest corner of !Main street and Cross street, now \\'est avenue. While in this location it was long used as the postoffice and as lawyers' offices and its second floor as a lecture and concert hall. In July. 1859. after the completion of the third court house, and following the sale of the second court house to the town and \-illage for a consid- eration of $4,000, it was concluded that the old "Star Building." as it liad come to be called, had outlived its usefulness in the public service, and it was sold to Thomas Beals, the banker, for $100. and moved bv him to a vacant lot on Coach street, where it continued in use as a storeiiouse as late as May. 1899. when it was torn down to make room for Mr. .\nderson's big store building. After another thirty years, was taken the third step in the historv of the countv as marked by court house l^uilding. It was in Xoveml)er. 1856, after nuich discussion in the newspapers and otherwise, and after sharp criticism (onal chari^e of the construction work and to whose al)iht\- and faithfulness was c\vc its satisfactory and prompt completion. Then followed, earl\- in the yeai- 185^>, the remo\al of the postotVice from the "old" or tirst com-t hou-e building- and the re- moval of the clerk's and surro- jH'ate's otVices from the building's formerl\- occupied b\- them on the west side of the s(piare. w Inch, it is interestinn' to note in ])assin(:", were sold to Joshua Tracv for ^22?. to be taken down and the maurial remo\-ed. On .\b>n(law Januar\ 10. 185'^ the court room in the new buildini;- was lirst put to its desio;ned use, at a term of the circuit court, at which Hon. Henrv Welles presided. It is reported that there was a large concourse of people present on this occasion and that Judge Welles made an api)ropriate address. Idie portraits JUDGE HENRY WELLES. UiMi. nc-iir\ W'lllcs. wild presiileii at Hist term in the "neu" court liouse, CanaiKJaigua, in lanuaiy, 1H.S9, was horn at Kiiiilcrhook, .\. v.. ()ctol)er 17, 1794, and died at lii.s liome in I'enii Yan in 1868. Distinguished liiniself as a soldici- in tlie W'ar of 1812. Dis- trict .\ttorney of Steul)en comity from 1824 to 1829. Supreme Court Justice in the Seventh district from 1847 until his deatli at his lionie in I'enn \'an. in 1868. 56 HISTORY OF ONTARIO COUNTY which had lieen l)roug"ht tog-ether in the ohl court house through the efforts OT the indefatigable ^^'illiam Wood were rehung in the count\- coiu't room in the new l)uilding and constituted tlie nucleus of the priceless collection Axhich has in later years made that room a galler\- mentioned widel\ in tlie i)ul3lic press and in historical ])uldications, one that is viewed with interest b)' many visitors and with ])ride by all residents of the count\ . The collection contains the ])ortraits not only of men fa- mous as ]Moneers or for the jiromi- nent ])art the\' had in the later lii-tcrvof the counlw but of those also who, born in or otherwise identified with the county, attain- ed high |)lace in the State and Xation. A fourth great stc]) in the de- \eloi)mcnt of ( )ld (Ontario was taken in the >i)ring of 1^H)S. when the board of super\isors, in re- sj^onse to a general ])ublic