This is a digital copy of a book that was preserved for generations on library shelves before it was carefully scanned by Google as part of a project
to make the world's books discoverable online.
It has survived long enough for the copyright to expire and the book to enter the public domain. A public domain book is one that was never subject
to copyright or whose legal copyright term has expired. Whether a book is in the public domain may vary country to country. Public domain books
are our gateways to the past, representing a wealth of history, culture and knowledge that's often difficult to discover.
Marks, notations and other marginalia present in the original volume will appear in this file - a reminder of this book's long journey from the
publisher to a library and finally to you.
Usage guidelines
Google is proud to partner with libraries to digitize public domain materials and make them widely accessible. Public domain books belong to the
public and we are merely their custodians. Nevertheless, this work is expensive, so in order to keep providing this resource, we have taken steps to
prevent abuse by commercial parties, including placing technical restrictions on automated querying.
We also ask that you:
+ Make non-commercial use of the files We designed Google Book Search for use by individuals, and we request that you use these files for
personal, non-commercial purposes.
+ Refrain from automated querying Do not send automated queries of any sort to Google's system: If you are conducting research on machine
translation, optical character recognition or other areas where access to a large amount of text is helpful, please contact us. We encourage the
use of public domain materials for these purposes and may be able to help.
+ Maintain attribution The Google "watermark" you see on each file is essential for informing people about this project and helping them find
additional materials through Google Book Search. Please do not remove it.
+ Keep it legal Whatever your use, remember that you are responsible for ensuring that what you are doing is legal. Do not assume that just
because we believe a book is in the public domain for users in the United States, that the work is also in the public domain for users in other
countries. Whether a book is still in copyright varies from country to country, and we can't offer guidance on whether any specific use of
any specific book is allowed. Please do not assume that a book's appearance in Google Book Search means it can be used in any manner
anywhere in the world. Copyright infringement liability can be quite severe.
About Google Book Search
Google's mission is to organize the world's information and to make it universally accessible and useful. Google Book Search helps readers
discover the world's books while helping authors and publishers reach new audiences. You can search through the full text of this book on the web
at |http : //books . google . com/
1
I i 1 1.4
(S^^
#s^.O
f^«T
ALDERMAN LIBRARY
UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA
CHARLOTTESVILLE, VIRGINIA
HISTORY
OF THE
CITY OF BUFFALO
AND
ERIE COUNTY,
WITH ILLUSTRATIONS AND BIDGRilPHICAL SKETCHES DF
SOME DF ITS PROMINENT MEN AND FIDNEERS.
IN TWO VOLUMES.
VOL I.
EDITED BY
H. PERRY SMITH.
SYRACUSE, N. Y.:
D. MASON & CO., PUBLISHERS,
1 884.
The reproduction of this book has been
made possible throue^ the sponsorship
of the Western New York Genealogical
Society, Inc., Hambuig, N.Y.
F
1?.7
EGSG
vj
A Reproduction by
Unigraphic, Inc.
1401 North Fares Avenue
Evansville, Indiana 47711
nineteen hundred and seventy-six
C0[^TE|^
TS.
Pagb.
CHAPTER l,^T/u Subject-^ Beginning of Erie County's History —When it was Named —
Its Boundaries — Its Area — The System Pursued 13
CHAPTER II.— A>f> Giw«/yij» 1620— Topography — Level Land in the North— Rolling
Land in the Center — Flills South of Center — Fertile Lands in Extreme South —
River and Lake — Creeks — Character of Forests — Old Prairies — The Animal
Kingdom — The Buffalo- The Neuter Nation — The Erics — The Hurons- The
Iroquois — Former Occupants — FortiBcations — Weapons — Inferences — The
French in Canada — The Puritans in New England — The Dutch in New York 15
CHAPTER 111.— Ffvm 1620 to 1655 — The French Traders — Dutch Progress — The Jesuits
— De la Roche Daillon — The Company of a Hundred Partners — Capture and
Restoration of New France — Chaumonot and Breboeuf — Hunting Buffalo —
Destruction of the Kahquahs and Eries — Seneca Tradition — French Account —
Norman Hatchets — Stoned-up Springs 23
CHAPTER IV. — r^/ Iroquois — Their System of Clans — Its Importance — Its Probable Ori-
gin — The Grand Council — Sachems and War-Chiefs — Method of Descent —
Choice of Sachems — Religion — Natural Attributes — Family Relations 27
CHAPTER v.— />w« 1655 to 1679 — The Iroquois Triumphant — Obliteration of Dutch
Power — French Progress — La Salle Visits the Senecas — Greenhalgh's Estimates
— La Salle on the Niagara — Building of the Griffin— It Enters Lake Erie — La
Salle's Subsequent Career — The Prospect in 1670 33
CHAPTER VI.— French Dominion— A Slight Ascendency — De Nonville*s Assault — Origin
of Fort Niagara — La Hontan^s Expedition — The Peace of Ryswick — Queen
Anne's War — The Iroquois Neutral — The Tuscaroras — Joncaire — Fort Niagara
Rebuilt — French Power Increasing — Successive Wars — The Line of Posts — The
Final Struggle — The Expedition of D' Aubrey — The Result — The Surrender of
Canada ^ 38
CHAPTER VIL—^«^/w^ Dominion — Vonix^ic's League — The Senecas Hostile — The
Devil's Hole — Battle near Buffalo — Treaty at Niagara — Bradstreet's Expedition
— Israel Putnam — Lake Commerce — Wreck of the Beaver — Tryon County — The
Revolution — Four Iroquois Tribes Hostile — The Oswego Treaty — Scalps —
Brant — Guienguahioh — Wyoming — Cherry Valley — Sullivan's Expedition — Sen-
ecas Settle in Erie County — Gilbert Family — Peace 45
CHAPTER Will.— From 1783 to 1788 —Treatment of the Six Nations — The -Treaty of Fort
Stanwix — The Western Boundary — Origin of the Name of. Buffalo — Miss PowelPs
Visit — *'. Captain David" — Claims of New York and Massachusetts — How Set-
tled—Sale to Phelps and Gorham — The Land Rings — A Council Cilled 55
CHAPTER l\.— The a>««a7— Brant — Butler— Kirkland — Phelps — Farmer's Brother —
Red Jacket — Cornplanter — The Mill Seat — The Bargain — Butler's Pay 61
CHAPTER X.—From 1788 to 1797— *'Skendyoughwatti" — First White Resident — A Son
of Africa — The Holland Purchase — Proctor's Visit — British Influence — Woman's
Rights — Final Failure — The Indians Insolent — Wayne's Victory — •Johnston,
Middaugh and Lane — The Forts Surrendered — Asa Ransom — The Mother's
Strategy- First White Child— The Indians Sell out— Reservations. 67
History of Erie County.
Pagb.
CHAPTER XI.— Survey ami Settlement —Tht Holland Company — Three Sets of Proprietor
— Their System of Survey — The State Reservation — The West Transit — The
Founder of Buffalo — The First Road — Indian Trails — New Amsterdam — Hotel
at Clarence — A Young Stranger — Ellicott Made Agent — First Wheat — The Office
at Pine Grove — A Hard Problem — The first Purchase — Dubious Records — An
Aboriginal Engineer — A Venerable Mansion — Chapin*s Project — The First Mag-
istrate 75
CHAPTER Xll.— From 1802 to 1807— Formation of Genesee County — First Murder— First
Town Meeting — Primitive Balloting — The Big Tree Road — Buffalo Surveyed —
Dr. Chapin — Erastus Granger — The Pioneer of the South Town — A Hard Trip
— Snow Shoes — Division of Batavia — Willink — Erie — Settlement of Boston —
An Ancient Fort — Settlement of East Hambuig — Of Evans — Of Aurora — Of
Lancaster — Le Couteulx and Pratt — First Postoffice — Oiganization of Willink —
Erie Town-Book — A Primitive Mill — Warren and Williams — A Tavern in Evans
— A Grist-mill in Hamburg — A Four Days* Raising — First Meeting-house in the
County — A Mill in Aurora — Settlement in Wales — First Methodist Society — A
Traveling Ballot Box — First Erie County Lawyer — Chivalry at a Discount 84
CHAPTER XIII. — Re-orgarngatioH — Division of Genesee County Necessary — Inconvenient
Towns — Captain Bemis* Strategy — Erection of Niagara, Cattaraugus and Chautau-
qua Counties — Short Courts — Town Changes — Clarence — Willink — Destruction
of the Town of Erie — Actual Beginning of Erie County — First Officers — Attorneys
— Court House 97
CHKVTY.KXW.—Pumeers and Indians —-Voytxiy -^ Kn Aristocratic Mansion— A Horse
Bedstead — Oxen — A Raising — Clearing Land — The Logging Bee — The Rail
Fence —The Bam —The Well —The Sweep— Browse — Sheep and Wolves— Sugar
Making — Money Scarce — Wheat and Tea — Potash — Sociid Life — Schools —
The Husking Bee '—Buffalo Society — Indians — Describing a Tavern — Old King
and Young Smoke — Anecdotes of Red Jacket 100
CHAPTER XV.— From 1808 to the »^flr— Organization of Clarence — Settlement of Cheek-
^ towaga — Settlement on Cayuga Creek — Progress in the Towns — A Pioneer Fun-
eral — Glezen Fillmore — Porter, Barton & Company — ''The Horn Breeze" —
Census of 1810— Town of ** Buffaloe '* — New Militia Regiments — Peter B. Porter
— The Ogden Company — Settlement of Alden — The Beaver's Cannon — Settle-
ment of Colden — First Settler of Gowanda — The Buffalo Gautte — Feminine
Names — Old-time Books — An Erudite Captain — Advertisements for Workmen —
** A Delinquent and a Villain*' — Morals and Lotteries — The Medical Societies —
A P>deral Committee — Division of Willink — Hamburg, Eden and Concord —
Approach of War — Militia Officers — An Indian Council — A Vessel Captured —
The War Begun 113
CHAVTEKXVl.— The Campaign of 1 81 2 — Confusion— ** Silver Greys"— The Queen
CAariotte — The Charlotte Taken — Fear of Indians — Red Jacket's Logic —
Iroquois Declaration of War — Capture of two British Vessels — The First Victim
of War — Black Rock Bombarded — The Queenston Failure — Smyth's Proclama-
tion — A Gallant Vanguard — A Vacillating General — Invasion Relinquished — An
Erie Cdunty Duel — A Riot Among the Soldiers — Political Matters — Quiet 125
CHAPTER XVII.— r;!/ Campaign of 1813 — The Young Commodore — Officers and Com-
mitteemen — Hunters Caught — Canada Invaded — Transition Period of Our Mili-
tary System — Surrender at Beaver Dams — Chapin's Exploit — Indians Enrolled —
Farmer's Brother and the Marauders — A Raid and its Repulse — Skirmishing at Fort
George — Perry's Victory — More Skirmishing — Burning of Newark — McClure
Runs Away — Fort Niagara Captured — Danger Impending 136
Contents.
Pack.
CHAPTER XVIII. — Sword and Fire — Number of Troops — The Enemy's Approach — Move-
ments in Defense — ChapinV Wrath — Attack and Repulse — Another with Same
Result — Blakeslie's Advance— Battle of Black Rock — The Retreat— The Flight
— Universal Confusion — ** The Indians ! the Indians !" — Attempt at Defense —
Chapin's Negotiation — The Village in Flame^ — Murder of Mrs. Lovejoy — The
Enemy Retire — The Slain — McClure ♦.o Blame — The Flight in the Country —
The Buffalo Road — The Big Tree Road — Successive Vacancies — Exaggerated
Reports — Return of the British — More Burning — The Enemy at Hodge^s and
Cold Spring — The Scene at Reese's — Harris Hill — Relief 148
CHAPTER XIX. — r-*^ Campaign of i^i^— Mars and Hymen — Scott and Brown — Elections
and Appointments — Discipline at Buffalo — The Death Penalty — The Advance —
Capture of Fort Erie — Approaching Chippewa — An Indian Battle — A Retreat —
A Dismounted Young Brave — Victor)' — Scalps — " Hard Tiroes " — Advance to
Fort George — Return — Lundy's Lane— The Romance of War — Retreat to Fort
Erie — ** Battle of Conjockety Creek " — Assault on Fort Erie — The Explosion —
Call for Volunteers — The Response — The Track through the Forest — The Sortie
— Gallantr)' of the Volunteers — General Porter — Quiet — Peace 159
CHAPTER XX.—From the War to tJu Division of the County — The Situation — Red Jacket's
Speech — General Porter — Tracy and Wilkcson — Another Newspaper — First Mur-
der Trial — The Old Court House — Scarce Money — First Bank — The Cold Sum-
mer — Marshal Grouchy and Red Jacket — Senecas in England — A President's
Visit — Terrible Roads — Indian Sufferers — Religious Improvement — Father
Spencer — The Erie Canal — Political Factions — First Steamboat — First Framed
Church Edifice — The Boundary Commission — Attempt to Buy the Reservations —
Red Jacket's Opposition — The Second Execution — The Grand Island War— Clin-
tonians and Bucktails— Slavery in Erie County — Census of 1820 — Division of Towns, 175
CHAPTER XXL— /Jn»OT FormaHon of Erie County until 1830— The New County — Niagara
Perpetuated — Change of Characteristics — Towns and Postoffices — Wolves and
Hunters — A Supine Cleopatra — Pigeons — Buffalo and Black Rock — So-on-ongise
and Kauquatau — A Crime of Superstition — A Remarkable Trial — Resignation
of Ellicott — Beginning the Canal — New Constitution — A Future President —
Alden and Erie — Paying for Land in Produce — The Three Thayers — LaFayette's
Visit — Noah and Ararat — Completion of the Canal — Purchase of Part of the Res-
ervations — The Morgan Excitement — Shooting Niagara — Impeachment of Red
Jacket — An Erie County Cabinet Officer — Anti-Masonry — Census of 1830 — Post-
offices — General Appearance — Death of Red Jacket 190
CHAPTER XXII.— /WW 1831 to 1840— ** The Year that Holt was Hung " — Erie and New-
stead — German Immigrants — Mary Jemisoh — Incorporation of Buffalo — Politics
— The Cholera — Commercial Prosperity — Inflation — Speculative Collapse — Form-
ation of Tonawanda— General Gloom — An ** Agrarian Convention" — Opposition
to the Holland Company — The Patriot War — Camp on Navy Island — Destruction
of the Catoline — Militia Called Out — Scott on the Frontier — Dispersion of the
Patriots — An Expedition to Erie— North and the Volunteers — Patriotism on Ice
— Capturing Cannon — Final Dispersion — Bargaining for the Reservations — Du-
bious Proceedings — Formation of Brant and Black Rock — The Harrison Cam-
paign — Population in-i840 ■. 20S
CHAPTER yiyAW.—From 1841 to i860— Slow Recovery— First Railroad— The Indian Troitty
Confirmed — A Compromise — Buffalo Creek Reservation Surrendered — Cattaraugus
and Allegany Reservations Retained — Tonawanda Reservation Bought and Given to
Indians — New Settlements — Mr, Fillmore a Candidate for Governor — General Pros-
perity — New Constitution — The Buffalo Convention — Mr. Fillmore Elected Vice-
President — He Succeeds to the Presidency — Census of 1850 — The Ebenezer Society
— German Immigrants — Increased Prosperity — Formation of West Seneca — Ex-
tension of Buffalo — Formation of Collins, Marilla and Grand Island — Political
Changes — The Census of 1857 — Formation of Elma — Campaign of i860 222
History of Erie County.
Pack.
CHAPTER X\l\.— During and Since tht Union War^ The Outbreak— The First Com-
pany—The Militia — First Eric County Regiment — Other Organizations — 'Eric
County in Congress — Origin of the *' Greenbacks" — Another Regiment in 1862 —
Changes in the Board of Supervisors — Events of 1864 — Close of the War — Numer-
ous Political Changes — The Commercial Barometer — Conclusion of Continuous
History 234
CHAPTER WW .— Twenty-Jirst Infantry and Other Regiments— 'Tlk^F'\x%i Company— Four
Companies go to Elmira — The Rest Follow — Oi^ganization of the Regiment —
Roster of Officers — Dispute about Length of Term — Men Imprisoned — Off to
Washington — In Garrison at Fort Runyon — Bull's Run — In Wadsworth*s Brigade
— At Upton Hill through the Winter— Fort Buffalo — Parting with Wadsworth —
Operations in the Spring — The Twenty-first at Fredericksburg — Its Farthest South-
em Point — Weary Marches — Conflict of July 28th— Second Bull Run — Hard
Fighting — Attacking a Railroad Embankment — Men Falling Fast — The Attack
Repulsed — The Fight Continued — Pope's Army Defeated — Heavy Losses of the
Twenty-first — Sufferings of the Wounded — The Twenty- first at South Mountain —
At Antietam — Driving the Enemy — The Campaign of Fredericksburg — Provost
Duty — Return Home and Discharge — Changes Among Officers — Final Roster —
Thirty-third Infantry — Richmond Guards — In Virginia — Brigaded with the Forty-
ninth— The Thirty-third at Yorklown — At Golden's Farm — At Mary's Heights —
Discharge — Forty-fourth Infantry — Company A — Battles of the Regiment —
Changes Among Officers of Company A 240
CHAPTER XXWl.— Forty-ninth Infantry and Other Regiments — OrgSin'MtLtion of the Forty-
ninth — Roster of Officers — To New York and Washington — Preparation — Move-
ment to the Peninsula — Williamsburg — Gallantry of the Forty-ninth — Mechanics-
ville — The Retreat — Return to Alexandria — Too Late for Second Bull Run —
Antietam — Fredericksburg — Chancellorsville — Capture of Mary*s Heights — Re-
crossing the Rappahannock — Accession from the Thirty-third — Extraordinary
March — Gettysburg — Winter Quarters — The Great Campaign — Wilderness —
Spottsylvania — Cold Harbor — Heavy Losses — Fort Stevens — On the Shenandoah
— Opequan Creek — Discharge of Non-Veterans — Consolidation into a Battalion —
Cedar Creek — Death of Bidwell — Back to Petersburg — Capture of the I^st Strong-
hold — Return and Discharge — Roster of Officers at Muster-out — List of Battles —
Sixty-fourth Infantry — Company A, from Erie County — Its Battles — Various
Officers — Seventy-eighth Infantry — One Company from Erie County — Its Battles,
etc 250
CHAPTER XXVll.— One Hundredth Infantry— K New Regiment Authorized— Recruiting
Commissioners — Camp Morgan — Colonel Brown — Roster of Officers — Homes of
the Men — Off to Washington — On the Peninsula — Williamsburg — Battle of Fair
Oaks — Colonel Brown's Coolness — ''Charge the One Hundredth" — Deadly Con-
flict — Death of Brown — Other Losses — Valor of Casey's Division — Retreat of the
Enemy — March to the James River — Malvern Hills — The Regiment Adopted by
the Board of Trade — To Gloucester Point — Colonel Dandy — Removal to North
Carolina — To South Carolina — Charleston Harbor — Folly Island — Capture of
Part of Moms Island — Assault on Fort Wagner — Second Assault — Valor of the
One Hundredth — Desperate Fighting — Repulse — Heavy Losses^ — The Siege —
Captain Payne's Services — Capture of Wagner — Through the Winter — Return
North — In the ** Army of the James" — Surprised and Driven Back — ** Ware Bot-
tom Church" — North of the James — Capturing a Battery — Before Petersburg —
Across the James Again — Winter Quarters — Again Before Petersburg — Capture of
Fort Gregg — Final Victory — Official Changes — Consolidation — Discharge —
Final Roster 259
Contents.
Pack.
CHAPTER XXVIII.— Off/ Hundred and Sixteenth Infantry and Other ^e^ments — Commit-
tee to Raise a New Regiment — Major Chapin Appointed Colonel — Roster of Oflfi-
cers — To the Front — At Sea — Ship Island — Baton Rouge — Demonstration
against Port Hudson — *'Camp Niagara" — Forward Again — Battle of *' Plain
Store** — Assault on Port Hudson — Death of Chapin — Siege of Port Hudson —
The Surrender— Down the River— At Fort Williams — To Sabine Pass and Back
— Western I^uisiana — The Red River Expedition — Battle of Pleasant Hill —
Return to Alexandria — To Morgansa — At Sea Again — At Washington — In the
Shenandoah Valley — Victory at Opequan Creek — At Fisher's Hill — The Army
Surprised at Cedar Creek — Sheridan Restores the Battle — The One Hundred
and Sixteenth the Best Regiment in the Ninetieth Corps — Mustered Out —
Reception at Buffalo — The Last Roster of Officers — The One Hundred and Fifty-
fifth Infantry — Services in Virginia — One Hundred and Sixty-fourth Infantry —
Its Battles — Its Losses— One Hundred and Eighty-seventh Infantry •» Roster of
Officers — Services — Discharge 273
CHAPTER XXIX.— Cavalry and Artiiiery yo/unteers — Tenth Cavalry— Four Erie County
Companies — Their Officers — Hard Service — Battles — Consolidation — Muster-
out — Promotion, etc. — Eleventh Cavalry — Company M — Its Services — Twelfth
Cavalry — Companies K and M — Services — Muster-out — Fourteenth Cavalry —
Metcalf s Company — Its Services — Consolidation, etc, — Sixteenth Cavalry — Four
Erie County Companies — Services — Consolidation, etc. — Twenty-fourth Cavalry
— Three Erie County Companies— Their Officers — Battles of the Regiment —
Muster-out — Second Mounted Rifles — Three Erie County Companies — Officers —
Battles, etc. — Wiedrich's Battery — Its Organization — Battle of Cross-Keys — Sec-
ond Bull Run — Chancellorsville — Gettysburgh — Lookout Mountain — The Atlanta
Campaign — Final Grand March — Twenty-seventh Light Battery — Services and
Officers — Third Light Battery 290
CHAPTER XXX.— ri/ atizen 5i?/</i>f7— The Early Militia— "General Trainings "— Early
Organization — Changes in 18 16 — Numerous Successive Changes — A Stranj^e
Looking Inspector — A Court Martial — A Roster of 1828 — The Militia in the
Patriot War— Prompt Turn-out — Buffalo City Guard— The Two Hundred and
Eighth Infantry — Re-organization of the Militia — The Uniformed Regiments —
The Sixty-seventh Regiment — Its Services — The Ninety-eighth Regiment — Its
Services — Sketch of the Sixty- fifth Regiment — Sketch of the Seventy-fourth Regi-
ment — The Seventh Battery 296
CHAPTER XXXI.— The Erie Canai— Its First Advocate, Jesse Hawley — Gouvemeur Mor-
ris — Hawley's Essays — Western Inland Lock Navigation Company — Judge For-
man's Resolution — Survey Ordered — Commissioners Appointed — The Inland
Route Adopted — Law Authorizing Canal — Law Repealed During Year of 1812 —
DeWitt Clinton — Canal Law* of 1817 — Ground Broken — Contest between Black
Ruck and Buffalo -^Decision in Favor of Buffalo — First Work in Erie County —
Breaking Ground at Buffalo — The Canal Completed -- Grand Celebration — Tele-
graphing by Cannon — The Wedding of Waters — Description of the Canal — Im-
menise Business — Enlargement Authorized — Work on it Stopped — Political Conflict
— The Enlargement Carried Through — Description of the Enlarged Canal — Its
Cost — Preparation to Sell the Canals — The Canals Relieved of Tolls 306
CHAPTER XXXII.— ^aiAvo^x — Charter of Buffalo & Aurora Railroad Company — First
Railroad Built —The Lake Shore — The Buffalo & Rochester— Formation of the
New York Central — The Buffalo & Pittsburg — The Buffalo & Allegany Valley—
The Canada Southern — The Buffalo & Jamestown — New York, Chicago & St.
Louis — Buffalo, Pittsburg & Western — New York, Lackawanna & Western —
Rochester & Pittsburg — New York, West Shore & Buffalo — The Lehigh Valley—
General View 314
8 History of Erie County.
Paob.
CHAPTER XXXIII.— Erie County AgricuUural Society-- Niagara County Agricultural So-
ciety—Officers and Town Managers — First Fair — Change of Name — Decease of the
Society — Revival in 1841 — First Fair of the New Society — Second Fair — ** Ham-
burg Cheese*'— Report for 1843 — For 1845 — The State Fair of 1848— Great Suc-
cess — Another County Fair it Buffalo — First County Fair in the Country Towns
held at Aurora — First Charge for Admission — Horace Greeley's Address — Re-
Organization in 1856 — Ground Leased Near the Indian Church — Officers for Suc-
cessive Years — Efforts to Change Location — Purchase of Land — Value of the
Property — The Grounds 321
CHAPTER XXXIV.— C<?«ii/^ Buildings ---YKt^X Court House — A Circular Plot — First
Jail — Destruction of the Court House — Another Erected — The Second Jail — Eric
County Penitentiary — The Third Court House — Erie County Alms House— Move-
ment for a County and City Hall — Law Authorizing It — Commissioners Appointed
— Franklin Square Selected — Ground Broken — Laying the Corner Stone —
Changes of Material — The Work Completed — Celebration of the Event — Descrip-
tion of the Building — The New Jail 334
CHAPTER XXXV. —aV«/ List — President — Vice-President — Secretary 6f War — Post-
master-General — Foreign Ministers — United States Judge — United States District
Attorney — Clerks of the District Court — Superintendent of Public Printing Office —
Members of the House of Representatives — Presidential Electors — Generals of the
Regular Army — Governor of New York — Lieutenant-Governor — Secretary of
State — Attorney-General — Comptrollers — State Treasurers — Canal Commission-
ers — Injector of State Prisons — Superintendent of Public Instruction — Regent
of the University — Canal Appraisers — Judge of the Court of Claims — Circuit Judge
— Judges of the Supreme Court — Member of the Council of Appointment — State
Senators — Members of Assembly — Members of Constitutional Conventions — First
Judges of the Common Pleas — County Judges — Sheriffs — County Clerks — Dis-
trict Attorneys — Surrogates — County Treasurers — School Commissioners 339
CHAPTER XXXVL— Geology of Erie County 350
CHAPTER XXXVII.— History of the Town of Newstead 359
CHAPTER XXXVIII.— History of the Town of Clarence 379
CHAPTER XXXIX.— History of the Town of Amherst 396
CHAPTER XL.— History of the Town of Tonawanda 412
CHAPTER XLL— History of the Town of Grand Island 426
CHAPTER XLIL— History of the Town of Alden 438
CHAPTER XLIIL— History of the Town of Lancaster 452
CHAPTER XLIV.— History of the Town of Checktowaga 466
CHAPTERXLV.— History of the Town of Marilla 476
CHAPTER XLVI.— History of the Town of Elma 489
CHAPTER XLVIL— History of the Town of West Seneca 501
CHAPTER XLVIIL— History of the Town of Hamburg 511
CHAPTER XLIX.— History of the Town of East Hamburg 524
CHAPTER L.— History of the Town of Aurora 535
CHAPTER LI.— History of the Tojjcn of Wales 561
CHAPTER LII.— History of the Town of Evans 571
CHAPTER LIU.— History of the Town of Eden 583
CHAPTER LIV.— History of the Town of Boston... 592
CHAPTER LV.— History of the Town of Golden 601
CHAPTER LVL— History of the Town of Holland 607
CHAPTER LVII.— History of the Town of Sardinia 617
CHAPTER LVIIL— History of the Town of Brant 623
CHAPTER LIX— History of the Town of Concord , 630
CHAPTER LX. — History of the Town of Collins 645
CHA-PTER LXL— History of the Town of North Collins. 656
CHAPTER LXII.— Personal Sketches 666
Contents.
illJsjr/^tio[nis.
Pagb
Allen, Lewis F., portrait, facing 426
Allen, Ellery S., Elma, portrait, facing 496
Allen, Dr. Jabez, Aurora, portrait, facing 548
Allen, Orlando, portrait facing 322
Baker, Benjamin, East Hamburg, facing 534
Bartholomew, Chauncey, Cheektowaga,
portrait, facing 470
Bowman, Palmer S., Lancaster, facing 452
Bigelow, H. F., Amherst, portrait, facing 406
Bird, Col. William A., portrait, facing 184
Briggs, J. B., Elma, portrait, facing 490
Campbell, John B.. Cheektowaga, facing 472
Dodge, J. Wayne, Amherst, (steel.)... facing 402
Driggs, Urial, Tonawanda, (steel,) facing 420
Dunn, A. M., Cheektowaga, portrait,.. facing 468
EUicott, Joseph, portrait, facing 76
Eshleman, John, Clarence, portrait facing 388
Eshleman, Jacob, Clarence, portrait,. ..facing 390
Famsworth, Jerry, Alden, portrait, facing 450
Flood, Joseph P., Manila, portrait,.... facing 484 |
Foster, H. T., Marilla, portrait, facing 486
Haven, Solomon C, portrait, facing 228
Hitchcock, Apollos, Cheektowaga, ....facing 466
Hitchcock, James, Cheektowaga, facing 474
Hoag, Wilber N., Newstead, (steel,).. facing 378
Hodge, William, portrait, (steel,) facing 156
Hopkins, T. S., Amherst, portrait facing 398
Pack.
Hopkins, T. A., Amherst, portrait,... facing 410
Hunt, Garret B., Clarence, portrait,... facing 380
Hurd, C. W., Elma, portrait, facing 492
Johnson, Dr. Ebenezer, portrait, facing 122
Kraus, John, Clarence, portrait, facing 392
Long, Isaac, Hamburg, portrait, facing 518
McBeth Dr. John, Wales, portrait facing 570
Marvel, Alfred. Elma, portrait, facing 498
Nice, John, Grand Island, (steel,) facing 438
Parker, Dr. Jared, Clarence, portrait... facing 386
Penfield, Henry F., portrait, facing 676
Potter, Samuel, M. D., Lancaster,
portrait, (steel) facing 460
Randall, Rev. William H., Amherst,... facing 412
Rich, Charles S., Holland, portrait,... facing 616
Robinson William, Alden, facing 446
Riley, Gen. Aaron, Aurora, portrait,., facing 558
Sanford, Anson, Lancaster, portrait,... facing 464
Smith, Elisha, M. D., East Hambuig,. facing 532
Simson, John, Tonawanda, (steel,) facing 424
Spaulding, E. G., portrait, (steel) facing 236
Stedman, Jonathan, Marilla, portrait, . facing 488
Vaughan, Jesse, Cheektowaga, portrait, .facing 476
Walden, Ebenezer, porft-ait, (steel,).... facing 96
Williams, Wesley, Clarence, port rait,., facing 394
Wiltse, Livingston G., Clarence, facing 396
Wilkeson, Samuel, portrait, (steel) facing 176
BIOGI^ApHjiC/'yL St^EjChjES.
Pagb.
Allen, Ellery S., Elma, 496
Allen, Lewis Falley, 7or
Allen, Dr. Jabez, Aurora, 558
Allen, Orlando, 666
Baker, Benjamin, East Hamburg, facing 534
Bartholomew, Chauncey, Cheektowaga, 471
Bowman Palmer S., Lancaster, 465
Bigelow, Harry Forest^ Amherst, 406
Bird, Colonel William A , 699
Pacb.
B"ggSi Joseph Bensori, Elma, 499
Campbell, John B., Cheektowaga, 472
Dodge, J. Wayne, Amherst 409
I^"ggs, Urial, Tonawanda, 424
Dunn, A. M. Cheektowaga, 473
Eshleman, John, Clarence, 395
Eshleman, Jacob, Clarence, 391
Farnsworth, Jerry, Alden, 450
Fillmore, Millard, 689
lO
History ok Erie County.
Paob.
FWxL Jo«epli P., Manila, ^.•.•.••^.•. 484
Foster, Harruoo T^ Manila, <..«<^.... 4S5
Haven, holomoD G., 670
Hitcbcock, ApoUoft, Cheek tovaga, 473
BiuJicodk. Jaaet, Cheektovaga 474
Hcog, Wilber N.. Newstead, 378
H'^pkios GcneraJ Timothj S., Ambent, 410
Hof^ios. Hoo, Timothy A., Amhent, 411
HttDt, Gan'et B,, Clarence, 393
Hnrd. CUfk W.. Elma, 497
JohnsoD, Dr, Ebenczer, 674
Kraiu, John, Claxcnce, 391
Ixmgt Ivtac, Hambarg, 523
McBetb, Dt, John, Wales, 570
Manrel, AKred, Elma, 498
Kkc, John, Gnod Island, 438
Paol
Ptoko; Dr. Jared, Claience, 393
Pfwfio, Hciiiy r.,... ..•«.m....m.. ..•.•.•..•••• 070
Potter, Samnel, M. D.. Lancaster. 466
Randall, Rer. Wm. H., Ambent, ...... 412
Rich, CkaiicsS.. Holland, 616
Riley, Gen. Aaioo, Aorofa, .... .......... 558
Robinson, William, Alden, 451
Sanfocd, Anson, Lancaster, 464
Simsoo, John, Tooa vanda, 425
Snttb, Dr. Elisha, East Hambnig, . ...fadng 534
SprakEuic, Elbridge Gerry 677
Stedman, Jonathan. Manila, 4SS
Yaagfaan, Jesse, Cheektowaga, 475
Williams, W^eslcy, Clarence, 394
WHkeson, Samuel, 682
Wiltse, Livingston C, Clarence, 395
||MJROD JcjlO|s|
In attempting the production of a History of Buffalo and Erie
County, the pubhshers did not underestimate the difficulties and the
magnitude of their task. Although the county is not a very old one, as
the years are counted since its first permanent settlement by white peo-
ple, it has, nevertheless, seen more than three-fourths of a century of civ-
ilized occupation ; and in this new world, as it is called, the settlement
and growth of towns, villages and cities and the occurrence of import-
ant events in their progress, have advanced with almost marvelous ra-
pidity, while the materials for history have accumulated in a correspond-
ing ratio. Especially is this true of localities as favorable for the upbuild-
ing of great commercial centres as that contiguous to the foot of the
ffreat system of American lakes. Moreover, the fact that the Niagara
rontier, which was the theatre of desperate conflict, devastation and
conflagration in the war of 1812, embraced the territory considered
in this work, gives it a historic importance which is lacking in many
localities. With these facts in view, and fully appreciating the im-
portance of their object, the task of making a History of Buffalo and
Erie County was undertaken by the publishers with a determination to
leave nothing undone, to spare no labor or expense that could in any
manner contribute to the successful and creditable accomplishment of
the work. Whether or not they have succeeded in the task, and what
measure of congratulation they are entitled to, are questions that are
left with confidence to the future critical judgment of readers.
The extent and comprehensiveness of this work were such as to
necessitate its division into two volumes, the history of the county and
towns being placed in the first, and that of the city in the second volume.
This arrangement of the work rendered necessary some minor repeti-
tions in the narration of events that each volume might be made in a rea-
sonable degree complete in itself. For the same reason much of the Indian
and pioneer history of the site of Buffalo, of the village itself and of the
war during which the village was destroyed, is necessarily incorporated
in the eany general history of the county in the first volume. Much
valuable early history of the city will also be found in the later chapters
of the secona volume treating upon special topics, where.it is embodied
for the purpose of making the record of those chapters complete ; thus
rendering it unnecessary that the same facts should be given prominence
in the earlier chapters. The same may also be said in relation to the bio-
graphic portion of the work, which will be found unusually comprehensive
and complete, embracing much that is valuable in a purely historic sense.
The history in detail of Buffalo, previous to the war of 181 2, must always
remain somewhat restricted, owmg to the entire destruction of the village
with nearly all of the possessions of its inhabitants, by the British and
Indians in 1813- 14. These facts will be duly considered by readers when
referring to the earl}' history of the village and city as recorded in the
second volume.
12 History of Erie County.
It is believed that the history of the county at large, and of the towns
as presented in the first volume, will give entire satisfaction to all who
peruse it. The utmost efforts of the publishers and their corps of writers
who had that portion of the work in hand, were devoted to making it
complete, comprehensive and correct. Every hamlet in the county was
visited, records were searched, old residents interviewed and everything
possible done that could in any manner add to the publication.
It was a part of the plans of the publishers that a large portion of
this work should either emanate directly from the pens ot able writers
upon the different local historical subjects, whose lives have been largely
passed in Buffalo and other parts of the county, or else be submitted to
them for inspection, criticism and revision. This plan has been faith-
fully carried out, to the manifest great improvement of the work ; and
the thanks of readers, publishers and editor alike are due for generous
co-operation in this respect on the part of Hon. James Sheldon, First
Judge of the Superior Court of Buffalo, for the preparation of the ex-
haustive chapter on the Bench and Bar of the county; to M. Pinner,
Esq., and Gen. John C. Graves for what is, perhaps, the most complete
county record of the Masonic Order that has ever been published ; to
Dr. James B. Samo for the very able and judicious history of the Medical
Profession and Institutions of the county, 'as related to the Allopathic
school ; to members of the Homeopathic Medical Society for similar work
relative to the Homeopathic School ; to Dr. S. B. Freeman for a compre-
hensive account of the progress of dentistry in the county ; to Hon. Philip
Becker, Dr. Daniel Devening, Dr. F. Dellenbaugh and other prominent
German citizens, for their revision and final approval of the chapter devoted
to the German interests ; and for similar inspection and approval of the
respective chapters connected with their names, to Pascal P. Pratt, chap-
ter on the Park system of the city ; to William H. Abell, President of the
Western Elevating Company, r. G. Cook, Secretary of the same, and
Robert Dunbar, chapter on the Elevator Interest of Buffalo ; to Henry
Martin, President of the Manufacturers* and Traders* Bank, Hon. E.
G. Spaulding, President of the Farmers' and Mechanics* National
Bank, and James H. Madison, Cashier of the Manufacturers* and
Traders' Bank, chapter on the financial institutions of the city ; to
William Hod^e and Lewis F. Allen, for chapter on Cemeteries ; to
Edward B. Smith and other prominent insurance men, for chapter on that
interest ; to Ephraim F. Cook, former superintendent of schools, and oth-
ers, chapter on the educational institutions of Buffalo ; to E. O. Van Brock-
lin. Secretary of the Board of Fire Commissioners, and others connected
with the department, chapter on the Fire Department ; to Thomas Curtin,
superintendent of police, and other police officials, for records of that
department ; to the pastors of the numerous city churches, for valua-
ble aid in preparing the exhaustive church history of the city ; to the
editors and proprietors of the various newspapers, for assistance in mak-
ing a creditable history of local journalism; to Crisfield Johnson, of East
Aurora, for valuable aid in the preparation of the county and town history,
nearly all of which has passed under his critical revisfon ; to Hon. Lewis
F. Alien for the history of Grand Island and other valuable assistance.
In addition to the above names mentioned, there is recorded a list so
long as to absolutely preclude its publication here, of prominent persons,
official, professional and private citizens, who have in various ways \' indly
aided in making this publication what it is, and who share equally in our
grateful acknowledgments.
[-|isTORy or [^RiE QoJ[Nijy^
CHAPTER I.
THE SUB JE CT.
Beginning of Erie County's History— When it was Named— Its Boundaries — Its Area — The
System Pursued.
THE history of the county of Erie begins about the year 1620, when
the first Europeans visited its vicinity. In that year three French
Catholic missionaries came to instruct the Indians living in Canada,
northwestward of this locality. It does not appear that they visited the
shores of the Niagara, but they obtained some information regarding
the dwellers there, and that knowledge was eked out by the hardy
French hunters and trappers who explored the shores of the great lakes
in search of furs. Before that time all is either tradition or inference.
Afterwards, although the historic trace is often extremely faint, yet it is
still to be seen, growing gradually plainer Tor a hundred and eighty
years, until in the beginning of the present century it swells into a broad
and beaten pathway, trodden by the feet of scores of surveyors, of hun-
dreds of pioneers, of thousands of farmers, of tens of thousands of all
classes, conditions and nationalities.
But Erie county was not organized with its present name and
boundaries until 1821. The larger and the more interesting part of
its history had at that time already taken place. It is necessary, there-
fore, to point out that the subject of this work is the territory com-
prised within the present bounds of the county of Erie, together with
the inhabitants of that territory, no matter whether the events re-
corded occurred before or after the beginning of the independent ex-
istence of the county.
8
14 History of Erie County.
The county of Erie, in the State of New York, is situated between 42°
25' and 43" 6 of north latitude, and between i** 30' and 2** 20' of longitude
west from Washington. It is bounded on the north by the center of
Tonawanda creek and by the center of the east branch of Niagara river
(between Grand Island and Niagara county) from the mouth of the Tona-
wanda to the junction with the west branch on the west by the line
between the United States and Canada, from the junction up along the
center of the west branch and of the whole river to Lake Erie, and
thence southwesterly along the middle of the lake to a point where the
international boundary makes a right angle with a line to the mouth of
Cattaraugus creek ; on the south by a line from such point of intersection
to the mouth of the Cattaraugus, and thence up along the center of that
creek to the crossing of the line between the fourth and fifth ranges of
the Holland Company's survey ; and on the east by the line between
those ranges, from Cattaraugus creek to the Tonawanda creek, except
that for six miles opposite the town of Marilla the county line is a mile
and a quarter west of the range line.
The range line is twenty-three miles east of the center of Niagara
river at the foot of Lake Erie, and thirty-four and a half miles east of the
mouth of Cattaraugus creek. The extreme length of the county north
and south is forty-three and one-half miles, and its greatest width, includ-
ing the lake portion, is about thirty-nine miles. The land surface contains
one thousand and seventy-one square miles. Besides this it embraces, as
we have seen, a considerable portion of Lake Erie, amounting as near as
we can compute it to about a hundred and sixty square miles. This is
not generally included in the county, but legally is as much a part of it
as Tonawanda or Sardinia. The whole amounts to about twelve hun-
dred and thirty square miles.
We have been thus particular in designating the limits of the county
in the beginning, in order to place the subject of this history clearly be-
fore the reader. Whatever has existed or occurred within those limits,
or has been done by the residents of that territory, comes within the pur-
view of this work, and if of sufficient consequence will be duly noticed.
It will be necessary, also, to refer occasionally to outside matters, in
order to elucidate the history of the county and show the succession of
events. Such extraneous references, however, will be very brief, and
will be confined chiefly to a few of the earlier chapters.
When " Erie county " is spoken of previous to the organization and
naming of that county, it will be understood that the words are used to
avoid circumlocution, and mean the territory now included within its
boundaries. So, too, for convenience, the territory now comprised in a
town will sometimes be mentioned by its present name, before any such
town was in existence.
Topography. 15
CHAPTER II.
ERIE CDUNTT IN 1620.
Topography — Level Land in the North — Rolling Land in the Center — Hills South of Center —
Fertile Lands in Extreme South — River and L.ake — Creeks — Character of Forests — Old
Prairies — The Animal Kingdom — The Buffalo — The Neuter Nation — The Eries — The
Hurons — The Iroquois — Former Occupants — Fortifications — Weapons — Inferences —
The French in Canada — The Puritans in New England — The Dutch in New York.
BEFORE beginning the record of events, we will give a brief descrip-
tion of Erie County together with its occupants, its neighbors, and
its relations with the rest of the world, as these existed two hundred
and sixty-three years ago when the first white men came into this
vicinity.
The topography or configuration of the surface of the county is the
same now as then and may be described in the present tense. North of
the limestone ledge the land is almost perfectly level, and near the Tona-
wanda was originally swampy. The soil is a deep alluvial loam, and the
appearance of the country at the present time reminds the traveler of the
broad, rich bottom of western rivers.
South of the ledge for ten or twelve miles, the land though more un-
even than north of it, is not so much so as is usual east of the AUeghanies
and in its cleared state bears a considerable Resemblance to the upland
prairies of the West. The soil is a clayey loam interspersed with gravel.
A little further south the surface becomes moderately broken and
the soil gravelly. These are the characteristics of the central parts of
the county.
Still further south the ground except near the lake shore, begins to
rise in hills, which at length attain a height of from seven to nine hun-
dred feet above the lake. Between these hills run deep valleys, bearing
northwestward toward the lake and varying from a few rods to nearly a
mile in width. The tops of the hills generally form level table-lands,
covered with a stiff clayey soil, while a fertile alluvial loam is found in
the valleys. Along the lake shore, however, and for several miles back
the land is as level as in the northern portions of the county.
As any one passes from the table-lands just mentioned toward the
southern boundary of the county, the surface descends and a fertile,
rolling country again spreads out before him. Just before reaching
Cattaraugus creek there is a range of steep declivities and rugged bluffs
now known as the " Cattaraugus breakers," which extend the whole width
of the county. Below these is only a narrow flat, portions of which are
often overflowed by the turbulent waters of the Cattaraugus.
i6 History of Erie County.
West of the northern part of the territory we have described, the
Niagara river runs in a very rapid current for a mile after it leaves
Lake Erie, then subsides to a velocity of two and a half miles per hour,
and divides into two streams about five miles below the lake, enclosing
Grand Island, ten miles long and nearly as wide. Buckhorn Island, lying
off the farthest point of Grand Island, continues the county's jurisdiction
about a mile farther down, bringing it within three miles of the world-
renowned cataract of Niagara.
South of the head of the river, for six or seven miles, the lower end
of the lake crowds still father eastward upon the land ; thence the shore
trends away to the southwest, far beyond the limits of Erie county.
Across the county run numerous creeks, the general course of all
of them being westward or northwestward, and all finally mingling their
waters with Lake Erie or the Niagara river. Tonawanda creek, as has
been said, is the northern boundary of the county. Its length, according
to the general course of its valley and aside from its lesser windings, is
near sixty miles, thirty of which it has run in Genesee county when it
strikes the northwestern corner of Erie. On its way to the Niagara,
which it reaches opposite the middle of Grand Island, the Tonawanda is
joined in Erie county by Murder creek, a stream about ten miles long,
some four miles from the Genesee county-line ; by Ransom's creek, about
fifteen miles long, which empties some twelve miles farther down ; and
just above its mouth the Tonawanda is joined by EUicott or Eleven-Mile
creek, which is not less than twenty-five miles in length. All, including
the Tonawanda, head south of the limestone terrace, Murder creek break-
ing through it at the village of Akron, Ransom's creek at Clarence Hol-
low, and EUicott creek at Williamsville.
Scajaquada creek enters the Niagara two miles below its exit from
the lake, having flowed about fifteen miles in a westerly direction.
About a mile and a half above the head of the river the principal
stream of the county flows into Lake Erie. This is Buffalo creek, or
Buffalo river as it is now sometimes called. It is composed of three
principal branches. The central one, commonly called the Big Buffalo,
heads in Wyoming county, crosses mto the present town of Wales in
Erie county, after a course of a few miles, then runs northwestward about
fifteen miles, and then westward fifteen or eighteen miles more to its
mouth. Six miles from the lake it receives Cayuga creek from the
northeast, that stream having followed a general westward course of
about twenty miles. Two or three miles lower down it is joined on the
other side by Cazenove* creek, which heads in the extreme southeast
corner of the county, and flows thirty miles northwest, receiving, about
• Not " Cazenov'ia.' as it is frequently printed. It was named by Joseph EUicott after The-
cph.lus C azenove, the hrst general agent of the Holland Company, and this is not a case where the
term-nation of the original name can properly be modified.
Early Forest GRO^YTH. 17
half way down, the waters of the west branch which have run in a gen-
erally northern direction for fifteen miles.
All these distances are merely approximate, and relate to the general
course of the respective streams, and not to their minor curves.
Five miles south from the mouth of the Buffalo, Smoke's creek, a
twelve-mile stream, enters the lake, and a mile or two further up is Rush
creek, which is still smaller.
The north branch of Eighteen-Mile creek heads near the south
bounds of the county, not far from the head of the west branch of the
Cazenove, runs northwesterly twelve miles, then nearly west about five
miles, where it is joined by the south branch, a stream about twelve miles
long, and then the whole flows five miles westerly, and enters the lake
about eighteen miles from the mouth of the Buffalo.
Eight miles above its mouth is that of the Big Sister, a stream some
fifteen miles long.
The Cattaraugus forms the southern boundary of the county for thirty
miles, and it heads some ten miles east of the county line. Though it
makes a considerable bend to the southward, its mouth is nearly due
west of its head. Its tributaries in this county are all small, the largest
being Clear creek, a twelve-mile stream entering the Cattaraugus eight
miles from its mouth. There are of course innumerable small brooks
which cannot be mentioned in a cursory topographical sketch.
Thus far the natural characteristics of Erie county are the same now
that they were in 1620, and had been for unknown ages before, save that
less water flows along the streams, than when their banks were shaded
by the primeval forests. Some new names have been applied by the
white man, but in many cases even the names remain unchanged.
The outward dress, however, of these hills and valleys is widely dif-
ferent from what it was two centuries and a half ago. In the southern
part of the county the valleys were covered with beech and maple, the
hills with oak and elm and occasional bodies of pine, and a little farther
north with large quantities of hemlock. In the center the pine increased
in quantity, the land on both sides of Buffalo creek and its branches being
largely occupied by towering pines of the finest quality. In the northern
section hardwood trees again predominated, the low grounds north of
the limestone ledge bemg thickly covered. Birch appeared in large
quantities on the Tonawanda. Throughout the county the various
species named were more or less mtermingled, and numerous other
kinds were found in smaller quantities.
But the tract running east and west through the county for some
ten miles south of the limestone ledge, was the most peculiar. Here the
timber was principally oak, but a considerable part of the territory con-
sisted of openings, or prairies, entirely bare of trees. It is difficult to as-
certain their original extent, but there is no doubt that when the country
1 8 History of Erie County.
was first settled eighty-three years ago, there were numerous prairies of
from fifty acres each down to five. Taking this fact in connection with
the accounts of early travelers, it is almost certain that their extent had
been gradually ' decreasing, and that a hundred and fifty years earlier
nearly the whole of the tract in question was an open prairie.
The animal kingdom was amply represented. The deer strayed in
great numbers through the forest and darted across the prairies. In the
thickest retreats the gray wolf made his lair. The black bear often rolled
his unwieldly form beneath the nut-bearing trees, and occasionally the
wild scream of the panther, fiercest of American beasts, startled the Indian
hunter into even more than his usual vigilance. The hedge-hog and the
raccoon were common, and squirrels of various kinds leaped gaily on the
trees. Here the wild turkey and the partridge oft furnished food for the
family of the red hunter, pigeons in enormous quantities yearly made
their summer home, numerous smaller birds fluttered among the trees,
the eagle occasionally swept overhead from his eyrie by the great
cataract, and besides some harmless varieties of reptiles, thousands of
deadly rattlesnakes hissed and writhed among the rocks in the northern
portion of the county.
Of all these there is no question. But there has been much dispute
as to whether the lordliest of American beasts ever honored with his
presence the localities which bear his name ; whether the buffalo ever
drank from the waters of Buffalo creek, or rested on the site of Buffalo
city. The question will be discussed some chapters further on ; at pres-
ent we will only say that judging from the prairie-like nature of a portion
of the ground, from the fact that the animal in question certainly roamed
over territory but a little way west of us, from the accounts of early
travelers, from relics which have been discovered, and from the name
which we believe the Indians bestowed on the principal stream of this
vicinity, we have little doubt that the county of Erie was, in 1620, at least
occasionally visited by the pride of the western plains, the unwieldly but
majestic buffalo.
For buffalo, not " bison," we consider to be now his true name, and
by it he will invariably be called in this volume. If his name was ever
bison, it has been changed by the sovereign people of America, (all names
may be changed by the law-making power,) and it is but hopeless
pedantry to attempt to revive that appellation.
In 1620, the county of Erie was in the possession of a tribe of Indians
whom the French called the Neuter Nation. Their Indian name is given
by some early travelers as Kahquah, and by some as Attiwondaronk.
The former is the one by which they are generally known, and which we
have adopted.
The French called them the Neuter Nation because they lived at
peace with the fierce tribes which dwelt on either side of them. They
The Aboriginal Occupants. 19
were reported by their first European visitors to number twelve thousand
souls. This, however, was doubtless a very great exaggeration, as that
number was greater than was to be found among all the six nations of the
Iroquois in the day of their greatest glory. It is a universal habit to ex-
aggerate the number of barbarians, who cover much ground and make a
large show in comparison with their real strength.
They were undoubtedly, however, a large and powerful nation, as
size and power were estimated among Indian tribes. Their villages lay
on both sides of the Niagara, chiefly the western. There was also a
Kahquah village near the mouth of Eighteen-Mile creek, and perhaps one
or two others on the south shore of Lake Erie.
The greater part of that shore, however, was occupied by the tribe
from which the lake derives its name, the Eries. This name is always
mentioned by the early French writers as meaning " Cat.** On Sauson's
map, published in 1651, Lake Erie is called "Lac du Chat,** Lake of the
Cat. There were certainly no domestic cats among the Indians until in-
troduced by the whites, and the name must be attributed to the wild-cat
or panther. It may have been assumed by this tribe because its warriors
thought themselves as ferocious as these animals, or may have been
assigned to them by their neighbors because of the abundance of wild-
cats and panthers in the territory occupied by the Eries.
Northwest of the Neuter Nation dwelt the Algonquins or Hurons,
reaching to the shores of the great lake which bears their name, while to
the eastward was the home of those powerful confederates whose fame
has extended throughout the world, whose civil polity has been the won-
der of sages, whose warlike achievements have compelled the admiration
of soldiers, whose eloquence has thrilled the hearts of the most cultivated
hearers, the brave, sagacious and far-dreaded Iroquois. They then con-
sisted of but five nations, and their " Long House,*' as they termed their
confederacy, extended from east t'o west, through all the rich central por-
tion of the present State of New York. The Mohawks were in the fertile
valley of the Mohawk river; the Oneidas, the most peaceful of the con-
federates, were beside the lake, the name of which still keeps their memory
green ; then as now the territory of the Onondagas was the gathering place
of leaders, though State conventions have taken the place of the council
fires which once blazed near the site of Syracuse ; the Cayugas kept
guard over the beautiful lake which now bears their name, while west-
ward from Seneca lake ranged the fierce, untamable Sonnonthouans,
better known as Senecas, the warriors /ar excellence of the confederacy.
Their villages reached westward to within thirty or forty miles of the
Niagara, or to the vicinity of the present village of Batavia.
Deadly war prevailed between the Iroquois and the Hurons, and the
hostility between the former and the Eries was scarcely less fervent.
Betwixt these contending foemen the peaceful Kahquahs long maintained
20 History of Erie County.
their neutrality, and the warriors of the East, of the Northwest and of
the Southwest suppressed their hatred for the time, as they met by
the council fires of these aboriginal peace-makers. When first discov-
ered, Erie county was the land of quiet, while tempests raged around.
Like other Indian tribes, the Kahquahs guarded against surprise by
placing their villages a short distance back from any navigable water;
in this case, from the Niagara river and Lake Erie. One of those vil-
lages was named Onguiaalira, after the mighty torrent which they desig-
nated by that name — a name which has since been shortened into Niagara.
In dress, food and Customs, the Kahquahs do not appear to have
differed much from the other savages around them ; wearing the same
scanty covering of skins, living principally on meat killed in the chase,
but raising patches of Indian corn, beans and gourds.
Such were the inhabitants of Erie county, and such their surround-
ings, at the beginning of its history.
As for the still earlier occupants of the county, we shall dilate very
little upon them, for there is really very little from which one can draw
a reasonable inference. The Iroquois and the Hurons had been in New
York and Canada for at least twenty years before the opening of this
history, and probably for a hundred years more. Their earliest Euro-
pean visitors heard no story of their having recently migrated from
other lands, and they certainly would have heard it had any such fact
existed. There were some vague traditions among the Iroquois tending
to show that they originally came from Canada, but at a period long
before their discovery by the whites. The Kahquahs must also have
been for a goodly time in this locality, or they could not have acquired
the influence necessary to maintain their neutrality between such fierce
neighbors.
All or any of these tribes might have been on the ground they occu-
pied in 1620 any time from a hundred to a thousand years, for all that can
be learned from any reliable source. Much has been written of mounds,
fortifications, bones, relics, etc., usually supposed to have belonged to
some half-civilized people of gigantic size, who lived here before the In-
dians, but there is ver)- little evidence to justify the supposition.
It is true that numerous earthworks, evidently intended for fortifica-
tions, have been found in Erie county, as in other parts of Western New
York, enclosing from two to ten acres each, and covered with forest trees,
the concentric circles of which indicate an age of from two hundred to
five hundred years, with other evidences of a still earlier growth. These
prove with reasonable certainty that there were human inhabitants here
several hundred years ago, and that they found it necessary thus to de-
fend themselves against their enemies, but not that those inhabitants were
of an essentially different race from the Indians who were discovered
here by the earliest Europeans.
Indian Occupation. 21
It has been suggested that the Indians never built breast-works, and
that these fortifications were beyond their patience and skill. But they
certainly did build palisades, frequently requiring much labor and inge-
nuity. When the French first came to Montreal, they discovered an In-
dian town of fifty huts, which was encompassed by three lines of palisades
some thirty feet high, with one well-secured entrance. On the inside was
a rampart of timber, ascended by ladders, and supplied with heaps of
stones ready to cast at an enemy. When Samuel de Champlain, the founder
of Canada, at the head ot a large body of Hurons and accompanied by
ten Frenchmen, attacked the principal village of the Onondagas, near
Onondaga lake, in October, 1615, he found it defended by four rows of
interlaced palisades, so strong that notwithstanding the number of his
followers, the firearms of his Frenchmen and his own gallant leadership,
he was unable to overcome the resistance of the Onondagas, and was
compelled to retreat across Lake Ontario.
Certainly, those who had the necessar}'. patience, skill and industry
to build such works as those were quite capable of building entrench-
ments of earth. In fact, one of the largest fortresses of Western New
York, known as Fort Hill, in the town of Le Roy, Genesee county, con-
tained, when first discovered, great piles of round stones, evidently in-
tended for use against assailants, and showing about the same progress
in the art of war as was evinced by the palisade-builders.
True, the Iroquois, when first discovered, did not build forts of earth,
but it is much more likely that they had abandoned them in the course
of improvement for the more convenient palisade, than that a whole race
of half-civilized men had disappeared from the country, leaving no other
trace than these earthworks. Considering the light weapons then in
vogue, the palisade was an improvement on the earthwork, offering equal
resistance to missiles and much greater resistance to escalade.
Men are not apt to display a superfluity of wisdom in dealing with
such problems, and to reject simple explanations merely because they are
simple. The Indians were here when the country was discovered, and
so were the earthworks, and what evidence there is goes to show that
the former constructed the latter.
It has been claimed that human bones of gigantic size have been
discovered, but when the evidence is sifted, and the constant tendency
to exaggerate is taken into account, there will be found no reason to be-
lieve that they were relics of any other race than the American Indians.
The numerous small axes or hatchets which have been found through-
out Western New York were unquestionably of French origin, and so,
too, doubtless, were the few other utensils of metal which have been dis-
covered in this vicinity.
On the whole, we may safely conclude that, while it is by no means
impossible that some race altogether different from the Indians existed
22 History of Erie County.
here before them, there is no good evidence that such was the case,
and the strong probabilities are that if there was any such race it
was inferior rather than superior to the people discovered here by the
Europeans.
The relations of this region to the European powers in 1620 were of
a very indefinite description. James I. was on the throne of England,
and Louis XIII. was on that of France, with the great Richelieu Jis his
prime minister. In 1534, nearly a century before the opening of this
history, and only forty-two years after the discovery of America, the
French explorer, Jacques Cartier, had sailed up the St. Lawrence to Mon-
treal, and taken possession of all the country round about on behalf of
Francis I, by the name of New France. He made some attempts at col-
onization, but in 1543 they were all abandoned, and for more than half a
century the disturbed condition of France prevented further progress in
America.
In 1603, Champlain had led an expedition to Quebec, had made a per-
manent settlement there, and in fact had founded the colony of Canada.
From Quebec and Montreal, which was soon after founded, communica^
tion was comparatively easy along the course of the St. Lawrence and
Lake Ontario, and even up Lake Erie after a portage around the Falls.
Thus it was that the French fur-traders and missionaries reached the
borders of Erie county far in advance of any other explorers.
In 1606, King James had granted to an association of Englishmen
called the Plymouth Company the territory of New England, but no
permanent settlement was made until the 9th day of November, 1620, when
from the historic Mayflower the Pilgrim Fathers landed on Plymouth
Rock. The English settlements were expected to stretch westward to
the Pacific or Great South Sea, and patents were granted to accommo-
date this liberal expansion.
In 1609, the English navigator, Henry Hudson, while in the employ
of the Dutch East India Company, had discovered the river which bears
his name, and since then the Dutch (or Hollanders) had established forti-
fied trading posts at its mouth and at Albany, and had opened a com-
merce in furs. The}', too, made an indefinite claim of territory
westward.
All European nations at that time recognized the right of discovery as
constituting a valid title to lands occupied only by scattered barbarians,
but there were numerous disputes as to application, and especially as to
the amount of surrounding country which each discoverer could claim
on behalf of his sovereign.
Thus at the end of 1620 there were three distinct streams of emigra-
tion with three attendant claims of sovereignty, converging toward the
county of Erie. Let but the French at Montreal, the English in Massa-
chusetts, and the Dutch on the Hudson all continue the work of coloni-
Early French Missionaries. 23
zation, following the great natural channels, and all would ultimately
meet at the foot of Lake Erie.
For the time being the French had the best opportunity and the
Dutch the next, while the English were apparently third in the race.
CHAPTER III.
FHDM IBZO TO IBSS.
Tbe French Traders — Dutch Progress — The Jesuits — De la Roche Daillon — The Company of a
Hundred Partners -<' Capture and Restoration of New France — Chaumonot and Breboeuf —
Hnnting BufiFalo — Destruction of the Kahquahs and Eries — Seneca Tradition — French
Account — Norman Hatchets — Stoned- up Springs.
DURING the first twenty years little occurred directly affecting
the history of Erie county, though events were constantly happen-
ing which aided in shaping its destinies. Wc learn from casual
remarks of Catholic writers that the French traders, traversed all this
region in their search for furs, and even urged their light bateaux still
farther up the lakes.
In 1623 permanent Duch emigration, as distinguished from mere
fur-trading expeditions, first began upon the Hudson. The colony was
named New Netherlands, and the first governor was sent thither by the
Batavian Republic.
In 1625 a few Jesuits arrived on the banks of the St. Lawrence, the
advance guard of a host of representatives of that remarkable order, which
was in time to crowd out almost all other Catholic missionaries from
Canada and the whole lake region, and substantially monopolize the
ground themselves.
In 1626 Father De la Roche Daillon, a Recollect missionary, visited
the Neuter Nation, and passed the winter preaching the gospel among
them.
In 1627 Cardinal Richelieu organized the company of New France,
otherwise known as the Company of a Hundred Partners. The three
chief objects of this association were to extend the fur trade, to convert
the Indians to Christianity, and to discover a new route to China by way
of the great lakes of North America. The company actually succeeded
in extending the fur trade, but not in going to China by way of Lake
Erie, and not to any great extent in converting the Indians.
By the terms of their charter they were to transport six thousand
emigrants to Canada and to furnish them with an ample supply of both
24 History of Erie County.
priests and artisans. Charoplain was made governor. His first two
years* experience was bitter in the extreme. The British men-of-war
captured his supplies by sea, the Iroquois warriors tomahawked his hun-
ters by land, and in 1629 an English fleet sailed up the St. Lawrence and
captured Quebec. Soon afterward however, peace was concluded, New
France was restored to King Louis and Champlain resumed his guber-
natorial powers.
In 1628, Charles I., of England, granted a charter for the govern-
ment of the province of Massachusetts Bay. It included the territory
between latitude 40° 2' and 44^ 15' north, extending from the Atlantic to
the Pacific, making a colony a hundred and fifty-four miles wide and four
thousand miles long. The county of Erie was included within its limits,
as was the rest of Western New York.
The Jesuit missionaries, fired with unbounded zeal and unsurpassed
valor, traversed the wilderness, holding up the cross before the bewildered
pagans. They naturally had much better success with the Hurons than
with the Iroquois, whom Champlain had wantonly and foolishly attacked
in order to please the Hurons and who afterwards remained the almost
unvarying enemies of the French.
The Jesuits soon had flourishing stations as far west as Lake Huron.
One of these was Ste. Marie, near the eastern extremity of that lake, and
it was from Ste. Marie that Fathers Breboeuf andChaumonot set forth in
November 1840, to visit the Neuter Nation. They returned the next
spring, having visited eighteen Kahquah villages, but having met with
very little encouragement among them. They reported the Neuter In-
dians to be stronger and finer-looking than other savages with whom they
were acquainted.
In 1 64 1, Father L'Allemant wrote to the Jesuit provincial in France,
describing the expedition of Breboeuf and Chaumonot, and one of his
expressions goes far to settle the question whether the buffalo ever in-
habited this part of the country. He says of the Neuter Nation, repeat-
ing the information just obtained from the two missionaries : " They are
much employed in hunting deer, buffalo, wild-cats, wolves, beaver and
other animals.** There is no mention of the missionaries crossing the
Niagara, and perhaps they did not, but the presence of buffalo in the Cana-
dian peninsula increases the likelihood of their sometimes visiting the
banks of Buffalo creek.
Down to this time the Kahquahs had succeeded in maintaining their
neutrality between the fierce beligerents on either side, though the Jesuit
missionaries reported them as being more friendl}- to the Iroquois than
to the Hurons. What cause of quarrel, if any, arose between the peace-
ful possessors of Erie county and their whilom friends, the powerful con-
federates to the eastward, is entirely unknown, but sometime during the
next fifteen years the Iroquois fell upon both the Kahquahs and the Eries
and exterminated them as a nation, from the face of the earth.
Destruction of the Eries. 25
The precise years in which these events occurred are uncertain, nor
is it known whether the Kahquahs or the Eries first felt the deadly anger
of the Five Nations. French accounts favor the view that the Neuter
Nation were first destroyed, while according to Seneca tradition the
Kahquahs still dwelt here when the Iroquois annihilated the Eries. That
tradition runs somewhat as follows : —
The Eries had been jealous of the Iroquois from the time the latter
formed their confederacy. About the time under consideration the Eries
challenged their rivals to a grand game of ball, a hundred men on a side,
for a heavy stake of furs and wampum. For two successive years the
challenge was declined, but when it was again repeated it was accepted
by the confederates, and their chosen hundred met their opponents near
the site of the city of Buffalo.
They defeated the Eries in ball playing, and then the latter proposed
a foot-race between ten of the fleetest young men on each side. Again
the Iroquois were victorious. Then the Kahquahs, who resided near
Eighteen-Mile creek, invited the contestants to their home. While there
the chief of the Eries proposed a wrestling match between ten champions
on each side, the victor in each match to have the privilege of knocking
out his adversary's brains with his tomahawk. This challenge, too, was
accepted, though, as the veracious Iroquois historians assert, with no in-
tention of claiming the forfeit if successful.
In the first bout the Iroquois wrestler threw his antagonist, but de-
clined to play the part of executioner. The chief of the Eries, infuriated
by his champion's defeat, himself struck the unfortunate wrestler dead,
as he lay supine where the victor had flung him. Another and another
of the Eries was in the same way conquered by the Iroquois, and in the
same way dispatched by his wrathful chief. By this time the Eries were
in a state of terrific excitement, and the leader of the confederates, fearing
an outbreak, ordered his followers to take up their march toward home,
which they did with no further collision.
But the jealousy and hatred of the Eries was still more inflamed by
defeat, and they soon laid a plan to surprise, and if possible destroy, the
Iroquois. A Seneca woman, who had married among the Eries but was
then a widow, fled to her own people and gave notice of the attack.
Runners were at once sent out, and all the Iroquois were assembled and
led forth to meet the invaders.
The two bodies met near Honeoye Lake, half-way between Canan-
daigua and the Genesee. After a terrible conflict the Eries were totally
defeated, the flying remnants pursued to their homes by the victorious con-
federates, and the whole nation almost completely destroyed. It was five
months before the Iroquois warriors returned from the deadly pursuit.
Afterwards a powerful party of the descendants of the Eries came
from the far west to attack the Iroquois, but were utterly defeated and
26 History of Erie County.
slain to a man, near the site of Buffalo, their bodies burned, and the ashes
buried in a mound, lately visible, near the old Indian church on the Buf-
falo Creek reservation.
Such is the tradition. It is a very nice story — for the Iroquois.
According to their account their opponents were the aggressors through-
out, the young men of the Five Nations were invariably victorious in
the athletic games, anfl nothing but self-preservation induced them to
destroy their enemies.
Nothing, of course, can be learned from such a story regarding the
merits of the war. It does, however, tend to show that the two great
battles between the combatants were fought near the territory of the
Senecas, and that some at least of the Kahquahs were still living at the
mouth of Eighteen-Mile creek at the time of the destruction of the Eries,
but it is not very reliable even on these points.
On the other hand, scattered French accounts go to show that the
Kahquahs were destroyed first ; that they joined the Iroquois in warfare
against the Hurons, but were unable to avert their own fate; that col-
lisions occurred between them and their allies of the Five Nations in
1647 and that open war broke out in 1650, resulting in the speedy de-
struction of the Kahquahs. Also that the Iroquois then swooped down
upon the Eries and exterminated them about the year 1653. Some ac-
counts make the destruction of the Neuter Nation as early as 1642.
Amid these conflicting statements it is only certain that between
1640 and 1655 the fierce confederates of Central New York "put out the
fires " of the Kahquahs and the Eries. It is said that a few of the former
tribe were absorbed into the community of their conquerors, and it is
quite likely that some of both nations escaped to the westward, and, wan-
dering there, inspired the tribes of that region with their own fear and
hatred of the terrible Iroquois.
It is highly probable that the numerous iron hatchets which have
been picked up in various parts of the county belonged to the unfortu-
nate Kahquahs. They are undoubtedly of French manufacture, and sim-
ilar instruments are used in Normandy to this day. Hundreds of them
have been found in the valley of Cazenove creek and on the adjacent hills,
a mile or two south of East Aurora village. Many more have been foupd
in Hamburg, Boston and other parts of the county.
They are all made on substantially the same pattern, the blade being
three or four inches wide on the edge, running back and narrowing
slightly for about six inches, when the eye is formed by beating the bit
out thin, rolling it over and welding it. Each is marked with the same
device, namely, three small circles something less than an inch in diam-
•eter, each divided into compartments like a wheel with four spokes.
The Kahquahs were the only Indians who resided in Erie county
while the French controlled the trade of this region, as the Senecas did
The Iroquois. 27
not make their residence here until after Sullivan destroyed their towns
on the Genesee during the American Revolution. These hatchets would
be convenient articles to trade for furs, and were doubtless used for that
purpose. It is extremely improbable that any Indians would have thrown
away such valuable instruments in the numbers which have since been
found, except from compulsion, and the disaster which befell the Kah-
quahs at the hands of the Iroquois readily accounts for the abandonment
of these weapons.
Some copper instruments have also been found, doubtless of similar
origin.
CHAPTER IV.
THE IRDgUDIS.
Their System of Clans — Its Importance — Its Probable Origin — The Grand Council — Sachems
and War-chiefs — Method of Descent — Choice of Sachems — Religion — Natural Attributes
— Family Relations.
FROM the destruction of the unfortunate Kahquahs down to the last
great sale of land by the Iroquois to the Holland Land -Company,
those confederates were the actual possessors of the territory of
Erie county, and a few years before making that sale the largest nation
of the confederacy made their principal residence within the county.
Within its borders, too, are still to be seen the largest united body of
their descendants.
For all these two hundred and thirty years the Iroquois have been
closely identified with the history of Erie county, and the beginning of
this community of record forms a proper point at which to introduce an
account of the interior structure of that remarkable confederacy, at which
we have before taken but an outside glance.
It should be said here that the name "Iroquois" was never applied
by the confederates to themselves. It was first used by the French, and
its meaning is veiled in obscurity.* The men of the Five Nations (after-
wards the Six Nations) called themselves " Hedonosaunee," which means
literally, "They form a cabin;** describing in this expressive manner the
close union existing among them. The Indian name just quoted is more
liberally and more commonly rendered " The People of the Long House ; "
*The writer has seen an old map which showed a tribe of Indians called ** Couis," living near
the site of Kingston, in the province of Ontario, while another ancient map designated the territory
then occupied by the Iroquois as belonging to the '* Hiro Couis." This is very plainly the deriva-
tion of ** Iroquois," but what is the meaning of ** Hiro " or ** Couis," the writer saith not.
28 History of Erie County.
which is more fully descriptive of the confederacy, though not quite so
accurate a translation.
The central and unique characteristic of the Iroquois league was not
the mere fact of five separate tribes being confederate together ; for such
unions have been frequent among civilized and half-civilized peoples,
though little known among the savages of America. The feature' that dis-
tinguished the people of the Long House from all other confederacies,
and which at the same time bound together all these ferocious warriors
as with a living chain, was the system of clans extending through all the
different tribes.
Although this clan-system has been treated of in many works, there
are doubtless, thousands of readers who have often heard of the warlike
success and outward greatness of the Iroquois confederacy, but are un-
acquainted with the inner league which was its distinguishing character-
istic, and without which it would in all probability have met, at an early
day, with the fate of numerous similar alliances.
The word **clan" has been adopted as the most convenient one to
designate the peculiar artificial families about to be described, but the
Iroquois clan was widely different from the Scottish one, all the mem-
bers of which owed undivided allegiance to a single chief, for whom they
were ready to fight against all the world. Yet "clan** is a much better
word than " tribe,'* which is sometimes used, since that is the designation
ordinarily applied to a separate Indian nation.
The people of the Iroquois confederacy were divided into eight clans,
the names of which were as follows : Wolf, Bear, Beaver, Turtle, Deer
Snipe, Heron and Hawk. Accounts differ, some declaring that every
clan extended through all the tribes, and others that only the Wolf, Bear
and Turtle clans did so, the rest being restricted to a lesser number of
tribes. It is certain, however, that each tribe, Mohawks, Oneidas, Onon-
dagas, Cayugas or Senecas, contained parts of the three clans named and
of several of the others.
Each clan formed a large artificial family, modeled on the natural
family. All the members of the clan, no matter how widely separated
among the tribes, were considered as brothers and sisters to each other,
and were forbidden to intermarry. This prohibition, too, was strictly
enforced b}' public opinion.
All the clan being thus taught from earliest infancy that they belonged
to the same family, a bond of the strongest kind was created throughout
the confederacy. The Oneida of the Wolf clan had no sooner appeared
among the Cayugas, than those of the same clan claimed him as their
special guest, and admitted him to the most confidential intimacy. The
Senecas of the Turtle clan might wander to the country of the Mohawks
at the farthest extremity of the Long House, and he had a claiip upon
his brother Turtle which they would not dream of repudiating.
The Iroquois. 29
Thus the whole confederacy was linked together. If at any time
there appeared a tendency toward conflict between the different tribes,
it was instantly checked by the thought that, if persisted in, the hand of
the Heron must be lifted against his brother Heron ; the hatchet of the
Bear might be buried in the brain of his kinsman Bear. And so potent
was the feeling that for at least two hundred years, and until the power
of the league was broken by overwhelming outside force, there was no
serious dissension between the tribes of the Iroquois.
Other Indian tribes had similar clans, but these were confined each to
its own nation, and had therefore very little political value. The Scotch,
as has been said, had their clans, but though all the members of each
clan were supposed to be more or less related, yet, instead of marriage
being forbidden within their own limits, they rarely married outside of
them. All the loyalty of the clansmen was concentrated on their chief,
and, instead of being a bond of union, so far as the nation at lar^e was con-
cerned, the clans were nurseries of faction.
The Romans had their g^ens, which were supposed to have been origi-
nally natural families though largely increased by adoption, but these
like the Scottish clans, instead of binding together dissevered sections,
served under the control of aspiring leaders as seed-plots of dissension
and even of civil war. If one can imagine the Roman ^ens extending
through all the nations of the Grecian confederacy, he will have an idea
of the Iroquois system, and had such been the fact it is more than proba-
ble that the confederacy would have long survived the era of its actual
downfall.*
Iroquois tradition ascribes the founding of the league to an Onon-
daga chieftain named Tadodahoh. Such traditions, however, are of very
little value. A person of that name may or may not have founded the
confederacy. It is extremely probable that the league began with the
union of two or three tribes, being subsequently increased by the addi-
tion of others. That such additions might be made may be seen by the
case of the Tuscaroras, whose union with the confederacy long after the
advent of the Europeans changed the Five Nations into the Six Nations.
Whether the Hedonosaunee were originally superior in valor and elo-
quence to their neighbors cannot now be ascertained. Probably not.
But their talent for practical statesmanship gave them the advantage in
war, and success made them self-confident and fearless. The business of
the league was necessarily transacted in a congress of sachems, and this
fostered oratorical powers, until at length the Iroquois were famous
among a hundred rival nations for wisdom, courage and eloquence, and
were justly denominated by Volney, " The Romans of the New World."
♦ At the time of writing the foregoing remark^? concerning the Iroquois clan-system, the author
had not seen the valuable work of L. H. Morgan, entitled " The League of the Iroquois," but on
examining it is pleased to find his own opinion regarding the effect and importance of that system
confirmed by the previously expressed views of that careful investigator and sagacious writer.
8
30 History of Erie County.
Aside from the clan^ystera just described, which was entirely unique,
the Iroquois league had some resemblance to the great American Union
which succeeded and overwhelmed it. The central authority was su-
preme on questions of peace and war, and on all others relating to the
general welfare of the confederacy, while the tribes, like the States,
reserved to themselves the management of their ordinary affairs.
In peace all powe^ was confided to "sachems ;*' in war, tb "chiefs."
The sachems of each tribe acted as its rulers in the few matters which
required the exercise of civil authority. The same rulers also met in
congress to direct the affairs of the confederacy. There were fifty in all,
of whom the Mohawks had nine, the Oneidas nine, the Onondagas four-
teen, the Cayugas ten, and the Senecas eight. These numbers, however,
did not give proportionate power in the congress of the league, for all the
nations were equal there.
There was in each tribe the same number of war-chiefs as sachems,
and these had absolute authority in time of war. When a council as-
sembled, each sachem had a war-chief standing behind him to execute
his orders. But in a war party the war-chief commanded and the sachem
took his place in the ranks. This was the system in its simplicity.
Some time after the arrival of the Europeans they seem to have fallen
into the habit of electing chiefs — not war-chiefs — as counselors to the
sachems, who in time acquired equality of power with them, and were
considered as their equals by the whites in the making of treaties.
It is difficult to learn the truth regarding a political and social sys-
tem which was not preserved by any written record. As near, however,
as can be ascertained, the Onondagas had a certain pre-eminence in the
councils of the league, at least to the extent of always furnishing a grand-
sachem, whose authority, however, was of a very shadowy description.
It is not certain that he even presided in the congress of sachems. That
congress, however, always met at the council-fire of the Onondagas.
This was the natural result of their central position, the Mohawks and
Oneidas being to the east of them, the Cayugas and Senecas to the west.
The Senecas were unquestionably the most powerful of all the tribes,
and as they were located at the western extremity of the confederacy,
they had to bear the brunt of war when it was assailed by its most formid-
able foes who dwelt in that quarter. It would naturall)' follow that the
principal war-chief of the league should be of the Seneca Nation, and
such is said to have been the case, though over this too, hangs a shade of
doubt.
As among many other savage tribes, the right of heirship was in the
female line. A man's heirs were his brother (that is to say, his mother's
son) and his sister's son : never his own son, nor his brother's son. The
few articles which constituted an Indian's personal property, even his
bow and tomahawk, never descended to the son of him who had wielded
The Iroquois. 31
them. Titles, so far as they were hereditary at all, followed the same
law ot descent. The child also followed the clan and tribe of the mother.
The object was evidently to secure greater certainty that the heir would
be of the blood of his deceased kinsman.
The result of the application of this rule to the Iroquois system of
clans was that if a particular sachemship or chieftaincy was once estab-
lished in a certain clan of a certain tribe, in that clan and tribe it was ex-
pected to remain forever. Exactly how it was filled when it became
vacant is a matter of some doubt, but as near as can be learned the new
official was elected by the warriors of the clan, and was then "raised up "
— i. e. inaugurated by the congress of sachems.
If, for instance, a sachemship belonging to the Wolf clan of the Sen-
eca tribe became vacant, it could only be filled by some one of the Wolf
clan ot the Seneca tribe. A clan-council was called, and as a general rule
the heir of the deceased was chosen to his place ; to wit, one of his
brothers, reckoning only on the mother s side, or one of his sister's sons,
or even some more distant male relative in the female line. But there
was no positive law, and the warriors might discard all these and elect
some one entirely unconnected with the deceased. A grand council of
the confederacy was then called, at which the new sachem was formally
^'raised up," or as we should say "inaugurated," in his office.
While there was no unchangeable custom compelling the clan-council
to select one of the heirs of the deceased as his successor, yet the ten-
dency was so strong in that direction that an infant was frequently chosen,
a guardian being appointed to perform the functions of the office till the
youth should reach the proper age to do so. All offices were held for
life unless the incumbent was solemnly deposed by a council, an event
which very seldom occurred.
Notwithstanding the modified system of hereditary power in vogue,
the constitution of every tribe was essentially republican. Warriors, old
men, and even women, attended the various councils and made their in-
fluence felt. Neither in the government of the confederacy nor of the
tribes was there any such thing as tyranny over the people, though there
was a i^reat deal of tyranny by the league over conquered nations.
In fact there was very little government of any kind, and very little
need of any. There were substantially no property interests to guard,
all land being in common, and each man's personal property being lim-
ited to a bow, a tomahawk and a few deer skins. Liquor had not yet
lent its disturbing influence, and few quarrels were to be traced to the in-
fluence of woman, for the American Indian is singularly free from the
warmer passions. His principal vice is an easily-aroused and unlimited
hatred, but the tribes were so small and enemies so convenient, that there
was no difficulty in gratifying this feeling outside his own nation. The
consequence was that although the war-parties of the Iroquois were con-
32 History of Erie County.
tinually shedding the blood of their foes, there was very little quarreling
at home.
They do not appear to have had any class especially set apart for
religious services, and their religious creed was limited to a somewhat
vague belief in the existence of a " Great Spirit," and several inferior but
very potent evil spirits. They had a few simple ceremonies, consisting
largely of dances, one called the " green corn dance," performed at the
time indicated by its name, and others at other seasons of the year.
From a very early date their most important religious ceremony has
been the " burnmg of the white dog," when an unfortunate canine of the
requisite color is sacrificed by one of the chiefs. To this day the pagans
among them still perform this rite.
In common with their fellow-savages on this continent the Iroquois
have been termed " fast friends and bitter enemies." They were a great
deal stronger enemies than friends. Revenge was the ruling passion of
their nature, and cruelty was their abiding characteristic. Revenge
and cruelty are the worst attributes of human nature, and it is idle to
talk of the goodness of men who roasted their captives at the stake. All
Indians were faithful to their own tribes, and the Iroquois were faithful
to their confederacy, but outside these limits their friendship could not
be counted on, and treachery was always to be apprehended in dealing
with them.
In their family relations they were not harsh to their children, and
not wantonly so to their wives, but the men were invariably indolent,
and all labor was contemptuously abandoned to the weaker sex. They
were not an amorous race, but could hardly be called a moral one. They
were in that respect merely apathetic. Their passions rarely led them
into adultery, and mercenary prostitution was entirely unknown, but they
were not sensitive on the question of purity, and readily permitted their
maidens to form the most fleeting alliances with distinguished visitors.
Polygamy, too, was practiced, though in what might be called modera-
tion. Chiefs and eminent warriors usually had two or three wives;
rarely more. They could be divorced at will by their lords, but the latter
seldom availed themselves of their privilege.
These latter characteristics the Iroquois had in common with the
other Indians of North America, but their wonderful politico-social
league and their extraordinary success in war were the especial attri-
butes of the people of the Long House, for a hundred and thirty 3'ears
the masters, and for more than two centuries the occupants of the county
of Erie.
Success of the Iroquois. 33
CHAPTER V.
FROM IBSS TO IBZa.
The Iroqnois Triumphant — Obliteration of Dutch Power — French Progress — La Salle visits the
Senecas — Greenhalgh's Estimates — La Salle on the Niagara — Building of the Griffin — It
Enters Lake Erie — La Salle's Subsequent Career — The Prospect in 1670.
AFTER the overthrow of the Kahquahs and Eries the Iroquois lords
of Erie county went forth conquering and to conquer.* This was
probably the day of their greatest glory. Stimulated but not
yet crushed by contact with the white man, they stayed the progress of
the French into their territories, they negotiated on equal terms with the
Dutch and English, and, having supplied themselves with the terrible
arms of the pale-faces, they smote with direst vengeance whomsoever of
their own race were so unfortunate as to provoke their wrath.
On the Susquehanna, on the Alleghany, on the Ohio, even to the Mis-
sissippi in the west and the Savannah in the south, the Iroquois bore their
conquering arms, filling with terror the dwellers alike on the plains of
Illinois and in the glades of Carolina. They strode over the bones of the
slaughtered Kahquahs to new conquests on the great lakes beyond, even
to the foaming cascades of Michillimacinac, and the shores of the mighty
Superior. They inflicted such terrible defeat upon the Hurons, despite
the alliance of the latter with the French, that many of the conquered
nation sought safety on the frozen borders of Hudson's Bay. In short,
they triumphed on every side, save only where the white man came,
and even the white man was for a time held at bay by these fierce
confederates.
Of the three rival bands of colonists already mentioned, the French
and Dutch opened a great fur trade with the Indians, while the New Eng-
landers devoted themselves principally to agriculture. In 1664, the En-
glish conquered New Amsterdam, and in 1670 their conquest was made
permanent. Thus the too Dutch Lepidus of the continental triumvirate
was gotten rid of and thenceforth the contest was to be between the
Anglo-Saxon Octaviusand the Gallic Antony.
Charles II., then King of England, granted the conquered province
to his brother James, Duke of York, from whom it was called New York.
This grant comprised all the lands along the Hudson, with an indefinite
amount westward, thus overlapping the previous grant of James I. to
the Plymouth Company, and the boundaries of Massachusetts under the
charter of Charles I., and laying the foundation for a conflict of jurisdic-
tion which was afterwards to have an important effect on the destinies of
Western New York.
34 History of Erie County.
The French, if poor larmers, were indefatigable fur-traders and mis-
sionaries ; but their priests and fur-buyers mostly pursued a route north
of this locality, for here the fierce Senecas guarded the shores of the
Niagara, and they like all the rest of the Iroquois were ever unfriendly,
if not actively hostile to the Flinch. By 1665, trading-posts had been
established at Michillimacinac, Green Bay, Chicago and St. Joseph, but
the route past the falls of Niagara was seldom traversed, and then only
by the most adventurous of the French traders, the most devoted of the
Catholic missionaries.
But a new era was approaching. Louis XIV. was king of France, and
his great minister, Colbert, was anxious to extend the power of his royal
master over the unknown regions of North America. In 1669, La Salle,
whose name was soon to be indissolubly united to the annals of Erie county,
visited the Senecas with only two companions, finding their four principal
villages from ten to twent}^ miles southerly from Rochester, scattered
over portions of the present counties of Monroe, Livingston and Ontario.
In 1673 the missionaries Marquette and Joliet pushed on beyond the
farthest French posts, and erected the emblem of Christian salvation on
the shore of the Father of Waters.
In 1677 Went worth Greenhalgh, an Englishman, visited all the Five
Nations, finding the same four towns of the Senecas described by the
companions of La Salle. Greenhalgh made very minute observations,
counting the houses of the Indians, and reported the Mohawks as having
three hundred warriors, the Oneidas two hundred, the Onondagas three
hundred and fifty, the Cayugas three hundred, and the Senecas a thou-
sand. It will be seen that the Senecas, the guardians of the western door
of the Long House, numbered, according to Greenhalgh's computation,
nearly as man}- as all the other tribes of the confederacy combined, and
other accounts show that he was not far from correct.
In the month of January, 1679, there arrived at the mouth of the
Niagara, Robert Cavelier de La Salle, a Frenchman of good family, thirty-
five vears of age, and one of the most gallant, devoted and adventurous of
all the bold explorers who under many different banners opened the new
world to the knowledge of the old. Leaving his native Rouen at the
age of twenty-two, he had ever since been leading a life of adventure in
America, having in 1669, as already mentioned, penetrated almost alone
to the strongholds of the Senecas. In 1678 he had received from King
Louis a commission to discover the western part of New France. He
was authorized to build such forts as might be necessary, but at his own
expense, being granted certain privileges in return, the principal of which
appears to have been the right to trade in buffalo skins. The same year
he had made some preparations, and in the fall had sent the Sieur de La
Motte and Father Hennepin (the priest and historian of his expedition)
in advance to the mouth of the Niagara. La Motte soon returned.
Building of the Griffin. 35
As soon as La Salle arrived, he went two leagues above the Falls,
built a rude dock, and laid the keel of a vessel with which to navigate the
upper lakes. Strangely enough Hennepin does not state on which bank
of the Niagara this dock was situated, but the question has been care-
fully investigated, especially by Francis Parkman, the historian of French
power in Canada, and by O. H. Marshall, Esq., of Buffalo, the best
authority on early local history in Western New York, who have proven
beyond a reasonable doubt that it was on the east side, at the mouth of
Cayuga creek, in Niagara county, and in accordance with that view the
little village which has been laid out there has received the appellation
of "La Salle."
Hennepin distinctly mentions a small village of Senecas situated at
the mouth of the Niagara, and it is plain from his whole narrative that
the Iroquois were in possession of the entire country along the riven
though few of them resided there, and watched the movement with
unceasing jealousy.
The work was carried on through the winter, two Indians of the
Wolf clan of the Senecas being employed to hunt deer for the French
party, and in the spring the vessel was launched, "after having," in the
words of Father Hennepin, "been blessed according to the rites of our
Church of Rome." The new ship was named " Le Griffon^' (The Grif-
fin) in compliment to the Count de Frontenac, minister of the French
colonies, whose coat of arms was ornamented with representations of that
mythical beast.
For several months the Griffin remained in the Niagara, between the
place where it was built and the rapids at the head of the river. Mean-
while Father Hennepin returned to Fort Frontenac (now Kingston) and
obtained two priestly assistants, and La Salle superintended the removal
of the armament and stores from below the Falls.
When all was ready the attempt was made, and several times repeated,
to ascend the rapids above Black Rock, but without success. At length,
on the seventh day of August, 1679, a favorable wind sprung up from
the northeast, all the Griffins sails were set, and again it approached the
troublesome rapids.
It was a diminutive vessel compared with the leviathans of the deep
which now navigate these inland seas, but was a marvel in view of the
difficulties under which it had been built. It was of sixty tons burthen,
completely furnished with anchors and other equipments, and armed with
seven small cannon, all of which had been transported by hand around
the cataract.
There were thirty-four men on board the Griffin, all Frenchmen with
a single exception.
There was the intrepid La Salle, a blue-eyed, fair-faced, ringleted
cavalier ; a man fitted to grace the salons of Paris, yet now eagerly press-
36 History of Erie County.
ing forward to dare the hardships of unknown seas and savage lands. A
born leader of men, a heroic subduer of nature, the gallant Frenchman
for a brief time passesalong the border of our county, and then disappears
in the western wilds where he was eventually to find a grave.
There was Tonti, the solitary alien amid that Gallic band, exiled by
revolution from his native Italy, who had been chosen by La Salle as
second in command, and who justified the choice by his unswerving
courage and devoted loyalty. There, too, was Father Hennepin, the
earliest historian ol these regions, one of the most zealous of all the zealous
band of Catholic priests who, at that period, undauntedly bore the cross
amid the fiercest pagans in America. Attired in priestly robes, having
with him his movable chapel, and attended by his two coadjutors. Father
Hennepin was ready at any time to perform the rites of his Church, or to
share the severest hardships of his comrades.
As the little vessel approached the rapids, a dozen stalwart sailors
were sent ashore with a tow-line, and aided with all their strength
the breeze which blew from the north. Meanwhile a crowd of Iroquois
warriors had assembled on the shore, together with many captives whom
they had brought from the distant prairies of the West. These watched
eagerly the efforts of the pale-faces, with half-admiring and half-jealous
eyes.
Those efforts were soon successful. By the aid of sails and tow-line
the Griffin surmounted the rapids, all the crew went on board, and the
pioneer vessel of these waters swept out on to the bosom of Lake Erie.
As it did so the priests led in singing a joyous Te Deiim, all the cannon
and arquebuses were fired in a grand salute, and even the stoical sons of
the forest, watching from the shore, gave evidence of their admiration
by repeated cries of " Gannoron ! Gannoron ! *' Wonderful ! Wonder-
ful !
This was the beginning of the commerce of the upper lakes, and like
many another first venture it resulted only in disaster to its projectors,
though the harbinger of unbounded success by others. The Griffi^i went
to Green Bay, where La Salle and Hennepin left it, started on its return
with a cargo of furs, and was never heard of more. It is supposed that
it sank in a storm and that all on board perished.
La Salle was not afterwards identified with the history of Erie county,
but his chivalric achievements and tragic fate have still such power to
stir the pulse and enlist the feelings that one can hardly refrain from a
brief mention of his subsequent career. After the Griffin had sailed, La
Salle and Hennepin went in canoes to the head of Lake Michigan.
Thence, after building a trading-post and waiting many weary months
for the return of his vessel, he went with thirty followers to Lake Peoria
on the Illinois river where he built a fort and gave it the expressive name
of "Creve Cceur " — Broken Heart. But notwithstandmg this expres-
La Salle. 37
sion of despair his courage was far from exhausted, and, after sending
Hennepin to explore the Mississippi, he with three comrades performed
the remarkable feat of returning to Fort Frontenac on foot, depending on
their guns for support.
From Fort Frontenac he returned to Crevecoeur, the garrison of
which had in the meantime been driven away by the Indians. Again
the indomitable La Salle gathered his followers, and in the fore part of
1682 descended the Mississippi to the sea, being the first European to
explore any considerable portion of that mighty stream. He took pos-
session of the country in the name of King Louis XIV., and called it
Louisiana.
Returning to France he astonished and gratified the court with the
stories of his discoveries, and in 1684 was furnished with a fleet and sev-
eral hundred men to colonize the new domain. Then every thing went
wrong. The fleet, through the blunders of its naval commander, went
to Matagorda bay, in Texas. The store-ship was wrecked, the fleet
returned, La Salle failed in an attempt to find the mouth of the Missis-
sippi, his colony dwindled away through desertion and death to forty
men, and at length he started with sixteen of these, on foot, to return to
Canada for assistance. Even in this little band there were those that
hated him, (he was undoubtedly a man of somewhat imperious nature,)
and ere he had reached the Sabine he was murdered by two of his follow-
ers, and left unburied upon the prairie.
A lofty, if somewhat haughty spirit, France knows him as the man
who added Louisiana and Texas to her empire, the Mississippi Valley
reveres him as the first explorer of its great river, but by the citizens of
this county he will best be remembered as the pioneer navigator of Lake
Erie.
The adventurous Frenchman doubtless supposed, when he steered
the Griffin into that vast inland sea, that he was opening it solely to
French commerce, and was preparing its shores for French occupancy.
He had ample reason for the supposition. Communication with the
French in Lower Canada was much easier than with the Anglo-Dutch
province on the Hudson, and thus far the opportunities of the former had
been diligently improved.
Had La Salle then climbed the bluff which overlooks the transfor-
mation of the mighty Erie into the rushing Niagara and attempted to
foretell the destiny of lake and land for the next two centuries, he would
without doubt, and with good reason, have mentally given the dominion
of both land and lake to the sovereigns of France. He would have seen
in his mind's eye the plains that extended eastward dotted with the cot-
tages of French peasants, while here and there among them towered the
proud mansions of their baronial masters. He would have imagined the
lake white with the sails of hundreds ol vessels flying the flag of Gallic
38 History of Erie County.
kings, and bearing the products of their subjects from still remoter
regions, and he would perchance have pictured at his feet a splendid city,
reproducing the tall gables of Rouen and the elegant facades of Paris, its
streets gay with the vivacious language of France, its cross-capped
churches sheltering only the stately ceremonies of Rome.
But a far different destiny was in store for our county, due partly to
the chances of war, and partly to the subtle characteristics of race, which
make of the Gaul a good explorer but a bad colonizer, while the Anglo-
Saxon is ever ready to identify himself with the land to which he may
roam.
CHAPTER VI.
FRENCH DOMINIDN.
A Slight Ascendency — De Nonville's Assault — Origin of Fort Niagara — La Hontan's Expedition
— The Peace of Ryswick — Queen Anne*s War — The Iroquois Neutral — The Tuscaroras —
Joncaire — Fort Niagara Rebuilt — French Power Increasing — Successive Wars — The Line
of Posts — The Final Struggle— The Expedition of D'Aubrey — The Result — The Surren-
der of Canada.
FOR the next forty-five years after the adventures of La Salle, the
French maintained a general but not very substantial ascendency in
this region. Their voyagers traded and their missionaries labored
here, and their soldiers sometimes made incursions, but they had no per-
manent fortress this side of Fort Frontenac (Kingston) and .they were
constantly in danger from their enemies, the Hedonosaunee. Yet the
French sovereigns and ministers considered the whole lake region, includ-
ing the territory of Erie county, as being unquestionably a part' of " New
France" (or Canada.) Their maps so described it, and they looked for-
ward with entire assurance to the time when French troops and French
colonists should hold undisputed possession of all that vast domain.
In 1687, the Marquis de Nonville, governor of New France, arrived
at Irondequoit bay, a few miles east of Rochester, with nearly two thou-
sand Frenchmen and some five hundred Indian allies, and marched at
once against the Seneca villages, situated as has been stated in the vicin-
ity of Victor and Avon. The Senecas attacked him on his way, and were
defeated, as well they might be, considering that the largest estimate
gives them but eight hundred warriors, the rest of the confederates not
having arrived.
De Nonville's Invasion. 39
The Senecas burned their villages and fled to the Cayugas. De Non-
ville destroyed their stores of corn and retired, after going through the
form of taking possession of the country. The supplies thus destroyed
were immediately replenished by the other confederates, and the French
accomplished little except still further to enrage the Iroquois. The Sene-
cas, however, determined to seek a home less accessible from the waters
of Lake Ontario, and accordingly located their principal village at Geneva^
and on the Genesee above Avon.
De Nonville then sailed to the mouth of the Niagara, where he erected
a small fort on the east side of the river. This was the origin of Fort
Niagara, one of the most celebrated strongholds in America, which,
though for a time abandoned, was afterwards during more than half a
century considered the key of Western New York, and of the whole
upper-lake country.
From the new fortress De Nonville sent the Baron La Hontan, with
a small detachment of French, to escort the Indian allies to their western
homes. They made the necessary portage around the Falls, rowed up
the Niagara to Buffalo, and thence coasted along the northern shore of
the lake in their canoes. All along the river they were closely watched
by the enraged Iroquois, but were too strong and too vigilant to be
attacked.
Ere long the governor returned to Montreal, leaving a small garrison
at Fort Niagara. These suffered so severely from sickness that the fort
was soon abandoned, and it does not appear to have been again occupied
for nearly forty years.
In fact, at this period the fortunes of France in North America were
brought very low. The Iroquois ravaged a part of the island of Mon-
treal, compelled the abandonment of Forts Frontenac and Niagara, and
alone proved almost sufficient to overthrow the French dominion in
Canada.
The English revolution of 1688, by which James II., was driven
from the throne, was speedily followed by open war with France. In
1689, the Count de Frontenac, the same energetic old peer who had
encouraged La Salle in his brilliant discoveries, and whose name was for
a while borne by Lake Ontario, was sent out as governor of New France-
This vigorous but cruel leader partially retrieved the desperate condition
of the French colony. He, too, invaded the Iroquois, but accomplished
no more than DeNonville.
The war continued with varying fortunes until 1697, the Five Nations
being all that while the friends of the English, and most of the time engaged
in active hostilities against the French. Their authority over the whole
west bank of the Niagara, and far up the south side of Lake Erie, was
unbroken, save when a detachment of French troops was actually
marching along the shore.
40 History of Erie County.
■ w ■ ■
At the treaty of Ryswick in 1697, while the ownership of other lands
was definitely conceded to France and England respectively, that of
Western New York was left undecided. The English claimed sovereignty
over all the lands of the Five Nations, the French with equal energy
asserted the authority of King Louis, while the Hedonosaunee themselves,
whenever they heard of the controversy, repudiated alike the pretensions
of Yonnondio and Corlear, as they denominated the governors respec-
tively of Canada and New York.
So far as Erie county was concerned, they could base their claim on
the good old plea that they had killed all its previous occupants, and as
neither the English nor French had succeeded in killing the Iroquois, the
title of the latter still held good. In legal language they were " in pos-
session," and " adverse, possession " at that.
Scarcely had the echoes of battle died away after the peace of Rys-
wick, when, in 1702, the rival nations plunged into the long conflict
known as " Queen Anne's War." But by this time the Iroquois had
grown wiser, and prudently maintained their neutrality, commanding the
respect of both French and English. The former were wary of again
provoking the powerful confederates, and the government of the colony
of New York was very willing that the Five Nations should remain
neutral, as they thus furnished a shield against French and Indian attacks
for the whole frontier of the colony.
But, meanwhile, through all the western country the French extended
their influence. Detroit was founded in 1701. Other posts were estab-
lished far and wide. Notwithstanding their alliance with the Hurons
and other foes of the Iroquois, and notwithstanding the enmity aroused
by the invasions of Champlain, DeNonville and Frontenac, such was the
subtle skill of the French that they rapidly acquired a strong influence
among the western tribes of the confederacy, especially the Senecas.
Even the powerful socio-political system of the Hedonosaunee weakened
under the influence of European intrigue, and while the Eastern Iroquois,
though preserving their neutrality, were friendly to the English, the
Senecas, and perhaps the Cayugas, were almost ready to take up arms
for the French.
About 1 71 2, an important event occurred in the history of the
Hedonosaunee. The Five Nations became the Six Nations. The Tus-
caroras, a powerful tribe of North Carolina, had become involved in a
war with the whites, originating as usual in a dispute about land. The
colonists being aided by several other tribes, the Tuscaroras were soon
defeated, many of them were killed, and many others were captured and
sold as slaves. The greater part of the remainder fled northward to the
Iroquois, who immediately adopted them as one of the tribes of the con-
federacy, assigning them a seat near the Oneidas. The readiness of those
haughty warriors to extend the valuable shelter of the Long House over
French INFLUE^XE Among the Senegas. 41
a band of fleeing exiles is probably due to the fact that the latter had
been the allies of the Iroquois against other Southern Indians, which
would also account for the eagerness of the latter to join the whites in
the overthrow of the Tuscaroras.
Not long after this, one Chabert Joncaire, a Frenchman who had
been captured in youth by the Senecas, who had been adopted into
their tribe and had married a Seneca wife, but who had been released at
the treaty of peace, was emploj^ed by the French authorities to promote
their influence among the Iroquois. Pleading his claims as an adopted
child of the nation, he was allowed by the Seneca chiefs to build a cabin
on the site of Lewiston, which soon became a center of French influence.
All the efforts of the English were impotent either to dislodge him
or to obtain a similar privilege for any of their own people. " Joncaire
is a child of the nation," was the sole reply vouchsafed to every com-
plaint. Though Fort Niagara was for the time abandoned, and no regu-
lar fort was built at Lewiston, yet Joncaire's trading-post embraced a
considerable group of cabins, and at least a part of the time a detach-
ment of French soldiers was stationed there. Thus the active Gauls
kept up communications with their posts in the West, and maintained at
least a slight ascendency over the territory which is the subject of this
history.
About 1725, they began rebuilding Fort Niagara, on the site where
De Nonville had erected his fortress. They did so without opposition,
though it seems strange that they could so easily have allayed the jeal-
ousy of the Six Nations. It may be presumed, however, that the very
fact of the French being such poor colonizers worked to their advantage
in establishing a certain kind of influence among the Indians.
Few of the Gallic adventurers being desirous of engaging in agricul-
ture, they made little effort to obtain land, while the English were con-
stantly arousing the jealousy of the natives by obtaining enormous grants
from some of the chiefs, often doubtless by very dubious methods.
Moreover, the French have always possessed a peculiar facility for assim-
ilating with savage and half-civilized races, and thus gaining an influence
over them.
Whatever the cause, the power of the French constantly increased
among the Senecas. Fort Niagara was their stronghold, and Erie county
with the rest of Western New York was, for over thirty years, to a very
great extent under their control. The influence of Joncaire was main-
tained and increased by his sons, Chabert and Clauzonne Joncaire, all
through the second quarter of the eighteenth century.
In the war between England and France, begun in 1744 and closed
by the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle in 1748, the Six Nations generally main-
tained their neutrality, though the Mohawks gave some aid to the
English. During the eight years of nominal peace which succeeded that
42 History of Erie County.
treaty, both the French and English noade numerous eflforts to extend their
dominion beyond their frontier settlements, the former with more suc-
cess. To Niagara, Detroit and other posts they added Presque Isle, (now
Erie,) Venango, and finally Fort Duquesne on the site of Pittsburg;
designing to establish a line of forts from the lakes to the Ohio, and
thence down that river to the Mississippi.
Frequent detachments of troops passed through along this line.
Their course was up the Niagara to Buffalo, thence either by bateaux up
the lake, or on foot along the shore, to Erie, and thence to Venango and
Duquesne. Gaily dressed French officers sped backward and forward,
attended by the fierce warriors of their allied tribes, and not unfrequently
by the Senecas. Dark-gowned Jesuits hastened to and fro, everywhere
receiving the respect of the red men, even when their creed was rejected,
and using all their art to magnify the power of both Rome and France.
It is possible that the whole Iroquois confederacy would have been
induced to become active partisans of the French, had it not been for one
man, the skillful English superintendent of Indian affairs, soon to be
known as Sir William Johnson. He, having in 1734 been sent to America
as the agent of his uncle, a great landholder in the valley of the Mohawk,
had gained almost unbounded influence over the Mohawks by integrity
in dealing and native shrewdness, combined with a certain coarseness of
nature which readily affiliated with them. He had made his power felt
throughout the whole confederacy, and had been intrusted by the British
government with the management of its relations with the Six Nations.
In 1756, after two years of open hostilities in America, and several
important conflicts, war was again declared between England and France,
being their last great struggle for supremacy in the New World. The fer-
ment in the wilderness grew more earnest. More frequently sped the
gay officers and soldiers of King Louis from Quebec, and Frontenac, and
Niagara, now in bateaux, now on foot, along the western border of our
county ; staying perchance to hold a council with the Seneca sachems,
then hurrying forward to strengthen the feeble line of posts on which so
much depended. In this war the Mohawks were persuaded by Sir Will-
iam Johnson to take the field in favor of the English. But the Senecas
were friendly to the French, and were only restrained from taking up
arms for them by unwillingness to fight against their Iroquois brethren,
farther east.
At first the French were everywhere victorious. Braddock, almost
at the gates of Fort Duquesne, was slain, and his army cut in pieces, by
a force utterly contemptible in comparison with his own. Montcalm
captured Oswego. The French lines up the lakes and across to the
Ohio were stronger than ever.
But in 1758, William Pitt entered the councils of George II. as actual
though not nominal chief of the ministry, and then England flung herself
Conflict between the French and English. 43
in deadly earnest into the contest. That year Fort Duquesne was cap-
tured by an English and Provincial army, its garrison having retreated.
Northward, Fort Frontenac was seized by Colonel Bradstreet,and other
victories prepared the way for the grand success in 1759. The cordon
was broken, but Fort Niagara still held out for France ; still the messen-
gers ran backward and forward, to and from Presque Isle and Venango ;
still the Senecas strongly declared their friendship for Yonnondio and
Yonnondio's royal master.
In 1759 yet heavier blows were struck. Wolfe assailed Quebec, the
strongest of all the French strongholds. Almost at the same time Gen-
eral Prideaux, with two thousand British and Provincials, accompanied
by Sir William Johnson with one thousand of his faithful Iroquois, sailed
up Lake Ontario and laid siege to Fort Niagara. Defended by only six
hundred men, its capture was certain unless relief could be obtained.
Its commander was not idle. Once again along the Niagara, and up
Lake Erie, and away through the forest, sped his lithe, red-skinned
messengers to summon the sons and the allies of France. D'Aubrey, at
Venango, heard the call and responded with his most zealous endeavors.
Gathering all the troops he could from far and near, stripping bare with
desperate energy the little French posts of the West, and mustering
every red man he could persuade to follow his banners, he set forth to
relieve Niagara.
Thus it was that about the 20th of July, 1759, while the English
army was still camped around the walls of Quebec, while Wolfe and
Montcalm were approaching that common grave to which the path of
glory was so soon to lead them, a stirring scene took place on the west-
ern borders of our county. The largest European force which had yet
been seen in this region at any one time came coasting down the lake
from Presque Isle, past the mouth of the Cattaraugus, and along the
shores of Brant and Evans and Hamburg, to the mouth of the limpid
Buffalo. Fifty or sixty bateaux bore near a thousand Frenchmen on
their mission of relief, while a long line ot ca^noes were freighted with
four hundred of the dusky warriors of the West.
A motley yet gallant band it was which then hastened along our
shores, on the desperate service of sustaining the failing fortunes of France.
Gay young officers from the court of the Grand Monarque sat side by
side with sunburned trappers, whose feet had trodden every mountain
and prairie from the St. Lawrence to the Mississippi. Veterans who had
won laurels under the marshals of France were comrades of those who
knew no other foe than the Iroquois and the Delawares.
One boat was filled with soldiers trained to obey with unquestioning
fidelity every word of their leaders ; another contained only wild savages,
who scarce acknowledged any other law than their own fierce will. Here
flashed swords and bayonets and brave attire, there appeared the dark
44 History of Erie County.
rifles and buckskin garments of the hardy hunters, while, still further on,
the tomahawks and scalping-knives and naked bodies of Ottawa and Hu-
ron braves glistened in the July sun.
There were some, too, among the younger men, who might fairly
have taken their places in either bateau or canoe ; whose features bore
unmistakable evidence of the commingling of diverse races; who might
perchance have justly claimed kindred with barons and chevaliers then
resplendent in the salons of Paris, but who had drawn their infant nour-
ishment from the breasts of dusky mothers, as they rested from hoeing
corn on the banks of the Ohio.
History has preserved but a slight record of this last struggle of the
French for dominion in these regions, but it has rescued from oblivion
the names of D'Aubrey, the commander, and DeLignery, his second ; of
Marin, the leader of the Indians; and of the captains DeVilliers, Repen-
tini, Martini and Basonc.
They were by no means despondent. The command contained many
of the same men, both white and red, who had slaughtered the unlucky
battalions of Braddock only two years before, and they might well hope
that some similar turn of fortune would yet give them another victory
over the foes of France.
The Seneca warriors, snuffing the battle from their homes on the
Genesee and beyond, were roaming restlessly through Erie and Niagara
counties, and along the shores of the river, uncertain how to act, more
friendly to the French than the English, and yet unwilling to engage in
conflict with their brethren of the Six Nations.
Hardly pausing to communicate with these doubtful friends, D*Au-
brey led his flotilla past the pleasant groves whose place is now occupied
by a great commercial emporium, hurried by the tall bluff now crowned
by the battlements of Fort Porter, dashed down the rapids, swept on in
his eager course untroubled By the piers of any International bridge,
startled the deer from their lairs on the banks of Grand Island, and only
halted on reaching the shores of Navy Island.
He being then beyond the borders of Erie county, we can give the
remainder of his expedition but the briefest mention. After staying at
Navy Island a day or two to communicate with the fort, he passed over
to the mainland and confidently marched^ forward to battle. But Sir
Wilham Johnson, who had succeeded to the command on the death of
Prideaux, was not the kind of man likely to meet the fate of Braddock.
Apprised of the approach of the French, he retained men enough
before the fort to prevent an outbreak of the garrison, and stationed the
rest in an advantageous position on the east side of the Niagara, just
below the whirlpool. After a battle an hour long the French were utterly
routed, several hundred being slain on the field, and a large part of the
remainder being captured, including the wounded D'Aubrey.
British Successes. 45
On the receipt of these disastrous news the garrison at once sur-
rendered. The control of the Niagara river, which had been in the
hands of the French for over a hundred years, passed into those of the
English. For a little while the French held possession of their fort at
Schlosser, and even repulsed an English force sent against it. Becoming
satisfied, however, that they could not withstand their powerful foe,
they determined to destroy their two armed vessels, laden with military
stores. They accordingly took them into an arm of the river, separating
Buckhorn from Grand Island, at the very north westernmost limit of Erie
county, burned them to the water's edge, and sunk the hulls. The re-
mains of these hulls, nearly covered with mud and sand, are still, or were
lately, to be seen in the shallow water where they sank, and the name of
" Burnt Ship Bay " perpetuates the naval sacrifice of the defeated Gauls.
Soon the life-bought victory of Wolfe gave Quebec to the triumphant
Britons. Still the French clung to their colonies with desperate but
failing grasp, and it was not until September, 1760, that the Marquis de
Vaudreuil, the Governor-General of Canada, surrendered Montreal, and
with it Detroit, Venango, and all the other posts within his jurisdiction.
This surrender was ratified by the treaty of peace between England and
France in February, 1763, which ceded Canada to the former power.
The struggle was over. The English Octavius had defeated the
Gallic Antony. Forever destroyed was the prospect of a French peas-
antry inhabiting the plains of Erie county ; of baronial castles crowning
its vine-clad heights ; of a gay French city overlooking the mighty lake
and the renowned river.
CHAPTER VII.
ENGLISH DDMINIDN.
Pontiac's League — The Senecas Hostile— The Devil's Hole — Battle near Buffalo— Treaty at
Niagara — Bradstreet's Expedition — Israel Putnam — Lake Commerce — Wreck of the
Beaver — Tryon County — The Revolution — Four Iroquois Tribes Hostile — The Oswego
Treaty — Scalps — Brant — Guienguahtoh — Wyoming — Cheny Valley — Sullivan's Expedi-
tion — Senecas Settle in Erie County — Gilbert Family — Peace.
NOTWITHSTANDING the disappearance of the French soldiers,
the western tribes still remembered them with affection, and were
still disposed to wage war upon the English. The celebrated
Pontiac united nearly all these tribes in a league against the red-coats,
immediately after the advent of the latter, and as no such confederation
had been formed against the French, during all their long years of pos-
session, his action must be assigned to some cause other than mere hatred
of all civilized intruders.
4
46 History of Erie County.
In May, 1763, the league surprised nine out of twelve English posts,
and massacred their garrisons. Detroit, Pittsburg and Niagara alone
escaped surprise, and each successfully resisted a siege, in which branch
of war, indeed, the Indians were almost certain to fail. There is no posi-
tive evidence, but there is little doubt that the Senecas were involved in
Pontiac's league, and were active in the attack on Fort Niagara. They
had been unwilling to fight their brethren of the Long House, under Sir
William Johnson, but had no scruples about killing the English when left
alone, as was soon made terribly manifest.
In the September following occurred the awful tragedy of the Devil's
Hole, when a band of Senecas, of whom Honayewus, afterwards cele-
brated as Farmer's Brother, was one and Cornplanter probably another,
ambushed a train of English army-wagons with an escort of soldiers, the
whole numbering ninety-six men, three and a half miles below the Falls,
and massacred every man with four exceptions.
A few weeks later, on the 19th of October, 1763, there occurred the
first recorded conflict of arms in Erie county in which white men took
part. It is said to have been at the *'east end of Lake Erie," but was
probably on the river just below the lake, as there would be no chance
for ambushing boats on the lake shore.
Six hundred British soldiers, under one Major Wilkins, were on their
way in boats to reinforce their comrades in Detroit. As they approached
the lake, a hundred and sixty of them who were half a mile astern of the
others, were suddenly fired on by a band of Senecas, ensconced in a
thicket on the river shore probably on the site of Black Rock. Though
even the British estimated the enemy at only sixty, yet so close was their
aim that thirteen men were killed and wounded at the first fire. The
captain in command of the nearest boats immediately ordered fifty men
ashore and attacked the Indians. The latter fell back a short distance,
but rallied, and when the British pursued them they maintained their
ground so well that three more men were killed on the spot, and twelve
others badly wounded, including two commissioned officers. Meanwhile,
under the protection of other soldiers, who formed on the beach, the
boats made their way into the lake, and the men who had taken part in
the fight were enabled to re-embark. It does not appear that the Indians
suffered near as heavily as the soldiers.
This was the last serious attack by the Senecas upon the English.
Becoming at length convinced that the French had really yielded, and
that Pontiac's scheme had failed as to its main purpose, they sullenly
agreed to abandon their Gallic friends and be at peace with the tri-
umphant Britons.
In April, 1764, Sir William Johnson concluded peace with eight
chiefs of the Senecas, at Johnson's Hall. At that time, among other
agreements, they formally conveyed to the King of England a tract four-
Bradstreet's Expedition. 47
teen miles by four, for a carrying place around Niagara Falls, lying on
both sides of the river from Schlosser to Lake Ontario. This was the
origin of the policy of reserving a strip of land along the river, which
was afterwards carried out by the United States and the State of New
York.
This treaty was to be more fully ratified at a council to be held at
Fort Niagara in the summer of 1764. Events in the West, where Pontiac
still maintained active but unavailing hostility to the British, as well as
the massacres previously perpetrated by the Senecas, determined the
English commander-in-chief to send a force up the lakes able to overcome
all opposition.
Accordingly, in the summer of 1764, General Bradstreet, an able
officer, with twelve hundred British and Americans, came by water to
Fort Niagara, accompanied by the indefatigable Sir William Johnson and
a body of his Iroquois warriors. A grand council of friendly Indians
was held at the fort, among whom Sir William exercised his customary
skill, and satisfactory treaties were made with them.
But the Senecas, though repeatedly promising attendance in answer
to the baronet's messages, still held aloof, and were said to be meditating
a renewal of the war. At length General Bradstreet ordered their imme-
diate attendance, under penalty of the destruction of their settlements.
They came, ratified the treaty, and thenceforward adhered to it pretty
faithfully, notwithstanding the peremptory manner in which it was
obtained. In the meantime a fort had been erected on the site of Fort
Erie, the first ever built there.
In August, Bradstreet*s army increased to nearly three thousand
men, among whom were three hundred Senecas, (who seem to have been
taken along partly as hostages,) came up the river to the site of Buffalo.
Thence they proceeded up the south side of the lake, for the purpose of
bringing the Western Indians to terms, a task which was successfully
accomplished without bloodshed. From the somewhat indefinite accounts
which have come down to us, it is evident that the journey was made in
open boats, rigged with sails, in which when the wind was favorable,
-excellent speed was made.
Bradstreet's force, like D*Aubrey*s, was a somewhat motley one.
There were stalwart, red-coated regulars, who, when they marched, did
so as one man ; hardy New England militia, whose dress and discipline
and military manoeuvres were but a poor imitation of the British, yet
who had faced the legions of France on many a well-fought field ; rude
hunters of the border, to whom all discipline was irksome ; faithful Indian
allies from the Mohawk valley, trained to admiration of the English by
Sir Walter Johnson; and finally the three hundred scowling Senecas,
their hands red from the massacre of the Devil's Hole, and almost ready
to stain them again with English blood.
48 History of Erie County.
Of the British and Americans, who then in closest friendship and
under the same banners passed along the western border of Erie county,
there were not a few who in twelve years more were destined to seek
each other's lives on the blood-stained battle-fields of the Revolution.
Among them was one whose name was a tower of strength to the patri-
ots of America, whose voice rallied the faltering soldiers of Bunker Hill,
and whose fame has come down to us surrounded by a peculiar halo of
adventurous valor. This was Israel Putnam, then a loyal soldier of
King George, and lieutenant-colonel commanding the Connecticut
battalion.
For a while, however, there was peace, not only between England
and France but between the Indians and the colonists. The Iroquois,
though the seeds of dissension had been sown among them, were still a
powerful confederacy, and their war parties occasionally made incursions
among the Western Indians, striding over the plains of Erie county as they
went and returning by the same route with their scalps and prisoners.
Hither, too, came detachments of red-coated Britons, rowing up the
Niagara, usually landing at Fort Erie, where a post was all the while
maintained, and going thence in open boats to Detroit, Mackinaw and
other western forts. Some also came by this route on their way to Pitts-
burg, though that post was usually supplied and re-enforced by way of
Pennsylvania and Virginia.
Along the borders of Erie county, too, went all the commerce of the
upper lakes, consisting of supplies for the military posts, goods to trade
with the Indians, and the furs received in return. The trade was carried
on almost entirely in open boats, propelled by oars, with the occasional
aid of a temporary sail. In good weather tolerable progress could be
made, but woe to any of these frail craft which might be overtaken by a
storm.
The New York Gazette, in February, 1770, informed its readers that
several boats had been lost in crossing Lake Erie, and that the distress of
the crews was so great that they were obliged to keep two human bodies
found on the north shore, so as to kill for food the ravens and eagles
which came to feed on the corpses. Other boats were mentioned at the
same time as frozen up or lost, but nothing is said as to sail-vessels. There
were, however, at least two or three English trading-vessels on Lake
Erie before the Revolution, and probably one or two armed vessels
belonging to the British government. One of the former, called the
Beaver, is known to have been lost in a storm, and is believed by the
best authorities to have been wrecked near the mouth of Eighteen-Mile
creek, and to have furnished the relics found in that vicinity by early set-
tlers, which by some have been attributed to the ill-fated Griffin.
The Senecas made frequent complaints of depredations committed
by Whites on some of their number, who had villages on the head waters
The War of the Revolution. 49
of the Susquehanna and Ohio. " Cressap's war," in which the celebrated
Logan was an actor, contributed to render them uneasy, but they did not
break out in open hostilities. They, like the rest of the Six Nations, had
by this time learned to place implicit confidence in Sir William Johnson
and made all their complaints through him.
He did his best to redress their grievances, and also sought to have
them withdraw their villages from those isolated localities to their chief
seats in New York, so that they would be more completely under his
jurisdiction and protection. Ere this could be accomplished, however,
all men's attention was drawn to certain mutterings in the political sky,
low at first, but growing more and more angry, until at length there burst
upon the country that long and desolating storm known as the Revolu-
tionary war.
Before speaking of that it may be proper to remark that, munici-
pally considered, all the western part of the colony of New York was
nominally a part of Albany county down to 1772, though really all
authority was divided between the Seneca chiefs and the officers of the
nearest British garisons. In that year a new county was formed, embrac-
ing all that part of the colony west of the Delaware river, and of a line
running northeastward from the head of that stream through the present
county of Schoharie, then northward along the east line of Montgomery,
Fulton and Hamilton counties, and continuing in a straight line to
Canada. It was named Tryon, in honor of William Tryon, then the
royal governor of New York. Guy Johnson, Sir William's nephew and
son-in-law, was the earliest " first judge " of the common pleas, with the
afterward celebrated John Butler as one of his associates.
As the danger of hostilities increased, the Johnsons showed them-
selves more and more clearly on the side of the King. Sir William said
little and seemed greatly disturbed by the gathering troubles. There is
little doubt, however, that had he lived, he would have used his power
in behalf of his royal master. But in 1774 he suddenly died. Much of
his influence over the Six Nations descended to his son. Sir John John-
son, and his nephew, Colonel Guy Johnson. The latter became his suc-
cessor in the office of superintendent of Indian affairs.
In 1775 the Revolution began. The new superintendent persuaded
the Mohawks to remove westward with him, and made good his
influence over all of the Six Nations except the Oneidas and Tuscaroras,
though it was near two years from the breaking out of the war before
they committed any serious hostilities. John Butler, however, estab-
lished himself at Fort Niagara, and organized a regiment of Tories known
as Butler's Rangers, and he and the Johnsons used all their influence to
induce the Indians to attack the Americans.
The Senecas held off for a while, but the prospect of both blood and
pay was too much for them to withstand, and in 1777 they, in common
so History of Erie County.
with the Cayugas, Onondagas and Mohawks, made a treaty with the
British at Oswego, agreeing to serve the king throughout the war. Mary
Jemison, the celebrated " White Woman," then living among the Sene-
cas on the Genesee, declares that at that treaty the British agents, after
giving the Indians numerous presents, " promised a bounty on every scalp
that should be brought in."
The question whether a price was actually paid or promised for
scalps has been widely debated. There is not sufficient evidence to
prove that it was done, and the probabilities are that it was not. Mary
Jemison was usually considered truthful, and had good means of know-
ing what the Indians understood on the subject, but the latter were very
ready to understand that they would be paid for taking scalps. An inci-
dent on the American side, which will be narrated in the account of the
War of 1 812, will illustrate this propensity of the savages.
As formerly the Senecas, though favorable to the French, hesitated
about attacking their brethren of the Long House, so now the Oneidas
who were friendly to the Americans, did not go out to battle against the
other Iroquois, but remained neutral throughout the contest. The league
of the Hedonosaunee was weakened but not destroyed.
From the autumn of 1777 forward, the Senecas, Cayugas, Onondagas
and Mohawks were active in the British interest. Fort Niagara again
became, as it had been during the French war, the key of all this region,
and to it the Iroquois constantly looked for support and guidance. Their
raids kept the whole frontier for hundreds of miles in a state of terror,
and were attended by the usual horrors of savage warfare.
Whether a bounty was paid for scalps or not, the Indians were cer-
tainly employed to assail the inhabitants with constant marauding parties,
notwithstanding their well-known and inveterate habit of slaughtering
men, women and children whenever opportunity offered, or at least when-
ever the freak happened to take them. In fact they were good for very
little else, their desultory method of warfare making them almost entirely
useless in assisting the regular operations of an army.
The most active and most celebrated of the Iroquois chiefs in the
Revolution was Joseph Brant, or Thayendenegea, a Mohawk who had
received a moderate English education under the patronage of Sir
William Johnson. He was most frequently intrusted with the command
of detached parties by the British officers, but it does not appear that he
had authority over all the tribes, and it is almost certain that the haughty
Senecas, the most powerful tribe of the confederacy, to whom by ancient
custom belonged both the principal war-chiefs of the league, would not
have submitted and did not submit to the control of a Mohawk.
Three of the chiefs of the Senecas during the Revolution are well
known — "Farmer's Brother," " Cornplanter," and "Governor Black-
snake f" but who was their chief-in-chief, if one may coin the expression.
Sullivan's Expedition. 51
is not certain. It is very probable that there was none, but that the
leader of each expedition received his orders directly from the English
officers.
W. L. Stone, author'of the " Life of Brant," says that at the battle of
Wyoming in 1778, the leader of the Senecas, who formed the main part
of the Indian force on that occasion, was Guiengwahtoh, supposed to be
same as Guiyahgwahdoh, " the smoke-bearer." That was the official title
of the Seneca afterwards known as " Young King," he being a kind of
hereditary embassador, the bearer of the smoking brand from the great
council-fire of the confederacy to light that of the Senecas. He was too
young to have been at Wyoming, but his predecessor in office, (probably
his maternal uncle,) might have been there. Brant was certainly not
present.
We have called that affair the "battle " instead of the ** massacre"
of Wyoming, as it is usually termed. The facts seem to be that no
quarter was given during the conflict and that after the Americans were
routed, the Tories and Senecas pursued and killed all they could, but
that those who reached the fort and afterwards surrendered were not
harmed, nor were any of the non-combatants. The whole valley, how-
ever, was devastated, and the houses burned.
At Cherry Valley, the same year, the Senecas were present in force,
together with a body of Mohawks under Brant, and of Tories under
Captain Walter Butler, son of Colonel John Butler, and there then was
an undoubted massacre. Nearly thirty women and children were killed,
besides many men surprised helpless in their homes.
These events, and other similar ones on a smaller scale, induced
Congress and General Washington to set on foot an expedition in the
spring of 1779 which, though carried on outside the bounds of Erie
county, had a very strong influence on that county's subsequent history.
We refer to the celebrated expedition of General Sullivan against the
Six Nations.
Having marched up the Susquehanna to Tioga Point, where he was
joined by a brigade under General James Clinton, (father of De Witt
Clinton,) Sullivan, with a total force of some four thousand men, moved
up the Chemung to the site of Elmira. There Colonel Butler, with a
small body of Indians and Tories, variously estimated at from six hun-
dred to fifteen hundred men, had thrown up intrenchments, and a battle
was fought. Butler was speedily defeated, retired with considerable
loss, and made no further opposition.
Sullivan advanced and destroyed all the Seneca villages on the Gen-
esee and about Geneva, burning wigwams and cabins, cutting down
orchards, cutting up growing corn, and utterly devastating the country.
The Senecas fled in great dismay to Fort Niagara. The Onondaga vil-
lages had in the meantime been destroyed by another force, but it is
52 History of Erie County.
plain that the Senecas were the ones who were chiefly feared, and against
whom the vengeance of the Americans was chiefly directed. After
thoroughly laying waste their country, the Americans returned to
the East.
Sullivan's expedition substantially destroyed the league which bound
the Six Nations together. Its form remained, but it had lost its binding
power. The Oneidas and Tuscaroras were encouraged to increase their
separation from the other confederates. Those tribes whose possessions
had been destroyed were thrown into more complete subservience to the
British power, thereby weakening their inter-tribal relations, and the
spirits of the Senecas, the most powerful and warlike of them all, were
much broken by this disaster.
It was a more serious matter than had been the destruction of their
villages in earlier times, as they had adopted a more permanent mode of
existence. They had learned to depend more on agriculture and less on
the chase and possessed not only corn-fields, but gardens, orchards, and
sometimes comfortable houses. In fact they had adopted many of the
customs of civilized life, though without relinquishing their primitive
pleasures, such as tomahawking prisoners and scalping the dead.
They fled rn masse to Fort Niagara, and during the winter of 1 779-*8o,
which was of extraordinary severity, were scantily sustained by rations
which the British authorities with difficulty procured. As spring ap-
proached, the English made earnest efforts to reduce the expense, by
persuading the Indians to make new settlements and plant crops. The
red men were naturally anxious to keep as far as practicable from the
dreaded foes who had inflicted such heavy punishments the year before,
and were unwilling to risk their families again at their ancient seats.
At this time a considerable body of the Senecas, with a few Cay ugas
and Onondagas, came up from Niagara and established themselves near
Buffalo creek, about four miles above its mouth.* This was, so far as
known, the first permanent settlement of the Senecas in Erie county.
They probably had huts here to use while hunting and fishing, but no
regjular villages. In fact this settlement in the spring of 1780, was proba-
bly the first permanent occupation of the county since the destruction
of the Neuter Nation, a hundred and thirty-five years before.
The same spring another band located themselves at the mouth of
the Cattaraugus.
The Senecas who settled on Buffalo creek, were under the leadership
of Siangarochti, or Sayengaraghta, an aged but influential chief, some-
times called Old King, and said to be the head sachem of that tribe.
They brought with them two or more members of the Gilbert family,
• The Senecas chose a location south of the creek near the site of '* Martin's Comers," the
Onoadagas made their home near where the southern village of Ebenezer is now situated, while the
Cayugas erected their wigwams a little further north, near the banks of Cayuga creek.
Settlement of Senegas in Erie County. 53
quakers who had been captured on the borders of Pennsylvania, a month
or two previous. After the war the family published a narrative of their
captivity, which gives much valuable information regarding the period
of our history.
Immediately on their arrival, the squaws began to clear the ground
and prepare it for corn, while the men built some log huts and then went
out hunting. That summer the family ol Siangarochti alone raised
seventy-five bushels of corn.
In the beginning of the winter of i78o-*8i, two British officers, Cap-
tain Powell and Lieutenant Johnson, or Johnston, came to the settle-
ment on Bufifalo creek, and remained until toward spring. The}' wxre
probably sent by the British authorities at Fort Niagara, to aid in put-
ting the new settlement on a solid foundation. Possibly they were also
doing some fur-trading on their own account. They made strenuous
efforts to obtain the release of Rebecca and Benjamin, two of the younger
members of the Gilbert family, but the Indians were unwilling to give
them up.
Captain Powell had married Jane Moore, a girl who, with her mother
and others of the family, had been captured at Cherry Valley. The
" Lieutenant Johnson " who accompanied him to Buffalo creek was most
likely his half-brother, who afterwards located at Buffalo, and was known
to the early settlers as Captain William Johnston. There seems to have
been no ground whatever for the supposition which has been entertained
by some that he was the half-breed son of Sir William Johnson. All the
circumstances show that he was not.
Lieutenant Johnston, who was probably an officer in Butler*s Rangers,
was said by Mrs. Jemison, (the "white woman,") to have robbed Jane
Moore of a ring at Cherry Valley, which he afterwards used to marry
the lady he had despoiled. As Jane Moore married Captain Powell
instead of Lieutenant Johnston, this romantic story has been entirely dis-
credited ; but since it has been ascertained that Johnston was a half-
brother of Powell, it is easy to see how Mrs. Jemison might have con-
founded the two, and that Johnston might really have furnished the
"confiscated" ring for his brother's wedding instead of his own. Cap-
tain (afterwards Colonel) Powell is frequently and honorably mentioned,
in several accounts, as doing everything in his power to ameliorate the
condition of the captives among the Indians.
It must have been about this time that Johnston took unto himself
a Seneca wife ; for his son, John Johnston, was a young man when Buf-
falo was laid out in 1803.
Elizabeth Peart, wife of Thomas Peart, son of the elder Mrs. Gilbert
by a former husband, was another of the captives who was brought to
Buffalo creek. She had been adopted by a Seneca family, but that did
not cause much kindness on their part, for they allowed her child, less
54 History of Erie County.
than a year old, to be taken from her and adopted by another family,
living near Fort Niagara. She was permitted to keep it awhile after its
" adoption," but when they went to the fort for provisions, they took her
and her infant along and compelled her to give it up.
Near the close of the winter of i78o-*8i, they were again compelled
to go to Fort Niagara for provisions, and there she found her child,
which had been bought by a white family from the Indians who had
adopted it. By many artifices, and by the connivance of Captain Powell^
she finally escaped to Montreal with her husband and children.
Others of the Gilbert family still remained in captivity. Thomas
Peart, a brother of Benjamin, obtained his liberty in the spring of 1781,
and was allowed to go to Buffalo creek with Captain Powell, who was
sent to distribute provisions, hoes and other implements among the In-
dians. At the distribution, the chiefs of every band came for shares, each
having as many sticks as there were persons in his band, in order to insure
a fair division.
That spring still another body of Indians came to Buffalo creek,
having with them Abner and Elizabeth Gilbert, the two youngest chil-
dren of the family. But this band settled some distance from the main
body, and the children were not allowed to visit each other.
In July of that year, the family in which Abner Gilbert was, went to
" Butlersburg," a little village opposite Fort Niagara, named after Colonel
Butler. The Colonel negotiated with the woman who was the head of
the family for Abner, and on receiving some presents she agreed to give
him up at the end of twenty days. She took him badk to Buffalo creek,
but returned with him before the stipulated day, and he and Elizabeth
were sent to Montreal by the first ship.
Meanwhile, the war had gone forward with varying fortunes. Guy
Johnson and Colonel Butler kept the Indians as busy as possible, maraud-
ing upon the frontier, but they had been so thoroughly 'broken up that
they were unable to produce such devastation as at Wyoming and Cherry
Valley.
In October, 1781, Cornwallis surrendered, and thenceforth there
were no more active hostilities.
Rebecca Gilbert and Benjamin Gilbert, Jr., were released the next
year. This appears to have been managed by Colonel Butler, who, to
give him his due, always seemed willing to befriend the captives, though
constantly sending out his savages to make new ones. Not until the
arrangements were all made did the Indians inform Rebecca of her
approaching freedom. With joyful heart she prepared for her journey,
making bread and doing other needful work for her captors. Then, by
canoe and on foot, she and her brother were taken to Niagara, and after
a conference, the last two of the ill-fated family were released from cap-
tivity in June, 1782. ^
Termination of British Rule. 55
In the fall of 1783, peace was formally declared between Great Britain
and the revolted colonies, henceforth to be acknowledged by all men as
the United States of America. By the treaty, the boundary line was
established along the center of Lake Ontario, Niagara river and Lake
Erie. Although the forts held by the British on the American side of
the line were not given up for manj^ years afterwards, and although they
thus retained a strong influence over the Indians located on this side, yet
the legal title was admitted to be in the United States. Thus the unques-
tioned English authority over the territory of Erie county laste.d only
from the treaty with France in 1763 to that with the United States in
1783, a little over twenty years.
CHAPTER VIII.
FROM 17B3 TD 12BB.
Treatment of the Six Nations — The Treaty of Fort Stanwix — The Western Boundary — Origin of
the name of Buffalo — Miss Powell's Visit — ** Captain David " — Claims of New York and
Massachusetts — How Settled — Sale to Phelps and Gorham — The Land Rings — A Council
Called.
NO provision whatever was made in the treaty of peace for the
Indian allies of Great Britain. The English authorities, however,
offered them land in Canada, but all except the Mohawks preferred
to remain in New York.
The United States treated them with great moderation. Although
the Iroquois had twice violated their pledges, and without provocation
had plunged into the war against the colonies, they were readily admit-
ted to the benefits of peace, and were even recognized as the owners of
all the land in New York over which they had ranged before the Revo-
lution. The property line, as it was called, previously drawn between
the whites and Indians, ran along the eastern border of Broome and
Chenango counties, and thence northwestward to a point seven miles
west of Rome.
In October, 1784, a treaty was made at Fort Stanwix (Rome) between
three commissioners of the United States and the sachems of the Six
Nations. The Marquis de LaFayette was present and made a speech,
though not one of the commissioners. It is almost certain, however,
that Red Jacket, then a young man, who afterwards claimed to have been
there, did not really take any part in the council. Brant was not pres-
ent, though he had been active in a couilcil with Governor Clinton, only
56 History of Erie Countv'.
a short time before. Complanter spoke on betialf of the Senecas, but
Sayengeraghta or " Old King," was recognized as the principal Seneca
sachem.
The eastern boundary of the Indian lands does not seem to have been
in dispute, but the United States wanted to extinguish whatever claim
the Six Nations might have to Ohio and other western territory, and
also to keep open the right of way around the Falls, which Sir William
Johnson had obtained for the British. It was accordingly agreed that
the western line of their lands should begin on Lake Ontario, four miles
east of the Niagara, running thence southerly, in a direction always four
miles east of the carrj-ing path, to the mouth of Tehoseroron (or Buffalo)
creek, on Lake Erie ; thence south to the north boundary of the State of
Pennsylvania ; *' thence west to the end of said north boundary ; thence
south along the west boundary of the State to the river Ohio."
This agreement fif it is correctly given above, and we think it is,)
would have left the whole of Chatauqua county and a large part of Erie
and Cattaraugus west of the line. It could hardly be called a treaty, as
the Indians only agreed to it because they thought they were obliged to,
and afterwards made so much complaint that its provisions were some-
what modified.
The treaty of Fort Stanwix was the first public document containing
the name of Buffalo creek, as applied to the stream which empties at the
foot of Lake Erie. The narrative of the Gilbert family published just
after the war was the first appearance of the name in writing or printing.
This is a proper time, therefore, to consider a question which has
been often debated, viz., whether the original Indian name was " Buffalo"
creek. This almost of necessity involves the further question whether
the buffalo ever ranged on its banks ; for it is not to be presumed that
the Indians would, in the first place, have adopted that name unless such
had been the case.
It is conceded that the Seneca name for the locality at the mouth of
the creek was " To-se-o-way," otherwise rendered De-dyo-syo-oh, mean-
ing "the place of basswoods." Te-ho-se-ro-ron is supposed to be the
same word in the Mohawk dialect. It is therefore believed by some that
the interpreter made a mistake in calling the stream " Buffalo creek " in
the treaty of Fort Stanwix, and that the Senecas afterwards adopted the
name, calling the creek " Tick-e-ack-gou " or Buffalo.
In the second chapter the writer briefly indicated his reasons for
believing that the buffalo once visited, at least occasionally, the shores of
Buffalo creek. The first fact to be considered is the unquestioned exist-
ence in Erie county of open plains of considerable extent, only seventy-
five years ago. As they were then growing up with small timber, the
presumption is that they were much larger previously, and old accounts
coincide with the presumption.
Evidences of the Buffalo in Erie County. 57
Numerous early travelers and later hunters mention the existence of
the buffalo in this vicinity or not far away. The strongest instance is
the account of Chaumonot and Breboeuf, referred to in the sixth chapter,
which declares that the Neuter Nation, who occupied this very county
of Erie, as well as a portion of Canada, across the Niagara, were in the
habit of hunting the buffalo, together with other animals.
Mr. Ketchum, in his history of " Buffalo and the Senecas,** says that
all the oldest Senecas in 1820, declared that buffalo bones had been found
within their recollection at the salt licks near Sulphur Springs. The
same author produces evidence that white men had killed buffaloes within
the last hundred and twenty years, not only in Ohio but in Western
Pennsylvania.
Albert Gallatin, who was a surveyor in Western Virginia in 1784,
declared, in a paper published by the American Ethnological Society,
that they were at that time abundant in the Kanawha valley, and that he
had for eight months lived principally on their flesh. This is positive
proof, and the Kanawha valley is only three hundred miles from here, and
only one hundred miles further west, and in as well wooded a country
as this. Mr. Gallatin adds authentic evidence of their having previously
penetrated west of the Alleghanies.
The narrative of the Gilbert family is very strong evidence that
from the first the Senecas applied the name of Buffalo to the stream in
question. Although the book was not published until after the war, yet
the knowledge then given to the public was acquired in 1780, *8i and '82.
At least six of the Gilberts and Pearts were among the Senecas on Buf-
falo creek. Some of them were captives for over two years, and must
have acquired considerable knowledge of the language. It is utterly out
of the question that they could all have been mistaken as to the name of
the stream on which they lived, which must have been constantly referred
to by all the Senecas in talking about their people domiciled there, as
well as by the scores of British officers and soldiers with whom the
Gilberts came in contact.
If, then, the Neuter Nation hunted buffaloes on either side of the
Niagara in 1640, if they were killed by the whites in Ohio and Pennsyl-
vania within the last century and a quarter, if Albert Gallatin found them
abundant on the Kanawha in 1784, if the old Senecas of 1820 declared
they had found his bones at the salt lick, and if the Indians called the
stream on which they settled in 1780 " Buffalo ** creek, there can be no
reasonable doubt that the latter knew what they were about, and did so
because that name came down from former times, when the monarch of the
western prairie strayed over the plains of the county of Erie.
In the year of the Fort Stanwix treaty (1784) the name of Try on
county, of which Erie was nominally a part, was changed to Mont-
gomery, in honor of the slain hero of Quebec.
58 History of Erie County.
In May, 1785, Miss Powell, probably a sister of the Captain Powell
before mentioned, visited an Indian council on Buffalo creek, and has left
an interesting description which is given in Mr. Ketchum's valuable
repertory. After admiring the Falls, of which she writes in glowing
terms, she and her party went in boats to Fort Erie, whence they crossed
to this side. She was accompanied by Mrs. Powell (Jane Moore), and
by several British officers. One of her companions, (who had also been
an officer, though perhaps he was not then one,) was a young Irish noble-
man whose name was soon to be raised to a mournful prominence, and
whose fruitless valor and tragic fate are still the theme of ballad and story
among the people of his native land. This was Lord Edward Fitzgerald,
who manifested a great fondness for visiting among the Indians, and who
found an especial charm in the society ot Brant.
Before the council assembled, Miss Powell noticed several chiefs,
gravely seated on the ground, preparing for it by painting their faces
before small looking-glasses, which they held in their left hands. She
declares there were two hundred chiefs present as delegates of the Six
Nations, which, as there were not over two thousand warriors in all, was
a very liberal allowance of officers.
The chiefs of each tribe formed a circle in the shade of a tree, while
their appointed speaker stood with his back against it. Then the old
women came, one by one, with great solemnity and seated themselves
behind the men. Miss Powell noted, with evident approval, that " on
the banks of Lake Erie a woman becomes respectable as she grows old ;"
and added that, though the ladies kept silent, nothing was decided with-
out their approbation.
Their fair visitor was wonderfully impressed by the manly appear-
ance of the Iroquois warriors, and declared that "our beaux look quite
insignificant beside them." She was especially pleased with one who was
called "Captain David," of whom she gave a very full account. Indians
wearing the old clothes of white men are common enough now, but a
full-fledged Iroquois beau of the last century was an altogether different
personage, and we will therefore transcribe the substance of the lady's
glowing description.
She declared that the Prince of Wales did not bow with more grace
than " Captain David." He spoke English with propriety. His person
was as tall and fine as it was possible to imagine ; his features handsome
and regular, with a countenance of much softness ; his complexion not
disagreeably dark, and, said Miss Powell, " I really believe he washes his
face ;" the proof being that she saw no signs of paint forward of his ears.
His hair was shaved off, except a little on top of his head, which, with
his ears, was painted a glowing red. AroUnd his head was a fillet of
silver, from which two strips of black velvet, covered with silver beads
and broochps, hung over the left temple. A "fox-tail feather" in his
Conflicting Claims of Massachusetts and New York. 59
scalp lock, and a black one behind each ear, waved and nodded as he
walked, while a pair of immense silver ear-rings hung down to his
shoulders.
He wore a calico shirt, the neck and shoulders thickly covered with
silver brooches, the sleeves confined above the elbows with broad silver
bracelets, engraved with the arms of England, while four smaller ones
adorned his wrists. Around his waist was a dark scarf lined with scarlet
which hung to his feet, while his costume was completed by neatly fitting
blue cloth leggins, fastened with an ornamental garter below the knee.
Such was the most conspicuous gentleman of Erie county ninety-
eight years ago, and Miss Powell enthusiastically declared that "Captain
David made the finest appearance I ever saw in my life."
Now and then some fair English maiden has been so smitten with
the appearance of a native American warrior as to become his bride, and
make her residence within his wigwam. Miss Powell, however, was not
quite so much charmed by Captain David as that, since she returned to
Fort Erie that evening on her way to Detroit, leaving Lord Edward Fitz-
gerald and others to be entertained that night by the dancing of their
dusky friends.
As we stated in Chapter VIII, the colonies of Massachusetts and
New York had charters under which the)' could both claim not only all
Central and Western New York, but a strip of land running through to
the Pacific ocean, or at least to the Mississippi. About the close of the
Revolution, however, both Massachusetts and New York ceded to the
United States all claim to the territory west of a line drawn south from
the western extremity of Lake Ontario, being the present western
boundary of Chatauqua county.
After divers negotiations regarding the rest of the disputed territory,
commissioners from the two States interested and from the general gov-
ernment met at Hartford, in December, 1786, to endeavor to harmonize
their claims. It was then and there agreed that Massachusetts should
yield all claim to the land east of the present east line of Ontario and
Steuben counties. Also that west of that line. New York should have
the political jurisdiction and sovereignty, while Massachusetts should
have the title, or fee-simple, of the land, subject to the Indian right of
occupancy.
That is to say, the Indians could hold the land as long as they
pleased, but were only allowed to sell to the State of Massachusetts or
her assigns. This title, thus encumbered, was called the pre-emption
right, literally the right of first purchasing. New York, however,
reserved a tract a mile wide, along the eastern shore of the Niagara,
from Lake Ontario to Lake Erie. As, by the treaty of Fort Stanwix,the
lands of the Six Nations only came within four miles of the river, and
did not extend west of a line running due south from the mouth of Buf-
6o History of Erie County.
falo creek, it is probable that the United States had since released the
tract in New York west of that line, to the Indians, in response to their
numerous complaints.
While these events were transpiring a combination (a "ring" it
would now be called) was formed by prominent men in New York and
Canada, to get control of the Indian lands in this State. Two companies
were organized : " The New York and Genesee Land Company," of
which one John Livingston was the manager, and the " Niagara Genesee
Company," composed principally of Canadians, with Colonel John Butler
at the head. With him were associated Samuel Street, of Chippewa,
Captain Powell, the friend of the captives, William Johnston, afterwards
of Buffalo, and Benjamin Barton, of New Jersey.
As the State constitution forbade the sale of Indian lands to indi-
viduals, these companies, working together, sought to evade it by a
lease. So great was the influence of Butler and his friends that in 1787,
the Six Nations, or some chiefs claiming to act for them, gave the New
York and Genesee Company a lease of all their lands (except some small
reservations) for nine hundred and ninety-nine years. The considera-
tion was to be twenty thousand dollars, and an annual rental of two
thousand.
The next winter the lessees applied to the legislature for a recogni-
tion of their lease, but the intent to evade the law was too plain ; the
petition was promptly rejected and the lease declared void.
Many of the chiefs, whether trul)^ or not, declared this lease to have
been made without authority. We may note, as confirming what has
been said of the influence of the female sex among these savages, that in
a letter sent by several chiefs from Buffalo creek, in the spring of 1788,
they say the lease is void, " since not one sachem nor principal woman
had given their consent."
The lease having been declared void, the lessees next proposed to
procure a conveyance by the Indians of all their lands to the State, pro-
vided the State would re-imburse Livingston and his associates for all
their expenses, and convey to them half the land. This specimen of
" cheek " can hardly be exceeded even in thes« progessive days, consider-
ering that, by this proposition, Livingston, Butler and company would
have got some four or five million acres of the finest land in America as a
free gift. However, the proposition was promptly rejected.
In 1788, Massachusetts sold all her land in New York, about six
million acres, to Oliver Phelps and Nathaniel Gorham acting on behalf
of themselves and others, for one million dollars, in three equal annual
installments, the purchasers being at liberty to pay in certain stocks of
that State, then worth about twenty cents on the dollar.
The purchase was subject of course to the Indian right of occu-
pancy. Phelps, the active man of the firm, made an arrangement with
The Council at Buffalo Creek— Brant. 6i
Livingston, who agreed, doubtless for a consideration, to help him nego-
tiate a treaty with the Indians. But meanwhile there was a dis-
agreement between Livingston's and Butler's companies, and when
Phelps arrived at Geneva, where a council was to have been held, he
learned that Butler and Brant had assembled the Indians at Buffalo
creek, and had persuaded them not to meet with either Livingston or
Phelps. Finding that Butler and his friends had more influence over
the savages than Livingston, Phelps went to Niagara, came to a satis-
factory arrangement with them, and then procured the calling of a
council at Buffalo creek.
It assembled on the fifth of July. The proceedings were very quiet
and harmonious, for Butler and Brant made everything move smoothly.
There was little dispute, little excitement, and none of those impassioned
bursts of eloquence for which Indian orators have become famous ; yet
the noted men present at that council make it one of the most remarka-
ble assemblages ever convened in the county of Erie. A separate chap-
ter will therefore be devoted to it and them.
CHAPTER IX.
THE COUNCIL.
Brant — Butler — Kirkland — Phelps — Fanner's Brother — Red Jacket — Cornplanter — The Mill
seat — The Bargain — Butler's Pay.
BY far the most celebrated personage present in the council on Buf-
falo creek in July, 1788, was the Mohawk chieftain, called in his
native tongue Thayendenegea, but denominated Joseph when he was
taken under the patronage of Sir William Johnson, and known to fame
throughout England and America by the name of Brant. A tall, spare,
sinewy man of forty-five, with an intelligent but sinister countenance, in a
gaudy apparel combining the garments of savage and civilized life, the vain
but keen-witted Mohawk doubtless enjoyed himself as the observed of
all observers, but at the same time kept a sharp lookout for the main
chance ; having acquired a decidedly civilized relish for land and money.*
*The *' Narrative of Captain Snyder by C. H. Dewitt," quoted by Keichum, thus describes
Brant as he appeared at Fort Niagara about five years before the council at Buffalo creek: —
'* He was a likely fellow of a fierce aspect, tall and rather spare, well spoken, and apparently about
thirty [nearly about forty] years of age. He wore moccasins elegantly trimmed with beads, leggins
and breech cloth of superfine blue, short, green coat with two epauletts, and a small laced round hat.
By his side hung an elegant silver mounted cutlass, and his blanket of blue cloth, purposely dropped
on the chair on which he sat to display his epauletts, was gorgeously decorated with a border of red."
Miss Powell, whose visit to Buffalo creek in 1785 is described in the last chapter, saw Brant
at Fort Niagara, and said of him : **I was by no means pleased with his looks.** As the lady's
letter shows that she was extremely well pleased with most of the Indians, I have ventured to de-
scribe Brant as having a sinister countenance.
6
62 History of Erie County.
Brant has acquired a terrible reputation as a bold and blood-thirsty
leader of savages, but it would appear as if both his vices and his virtues
were of the civilized — or semi-civilized — stamp. He had a mind which
took easily to the instruction of the white man — though his education was
only mediocre — and before the Revolution he had become a kind of
private secretary to Colonel Guy Johnson ; a position that to a thorough-
going Indian would have been irksome in the extreme. Even the Mo-
hawks did not then look "up to him as a great warrior, and on the out-
break of hostilities chose as their chief his nephew, Peter Johnson, son of
Sir William by Brant's sister Molly.
But the British found Brant the most intelligent of the Indians, and
by using him they could most easily insure co-operation in their own
plans. They therefore intrusted him with numerous expeditions, and
the Mohawks readily yielded to his authority. So, too, perhaps, did
some of the Cayugasand Onondagas, but the evidence is strong that the
Senecas never obeyed him. After the war, however, he was looked up
to by all the Indians, on account of his influence with the British officials.
In the matter of cruelty, too, though perhaps not a very humane
man according to our standard, he was much less savage than most of
his countrymen, and there is abundant evidence of his having many times
saved unfortunate prisoners from torture or death. Albeit there is also
evidence of his having taken some lives needlessly, but never of his in-
flicting torture.
As he grew older he affected more and more the style of an English
country gentleman at his hospitable residences at Brantford and Bur-
lington Bay, and finally died, in 1807, in the odor of sanctity, a member
of the Episcopal church and a translator of the scriptures in the Mohawk
dialect.
Another active participant in the council, with a reputation scarcely
less extensive or less sinister, was Colonel John Butler, the leader ol "But-
ler's Rangers," the commander at the far-famed *' Massacre of Wyoming,"
the terror of ten thousand families, the loyal gentleman of British records,
the "infamous Butler" of border history.
In this case, as in many others, probably the subject of partisan
hatred was not as black as he has been painted, but his record was still a
very dark one. The " Massacre of Wyoming," is perhaps hardly entitled
to that name. But Colonel Butler was the most active agent in sending
and leading the savages against the frontier, knowing that it was impos-
sible at times to restrain them from the most horrible outrages. Again
and again they murdered individuals and families in cold blood ; again
and again they dragged women and children from their homes hundreds
of miles through the snows of winter, often slaughtering those too feeble
to travel ; and again and again John Butler, the great military authority
of all this region, sent or led them to a repetition of similar scenes — and
Colonel John Butler — Rev. Samuel Kirkland. 63
they were good for little else — easily satisfying his conscience by some-
times procuring the release of a prisoner.
A native of Connecticut, a man of education and intelligence, in his
youth an officer in the " French and Indian" war, afterwards a judge
of the county of Tryon, then a bold, active and relentless partisan com-
mander, cheering on his rangers and Senecas at Wyoming, sword in
hand, without his uniform and with a red 'kerchief tied around his head.
Butler was in 1788, an agreeable appearing gentlemen of fifty -five or sixty,
stout and red-faced, in cocked hat and laced coat, with unbounded
influence over the Indians, and determined to use it so as to make a good
thing for himself out of the lands of Western New York.
There, too, was the Rev. Samuel Kirkland, the agent of Massachu-
setts, a man of noble character and varied experience. Twenty-three
years before, then a young man just graduated from college, he had
devoted himself to the missionary cause among the Indians, going at first
among these same Senecas, and making many friends, though meeting
with some very disheartening adventures. Then he had taken up his
home with the Oneidas and labored among them with some intermissions
nearly forty years, ever receiving their most earnest affection and respect.
It had been largely owing to his influence that that tribe had remained
neutral during the Revolution. Congress had employed him in various
patriotic services throughout that struggle, and during Sullivan's cam-
paign he had served as brigade chaplain. Fourteen years after the events
we are now relating, he gained a new title to public gratitude by becom-
ing the founder of Hamilton College, (though it then received only the
modest title of Hamilton Oneida Academy,) giving it a liberal endow-
ment out of lands granted him by the State for his services.
On this occasion he acted not only as agent for Massachusetts but
as one of the interpreters, there being three others, one of whom was
William Johnston. This is the first positive appearance of one who was
afterwards to exercise a powerful influence over the future of Buffalo —
who in fact was almost able to decide whether there should be any cit}'
of Buffalo or not. There is, however, little doubt that he was identical
with the " Lieutenant Johnson," heretofore mentioned, who visited the
Senecas in 1780, and also with the Lieutenant Johnson whom Mrs. Jemi-
son mentions as taking part in the Cherry Valley raid.
Shrewd, persistent, enterprising, a typical business man of the day,
was Oliver Phelps, a Connecticut Yankee by birth, a son of the Bay
State by adoption, a New Yorker by subsequent residence. He had
been an active and influential participant in the Revolution, and was now,
as the agent of an association of Massachusetts speculators, negotiating
for the purchase of a principality. Removing soon after to Canandaigua
and superintending there the sale of the vast domain which he and his
associates had purchased, he was to the day of his death looked up to
64 History of Erie County.
with profound respect by the residents of " Phelps and Gorham's Pur-
chase." But his keenness in a bargain is well illustrated by a transaction
at this very council, narrated a little further on.
Among the Indian owners of the land the roost eminent was Hona-
yewus, who had for several years been recognized as principal war-chief
of the Senecas, and who had lately received the name of " Farmer's
Brother "from the lips of Washington. The latter, anxious to make agri-
culture respectable among the Indians, declared himself a farmer in con-
versation with Honayewus, and also saluted him as his brother. The
chieftain, proud of the attention paid him by the great hero of the pale-
faces, readily accepted the title of " Farmer's Brother," and ere long was
universally known by that name among the whites.
A strong, stalwart warrior, of gigantic frame and magnificent pro-
portions, straight as an arrow, though nearly sixty years old, plainly
attired in full Indian costume, with eagle eye, frank, open countenance,
commanding port and dignified demeanor, Honayewus was, more than
Brant, or Red Jacket, or Cornplanter, the beau ideal of an Iroquois chief.
Though an eloquent orator, second only to Red Jacket in all the Six
Nations, he was pre-eminently a warrior, and as such had been followed
by the Senecas through many a carnival of blood. It is to be presumed,
too, that he had had his share in scenes of cruelty, for, though a peacea-
ble man in peace, he was a savage like his brethren, and, like a savage, he
waged war to the knife.
Thirty years before he had been one of the leaders in the terrible
tragedy of the Devil's Hole, when nearly a hundred English soldiers
were ambushed and slain, and flung down into the darksome gorge. He
had borne his part in many a border foray throughout the Revolution,
had led the fierce charge of the Senecas when they turned the scale of
battle at Wyoming, and had perhaps been an actor in the more dreadful
scenes of Cherry Valley. Now he had become the friend of peace, the
foe of intemperance, the conservator of order; and wherever a Seneca
village was found, on the banks of the Buffalo or the Cattaraugus, of the
Genesee or the Alleghany, the presence of Farmer's Brother was greeted,
the name of Honayewus was heard, with the respect due to valor, wisdom
and integrity.
There, too, was the more celebrated but less respected leader, who
had lately been made a chief by the honorable name of Sagoyewatha,
" The Keeper Awake," (literally, "he keeps them awake" — a tribute to
his oratorical powers which many a Congressman might envy,) but who
was generally known among the whites by the ridiculous appellation
which he transmitted to his descendants, the far-famed Red Jacket.
He, too, had been an actor in the border wars, but had gained no
laurels in them. Brant and Cornplanter both hated him, declaring him
to be both a coward and a traitor. They were%accustomed to tell of the
Red Jacket. 65
time when he made a glowing speech, urging the Senecas to battle, but,
while the conflict was going on, was discovered cutting up the cow of
another Indian, which he had killed. He was at that time frequently
called " The Cow-Killer," and that name was inserted in two or three
public documents, being afterwards crossed out and "Red Jacket"
substituted.
The treason with which he was charged seems to have consisted in
making various efforts for peace, during Sullivan's campaign, without
the sanction of the war-chiefs. At one time he is said to have clandes-
tinely sent a runner to the American camp, inviting a flag of truce.
Brant heard of the proceeding, and had the unlucky messenger inter-
cepted and killed. Probably some of the stories regarding his timidity
and treachery are false, but there are a good many of them, and they all
point the same way.
Notwithstanding all this, such was the charm of his eloquence, of
which the Iroquois were always great admirers, and such the clearness
of his intellect, that he was rapidly gaining in influence, and had been
made a chief; that is, as we understand it, a civil chief, or counselor of
the sachems.
At the beginning of the Revolution he was a youth of about twenty.
The British officers had been attracted by his intelligence, and had fre-
quently employed him as a messenger, for which he was as well qualified
by his fleetness of foot as by his shrewdness of mind. They had com-
pensated him by a succession of red jackets, in which he took great pride,
and from which he derived his name.
Slender of form and subtle of face, clad in the most gorgeous of In-
dian raiment. Sagoyewatha doubtless attracted the attention of the whites,
but he had little opportunity to display his powers, for Brant and the
omnipotent Butler had got everything arranged in the most satisfactor)'
manner.
There, too, was Captain John 0*Bail, or Abeel, more widely known
as Cornplanter. Half white by blood, but thoroughly Indian by nature,
he had been one of the bravest and most successful chiefs of the Senecas
during the war, but 'was now under a cloud among his people, because
of his assent to the treaty of Fort Stanwix. He is said by Mrs. Jemison
to have captured his own father, the old white trader, John Abeel, in one
of his raids, but to have released him after taking him a few miles.
Farmer's Brother and Red Jacket both lived on Buffalo creek, but
Cornplanter's residence was on the Allegany in Pennsylvania, where a
band of Senecas looked up to him as their leader.
Sayengeraghta, " Old King," or " Old Smoke," as he was variously
termed, was, if living, still the principal civil sachem of the Senecas, but
his mildness and modesty prevented his taking a prominent part among
so many great warriors and orators.
66 History of Erie County.
Besides all these there was a host of inferior chiefs, whose rank gave
them a right to take part in the council, while close by were the other
warriors of the tribes, painted and plumed, who had no vote in the pro-
ceedings, but who, in the democratic system of the Six Nations, might
have a potent influence if they chose to exercise it.
A number of British officers from Forts Niagara and Erie added
splendor to the scene, and last, not least, was a row of old squaws, mothers
in Israel, seated in modest silence behind the chiefs, but prepared if need
be to express an authoritative opinion on the merits of the case — a right
which would have been recognized by all.
Such was the varied scene, and such the actors in it, on the banks of
Buffalo creek, a little over eighty-seven years ago.
The council, as we have said, was very harmonious. The Indians
were willing to sell a part of their land, and apparently were not very
particular about the price. The only dispute was whether the west line
of the territory sold should be along the Genesee river or, as Phelps
desired, some distance this side. The Indians insisted that the Great
Spirit had fixed on that stream as the boundary between them and the
whites.
After several days* discussion, Phelps suggested that he wanted to
build some mills at the falls of the Genesee, (now Rochester,) which
would be very convenient for Indians as well as whites. Would his red
brethren let him have a mill-seat, and land enough for convenience
around it ?
Oh, yes, certainly, mills would be a fine thing, and the white brother
should have a mill-seat. How much land did he want for that purpose ?
After due deliberation Phelps replied that he thought a strip about
twelves miles wide, extending from Avon to the mouth of the river,
twenty-eight miles, would be about right.
The Indians thought that would be a pretty large mill-seat, but as
they supposed the Yankees knew best what was necessary for the purpose,
they let him have the land. As it contained something over 200,000 acres
it was probably the largest mill-seat ever known.
From Avon south, the west line of the purchase was to run along
the Genesee to the mouth of the Canaseraga, and thence due south to
the Pennsylvania line. This was " Phelps and Gorham's Purchase." It
included about 2,600,000 acres, and the price was left by the complaisant
aborigines to Colonel Butler, Joseph Brant and Elisha Lee, Mr. Kirk-
land's assistant. They fixed the price at five thousand dollars in hand,
and five hundred dollars annually, forever. This was about equal to
twelve thousand dollars in cash, or half a cent an acre.
Two weeks later we find Colonel Butler calling on Mr. Phelps by
letter for a conveyance of twenty thousand acres of the land, in accord-
ance with a previous arrangement. Phelps duly transferred the land to
The First White Settler. 67
the persons designated by Butler. Considering that the Colonel had
been one of the referees to fix the price, this transfer looks as if some of
the Indian operations of that era would not bear investigating any better
than those of later date.
CHAPTER X.
FROM 17BB TD 17 37.
•* Skendyoughwatti" — First White Resident — A Son of Africa — The Holland Purchase — Proc-
tor's Visit — British Influence — Woman's Rights — Final Failure — The Indians Insolent —
Wayne's Victory — Johnston. Middaugh and Lane — The Forts Surrendered — Asa Ransom
— The Mother's Strategy — First White Child — The Indians Sell Out — Reservations.
MR. KIRKLAND made another journey to Buffalo creek the next
fall, seeking to pacify those Indians who were discontented
regarding the sale just made by the Senecas, and also those
made by other tribes to the State, of lands farther east. He mentions
seeking the aid of the second man of influence among the Senecas on
Buffalo creek, " Skendyoughwatti." This fearful-looking name we
understand to be the same as that called " Conjockety " by the early
settlers, and which their descendants have transmuted into Scajaquada.
In returning, Kirkland says he lodged at " the Governor's village,"
on the Genesee, and adds : " The Governess had set out for Niagara near
a week before. I had not her aid in the council." This " Governess " is
mentioned in other accounts, and seems to have been a very important
personage, but whether she was the wife of some head chief, (or " Gov-
ernor,") or was invested with power in her own right, is one of the
mysteries of local history.
In 1789 the county of Ontario was erected from Montgomery, (to
which name that of Tryon count}' has been changed,) including the
whole of the Massachusetts land, or substantially all west of Seneca
lake ;. a territory now comprising thirteen counties and two parts of
counties.
About this time, certainly before 1791, and probably in 1789, the
first white man took up his permanent residence in Erie county. This
was Cornelius Winne, or Winney, a Hudson river Dutchman, who estab-
lished a little log store for trading with the Indians on the site of Buffalo,
at the foot of the hill which old residents still remember as existing at
the Mansion House. This was four miles from the main Seneca village,
but there were scattered huts all the way down the creek from that
68 History of Erik Couxty.
Yillage to Fanner's Point, where Farmer's Brother lived. Captain
Powell had an interest in Winney's store.
We call Winney the first white resident, for though William Johnston
had spent much time among the Senecas as a kind of British agent, and
had taken a Seneca wife, there is no evidence that he had then made his
permanent abode among them.
Almost as soon as the earliest white man — possibly preceding him —
the irrepressible African made his advent in our county; for in 1792 we
find " Black Joe," alias Joseph Hodge, established as an Indian trader on
Cattaraugus creek, and from the way in which he is mentioned we infer
that he had already been there a considerable time.
Meanwhile the adoption of the Federal Constitution had caused a
great rise in Massachusetts stocks, so that Phelps and Gorham were
unable to make the payments they had agreed on. After much negotia-
tion Massachusetts released them from their contract as to all the land
except that to which they had extinguished the Indian title, to wit,
** Phelps and Gorham's Purchase." Of that the State gave them a deed
in full.
Massachusetts at once sold the released land in five tracts to Robert
Morris, the merchant prince of Philadelphia, and the celebrated financier
of the Revolution. The easternmost of these tracts Mr. Mon-is sold out
in small parcels. The remaining four constituted the " Holland Pur-
chase." Mr. Morris sold it by four conveyances (not corresponding,
however, to the four given by Massachusetts) made in 1792 and 93, to
several Americans who held it in trust for a number of Hollanders, who
being aliens could not hold it in their own name. As they did not begin
the settlement of the county until several years later, it is unnecessary to
say more of them here.
In 1 79 1 there was great uneasiness among the Indians, even in this
vicinity, and in the West they were constantly committing depredations.
The British still held all the forts on the American side of the boundary
line, in open violation of the treaty of peace, alleging that the Amer-
icans had also failed to comply with its provisions. To what extent they
encouraged the Indians to hostilities is not known, but in view of the
protectorate which they openly assumed over the savages, and which
the latter acknowledged, it cannot well be doubted that the English
influence was hostile to the United States.
In April, 1791, Colonel Thomas Proctor, a commissioner appointed
by the War Department, came from Philadelphia to Cornplanter's vil-
lages on the Allegany, thence, accompanied by that chief and many of
his warriors, to the Cattaraugus settlement, and then down the beach of
the lake to Buffalo creek. Horatio Jones, the celebrated captive and
interpreter, was also of the party. Proctor's object was to persuade the
Senecas to use their influence to stop the hostilities of the Western Indi-
Visit of Colonel Thomas Proctor. 69
ans, (against whom General St. Clair was then preparing to move,) and
to that end to send a delegation of chiefs along with him on a mission
to the Miamis. His journal is published by Ketchum, and gives much
information regarding the condition of affairs in Erie county in 1791.
He found the English influence very strong, the Indians obtaining
supplies not only of clothing but of provisions from Forts Erie and
Niagara. On the commissioner's arrival, "Young King,'* who could not
have been over twenty-two or three years old, met him, apparelled in
the full uniform of a British colonel, red, with blue facings and gold
epaulets. The Senecas were also in possession of a two-pound swivel*
which they fired in honor of the occasion, the gunner wisely standing
inside the council house while he touched it off with a long pole passed
between the logs. The charge was so heavy that it upset the gun and
its carriage.
At this time Red Jacket had risen to a high position, being men-
tioned by Proctor as " the great speaker, and a prince of the Turtle tribe."
In fact, however, he belonged to the Wolf clan.
On Proctor's stating his object in the council. Red Jacket questioned
his authority. This, as the colonel was informed by a French trader,
was the result of the insinuations of Butler and Brant, who had been
there a week before and had advised the Indians not to send a delegation
to the Miamis. Proctor offered to present his credentials to any one in
whom they had confidence, and they at once sent for the commandant
at Fort Erie. The latter sent back Capt. Powell, who seems to have acted
as a kind of guardian to the Indians during the proceedings. These were
very deliberate, and were adjourned from day to day.
Red Jacket was the spokesman of the Indians, and declared their
determination to move the council to Niagara, insisting on the commis-
sioners accompanying them the next day as far as Capt. Powell's house
below Fort Erie. Proctor peremptorily declined. Then Red Jacket and
Farmer's Brother addressed the council by turns, the result being that a
runner was at once sent to Niagara to summon Col. Butler to the coun-
cil. After two or three days' delay Butler came to Winney's store-house,
and requested the sachems and head men to meet him there, but said
nothing about Proctor.
While waiting, the commissioner dined with ** Big Sky," head chief of
the Onondagas, whose " castle " he describes as being three miles east from
"Buffalo," meaning from the Seneca village. There were twenty-eight
good cabins near it, and the inhabitants were well clothed, especially the
women, some of whom, according to Colonel Powell, were richly dressed,
"with silken stroud" and silver trappings worth not less thirty pounds
($1 50) per suit. It seems, too, that they had advanced so far in civilization
that the ladies were invited to the feast of the warriors, which consisted
principally of young pigeons boiled and stewed. These were served up in
70 History of Erie County.
hanks of six, tied around the neck with deer's sinews, and were orna-
mented with pin feathers. However, the colonel made a good meal.
On the 4th of May the Indians repaired to the store-house to hold,
council with Butler. The latter invited Proctor to dine with him and
his officers, including Captains Powell and Johnston. They spoke the
Seneca language fltently, and advised the chiefs not to go with the com-
missioner then, but to wait for Brant, who had gone west. Red Jacket
and Young King appear to have been working for Proctor. The latter at
length resented the interference of the British and insisted on a speedy
answer from the Indians. Every paper delivered to the chiefs was handed
over to Butler, who went back to Fort Erie next day.
On the 6th of May, embassador Red Jacket announced that there
would be no council, as the honorable councilors were going out to hunt
pigeons. Proctor makes special mention of the immense number of
pigeons found — over a hundred nests on a tree with a pair of pigeons in
each.
On the 7th a private council was held, at which land was granted to
Indians of other tribes who had fled from the Shawnees and Miamis.
" Captain Smoke " and the Delawares under his charge were assigned to
the Cattaraugus settlement, where their descendants dwell at the present
day. Several Missisauga families had planting-grounds given them near
the village of Buffalo creek.
On the nth. Proctor declares that there was a universal drunk;
"Cornplanter and some of the elder women excepted," from which the
natural inference is that the young women indulged with the rest.
Finally, on the 15th of May, the elders of the women repaired to the
commissioner's hut, and declared that they had taken the matter into con-
sideration, and that they should be listened to, for, said they : " We are
the owners of this land, and it is ours ; " adding, as an excellent reason
for the claim, " for it is we that plant it." They then requested Colonel
Proctor to listen to a formal address from " the women's speaker," they
having appointed Red Jacket for that purpose.
The alarm-gun was fired, and the chiefs came together, the elder
women being seated near them. Red Jacket arose, and after many florid
preliminaries announced that the women had decided that the sachems
and warriors must help the commissioner, and that a number of them
would accompany him to the West.
Colonel Proctor was overjoyed at this happy exemplification of
woman's rights, and seems to have thought there would be no further
difficulty. He forthwith dispatched a letter by the trusty hand of
Horatio Jones to Colonel Gordon, the commandant at Niagara — who
was located opposite the fort of that name— asking that himself and the
Indians might take passage on some British merchant-vessel running up
Lake Eric, since the chiefs refused to go in an open boat. (It is worth
Failure of Colonel Proctor's Mission. 71
noticing that even so late as 1791, Proctor spoke of Jones' crossing the
" St. Lawrence," instead of the Niagara.)
Gordon, in the usual spirit of English officials on the frontier at that
time, refused the permission, and so the whole scheme fell through. It
was just what was to have been expected, though Proctor does not seem
to have expected it, and it is very likely the whole thing was well under-
stood between the British and Indians.
While it was supposed that Red Jacket and others would go with
Proctor, that worthy had several requests to make. Firstly, the colonel
was informed that his friends expected something to drink, as they were
going to have a dance before leaving their women. This the commis-
sioner responded to with a present of " eight gallons of the best spirits.*'
Then Red Jacket remarked that his house needed a floor, and Proctor
offered to have one made. Then he preferred a claim for a special allow-
ance of rum for his wife and mother, and in fact — well — he wanted a little
rum himself. So the colonel provided a gallon for the great orator and
his wife and mother. Young King was not less importunate, but Corn-
planter was modest and dignified, as became a veteran warrior. But the
worthy commissioner made due provision for them all.
The projected expedition having thus fallen through, Young King
made a farewell speech, being aided by " Fish Carrier," a Cayuga chief,
whose "keen gravity" put Proctor in mind of a Roman Senator, and
who seems to have been a man of great importance, though never put-
ting himself forward as a speech-maker.
The Indians must have had a pretty good time during Proctor's stay,
as his liquor bill at Cornelius Winney's was over a hundred and thirty
dollars.
A very curious item in the commissioner's diary is this : " Gave a
white prisoner that lived with said Winney nine pounds four and a half
pence." Who he was or to whom he could have been prisoner is a
mystery, since the Indians certainly held no prisoners at that time, and
Cornelius, the Dutch trader, could hardly have captured a white man,
though the law would have allowed him to own a black one.
All this counciling having come to naught. Colonel Proctor set out
for Pittsburg on the 21st of May, having spent nearly a month in the
very highest society of Erie county.
A little later the successive defeats of Harmer and St. Clair by the
Western Indians aroused all the worst passions of the Iroquois. Their
manners toward the Americans became insolent in the extreme, and it is
positively asserted that some of their warriors united with the hostile
bands. There is little doubt that another severe disaster would have
disposed a large part of them to rise in arms, and take revenge for the
unforgotten though well-merited punishment inflicted by Sullivan. Yet
they kept up negotiations with the United States ; in fact nothing
72 History of Erie County.
delighted the chiefs more than holding councils, making treaties and
performing diplomatic pilgrimages. They felt that at such times they
were indeed " big Indians.''
In 1792, Red Jacket and Farmer's Brother were two of fifty chiefs,
who visited the seat of government, then at Philadelphia.
The former then claimed to be in favor of civilization, and it was at
this time that Washington gave him the celebrated medal which he
afterwards wore on all great occasions. It was of silver, oval in form,
about seven inches long by five wide, and represented a white man in a
general's uniform, presenting the pipe of peace to an Indian scantily
attired in palm leaves. The latter has flung down his tomahawk, which
lies at his feet. Behind them is shown a house, a field, and a man plough-
ing.
A characteristic anecdote is told of Red Jacket, by his biographer,
regarding one of these visits. On his arrival at the seat of government.
General Knox, then Secretary of War, presented the distinguished
Seneca with the full uniform of a military officer, with cocked hat and
all equipments complete. Red Jacket requested the bearer to tell Knox
that he could not well wear military clothes, he being a civil sachem, not
a war chief. If any such present was to be made him, he would prefer
a suit of civilian's clothes, but would keep the first gift till the other was
sent. In due time a handsome suit of citizen's clothes was brought to
his lodging. The unsophisticated savage accepted it, and then remarked
to the bearer that in time of war the sachems went out on the war-path
with the rest, and he would keep the military suit for such an occasion.
And keep it he did.
In 1794 Mad Anthony Wayne went out to Ohio. He did not allow
himself to be surprised, as his predecessors had been, and when he met
the hordes of the Northwest, he struck them down with canister and
bayonet, until they thought the angel of death himself was on their
track. Said Joshua Fairbanks, of Lewiston, to a Miami Indian, who had
fled from that terrible onslaught : —
** What made you run away?" With gestures corresponding to his
words, and endeavoring to represent the effect of the cannon, he replied :
" Pop, pop, pop — boo, woo, woo — whish, whish — boo, woo — kill
twenty Indians one time — no good, by damn."
The Senecas had runners stationed near the scene of conflict, and
when they brought back the news of the tremendous punishment inflicted
on their western friends, all the Iroquois in Western New York resolved
to be **good Indians:" and from that time forth they transgressed only
by occasional ebullitions of passion or drunkenness.
In September of that year (1794), another treaty was made at Canan-
daigua, by which the United States contracted to give the New York
Iroquois Sio,ooo worth of goods, and an annuity of §4,000 annually in
Commencement of Settlement in Erie County. 73
clothing, domestic animals, etc. It was also fully agreed that the Sene-
cas should have all the land in New York west of Phelps and Gorham's
Purchase, except the reservation a mile wide along the Niagara.
This council at Canandaigua was the last one at which the United
States treated with the Iroquois as a confederacy. William Johnston, so
often mentioned before, came there, and was discovered haranguing
some of the chiefs. It was believed that he was acting in behalf of the
British, to prevent a treaty, and Colonel Pickering, the United States
commissioner, compelled him to leave.
About this time, or a little earlier, Johnston took up his permanent
residence in a block-house which he built near Winney's store, at the
mouth of Buffalo creek. His Indian friends gave him two square miles
of land in the heart of the present city of Buffalo. His title would
doubtless have been considered void in the courts of the pale-faces, but
so long as the Senecas should retain their land Johnson would be allowed
to use his magnificent domain at will.
About the same time as Johnston, perhaps a little later, one Martin
Middaugh, a Hudson river Dutchman, though recently from Canada,
and his son-in-law, Ezekiel Lane, were allowed by Johnston to build a log
house on his land, near his own residence. Middaugh was a cooper, and
perhaps made some barrels for the Indians, but both he and Lane seem
to have been dependents of Johnston.
There had begun to be considerable travel through Erie county.
There was emigration to Canada, which was rapidly settling up, and also
to Ohio, a part of which was open for purchase. There were no roads
but Indian trails, but some way or other people managed to flounder
through. In 1794 or 95 the first tavern was opened in the county.
In the latter year there came hither a French duke, bearing the
ancient and stately name of De La Rochefoucauld Liaincourt, probably
driven from France by the revolution, who was desirous of seeing the
red man in his native wilds. On his way to the Seneca village he and
his companions passed the night at •* Lake Erie,** the name applied to the
cluster of log houses on Johnston's land. When men spoke of *' Buffalo,"
thev referred to the village of the Senecas.
There was then something in the shape of an inn, but if the land-
lord "kept tavern" he kept nothing else, "for," says the duke in his
travels, "there was literally nothing in the house, neither furniture, rum,
candles, nor milk." The absence of rum was certainly astonishing.
Milk was at length procured " from the neighbors," and rum and candles
from across the river. The name of this frugal pioneer landlord was
supposed to have been Skinner, as a man of that name certainlj' kept
there only a little later.
On the 4th of July, 1796, Fort Niagara was surrendered by the
British to the United States; Fort Ontario, at Oswego, being given up
74 History of Erie County.
ten days later. This strengthened the impression made on the Indians
by Wayne's victory, and confirmed them in the disposition to cultivate
friendly relations with the Americans.
In that year, too, the little settlement of **Lake Erie" was increased
by the arrival from Geneva ot Mr. Asa Ransom, a resolute and intelligent
young man, a silversmith by trade, who built a log house, established
himself there with his delicate young wife and infant daughter, and went
to work making silver brooches, ear-rings, and other ornaments in which
the soul of the red man and the red man's wife so greatly delighted.
This was the first family that brought into Erie county the habits and
refinements of civilized life. At this time and for several years afterward,
the few settlers who wanted to get corn ground were obliged to take it
over the river and down to Niagara, forty miles distant.
In the autumn of 1797, the settlement received another addition by
the arrival of a daughter in the Ransom lamih', being, so far as is known,
the first white child born in Erie county, and the first in New York west
of the Genesee river, outside of Fort Niagara. Some twenty-two years
later this little stranger became Mrs. Frederick B. Merrill.
We mentioned some pages back, the sale by Robert Morris to certain
Holland gentlemen, (through their American friends,) of nearly all the
land west of the Genesee: the seller agreeing to extinguish the Indian
title. It was not until 1797 that this could be accomplished. In Sep-
tember of that year a council was held at Geneseo, at which Morris
bought the whole of the remaining Seneca lands in New York, except
eleven reservations of various sizes, comprising in all about three hundred
and thirty-eight square miles.
Of these the Buffalo creek reservation, the largest of all, lay wholly
in Erie county. By the terms of the treaty it was to contain a hundred
and thirty square miles, lying on both sides of Buffalo creek, about seven
miles wide from north to southland extending eastward from Lake Erie.
The Cattaraugus reservation was to contain forty-two square miles, on
both sides of Cattaraugus creek near its mouth, being in the present
counties of Erie, Cattaraugus and Chautauqua. As finally surveyed
about thirty-four square miles were in Erie countv.
The Tonawanda reservation Avas to contain seventy square miles,
Iving on both sides of Tonawanda creek, beginning *' about twenty-five
miles" from its mouth, and running east •* about seven miles wide." Of
this, as surveyed, some fifteen square miles were in Erie county. The
other reservations, which were all small, were entirely outside of the
county.
As will have been seen, the amounts reserved were all definite, but
the precise lines were left to be located afterwards, in order not to crowd
any of the Indian villages. The tract bought, aside from the reserva-
tions, contained about three millions three hundred thousand acres, for
Survey and Settlement. 75
which Morris paid ten thousand dollars, or less than a third of a cent
per acre.
Considering the complaints which Indians are all the time making
about the loss of their lands, it certainly seems strange that they should
throw them away by the million acres for a merely nominal price, as they
have usually done. The sale to Phelps and Gorham was not so exces-
sively strange because it involved no change in their mode of life. They
still had vast hunting grounds west of the Genesee. But that to Morris
at once destroyed all hope of living by the chase, and necessitated their
adopting to a considerable extent the habits of the white man. They
appear to have forgotten all about the Great Spirit's fixing the Genesee
as their eastern boundary. Yet they showed no inclination to demand
white men's prices for their land.
Certainly such men as Red Jacket and Farmer's Brother, who had
visited the eastern cities and had seen the wealth of the whites, must
have known that a third of a cent per acre was a very poor price to pay
for land. True, we may suppose they were bought, (which would accord
with Red Jacket's character,) but one would imagine that, in the demo-
cratic Iroquois system, the warriors of the tribe could easily have pre-
vented a sale, and in view of their reiterated complaints over the Fort
Stanwix treaty and the sale to Phelps and Gorham, it is strange they did
not do so. They must have wanted whisky very badly.
CHAPTER XI.
SURVEY AND SETTLEMENT.
The Holland Company — Three Sets of Proprietors — Their System of Surveys — The State Reser-
vation— The West Transit — The Founder of Buffalo — The First Road — Indian Trails —
New Amsterdam — Hotel at Clarence— A Young Stranger — Ellicott Made Agent — First
Wheat — The Office at Pine Grove— A Hard Problem — The First Purchase — Dubious
Records — An Aboriginal Engineer — A Venerable Mansion — Chapin's Project — The First
Magistrate.
MUCH has been written, and more has been said, about the " Hol-
land Company." When people wished to be especially precise,
they called it the " Holland Land Company." It has been praised
and denounced, blessed and cursed, besought for favors and assailed for
refusal, almost as much as any institution in America. Not only in com-
mon speech, in newspapers and in books, but in formal legal documents
it has been again and again described as the " Holland Company," or the
" Holland Land Company," according to the fancy of the writer.
7"^ History of Erie Conrrr-
Yet, legally, there never was acv such ihirg as the Hcllacd Coro-
j>arj y, or the Holland Land Company.
Certain merchants and others of the city of Aii:sierdani. placed
funds in the bands of friends who were citizens of Acerica, to purchase
vrveral tracts of land in the United States, which, being aliens, the Hol-
landers could not hold in their own name at that time. One of these
tracts, comprising what was afterwards known as the Holland Purchase,
was Ix/ught from Robert Morris, as before stated. From their names wc
infer that most of those who made the purchase for the Hollanders, were
themselves of Holland birth, but had been naturalized in the United States.
In the fore part of 1798, the Legislature of New York authorized
thr/se aliens to hold land within the State, and in the latter part of that
year, the American trustees conveyed the Holland Purchase to the real
owners. It was transferred, however, to two sets of proprietors, and one
of these sets was soon divided into two, making three in all. Each set
held its tract as ''joint tenants," that is, the survivors took the whole;
the shares could not be the subject of will nor sale, afld did not pass by
inheritance, except in case of the last survivor.
But there was no incorporation and no legal company. All deeds
were made in the name of the individual proprietors. The three sets of
owners appointed the same general and local agents, who, in their behalf,
carried out one system in dealing with settlers, though apportioning the
expenses among the thiee sets according to their respective interests,
and paying to each the avails of their own lands.
At the first transfer by the trustees, the whole tract, except 300,000
acres, was conveyed to Wilhem Willink, Nicholas Van Staphorst, Pieter
Van Heghen, Hendrick Vollenhoven,and Rutger Jan Schimmelpenninck.
The 300,000 acres were conveyed to Wilhem Willink, Jan Willink, Wil-
hem Willink, Jr., and Jan Willink, Jr. Two years later, the five proprie-
tors of the main tract "transferred the title of about a million acres, so
that it was vested in the original five, and also in Wilhem Willink, Jr.,
Jan Willink, Jr., Jan Gabriel Van Staphorst, Roelif Van Staphorst, Jr.,
(Cornelius Vollenhoven, and Hendrick Seye. Pieter Stadnitzki was also
made a partner, though in some unknown manner.
In the hands of these three sets of owners, the titles remained during
tlic most active period of settlement, only, as men died, their shares
passed to the survivors, and their names were dropped out of the deeds.
Some twenty years later, new proprietors were brought in, but the three
sets remained as before. It will be observed that Wilhem Willink was
the head of each of the three sets, and as he outlived nearly all the rest,
his name was the first in every deed.
The same proprietors, or a portion of them, also held large bodies
of land in Central New York and in Pennsylvania, all managed by the
same general agent at Philadelphia.
JOSEPH ELLICDTT.
The Holland Land Company. ^7
For convenience, however, all these owners will be described
throughout this work, by the name to which every one in Erie county
is accustomed, that of the ** Holland Company," and their tract in
Western New York will be considered as distinctively the " Holland
Purchase," though there were other bodies of land equally well entitled
to the name.
The first general agent of the Company was Theophilus Cazenove,
a Hollander sent out from Europe for the purpose. Previous to the
extinguishment of the Indian title to the Company's lands in New York,
Cazenove had employed Joseph Ellicott to survey their tract in Penn-
sylvania. He was a younger brother of Andrew A. Ellicott, then Sur-
veyor-General of the United States, and had assisted him in laying out
the city of Washington.
As soon as the treaty was made with the Indians in the fall of 1797,
Mr. Cazenove employed the same efficient person to survey the new
tract. That same autumn he and Augustus Porter, the surveyor
employed by Robert Morris, in order to ascertain the number of acres
in the Purchase, took the necessary assistance, began at the northeast
corner, traversed the northern bounds along Lake Ontario to the Niagara,
thence up the river to Lake Erie, and thence along the lake shore to the
western boundary of the State.
No sooner had the keen eye of Joseph Ellicott rested on the loca-
tion at the mouth of BufiFalo creek than he made up his mind that that
was a most important position, and he ever after showed his belief by
his acts.
The next spring, (1798,) the grand surveying campaign began, with
Ellicott as general-in-chief. He himself ran the east line of the Purchase,
usually called the East Transit. Eleven other surveyors, each with his
corps of axemen, chainmen, etc., went to work at diflFerent points, run-
ning the lines of ranges, townships and reservations. All through the
Purchase the deer were startled from their hiding-places, the wolves
were driven growling from their lairs, by bands of men with compasses
and theodolites, chains and flags, while the red occupants looked sullenly
on at the rapid parceling out of their broad and fair domain.
The survey system adopted by the Holland Company was substan-
tially the same as that previously followed on Phelps and Gorham's Pur-
chase, and was not greatly different from that now in use by the United
States all over the West. The tract was first divided into ranges six
miles wide, running from Pennsylvania to Lake Ontario, and numbered
from east to west. The^e were subdivided into townships six miles
square, numbered from south to north.
The original intention was to divide every complete township into
sixteen sections, each a mile and a half square ; subdividing these into
lots, each three-quarters of a mile long and one-quarter wide, every one
6
78 History of Erie County.
containing just a hundred and twenty acres. This plan, however, was
soon abandoned as inconvenient and complicated, and the townships
were divided into lots three-fourths of a mile square, containing three
hundred and sixty acres each. These were sold in parcels to suit pur-
chasers. It was a common but not invariable rule to divide them into
^* thirds" of a hundred and twenty acres each.
Twenty-four townships had already been surveyed when the first
plan was abandoned, three of which were in Erie county, being the pres*
ent town of Lancaster and the southern part of Newstead and Clarence.
Both systems diflFer from that of the United States, in that by the
latter each township is divided into sections a mile square, and these
into quarter-sections of a hundred and sixty acres each.
It will be understood that various causes, such as the existence of
lakes and rivers, the use of large streams as boundaries, the great fickle-
ness of the magnetic needle, the interposition of reservation lines, etc.,
frequently produced a variation from the normal number of square miles
in a township, or of acres in a lot.
The surveys went briskly forward. EUicott, after running the east
line of the Purchase, stayed at " Buffalo Creek" the greater part of the
season, directing operations. By this name we now refer to the cluster
of cabins near the mouth of the creek, previously called " Lake Erie ;"
for on the opening of surveys that appellation was dropped, and the
name ** Buffalo Creek" was speedily transferred thither from the Seneca
village to which it had before pertained.
In the fall Seth Pease ran the line of the State reservation along the
Niagara river, or the " streights of Niagara," as that stream was then
frequently termed. There was some difficulty in determining its bound-
aries at the southern end, as the lake gradually narrowed so it was hard
to tell where it ended and the river began. It was at length agreed
between the State authorities and the company that the river should be
considered to commence where the water was a mile wide.
From the point on the eastern bank opposite this mile width of water,
a boundary was drawn, consisting of numerous short lines, amounting
substantially to the arc of a circle with a mile radius, giving to the State
all the land within a mile of the river, whether east from its eastern bank
or south from its head.
Besides the East Transit, another standard meridian was run as a
base of operations in the western part of the Purchase, and called the
West Transit. It was the line between the sixth and seventh ranges, and
is now the boundary between Clarence, Lancaster, Elma, Aurora and
Colden on the east, and Amherst, Cheektowaga, West Seneca, East
Hamburg and Boston on the west.
A portion ot the 300,000 acres conveyed to the four Willinks, as before
mentioned, lay in a strip nearly a mile and a half wide, (113 chains, 68
The Founder of Buffalo. 79
links.) just west of the West Transit, extending from Pennsylvania to
Lake Ontario. The rest of the land belonging to that set of proprietors
was in the southeast corner of the Purchase.
All that part of Erie county west of the West Transit (except the
pre-emption right to the reservations,) was included in the conveyance
of a million acres to the larger set of proprietors, while that part east
of the Transit was retained by the five original owners. The Transit,
however, was not the line between the two sets throughout the whole
Purchase.
The city of Buffalo was founded by Joseph Ellicott. He not
only selected the site and laid out the town, but it was only through
his good judgment and special exertions that there was any town
there. All through the summer and fall of 1788, though only the super-
intendent of surveys and in no way responsible for the future prosperity
of the Purchase, he labored zealously to get room for a city at the foot
of Lake Erie. He saw that the State reservation would come down to
within a short distance of the cluster of cabins which he meant should
be the nucleus of a great commercial emporium. He saw, too, that if
the Buffalo Creek reservation, (which by the treaty with Morris was
to be seven miles wide, lying on both sides of the creek), should be
surveyed with straight lines, it would run square against the State
reservation, and cut off the Holland Company entirely from the foot of
the lake.
The Indians were not particular about having the land at the mouth
of the creek for themselves, but they had granted two square miles to
their friend Johnston, and, though they could give no title, they could
insist on the whole being included in their reserve, unless an arrangement
should be made with him. They had also given him, substantially, a
life lease of a mill seat and certain timbered lands on Scajaquada creek, six
miles from the mouth of the Buffalo.
Ellicott, after considerable bargaining, succeeded in makmg an
agreement with Johnston, the latter persuaded the Indians to leave the
town site out of the reservation, and the company deeded him a mile
square, including his mill-seat and forty-five and one-half acres in the city.
So, instead of the north boundary of the Buffalo Creek reservation run-
ning due west to the State reservation, it was made to turn just east of
what is now called East Buffalo, whence it ran southwest to the creek
and down the center of the creek to the lake.
The previous winter the legislature had authorized the laying out of
a State road from Conewagus (Avon) to Buffalo creek, and another to
Lewiston. The Company subscribed five thousand dollars for cutting
them out. The first wagon track opened in Erie county was made under
the direction of Mr. Ellicott, who, in the spring of 1798, employed men
to improve the Indian trail from the East Transit to Buffalo.
8o History of Erie County.
This trail ran from the east, even from the valley of the Hudson,
crossing the Genesee at Avon, running through Batavia, and down the
north side of Tonawanda creek, crossing into Erie county at the Tona-
wanda Indian village. Thence it ran over the site of Akron, through
Clarence Hollow and Williamsville to Cold Spring, and thence follow-
ing nearly the line of Main street to the creek. A branch turned off to
Black Rock, where both Indians and whites were in the habit of crossing
to Canada. Another branch diverged at Clarence, struck Cayuga creek
near Lancaster, and ran down it to the Seneca village.
Another principal trail ran from Little Beard's town, on the Genesee,
entered Erie county near the southeast corner of the present town of
Alden, struck the reservation at the southwest comer of that town, and
ran thence westerly to the Seneca village.
Besides, there were trails up the Ca^enove and Eighteen-Mile creeks,
and between the Buffalo and Cattaraugus villages.
In 1799, little was done except to push forward the surveys. It
was determined that the city to be built on the ground secured by Mr.
Ellicott should be called " New Amsterdam," and he began to date his
letters to that address.
In that year, the Company offered several lots, about ten miles apart,
on the road from the East Transit to Buffalo, to any proper men who
would build and keep open taverns upon them. The lots were not
donated, but were to be sold at the Company's lowest price, on long
time and without interest. This offer was accepted by Asa Ransom,
the Buffalo silversmith, who located himself at what is now Clarence
Hollow. This was the first settlement in Erie county made white-man
fashion, that is, with a white man's view of obtaining legal title to the
land. All previous settlement had been merely on sufferance of the
Indians.
One of the first strangers who applied for entertainment at the new
hotel, was a young gentleman afterwards known as Colonel Harry B.
Ransom. He arrived in November, 1799, and was in all probability the
first white male child born in Erie county.
In this year, a contract was granted, evidently by special favor, to
Benjamin Ellicott (brother of Joseph) and John Thompson, two of the
surveyors, for three hundred acres in township 12, range 7, (Amherst,)
which was not yet subdivided into lots. There is some discrepancy in
the description as recorded, but we are satisfied that the contract covered
the site of Williamsville and the water-power there. The price was two
dollars per acre.
The same year, Timothy S. Hopkins, afterwards well-known as
General Hopkins, came into the county and took charge of Johnston's
saw-mill, the only one in the county, where he worked during the sea-
son. Notwithstanding the absence of regular settlers, the numerous
First Wheat Raised in Erie County. 8i
camps of surveyors made •* brisk times," and any one who was willing
to work could get good wages and prompt pay.
Theophilus Cazenove, the general agent of the Company, returned
to Europe in 1799. His name, given by Mr. Ellicott to one of the largest
streams in Erie county, remains as a perpetual reminiscence of his con-
nection with the Holland Purchase. His place as agent was supplied
by Paul Busti, a native of Italy, who, until his death, twenty-four years
later, faithfully discharged the duties of that position.
In the year 1800, the laying off of the Purchase into townships was
completed, and a number of townships were sub-divided into lots. Mr.
Ellicott was appointed local agent for the sale of the land. While in the
East, this season, he issued handbills, headed " Holland Company West
Geneseo land/' apprising the public that they would soon be for sale,
and stating that they were situated adjacent to " Lakes Erie and Onta-
rio, and the straits of Niagara."
Mr. Ransom raised some crops this year, and T. S. Hopkins and Otis
Ingalls cleared a piece of land two miles east of Clarence Hollow, (in the
edge of Newstead,) and raised wheat upon it, said to be the first raised
on the Holland Purchase, and certainly the first in Erie county. When
it was ready for grinding, Mr. Hopkins was obliged to take it to Street's
mill at Chippewa, forty miles. He went with three yoke of cattle, by
way of Black Rock, the whole population of which then consisted of an
Irishman, named O'Niel, who kept the ferry. The ferriage each way was
two dollars and a half, and the trip must have taken at least four days.
In January, 1801, Mr. Ellicott returned from the East, stayed a few
days at '* New Amsterdam," and then located his office at " Ransomville,"
or **Pine Grove." Sometimes he used one appellation in dating his
letters, sometimes the other, apparently in doubt as to which was the
more euphonious. He could hardly have anticipated that both these
well-rounded names would finally be exchanged for "Clarence Hollow."
Several townships were ready for sale on the Purchase, at least one of
which was in Erie county. This was township 12, range 6, compris-
ing the south part of the present town of Clarence. Though town-
ship 12, range 5, (Newstead,) lay directly cast, no sales are recorded as
made in it till the latter part of the year.
Very^lowly at first, the settlement went forward. The land was
offered at $2.75 per acre, ten per cent. down. But precisely there— on
the ten percent. — was the sticking-point. Men with even a small amount
of money were unwilling to undertake the task of clearing up the forests
of Holland Purchase. Those who wished to buy had no money.
In a letter to Mr. Busti, dated February 17, 1801, Mr. Ellicott says:
" If some mode could be devised to grant land to actual settlers, who
cannot pay in advance, and at the same time not destroy that part of the
plan which requires some advance, I am convinced the most salutary
S2 History of Erie County.
results would follow." A rather difficult task, to dispense with the
advance and yet retain the plan which required an advance. Mr. Elli-
cott does not solve the problem, but he seems to have been authorized to
set aside the plan, for the time, for we soon find him selling without receiv-
ing the ten per cent, in advance.
It may be doubted whether it would not have been better, both for
the company and the settlers, if the general agent had insisted on the
original system. Settlement would have been slower at first, but it must
have come ere long and it would have had a firmer foundation. If a man
cannot raise thirty or forty dollars to make a first payment on a farm, it is
ver}' doubtful whether he will make the whole amount off from the land.
Many did, but many failed.
There was, however, competition in every direction.. There were
large tracts yet unsold in the eastern and central parts of the State.
" New Connecticut," now known as the Western Reserve, in Ohio, was
in market at low rates, the same was the case with the territory
around Presque Isle, (Erie, Pa.,) and in Canada the British government
was granting lands at sixpence per acre. On the 26th of February, Mr.
Ellicott notes in his diary that over forty people — men, women and chil-
dren — lodged at Ransom's the night before, moving principally to New
Connecticut and Presque Isle.
Still some sales were made, especially in the present county of Gene-
see, next to the older settlements on Phelps and Gorham's Purchase.
Some immigrants had previously come to this section for the purpose
of settling on the Holland Purchase, but finding the land not in market
had temporarily located in Canada, while awaiting the completion of
the surveys. Some of these now returned and others came in from
the East.
The first record of any person's purchasing a piece of land in Erie
county in the regular course of settlement, and aside from the special
grants before mentioned, is that ot Christopher Saddler, who took a
contract, or " article," on the 12th of March, 1801, for 234 acres on lots
I and 2, section 6, town 12, range 6; being about a mile east of Clarence
Hollow.
And here we may say that there is no certain record of the coming of
the first settlers to the various towns. The books of the Holland Company
only show when men agreed to purchase land, not when they actually
settled. After a short time an arrangement was made by which land was
»* booked " to men who appeared to be reliable, for a dollar payment on
each piece, when it would be kept for them a year before they were
required to make their first payment and take an article. It soon became
common for speculative persons to invest a httle money in that way, in
the hope of selling at a profit. Sometimes, too, men came from the East,
looked up land and purchased in good faith, but did not occupy it for a
The Oldest Building in Erie County. 83
year or two later. Once in a while, too, though this was more rare, a
man located in the county without buying land.
Consequently the records of the Holland Company do not show
with any certainty when individuals actually located themselves on their
respective lands, but they do give a fair idea of the general progress of
settlement.
The road along the old Indian trail, from Batavia to Buffalo, was not
satisfactory to Mr. Ellicott. So in March he made an arrangement with
an Indian whom he called ** White Seneca," but whom that Indian's son
called " White Chief,'* to lay out and mark with his hatchet a new one
on dryer land. He agreed to give ten dollars, and eight dollars for locat-
ing a road in a similar manner from Eleven-Mile creek, (Williamsville,)
via. the " mouth of the Tonnawanta " to " Old Fort Slosher."
White Chief began on the 21st day of March, and on the 26th
reported the completion of the survey of the first road. On the 28th Mr.
Ellicott inspected a part of it, and appears to have been well pleased with
the way in which the aboriginal engineer had followed the ridges and
avoided the wet land.
In the summer of 1801, the surveyor, John Thompson, put up a saw-
mill at what is now Williamsville. He does not, however, seem to have
done much with it, and perhaps did not get it into operation. If he did,
it was soon abandoned. The same year he built a block-house for a
dwelling. It was afterwards clapboarded, and a larger frame structure
erected beside it, of which it formed the wing. The whole is still stand-
ing, a venerable brown edifice, known as the " Evans house," and the
wing is unquestionably the oldest building in Erie county. Only eighty-
two years since it was built, and yet in this county of nearly a quarter of
a million inhabitants it seems a very marvel of antiquity.
By November, 1801, township 12, range 5, (Newstead,) was ready
for sale, and on the third of that month Asa Chapman made the first con-
tract for land in that town, covering lot 10, in section 8, at $2.75 per acre.
If he settled there he remained but a short time, as not long after he was
living near Buffalo.
The same month, Peter Vandeventer took four lots in sections
Eight and Nine, on which he settled almost immediately afterwards, and
which was long known as the " Old Vandeventer Place."*
The last month of 1801 witnessed the first appointment of a white
official of any description, resident within the present county of Erie.
In that month the pioneer silversmith, tavern-keeper and father, Asa
Ransom, was commissioned a justice of the peace by Governor George
Clinton, the necessary document being transmitted by De Witt Clinton,
nephew and private secretary of the Governor.
♦Two or three other purchases were made in Newstead in iSoi by men who settled there either
that year or the next.
84 History of Erie County.
CHAPTER XII.
FRDM IBQS TO IBDZ.
Formation of Genesee County — First Murder — First Town Meeting — Primitive Balloting — The
Big Tree Road— Buffalo Surveyed — Dr. Chapin — Erastos Granger — The Pioneer of the
South Town— A Hard Trip — Snow Shoes — Division of Batavia — Willink — Erie —
Settlement of Boston — An Ancient Fort — Settlement of East Hamburg — Of Evans — Of
Aurora — Of Lancaster — Le Couteulx and Pratt — First Post Office — Organization of
Willink — Erie Town-Book — A Primitive Mill — Warren and Williams — A Tavern in
Evans — A Grist Mill in Hamburg — A Four Days* Raising — First Meeting-house in the
County — A Mill in Aurora — Settlement in Wales— First Methodist Society — A Traveling
Ballot Box — First Erie County Lawyer — Chivalry at a Discount.
DOWN to this time Ontario county had retained its original boun-
daries, including all that part ot the State west of Seneca Lake,
except that Steuben county had been taken off. The Holland
Purchase w^as a part of the town of Northampton.
In the spring of 1802, Mr. EUicott, by earnest personal solicitation
at Albany, procured the passage of an act creating the county of Gen-
esee, comprising the whole of the State west of the river of that name
and of a line running south from the " Great Forks." By the same act,
Northampton was divided into four towns, one of which, Batavia, con-
sisted of the whole Holland Purchase and the State reservation along
the Niagara.
The county-seat was established at Batavia, where Mr. Ellicott had
already laid out a village site, and whither he transferred his head-quar-
ters that same spring. The new county was not to be organized by the
appointment of officers until the next year.
In July, 1802, the first recorded murder of a white man in Erie
county, took place at Buffalo, where a man named John Hewitt was
stabbed to death by an infuriated Indian, called by the whites " Stiff-
armed George,*' under circumstances more fully narrated in the history
of the city. It is worthy of notice, as showing the weakness of the
whites in Western New York, that, although the criminal was duly tried
at Canandaigua, and convicted of murder, he was pardoned by Governor
George Clinton on condition of his leaving the State and remaining out
of it during life, a condition which was faithfully complied with. The
Governor evidently thought it would be prudent to wait until the frontier
was more thickly populated before beginning to hang Indians, if the task
could possibly be postponed.
During 1802, immigrants came more freely than before. The list of
land-owners in what is now Clarence was increased by ten names, most
First Town Meeting. 85
of whose bearers located permanently in that town, while several more
established themselves in township 12, range 5, (now Newstead.) All the
new comers thus far had settled either on or close to the old ** Buffalo
road," laid out by " White Chief," which was the only line of communica-
tion with the outside world.
Peter Vandeventer this year built him a log cabin, cleared up half
an acre of land, ("just enough " as another old settler said " to keep the
trees from falling on his house,") and opened a tavern, the first in New-
stead.
At that little log tavern, on the first day of March, 1803, occurred the
first town-meeting on the Holland Purchase. Although it was a hundred
miles to the farthest corner of the town of Batavia, yet the settlements
were almost all on or near the " Buffalo road," the farthest being at New
Amsterdam, twenty-two miles west, and at the East Transit, twenty-four
miles cast. Vandeventer^s was evidently selected as a central location.
A very interesting account of this, the first political transaction in
Erie county, was furnished to the Buffalo Historical Society by the late
Amzi Wright, of Attica, who was present.
There was a general turn-out of voters, apparently stimulated by
rivalry between the eastern and western parts of the town. The little
tavern was soon overrun, and the polls were opened out of doors by
Enos Kellogg, one of the commissioners to organize the town. He
announced that Peter Vandeventer, the landlord, and Jotham Bemis, of
Batavia village, were candidates for supervisor.
The worthy commissioner then proceeded to take the vote by a
method which, though it amounted to a " division of the house," was in
some of its details rather peculiar. He placed the two candidates side
by side in the middle of the road, facing southward, Vandeventer on the
right and Bemis on the left.
" Now," said he, " all you that are in favor of Peter Vandeventer
for supervisor of the town of Batavia take your places in line on his
right, and you that are in favor of Jotham Bemis take your places on
his left."
The voters obeyed Mr. Kellogg's directions, Bemis' line stretching
out along the road to Batavia, and Vandeventer's toward Buffalo. The
commissioner then counted them, finding seventy-four on Vandeventer*s
right, and seventy on Bemis* left. Peter Vandeventer was then declared
duly elected. A primitive method truly, but there was a poor chance
for fraudulent voting.
The men from east of Vandeventer's, who were considered as Bata-
vians, then gathered in one cluster, and those from the west, who passed
as Buffalonians, in another, and counted up the absentees. As in those
times everybody knew everybody else within ten miles of him, this was
not difficult.
86 History of Erie County.
It was found that but four were absent, Batavia way, and but five
from the Buffalo crowd. So the whole number of voters on the Holland
Purchase on the ist day of March, 1803, was one hundred and fifty-three,
of whom a hundred and forty -four were present at town meeting. Cer-
tainly a most creditable exhibition of attention to political duty. There
were perhaps two or three voters in the vicinity of Fort Niagara who
did not attend and were not counted, but these, although in the town of
Batavia, were not on the Holland Purchase.
The other officers were afterwards elected by uplifted hands. The
following is the complete list : —
Supervisor, Peter Vandeventer ; Town Clerk, David Cully ; Asses-
sors, Enos Kellogg, Asa Ransom, Alexander Rea, Isaac Sutherland, and
Suffrenus (or Sylvanus) May bee; Overseers of the Poor, David Cully
and Benjamin Porter; Collector, Abel Rowe ; Constables, John Mudge,
Levi Felton, Rufus Hart, Abel Rowe, Seymour Kellogg, and Hugh
Howell; Overseers of Highways, (pathmasters,) Martin Middaugh, Tim-
othy S. Hopkins, Orlando Hopkins, Benjamin Morgan, Rufus Hart,
Lovell Churchill, Jabez Warren, William Blackman, Samuel Clark, Gid-
eon Dunham, Jonathan Willard, Thomas Lay ton, Hugh Howell, Benja-
min Porter, and William Walsworth.
Of these, Vandeventer, Cully, Ransom, Maybee, Felton, Timothy
and Orlando Hopkins, and Middaugh, and perhaps others, were resi-
dents of Erie county.
At this town meeting, as at most others in Western New York at
that time, one of the most important subjects which claimed the atten-
tion of the sovereigns was the wolf question. An ordinance was passed
offering a bounty of five dollars for wolf-scalps, "whelps half price,'*
while half a dollar each was the reward for slaughtered foxes and wild-
cats.
The first State election on the Holland Purchase was also held at
Vande venter's, in April following, (in which month elections were then
held,) and in that short time the increase of population had been such
that a hundred and eighty-nine votes were castfor Member of Assembly.
In June, 1803, Jabez Warren, by contract with EUicott, surveyed the
" Middle road " from near Geneseo to Lake Erie. Afterwards, during
the same summer, he cut it out. It ran nearly due west, over hill and
dale, keeping a mile south of the south line of the reservation, occasion-
ally diverging a little in case of some extraordinary obstacle.
It was called the " Middle road " by the Company, but as it started
from the Big Tree reservation — that is, the one belonging to the band
of Indians of which " Big Tree " was chief — ^it was almost universally
called the " Big Tree road " by the inhabitants.
Mr. Warren received $2.50 per mile for surveying it, and $10.00 for
cutting it out. The latter seems astonishingly cheap, but " catting
Buffalo Surveyed— Dr. Chapin. 87
out '* a road on the Holland Purchase meant merely cutting away the
underbrush and small trees from a space a rod wide, leaving the large
trees standing, making a track barely passable for a wagon.
In this year the village ol New Amsterdam was surveyed, (though
not completed ready for sale,) by William Peacock.
This year, too, the first ship was built in the county by Americans.
It was the schooner " Contractor," built by a company having the con-
tracts for supplying the western military posts, under the superintend-
ence of Captain William Lee, who sailed the schooner for six years.
The first physician who practiced in Erie county arrived at New
Amsterdam with his family, but being unable to obtain a house, located
himself temporarily on the west side of the Niagara, where he remained
two years; practicing meanwhile on both sides of the river. This was
Dr. Cy renins Chapin, a robust, broad-shouldered man of thirty, who
throughout the pioneer period was probably its best known and influen-
tial citizen. His practice extended to every part of the county, and far
beyond its borders. We shall have occasion to mention him again and
again, in connection with the history of Buffalo, of the War of 1812, and
of the Medical Society, in relation to all of which he occupied a very
conspicuous position.
Another very important arrival of that year was Erastus Granger,
a cousin of Gideon Granger, then Postmaster-General under President
Jefferson. He was appointed superintendent of Indian affairs, and soon
afterwards postmaster of Buffalo, and appears to have been intrusted*
with the management of the politics of this section on behalf of the
administration. He became the leader of the Republican * party on the
Niagara frontier as Dr. Chapin was of the Federal party, and until the
arrival of Peter B. Porter, several years later, there was no one to dis-
pute the supremacy of either.
Though New Amsterdam was not yet ready for sale, the adjoining
land in that township was, and several purchases were made. The
prices ranged from $3.50 to $5.00 per acre.
Several sales were made in the autumn of 1803, in each of the present
towns of Amherst, Clarence and Newstead, all being townships through
which the " Buffalo road " ran. But the hardy pioneers soon bore farther
south in their search for land. In November, i8o3» Alanson Eggleston
became the first purchaser in township 11, range 6(aow Lancaster.)
There the land was put down to $2 per acre, while in Amherst it was
rated at from $3.26 to $3.50 per acre. Amos Woodward and William
Sheldon also bought in Lancaster that month.
All these purchases and settlements we have named were north of
the Buffalo Creek reservation, which cut the present county of Erie com-
-----
*It will be remembered that the political organization which was then called ** Republican ''
party afterwards named itself the ** Democratic" pany, which appellation it still bears.
88 History of Erie County.
pletely in twain. Several townships, however, were surveyed south of
the reservation that year, and in the fall adventurous land-hunters found
their way into the valley of Eighteen-Mile creek.
On the 3d of October, Didymus C. Kinney purchased part of lot
33, township 9, range 7, being now the southwest corner lot ot the
town of East Hamburg. He immediately built him a cabin, and lived
there with his family during the winter, being unquestionably the
earliest pioneer of all Ecie county south of the reservation. Records
and recollections agree on this point.
Cotton Fletcher, who had surveyed the southern townships, pur-
chased land in the same township as Kinney, but did not locate there till
later; neither did John Cummings, who purchased the mill-site a mile
and a half below Water Valley.
In November, 1803, too, Charles and Oliver Johnson, two brothers,
made a purchase in the present town of Boston, near the village of Boston
Center. Samuel Eaton bought farther down the creek. The price was
S2.25 per acre. Charles, with his family, lived with Kinney through the
winter, and moved on to his own place the next spring.
The Indians were frequently a resource of the early settlers who ran
short of food. Charles Johnson, while at Kinney's, went to the Seneca
village and bought six bushels of corn. He had snow-shoes for locomo-
tion and a hand-sled for transportation. As a load of three hundred and
forty pounds sank the sled too far into the deep snow, he slung part of it
on his back, and thus weighted and freighted he trudged through the
forest to his home.
The snow-shoe was an important institution of that era. It consisted
of a light, wooden frame, about two and a half feet long and fifteen inches
wide, with bars across it, the intervening spaces being filled with tightly
stretched green hide. With a pair of such articles strapped to his
feet, the hunter or traveler strode defiantly over the deepest drifts, into
which, without their support, he would have sunk to his waist at
every step. Strange as it may seem, too, old hunters declare that these
forest gun-boats did not seriously impede locomotion, and that the
accustomed wearer could travel from three to four miles an hour with-
out difficulty.
Kinney and Johnson with their families, in that solitary cabin in the
valley of the Eighteen-Mile, were the only residents of Erie county south
of the reservation in the winter of i8o3-'04,and their nearest white neigh-
bors were at " New Amsterdam," fourteen miles distant.
The year 1804 was marked by a more decided advance than any pre-
vious one.
Turning first to municipal matters, we find that the town-meeting
for Batavia was again held at Peter Vandeventer's, and that popular
landlord was again chosen supervisor.
Division of Batavia — An Ancient Fort. 89
But at that session of the legislature a law was passed, (to take effect
the next February,) dividing Batavia into four towns. The easternmost
was Batavia, consisting of the first, second and third ranges of the Hol-
land Purchase. Next came Willink, containing the fourth, fifth and sixth
ranges. Then Erie, comprising the seventh, eighth, ninth and tenth
ranges, the State reservation and the adjacent waters. The rest of the
Purchase constituted the town of Chautauqua.
It will be seen that Willink, as thus organized, was eighteen miles
wide and just about a hundred miles long, extending from Lake Ontario
to Pennsylvania. It contained one range of townships east of Erie
county, the eastern parts of Niagara and Cattaraugus counties, and the
present towns of Clarence, Newstead, Lancaster, Alden, Elma, Marilla,
Aurora, Wales, Colden, Holland, Sardinia and part of Concord.
The West Transit was the line between Willink and " Erie,** which
last town also stretched the whole width of the State. At its southern
end it was twenty -four miles wide, but it was narrowed by the lake and
the Canadian boundary, so that its northern half was only from ^if ht to
twenty miles wide. It comprised one short range of townships in Chau-
tauqua county, the western part of Niagara and Cattaraugus, and in Erie
count)' the city of Buffalo and the towns of Grand Island, Tonawanda,
Amherst, Cheektowaga, West Seneca, Hamburg, East Hamburg, Evans,
Eden, Boston, Brant, North Collins, Collins, and the west part of Concord.
This town of Erie has had a somewhat curious histor)% having been
completely obliterated not only from the list ot political organizations,
but from the memories of its own oldest inhabitants. The story of its
early annihilation will be told in another chapter.
Next to East Hamburg, Boston was the first town settled south of
the reservation. In March, 1804, Charles Johnson having erected a cabin,
left his friend Kinney's and moved four miles farther into the wilder-
ness. His brother Oliver, Samuel Eaton and Samuel Beebe followed a
little later.
The Johnsons and some of their neighbors had less trouble clearing
their land than most settlers in the south towns. Where they located,
close to Boston Center, there was a prairie of fifty acres. Close by there
was another which occupied thirty acres except a few trees, and there
were some smaller ones. In the thirty-acre one there was an old fort,
enclosing a space of about two and a half acres. It consisted of an embank-
ment which even then was two feet high, with a ditch on the outside
nearly two feet deep. There were a few trees growing on the embank-
ment, one of them being a chestnut from two to two and a half feet in
diameter.
From this fort there was a narrow artificial road running southwest
nearly to Hamburg village. On dry ground little work had been done, but
on wet land the evidences that a road had been made were plain for a
90 History of Erie County.
long time. From Hamburg village to the lake there is a narrow natural
ridge, suitable for a road, and on which one is actually laid out, called
the " Ridge road/*
It looks as if some band of Indians, (or of some other race,) had pre-
ferred to reside on the lake shore for pleasure and convenience, but had
constructed this fortress between the hills, with a road leading to it, as a
place of safety from their foes.
In this vicinity, as elsewhere throughout the county, were found large
numbers of sharpened flint-stones, with which it was supposed the Indians
skinned deer. The largest were six or seven inches long and two inches
broad, the sides being oval and the edges sharpened. If the Indians had
ever used them, as seems probable, they had thrown them aside as soon
as knives were brought among them by the Europeans.
We believe that John Cummings located himself this spring on his
land below Water Valley, becoming the first settler in the present town
of Hamburg.
That same spring Deacon Ezekiel Smith came from Vermont with
his two sons, Richard and Daniel, and bought a tract of land two miles
southeast of Kinney *s, in what has since been known as the Newton
neighborhood. A young man named David Eddy came with him and
selected land near Potter's Corners. Smith returned for his family, leav-
ing his sons to clear land.
In September he came back, with his wife, several daughters, and
two or three others, and five more sons, Amasa, Ezekiel, Zenas, Amiah
and Almon. Such a family of itself was enough to start a pretty good
settlement. Four of the seven sons were married. With them came
another big Vermont family, headed by Amos Colvin, with his sons
Jacob, George, Luther, Amos and Isaac.
In June, 1804, Joel Harvey located at the mouth of the Eighteen-
Mile creek, on the west side, being the first settler in the present town
of Evans, and the farthest one up the lake in the county of Erie.
Meanwhile another settlement had been commenced farther east.
Jabez Warren, when cutting out the Big Tree road, must have been
extremely well pleased with the land about Aurora, for on the 17th pf
April, 1804, he took a contract for four entire lots, comprising the greater
part of the site of the village of East Aurora, and a large territory adjoin-
ing it on the north and west. The tract contained 1,743 acres, being the
largest amount purchased in the county by one person at any one time.
The price was $2 per acre.
The same day Nathaniel Emerson, Henry Godfrey, (a son-in-law of
Warren,) Nathaniel Walker, John Adams and Joel Adams took contracts
covering the whole creek valley, for three miles above East Aurora, at
$1.50 per acre. This was the cheapest that any land was sold in the
county, though it included some of the best. In May, Rufus and Taber
Earl located in the southeast corner of East Aurora village.
First Postoffice — Organization of Willink. 91
Four or five other persons made purchases during the summer, but
out of the whole list, though most of them became permanent residents,
only one, Joel Adams, remained with his family through the winter.
Taber Earl, however, built him a house and moved into it immediately
after buying his land. His wife was the pioneer woman of the county
south of the reservation and east of the West Transit. But Earl with
his family wintered in Buffalo.
In connection with the first settlement of Aurora, it may be noted
that there, as in so many other places, were found indications of ancient
occupancy. A little north of the village of East Aurora, and close to the
north line of the town, are several abrupt hills, almost surrounded by
muddy ponds and by low grounds once undoubtedly covered with water.
Two of these hills, thus conveniently situated for defense, were found
fortified by circular breastworks, resembling those in Boston.
There is also a tradition of bones of "giant size " being dug up there
at an early day, but I am somewhat skeptical, not as to the bones, but
the size. Exaggeration is extremely easy where there is no exact, scien-
tific measurement.
Numerous settlements were made north of the reservation, in 1804,
and the woodman's axe resounded in every direction. Mr. James Clark,
of Lancaster, informed the writer that he had ascertained that James and
Amos Woodward were the first settlers in Lancaster, locating at Bow-
man's Mills, and it was probably in 1804 that they came. Several new
settlers also located themselves in the embryo metropolis at the mouth
of Buffalo creek, the most prominent of whom were Louis Stephen Le
Couteulx, a French gentleman who established the first drug store in
the county, and Captain Samuel Pratt, who engaged largely in trade
with both whites and Indians, and who brought his family to Buffalo in
the first coach ever seen in all the region round about.
The only other event it is necessary to notice in this year is the estab-
lishment of a post-route and post-office. A law was passed in the spring,
establishing a route from Canandaigua to Fort Niagara, by way of Buf-
falo creek. In September following it was put in operation, and Erastus
Granger was appointed the first postmaster in Erie county, his office
being denominated " Buffalo Creek." Even Congress would not recog-
nize the unfortunate name of New Amsterdam.
The new postmaster's duties were not onerous. Once a week a
solitary horseman came from Canandaigua, with a pair of saddle-bags
and the trifling mail, and once a week he returned from Fort Niagara.
During 1805, there is no record of any new townships being occu-
pied, but the work of improvement progressed rapidly in and around
the settlements already made.
In accordance with the law of the previous year, the towns of Wil-
link and Erie were organized in the spring of 1805. The first town
92 History of Erie County.
meeting in Willink was held at Vandeventer s, all the voters being north
of the reservation, except Joel Adams in Aurora and Roswell Turner in
Sheldon, Wyoming county. The following officers were elected: —
Supervisor, Peter Vandeventer ; Town Clerk, Zerah Ensign ; As-
sessors, Asa Ransom, Aaron Beard, John J. Brown ; Collector, Levi
Felton ; Commissioners of Highways, Gad Warner, Charles Wilber,
Samuel Hill, Jr. ; Constables, John Dunn, Julius Keyes ; Overseers of
the Poor, Henry Ellsworth and Otis Ingalls.
The first town meeting in the town of Erie was held at Crow's tav-
ern, but the record of it was destroyed, with nearly all others pertaining
to that town, in 1813. In fact, notwithstanding the law, it would be dif-
ficult to establish the actual, organized existence of such a town, were it
not for a rough little memorandum book, preserved among the treas-
ures of the Buffalo Historical Society-. It is marked " Erie Town Book,*'
but it does not show any of the usual town records except receipts from
licenses to sell liquor.
Five of these were recorded in 1805, three being to persons in the
present county of Erie and two at Lewiston. There were two in Buffalo,
two in Gillett, and one given to Nathaniel Titus on the lake shore in the
present town of Hamburg. There must, however, have been others. The
pjrice of licenses was five dollars each. Orlando Hopkins was collector
of the town that year, and the whole general tax was a hundred and fifty
dollars.
The first resident of Erie count}' who had a right to the appellation
of "Judge," was vSamuel Tupper, a gentleman then in charge of what
was known as the ** Contractors' Store," in Buffalo, who was appointed
an Associate Judge of the Court of Common Pleas for Genesee county
in the autumn of 1805. The position of Associate Judge of the Common
Pleas at that time corresponded closely to that of Justice of Sessions in
later years, and the possession of the office, though with the title of
judge, did not necessarily indicate any great amount of legal knowl-
edge.
Asa Ransom erected a grist-mill at Clarence Hollow in either 1804
or 1805. The accounts differ in that respect, but it was certainly the
first mill for grinding wheat in the county, and was for several years the
only one north of the reservation.
In 1805, Daniel Smith put up a rude mill, for grinding corn only, on
a little stream since called Hoag^s brook, two miles southwest of Potter's
Corners, in the present town of East Hamburg, It was a log building
about eighteen feet square, with wood gearing, and would grind five or
six bushels a day. This was the first grist-mill (if it can be called by
that name) in that part of the county south of the reservation.
David Eddy, also of East Hamburg, built a saw-mill for the Indians
the same year, by contract with Superintendent Granger, on Cazenove
First Grist-Mill in Hamburg. 93
creek, near what is now " Lower Ebenezer." It furnished the first
boards for the inhabitants of the south towns. The cranks, saws, etc.,
had to be transported from Albany.
Among numerous settlers of 1805, we can notice but two in this
part of our history, leaving the others to be mentioned in the city or
township records. One' was Jonas Williams, a clerk in the law office at
Batavia, who had purchased the water power and an abandoned mill on
EUicott's creek, and in the spring of 1805 began to rebuild the mill;
becoming the founder of the village which still bears his name. The
other was William Warren, afterwards better known as General Warren,
then a youth of less than twenty-one years, though already married, who
located himself the same year at the east end of the present village of
East Aurora.
The future general had an early predeliction for military affairs, had
been an "ensign " of militia at his former home, and immediately after
his arrival in Erie county was commissioned as captain. His district
embraced all the south part of Erie and Wyoming counties. With his
commission came an order to call his company together for organiza-
tion. He did so, and nine men responded.
In the year 1806, Joel Harvey, the first settler of Evans, began keep-
ing tavern at his residence, at the mouth of Eighteen-Mile creek. There
were some purchases made in that year near East Evans, and tempo-
rary settlements, but according to Peter Barker, who furnished an
interesting sketch of Evans to the Buffalo Historical Societ}^ the dis-
couraged pioneers left, and no permanent settlements were made till
several years later. Mr. Harvey's was the frontier house, yet it was a
good location for a tavern, on account of the heavy travel that went up
the beach of the lake to Chautauqua county and Ohio.
It was in 1806, too, as near as can be ascertained, that the first reg-
ular grist-mill was erected in the southwest part of the county, probably
the first south of the reservation. It was built by John Cummings, on
the Eighteen-Mile creek, at a place now called McClure's Mills, a mile
or so below Water Valley, in the town of Hamburg.
The raising of it was a grand affair. Old men still relate how from
all the south part of the county the scattered settlers came with their
teams, elated at the idea of having a grist-mill, and willing to make a
week's journey if necessary to give it a start. Yet so few were they
that their united strength was insufficient to put some of the great tim-
bers in their places. The proprietor sent to the reservation and obtained
a crowd of Indians to help in the work. One does not expect very hard
lifting from an Indian, but he can lift, when there is a prospect of plenty
of whiskey as a reward. It was only, however, after four days* work by
white men and red men, that the raising of the big grist-mill was com-
pleted.
94 History of Erie County.
Some of the society of " Friends/' or " Quakers," had been the earliest
pioneers around what has since been known as " Potter's Corners," in
East Hamburg, and in 1806 had become numerous enough to organize
a " Friends Meeting," which was undoubtedly the first religious organi-
zation in the county. The next year they built a log meeting-house in
the same locality. This was not only the first church-building of any
description in the county, but for more than ten years it was the only
one.
The Quakers were equally zealous in the cause of education, and as
early as i8c6 built a log school-house — certainly the first one south of
the reservation, and perhaps in the county. Henry Hibbard taught the
first school.
In 1806 or '07 the " Friends Yearly Meeting" of Philadelphia sent a
mission to instruct the Indians of the Cattaraugus reserve, having
bought three hundred acres adjoining the reservation. The mission was
composed of several single gentlemen and ladies, who called themselves
a family. The whole was under the management of Jacob Taylor. His
nephew, Caleb Taylor, gave the names of Stephen Twining and Hannah
Jackson as members of the family.
They located at the place since known as Taylor's Hollow, a few
rods from the reservation line, where they gave instruction in farming to
all the Indians who would receive it, in housework to the squaws, and
in reading, writing, etc., to the youth. Whatever the improvement
made, the Quakers generally produced a favorable impression on the
red men. Even the bitter Red Jacket spoke of them as friends — the
only white friends the Indians had.
With this exception the valley of the Cattaraugus, including all its
tributaries in Erie county, remained an unbroken wilderness till the fall
of 1807. At that time two hardy pioneers, Christopher Stone and John
Albro, crossed the ridge, made their own roads through the forest, and
finally located on a pleasant little stream running into the Cattaraugus
from the north ; in fact on the site of Springville. There they and their
families remained during the winter, their nearest neighbors being at
least ten miles distant, in the valley of Eighteen-Mile creek.
In 1807 (possibly 1806) Phineas Stephens built the first grist-mill in
the southeastern part of the county, the material being hewn logs.
In 1806 or early in 1807, he does not remember which, young Will-
iam Warren hung out a sign before his log house, and became the first
tavcrn-keej^er in the southeast part of the count}'. In the summer of the
latter vcar the little cabin he had first lived in was converted into a
schiH)l-house, where the first school in all that section was taught by
Marv luldy, of Mast Hamburg. The next winter Warren himself kept
scl\t)ol in the same house. That enterprising young pioneer was thus
school-teacher, tavern-keeper and captain all at once. His second " com-
First Settlement ix Wales. 95
pany training" was held at Turner's Corners, in Sheldon, in 1806, when
there were about sixty men present, instead of the nine of the year
before. Asa Ransom had then been appointed Major-Commandant.
In 1806 William Allen made the first settlement in Wales, locating
where the Big Tree road then crossed Buffalo creek, about half a mile
south of Wales Center. The road then made a half-mile curve to the
south to avoid the long and steep hill east of Wales Center. The same
fall Amos Clark and William Hoyt located a little east of Holmes' Hill.
This locality received its name from two brothers, Ebenezer and
John M. Holmes, whose arrival occurred in February, 1808, just before
the formation of Niagara countv, when they located themselves on the
top of the hill, close to the present west line of Wales. As both had
large families — Ebenezer eight and John M. nine children — most of whom
grew up and settled in that vicinity, it was natural that the name of
"Holmes' Hill" should soon be adopted, and become permanent.
It ma)- be observed, in passing, that vegetation was at that time
almost as luxuriant on the hill-tops as in the valleys, and frequently
deceived the keenest of the pioneers as to the value of the soil.
In 1807 the first settlement was made in the present townoi Holland.
Arthur Humphrey, (father of the Hon. James M. Humphrey,) Abner Cur-
rier and Jared Scott began clearing farms on the creek flats, between
South Wales and Holland village. Humprey settled that year on the
farm where he lived till his death, fifty years later. Currier and Scott
brought their families a year or so afterwards.
In 1806 the first purchase was made in the present town of Alden,
in the northwest corner, by Jonas Vanwey. According to all accounts,
however, there was no settlement till some years later.
Among other new comers to what is now the town of Newstead in
1807 was Lemuel Osborn, whose widow stated in 1875 that a Methodist
society was organized soon after their arrival, with twelve members; her
father, Charles Knight, being the first class-leader. It was the first
Methodist organization on the Holland Purchase, and probably the sec-
ond religious society in Erie county, the Friends' Meeting in East Ham-
burg being the first. It was organized by the Rev. Peter Van Ness, one
of the two first Methodist missionaries who came upon the Purchase,
the Rev. Amos Jenks being the other. Both were sent out in 1807, under
the auspices of the Philadelphia conference.
In 1806 or '07, too, Archibald S. Clarke started a store on his farm
near Vandeventer's. This was the first store in the county, outside of
Buffalo, and was hailed by all the people round about as marking a deci-
sive epoch in the advance of civilization.
Down to and including 1806, the elections and town meetings for the
town of Willink were every year held at Peter Vandeventer's, and every
year the worthy landlord was chosen supervisor. In 1807, however, the
96 History of Erie County.
town meeting was held at Clarence Hollow, and then Asa Ransom was
elected supervisor.
This time the scattering voters in Willink, south of the reservation,
had to cross it to exercise the elective franchise. General elections, how-
ever, in those times were held three days, and in April, 1807, the south-
ern settlers got sight of a ballot-box. The election was held a day and
a half north of the reservation, and on the afternoon of the second day
the ** board " crossed the wilderness. The next forenoon they held open
the polls at Warren's tavern in Aurora, and in the afternoon in Wales,
at the house of Jacob Turner.
The Commissioners of Excise of Willink for 1807 certified to the
qualifications of no less than ten persons to keep hotels in that town.
Doubtless all these, and perhaps more, actually kept tavern, but there
was only a single store in town.
In September, 1806, the earliest lawyer made his advent in Erie
county. If any of the frontiersmen were disposed to look askance on a
representative of the legal profession, as a probable provoker of disputes
and disturber of society, they must soon have been disabused of their prej-
udices, for Ebenezer Walden, the new comer, was of all men one of the
most upright and most modest. He immediately commenced practice in
Buffalo, and for a year or two was the only attorney west of Batavia.
We will close this chapter with the description of an amusing scene
which ocpurred in Buffalo in the fall of 1807, as related by General War-
ren. Militia regiments in those days had no colonels, but were each
organized with a lieutenant-colonel commanding, and two majors. In
1807, the militia of the western part of Genesee county had been formed
into a regiment, with Asa Ransom as Lieutenant-Colonel commanding,
and T. S. Hopkins and Sylvanus Maybee as Majors, There had been
several *' company trainings," but as yet no " general training."
At the first " officer meeting " after the new appointments were made,
a dispute arose between Colonel Ransom and Major Maybee, as to who
should be recommended to the governor for the vacant captaincy of the
Buffalo Company, in place of Maybee, promoted.
The war of words grew more and more furious, until at length the
doughty Major challenged his superior officer to fight a duel. For this
infraction of military discipline Colonel Ransom put the Major under
arrest, and reported his case to the higher authorities. In due time a
court-martial was convened. Captain Warren being one of the witnesses,
and Maybee was tried and cashiered.
He must have taken his military misfortune very much to heart, for,
though he had been a prominent man in Buffalo, he immediately disap-
peared from its records, and undoubtedly left the village, apparently
preferring the discomfort of making a new home to remaining where he
could not enjoy the glory of a duel, nor the honors of a militia major.
Thus sadly ended the first display of chivalry in Erie county.
Re-arrangement of Town and County Boundaries, 97
CHAPTER XIII.
RB-DRGANIZATIDN.
Division of Genesee County Necessary — Inconvenient Towns — Captain Berais* Strategy — Erec-
tion of Niagara, Cattaraugus and Chautauqua Counties — Short Courts — Town Changes —
Clarence — Willink — Destruction of the Town of Erie — Actual Beginning of Erie County
— First Officers — Attorneys — Court House.
IN the beginning of 1808, there was a re-organization of the counties and
towns of the Holland Purchase, so thorough, and in some respects so
peculiar, as to merit a brief chapter by itself.
Hitherto the boundaries of Genesee county had remained as at first
defined, except that Allegany had been taken off in 1806, but by 1808, the
inhabitants felt that they were sufficiently numerous to justify a subdi-
vision, and what was more important, Mr. EUicott became satisfied that
the interests of the Holland Company would be promoted by such a
change, even though they should have to erect the new county buildings.
The towns, too, eighteen miles wide and a hundred miles long,
which had done well enough when nearly all the settlers were scattered
along the Buffalo road, were now found to be inconvenient in the
extreme. Going from Fort Niagara to Buffalo, nearly forty miles, to
town meeting, was a little too much, even for the ardent patriotism of
the American voter. Scarcely less troublesome was it to cross the res-
ervation for that purpose. Besides, there was already a settlement at
Olean in the town of Willink, the inhabitants of which, if they ever went
to election, which is doubtful, must have traversed a distance of sixty
miles, and twenty miles further to town meeting, which was always held
north of the reservation.
A story was told the writer in Hamburg, which was quite in har-
mony with the circumstances, to the effect that the Buffalonians were
converted to the project of dividing .the town of Erie by a piece of strat-
egy on the part of Captain Jotham Bemis, then resident near Abbott's
Corners. They had opposed a division, as all the town business was
done at their village, bringing them more or less trade, and making
unnecessary, so far as they were concerned, the expense of new' towns.
So, in the spring of 1807, Captain Bemis made arrangements for all
the south part of the town of Erie to be fully represented at Buffalo, by
men prepared to stay over night. It was then customary to fix the place
of the next town-meeting in the afternoon, just before closing the polls.
Accordingly, all the south-country people duly appeared at Buffalo,
and every man of them remained. Most of those from north of the res-
ervation started for home early, and the villagers alone were in the
98 History of Erie County.
minority. When the time came for appointing the next place of meeting,
the gallant Captain rallied his men, and it was fixed at John Green's tav-
ern, in the present town of East Hamburg. Then the Buffalo people
were willing the town should be divided, and used their influence also in
favor of a division of the county.
Whether this story be true or not, certain it is that on the nth day
of March, 1808, there was a complete municipal re-organization of the
Holland Purchase. On that day a law was enacted by which all that
part of the county of Genesee lying north of Cattaraugus creek, and west
of the line between the fourth and fifth ranges of townships, should form
the county of Niagara. The counties of Cattaraugus and Chautauqua
were erected at the same time, with substantially the same limits as now,
but it was provided that neither of them should be organized until it
should have five hundred voters, and meanwhile both, for all county pur-
poses, were attached to Niagara.
It was also enacted that the county seat of the latter county should
be at " Buffaloe or New Amsterdam," provided the Holland Company
should in three years erect a suitable court house and jail, and should
deed to the county at least half an acre of ground, on which they should
stand. Three terms annually of the Court of Common Pleas and two of
the Court of General Sessions were provided for, and in order to give
time for the Court of Sessions it was enacted that two terms of the Com-
mon Pleas, all of which were to be held on Tuesday, might be extended
till the Saturday following. The first court was directed to be held at
the tavern of Joseph Landon, in Buffalo.
By the same act the town-lines of the Purchase were changed to a
very remarkable extent. A tier of townships off from the east side of
Willink had been left in Genesee county. This, together with old
Batavia, was cut up into the three towns of Batavia, Warsaw and
Sheldon.
All that part of Niagara county north of the center of Tonawanda
creek, being a part of the former towns of Willink and Erie, and cover-
ing the same ground as the present county of Niagara, was formed into
a town by the name of Cambria. All that part between Tonawanda
creek and the center of the Buffalo Creek reservation, also comprising
parts of both Willink and Erie, was formed into a town by the name of
Clarence, which as will be seen mcluded the village of Buffalo. The first
town-meeting was directed to be held at the house of Ehas Ransom, (near
Eggertsville.) All that part of Niagara county south of the center of
the reservation, being also a part of Willink and Erie, was formeij into a
town which retained the name of Willink.
In the new county of Cattaraugus a single town was erected named
Olean, white Chautauqua county was divided into two towns, Chautauqua
and Pomfret.
Obliteration of the Town of Erie. 99
It will be seen that by this act the town of Erie was completely
obliterated from the map, while Willink, which had previously been
eighteen miles wide and a hundred miles long, extending from Pennsyl-
vania to Lake Ontario, was changed into a town bounded by the Buffalo
reservation, Lake Erie, Cattaraugus creek, and the east line of the county,
having an extreme width north and south of twenty-five miles, and an
extreme length east and west of thirty-five. So great was the complica-
tion caused by the destruction of the old town-lines, while retaining one
of the town names, (as well as by the subsequent revival of " Erie " as a
town name, as will be hereafter related,) that all the local historians and
statisticians have got lost in trying to describe the early municipal organ-
ization of this county. Even French's State Gazetteer, a book of much
merit and very great labor, is entirely at fault in regard to nearly all the
earlier town formations of Erie county.
Although " Erie " was plainly laid down on a map of the Purchase
made by Ellicott in 1804, the writer was half disposed for a while to
regard it as a myth, and mentally designated it as " The Lost Town.*'
The old town-book before referred to, however, gave him considerable
faith in it, and at length an examination of the laws of 1804 and 1808,
proved its existence and showed how completely the previous organiza^
tion was broken up by the statute creating Niagara county.
It will have been seen that, by that law, there were but three towns
in Niagara county, two of which were in the present county of Erie.
As, however, Cattaraugus and Chautauqua were temporarily united with
Niagara, the new board of supervisors which met in Buffalo must have
been composed of six members, representing a territory a hundred miles
long and from twenty to seventy-five miles wide.
This was substantially the beginning of the present Erie county
organization, although the name of Niagara was afterwards given to
that part north of the Tonawanda. Erie county formed the principal
part of old Niagara, both in territory and population ; the county seat of
old Niagara was the same as that of Erie, and such of the old Niagara
county records as are not destroyed are retained in Erie county.
The governor appointed Augustus Porter, living near Niagara Falls,
as "first judge" of the new Court of Common Pleas, having jurisdiction
over Niagara, Cattaraugus and Chatauqua counties. His four associates
were probably * Samuel Tupper and Erastus Granger of Buffalo, James
Brooks of Cattaraugus county, and Zattu Cushing of Chautauqua county.
Asa Ransom was appointed sheriff, Louis Le Couteulx county clerk,
and Archibald S. Clarke surrogate. The latter gentleman was also
elected the same year as member of assembly from the district com-
posed of the three new counties.
* Tupper and Granger we are very certain were two <4 the new judges, but are not quite so sure
about Brooks and Gushing. The last named was certainly a judge within a short time afterwards.
loo History of Erie County.
In July, 1808, there were but four attorneys in Niagara county, as
we learn from a letter of Juba Storrs, a young man bred to the law, who
was preparing to go into practice at BuflFalo, but soon abandoned the
intention. Of these Walden was one, and the others werfe probably
Bates Cooke of Lewiston, knd John Root and Jonas Harrison of BuflFalo.
Immediately after the formation of the new counties, the Holland
Company began the erection of a frame court-house in the middle of
Onondaga (now Washington) street BuflFalo, directly in front of the site
of what this generation has known as the " Old Court House," which
was built five or six years later. The company gave half an acre of land,
lying in a circle around the new structure, to the county. It was finished
in 1809.
The first court was held in Landon's tavern in June, 1808. No record
of the proceedings remains, but at the session in November, 1808, an
indictment was presented which survived all the accidents of war and
time, and was still on file in Erie county clerk's office, just previous to the
latest removal of the records. It charged five men, described as "labor-
ers of the town of Erie,*' with stealing a cow in 1806. As the " town of
Erie *' had ceased to exist when the indictment was found, the descrip-
tion must have referred to the time when the crime was committed.
The document was commendably brief, containing only a hundred
and one words. Peter Vandeventer was foreman of the grand jury. The
district attorney was William Stewart, of one of the eastern counties, for
the territory in charge of a single district attorney then extended more
than half way to Albany.
CHAPTER XIV.
PIONEERS AND INDIANS.
Poverty — An Aristocratic Mansion — A Horse Bedstead — Oxen — A Raising— Clearing Land —
The Logging Bee — The Rail Fence — The Barn — The Well — The Sweep — Browse —
Sheep and Wolves — Sugar-Making- Money Scarce — Wheat and Tea — Potaah — Social
Life — Schools — The Husking Bee — Buffalo Society — Indians — Describing a Tavern —
Old King and Young Smoke — Anecdotes of Red Jacket.
WE have now shown the general course of events, as accurately as we
could, down to a time when settlement had got pretty well started
in Erie county. Still everything was in the rudest form, and the
daily lives of the settlers was of the very hardest description. We have
not gone into details to any great extent because the experiences of the
various pioneers very closely resembled each other.
Pioneer Life. ioi
The object of this chapter is to consolidate those experiences and
give a general idea of what pioneering was in Erie county in its earliest
stages.
In the first place, it may be said roundly that all the early settlers of
this county, as of the whole Holland Purchase, were extremely poor.
The exceptions were of the rarest. Over and over again Mr. Ellicott
mentions, in his letters to the general agent, the absolute necessity of
making sales with little or no advance payment. Over and over again
we find men buying from one to two hundred acres of laud, the amount
paid down being twenty dollars, ten dollars, five dollars, and even a still
smaller sum.
The structures under which the earliest settlers sheltered them-
selves and their families often hardly rose even to the dignity of log
houses. They were frequently mere cabins of small logs, (there not
being help enough to handle large ones,) covered with bark. Some-
times there was a floor of split logs, or " puncheons," sometimes none.
A log house sixteen feet square, with a shingle roof, a board floor, and a
window containing six lights of glass, was a decidedly stylish residence,
and its owner was in some danger of being disliked as a bloated aristo-
crat.
The furniture was as primitive as the houses. Sometimes a feather-
bed was brought on an ox-cart to the new home, sometimes not. Bed-
steads were still rarer, and chairs pertained only to the higher classes.
Substitutes for the latter were made by splitting a slab out of a log,
boring four holes in the corners, and inserting four legs hewn out of
the same tree.
A bedstead was almost as easily constructed. Two poles were cut,
one about six feet long and the other three. One end of each was
inserted in an auger-hole, bored in a log at the proper distance from
the corner of the house ; the other ends were fastened to a post which
formed the corner of the structure. Other poles were fastened along
the logs, and the frame was complete. Then, if the family was well oflf
and owned a bed cord, it was strung upon the poles-; if not, its place was
supplied by strips of bark from the nearest trees. This was called by
some a " horse bedstead," and by some a " Holland Purchase bedstead."
Usually the emigrant brought a small stock of provisions with him,
for food he knew he must have. These, however, were frequently
exhaused before he could raise a supply. Then he had to depend on
the precarious resource of wild game, or on what his labor could obtain
from his scarcely more fortunate neighbors.
Even after a crop of corn had been raised, there still remained the
extreme difficulty of getting it ground. But in this case, as in so many
others, necessity was the mother of invention. A fire being built in the
top of a stump, a hollow of the size of a half-bushel basket would be
I02 History of Erie County.
burned out and then scraped clean. Then the pioneer would hew out a
rude wooden pestle, fasten it to a " spring-pole," and secure the latter to
a neighboring tree. With this primeval grist-mill, corn could be reduced
to a coarse meal. When there were several families in a neighborhood,
one such machine would serve them all. It was sometimes called a
" plumping mill."
Another way was to flatten a beech log, hollow it out, fit a block
into the hollow and turn the block with a lever.
The clothes of both men and women for the first few years were
such as they brought from their former homes. If these were plentiful,
the owners were comfortable ; if scanty, they were patched till their
original material was lost beneath the overlying amendments.
When the emigrant was unmarried, he frequently came on foot and
alone, with only an ax on his shoulder, selected a location miles away
from the nearest settler, put him up the rudest kind of a cabin, and for
awhile kept bachelor's hall, occasionally visiting some friendly matron
to have his bread baked or his clothes repaired.
When a family came it was almost invariably behind a yoke of oxen.
These patient animals were the universal resource of the first pioneers
of Western New York. Cheap, hardy, and far better adapted than
horses to the terrible roads of those days, they possessed the further
advantage of being always transmissible into beef, in case of accident to
them or scarcity in the family. During the first few years of its settle-
ment, probably not one family in ten came into Erie county with a span
of horses.
New comers were always warmly welcomed by their predecessors,
partly doubtless from native kindness, and partly because each new arri-
val helped to redeem the forest from its forbidding loneliness, and added
to the improvements already made.
If there were only two or three settlers in the locality, the emigrant's
family was sheltered by one of them until a bark-covered cabin could be
erected ; if there were eight or ten, preparations were made for a more
substantial viansion, and ere long a notice was sent to all around of a
house-raising on a specified day. On that day, perhaps only a dozen men
would be collected from as many square miles, but all of them able to
handle their axes as easily as the deftest clerk flourishes his pen.
Suitable trees had already been felled, and logs cut, from twelve to
sixteen feet long, according to the wealth and pretensions of the builder.
These were drawn by oxen to the desired point, and four of the largest
selected as a foundation.
Four of the most active and expert men were designated to build
the corners. They began by cutting a kind of saddle at the ends of two
of the logs ; a space about a foot long being shaped like the roof of a
house. Notches to fit these saddles were cut in the other logs and then
Raisings— Clearing Land. 103
thej' were laid upon the first ones. The operation was repeated again
and again, the four axemen rising with the building, and shaping the
logs handed up to them by their comrades.
Arrived at a height of six or eight feet, rafters made of poles from
the forest were placed in position, and if a supply of ash *' shakes/' (^^^S^
shingles three feet long,) had been provided, the roof was at once con-
structed, the gable^nds being formed of logs, successively shortened to
the pinnacle. Then a place for a door was sawed out and another for a
window, (if the proprietor aspired 10 such a convenience,) and the prin-
cipal work of the architects was done.
They were usually cheered in their labors and rewarded at the close
of them by the contents of a whisky jug ; for it must have been a very
poor neighborhood indeed in which a few quarts of that article could
not be obtained on great occasions. Sometimes the proprietor obtained
rough boards and made a door, but often a blanket served that purpose
during the first summer. There being no brick, he built a fire-place of
stone, finishing it with a chimney composed of sticks, laid up cob-house
fashion, and well plastered with mud.
The finishing touches were given by the owner himself; then, if the
family had brought a few pots and kettles with them they were ready to
commence house-keeping.
The next task was to clear a piece of land. If the pioneer had
arrived very early in the season, he might possibly get half an acre of
woods out of the way so as to plant a little corn the same spring.'
Usually, however, his ambition was limited to getting three or four acres
ready for winter wheat by the first of September. To do this he worked
early and late, fortunate if he was not interrupted by the ague or some
other sickness.
The first thing of course was to fell the trees, but even this was a
work of science. It was the part of the expert woodsman to make them
all lie in one direction, so they could be easily rolled together. Then
they were cut into logs from fourteen to eighteen feet long, and the
brush was cut up and piled. When the latter had become dry it was
fired, and the land quickly burned over, leaving the blackened ground
and charred logs.
Next came the logging. When the piece w.as small the pioneer
would probably take his oxen, change works so as to obtain a couple of
helpers, and the three would log an acre a day, one driving a team and
two using handspikes, and thus dragging and rolling the logs into piles
convenient for burning. The first dry weather these, too, were fired,
the brands watched and heaped together, and when all were consumed
the land was ready for the plough.
Even an ordinary day in the logging field was a sufficiently sooty
and disagreeable experience, but was as nothing compared with a " log-
I04 History of Erie County.
ging bee.** When a large tract was to be logged, the neighbors were
invited from far and near to a bee. Those who had oxen brought them,
the others provided themselves with cant-hooks and hand-spikes. The
officer of the day, otherwise the " boss,** who was usually the owner of
the land, gave the necessary directions, designating the location of the
different heaps, and the work began. The charred and blackened logs
were rapidly drawn, (or " snaked,** as the term was,) alongside the
heap, and then the hand-spike brigade quickly rolled them on top of it.
Another and another was dragged up in rapid succession, the handspike-
men being always ready to put it right if it caught against an obstacle.
As it tore along the ground, the black dust flew up in every direction,
and when a collision occurred, the sooty zephyrs arose in treble volume.
Soon every man was covered with a thick coat of black, involving
clothes, hands and face in darkness which no mourning garb ever
equalled. But the work went on with increasing speed. The different
gangs caught the spirit of rivalry, and each trio or quartette strove to
make the quickest trips and the highest pile. It is even said by old
loggers that the oxen would get as excited as the men, and would " snake "
their loads into place with ever-increasing energy.
Teams that understood their business would stand quiet while the
chain was being hitched, then spring with all their might, taking a bee-
line to the log-heap, and halt as soon as they came abreast of it. They
had not the benefit, either, of the stimulus applied to the men, for the
whisky jug was in frequent circulation.
Faster and faster sped the men and teams to and fro, harder strained
the handspike heroes to increase the pile, higher flew the clouds of dust'
and soot. Reckless of danger, men sprang in front of rolling logs, or
bounded over them as they went whirling among the stumps. Acci-
dents sometimes happened, but those who have been on the scene ex-
press wonder that half the necks present were not broken.
As the day draws to a close a thick cloud covers the field, through
which are seen a host of sooty forms, four-legged ones with horns and
two-legged ones with handspikes, pulling, running, lifting, shouting,
screaming, giving the most vivid idea of pandemonium that a farmer's
life ever offers, until night descends, and the tired yet still excited labor-
ers return to their homes, clothed in blackness, and the terror of even
the most careless of housewives. But the work is done.
To sow the land with winter wheat was, in most cases, the next
move. A patch might be reserved for corn and potatoes, but spring
wheat was a very rare crop.
The next absolute necessity was a fence. The modern system of
dispensing with that protection was unknown and undreamed of. Prob-
ably the records of every town organized in the Holland Purchase, down
to '1850, would show that at its first town meeting an ordinance was
The Rail Fence— The Barn. 105
passed, providing that horses and horned cattle should be free common-
ers. Hogs, it was usually voted, should not be free commoners, while
sheep held an intermediate position, being sometimes allowed the liberty
of the road, and sometimes doomed to the seclusion of the pasture.
Occasionally, a temporary fence was constructed by piling large
brush along the outside of the clearing, but this was a poor defense
against a steer that was really in earnest, and was held in general disfavor
as a sign of " shiftlessness," that first of sins to the Yankee mind.
The universal reliance, and the pride of the pioneer's heart, was the
old-fashioned " Virginia rail fence." Not long ago it would have been
an absurdity for an Erie county writer to say anything in the way of
description about an institution so well known as that. It might per-
haps do to omit any mention of it now. But if any copies of this
book should last for thirty years, the readers of that day will all want to
know why the author failed to describe that curious crooked fence, made
of split logs, which they will have heard of but never seen. Even now
it is rapidly becoming a thing of the past, under the combined influences
of cattle-restraini^ng laws and the high price of timber.
One of the most important things which the emigrant looked out for
in selecting a farm was an ample supply of oak, elm, ash, or walnut, for
rail-making purposes. Then, when winter had put an end to other work,
laden with axe, and beetle, and iron wedge, and wooden wedge, he
tramped through the snow to the big trees, and perhaps for months did
little else than convert them into great, three-cornered rails, twelve feet
long, and facing six or eight inches on each side.
In the spring these were laid in fence, the biggest at the bottom,
one end of each rail below and the other above, and each *Mength " of
fence forming an obtuse angle with that on either side. Four and a half
feet was the usual height prescribed by the town ordinances, but the
farmer's standard of efficiency was an *' eight-rail fence, staked and rid-
ered." The last two adjectives denoted that two stout stakes were
driven into the ground and crossed above the eighth rail, at each corner,
while on the crotch thus formed was laid the biggest kind of arail,serv.
ing at once to add to the height and to keep the others in place. Such
a fence would often reach the height of seven feet, and prove an invinci-
ble obstacle to the hungry horse, the breachy ox, and even to the wild
and wandering bull.
After the pioneer had got his log house, his piece of clearing and his
fence, the next thing was a barn. An open shed was generally made to
suffice for the cattle, which were expected to stand cold as well as a sala-
mander is said to endure fire. But with the gathering of harvests came the
necessity for barns, and, though log ones were sometimes erected, it was
so difficult to make them large enough that frame barns were built as
soon as circumstances would possibly permit, and long before frame
houses were aught but distant possibilities.
io6 History of Erie County.
All were of substantially the same pattern, differing only in size.
The frame of the convenient forest timber, scored and hewed by the
ready hands of the pioneer himself, and roughly fitted by some frontier
carpenter, the sides enclosed with pine boards without battening, the top
covered with shingles, a threshing flioor and drive-way in the center,
with a bay for hay on one side, and a little stable room on the other, sur-
mounted by a scaffold for grain — such was the Erie county barn in 1808,
and it has changed less than any other adjunct of the farm, though bat-
tened and painted sides, and basement stables, are becoming more com-
mon every year.
Generally preceding the barn if there was no spring convenient, but
otherwise slightly succeeding it, was the well. The digging of this, like
almost everything else, was done b)' the proprietor himself, with the aid
of his boys, if he had any large enough, or of a neighbor to haul up the
dirt. Its depth of course depended on the location of water, but that
was generally to be found in abundant quantity and of good quality at
from ten to twenty feet.
Excellent round stone was also abundant, and the settlers were never
reduced to the condition of those western pioneers who are obliged, (to
use their own expression,") to stone up their wells with cotton-wood plank.
The well being dug and stoned up, it was completed for use by a
superstructure which was then universal, but is now almost utterly a
thing of the past. A post ten or twelve inches in diameter and some ten
feet high, with a crotched top. was set in the ground a few feet from the
well. On a stout pin, running through both arms of the crotch, was
hung a heavy pole or ** sweep," often twenty feet long, the larger end
resting on the ground, the smaller one rising in air directly over the
well. To this was attached a smaller i>ole, reaching to the top of the
well. At the lower end of this pole hung the bucket, the veritable "old
oaken bucket, that hung in the well," and the process of drawing water
consisted in pulling down the small end of the sweep till the bucket was
filled, and then letting the butt end pull it out, with some help. If the
pioneer had several small children, as he generally had, a board curb,
about three feet square and two and a half high, usually ensured their
safety.
The whole formed, for a long time, a picturesque and far-seen addi-
tion to nearly every door-yard in Erie county. Once in a great while
some wealthy citizen would have a windlass for raising water, but for
over a quarter of a century after the first settlements a farmer no more
thought of having a pump than of buying a steam engine.
It took longer for the pioneer to get a meadow started than to raise
a crop of grain. Until this was done, the chief support of his cattle in
winter was " browse," and for a long time after it was their partial
dependence. Day after day he went into the woods, felled trees — beech,
Food — Early Products of the Farm. 107
maple, birch, etc. — and drove his cattle thither to feed on the tender
twigs. Cattle have been kept through the whole winter with no other
food. Even in a much more advanced state of settlement, "browse"
was a frequent resource to eke out slender stores, or supply an unex-
pected deficiency.
In the house the food consisted of corn.bread or wheat-bread, accord-
ing to the circumstances of the householder, with pork as the meat of all
classes. Beef was an occasional luxury.
Wild animals were not so abundant near the reservations as else-
where. They were most numerous in the southern part of the county.
The Indians kept tliem pretty well hunted down in their neighborhood,
though they had a rule among themselves forbidding the young men
from hunting within several miles of their village, in order to give the
old men a chance.
Venison was frequently obtained in winter, but the settlers of Erie
county were generally too earnestly engaged in opening farms to be very
good hunters. Sometimes, too, a good fat bear was knocked over, but pork
was the universal stand by. Nobody talked about trichinoe spiralis then.
Nearly everybody above the very poorest grade brought with him
a few sheep and a cow. The latter was an invaluable resource, furnish-
ing the only cheap luxuries the family enjoyed, while the sheep were
destined to supply their clothing. But the keeping of these was up-hill
work. Enemies lurked in every hillside, and often after bringing a little
flock for hundreds of miles, and protecting them through the storms of
winter, the pioneer would learn from their mangled remains that the
wolves had taken advantage of one incautious night to destroy them all.
Wolves were the foes of sheep, and bears of hogs. The latter enemies,
however, could generally be defeated by keeping their prey in a good,
stout pen, near the house. But sheep must be let out to feed, and would
sometimes stray so far as to be left out over night ; and then woe to the
captured. Occasional panthers, too, roamed through the forest, but they
seldom did any damage to the stock, and only served to render traveling
at night a little dangerous.
Despite of wolves, however, the pioneers managed to keep sheep,
and as soon as one obtained a few pounds of wool his wife and daughters
went to carding it into rolls with hand-cards, then to spinning it, and
then they either wove it or took it to a neighbor's to be woven, paying
for its manufacture with a share of the cloth or with some farm products.
Everything was done at home and almost everything by hand. There
was not at this period, (the beginning of 1808,) even a carding-mill or
cloth dressing establishment on the whole Holland Purchase, though one
was built the succeeding summer at Bushville, Genesee county.
As soon as flax could be raised, too, the " little wheels *' of the house-
•wives were set in motion, and coarse linen or tow-cloth was manufac-
io8 History of Erie County.
tured, which served for dresses for the girls and summer clothing for the
boys.
Tea and coffee were scarce, but one article, which in many coun-
tries is considered a luxury — sugar — was reasonably abundant. All over
the county grew the sugar maple, and there was hardly a Ipt large
enough for a farm on which there was not a "sugar bush."
One of the earliest moves of the pioneer was to provide himself with
a few buckets and a big kettle. Then, when the sap began to stir in
earl}' spring, trees were tapped — more or less in number according to
the facilities at command — sap was gathered and boiled, and in due time
made into sugar. New beginners, or poor people who were scant of
buckets and kettles, would content themselves with making a small
amount, to be carefully hoarded through the year.
But the glory of sugar-making was in the great bush where hun-
dreds of trees were tapped, where a shanty was erected in which the
sugar-makers lodged, where the sap was gathered in barrels on ox-sleds
and brought to the central fire, where cauldron kettles boiled and bubbled
day and night, where bo\-s and girls, young men and maidens, watched
and tasted, and tasted and watched, and where, when the cautious hours
of manufacture were over, the great cakes of solidified sweetness were
turned out by the hundred weight.
Money was scarce beyond the imagination of this age. Even after
produce was raised, there was almost no market for it except during the
war, and if it could be sold at all, after dragging it over the terrific roads
to Batavia or some point farther east, the mere cost of traveling to and fro
would nearly eat up the price. Wheat at one time was but twenty-five
cents a bushel, and it is reported of a family in the north part of the coun-
ty, in which the good woman felt that she must have her tea, that eight
bushels of wheat were sold to buy a pound of tea; the price of wheat
being twenty-five cents a bushel and that of tea two dollars a pound.
A little relief was obtained by the sale of ** black salts." At a verj-
early period asherics were established in various parts of the county,
wlicre black salts were bought and converted into potash. These salts
were the residuum from boiling down the lye of common wood-ashes. As
there was an immense quantity of wood which needed to be burned in
order to work the land, it was but little extra trouble to leach the ashes
and boil the lye.
These salts were brought to the asheriesand sold. There they were
agaui boiled and converted into potash. As that could be sent East
without costing more than it was worth for transportation, a little money
was brought into the country in exchange for it. In 1808 there were a
few asherics, and they afterwards became numerous.
Social life was of course of the rudest kind. Still, there were visit-
ings to and fro, and sleighing parties on ox-sleds, and other similar
Early Schools — Husking Bees. 109
recreations. As yet there were hardly any but long taverns, and hardly
a room that even by courtesy could be called a ball-room. Yet dances
were not infrequently improvised on the rough floor of a contracted
room, to the sound of a solitary fiddle in the hands of some backwoods
devotee of Apollo.
There was not, as has been seen, a church-building in the county,
except the log meeting-house of the Quakers, at East Hamburg, and not
an organized church, excepting the ** Friends* Meeting,** if they called it
a church, at that place, and the little Methodist society in Newstead.
Even Buffalo had no church in 1808. Meetings were, however, held at
rare intervals in school-houses, or in the houses of citizens, and fre-
quently, when no minister was to be had, some layman would read a
sermon and conduct the services.
Nearly every neighborhood managed to have a school as soon as
there were children enough to form one — which was not long alter the
first settlement. The universal testimony is that log houses are favora-
ble to the increase of population ; at least that in the log-house era chil-
dren multiplied and flourished to an extent unheard of in these degener-
ate days. It may be taken for granted, even when there is no evidence
on the subject, that a school was kept within a very few years after the
first pioneer located himself in any given neighborhood, and generally a
log school-house was soon erected by the people.
There was, at the time of the organization of Niagara county, only
the single store of A. S. Clarke, outside of Buffalo, in what is now Erie
county. Taverns, however, were abundant. Along every road men
with their families were pushing forward to new homes, others were
going back after their families, others were wending their way to distant
localities with grain to be ground, with wool to be carded, sometimes
even with crops to be sold. Consequently, on every road those who
could provide beds, food and liquor for the travelers were apt to put up
signs to announce their willingness to do so.
One of the principal occasions for a jollification in the country was
the husking-bee. Corn was abundant, and it had to be husked. So,
instead of each man's gloomily sitting down by himself and doing his
own work, the farmers, one after the other, invited the young people of
the neighborhood to husking-bees ; the " neighborhood " frequently
extending over several square miles.
They came in the early evening, young men and women, all with ox
teams, save where some scion of one of the first families brought his fair
friends on a lumber wagon or sleigh, behind a pair of horses, the envy
and admiration of less fortunate swains. After disposing of their teams
as well as circumstances permitted, and after a brief warming at the
house, all adjourned to the barn, where the great pile of ears of corn
awaited their arrival.
8
no History of Erie County.
It was cold, but they were expected to keep warm by work. So at
work they went, stripping the husks from the big ears and flinging them
into piles, each husker and huskress striving to make the largest pile,
and the warm blood that coursed rapidly through their veins under the
spur of exercise, bid defiance to the state of the temperature.
This warmth of blood was also occasionally increased by a " red ear"
episode. It was the law of all well-regulated husking-bees, dating from
time immemorial, that the young man to whose lot fell a red ear should
have the privilege of kissing every young woman present. Some laws
fail because they were not enforced, but this was not one of that kind.
It has even been suspected, so eager were the youth of that period to
support the law, that the same red ear would be found more than once
during the same evening, and the statute duly enforced on each occasion.
A vast pile of unhusked ears was soon by many hands, transferred
into shining heaps of husked ones, and then the company adjourned to
the house, where a huge supply of doughnuts and other simple luxuries
rewarded their labors. Possibly a bushel of apples might have been
imported from lands beyond the Genesee, and if the host had also
obtained a few gallons of cider to grace the occasion he was looked on
as an Amphitryon of the highest order.
Perchance some frontier fiddler was present with his instrument,
when, if the rude floor afforded a space of ten feet by fifteen, clear of fire-
place and table, a dance was arranged in which there was an abundance of
enjoyment and energy, if not of grace, and in which the young men were
only prevented from bounding eight feet from the floor by the fact that
the ceiling was but six and a half feet high.
In Buffalo there was a little closer resemblance to the society of older
localities, but only a little. Down to the beginning of the War of 1812,
the greater part of the society enjoyed by the Buffalonians was furnished
by Canada. The west side of the Niagara had been settled much earlier
than the east, and naturall}' a much larger proportion of the people had
attained a reasonable degree of comfort.
The Indians of course had their permanent homes on the various
reservations, but they were free commoners throughout the county, often
appearing at some lonely cabin with a suddenness which terribly tried
the nerves of the inmates, especially if the head of the house was absent.
Occasionally, too, when excited with liquor, they were disposed to be
quarrelsome, and sometimes they sought to frighten children with brand-
ished tomahawk and gleaming knife. Still more rarely they were guilty
of petty thefts.
Generally, however, the Indians were peaceable and well behaved.
Farmer's Brother resided at Farmer's Point, on Buffalo creek, in the first
cabin outside the line of New Amsterdam, on the reservation. A mile
or more above was the old council house, a block building where the
The Seneca Chiefs. hi
chiefs were very fond of meeting in legislative session. Near it lived
" White Seneca," his son •* Seneca White" and others. Still farther out was
the main Indian village, where Red Jacket resided, and which was scat^
tered over a considerable space on both sides of the Aurora road, west
of the present village of Ebenezer, and on the flats south of that village.
At this time the usual Indian residences were log cabins, of various
dimensions and pretensions, but not differing greatly from those of the
pioneers.
Apropos of Indians and log-cabins, a story is told of Farmer's Brother
in Stone's Life of Red Jacket, which illustrates the difficulty of express-
ing a new idea in the Indian dialects, except by the most elaborate descrip-
tion. At a very early day, he with other chiefs went from Buffalo creek
to Elmira, to meet some white commissioners. On their way they stopped
one night at a log-tavern, newly erected in the wilderness. In describing
their journey to the whites, he said they stayed at "a house put together
with parts of trees piled on each other, to which a pole was attached, to
which a board was tied, on which was written *rum is sold here.' "
In 1808, Farmer's Brother was recognized as the principal man among
the Indians, all things considered, though Red Jacket was put forward
whenever they wanted to make a display in the eyes of the whites. He
seems, too, to have been accorded by general consent the rank, so far as
there was any s^uch rank, of principal sachem, or civil chief, of the Senecas.
Farmer's Brother was a war-chief.
Many of the whites attributed a supremacy of some kind to Guien-
guatob, commonly called "Young King," and sometimes "Young
Smoke." He was said to be the son of Sayengeraghta, otherwise " Old
King," otherwise " Old Smoke," who was undoubtedly up to the time of
his death principal civil sachem of the Senecas.
Rev. Asher Wright, of the Cattaraugus mission, explained while liv-
ing that Guienguatoh meant in substance " the Smoke Bearer," that is,
the hereditary bearer of the smoking brand from the central council-fire
of the Iroquois confederacy to that of the Seneca nation. As near as we
can make out, the whites got the two names intermingled, by thinking
that father and son must both have the same name or title ; whereas the
only thing certain about Indian nomenclature was that they would not
have the same name or title.
We presume that the true designations were " Old King" and " Young
Smoke." That is to say, Sayengeraghta, being an aged head-sachem,
might fairly be called " Old King," while his son, who inherited from his
maternal uncle the position of brand-bearer, could properly be termed
" Young Smoke." But the whites, thinking that the son of "Old King"
must certainly be ** Young King," applied that title to the younger man,
which he was not unwilling to wear. They also gave the son's appella-
tion to the father, sometimes calling him " Old Smoke," and I understand
that it was from the old man that Smoke's creek derived its name.
112 History of Erie County.
If Red Jacket was sincere when he professed to Washington his
desire for improvement, he soon changed his mind, and from early in
this century to the time of his death was the inveterate enemy of civiliza-
tion, Christianity and education. Although he understood English when
he heard it, he generally pretended to the contrary, and would pay no
attention to what was said to him in that language. He could only speak
a few words of English, and would not learn it, though he could easily
have done so. He was never weary of holding councils with the whites,
and rarely failed to repeat the story of the wrongs their countrymen had
done to the Indians.
Numerous are the anecdotes told of his opposition to his people's
learning anything from the whites. More than once he said to the mis-
sionaries who sought to convert him : —
** Go, preach to the people of Buffalo ; if you can make them decent
and sober, and learn them not to cheat the Indians and each other, we
will believe in your religion."
He declared that the educated Indians learned useless art and arti-
ficial wants. Said he: —
" They become discouraged and dissipated ; despised by the Indians,
neglected by the whites, and without value to either; less honest than
the former and perhaps more knavish than the latter."
Again he said to some missionaries, in sarcastic rejection of their
offers : —
" We pity you, and wish you to bear to our good friends in the East
our best wishes. Inform them that, in compassion toward them, we
are willing to send them missionaries to teach them our religion, habits
and customs."
He was sarcastic, too, on another point : —
"Before the whites came," said he, **the papooses were all black-
eyed and dark-skinned ; now their eyes are turning blue and their skins
are fading out."
Professor Ellicott Evans, grand-nephew of Joseph Ellicott, relates
an anecdote which he saNs he had from the lips of his grand-uncle, con-
cerning himself and Red Jacket. It is substantiall}' as follows: —
*' The two having met in Tonawanda swamp, they sat down on a log
which happened to be convenient, both being near the middle. Presently
Red Jacket said, in his ahnost unintelligible English :
" * Move alono^, Jo.' Ellicott did so and tne sachem moved up to
him. In a few minutes came another request :
"*Move along, Jo;' and again the agent complied, and the chieftain
followed. Scarcely had this been done when Red Jacket again said:
*'*Movc along, Jo I' Much annoyed, but willing to humor him, and
not scein^: what he was driving at, Ellicott complied, this time reaching
the end o^ the log. But that was not sufficient, and presently the request
was repeated for the third time :
'* ' Move along, Jo I'
*' * Why, man,' angrih- replied the agent, ' I can't move any farther
without getting off from the log into the mud.'
Anecdotes of Red Jacket. 113
" * Ugh ! Just so white man. Want Indian move along — move along.
Can't go no farther, but he say — move along ! ' "
The sachem had become extremely dissipated, and his Washington
medal was frequently pawned in Buffalo for whisky. He always managed
to recover it, however, for, though he opposed all white teachings, his
vanity led him to cherish this memento of the great white chieftain's favor.
He was disposed to stand much on his dignity, and sometime s to be
very captious. He once went, attended by his interpreter, Major Jack
Berry, and requested David Reese, the blacksmith for the Indians, to
make him a tomahawk, at the same time giving directions as to the kind
of weapon he wanted. Reese made it, as near as he could, according to
order, but when Red Jacket returned he was much dissatisfied.
Again he gave his orders, and again Reese strove to fulfill them, but
the sachem was more dissatisfied than before. So he went to work and with
much labor whittled out a wooden pattern of a tomahawk, declaring that
if the blacksmith would make one exactly like that he would be satisfied.
"All right," said Reese, who had by this time got out of patience
with what he considered the chieftain's whims.
In due time Red Jacket came to get his tomahawk. It was ready, and
was precisely like the model. But, after looking at it and then at the model
for a moment, he flung it down with an angry " Ugh," and left the shop.
It was exactly like the model, but the model had no hole in it for a handle.
CHAPTER XV.
FRGM 1BZ-. Ti: THE WAR.
Organizalion of Clarence — Settlement of Cheektowaga — Settlement on Cayuga Creek— Progress
in the Towns — A Pioneer Funeral — Glezen Fillmore — Porter, Barton ^: Co. — '* T he Horn
Breeze" — Census of iSio — Town of '* Bufifaloe " — New Militia Regiments — Peter B.
Porter — The Ogden Company — Settlement of Alden — The '* Beavei's " Cannon — Settle-
ment of Colden — First Settler of Gowanda — The Buffalo Gazette — Feminine Names —
Old-time Books — An Erudite Captain — Advertisements for Workmen — "A Delinquent
and a Villain *' — Morals and Lotteries — The Medical Societies — A Federal Committee —
Division of Willink — Hamburg, Eden and Concord — Approach of War — Militia Officers
— An Indian Council — A Vessel Captured — The War Begun.
VE now return to our record of current events, beginning immedi-
atelv after the organization of Niagara county, in the spring of
1808. The selection of Buffalo as the county seat of Niagara
county, of course increased the immigration to that village and the im-
mediate vicinity, and there were more lots bought there in 1808 than in
any previous year. In the same year, Henry Anguish made the first
settlement in the beginning of Tonawanda village.
114 History of Erie County.
The first town meeting in Clarence, which it will be remembered in-
cluded the whole north part of the present county of Erie, was held in
the spring of 1808, at Elias Ransom's tavern, two miles west of Williams-
ville, in the present town of Amherst. The town book has been pre-
served from that time to this, and is now in the town clerk's office at
Clarence Center, being the oldest record in the county pertaining to any
town now in existence. The officers then elected (aside from postmas-
ters) were the following : —
Jonas Williams, Supervisor ; Samuel Hill, Jr., Town Clerk ; Timo-
thy S. Hopkins, Aaron Beard and Levi Felton, Assessors ; Otis R. Hop-
kins, Collector; Otis R. Hopkins, Francis B. Drake and Henry B. Anna-
bill, Constables ; Samuel Hill, Jr., Asa Harris and Asa Chapman, Com-
missioners of Highways; and James Cronk, Poormaster.
There must have been a combination against the Buffalonians, for
not one of those above named resided in the new county seat, except,
possibly. Constable Annabill. One of the town ordinances of that year
offered a bounty of five dollars for wolves, and another declared that
fences should be five feet high, and not more than two inches between the
rails. They must have made very small rails in Clarence.
Licenses to sell liquor were granted to Joseph Landon, Zenas Bar-
ker, Frederick Miller, Elias Ransom, Samuel McConnell, Asa Harris,
Levi Felton, Peter Vandeventer and Asa Chapman. According to Gen-
eral Warren's recollection, Joseph Yaw was elected Supervisor of Wil-
link in both 1808 and 1809. The Willink records were burned with those
of Aurora in 1 831, so it is not certain.
In this year, (1808) the first permanent settlement was made in what
is now Cheektowaga (except possibly on the northern edge) by ApoUos
Hitchcock, on the land still or lately occupied by his descendants. The
first grain they raised was carried on horseback across the reservation
to Stephens' mill. Ransom's was a little nearer, but was sometimes
scant of water.
Settlements were also made in the eastern part of the present town
of Lancaster, that year, and we have been informed by an old resident
that there were then just twelve houses between Buffalo and the east line
of the county, on the road which ran through the center of Lancaster.
The pioneers of Lancaster found on the north side of Little Buffalo
creek, in that township, an ancient fortification enclosing an acre of
ground, and said by Turner, in his history of the Holland Purchase,
to have been, when first discovered, as high as a man's breast. There
were five gateways, in one of which grew a pine tree, believed by
lumbermen to be five hundred years old. There is ample evidence that
a long time ago, men who built breast-works dwelt in Erie county, but
very little evidence that they were radically different from the American
Indians.
First Settlement in Eden and Evans. 115
The Quakers had increased so that, in 1808, they held " monthly
meetings " at their meeting-house at East Hamburg.
New comers located themselves that year in all the townships in the
county which were already settled, but there were still two or three
townships in which the woodman's axe had not been heard.
When the wife of Mr. Albro, one of the only two residents in the
present town of Concord, died, during the summer of 1808, word was
sent to "neighbors " twelve miles distant, in the present town of Boston,
to come and attend the funeral. The only route to Springville from the
East, then, was first to Buffalo, then up the beach to the " Titus stand,**
then up the Eighteen-Mile to the farthest settlements in its valley, and
then across the ridge. Two or three new families settled in Concord the
latter part of that year.
Jacob Taylor, as chief of the Quaker mission, built a saw-mill at
Taylor's Hollow, in Collins, and also a grist-mill about 1809. Perhaps
it was this that induced Abraham Tucker and others, with their families,
to settle near there in that year. Tucker located in the edge of North
Collins, where he built him a cabin, covered it with bark and remained
with his family.
In that year, too, George Richmond, with his sons, George and Fred-
erick, located himself three miles east of Springville, near the southeast
corner of the present town of Sardinia, where he soon opened a tavern.
The same summer, Ezra Nott, afterwards well-known as General Nott,
settled between what is now called Rice's Corners and Colegrove's Cor-
ners. Richmond and Nott were the pioneers of Sardinia.
The first settlement in the present town of Eden was also made this
year. Elisha Welch and Deacon Samuel Tubbs located at what is now
known as Eden Valley, but which for a long time bore the less romantic
appellation of Tubbs' Hollow.
In this year, too, Aaron Salisbury and William Cash made the first
permanent settlement in the present town of Evans, west of Harvey's
tavern at the mouth of the Eighteen-Mile. Several others came not long
after, and all settled near the lake shore, where the only road ran.
One of the new comers into Clarence was destined to wield a strong
influence throughout not only Erie county but Western New York.
We refer to the Rev. Glezen Fillmore, a cousin of the Hon. Millard Fill-
more. He was then a bright, pleasant, yet earnest youth of nineteen,
with the well-known, strong Fillmore features, and stalwart Fillmore
frame.
Having been licensed in March, 1809, as a Methodist exhorter, the
youthful champion of the cross immediately set forth from his home in
Oneida county, on foot, with knapsack on his back, traveling two hun-
dred miles through the snow and mud of early spring, to begin his labors
in the wilderness of the Holland Purchase.
ii6 History of Erie County.
Arriving in the neighborhood where his uncle Calvin resided, he at
once went to work. His first preaching was at the house of David Ham-
lin. A man named Maltby and his wife were the only listeners except
Hamlin's family, but the young exhorter bravely went through with the
entire services, including class-meeting. It is to be presumed that he
felt rewarded when, in after years, he learned that four of Maltby*s sons
had become Methodist ministers.
Young Fillmore procured land, and throughout his life made his
home at Clarence Hollow, though spending many years at a distance, on
whatever service might be allotted to him.
Shortly before this period Augustus Porter, the new First Judge of
Niagara county, his brother, Peter B. Porter, then of Canandaigua, and
recently elected to Congress from the vast district of Western New
York, and Mr. Benjamin Barton, Jr., had formed a partnership under the
name of Porter, Barton & Co., and were the principal forwarders of
Eastern goods to the West. Their route was by way of Oneida lake,
Oswego and Ontario, to Lewiston ; thence by land-carriage around the
Falls and by vessel up Lake Erie. Of the few sail-vessels then running
on Lake Erie, owned on the American side, probably more than half
were owned by Porter, Barton & Co.
Their ships had the same difficulty in ascending the rapids that had
beset the Griffin a hundred and thirty years before. To overcome it
they provided a number of yoke of oxen to drag vessels up the rapids.
The sailors dubbed these auxiliaries the " Horn Breeze."
As to Buffalo creek, all agreed that it was worthless for a harbor, on
account of the bar at the mouth. All sail vessels stopped at Black Rock,
and only a few open boats came into the creek.
In the year 1810 a United States census was taken, and the popula-
tion of Niagara county was found to be 6,132. Of these just two-thirds
were in the present county of Erie.
In that year, too, the name of "Buffalo," or " Buffaloe," was first
legally applied to a definite tract of territory. On the loth day of F^eb-
ruary, a law was passed erecting the town of ''Buffaloe," comprising all
that part of Clarence west of the West Transit. In other words, it com-
prised the present city of Buffalo, the towns of Grand Island, Tonawanda,
Amherst and Cheektowaga, and the north part of West Seneca; being
about eighteen miles long north and south, and from eight to sixteen
miles wide east and west.
/Another event considered of much importance in those days was the
formation of new militia regiments.
The appointment of Asa Ransom as sheriff in 1808 had compelled
him to resign his lieutenant-colonelcy, and Timothy S. Hopkins was
appointed in his place. This, with the cashiering of Maybee previously
mentioned, left both majors' positions vacant. Captain William Warren
Sale of the Pre-emtion Rights of the Holland Company. 117
not then twenty-four, was made First Major, and Asa Chapman Second
Major. The men subject to mihtary duty in Buffalo and Clarence were
constituted a regiment, under Lieutenant-Colonel Asa Chapman, then
living near Buflfalo. Samuel Hill, Jr., of Newstead, was one of his majors.
The men of Willink formed another regiment, and young Major Warren
was promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel Commanding. His majors were
William C. Dudley, of Evans, and Benjamin Whaley, who was or had
been a resident of Boston. There was also a regiment in Cambria, and
one in Chautauqua county, and the whole was under the command of
Brigadier-General Timothy S. Hopkins.
The most influential new-comer in the county during the period
under consideration in this chapter was Peter B. Porter, who, after being
re-elected to Congress in the spring of 1810, removed from Canandaigua
to Black Rock. He was then thirty-seven years old, unmarried, a hand-
some, portly gentleman of the old school, ol smooth address, fluent
speech, and dignified demeanor. At Canandaigua he had practiced at
the Bar, but after his removal he devoted himself to his commercial for-
tunes as a member of the firm of Porter, Barton & Co., save when attend-
ing to his political duties. Mr. Porter was the first citizen of Erie county
who exercised a wide political influence.
The same year the Holland Company (that is, the group of Holland-
ers commonly so-called) sold their pre-emption right in all the Indian
reservations on the Holland Purchase to David A. Ogden. He was act-
ing in behalf of other parties, joined with himself, in the speculation,
and the owners were generally called the Ogden Company. The whole
amount ol territory was about 196,000 acres, and the purchase price
$98,000. That is to say, Ogden and his friends gave fifty cents an acre
for the sole right of buying out the Indians whenever they should wish
to sell.
Moses Fenno, who moved into the present town of Alden in the
spring of 18 10, is usually considered there as the first settler of that town,
though Zophar Beach, Samuel Huntington and James C. Rowan had
previously purchased land on its western edge, and it is quite likely some
of them had settled there.
It is certain, however, that Fenno was the beginner of improvement
in the vicinity of Alden village, and raised the first crops there, in the
year mentioned. The same year came Joseph Freeman, afterwards
known as Judge Freeman, William Snow and Arunah Hibbard.
About this time, perhaps earlier, the Messrs. IngersoU located on
the lake shore, in Hamburg, just below the mouth of Eighteen-Mile
creek. Shortly after their arrival they discovered on the summit of the
high bank seven or eight hundred pounds of wrought iron, apparently
taken off from a vessel. It was much eaten with rust, and there were
trees growing from it ten to twelve inches in diameter.
ii8 History of Erie County.
A few years before, as related by David Eddy, of East Hamburg, a
fine anchor had been found imbedded in sand on the Hamburg lake
shore. Ten or twelve years later two cannon were discovered on the
beach near where the iron was found. The late James W. Peters, of
East Evans, in a communication to the Buffalo Commercial Advertiser
reproduced in Turner's " Holland Purchase," stated that he saw them
immediately after their discovery, and cleaned away enough of the rust
to lay bare a number of words on the breech of one of them, which
were found to be French ; he did not say b)' whomor what they were.
From these data, Turner and others have inferred that the Griffin
was wrecked at the mouth of Eighteen-Mile creek; that such of the crew
as escaped intrenched themselves there to resist the Indians, but were
finally overpowered and slain. Mr. O. H. Marshall has, however, very
clearly shown in a paper read before the Buffalo Historical Society, that
the evidences of shipwreck found on the lake shore were due to the loss
of the Beaver, (a British vessel loaded with supplies for the upper lake
garrisons,) which occurred near that locality about 1765.
The French words on the cannon (if they were French) are of little
consequence, since many English mottoes (such as ** Dieu et mon droit,'*
** Houi soit qui mal y pense,') are of French origin.*
Down to this time no settlement had been made in the present town
of Colden, but in 18 10 Richard Buffum became its pioneer. He was a
Rhode Islander of some property, and being desirous of emigrating
westward he was requested by a number of his neighbors to go into an
entirely new district and purchase a place where he could build mills,
when they would settle around him.
Accordingly he came to the Holland Purchase, and located on the
site of Colden village. His son, Thomas Buffum, then seven years old,
informed the writer that his father cut his own road six or eight miles,
and then built him a log house forty feet long. This is the largest log
dwelling of which we have heard in all our researches, and is entitled to
special mention. The same fall he put up a saw-mill. Various causes
prevented the coming of the neighbors he had calculated on, and for a
good while Mr. Buffum was very much isolated. The first year no one
came except men whom he had hired. As, however, he had eleven chil-
dren, he was probably not very lonesome.
In the spring or summer of 18 10, Turner Aldrich and his family
came up the Cattaraugus creek from the lake beach, and let their wagons
down the " breakers " into the Gowanda flats by means of ropes hitched
to the hind axle and payed out from around trees. They located on the
site of Gowanda, and were the first family in Collins, except those near
Taylor's Hollow.
♦There was another Bearer wrecked in early times on Lake Erie. This was a schooner
belonging to the Northwestern Fur Company, which went ashore late in the autumn of 1786, on the
site of Cleveland, where the crew remained through the winter.
The First Newspaper. 119
From this until the beginning of the war with Great Britain the
history of the county consisted chiefly of a constant flow of emigration
into all the townships outside the reservations, the details of which may
properly be left to the various town histories.
In the forepart of this year the President, being authorized by Con-
gress, located the port of entry for the district of Buffalo Creek at Black
Rock, from the first of April to the first of December in each year, and
at " Buffaloe " the rest of the time. It is difficult to see why the office
should have been moved twice a year merely to make " Buffaloe " a port
of entry during the four months when there were no entries.
The year 181 1 was also marked by the establishment of Mr. Jabez B.
Hyde as the first school-teacher among the Senecas. He was sent by
the New York Missionary Society. A minister of the gospel was sent
at the same time, but was rejected by the chiefs, while the teacher was
invited to remain.
But the most important event in the eye of the historian was the
establishment of the first newspaper in Erie county, the Buffalo Gazette ;
the initial number of which was issued on the third day of October,
181 1, by Messrs. Smith H. and Hezekiah A. Salisbury. The former was
the editor.
For the time previous to its appearance the student of local history
must depend on the memory of a few aged persons, eked out by a very
small number of scattering records. But, fortunately, a tolerably com-
plete file of the Gazette has been preserved through all the vicissitudes
of sixty.five years, and is now in the possession of the Young Men's
Association of Buffalo. By carefully studying its columns, especially
the advertisements, one can form a very fair idea of the progress of the
county. The first number has been stolen from the files ; the second,
dated October 10, 1811, remains, the earliest specimen of Erie county
journalism.
A rough-looking little sheet was this pioneer newspaper of Erie
county, printed on coarse, brownish paper, each of the four pages being
about twelve inches by twenty. Its price was $2.50 per year if left weekly
at doors; $2.00 if taken at the office or sent by mail. The price seems
large for a sheet of those dimensions, but the advertising rates were
certainly low enough. A '* square " was inserted three weeks for $1.00,
and twenty-five cents was charged for each subsequent insertion.
The Gazette will be duly described in the chapter on the Press, in
this work, but we reproduce here some items from its pages as throwing
a light on the situation of the county before the War of 18 12.
There must have been a large mail business done in this region or
a very slow deliver)- ; as the first number of the Gazette contained an
advertisement of a hundred and fifty-seven letters remaining in the post-
office at Buffalo Creek. Five of them were directed to women, whose
I20 History of Erie County.
names we give as specimens of the feminine nomenclature of that day :
Susan Davenport, Sarah Goosbeck, Susannah McConnel, Nancy Tuck,
Lucinda Olmsted. Not one ending in ** ie."
With their printing office the Salisburys carried on the first book-
store in the county, and kept a catalogue of their books constantly dis-
played in their paper. It may give an idea of the literar}' taste 6f that
era to observe that one of those lists contained the names of seventeen
books on law, fourteen on medicine, fifty-four on religious subjects, fifty-
four on history, poetry and philosophy, and only eleven novels !
One of the first numbers chronicles the arrival of the schooner Salina,
Daniel Robbins master, with a cargo of " Furr " estimated at a hundred
and fifty thousand dollars — an estimate which we fear did not hold out.
Another contained an advertisement stating that the new sloop " Friends*
Goodwill, of Black Rock," would carry passengers to Detroit for twelve
dollars each, and goods for a dollar and a half a barrel.
Militia affairs evidently received considerable attention, as the only
advertisement of blanks was one of Sergeants' Warrants, Captains* Or-
ders to Sergeants, Notices to Warn Men to Parade," &c., &c. Captains
were numerous, and were not always blessed with high scholastic acquire-
ments, as is shown by the following communication from one gallant
chieftain to another, which somehow found its way into the Gazette,
minus the names : —
WiLLiNK, November the lo, 1811.
** Capt. , Sir this day Mr. inform mee that he was not
able to do militerry duty, ana wish you not to fleet a fine on him ef I
had a non his sittuation i shod not returned him this is from yr frend.
, Capt."
" Willink," gives but a slight idea of the locality, as the whole south
part of the county was still called b)' that name.
Municipal towns were so large that survey townships were fre-
quently used for description. Thus Daniel Wood advertised a watch
left at his house "in the 6th Town, 8th Range;" that is in the present
town of Collins.
Failures in business seem to have been rather common in propor-
tion to the amount done; as one paper contains three, and another four
notices for insolvent debtors to show cause why they should not be
declared bankrupts. Yet it is plain that business was generally flourish-
ing. There were no advertisements for work, but many for workmen.
In the course of a few weeks in the fall of 181 1, there were advertise-
ments published calling for journeymen tailors, a journeyman shoemaker,
a tailor's apprentice, journeymen hatters, and two or three journeymen
blacksmiths.
The Patent Medicine Man was already an established institution, and
M. Daley advertised several unfailing panaceas, their value being attested
by certificates as ample, (and as truthful,) as those of the present day.
Division of Willink. 121
Even in those good old times, officials were sometimes guilty of
" irregularities," and one of the few local items in the Gazette, under the
head, " A delinquent and a villain," gave notice that Joseph Alward, who
wore the double honors of constable of Willink and'carrier of news, had
" cleared out for Canada," taking two horses, eight or ten watches and
other property. A news-carrier was an important functionary ; he was
the sole reliance of most of the inhabitants for papers and letters — there
being but one post-office in the county out of BuflFalo, and none south of
the reservation. The next week after the disappearance of the "delin-
quent and villain," David Leroy gave notice that he had taken Alward's
route, but he soon gave it up for lack- of business. Another notice
informed the people that a carrier named Paul Drinkwater had judiciously
selected one route down the river and another up the lake.
A. S. Clarke, postmaster at Clarence, (his store it will be remem-
bered was in the present town of Newstead,) advertised seven letters
detained at his office for Clarence, and fifty for Willink. These latter
had to be sent from fifteen to fifty miles by private conveyance.
There was still no regular preaching of the gospel in the county.
Some steps were taken to that end, but nothing was accomplished until
after the war.
Some schemes were publicly tolerated, which would now be looked
on with general disfavor. A memorial was presented to the legislature,
signed by many of the principal citizens of Niagara county asking for
$15,000 to build a road from the Genesee river to Buffalo, the State to be
reimbursed by a lottery. The project was warmly endorsed by the
Gazette. At the present day we should at least have morality enough
to call the proposed proceeding a gift-enterprise. The memorial does
not appear to have been adopted.
There were already two medical societies, each calling itself ** The
Medical Society of Niagara County." A description of these and their
bitter war will be found in the chapter devoted to the Erie County
Medical Society.
On the 20th day of March, 1812, the gigantic town of Willink was
seriously reduced by a law erecting the towns of Hamburg, Eden and
Concord. Hamburg contained the present towns of Hamburg and East
Hamburg. Eden was composed of what is now Boston, Eden, Evans,
and part of Brant, and Concord comprised the whole tract afterwards
divided into Sardinia, Concord, Colhns and North Collins — leaving Wil-
link only twelves mile square, embracing Aurora, Wales, Holland and
Colden. Besides, Willink and Hamburg nominally extended to the mid-
dle of the Buffalo reservation, and Collins covered that part of the Cat-
taraugus reservation situated in Niagara county.
During all this time there was a constant and increasing ferment
regarding war and politics. The growing dissatisfaction of the govern-
122 History of Erie County.
ment and a majority of the people of the United States with the govern-
ment of Great Britain, on account of her disregard of neutral rights in
the contest with Napoleon, had at length reached the verge of war, and
the denunciations of that power in Congress, in State Legislatures, in
the press and the. public meetings, were constantly becoming more bitter.
While this was the sentiment of the ruling party (that is, the Democratic
or Republican, for it went by both names), the Federalists, who consti-
tuted a large and influential minority, opposed a war with England, asked
for further negotiations, and met the Democratic denunciations of that
country with still more bitter attacks on Napoleon, whom they accused
the Republicans of favoring.
In February, 1812, Congress passed a law to organize an army of
twenty-five thousand men. Shortly after, Daniel D. Tompkins, the
Republican governor of New York, made a speech to the Legislature,
advising that the State prepare for the coming contest.
This county down to that time had been decidedly Federal. Ebe-
nezer Walden was the Federal member of assembly for the counties of
Niagara, Cattaraugus and Chautuaqua. In April, Abel M. Grosvenor
was nominated for the assembly by a meeting of the Federalists, or as
they termed themselves, " Federal RepubHcans." At the same meeting,
a large committee was appointed, and, as it is to be presumed that the
men selected were somewhat influential members of their party in that
day, we transcribe a list of those residing in the present county of Erie : —
Town of Buffalo, — Nathaniel Sill, Joshua Gillett, Benjamin Caryl,
James Beard, Gilman Folsom, William B. Grant, John Russell, Daniel
Lewis, Rowland Cotton, David Reese, Elisha Ensign, S. H. Salisbury,
Ransom Harmon, Frederick House, Guy J. Atkins, Samuel Lasuer, John
Duer, John Watkins, R. Grosvenor Wheeler, Fred Buck, Henry Anguish,
Nehemiah Seeley, Henry Doney, Solomon Eldridge, Holden Allen.
Clarence, — Henry Johnson, Asa Fields, James Powers, James S.
Youngs, William Baker, Archibald Black, John Stranahan, Josiah
Wheeler, G. Stranahan, Benjamin O. Bivins, John Peck, Jonathan Barrett.
Willink. — Abel Fuller, Ebenezer Holmes, John McKeen, Sanford G.
Colvin, Levi Blake, Ephraim Woodruff, Daniel Haskell, Samuel Mer-
riam. Dr. John Watson, John Gaylord, Jr.
Hamburg, — Seth Abbott, Joseph Browning, William Coltrin, Ebene-
zer Goodrich, Cotton Fletcher, John Green, Samuel Abbott, Benjamin
Enos, Pardon Pierce.
E(le7i, — Charles Johnson, Luther Hibbard, Dorastus Hatch, Dr. John
March, Job Palmer, Samuel Tubbs.
Concord. — Joseph Hanchett, Solomon Fields, Samuel Cooper, Stephen
Lapham, Gideon Lapham, Gideon Parsons, William S. Sweet.
As a companion to the Federal Committee, we insert here the names
of the members of a similar one, composed of Democratic Republicans,
though not appointed till a year or so later. They were as follows: —
'Buffalo, — Nathaniel Henshaw, Ebenezer Johnson, Pliny A. Field,
William Best, Louis Le Couteulx, John Sample.
DR. EBENEZER JDHNSHN.
Preparations for War. 123
Clarence, — Otis R. Hopkins, Samuel Hill, Jr., Daniel Rawson, James
Baldwin, Daniel McCleary, Oliver Standard, Moses Fenno.
Hamburg, — David Eddy, Richard Smith, Samuel Hawkins, Giles
Sage, William Winner, Joseph Albert, Zenas Smith.
Willink, — Elias Osborn, Israel Phelps, Jr., Daniel Thurston, Jr.,
William Warren, James M. Stevens, John Carpenter, Joshua Henshaw.
Eden, — Christopher Stone, Benjamin Tubbs, Gideon Dudle}', Amos
Smith, Joseph Thorn.
Concord, — Rufus Eaton, Frederick Richmond, Allen King, Benjamin
Gardner, Isaac Knox.
Jonas Williams, the founder of Williamsville, was the Republican
candidate for the Assembly.
Already there were fears of Indian assault. It was reported that a
body of British and Indians were assembled at Newark, to make a
descent on the people on this side. A public meeting was held at Cook's
tavern, in Buffalo, at which the statement was declared untrue.
Early in May a Lieutenant of the United States army advertised for
recruits at Buffalo, offering those who enlisted for five years a hundred
and sixty acres of land, three months' extra pa}', and a bount}- of sixteen
dollars. The amount of bounty will not seem extravagant to modern
readers.
An election was held on the 12th of May, and the approach of war
had evidently caused a great change in the strength of the two parties.
The votes for Member of Assembly show at once the ascendency sud-
denly gained by the Democrats, and the comparative population of the
several towns. For Grosvenor, Federal, Willink gave 71 votes, Ham-
burg 47, Eden 41, Concord 33, Clarence 72, Buffalo 123 ; total, 387. For
Williams, Republican, Willink gave 114, Hamburg no, Eden 46, Con-
cord 50, Clarence 177, Buffalo 112 ; total, 609. Archibald S. Clarke was
elected State Senator, being the first citizen of Erie county to hold that
office, as he had been the first Assemblyman and first Surrogate. The
Congressmen chosen for this district were both outside of Niagara
county.
The militia were being prepared for war, at least to the extent of
being amply provided with officers. In Lieutenant-Colonel Chapman's
regiment, Dr. Ebenezer Johnson was appointed ** surgeon's mate," (assist-
ant surgeon he would now be called ;) Abiel Gardner and Ezekiel Shel-
don, Lieutenants; Oziel Smith, Paymaster; John Hersey and Samuel
Edsall, Ensigns.
In Lieutenant-Colonel Warren's regiment, Adoniram Eldridge,
Charles Johnson, John Coon, Daniel Haskill, Benjamin Gardner and John
Russell were appointed Captains ; Innis B. Palmer, Isaac Phelps, Timo-
thy Fuller, Benjamin I. Clough, Gideon Person, Jr., Frederick Richmond
and Varnum Kenyon, Lieutenants ; William Warriner, Surgeon ; Stephen
Kinney, Paymaster; Elihu Rice, Samuel Cochrane, Benjamin Douglass,
Lyman Blackmar and Oliver Blezeo, Ensigns.
124 History of Erie County.
Scarely a day passed that rumors of Indian outrages did not startle
the inhabitants of Niagara county, who looked with anxious eyes on the
half-tamed Iroquois in their midst, many of whom had once bathed their
hands in American blood. The rumors were all false, but the terror
they inspired was none the less real.
Congress passed an act calling out a hundred thousand militia, (thir-
teen thousand five hundred of whom were from New York,) and the
news was followed quickl}' by an order detailing two hundred and forty
men from Hopkins' brigade, for immediate service. On the 17th of May,
Colonel Swift, of Ontario county, arrived at BufiFalo to assume command
on the frontier. On the i8th, the first detachment of militia marched
through that village on their way to Lewiston. They were from the
south towns, and were commanded by Major Benjamin Whaley.
On the 26th, Superintendent Granger, with the interpreters Jones
and Parrish, held a council with the chiefs of the Six Nations in the United
States. Mr. Granger did not seek to enlist their services, such not being
the policy of the government, but urged them to remain neutral. To
this they agreed, but said they would send a delegation to consult their
brethren in Canada. Meanwhile, the declaration of war was under
earnest discussion in Congress.
On the 23d of June, Colonel Swift, whose headquarters were at Black
Rock, was in command of six hundred militia, besides which there was
a small garrison of regulars ^t Fort Niagara. There was no artillery,
except at the fort.
The preparations for war on the other side were somewhat better,
there being six or seven hundred British regulars along the Niagara,
and a hundred pieces of artillery. The excitement grew more intense
every hour. Reckless men on either shore fired across the river " for
fun," their shots were returned, and the seething materials almost sprang
into flame by spontaneous combustion.
The morning of the 26th of June came. A small vessel, loaded with
salt, which had just left Black Rock, was noticed entering Lake Erie by
some of the citizens of Buffalo, and presently a British armed vessel from
Fort Erie was seen making its way toward the American ship. The lat-
ter was soon overtaken and boarded, and then both vessels turned their
prows toward the British stronghold.
There could be but one explanation of this — the vessel was captured
— and the news of war spread with lightning-like rapidity among the
inhabitants of the little frontier village. All doubt was dispelled a few
hours later by an express rider from the East, bearing the President's
proclamation of war. The Canadians had received the earliest news by
reason of John Jacob Astor's sending a fast express to Queenston, twelve
hours ahead of tjie government riders, to warn his agents there.
The War of 181 2 had begun.
Declaration of War. 125
CHAPTER XVI.
THE CAMFAIt^N DF 1B12.
Confusion — "SUvcr Greys " — The ** Queen Charlotte " — •• The Charlotte Taken " — Fear of
Indians^ Red Jacket's Logic — Iroquois Declaration of War— Capture of Two British
Vessels — The First Victim of War— Black Rock Bombarded — The Queenston Failure —
Smyth's Proclamation — A Gallant Vanguard — A Vacillating General — Invasion Relin-
quished — An Erie County Duel — A Riot Among the Soldiers — Political Matters -* Quiet.
THE news of the declaration of war was disseminated with almost
telegraphic rapidity, flying off from the main roads pursued by
the express-riders, and speeding from one scattered settlement to
another throughout Western New York.
Dire was the confusion created. In almost every locality divers
counsels prevailed. Some were organizing as militia or volunteers ;
others, alarmed by the reports of instant invasion and by the ever horri-
ble tale of Indian massacre, made a hasty retreat with their families
toward the Genesee. Sometimes the fleeing citizens were met by emi-
grants who were pressing forward to make new homes in the wilder-
ness, unchecked by the dangers of the day.
So great was the dismay that Mr. Ellicott issued an address to the
settlers on the Holland Purchase, assuring them that the lines were well
guarded and the country safe from invasion. The alarm is said to have
been equally great on the other side, and the flight from the lines per-
haps greater, as there were more people there to flee.
By the fourth of July three thousand American militia were assem-
bled on the Niagara frontier, General William Wads worth being in
command. This looked like efficient action, and ere long the men who
remained at home were working as steadily as usual, many families who
had fled returned, and affairs resumed their ordinary course, save where
along the Niagara, the raw recruits marched, and countermarched, and
panted for the chance to distinguish themselves which came to them all
too soon.
Besides the ordinary militia, several companies were organized,
composed of men too old to be called on for military duty. They were
commonly called " Silver Greys." One such company was formed in
Willink, of which Phineas Stephens was Captain, Ephraim Woodruff,
Lieutenant, and Oliver Pattengill, Ensign. Another was organized in
Hamburg under Captain Jotham Bemis.
Immediately on learning of the declaration of war, General Isaac
Brock, a commander-in-chief of the British forces in Upper Canada, and
Acting Governor, took personal command on the Niagara frontier, and
9
126 History of Erie County.
g^ve his attention to its defenses. Fort Erie was strengthened and a
redoubt several rods long was erected opposite the residence of Con-
gressman Porter, now the foot of Breckenridge street. Earthworks
were also thrown up at Chippewa, Queenston and other points. The
American side was similarly strengthened.
There was constant watchfulness for spies on both sides of the line,
and many arrests were made.
The superiority of the British on the lake was a source of constant
annoyance to the people on this side. At the beginning of the war there
was not a single armed American vessel afloat, while the British had
three — the Queen Charlotte, of twenty-two guns, the Hunter, of twelve
guns, and a small schooner lately built.
The Queen Charlotte, in particular, kept the people of Hamburg
and Evans in constant alarm. Riding off the shore, her boats would be
sent to land to seize on whatever could be found, especially in the way
of eatables and live stock. The men of the scattered settlements, too,
were often taken on board as prisoners, kept a few days and then liberated.
When the men were absent in the militia, some of the women did not
take off their clothes for weeks together ; keeping themselves always
ready for instant flight.
It must have been, then, with feelings of decided gratification that
Erie county people read the head-line in large capitals, of a notice in the
Gazette, entitled, "The Charlotte Taken." But the ensuing lines, though
pleasant enough, only announced the marriage in Hamburg, by " Hon.
D. Eddy, Esq.," of Mr. Jared Canfield, "a sergeant in Captain McClure's
volunteer company," to Miss Charlotte King, daughter of Mr. N. King,
of Concord.
As has been said, the most intense anxiety was felt by the Ameri-
cans regarding the Indians on both sides of the line. The British, in
accordance with their ancient policy, made immediate arrangements on
the outbreak of war to enlist the Mohawks, and other Canadian Indians,
in their service. These sent emissaries to the Six Nations in New York,
to persuade them to engage on the same side. The settlers on the Hol-
land Purchase, and especially in the county of Niagara, were not only
alarmed at the prospect of invasion by savage enemies, but also lest the
Senecas and others on this side should allow their ancient animosities to
be rekindled, and break out into open rebellion. It must be confessed
the danger was not slight, for there was good ground for believing that
some at least of the Seneca warriors had been engaged against the United
States at (he battle of Tippecanoe, only the year before.
Mr. Granger was active in adverting the danger, and on the 6th of
July he convened a council of the Six Nations in the United States, on
the Buffalo reservation. It was opened, as a matter of course, bv Red
Jacket, and Mr. Granger, in a long speech, set forth the cause of tue war
Council with the Senegas, 127
from the American point of view, urging the Indians to have nothing to
do with the quarrels of the whites, but to remain quietly at home during
the war.
He said, however, that he was aware that many of their young
braves were anxious to engage in the fight, and if they must do so, he
preferred it should be on the side of the United States. If, therefore,
they were determined to see something of the war, perhaps a hundred
and fifty or two hundred of their warriors would be accepted by the
government.
At the next meeting of the council Red Jacket replied, declaring in
favor of neutrality, saying that he hoped no warriors would be accepted
by the government without permission of the great council, and asking
leave to make another effort to persuade the Mohawks to abandon the
war-path. This was granted, and a deputation of five chiefs, with con-
siderable difficulty, obtained permission from General Brock to visit
thfeir Mohawk brethren. The effort, however, was useless, as the Can-
adian Indians were fully determined to " dig up the hatchet."
The neutrality of the Senecas, Cayugas, etc., continued for only
a brief time. In fact, the excitement of war was so infectious, not
only to the "young braves," but to many of those who considered
themselves the cautious guardians of their people, that they were quite
willing to seize the first excuse for numbering themselves among the
combatants.
In this same month of July a njmor got afloat that the British had
taken possession of Grand Island, which was under the jurisdiction of
the United States, but the title of which was in the Senecas. It seems,
according to a statement made in 1875 by Mr. John Simpson, of Tona-
wanda, that several hundred British Indians appeared on the shores of
Grand Island, opposite that village. There were then sixteen soldiers in
the guard-house there. They had been notified of the approach of the
Indians, and all the citizens around had been called in. These were fur-
nished with the extra uniforms of the soldiers, to increase the apparent
number. They were also, after being paraded, marched into view with
all their coats turned wrong side out, giving at that distance the appear-
ance of a new corps with different uniforms. The enemy made no
attempt to cross. Red Jacket convoked a council, and asked permission
of Superintendent Granger to drive away the intruders, using the fol-
lowing shrewd logic in support of his request. Said he: —
" Our property is taken possession of by the British and their Indian
friends. It is necessary now for us to take uj) the business, defend our
property and drive the enemy from it. If we sit still upon our seats and
take no means of redress, the British, according to the custom of you
white people, will hold it by conquest. And should you conquer the
Canadas you will hold it on the same principles ; because you will have
taken it from the British."
128 History of Erie County.
Permission being granted, another council was held shortly after, at
which a formal declaration of war was adopted, and reduced to writing
by the interpreter. As this was probably the first — perhaps the only —
declaration of war ever published by an Indian nation or confederacy in
writing, and as its language was commendably brief, it is transcribed
entire, as follows : —
'* We, the chiefs and counselors of the Six Nations of Indians, resid-
ing in the State of New York, do hereby proclaim to all the War-chiefs
and warriors of the Six Nations that war is declared on our part against
the provinces of Upper and Lower Canada. Therefore, we command
and advise all the war-chiefs and warriors of the Six Nations to call
forth immediately the warriors under them, and put them in motion to
protect their rights and liberties."
Notwithstanding this declaration, however, no Indians, (at least no
considerable number of them,) took the field on our side that year. It
was soon ascertained that the occupation of Grand Island was not per-
manent, and there were many of the older chiefs, with Red Jacket at their
head, who were really desirous that their people should remain neutral.
But more potent, probably, than the restraining voice of their sachems,
were the quick-coming disasters to the American arms.
The mihtia kept marching to the frontier. There was no lack of
numbers, nor of apparent enthusiasm. They were all anxious to capture
Canada the next day after their arrival. But they were utterly ignorant
of actual war, and the first touch of reality chilled them to the marrow.
They were not called out en masse^ nor were specified regiments
ordered to the field. Details were made of the number required from
each brigade, and these were collected by details from the different
regiments and companies. Temporary companies and regiments were
thus formed, to endure only through a few weeks of active service. Of
course oflBcers and men were unused to each other, the organization was
unfamiliar to both, and the efficiency of the command was in the very
lowest state. V
Lieutenant-Colonel Chapman, commander of the Buffalo and Clar-
ence regiment, moved away about the beginning of the war, and no one
was appointed in his place until after its close. Major Samuel Hill, Jr.,
was the senior officer. Most of the Buffalonians seem to have formed
themselves into independent companies, and Hill's command was left so
small that whenever the militia was called out en masse it was joined
with Lieutenant-Colonel Warren's regiment.
General Amos Hall, of Ontario county, Major-General of this divi-
sion of the State militia, was in command on the frontier for a short
time, succeeding General Wadsworth. On the nth of July he was
superseded by Major-General Stephen Van Rensselaer, also of the mili-
tia, but who established his headquarters and assembled his principal
force at Lewiston.
Capture of the "Adams" and "Caledonia." 129
On the 27th of that month an extra Gazette announced the surrender
by General Hull of Detroit and his whole army, to an inferior force of
British and Indians. Terrible was the disappointment of the people, as
well it might be, over that, disgraceful affair, and dire were the fulmina-
tions of the press. But denunciation was all too late, and public atten-
tion in this vicinity was soon turned toward events nearer home.
The fires of faction burned as fiercely then as in any later days.
There was bitter opposition to the war among the Federals of many
States, opposition which hardly confined itself to legitimate discussion —
while on the Democratic side mob violence, reaching even to murder,
was sometimes resorted to to silence their opponents.
In September, a convention was held at Albany, which denounced
the war, and shortly afterwards a meeting of the friends of " Peace, Lib-
erty and Commerce " was called at " Pomeroy's Long Hall," in Buffalo,
for the same purpose. Dr. Cyrenius Chapin, however, had entered with
great zeal into all measures looking toward vigorous work on this fron-
tier, and as he was the most prominent and most ardent Federalist of
Niagara county, his example was generally followed by his partisan
friends.
On the 8th of October, a detachment of sailors arrived on the frontier
from New York, and were placed under the command of Lieutenant
Jesse D. Elliott, stationed at Black Rock. Their march had been has-
tened by a dispatch from Lieutenant Elliott, who had conceived a bold
plan for cutting out two British armed vessels which had just come
down the lake, and were lying at anchor near Fort Erie. One was the
brig Detroit, of six guns, lately captured from the United States, and
generally called by its former name, the Adams \ the other was the
schooner Caledonia, of two guns;
The succeeding enterprise was the first hostile movement which
took place in, or started from, Erie county, during the War of 181 2.
The seamen on their arrival were found almost without weapons,
but Generals Smyth and Hall, of the regulars and militia, furnished
some arms, and the former detailed fifty men under Captain Towson, to
accompany the expedition. Dr. Chapin and a few other Buffalo volun-
teers also entered into the scheme.
About one o'clock on the morning of the 9th of October; three boats
put out from the American shore, with their prows directed toward Fort
Erie. The first contained fifty men under Lieutenant Elliott in person,
the second forty-seven under Sailing-Master Watts, while the third was
manned by six Buffalonians under Dr. Chapin.
The boats moved stealthily across the river and the darkness of the
night favored the project. Arriving at the side of their prey, the three
crews boarded both vessels almost at the same time. The men on board
the latter made a vigorous resistance, and a sharp but brief conflict
I30 History of Erie County.
ensued, in which two of the assailants were^^killed and five wounded. In
ten minutes, however, the enemy was overpowered, the cables cut, and
the vessels on their way down the river. The Caledonia was brought to
anchor near Black Rock, but the Adams was carried by the current on
the west side of Squaw Island, and ran aground.
The prisoners taken by the Americans in this gallant achievement
numbered seventy-one officers and men, part of whom, however, were
Canadian voyageurs. Besides these the captors released about forty
American prisoners, captured at the River Raisin and on their way to
Quebec.
As the two vessels passed Black Rock a heavy cannonade was opened
from the Canadian shore, and returned from the ships. After the Adams
ran aground the fire was so heavy that the vessel was abandoned, the
men safely reaching the shore. Shortly afterwards the enemy took pos-
session of it, but were in turn soon driven away by the firing from the
island and mainland. Believing it would be impracticable to keep pos-
session of it, the Americans set it on fire and burned it to the water's
edge.
The first shot from the British batteries instantly killed Major Will-
iam Howe Cuyler, of Palmyra, principal aide-de-camp of General Hall,
as he was galloping with orders along the river road, between four and
five o'clock in the morning. His death was the first one caused by the
war within the present county of Erie, and as he was a highly connected
and highly esteemed young officer, his sudden taking off caused a pro-
found sensation. It was felt that war had really come.
Some three hundred shots were fired from the British batteries, sev-
eral of which passed through buildings at Black Rock. In fact, Black
Rock must have been a very unpleasant place of residence throughout the
war. Inmates of its houses were often startled by a cannon ball crashing
through the roof, and not infrequently a breakfast or dinner was sud-
denly interrupted by one of these unwelcome messengers.
If the people of this vicinity were slightly cheered by the achieve-
ment of Lieutenant Elliott and his command, they were at once cast
down again by the news of the defeat of General Van Rensselaer at
Queenston, where a few hundred gallant men, who had crossed the
Niagara, were left to be slaughtered and captured through the cowardice
of an ample force which stood on the American shore, unheeding all ap-
peals to aid their comrades.
The news reached Buffalo on the 1 3th of October, accompanied with
notice of a week's armistice. The Americans were engaged in getting
the guns out of the hulk of the Adams, The commander at Fort Erie
required them to desist on account of the armistice, but the Americans
insisted that, as the Adams had already been brought on their side of the
line, they Had a right to move her guns wherever they pleased, so long
Preparations for the Invasion of Canada. 131
as they made no attack on the British. The latter opened fire on the
troops aboard the hulk, but did no damage, and at night the ever-enter-
prising Chapin went on board with a party and brought away a twelve
pounder, as did also Lieutenant Watts afterwards.
General Van Rensselaer being relieved from duty, Brigadier-Gen-
eral Alexander Smyth, of the regular army, who had been on the lines a
short time as Inspector-General, was assigned to the command of the
Niagara frontier immediately after the conclusion of the armistice. Gen-
eral Smyth was a Virginian, who, in 1808, had abandoned his profession
and resigned a seat in the Legislature of his State to accept a colonelcy
in the army, and who had lately been promoted to a brigadiership. Im-
mediately on taking command he began concentrating troops at Buffalo
and Black Rock, preparatory to an invasion of Canada. Thus far he
certainly showed better judgment than his predecessors, as it was a much
more feasible project to land an army on the gentle slopes below Fort
Erie, than to scale the precipitous heights of Queenston.
He also had scows constructed to transport the artillery, and
collected boats for the infantry. Eight or nine hundred regulars were
got together under Colonel Moses Porter, Colonel Winder, Lieutenant-
Colonel Boerstler, and other officers.
On the 1 2th of November, General Smyth issued a flaming address
from his " Camp near Buffalo *' to the men of New York, calling for their
services, and declaring that in a few days the troops under his command
would plant the American standard in Canada. Said he: "They will
conquer or they will die."
On the 17th, he sent forth a still more bombastic proclamation, clos-
ing with the pompous call, " Come on, my heroes ! *'
A considerable force came to Buffalo. A brigade of militia, nearly
two thousand strong, arrived from Pennsylvania. Three or four hun-
dred New York volunteers reported themselves, including the two
companies of " Silver Greys " before mentioned. Peter B. Porter, who
then, or shortly after, was appointed Quartermaster-General of the State
militia, was assigned to the command of these New York volunteers,
and was ever after known as General Porter. Under him was Colonel
Swift, of Ontario county. Smyth deemed that the time had come to
" conquer or die."
On the 27th of November, the General commanding issued orders
to cross the river the next day. There were then over four thousand
men at and near Black Rock, but as a large portion of them were militia,
it is not exactly certain how many he could have counted on for a move-
ment into the enemy's country. He, however, admitted that there were
seventeen hundred, including the regulars and the twelve-months' vol-
unteers, who were ready, and General Porter claimed that nearly the
whole force was available. There were boats sufficient to carry at
least three thousand men.
132 History of Erie County.
A little after midnight the next morning detachments were sent
across the river, one under Lieutenant-Colonel Boerstler, and the other
under Captain King, with whom was Lieutenant Angus of the navy and
fifty or sixty seamen. The first named force was intended to capture a
guard and destroy a bridge about five miles below Fort Erie, while King
and Angus were to take and spike the enemy's cannon opposite Black
Rock. Boerstler returned without accomplishing anything of conse-
quence, but the force under King and Angus behaved with great gal-
lantry, and materially smoothed the way for those who should have fol-
lowed.
They landed at three o'clock in the morning. Angus, with his sail-
ors and a few soldiers, attacked and dispersed a force of the enemy sta-
tioned at what was called " the red house," spiking two field pieces and
throwing them into the river. Nine out of the twelve naval officers
engaged, and twenty-two of the men, were killed or wounded in this
brilliant little feat. The sailors and some of the soldiers then returned,
bringing a number of prisoners, but through some blunder no boats
were left to bring over Captain King, who with sixty men remained
behind.
King and his men then attacked and captured two batteries, spiked
their guns, and took thirty-four prisoners. Having found two boats
capable of holding about sixty men, the gallant captain sent over his
prisoners, half his men and all his officers, remaining behind himself
with thirty men. He doubtless expected Smyth's whole army in an
hour or two, and thought he could take care of himself until that time.
Soon after the return of these detachments, Colonel Winder, mis-
takenly supposing that Boerstler was cut oflf, crossed the river with two
hundred and fifty men to rescue him. He reached the opposite shore a
considerable distance down the river, where he was attacked at the
water's edge by a body of infantry and a piece of artillery, and com-
pelled to return with the loss of six men killed and nineteen wounded.
Boerstler's command returned without loss.
The general embarkation then commenced, but went on very slowly.
About one o'clock in the afternoon the regulars, .the twelve-months'
volunteers and a body of militia, the whole making a force variously
estimated at from fourteen hundred to two thousand men, were in boats
at the navy yard, at the mouth of Scajaquada creek.
" Then," says Smyth in his account of the affair, with ludicrous sol-
emnity, " the troops moved up the stream to Black Rock without loss."
This tremendous feat having been accomplished, the General, (still fol-
lowing his own account,) ordered them to disembark and dine. And
then he called a council of war to see whether he had better cross the
river. It is not surprising that, with such a commander, several of the
officers consulted were opposed to making the attempt. It was at length
Cowardice of General Smyth. 133
decided to postpone the invasion a day or two, until more boats could
be made ready. Late in the afternoon the troops were ordered to their
quarters. Of course they were disgusted with such a ridiculous failure,
and demoralization spread rapidly on all sides. General Smyth at the
time did not pretend that the most vigilant observation could discover
more than five hundred men on the opposite shore. They were drawn
up in line about half a mile from the water's edge.
Meanwhile the gallant Captain King \yas left to his fate, and was
taken prisoner with all his men.
The next day was spent in preparation. On Sunday, the 30th, the
troops were ordered to be ready to embark at nine o'clock the following
morning. By this time the enemy had remounted his guns, so that it
would have been very difficult to cross above Squaw Island. On the
shore below it were stationed his infantry and some artillery, every
man having been obtained that possibly could be from the surrounding
country. The current there was rapid and the banks abrupt.
General Porter objected to attempting a landing there, and made
another proposition. He advocated postponing the expedition till Mon-
day night, when the troops should embark in the darkness, and should
put oflF an hour and a half before daylight. They could then pass the
enemy in the dark, and land about five miles below the navy yard, where
the stream and the banks were favorable. These views were seconded
by Colonel Winder and adopted by General Smyth, his intention being
to assault Chippewa, and if successful march through Queenston to Fort
George.
Then it was found that the Quartermaster had not rations enough
for two thousand five hundred men for four days.
Nevertheless the embarkation commenced at three o'clock on the
morning of Tuesday, the first of December. Again sortie fifteen hun-
dred men were placed in boats. It was arranged that General Porter
was to lead the van and direct the landing, on account of his knowledge
of the river and the farther shore. He was attended in the leading boat
by Majors Chapin and McComb, Captain Mills, Adjutant Chase, Quar-
termaster Chaplin, and some twenty-five volunteers from Buffalo, under
Lieutenant Haynes.
But the embarkation of the regulars was greatly delayed, and day-
light appeared before the flotilla was under way. Then the redoubtable
Smyth called another council of war, composed of four regular officers,
to decide whether Canada should be invaded that season. They unani-
mously decided it should not. So the troops were again ordered ashore,
the militia and most of the volunteers sent home, and the regulars put
into winter quarters.
The breaking up of the command was attended by scenes of the
wildest confusion — ^four thousand men firing off their guns, cursing
134 History of Erie County.
General Smyth, their officers, the service and everything connected with
their military experience.
The disgust of the public was equally great. Smyth became the
object, of universal derision. His bombastic addresses were republished
in doggerel rhyme, and the press teemed with denunciation and ridicule
of the pompous Virginian.
Men unacquainted with military matters frequently cast blame on
unsuccessful generals, which the facts if fully known would not justify ;
but in this case General Smyth's own statement, published a few days
after his failure, proves beyond doubt that he was either demoralized by
sheer cowardice, or else that his mind was vacillating to a degree which
utterly unfitted him for military command. The mere fact of his twice
waiting till his men were in boats for the purpose of invading Canada,
before calling a council of war to decide whether Canada should be
invaded, showed him to be entirely deficient in the qualifications of a
General.
There can be little doubt that if the forces had promptly crossed
and been resolutely led, on the morning of the 28th of November, they
would have effected a landing, and for the time at least could have held
the opposite shore. The enterprise of Captain King and Lieutenant
Angus had been well planned and gallantly executed, giving substantially
a clear field to the American army. Whether if they had crossed they
could have effected any lasting results at that season, is a matter of more
doubt.
General Porter published a card in the Buffalo Gazette of December
8th, in which he plumply charged General Smith with cowardice, 'declar-
ing that the regular officers decided against crossing because of the
demoralized condition of their commander. According to the opinions
then in vogue it was impossible under such circumstances for Smyth to
avoid sending a challenge, and he did so immediately. General Porter
accepted, and selected Lieutenant Angus as his second, while Colonel
Winder acted on behalf of General Smyth.
It seems curious to think of a duel having been fought within the
borders of law-abiding Erie, but such was nevertheless the fact. On the
afternoon of the 14th, the two Generals, with their friends and surgeons,
met at " Dayton's tavern," below Black Rock, and crossed to the head
of Grand Island, in accordance with previous arrangements. Arriving
at the ground selected, one shot was fired by each of the principals,
according to the official statement of the seconds '* in as intrepid and
firm a manner as possible," but without effect. Colonel Winder then
represented that General Porter must now be satisfied that the charge
of cowardice was unfounded, and after divers explanations that charge
was retracted. Then General Smyth withdrew sundry uncomplimentary
expressions i*hich he had used regarding Porter, and then "the hand of
The Elections of 1812- 13. 135
reconciliation was extended and received/' and all the gentlemen returned
to Buffalo. It does not appear that there was any great desire for blood
on either side.
Soon afterwards General Porter published a statement of the facts
concerning the embarkation which came within his knowledge, but with-
out indulging in any animadversions.
Doctor (or Major) Chapin was more furious than Porter, and also
came out in a statement, bitterly denunciatory of Smyth. In January,
after Smyth had left the frontier, he published still another statement,
but he could not alter the ugly facts of the case. The account hereto-
fore given is deduced from a careful comparison of the various publica-
tions just mentioned, and of the official reports of subordinate officers.
Many even of the soldiers who remained were under very poor dis-
cipline, and soon after the Smyth failure some of them inaugurated a
serious riot at Buffalo which threatened the demolition of that village,
but which was fortunately suppressed. A more full account of it is
given in the History of the city.
An epidemic, the nature of which was unknown, prevailed that winter
on the frontier, carrying off many, both soldiers and citizens. Doctor
Chapin and a Doctor Wilson called a meeting of physicians to endeavor
to counteract it. It did not much abate till the last of January, 181 3.
In the middle of December an election was held for members of
Congress. The Republicans (Democrats) renominated General Porter,
but he declined, and Messrs. Bates and Loomis were voted for by them
in this congressional district. The Federalists supported Messrs. Howell
and Hopkins, who were elected. The latter received sixty-one votes in
the town of Buffalo, thirty-six in Hamburg, forty-one in Clarence, and
thirty-seven in " Edon." The Republican candidates received thirty-four
in Buffalo, eighty-one in Hamburg, ninety-two in Clarence, and fourteen
in Eden. It was a light vote, but it will be seen that Buffalo and Eden
were decidedly Federal, while Hamburg and Clarence were as decidedly
Republican.
Says the next Gazette : " We understand " that no election was held
in Willink and Concord. Their understanding was correct, but it is
remarkable not only that no election was held, but also that a newspaper
at the county-seat should not have been fully informed as to whether
there was one or not.
Tompkins, who was personally popular, was elected governor by the
Democrats, but the disasters of the summer, under a Democratic admin-
istration, had so aided the Federalists that nineteen out of the twenty-
seven congressmen chosen in this State, and the majority of the assembly,
belonged to the latter party. The State senate, however, was largely
Democratic. In the nation at large, Madison was re-elected President
by a decided majority over DeWitt Clinton, who had been a Democrat,
136 History of Erie County.
but was an independent opposition candidate. He received the Federal
vote, but declared himself in favor of a more vigorous prosecution of
the war.
There can be little doubt but that if that energetic leader had become
President instead of the plausible but inefficient Madison, the war would
not have been the wretched, milk-and-water affair that it was. One side
or the other would h^ve been soundly whipped.
On the 22d of December the immortal Smyth resigned his command
to Colonel Moses Porter, and retired to Virginia on leave of absence.
Before his leave expired Congress legislated him out of office, and the
country received no further benefit from his military genius.
For several months after the election, there was a general quiet on
this part of the frontier, relieved only by occasional " statements " on the
part of some of the heroes of the latest and most remarkable invasion of
Canada.
CHAPTER XVII.
THE CAMPAIGN OF 1B13.
The Young Commodore — Officers and Committeemen — Hunters Caught — Canada Invaded —
Transition Period of Our Military System — Surrender at Beaver Dams — Chapin's Exploit
— Indians Enrolled — Farmer's Brother and the Marauders — A Raid and its Repulse —
Skirmishing at Fort George — Perry's Victory — More Skirmishing — Burning of Newark —
McClure Runs Away — Fort Niagara Captured — Danger Impending.
EARLY in March, while all was still quiet among the land forces, a
young man of twenty-six, with curling locks, bold, handsome fea-
tures and gallant bearing, wearing the uniform of a captain
in the United States navy, arrived at Buffalo from the East, and after a
brief stay went forward to Erie. His brilliant yet manly appearance
was well calculated to m^ke a favorable impression, yet to many thought-
ful men he seemed too young, and possibly too gay, for the arduous and
responsible position to which he had been appointed. But a few months
were to demonstrate that for once the government had made an admira-
ble selection, for the youthful stranger was Oliver Hazard Perry, then
on his way to superintend the fitting out of a naval armament at Erie.
During the winter the government had purchased a number of mer-
chant vessels, for the purpose of converting them into men-of-war, and
the construction of several new ones had been begun. Erie, from its
comparatively secure harbor, had been wisely selected as the naval head-
quarters. Five vessels, however, were fitted out in Scajaquada creek,
The Campaign of 1813. 137
and for several months Perry flitted back and forth between the two
places, urging on the work with all the energy of his nature.
Until April, the war was apparently frozen up. Early in that month
the BufiFalonians were sharply reminded that they must be o^reful where
they strayed. Lieutenant Dudley of the navy, Dr. Trowbridge, Mr.
Frederick B. Merrill, and three seamen, while hunting on Strawberry
Island, were discovered from the Canadian shore, ^a squad of men was
sent across, and all were captured. The two civilians were releasee!, but
the lieutenant and his men were of course retained. The ever-active Dr.
Chapift was about this time appointed by the governor a " Lieutenant-
Colonel by brevet," under which commission he subsequently acted in
bis operations on the frontier, but in much the same independent fashion
as before.
Ere long, soldiers began to arrive on the frontier, besides those who
had remained during the winter. On the I7tk of April, Major-General
Lewis and Brigadier-General Boyd arrived in Buffalo, to assume com-
mand according to their respective ranks. General Dearborn took com-
mand on the whole northern frontier. The British force on the other
side of the Niagara was very weak.
The campaign in the North was commenced by an expedition from
Sackett's Harbor, under General Dearborn and Commodore Chauncey,
by which York (now Toronto) was captured by a dashing attack, the
gallant General Pike being killed by the explosion of the enemy's maga-
zine. This triumph prevented the sending of re-enforcements to the
British forts on the Niagara, and when our fleet appeared off Fort
George, about the 25th of May, it was immediately evacuated.
The Americans under General Lewis crossed and occupied it. Gen-
eral Porter acted as volunteer aide-de-camp to General Lewis, and the
Buffalo Gazette took pains to state that " Dr. C. Chapin, of this village,
was in the vanguard." The British retreated toward the head of Lake
Ontario.
The same day, the commandant at Fort Erie, who held that post
with a body of militia, received orders under which he kept up a heavy
cannonade on Black Rock until the following morning, when be bursted
his guns, blew up his magazines, destroyed his stores and dismissed his
men. All the other public stores, barracks and magazines, from Chip-
pewa to Point Abino, were likewise destroyed; Lieutenant>Colonel
Preston, tLe commandant at Black Rock, immediately crossed and took
possession.
So, at length, the Americans had obtained possession of the Cana^
dian side of the Niagara, and it would seem that it need not have been
difficult to retain it. But the blundering of the government, the weak-
ness of commanders, and the general apathy of the people during a great
part of that war were alike astonishing.
138 History of Erie County.
The greatest difficulty was that of obtaining a permanent force.
The whole military system of the country was in a transition state.
During the Revolution, the reliance of the nation was on the regular
** Continental" army with occasional assistance from the militia. But
thirty years of free government had made Americans extremely unwill-
ing to subject themselves to the supposed despotic discipline of the reg-
ular service. On the other hand, the system of organizing volunteers,
which has since been found so eflfective, was then in its infancy.
Frequent attempts were made in that direction, but they were gen-
erally managed by the State authorities, the discipline was of the most
lax description, and the terms of service were excessively short. In
Smyth's command, as we have seen, were a few " Federal volunteers,"
enlisted for twelve months, but they were composed of six independent
companies, from different States, temporarily aggregated in a battalion.
There was not a single organization corresponding to the present
definition of a volunteer regiment — a body of intelligent freemen, enlisted
for a long term of service, officered by the State authorities, but otherwise
controlled entirely by those of the nation, and subject to the same rules
as the regulars, and necessarily modified in their application by the char-
acter of the force.
As a general rule, if a volunteer of 181 2 stayed on the line three
months, he thought he had done something wonderful.
Moreover, ther6 were at first almost no officers. Those who had
fought in the Revolution were generally too old for active service, and
West Point had. not yet furnished a body of men whose thorough instruc-
tion supplies to a great extent the lack of experience. A little knowledge
of the history of the War of 18 12 ought to satisfy the most frantic
reformer of the overwhelming necessity of maintaining the National Mil-
itary Academy in the most efficient condition.
Add to these causes of weakness a timid, vacillating President and a
possible unwillingness of the then dominant South to strengthen the
North by the acquisition of Canada, and there are sufficient reasons for
the feebleness characterizing the prosecution of the War of 18 12,
Yet many rude efforts were made to provide against possible disas-
ter, and several stockades and block-houses were erected in various parts
of the county, deemed to be sufficiently strong to resist the attack of
Indians, or even of white men unprovided with artillery.
Decidedly the most active partisan commander on the Niagara front-
ier was Colonel Chapin, though there may be some doubts as to the use-
fulness of his efforts, so irregular and desultory were they. In June he
organized a company of mounted riflemen, for the purpose of clearing
the country along the other side of the river, of scattered bands of foes.
They proceeded to Fort George, and on the 23d of June a force
started up the river from that point. It consisted of four or five hundred
Surrender at Beaver Dams. 139
regular infantry, twenty regular dragoons, and Chapin's company of
forty-four mounted riflemen, the whole under tieutenant-Colonel Boerst-
ler. On the 24th, when nine miles west of Queenston, at a place called
Beaver Dams, it was attacked by a force of British and Indians. After
some skirmishing and marching, accompanied with slight loss, the assail-
ants sent a flag to Colonel Boerstler, and on the .mere statement of the
bearer that the British regular force was double the Americans, besides
seven hundred Indians, that officer surrendered his whole command.
Chapin and his Erie county volunteers were sent to the heaci of Lake
Ontario, (now Hamilton,) whence the Colonel, two officew and twenty-
six privates were ordered to Kingston, by water, under guard of a Lieu-
tenant and fifteen men. They were all in two boats; one containing the
British Lieutenant and thirteen men and the three American officers —
the second filled with the other twenty-six prisoners, a British Sergeant
and one soldier. Before starting, the Colonel managed to arrange with
his men a signal for changing the programme. When about twenty
miles out on Lake Ontario, Chapin gave the signal and his men ran their
boat alongside of the one he was in. The British Lieutenant ordered
them to drop back, and Chapin ordered them on board. The former
attempted to draw his sword, when the Colonel, a large, powerful man,
seized him by the neck and flung him on his back. Two of the soldiers
drew their bayonets, but he seized one in each hand, and at the same
time his men swarmed into the boat and wrested their arms from the
guard, who were unable, in their contracted quarters, to fire a shot or
use a bayonet.
The victors then headed for Fort George, where, after rowing nearly
all night, they arrived a little before daylight and turned over their late
guard to the commandant as prisoners. It was a gallant little exploit,
and eflfectually refuted the charge of cowardice which some had brought
against Colonel Chapin.
The British men-of-war still commanded the lake, though Perry's
fleet was fast preparing to dispute their supremacy. About the 15th of
June, the five vessels which had been fitted up in Scajaquada creek stole
out of Black Rock and joined Perry at Erie.
The Queen Charlotte and other British vessels this year, as last, hov-
ered along the lake shore and occasionally sent a boat's crew ashore to
depredate on the inhabitants of Hamburg and Evans. One day we read
of their chasing a boat into the mouth of the Cattaraugus ; at another time
a boat's crew landed and plundered IngersoU's tavern at the mouth of
Eighteen-Mile creek.
Down to the present period, no Indians had been taken into the ser-
vice of the United States. In the spring General Lewis invited the war-
riors of the Six Nations to come to his camp, and three or four hundred
of them did come, under the lead of the veteran Farmer's Brother. On
I40 History of Erie County.
their arrival they were requested to take no part for the time, but to
send a deputation to the Mohawks to induce them to withdraw from the
British service, in which case the Senecas and their associates were also
to return.
Many appeared disappointed on finding they were not to fight, but
were merely to be used to keep others from fighting, though this was
the policy that Red Jacket favored throughout. But the Mohawks and
other British Indians showed no disposition to withdraw from the field,
and as we have seen took a prominent part in the capture of Colonels
Boerstler and Chapin.
In the early part of July, too, a skirmish took place near Fort
George, in which an American Lieutenant and ten men were captured,
who were never heard of more, and were supposed to have been slain by
the savages.
Then, at length, General Boyd accepted the services of the warriors
of the Six Nations. Those then enrolled numbered four hundred, and
there were never over five hundred and fifty in the service.
It is difficult to say who was their leader. One account says it was
Farmer's Brother, and another designates Henry G'Bail (the Young
Cornplanter) as holding that position. Still another will have it that
Young King was their principal war-chief, while Captain Pollard undoubt-
edly acted as such the next year, at the battle of Chippewa.
The truth seems to have been that the designation of general
issimo, like most Indian arrangements, was decidedly indefinite. There
was a considerable number of undoubted war-chiefs, but no one who was
unquestionably entitled to the principal command. Farmer's Brother
was generally recognized, both by Indians and whites, as the greatest
of the war-chiefs, and was allowed a kind of primacy among them, but
he was very old, and we cannot gather that he held any definite rank
above the rest. Leaders for active service seem to have been chosen from
time to time, either by actual election or by general consent.
After their enrollment by General Boyd, the Indians remained in
service but a short time, and then returned home.
Meanwhile General Dearborn had withdrawn all the regular soldiers
from Buffalo and Black Rock, leaving a large amount of public stores
entirely undefended. Being advised, however, of the danger of a raid,
he ordered ten artillerists to be stationed at the block-house at Black
Rock, and called for five hundred militia from the neighboring counties.
Between a hundred and fifty and two hundred of these arrived at the
threatened point early in July, and were stationed at the warehouses at
Black Rock, being under the command of Major Parmenio Adams, of
Genesee county. They had three pieces of field artillery, and near by
was a battery of four heavy guns. Nearly a hundred recruits for the
regular infantry and dragoons, on their way to Dearborn's headquarters,
Raid of the British. 141
under the command of Captain Cummings, were ordered to stop at
Buffalo; Judge Granger was directed to engage as many Seneca war-
riors as he could, and General Porter, who was then staging at his resi-
dence at Black Rock, was requested to take command of the whole.
The episode about to be narrated is one of the most exciting in the
annals of this county. Except the burning of Buffalo, no other affair of
so much importance took place within the limits of the county during
the War of 1812; and it was, on the whole, decidedly creditable to the
American arms ; yet it is almost utterly unknown to the citizens of Erie
county, and is rarely mentioned in the annals of that era. Other events
of greater magnitude distracted public attention at the time, and the burn-
ning of Buffalo, a few months later, obliterated from the minds of men
all memory of less terrible transactions.
There is a brief mention of it in Ketchum's " Buffalo and the Sene-
cas," but the only extended account we have seen is in Stone's " Life of
Red Jacket.** The following narrative is derived from a careful exami-
nation of that account (which was furnished by General Porter,) of the
original description in the Buffalo Gazette, of a letter from Judge Gran-
ger, published by Ketchum, and of personal reminiscences furnished to
the Historical Society by Benjamin Hodge, Daniel Brayman, James
Aigin and Mrs. Jane Bidwell.
By the loth of July,Judge Granger had received such positive infor-
mation of an immediate attack, accompanied by special threats against
himself, that he invited some Indians to come to his house, north of the
Scajaquada. Thirty-seven of them arrived at eleven o'clock that (Satur-
day) night, under the lead of Farmer s Brother. As they were not all
armed, and as the Judge was confident that the enemy would be over the
next day, he sent to the village and got a full supply of arms and ammu-
nition for his braves that same night.
The British headquarters were at Lundy's Lane, close by the Falls,
where their expedition was fitted out. The commander was Lieutenant-
Colonel Bishop, a brave and enterprising officer, the same to whom
Colonels Boerstler and Chapin had surrendered at Beaver Dams. He
had under him a part of the 41st Regiment of the British army, and a
detachment of Canadian militia commanded by Colonel Clark.
They took boat at Chippewa on the night of the loth, and, after row-
ing against the current in the darkness several hours, landed just after
daylight a mile below the mouth of the Scajaquada. Forming his men,.
Colonel Bishop led them rapidly up the river bank. There was a single
sentinel at the Scajaquada bridge, but on the sudden appearance of the
red-coats, he flung away his musket, dodged into the woods and took a
bee-line, as near as he could calculate, for Williamsville, A few men were
asleep in the block-house, but the British column swept silently by with-
out disturbing them, and quickly approached the encampment of Major
10
142 History of Erie County.
Adams. His men must have been aroused a little before the enemy
reached them, for they all made their escape, but they attempted no re-
sistance and fled without even spiking the cannon in their charge.
A detachment of the invaders went to the house of General Porter,
who had barely time to escape, fleeing without his arms, and some say
with only a single garment. At first he attempted to reach Major
Adam's encampment, but finding this impossible, he turned toward
Buffalo.
Thus far the affair had been after the usual pattern of operations in
the early part of that war, and highly discreditable to the Americans.
The victors supposed all resistance at an end. Some of them were set to
work burning the block-house and barracks, others spiked the heavy
guns in the battery and took away the field-pieces, and others went
through the village capturing and taking across the river four or five
principal citizens, while the officers, so secure did they feel, ordered
breakfast at General Porter's. At the same time considerable reinforce-
ments of provincial militia crossed the river in boats, to share the fruits
of the easy victory.
But a storm was gathering. When the militia first began its retreat,
a messenger was sent to Buffalo, on whose arrival Captain Cummings
mustered his recruits and marched toward the scene of action. On his
way he met General Porter, who ordered him to proceed to a piece of
open ground not far from where the reservoir of the Buffalo water-works
is now situated, on Niagara street, and await re-inforcements.
Taking a horse, sword and other equipments from one of Cummings'
dragoons, the general galloped down to the village, where he found
everything in confusion, the women and children in a state of terror, and
the men in the streets with arms in their hands, but doubtful whether to
fight or flee. Being assured that there was a chance of success, forty
or fifty of them formed ranks under Captain Bull, the commander of a
Buffalo volunteer company, and marched to join Cummings.
Of the retreating militia some had fled into the woods and never
stopped till they reached home ; but about a hundred had been kept
together by Lieutenant Phineas Staunton, the adjutant of the battalion,
a resolute young officer, who was allowed to assume entire command by
his major. The supineness of the latter is excused by General Porter on
the ground of ill health. Staunton and his men, who had retreated up
the beach of the river, left it and took post near the Buffalo road.
Meanwhile Major King of the regular army, who was accidentally
at Black Rock, on seeing the sudden retreat of the militia, hurried through
the woods to Judge Granger's, whence the alarm was speedily carried
to the scattered inhabitants of " Buffalo Plains." Farmer's Brother at
once gathered his warriors and made them a little speech telling them
that they must now go and fight the red-coats ; that their country was
Their Repulse by the Americans. 143
invaded; that they had a common interest with the people of the United
States, and that they must show their friendship for their American
brethren by deeds, not words. The octogenarian chieftain then led his
little band to join his friend Conashustah, (the Indian name of General
Porter.)
Volunteers, too, came hurrying to the village from the Plains and
Cold Spring, until about thirty were gathered, who were placed under
the command of Captain William Hull, of the militia. General Porter
now felt able to cope with the enemy. Bringing together his forces,
numbering but about three hundred all told, at the open ground before
mentioned, he made his dispositions for an attack. As the foe held a
strong position at Major Adams* encampment. Porter determined to attack
him on three sides at once, to prevent the destructive use of artillery on
a column massed in front.
The regulars and Captain Bull's Buffalo volunteers formed the center.
The Genesee militia, under Staunton, were on the left, nearest the river,
while Captain Hull's men were directed to co-operate with the Indians,
who had gathered in the woods on the right front. Farmer's Brother
prepared for action, and his braves followed ; each dusky warrior strip-
ping to the skin, all save his breech clout and a plaited cord around the
waist, (called a maturnip,) which sustained his powder horn, tomahawk
and knife, and which could be used to bind prisoners if any were taken.
Then grasping their rifles, the stalwart Senecas quickly ranged them-
selves in line, with their chiefs a few rods in front.
At eight o'clock the signal for attack was given. Just as the three
detachments moved forward, however, Major King arrived on the ground
and claimed the command of the regulars from Captain Cummings. A
slight delay ensued ere the command was transferred, and then the Major
did not fully understand the General's orders. Consequently the central
detachment was detained a few moments, and meanwhile the militia,
gallantly led on by Staunton and ashamed of their recent flight, dashed
forward against the enemy.
A fight of some fifteen or twenty minutes ensued, in which the militia
stood up against the British regulars without flinching, though three of
their men were killed and five wounded, no slight loss out of a hundred
in so short a time. The right flank of the Americans came up, the
Indians raised the war-whoop and opened fire, and it has often been
found that the capacity of these painted warriors for inspiring fear is
much greater than the actual injury they inflict. Colonel Bishop, who
had obtained a mount on this side, was severely though not fatally
wounded, and fell from his horse. His men became demoralized, and
when the regulars appeared in front, the enemy fled toward the water's
edge with great precipitation, before Major King's command had time
to take part in the fight.
144 History of Erie County.
The whole American force then pressed forward together, the Indians
making the forest resound with savage yells. The chief, Young King,
and another warrior were wounded. Part of the British wounded were
carried oflF, but part were left on the field. A sergeant, shot in the leg, lay
under the bank, near the present residence of L. F. Allen, on Niagara street.
A Seneca warrior jumped down and stopped to load his rifle a short
distance from him. The sergeant sat up and snapped his musket at him,
but it missed fire. Without waiting to finish loading, the Indian sprang
upon his enemy, snatched away his gun, and at one blow knocked out his
brains, at the same time breaking the musket short off at the breech.
At the Black Rock landing the British rallied, but on the approach
of the Americans, hastily retreated into some boats which they found
there, leaving fifteen prisoners in the hands of their pursuers. Many
were killed and wounded after entering the boats, but the chief loss fell
on the last one. It contained sixty men and most of the officers, includ-
ing Colonel Bishop, who, notwithstanding his wound, had insisted on
remaining to the last. The whole American force came up to the bank
and opened fire on this boat, inflicting terrible injury. Two or three
Indians even sprang into the water, seized the boat by the gunwale and
endeavored to direct it ashore, but were compelled to desist by the fire
of their friends in the rear.
Captain Saunders, of the British 41st, was severely wounded at
the water's edge and left a prisoner. Colonel Bishop was pierced
with several bullets, receiving wounds of which he soon died, and several
other officers were killed or wounded. Presently the men dropped their
oars and made signals of surrender. The firing ceased and the boat
dropped down the river, followed along the bank by some of the Amer-
icans, who ordered the occupants to come ashore, which they declared
themselves willing to do, but so disabled they could not.
Meanwhile, however, our Indians had begun stripping the dead and
prisoners. They seized on Captain Saunder*s sword, belt and epaulets,
and perhaps some of his garments. The men in the boat thought, or
claimed they thought, that the warriors were tomahawking and scalping
him. Either actually believing this or using it as an excuse, they would
not come ashore in accordance with their surrender, but after dropping
down to the head of Squaw Island, suddenly seized their oars and by
desperate exertions got under its shelter, though not without again suf-
fering severely from the bullets of the Americans. In fact, however,
Captain Saunders, though badly wounded by balls, bore no mark of tom-
ahawk or knife, and, after being carefully tended for several weeks at
General Porter's residence, finally recovered and was for more than thirty
years a British pensioner.
The enemy left eight killed and seven wounded on the field, besides
a number carried into the boats and a still larger number hit after the
British Loss in Killed, Wounded and Prisoners. 145
embarkation. They were said at the time to have acknowledged a total
loss in killed, wounded and prisoners of nearly a hundred. The Ameri-
cans lost only the three killed and seven wounded already mentioned,
who all, except the two Indians, belonged to that same body of militia
that had fled so ingloriously in the early morning. They were in the
front of the fray throughout, and gallantly retrieved their tarnished rep-
utation. Their good conduct was doubtless due largely to the example
of Adjutant Staunton, whom major and captains allowed to take full
command, who also distinguished himself on several other occasions in
the War of 18 12, and whose soldierly qualities were transmitted to his
son, Phineas Staunton, the gallant First Lieutenant-Colonel of the looth
New York Volunteers in the War for the Union.
All the accounts speak in high terms of the conduct of the Seneca
warriors. They fought well and were not especially savage. They
stripped their dead enemies, however, of all their clothing, and a young
man named Algin, who went upon the field after the fight, relates having
seen the whole eight bodies lying together, thus stark and white, in the
forest.
Although the numbers engaged in this affair were not large, it was
a very exciting conflict for Erie county, and is of importance as showing
the value of one or two resolute officers in rallying and inspiratinga body
of raw troops, utterly demoralized by less efficient leadership.
General Dearborn had resigned the command of the northern fron-
tier just before this event, and a little after it General Wilkinson added
another to the long list of occupants of that unfortunate position.
Colonel Chapin having returned, General Porter and he gathered up
another body of volunteers, and went down to Fort George, taking a
hundred or so Indians with them. " Being," according to General Boyd's
report, "very impatient to engage the enemy," that officer kindly got up
an expedition to accommodate them. A plan was concerted to cut off
one of the enemy's pickets on the morning of the 17th of August.
Chapin was sent out west from Fort George for the purpose, with
about three hundred volunteers and Indians, supported by two hundred
regulars under Major Cumniings. Porter volunteered in the affair and
probably commanded the whole, though the report does not definitely
say so. A heavy rain retarded their progress, so the picket was not
captured, but a fight ensued in which the volunteers and Indians cap-
tured sixteen prisoners, and killed a considerable number of the enemy
who were left on the field; one account says seventy-five, but this is
doubtful. The principal chiefs who took part in this affair were Farmer's
Brother, Red Jacket, Little Billy, Captain Pollard, Black Snake, Hank
Johnson (the white man), Silver Heels, Captain Halftown, Major Henry
O'Bail (Young Cornplanter), and Captain Cold (an Onondaga chief), who
was wounded.
146 History of Erie County.
Chapin and his volunteers and most of the Indians, continued to
operate in the vicinity of Fort George until the 7th of September, when
they returned to Buffalo.
A few days later came news of a battle which, though fought a hun-
dred and fifty miles away, has always been contemplated with feelings
of especial interest and sympathy by the people of Erie county, since it
decided the supremacy oi the great lake from which that county is
named, whose waters wash its shores and whose commerce passes along
its borders. We refer of course to " Perry's Victory." Glad were the
hearts of our people and great were their rejoicings, when they learned
that after a desperate contest the gallant Perry, with a force inferior
both in men and guns, had captured or destroyed the whole British fleet.
Immediately succeeding Perry's victory came that of Harrison over
Proctor, and the death of Tecumseh. It being supposed that the Upper
Peninsula was pretty well cleared of foes. General Wilkinson's forces
were nearly all withdrawn to the lower end of Lake Ontario.
Just before he left, a correspondence took place, which shows how
little comprehension even the most public-spirited men had of the needs of
the military service. Porter, Chapin and Colonel Joseph McClure wrote
to Wilkinson from Black Rock, stating that in expectation of a decisive
movement they had repaired to Fort George, with five hundred men —
militia, volunteers and Indians. " Most of us," said the writers, ** re-
mained there twelve or fourteen days, but our hopes not being realized,
the men continually dispersed and went home."
The three gentlemen then offered to raise a thousand or twelve hun-
dred men, either to aid Wilkinson in a sally from Fort George, or, on
being furnished with a battery of artillery, "to invade the enemy's
country," with a view to dispersing his forces before Wilkinson should
withdraw.
The most disastrous experience had not yet convinced our ablest
men of the impossibility of making an effective aggressive movement
with a crowd of undisciplined, ungoverned men, who would leave camp
if they could not have a fight in fourteen days. Wilkinson forwarded
the proposition to the Secretary of War, who did not accept it.
The force left behind by Wilkinson was under the command of Gen-
eral George McClure, of Steuben county, a brigadier-general of the New
York militia, who made his headquarters at Fort George, and immedi-
ately issued several flaming proclamations.
On the 6th of October, Colonel Chapin, with one of those hetero-
geneous collections of men so common at that time, had an all-day skirm-
ish with some British outposts, near Fort George. He claimed to have
killed eighteen of the enemy, while but three of his own men were slain.
Doubtful. He had with him "Crosby's and Sackriders companies" of
militia, a few other men and some Indians.
Inefficiency of General McClure. 147
On the 24th of October, Harrison and Perry, with their victorious
army and fleet, came down the lake to Buffalo. The next day, the Gen-
eral and his army crossed the river and went down to Fort George, and
thence in a short time to Sackett's Harbor, while the Commodore, with
his fleet, soon returned up the lake.
General McClure was thus left with about a thousand militia, two
hundred and fifty Indians, and sixty regulars. The terms of the militia
were fast expiring, and they would not stay a day beyond them. An-
other draft was accordingly ordered, about the middle of November, of
six hundred men from Hopkins* brigade, under Lieutenant-Colonel
Warren. These marched to Fort George and remained nearly a month.
On the 7th of December, General McClure sent out an expedition
along the south shore of Lake Ontario. LieutenantColonel Chapin was
in command of the advance. He afterwards declared that McClure had
not only left him unsupported, but had expressed his desire that Chapin
should be captured. A very bitter feeling had certainly grown up
between them, and it is evident that Chapin had a peculiar faculty of
getting into trouble. He issued as many statements as any of the Gen-
erals, and denounced without stint those whom he did not admire.
When the term of Colonel Warren's regiment of militia was about to
expire, McClure determined to abandon Fort George. In this he was
unquestionably justifiable, as his remaining force would have been entirely
inadequate to defend it. But he at the same time took a step cruel in itself,
and fraught with woe to the American frontier. He ordered the burning
of the flourishing village of Newark, situated close to the fort, and contain-
ing about a hundred and fifty houses. The inhabitants wefe turned out
into the snow, and the torch applied to every building in the place.
McClure claimed that he acted under orders from the Secretary of
War, but he produced no such orders, and it appears that there were none,
except that the General was authorized to burn Newark if necessary to
defend the fort. As he had already decided to abandon the fort, of course
those orders could not apply. Chapin and the General had another bit-
ter quarrel, the former roundly denouncing the destruction of the village.
Soon after, Chapin resigned his command.
McClure moved the remnant of his force across the river, closely
pressed by the enraged British. Leaving Fort Niagara defended by a
hundred and fifty regulars, he called two hundred others from Canan-
daigua to Buffalo.
On the morning of December 19th, Fort Niagara was surprised and
captured by a small British force, through the criminal negligence of its
commander, who was at his residence four miles away. McClure was not
to blame for the transaction, but nevertheless he, more than any other one
man, was responsible for the burning of Buffalo, and the devastation of
the whole frontier. He needlessly destroyed Newark, which of course
148 History of Erie County.
provoked retaliation, and then ran away. As soon as Niagara was cap-
tured he took his two hundred regulars and retreated to Batavia, against
the earnest protest of the citizens of Buffalo. Had they remained as a
nucleus for ^he gathering militia, the result might have been entirely
different.
Affidavits were afterwards published, showing that McClure said in
his anger that he hoped Buffalo would be burned ; that he would remain
and defend it provided the citizens would catch '' that damned rascal,
Chapin," and deliver him bound into his (McClure's) hands. Several of
his staff officers, also, were proven to have indulged in similar disgraceful
language in his presence, unrebuked ; expressing their entire willingness
that the village should be burned. In a properly disciplined army Gen-
eral McClure would have been shot.
Before leaving Buffalo McClure called out the men of Genesee,
Niagara and Chautauqua counties en masse^ and on arriving at Batavia,
on the 22d of December, he turned over the command to Major-General
Hall, the commander of this division of militia. That officer, who mani-
fested no lack of zeal, sent forward all the troops he could raise, and pro-
ceeded to Buffalo himself on the 25th, leaving McClure to organize and
forward re-inforcements. Hall, however, assumed no command over the
regulars, and there seems to have been a bitterness of feeling on the part
of their officers which would, perhaps, in the demoralized state of affairs,
have made it impracticable for him to do so.
The events of the following week form so important a portion of the
history of Erie county that they will be made the subject of a separate
chapter. *
CHAPTER XVIll.
SWDRD AND FIRE.
Number of Troops — The Enemy's Approach — Movements in Defense — Chapin's Wrath — Attack
and Repulse — Another with same Result — Blakeshe's Advance— Battle of Black Rock —
The Retreat — The Flight — Universal Confusion — " The Indians ! the Indians !" —
Attempt at Defense — Chapin's Negotiation — The Village in Flames — Murder of Mrs.
Lovejoy— The Enemy Retire — The Slain — McClure to Blame — The Flight in the Coun-
try — The Buffalo Boad— The Big Tree Road — Successive Vacancies — Exaggerated Re-
ports — Return of the British — More Burning — The Enemy at Hodge's and Cold Spring —
The Scene at Shop Reese's — Harris Hill — Relief.
ON the 27th of December General Hall reviewed the forces at Buffalo
and Black Rock, which were thus described in his report: At Buf-
falo there were a hundred and twenty-nine mounted volunteers
under Lieutenant-Colonel Seymour Boughton, of Ontario county ;
four hundred and thirty-three Ontario county volunteers under Lieu-
Preparations for the Defense of Buffalo. 149
» ■
tenant-Colonel Blakeslie ; a hundred and thirty-six " Buffalo militia "
under Lieutenant-Colonel Chapin ; ninety-seven Canadian volunteers
under Lieutenant-Colonel Mallory,* and three hundred and eighty-two
Genesee county militia under Major Adams,
At Black Rock, under Brigadier-General Hopkins, were three hun-
dred and eighty-two effective men in the corps of Lieutenant-Colonels
Warren and Churchill ; thirty-seven mounted men under Captain Ran-
som ; eighty-three Indians under " Lieutenant-Colonel Granger," and one
piece of field artillery, with twenty-five men, under Lieutenant Seeley.
The aggregate force at both places on the 27th, according to the report,
was seventeen hundred and eleven. C6lonel Churchill, above mentioned,
commanded a detachment from Genesee county. The remainder of the
main body at Black Rock, under Colonel Warren, was composed of men
of his own regiment from the south towns of Erie county, and Major
Hill's detachment from Clarence, still temporarily consolidated with it.
The Buffalo militia, which properly belonged in Hill's regiment, seem to
have acted independently under Chapin.
About this time a body of the enemy came up the river from Fort
Niagara as far as Tonawanda, or farther, burning everything along the
river shore. At Tonawanda they burned the guard-house, and what few
dwellings there were in the vicinity with one exception.
On the 27th, General Hall received information which made him cer-
tain that the enemy intended to cross. The 28th passed quietly away.
On the 29th there arrived a regiment of Chautauqua county militia,
under Lieutenant-Colonel McMahan, numbering about three hundred
men^ bringing the aggregate force to a trifle over two thousand.
Besides Seeley's field-piece there were seven other cannon at the
two villages, but none of them mounted on carriages. Several of them
were in a battery at the top of the hill overlooking Black Rock, and
with them was Major Dudley, with a part of Warren's regiment. The
rest, with Churchill's detachment, were in the village of Black Rock.
As near as can be estimated, from the official report and General War-
ren's statement, Dudley then had about a hundred men, Warren a hun-
dred and fifty, and Churchill also a hundred and fifty.
Captain John G. Camp was Quartermaster-General of the whole
force.
Patrols were constantly kept out. The excitement among the people
was of course intense, yet few believed that an attack would be success-
ful, looking on the two thousand defenders now assembled, and remem-
bering that three hundred men had driven back a considerable body of
assailants the summer before.
* There were many Canadians who looked on themselves only as citizens of Canada, not as
subjects of Great Britain, and who in the pending contest between th^ United States and England,
sympathized with the former country. A considerable number of these had joined our army, either
-as individuals or as members of Canadian corps.
ISO History of Erie County.
Near midnight of the 29th, a detachment of the enemy landed a little
below Scajaquada creek. Immediately afterwards a horse-patrol discov-
ered them, was fired on, and retreated. The news was at once carried to
Colonels Warren an4 Churchill, at Black Rock, and then to General
Hall, at Buffalo. The latter ordered out his men, but, fearing that the
enemy's movement was a feint, and that he would land in force above
Buffalo and march down, he did not at first send any considerable force
down the river.
Meanwhile, General Hopkins being absent in Clarence, on business,
the two Colonels at Black Rock turned out their men and consulted as
to what should be done. Though Warren was the senior in rank, he
seems not to have been formally invested with the command at Black
Rock, another evidence of the loose way in which everything was done.
However, the two officers agreed that they would endeavor to reach
Scajaquada creek before the invaders, and hold it against them.
Warren's command being ready first, he set out in advance. After
marching about half-way, he sent two scouts ahead. In a short time he
heard firing at the creek, and as they did not return he naturally conclud-
ed they were killed or taken. In fact, both were taken. Presently Cap-
tain Millard (afterward General Millard, of Lockport,) aid to General
Hall, galloped past, also in search of information. He, too, was saluted
with a shower of bullets at the bridge, and captured.
Warren halted till Churchill came up, when they agreed that, as the
enemy had evidently got possession of the Scajaquada bridge, and of
what was called the "Sailors' Battery," situated there, it would be
impracticable to dislodge him in the darkness. They determined to take
a position at a small run, a little way below the village of Black Rock, and
there oppose the further advance of the British. Thither they accord-
ingly returned, placed their single piece of artillery in the road, with
one of their skeleton regiments on each side, and awaited developments.
The enemy did not advance, but in the course of an hour or so,
Colonel Chapin arrived with a body of mounted men. His force is not
described as mounted in Hall's report, but he must have obtained horses
for at least a part of Captain Bull's company. General Warren is posi-
tive that the force with which Chapin came to Black Rock was mounted,,
and Bull was certainly present in the reconnoissance which followed.
The irascible doctor furiously damned the two Colonels and their
men for not having driven away the British, and delivered General Hall's
order that they should immediately make an attack. They replied with
equal anger, and declared themselves as ready as he to meet the British.
Chapin then led the way with his mounted men, in " column of twos ; "^
Warren followed with his battalion, and then Churchill with his.
The men under Chapin and Bull advanced nearly to Scajaquada
creek, w^ithout receiving any warning of the whereabouts of the caemy.
Flight of Buffalo's Defenders. 151
All was silent as death. Suddenly from the darkness flashed a volley of
musketry, almost in the faces of the head of the column. UndiscjpHned
cavalry are notoriously the poorest of all troops, and Chapin's men prob-
ably acted precisely as any other mounted militia would have done, if
led in column^ in the darkness, against an unknown force of hostile
infantry. They instantly broke and fled, rushing back through the ranks
of Warren's footmen, who became utterly demoralized by the onslaught
without receiving a shot. As the horsemen stampeded through them,
they broke up, some scattering into the woods and some retreating
toward Buffalo. Finding himself almost without men, Warren retired
to the main battery, to endeavor to rally some of the fugitives. Churchill,
with at least a part of his men, remained below the village.
When General Hall received news of this failure, he ordered Major
Adams with his Genesee militia, and Chapin with such force as he could
rally, to march against the enemy. This movement was equally futile ;
in fact it is doubtful if the force got within reach of the enemy's guns.
The General then ordered Colonel Blakeslie, with his Ontario county
militia, to advance to the attack. This sending of successive small
detachments to assail an unknown force in the darkness, instead of con-
centrating his forces in some good defensive position, shows clearly
enough that General Hall had little idea of the proper course to be taken,
but he seems to have labored zealously according to the best light he had.
On the departure of Blakeslie, Hall gathered his remaining forces,
of which McMahan's Chautauqua regiment constituted the main part, and
took the hill road (Niagara street) for Black Rock. As he approached
that village the day began to dawn, and he discovered the enemy's boats
crossing the river in the direction of General Porter's house. A smaller
number were crossing further south, opposite the main battery.
Blakeslie's command was ordered to meet the approaching force at
the water's edge. That force consisted of the Royal Scots under Colonel
Gordon, and was estimated at four hundred men. The invasion was under
the general superintendence of Lieutenant-General Drummond, but the
troops were under the immediate command of Major-General Riall.
The artillery in the battery fired on them as they advanced, and Blakeslie's
men opened fire when they landed. They returned it, and a battery on
the other side sent shells and balls over their heads among the Americans.
For half an hour the forest and riverside re-echoed with the thunder
of artillery and ceaseless rattle of small arms. All accounts agree that
Blakeslie's men did the most of the fighting, and sustained the attack of
the Royal Scots with considerable firmness. Had all the regiments been
kept together and met the enemy at his landing, the result might have
been far different.
A portion of the Chautauqua county regiment took part in the fight,
and Colonel Warren, having rallied part of his men at the battery, moved
152 History of Erie County.
them down to the left of Blakeslie's command. Major Dudley was killed
during the combat, and probably at this point. Besides the regiments
just named, there were squads and single individuals in the fight from all
the different organizations. Regfiments and companies had to a great
extent dissolved, and the men who had not run away fought "on their
own hook."
Meanwhile the hostile force at Scajaquada creek, consisting of regu-
lars and Indians, moved up the river, easily dispersing Churchill's meagre
force, and marched against Blakeslie's right. It is not believed there
were then over six hundred men in our ranks, and these, thus assailed on
two sides, were entirely unable to maintain their ground. Large numbers
were already scattering through the woods toward home, when General
Hall ordered a retreat, hoping to make another stand at the edge of
Buffalo.
This, as might be supposed, was utterly hopeless ; once the men got
to running, there were few that thought of anything else. In a few
moments all were in utter rout. A part hurried toward Buffalo, others
rushed along the " Guide-board road " (now North street) to Main street,
and then made all possible speed toward the Williamsville road, while
many fled through the woods without regard to roads of any kind.
If the officers made any attempt to rally their men, they were entirely
unsuccessful, and there was nothing for them to do but join in the
general retreat.
Meanwhile, in Buffalo the women and children remained in a feeling
of comparative security ; believing that the foe would surely be beaten
back, as he had been before. Many, however, had packed up their scanty
stores in preparation for a flight if necessary, and all had been anxiously
listening to the fateful sounds of battle. All the while scattering fugitives
were constantly rushing through the village, and striking out for Will,
iamsville, Wilhnk or Hamburg.
Then the noise of battle ceased, and the scattering runaways in-
creased to a crowd. The Buffalonians of Hull's and Bull's companies
came hurrying up to take care of their families. They declared that the
Americans were whipped, that the British were marching on the town,
and most terrible of all that the Indians, the Indians, the Indians were
coming.
Then all was confusion and dismay. Teams were at a premium.
Horses, oxen, sleighs, sleds, wagons, carts — nearly everything that had
feet, wheels or runners — were pressed into service. Some loaded up
furniture, some contented themselves with saving their scanty store of
silverware and similar valuables; most took care to secure some provi-
sions and bedding, threw them promiscuously into whatever vehicles
they could obtain, and started. Children were half-smothericd with
feather beds, babies alternated with loaves of bread. Many, who neither
Incidents of the Flight. 153
had nor could obtain teams, set forth on foot. Men, women and children
by the score were seen hastening through the light snow and half-frozen
mud, in the bitter morning air, up Main street or out Seneca, or toward
"Pratt's Ferry." Numerous incidents, tragic, pathetic and comic, oc-
curred, some of which are narrated in the History of Buffalo, forming the
second volume of this work.
Confusion was every moment worse confounded. "The Indians,
the Indians ! " was on every tongue. A crowd of teams and footmen —
and footwomen too — were hurrying up Main street, when suddenly the
head of the column stopped and surged back on the rear.
"The Indians!" was the cry from the front; "they are coming up
the Guide-board road ; they are out at Hodge's." Back down Main
street rolled the tide. Horses were urged to their utmost speed ; peo-
ple on foot did their best to keep up, and even the oxen, under the per-
sistent application of the lash, broke into an unwilling gallop, stumbling
along, shaking their horns and wondering what strange frenzy had
seized upon the people.
Turning up Seneca street the crowd sped onward, some going
straight to the Indian village, and thence across the reservation to Wil-
link, others making for Pratt's ferry, and thence up the beach to Ham-
burg.
There was good reason for the sudden retreat of the Main street
fugitives. While the main body of the enemy marched down Niagara
street, the Indians on the left flank pressed up the " Guide-board road,"
occasionally annoyed by scattering shots from some of the more resolute
militiamen and citizens. The savages, however, soon fell back and
closed in on the main body.
For, meanwhile, events had come crowding thick and fast in the
lower part of the town. As the enemy approached, some twenty or
thirty men, apparently without any organization, manned an old twelve-
pounder mounted on a pair of truck-wheels, at the junction of Main and
Niagara streets. Soon the foe was seen emerging from the forest, on
the latter street, less than a quarter of a mile away — a long column of
disciplined soldiers, marching shoulder to shoulder, the rising sun bath-
ing them in its golden light and tipping their bayonets with fire.
Colonel Chapin by general consent exercised whatever authority
any one could exercise, which was very little. Two or three shots were
fired from the old twelve-pounder, and then it was dismounted. Chapin
then went forward with a white handkerchief tied to his cane as a flag
of truce, asked a halt, which was granted, and began a parley. It was
probably about this time that the Indians were called in from the Guide-
board road. One account has it that Chapin succeeded in arranging
some kind of a capitulation ; but this must be rejected, for, in a state-
ment published by himself shortly after, he only speaks of " attempting
154 History of Erie County.
a negotiation," claiming that while this was going on the people had a
chance to escape ; which was probably true.
Just about the time the cannon was dismounted some of our retreat-
ing soldiers had reached Pomeroy's tavern, at the corner of Main and
Seneca streets. Half famished after the fatigues of the night, they
besought the landlorJl for something to eat. He told them there was
plenty of bread in the kitchen and they rushed in, provided themselves,
and pursued their retreat, each with a piece of bread in one hand and
his musket in the other.
Presently they heard a cry from those ahead, " Run, boys, run."
Looking northward they saw a long line of Indians, with red bands on
their heads, coming in single file at a rapid "jog-trot" down Washington
street. It is needless to say that the injunction, " Run boys," was strictl)'
obeyed. The warriors, however, never swerved to the right nor the left,
but kept on down to the Little Buffalo. Doubtless they had orders to
surround the town.
The Indians came to Main street first, a considerable time before the
troops, which were drawn up near the corner of Morgan, Mohawk and
Niagara streets. The savages had apparently full license to do what
they pleased in the way of plundering, though some British officers
went ahead and had the casks of liquor stove in, to prevent their red
allies from getting beyond control. There were some squaws with the
Indians, and these v/ere delighted beyond measure with the gay dresses,
the shawls, and most of all with the looking-glasses, still to be found in
some of the houses.
Ere long, detachments moved forward from the main body, and
squads of men were sent through the village to apply the torch to
nearly every building. About ten o'clock. Lieutenant Riddle, of the
United States regular army, with some forty convalescents from the
Williamsville hospital, and a six-pounder gun, came marching down
Main street to 'drive out the enemy. Mr. Walden went to meet him,
convinced him of the hopelessness of such a course, and pursuaded
him to retire rather than needlessly exasperate the foe and his savage
allies.
Meanwhile the burning went rapidly forward ; the flames quickly
devouring the frail wooden tenements of which the embryo city was
almost entirely composed. One woman, Mrs. Joshua Lovejoy, was
murdered by the Indians while endeavoring to prevent them from plun-
dering her house. Her corpse was left lying in the yard, and when the
squad of burners saw it they left her house standing. Two houses
were also spared which belonged to Mrs. Gamaliel St. John, a widow
lady, who applied to the officer commanding the Indians. A few other
buildings were also left standing on that day. Dr. Chapin and several
other citizens were captured and taken to Canada.
The Burning of Buffalo. 155
By three o'clock in the afternoon all of the lately flourishing village
of Buffalo, save some six or eight structures, was smouldering in ashes.
What few houses there were at Black Rock were likewise destroyed,
and the enemy then retired across the river. After they left, Mr. Wal-
den and the St. John girls carried Mrs. Lovejoy's corpse back into her
house, and laid it on the bed.
The foe took with them about ninety pris(iners, of whom eleven
were wounded. Forty of the ninety were from Blakeslie's regiment.
Besides these, a considerable number of American wounded were able
to escape — probably fifty or sixty.
Forty or fifty were killed. Most of these lay on the field of battle,
but some were scattered through the upper part of the village. They
were stripped of their clothing, and lay all ghastly and white on the
snow. On most of them the tomahawk and scalping-knife had supple-
mented the work of the bullet.
Among the slain the officer of highest rank was Lieutenant-Colonel
Boughton,of Avon. In Erie county, reckoning according to the present
division of towns, the killed were Job Hoysington, John Roop, Samuel
Holmes, John Trisket, James Nesbit, Robert Franklin, (colored), Mr.
Myers, Robert Hilland, and Adam Lawfer, of Buffalo ; Jacob Vantine, Jr.,
of Clarence; Moses Fenno, of Alden ; Israel Reed, of Aurora; Newman
Baker, Parley Moffat and William Cheeseman, of Hamburg and East
Hamburg; Major William C. Dudley, and probably Peter Hoffman, of
Evans ; and Calvin Cary, of Boston.
All the heavy guns of course fell into the hands of the enemy, as
well as a considerable quantity of public stores. A few small vessels
lying near Black Rock, were also captured.
The force by which all this injury was accomplished, according to the
British official report, consisted of about a thousand men, detached from
the Royal Scots regiment, the Eighth (or King's) regiment, the Forty-
first, the Eighty-ninth, and the One Hundredth, besides from one to two
hundred Indians. The enemy suffered a loss of about thirty men killed
and sixty wounded. Only two of his officers were wounded and none
killed.
That a thousand veteran soldiers should whip two thousand raw
militia is not really very strange, yet there have been times when militia,
acting on the defensive, have done much better than that. The repulse
of three or four hundred invaders the previous summer, by a force of
militia and recruits hardly their equal in number, shows what may be
done under favorable circumstances and resolute leadership.
General Hall, on reaching Williamsville, rallied two or three hun-
dred of the fugitives, and collected reinforcements as rapidly as possible.
There was, however, no further conflict with the enemy. Throughout
► this dismal epoch, the General seems to have acted with all possible
I $6 History of Erie County.
devotion and energy, and to have failed only through the defection of
his men and his own ignorance of the military art. He did the best that
in him lay.
General McClure, on the other hand, did the worst that in him lay,
and when he retired to his home was justly followed by the hatred and
contempt of thousands. The destruction of the Niagara frontier, is
chargeable chiefly to the cruelty and cowardice of George McClure.
The news of the disaster fled fast and far. The chief avenue of
escape was up the Main street road to Williamsville and Batavia. Next
to that was the road up the beach to Hamburg. This was still the usual
route, for teams, to all that part of the county south of the Buffalo
reservation.
On this occasion, however, many went on foot or horseback to the
Indian village, and thence through the woods to the Big Tree road.
During all that day (the 30th) the road through Williamsville and
Clarence was crowded with a hurrying and heterogeneous multitude —
bands of militiamen, families in sleighs, women driving ox-sleds, men in
wagons, cavalrymen on horseback, women on foot, bearing infants in
their arms and attended by crying children — all animated by a single
thought, to escape from the foe, and especially Irom the dreaded Indians.
On the Big Tree road the scene was still more diversified, for in
addition to a similar multitude of white citizens, there was the whole
tribe of Senecas from the Buffalo reservation. The author of the history
of the Holland Purchase, then a youth residing in Sheldon, Wyoming
county, gives a vivid picture of the scene from personal recollection : —
** An ox-sled would come along bearing wounded soldiers, whose
companions had perhaps pressed the slow team into their service ; another
with the family of a settler, a few household g^oods that had been hustled
upon it, and one, two or three wearied families from Buffalo, who had
begged the privilege of a ride and the rest that it afforded : then a rem-
nant of some dispersed corps of militia, hugging as booty, as spoils of the
vanquished, the arms they had neglected to use; then squads and families
of Indians, on foot and on ponies, the squaw with her papoose upon her
back, and a bevy of juvenile Senecas in her train ; and all this is but a
stinted programme of the scene that was presented. Bread, meats and
drinks soon vanished from the log taverns on the routes, and fleeing set-
tlers divided their scanty stores with the almost famished that came from
the frontiers."
The news flew, apparently on the wings of the wind and as it flew
people hitched up their horse or ox teams and started eastward. Again
and again it happened that a party of tired travelers from Buffalo or
vicinity would at nightfall find a deserted house, with plenty of furniture
and provisions, somewhere in Aurora, or Wales, or Newstead,and would
go to keeping house in it. The owners had perhaps gone on, another
day's journey, and had found near Batavia or Warsaw another abandoned
residence, whose late occupants had determined to put the Gvnesee
f/^^<r-t4A^ /d^yt./!^
Second Appearance of the British. 157
river between them and the foe. Everybody wanted to get one stage
farther east.
Sometimes a horseman would take up two or three children ; some-
times a gallant cavalier would be seen with some weary woman seated
behind him, and a child on the pommel of his saddle.
The fleeing Senecas added to the dreadful rumors. During the war
they kept runners going almost constantly between the Buffalo reserva-
tion and those of Cattaraugus and Allegany. These when they could
talk a little English, frequently enlivened the minds of the inhabitants
along the route by terrible tales of the ** British Indians.'' But after the
burning of Buffalo they let loose all their powers of description.
" Whoop ! " cried the dusky runner, as he paused for an instant before
the door of some log cabin, where stood a trembHng matron surrounded
by tow-headed children ; " Whoop I Buffalo all burned up I British
Indians coming ! Kill white squaw ! Kill papoose ! Scalp 'em all ! Burn
up everything ! Whoop !" and away he bounded through the forest, leav-
ing dismay and wailing in his track.
Still, when it was found that the enemy had retired, curiosity induced
many men from the nearest towns to visit the ruins. Others went to ren-
der what assistance they could, and still others, alas, to take advantage
of the universal confusion and purloin whatever might have been left by
the invader. A few went on the 31st of December, more on the ist of
January.
On the former day everything was quiet. On the latter, as the few
remaining citizens and Some from the country were staring at the ghastly
ruins, a detachment of the enemy suddenly appeared, making prisoners
of most of them.
They then fired all the remaining buildings, except the jail, which
would not burn, Reese's blacksmith shop, and the cottage in which
Mrs. St. John lived. A large hotel belonging to her was destroyed
with the rest.
As the detachment was about to depart, the commandant was in-
formed that there were public stores at Hodge's tavern, on Main street,
and on the hill south of Cold Spring. There were no public stores there
but the building was burned, a citizen named Keep was killed ; also
Adjutant Tottman, in command of a squad of mounted Canadian volun-
teers, who attempted to pursue the destroyers when they retreated.
At this same time, a squad of Indians went to Major Miller's tavern,
at Cold Spring, but fled to the woods on the appearance of the horse-
men just mentioned. This was the farthest that any of the enemy pene-
trated into the country.
A day or two after the second raid the people assembled and picked
up the dead bodies, and brought them to Reese's blacksmith shop. The
number is variously stated, but the most careful account makes it forty-
11
158 History of Erie County.
two killed, besides some who were not found till later, and some prom-
inent persons like Colonel Boughton, who were taken care of earlier. At
the shop they were laid in rows, a ghastly display, all being frozen stiff,
and most of them stripped, tomahawked and scalped. After those
belonging in the vicinity had been taken away by their friends, the rest
were deposited in a single large grave, in the old burying ground on
Franklin Square, covered only with boards, so they could be easily ex-
amined and removed.
Then quiet settled down on the destroyed village and almost desert-
ed county. Even Mrs. St. John left, and when a few days after the burn-
ing, Samuel Wilkeson and another gentleman, came down the lake shore,
the only living thing which they saw between Pratt's Ferry and Cold
Spring, was a solitary cat wandering amid the blackened ruins.
But the pioneers had plenty of energy and resolution, even if they
were not very good soldiers. Within a week some of them were back,
beginning the erection of new houses.
Soldiers were stationed in the village — a detachment of regulars, we
believe — and as time wore on people began to feel more safe. But the
winter was one of intense excitement and distress. Scarce a night passed
without a rumor of an attack. Many times some of the inhabitants
packed up their goods, ready to flee. Twice during the winter small
squads of the enemy crossed the river, but were driven back by the
soldiers and citizens without much fighting. Most of the people who
came back had nothing to live on, save what was issued to them by the
commissary department of the army.
The rest of the county was hardl)- less disturbed. There were houses
to live in, and generall)' plenty to eat, but every blast that whistled mourn-
fully through the forest reminded the excited people of the death-yell of
the savage, and fast succeeding rumors of invasion kept the whole pop-
ulation in a state of spasmodic terror.
The Salisburys evidently made good their escape with their type as
soon as they heard of the capture of Fort Niagara. On the i8th of Jan-
uary, they issued their paper at Harris* Hill.
That point became a kind of rendezvous for business men. Root &
Boardman opened a law office there, locating, according to their adver-
tisement, *' next door east of Harris* tavern and fourteen miles from Buf-
falo ruins." LeCouteulx went east after the destruction of his propert)-,
and Zenas Barker was appointed county clerk, establishing his office at
Harris' Hill. The nearest postoffice, however, was at Williamsville.
The suffering would have been even greater than it was, had not
prompt measures of relief been taken b)- the public authorities and the
citizens of more fortunate localities. The Legislature voted $40,000 in aid
of the devastated district, besides $5,000 to the Tuscarora Indians, and
$5,000 to residents of Canada driven out on account of their friendship
The Campaign of 1814. 159
for the United States. The city of Albany voted a thousand dollars, and
the city of New York three thousand. The citizens of Canandaigua
appointed a committee of relief, who raised a considerable amount there,
and sent communications soliciting aid to all the country eastward. They
were promptly responded to, and liberal contributions raised throughout
the State. With this aid, and that of the commissary department, and
the assistance of personal friends, those who remained on the frontier
managed to live through that woeful winter.
CHAPTER XIX.
THE CAMPAIGN OF 1B14.
Mars and Hymen — Scott and Brown — Elections and Appointments — Discipline at Buffalo — The
Death Penalty — The Advance — Capture of Fort Erie — Approaching Chippewa — An
Indian Battle — A Retreat — A Dismounted Young Brave — Victory — Scalps — "Hard
Times" — Advance to Fort George — Return — Lundy's Lane — The Romance of War —
Retreat to Fort Erie — ** Battle of Conjockety Creek " — Assault on Fort Erie — The Explo-
sion — Call for Volunteers — The Response — The Track through the Forest — The Sortie
— Gallantry of the Volunteers — General Porter — Quiet — Peace.
AS spring approached, the frontier began to revive. More troops
appeared, and their presence caused the paying out of considerable
sums of money among the inhabitants. There was a ready market
for produce at large prices.
By March the people had sufficiently recovered from their fright to
go to getting married. One number of the Gazette contained notices of
two weddings at Williamsville, one at Harris' Hill, one in Clarence, one
in Willink, and one in Concord— the longest list which had yet appeared
in that paper.
Williamsville was the rendezvous for the troops. There was a long
row of barracks, parallel with the main street of that village and a short
distance north of it, and others used as a hospital, a mile or so up the
Eleven-Mile creek. Buffalo began to rise from its ashes and by the first
of April there were thirty or forty houses erected or under contract.
On the loth of April there arrived on the frontier a stately young war-
rior, whose presence was already considered a harbinger of victory, and
whose shoulders had lately been adorned by the epaulets of a Brigadier-
General. This was Winfield Scott, then thirty years old, and the beau-
ideal of a gallant soldier. Immediately afterwards came his superior
officer Major-General Brown, who had been rapidly advanced to the
i6o History of Erie County.
highest rank, on the strength of the vigor and skill he had shown as a
commander at the foot of Lake Ontario.
An election was held in this month, at which General Porter was
again chosen to Congress on the Democratic ticket. Clarence cast two
hundred and twenty-three votes, while the whole town of Buffalo only
furnished a hundred and forty-seven. It had only been a year and four
months since the last Congressional election, which was doubtless owing
to some change in the law regarding the time of holding.
Many changes were taking place among the military men of the
county. A new commission, announcing promotions and appointments
in Lieutenant-Colonel Warren's regiment, (the 48th New York Infantry,)
designated EzekielCook as First Major, and Ezra Nott as Second ; Lyman
Blackmar, Peter Lewis, Frederick Richmond, Luther Colvin, Benjamin
1. Clough, Timothy Fuller and James M. Stevens as Captains; Thomas
Hohucs, Aaron Salisbury, Dennis Riley, Moses Baker, William Austin,
Oliver Alger, Micah B. Crook and Elihu Rice as Lieutenants; and
Jolin M. Holmes, Otis Wheelock, Lathrop Francis, Sumner Warren,
George Hamilton, Calvin Doolittle, Giles Briggs and Asa Warren as
Ensigns.
Bodies of regular troops and some vohmteers continued to concen-
trate at Williamsville and Buffalo. Scott removed his headquarters to
the latter place toward the last of May, where the troops were encamped
amid the ruins. Great efforts were made to introduce rigid discipline.
The men were under constant drill, and desertion was mercilessly
punished.
The work of preparation went forward, though not very rapidly.
On the 28th of June a statement appeared in the Gazette that the rumors
of an immediate advance which had been in circulation were not true,
and that the transportation of the army was not ready. This was no
doubt inserted by order, for on the 3d of July the advance began.
Brown's force consisted of two brigades of regulars under Generals
Scott and Ripley, and one of volunteers under General Porter. This
was composed of five hundred Pennsylvanians, six hundred New York
volunteers, all of whom had not arrived when the movement began, and
nearlv six hundred Indians.
Six hundred was ahuost the entire strength of the Six Nations, and
these had been gathered from all the reservations in Western New York.
We find no mention of Farmer's Brother among them, and probably his
great age prevented him from crossing. Acting as a private in the ranks
was Red Jacket, the principal civil leader of the Six Nations, who, not-
withstanding the timidity usually attributed to him, was unwilling to
stay behind while his countrymen were winning glory on the field of
carnage. Colonel Robert Fleming was Quartermaster of this peculiar
battalion.
Capture of Fort EKih. i6i
Fort Erie was garrisoned by a hundred and sevent)' British soldiers.
The main body of the enemy was at Chippewa, two miles above the
Falls, and eighteen miles below the fort.
On the 2d of July, Brown, Scott and Porter reconnoitred Fort Erie
and concerted the plan of attack. Ripley, with part of his brigade, was
to embark in boats at Buffalo in the night, and land a mile up the lake
from the fort. Scott's brigade was to cross from Black Rock, and land
a mile below Fort Erie, which, in the morning, both brigades were to
invest and capture.
Scott and Ripley both started at the time appointed, but as in most
militar)' operations depending on concert of action between separate
corps, there was a difficulty not foreseen. Ripley's pilot was misled by
a fog on the lake, and his command did not land until several hours past
the desigpiated hour. Scott, however, crossed promptly, and was able
to invest the fort with his brigade alone. At sunrise the artillery and
Indians crossed at the ferry, and after some parleying the fort surren-
dered, without awaiting an attack.
The campaign along the Niagara, which followed, was outside
the bounds of Erie county. I shall, however, give a sketch of it for sev-
eral reasons. It was participated in by many soldiers of Erie county,
in the ranks of the New York volunteers, though we cannot ascertain
whether they had any separate organization. Most of the Indians who
took part in it on our side certainly belonged to the " oldest families '* of
Erie count}-. One of Brown's three brigades was commanded by the Erie
County General, Peter B. Porter. And besides, our readers must be dis-
gusted by the poor fighting done by the Americans on the Niagara during
the previous years, and we want to take the taste out of their mouths.
The afternoon of the 3d, Scott marched several miles down the
Niagara, and on the morning of the 4th, drove in the enemy's advanced
posts. He was followed by Brown and Ripley, and both brigades estab-
lished themselves on the south side of Street's creek, two miles south of
Chippewa.
On their left, three-fourths of a mile from the Niagara, was a dense
and somewhat swampy forest on both sides of Street's creek, extending
to within three-fourths of a mile of Chippewa creek, which was bordered
for that distance by a level, cleared plain. On the north side of that
creek the British army lay intrenched. The two armies were concealed
from each other's sight by a narrow strip of woodland, reaching from
the main forest to within a hundred yards of the river bank.
During the night of the 4th, the Americans were much annoyed b}'
Indians and Canadians lurking in the forest, who drove in their pickets
and threatened their flanks.
Late that night General Porter crossed the river with his Indians
and Pennsylvanians, and in the morning marched toward Chippewa.
i62 History of Erie County.
He was met on the road by Cieneral Brown, who spoke "' the manner
in which he had been annoyed by lurkers in the forest, and proposed
that Porter should drive them out, declaring conhdently that there
would be no British regulars south of the Chippewa that day. Still, he
said he would order Scott to occupy the open ground beyond Street's
creek, in support of Porter. The latter accepted the proposition of his
chief, and at three o'clock started to put it in execution.
The Indians assumed their usual full battle-dress — of maturnip-line,
breech-clout, moccasins, feathers and paint — and the war-chiefs then pro-
ceeded to elect a leader. Their choice fell on Captain Pollard, a veteran
of Wyoming and many other fights.
Porter left two hundred of his Pennsylvanians in camp, thinking
their presence needless, and formed the other three hundred in one rank,
on the open ground, half a mile south of Street's creek, their left resting
on the forest. The whole five or six hundred Indians were also formed
in one rank in the woods, their right reaching to the left of the whites.
General Porter stationed himself between the two wings of his command,
with Captain Pollard on his left. He was also attended by two or three
staff officers, by Hank Johnson, the interpreter, and by several regular
officers, who had volunteered to see the fun. Red Jacket was on the
extreme left of the Indian line. A company of regular infantry followed
as a reserve. The war-chiefs took their places twenty yards in front of
their braves, and a few scouts were sent still farther in advance.
Then, at a given signal, the whole hne moved forward, the whites
marching steadily with shouldered arms on the plain, the naked Indians
gliding through the forest with cat-like tread, their bodies bent forward,
their rifles held ready for instant use, their feathers nodding at every
step, their fierce eyes flashing in every direction. Suddenly one of the
chiefs made a signal, and the whole line of painted warriors sank to the
ground, as quickly and as noiselessly as the sons of Clan Alpine at the
command of Roderick Dhu. This maneuver was a part of their primi-
tive tactics, and the chiefs rapidly assembled to consult over some report
brought back by a scout.
At another signal the warriors sprang up, and the feather-crested
line again moved through the forest. The maneuver was repeated when
the scouts brought word that the enemy was awaiting them on the north
bank of Street's creek. General Porter was informed of this fact, and
made some slight changes in his arrangements, and again the line
advanced with increased speed.
As the Indians approached the creek, they received the fire of a
force of British Indians and Canadians stationed there. They instantly
raised a war-whoop that resounded far over the Niagara, and charged
at the top of their speed. The foe at once fled. The Iroquois d ished
through the little stream and bounded after them, whooping, y.Iling,
The Battle of Chippewa. 163
shooting, cleaving skulls and tearing off scalps like so many demons.
Many were overtaken, but few captured. Occasionally, however, a
Seneca or Cayuga would seize an enemy, unwind his maturnip-line, bind
him with surprising quickness, and then go trotting back to the rear, hold-
ing one end of the maturnip, as a man might lead a horse by the halter.
Such speed and bottom were displayed by the Indians that neither
the regulars nor volunteers were able to keep up with them. For more
than a mile the pursuit was maintained, in the words of General Porter,
" through scenes of frightful havoc." At length the Indians, who had
got considerably in advance, emerged upon the open ground three-
quarters of a mile from Chippewa creek, when they were received with
a tremendous fire from the greater part of the British regular army,
drawn in line of battle on the plain.
It appears as if General Riall had determined to attack the Ameri-
cans, and had sent forward his light troops to bring on a battle, expect-
ing probably that the whole American force would get exhausted in
pursuit, and become an easy prey to his fresh battalions. The fact that
the pursuit was carried on by the American light troops and Indians
alone, broke up, and in fact reversed this programme.
The warriors quickly fled from the destructive fire in front. Gen-
eral Porter supposing that it came from the force they had been pursu-
ing, rallied the greater part of them, formed them again on the left of
his volunteers and moved forward to the edge of the wood. Again the
long, red-coated battalions opened fire. The volunteers stood and
exchanged two or three volleys with them, but when the enemy dashed
forward with the bayonet. Porter, seeing nothing of Scott with the sup-
ports, gave the order to retreat. Both whites and Indians fled in the
greatest confusion.
On came the red-coats at their utmost speed, supposing they had
gained another easy victory, and that all that was necessary was to catch
the runaways. The Indians, being the best runners and unencumbered
with clothing, got ahead in the retreat as they had in the advance, but
the whites did their best to keep up with them. The flight continued for
a mile, pursuers as well as pursued becoming greatly disorganized, and
the speed of the fugitives being accelerated by the constant bursting of
shells from the enemy's artillery.
Approaching Street's creek, Scott's brigade was found just crossing
the bridge and forming line. They took up their position with the
greatest coolness under the fire of the British artillery, but Porter
claimed that, through the fault of either Scott or Brown, they were
very much behind time. The former General was always celebrated for
his promptness, and the fault, if there was one, could hardly have been
his. Perhaps neither he nor Brown expected Porter's men to run so fast,
either going or coming.
i64 History of Erie County.
The result, however, was as satisfactory as if this precipitate retreat
had been planned to draw forward the foe. Ripley's brigade was at once
sent off to the left, through the woods, to flank the enemy. The fugitives,
as they ran, also bore to the westward, and Scott's fresh battalions came
into line in perfect order, making somewhat merry over the haste of their
red and white comrades.
Some of the Indians had taken their sons, from 12 to 16 years old,
into battle to initiate them in the business of war. One of these care-
ful fathers was now seen running at his best speed, with his son on his
shoulders. Just as he passed the left flank of Scott's brigade, near where
the general and his staff sat on their horses, superintending the format
tion of the line, a shell burst directly over the head of the panting war-
rior. •' Ugh," he exclaimed in a voice of terror, bounding half his height
from the ground. As he came down he fell to the earth, and the lad
tumbled off. Springing up, the older Indian ran on at still greater speed
than before, leaving the youngster to pick himself up and scamper away
as best he might. The scene was greeted with a roar of laughter by the
young officers around Scott, who rebuked them sharply for their levity.
In a few moments they had plenty of serious work to occupy their
attention.
The Americans reserved their fire till the enemy was within fifty
yards, when they poured in so deadly a volley that the British instantly
fell back. They were quickly rallied and led to the attack, but were again
met with a terrific fire, under which they retreated in hopeless disorder.
Scott pursued them beyond the strip of woods before mentioned, when
they fled across the Chippewa into their intrenchments, and tore up the
bridge. Scott's Brigade then lay down on the open plain north of the
woods. The battle, so far as the regulars were concerned, lasted only a
few moments, but was one of the most decisive of the whole war.
By order of General Brown, who was in the midst of the fight. Por-
ter took his two hundred reserve Pennsylvanians to the left of Scott's
Brigade, where they, too, lay down under the fire of the British artillery.
After awhile Ripley's Brigade came out of the woods covered with niud,
having had their march for nothing, as the enemy they had attempted to
flank had run away before their flank could be reached. It not being
deemed best to attack the foe in his intrenchments, directly in front, the
Americans returned at nightfall to their encampment.
The battle of Chippewa was the first, during the War of i8i2,in
which a large body of British regulars were defeated in the open field,
and the Americans were immensely encouraged by it. Enlistment was
thereafter much more rapid than before.
The total British loss,as officially reported, was five hundred and four-
teen, of whom between one and two hundred were found dead on the
field by the victors. About two hundred and fifty were taken prisoners.
The Indians at Chippewa. 165
mostly wounded. The Americans had about fifty killed, a hundred and
forty wounded, and a few taken prisoners. The number of American
regulars engaged was thirteen hundred. General Porter estimated the
British regulars in the fight at seventeen hundred, but we know not on
what grounds, nor how correctly.
It will be noticed that we frequently refer to General Porter as
authority. In fact it is from his statement, in Stone's '* Life of Red
Jacket," that this description of the battle of Chij)pewa is principally
derived.
There was a somewhat amusing dispute as to whether the American
or British Indians ran the fastest and farthest. It was asserted that our
braves never stopped till they reached the Buffalo reservation. This
Porter declared to be a slander, insisting that the only reason why the
Indians reached the rear before the Pennsylvanians was because they
could run faster. It is certain that the main body of them remained
with the arm)' some two weeks after the battle. The Canadian Indians
were so roughly handled that they fled at once to the head of Lake
Ontario, and never after took any part in the war.
The next morning General Porter was horrified by the appearance
at his tent of some twenty chiefs, each attended by a warrior of his band,
bearing the bloody scalps they had stripped from their fallen foes. They
had been informed that a bounty would be paid them for every scalp they
produced. The startled General told them that nothing of the kind
would be done, whereupon the ghastly trophies were burned or flung
into the Niagara. The story that they were to be paid for scalps was
in direct contravention of the agreement under which they had entered
the American service, yet it found ready credence among the Indians.
This tends to show that the stories of the British paying a bounty for
scalps in the Revolution may have been without foundation, even though
believed by the savages themselves.
After this grim episode, the chiefs obtained permission to visit the
field and bring off their own dead. They brought in fifteen warriors,
who were buried with the honors of war.
They also found three of their enemies mortally wounded but not
yet dead. They cut the throats of two of these, but, recognizing the
third as an old acquaintance, they furnished him with a canteen of water
and left him to die in peace. On their relating what they had done, an
officer angrily reproached Cattaraugus Hank for this brutality.
** Well, Colonel," said Hank, casting down his eyes, and speaking
with appearance of contrition, "it does seem rather hard to kill men in
that way, but then you must remember these are very hard times."
Red Jacket is said to have plaj-ed his part at Chippewa as well as
any of his brethren. Yet even his admirers used to rally him about his
timidity. One of them was heard chaffing him, declaring that he had
i66 History of Erie County.
given the sachem a scalp in order that he, too, might have a trophy to
show, but that the latter was afraid to carry it.
On the 7th of July, the six hundred volunteers from Western New
York joined Porter's Brigade. We have found no account of how they
were organized, nor of the localities from which they came.
On the 8th, Ripley's Brigade and these New York volunteers forced
a passage of the Chippewa, three miles up, quickly driving back the force
stationed there. General Rial), finding himself flanked, destroyed his
works and retreated rapidly to Queenston, and then to Fort George.-
Brown pursued and took up his quarters at Queenston, but did not deem
his force sufficient either to assault or besiege the fortress.
On the i6th, Porter's Brigade skirmished around the fort, to give
the engineers a chance to reconnoitre, but nothing came of it.
At this time Red Jacket, who had all along opposed his country-
men's taking part in the war, proposed that messengers should be sent
to the Mohawks, to concert a withdrawal of the Indians on both sides.
General Brown consented, and two young chiefs were dispatched on a
secret mission for that purpose. They were favorably received by some
of the chiefs, but no formal arrangement was made.
Meanwhile the British received re-inforcements, and Brown deter-
mined to return to Fort Erie. Riall followed. Before arriving at the
Falls most of the Indians, through the management of Red Jacket,
obtained permission to retire to their homes, agreeing to return if the
British Indians should again take the field. But the latter were perfectly
satisfied with that terrible drubbing in the Chippewa woods, and never
again appeared in arms against the Americans. Nevertheless, some forty
or fifty of our Indians remained with the army throughout the campaign.
On the 25th of July, Brown's arm)^ encamped near Chippewa creek.
Riall was pressing so closely on the x\merican rear that Brown sent back
Scott's brigade to check him. Scott met the enemy near Bridgewater,
below the Falls. Sending back word to his superior, the impetuous Vir-
ginian led his columns to ihe attack. For an hour a desperate battle
raged between Scott's single brigade and Riall's army, neither gaining
any decided advantage, though the British were slowly pressed backward.
At the end of that time, and but a little before night. Brown arrived
with the Brigades of Ripley and Porter. Determining to interpose a new
line and disengage Scott's exhausted men, he ordered forward the two
fresh brigades. The enemy's line was then near ** Lundy's Lane," a road
running at right angles with the river. His artillery was on a piece of
rising ground, which was the key of the position. Colonel Miller, com-
manding a regiment of infantry, was ordered by Brown to capture it.
" I will try, sir," was the memorable response of the gallant officer.*
• It has been disputed whether Brown or Scott gave the order in question. But Miller himself
in a letter to his wife (according to the historian Lossing) stated that he received the orde • directly
from Brown.
Battle of Luxdv^s Lane. 167
Though the regiment which should have supported Miller's gave
way, yet the latter moved steadily up the hill. Increasing its pace it
swept forward, while its ranks were depleted at every step, and after a
brief but desperate struggle carried the heights, and captured the hostile
cannon at the point of the bayonet. At the same time Major Jessup's
regiment drove back a part of the enemy's infantry, capturing Major-
General Riall. their commander, and when General Ripley led forward
his reserve regiment the British fell back and disappeared from the field.
It was now eight o'clock and entirely dark. In a short time the
enemy rallied and attempted to regain his lost artillery. Seldom in all
the annals of war has a conflict been fought under more strange and roman-
tic circumstances. The darkness of night was over all the combatants.
A little way to the northeastward rolled and roared the greatest cataract
in the world, the wonderful Niagara. Its thunders, subdued yet distinct,
could be heard whenever the cannon were silent. And there, in the dark-
ness, upon that solitary hillside, within sound of that mighty avalanche of
waters, the soldiers of the 30ung republic, flushed with the triumph
which had given them their enemy's battle-ground, and cannon, and com-
mander, calmly awaited the onslaught of England's defeated but not dis-
heartened veterans.
At half-past eight the Americans saw the darkness turning red far
down the slope, and soon in the gloom were dimly outlined the advancing
battalions of the foe. The red line came swiftly, silently, and gallantly
up the hill, beneath the swaying banners of St. George, and all the while
the subdued roar of Niagara was rolling gently over the field.
Suddenly the American cannon and small-arms lighted up the scene
with their angry glare, their voices drowning the noise of the cataract.
The red battalions were torn asunder, and the hillside strewed with dead
and dying men, but the line closed up and advanced still more rapidly,
their fire rivaling that of the Americans, and both turning the night into
deadly day.
Presently the assailants ceased firing, and then with thundering
cheers and leveled bayonets rushed forward to the charge. But the
American grape and canister made terrible havoc in their ranks, the mus-
ketry of Scott and Ripley mowed them down by the score, and the sharp-
cracking rifles of Porter's volunteers did their work with deadly discrim-
ination. More and more the assailants wavered, and when the Americans
in turn charged bayonets the whole British line fled at their utmost speed.
The regulars followed but a short distance, being held in hand by
their officers, who had no idea of plunging through the darkness against
a possible reserve. But the volunteers chased the enemy down the slope,
and captured a considerable number of prisoners. Then the Americans
reformed their lines, and again the murmur of the cataract held sway
over the field.
i68 Htstorv of Erie Couxtv.
Twice within the next hour the British attempted to retake their
cannon, and both times the result was the same as that of the first effort.
For two hours afterwards the Americans remained in line, awaiting
another onslaught of the foe, but the latter made no further attempt.
Having no extra teams, the victors were unable to take away the
captured guns, with one exception. Accordingly, with this single trophy,
with their own wounded, and with a hundred and sixty-nine prisoners,
including General Riall, the Americans at midnight returned to their
encampment on the Chij^pewa. Their loss was a hundred and seventy-
one killed, four hundred and forty-nine wounded, and a hundred and
seventeen missing. Both Brown and Scott were wounded, the latter
severely, and both were removed to Buffalo.
One or two British writers have claimed a technical victory at Lun-
dy's Lane, because the Americans finally left the field at midnight, but
they do n(jt dispute the facts above set forth, which were vouched for by
Generals Brown, Porter and Ripley, in a public declaration, viz., the
capture of the English cannc^n, the attempt to recapture them, the
utter failure, and the two hours' peaceable possession of the field bv the
Americans, before leaving it.
The real condition of the two armies was plainly shown by the fact
that the next day the enemy allowed Ripley to burn the mills, barracks and
bridge at Bridgewater, without molestation. The Americans then pur-
sued their untroubled march to Fort Erie.
On their arrival, the most of the volunteers went home, having
served the remarkably long time of three or four months. Nevertheless
they had done good service, and were entitled to a rest according to the
views of volunteering then in vogue. The regulars had been reduced
by various casualties to some fifteen hundred men. The British on the
other hand had received re-inforcements, and felt themselves strong
enough to besiege the fort, if fort it may be called, which was rather a
partially intrenched encampment.
General Drummond'sarmy for two weeks steadily worked their way
toward the American defenses. These consisted principally of two stone
mess-houses, and a bastion, known as " Old Fort Erie," a short distance
cast of the river bank, and a natural mound, half a mile farther south and
near the lake, which was surmounted with breastworks and cannon and
called "Towson's Battery." Between the old fort and the battery ran a
parapet, and another from the old fort eastward to the river. On both
the north and west a dense forest came within sixty rods of the American
works. The British erected batteries in the woods on the north, each
one farther south than its predecessor, and then in the night chopped
out openings through which their cannon could play on our works.
At this time the commander at Fort Erie was in the habit of sending
across a battalion of regular riflemen every night, to guard the Ijridge
Battle of Conjockety Creek. 169
over Scajaquada creek, who returned each morning to the fort. About
the loth of August a heavy British force crossed the river at night, at
some point below the Scajaquada, and just before daylight they attempted
to force their way across the latter stream. Their objective point was
doubtless the public stores at Black Rock and Buffalo.
Being opposed by the riflemen above mentioned, under Major Lodo-
wick Morgan, there ensued a fight of some importance, known as the
" Battle of Conjockety Creek." Strangely enough there was no account
of it in the Buffalo Gazette^ though it afterwards alluded to Major Mor-
gan as the " hero of Conjockety.*'
The planks of the bridge had been taken up, and the riflemen lay in
wait on the south side. When the enemy's column came up, Morgan's
men opened a destructive fire. The English pressed forward so boldly
that some of them, when shot, fell into the creek and were swept
down the Niagara. They were compelled to fall back, but again
and again they repeated the attempt, and every time they were repulsed
with loss.
A body of militia, under Colonels Swift and Warren, were placed on
the right of the regulars, and prevented the enemy from crossing farther
up the creek. Several deserters came over to our forces, having thrown
away their weapons and taken oflF their red coats, which they carried
rolled up under their arms. They reported the enemy's force at seven-
teen hundred, but that was probably an exaggeration.
After a conflict lasting several hours the enemy retreated, having
suffered severely in the fight. The Americans had eight men wounded.
Early in the morning of the 15th of August, 1814, the English at-
tempted to carry Fort Erie by storm, under cover of the darkness. At
half-past two o'clock, a column of a thousand to fifteen hundred men
moved from the woods on the west against Towson's battery. Though
received with a terrific fire they pressed forward, but were at length
stopped within a few yards of the American lines. They retreated in
confusion, and no further attempt was made at that point.
Notwithstanding the strength of this attack, it was perhaps partly
in the nature of a feint, for immediately afterwards two other columns
issued from the forest on the north. One sought to force its way up
along the river bank, but was easily repulsed. The other, led by Lieu-
tenant-Colonel Drummond, advanced against the main bastion. It was
defended by several heavy guns and field-pieces, by the Ninth United
States infantry, and by one company each of New York and Pennsyl-
vania volunteers. Received with a withering discharge of cannon and
musketry, Drummond's right and left were driven back. His center,
however, ascended the parapet, but were finally repulsed with dreadful
carnage. Again Drummond led his men to the charge and again they
were repulsed.
I/O History of Erie County.
^
A third time the undaunted Englishmen advanced over ground
strewn thick with the bodies of their brethren, in the face of a sheet of
flame from the walls of the bastion, and a third time they were driven
back with terrible loss. This would have satisfied most men of any
nation, and one cannot refrain from a tribute to English valor of the most
desperate kind, when he learns that Drummond again rallied his men, led
them a fourth time over that pathway of death, mounted the parapet in
spite of the volleying flames which enveloped it, and actually captured
the bastion at the point of the bayonet.
Many American officers were killed in this terrible struggle. Di*um-
mond was as fierce as he was brave, and was frequently heard crying to
his men, "Give the damned Yankees no quarters." But even in the
moment of apparent victory he met his fate — a shot from one of the last
of the retreating Americans laying him dead upon the ground.
Re-inforcements were promptly sent to the endangered locality by
Generals Ripley and Porter. A detachment of riflemen attacked the
British in the bastion, but were repulsed. Another and larger force
repeated the attack, but also failed.
The Americans prepared for a third charge, and two batteries of
artillery were playing upon the heroic band of Britons, Suddenly the
whole scene was lighted up by a vast column of flame, the earth shook
to the water's edge, the ear was deafened by a fearful sound which
re-echoed far over the river. A large amount of cartridges, stored in
one of the mess-houses adjoining the bastion, had been reached by a can-
non-ball and exploded. One instant the fortress, the forest, the river, the
dead, the dying and the maddened living, were revealed by that fearful
glare — the next all was enveloped in darkness, while the shrieks of hun-
dreds of Britons, in more terrible agony than even the soldier often suf-
fers, pierced the murky and sulphurous air.
The Americans saw their opportunity and redoubled the fire of
their artillery. For a few moments the conquerors of the bastion main-
tained their position, but half their number, including most of their
officers, were killed or wounded, their commander was slain, and they
were dazed and overwhelmed by the calamity that had so unexpectedly
befallen them. After a few volleys they fled in utter confusion to the
friendly forest.
As they went out of the bastion the Americans dashed in, snatching
a hundred and eighty-six prisoners from the rear of the flying foe.
Besides these there remained on the ground they had so valiantly con-
tested two hundred and twenty-one English dead, and a hundred and
seventy-four wounded, nearly all in and around that single bastion.
Besides, there were the wounded who were carried away by their com-
rades, including nearly all who fell in the other two columns. The
Ameril:ans had twenty-six killed and ninety-two wounded. Seldoia has
there been a more gallant attack, and seldom a more disastrous repulse.
Attack ox Fort Erie. 171
During the fight the most intense anxiety prevailed on this side. The
tremendous cannonade a little after midnight told plainly enough that an
attack was being made. Nearly every human being who resided among
the ruins of Buffalo and Black Rock, and man}* of the country around, were
up and watching. All expected that if the fort should be captured the
enemy would immediately cross, and the horrors of the previous winter
would be repeated. Many packed up and prepared for instant flight.
When the explosion came, the shock startled even the war-seasoned
inhabitants of Buffalo. Some thought the British had captured the fcA*t
and blown it up, others imagined that the Americans had penetrated to
the British camp and blown that up : and all awaited the coming of morn
with nerves strung to their utmost tension. It was soon daylight, when
boats crossed the river from the fort, and the news of another American
victory was soon scattered far and wide through the country.
A day or two afterwards the wounded prisoners were sent to the
hospital at Williamsville, and the un wounded to the depot of prisoners
near Albany. Many of the prisoners were Highlanders, of the Glen-
garry Regiment.
Having failed to carry the fort by assault, the British settled down
to a regular siege. Closer and closer their lines were drawn and their
batteries erected, the dense forest affording every facility for uninter-
rupted approach. Re-inforcements constantly arrived at the English
camp, while not a solitary regular soldier was added to the constantly
diminishing force of the Americans. By the latter part of August their
case had become so desperate that Governor Tompkins called out all
the militia west of the Genesee, en masse, and ordered them to Buffalo.
They are said by Turner to have responded with great alacrity.
Arriving at Buffalo, the officers were first assembled, and General
Porter called on them to volunteer to cross the river. There was con-
siderable hanging back, but the General made another speech, and under
his stinging words most of the officers volunteered. The men were then
called on to follow their example, and a force of about fifteen hundred
was raised. The 48th Regiment furnished one company. Colonel War-
ren volunteered and crossed the river, but was sent back with other
supernumerary officers, and was placed in command of the militia
remaining at Buffalo.
The volunteers were conveyed across the river at night, about the
loth of September, and encamped on the lake shore above Towson's
battery, behind a sod breast-work hastily erected by themselves. They
were commanded by General Porter, who bivouaced in their midst,
under whom was General Daniel Davis, of Le Roy. General Brown
had resumed command of the whole American force.
At this time the enemy was divided into three brigades of fourteen
or fifteen hundred men each, one of which was kept on duty in their
172 History of Erie County.
batteries every three days, while the other two remained at the main
camp, on a farm a mile and a half west of the fort.
Immediately after the arrival of the volunteers, a plan was concerted
to break in on the enemy's operations by a sortie. The British had
opened two batteries, and were nearly ready to unmask another, still
nearer and in a more dangerous position. This was called ** Battery No.
Three," the one next north **No. Two," and the farthest one " No. One."
It was determined to make an attack on the 17th of September, before
Battery No. Three could be completed.
On the 1 6th, Majors Fraser and Riddle, both officers of the regular
army acting as aids to General Porter, each followed by a hundred men,
fifty of each party being armed and fifty provided with axes, proceeded
from the camp of the volunteers, by a circuitous route through the
woods, to within a short distance of Battery No. Three. Thence each
detachment cut out the underbrush so as to make a track back to camp
over the swampy ground, curving where necessary to avoid the most
miry places. The work was accomplished without the British having
the slightest suspicion of what was going on. This was the most diffi-
cult part of the whole enterprise, and its being accomplished without
the enemy's hearing it must be partly attributed to good fortune.
In the forenoon of the 17th the whole of the volunteers were paraded,
the enterprise was revealed to them, and a hand-bill was read, announcing
glorious victories won on Lake Champlain and at Plattsburgh a few days
before. The news was joyfully received and the sortie enthusiastically
welcomed. The volunteers not being uniformed, every one was required
to lay aside his hat or cap and wear on his head a red handkerchief or a
piece of red cloth which was furnished. Not an officer nor man wore
any other head-gear, except General Porter.
At noon that commander led forth the principal attacking body from
the volunteer camp. The advance consisted of two hundred volunteers
under Colonel Gibson. Behind them came the column designed for
storming the batteries, composed of four hundred regulars followed by
five hundred volunteers, all commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Wood.
These took the right hand track cut out the day before. Another column,
of nearly the same strength, mostly volunteers, under General Davis,
intended to hold the enemy's re-inforcements in check and co-operate in
the attack, took the left-hand road.
At the same time a body of regulars, under General Miller, was con-
cealed in a ravine near the northwest corner of the intrenchments, pre-
pared to attack in front at the proper time. The rest of the troops were
held in reserve under General Ripley.
Just after the main column started it began to rain, and continued to
do so throughout the afternoon. The march was necessarily slow along
the swampy, winding pathway, and had it not been for the underbrjshed
The Relief of Fort Erie. 173
tracks the columns would probably have lost their way or been delayed
till nightfall.
At nearly three o'clock Porter's command arrived at the end of the
track, within a few rods of Battery No. Three, entirely unsuspected by
its occupants. The final arrangements being made, they moved on, and
in a few moments emerged upiMi the astonished workers and their guard.
With a tremendous cheer, which was distinctlv heard across the river,
the men rushed forward, and the whole force in the battery, thoroughly
surprised and overwhelmed by numbers, at once surrendered, without
hardly firing a shot.
This attack was the signal iov the advance of Miller's regulars, who
sprang out of their ravine and hurried forward, directing their steps
toward Battery No. Two. Leaving a detachment to spike and dismount
the captured cannon, both of Porter's columns dashed fcn"ward toward
the same object. General Davis leading his volunteers and co-operating
closely with Wood. They arrived at the same time as Miller. They were
received with a heavy fire, but the three commands combined and carried
the battery at the point of the bayonet.
Leaving another party to spike and dismount cannon, the united force
pressed forward toward Battery No. One. But by this time the whole
British armj^ was alarmed, and re-inforccments were rapidly arriving.
Nevertheless the Americans attacked and captured Battery No. One,
after a severe cimflict.
How gallantly the}* were led is shown by the fact that all of Porter s
principal commanders were shot down — Gibson at Battery No. Two,
Wood while approaching No. One, and Davis while gallantly mounting
a parapet between the two batteries at the head of his men. In the last
struggle, too. General Porter himself was slightly wounded by a sword-
cut on the hand, and temporarily taken prisoner, but was immediately
rescued by his own men. Of course, in a sortie the as^ilants are not
expected to hold the conquered ground. The work in this case had
been as completely done as in any sortie ever made, and after Battery
No. One had been captured a retreat was ordered to the fort, where
the victorious troops arrived just before sunset.
The loss of the Americans was seventy-nine killed and two hundred
and fourteen wounded ; very few, if any, captured. Four hundred
British were taken prisoners, a large number killed and wounded, and
what was far more important all the results of nearly two months* labor
were entirely destroyed. So completely were his plans frustrated by
this brilliant assault that only four days afterwards General Drummond
raised the siege, and retired down the Niagara.
After the enemy retreated the volunteers were dismissed with the
thanks of their commanders, having saved the American army from losing
its last hold on the western side of the Niagara.
12
174 History of Erie County.
The relief of Fort Erie was one of the most skillfully planned and
gallantly executed sorties ever made. General Napier, the celebrated
British soldier and military historian, mentioned it as one of the very few-
cases in which a single sortie had compelled the raising of a siege.
Very high credit was given to General Porter, both for his eloquence
in engaging the volunteers and his skill and valor in leading them. The
press sounded his praises, the citizens of Batavia tendered him a dinner,
the Governor breveted him a Major-General, and Congress voted him a
gold medal. These guerdons were justly his due on account of the dis-'
tinguished services then known to the public. In addition, there is little
doubt that he is entitled to the credit of originating and planning the
sortie of Fort Erie. For several days previous he had been holding fre-
quent interviews with General Brown, and also with two officers of engi-
neers, the object of which was concealed from his staff. He afterwards
informed Colonel William A. Bird that the secret interviews with Gen-
eral Brown and the engineer officers were for the purpose of planning
the sortie, and that Brown hesitated and requested Porter to draw a plan
in writing, which he did, leaving the paper with Brown.
It is certain that it was Porter's aids who superintended the cutting
out of the roads over which the main columns of attack passed, and it
was Porter who was chosen to command that force, though composed of
both regulars and volunteers, and though there were two or more regu-
lar generals under Brown at the fort. There was no probable reason
why he should have been charged with the execution of the attack, except
because he had planned it. Of course it was sanctioned by Brown, and
the latter is fairly entitled to the credit belonging to every commander
under whose orders a successful movement is carried out, but there is
also especial credit due to the originator of a good plan, and we have
little doubt that in this case that honor belongs to Peter B. Porter.
The raising of the siege of Fort Erie was substantially the close of the
war on the Niagara frontier. A few unimportant skirmishes took place,
but nothing that need be recorded here. All the troops, except a small
guard were withdrawn from Fort Erie to Buffalo. It was known during
the winter that commissioners were trying to negotiate a peace at Ghent,
and there was a universal desire for their success. In this vicinity, at
least, the people had had enough of the glories of war.
On the 15th of January, 181 5, the news of the victory of New Orleans
was announced in an extra of the Buffalo Gazette, but although it occa-
sioned general rejoicing, yet the delight was by no means so great as
when, a week later, the pieople of the ravaged frontier were informed of
the signing of the treaty of Ghent. Post-riders as they delivered letters,
doctors as they visited their patients, ministers as they journeyed to
meet their backwoods congregations, spread everywhere the welcome
news of peace.
Announxement of Peace. 175
General Noit, in his reminiscences, relates that the first sermon in
Sardinia was preached at his house by "Father Spencer," early in 181 5.
There was a large gathering. The people had heard that the good mis-
sionary had a newspaper announcing the conclusion of peace, and they
were most of them, probably more anxious to have their hopes in that
respect confirmed than for aught else. Father Spencer was not disposed
to tantalize them, and immediately on rising to begin the services he took
the paper from his pocket, saying, " I bring you news of peace." He
then read the official announcement, and it may be presumed that the
gratified congregation afterwards listened all the more earnestly to the
news of divine peace which it was the minister's especial province to
deliver.
In a very brief time the glad tidings penetrated to the most secluded
cabins in the county, and all the people turned with joyful anticipations
to the half-suspended pursuits of peaceful life.
CHAPTER XX.
FRDM THE WAR TD THE D I V I S I D N DF THE COUNTY.
The Situation — Red Jacket's Speech — General Porter — Tracy and Wilkeson — Another News-
paper —First Murder Trial — The Old Court House — Scarce Money — First Bank — The
Cold Summer — Marshal Grouchy and Red Jacket — Senecas in England — A President's
Visit — Terrible Roads — Indian Sufferers — Religious Improvement — Father Spencer —
The Erie Canal — Political Factions — First Steamboat — First Framed Church-Edifice —
The Boundary Commission — Attempt to Buy the Reservations — Red Jacket's Opposition —
The Second Execution — The Grand Island War — Clintonians and Bucktails — Slavery in
Erie County — Census of 1820 — Divi«iion of Towns.
IT is needless to give a description of the condition of Erie county at
the close of the War of 1 812. It was just where it was at the begin-
ning of that contest, except that Buffalo and Black Rock had been
burned, and that here and there a pioneer had abandoned his little clear-
ing. No new business had been developed anywhere, hardly a solitary
new settler had taken up his abode in the county, and those already
there had been so harrassed by Indian alarms and militia drafts that
they had extended but very little the clearings which existed at the
beginning of the war.
Immediately after the conclusion of peace, however, the long
restrained tide again flowed westward, and for awhile immigrants poured
on to the Holland Purchase more rapidly than ever.
176 History of Erie County.
Williamsville and Clarence Hollow were the only places, outside of
Buffalo and its afterward-absorbed rival, Black Rock, which had advanced
far enough to have a grist-mill, saw-mill, tavern, and store all at once.
The acquisition of the last-named institution, in addition to the other
three, might fairly be considered as marking the beginning of a village.
Taverns could be started anywhere. A man bought a few gallons of
whisky, put up a sign in front of his log house, and forthwith became a
hotel-keeper.
Saw-mills were not very expensive, and were soon scattered along
the numerous streams wherever there was the necessary fall. Grist-
mills were more costly, and he was a heavy capitalist, who could build
one ; still they were so absolutely necessary that they were frequently
erected very early in the course of settlement, and while residences
were still widely scattered.
But a store, a place where a real merchant dispensed calico, tea, nails,
molasses, ribbons and salt, marked a decided advance in civilization, and
almost always was the nucleus of a hamlet which has since developed
into a thriving village.
A little before the close of the war, a mail-route had been established
through Willink and Hamburgh, from east to west, running near the
center of the present towns of Wales, Aurora, and East Hamburg.
There was a post-office called Willink, at Blakely's Corners, two miles
south of Aurora village, and we believe one called Hamburg, at " John
Green's tavern."
A considerable body of troops remained at Buffalo during the win-
ter, but all were sent away in the spring.
With one of the officers. Colonel Snelling, Red Jacket had formed
a special intimacy. On his being ordered to Governor's Island, in the
harbor of New York, the sachem made him the following little speech,
as published by a relative of the Colonel : —
" Brother— I hear you are going to a place called Governor's Island.
I hope you will be a Governor yourself. I understand that you white
people think children a blessing. I hope you may have a thousand. And
above all, wherever you go, I hope you may never find whisky above two
shillings a quart."
In March, General Porter was appointed Secretary of State of New
York, by Governor Tompkins, and resigned his seat in Congress. His new
position, and the one which he subsequently accepted, of United States
Commissioner to settle the northern boundary, seem to have had an ob-
scuring effect on his fame ; for whereas, not only during but before the
war, he had been one of the foremost men of the State, and almost of the
Nation, yet immediately afterwards he nearly disappeared from public
sight. Nor did he ever regain the pre-eminent position he occupied at
the close of the war, though he afterward for a brief period,held a
cabinet office.
<^^Z^a^^'^^cc^ /^^e/^^€^J<?'ru
First Murder Trial. 177
A young man, destined in a very brief time to acquire a large part
of the influence previously wielded by Porter, opened a law office in Buf-
falo, in the spring of 181 5. This was Albert H. Tracy, then twenty-two
years old, a tall, erect, vigorous young man, of brilliant intellect and
thorough culture, a clear-headed lawyer, and a skillful manager of the
political chariot. Samuel Wilkeson, who located in Buffalo, was a man
of perhaps equal power, but his exertions were chiefly confined to the
city, in the history of which he will be duly mentioned.
In April, 181 5, another newspaper, called the Niagara /^wr«tf/, was
established in Buffalo. The Gazette had leaned toward Federalism ; the
Journal was Democratic.
The Assembly district composed of Niagara, Cattaraugus and Chau-
tauqua counties was now awarded two members, the first ones chosen
being Daniel McCleary, of Buffalo, and Elias Osborn, of Clarence.
In June, 18 15, there occurred the first murder trial in the present
county of Erie, when Charles Thompson and James Peters were con-
victed of the murder of James Burba. They had both been soldiers in
the regular army, and during the war had been sent on a scout with a
companion, another soldier, a mile and a half below Scajaquada creek.
They had gone three miles below the creek to Burba's residence, com-
mitted some depredations, got into a quarrel with the owner, and finally
killed him. Their comrade escaped.
In August the two men were executed in public, as was the rule in
that day. The prisoners and scaffold were guarded by several compa-
nies of militia, under General Warren. Glezen Fillmore, the young
Methodist minister of Clarence, preached the funeral sermon, and was
assisted in the last rites to the condemned by Rev. Miles P. Squier, who
had just settled in Buffalo as the pastor of the Presbyterian church.
In the spring of 1816 a new court house was begun in Buffalo, and
the walls erected during the summer. Instead of being placed in the
middle of Onondaga (Washington) street, with a circular plat around it,
as before, it was built on the east side of that street, and a small park
laid out in front of it. The building then erected was the only court
house in the county until 1850, and was torn down in 1876.
There was a severe financial crisis soon after the war, and money
became more scarce than ever. Mr. D. S. Warner, of South Wales, in
speaking of that period, says he does not believe there was five dollars of
current money between Aurora and Holland. " Shinplastcrs," issued by
private firms, were in use in many parts of the country, which, as Mr.
Warner says, " were good from one tlirnpike gate to another."
In July, 1 8 16, an effort was made to remedy this evil and the first
bank in Erie county was organized, under the name of the Bank of Niag-
ara. The whole capital was the immense sum (for those times) of five
hundred thousand dollars, but the amount required to be paid down was
178 History of Erie County.
modest enough, being only six dollars and twenty-five cents on each
share of a hundred dollars. Although located in Buffalo, the new bank
drew on the resources of a wide region, the directors being Augustus
Porter, of Niagara Falls ; James Brisbane, of Batavia ; A. S. Clarke, of
Clarence; Jonas Williams and Benjamin Caryl, of Williamsville; Isaac
Kibbe, of Hamburg ; Martin Prendergast, of Chautauqua county ; Samuel
Russell and Chauncey Loomis (exact residence unknown,) and Ebenezer
F. Norton, Jonas Harrison, Ebenezer Walden and John G. Camp, of
Buffalo. Isaac Kibbe was the first president, and Isaac Q. Leake the
first cashier.
Among the farmers, the peculiar characteristics of 1816 was that it
was the year of the " cold summer." Though nearly seventy years have
passed away, the memory of the " cold summer" is still vividly impressed
on the minds of the surviving pioneers.
Snow fell late in May, there was a heavy frost on the 9th of June,
and all through the summer the weather was terribly unpropitious to
the crops of the struggling settlers. There had been a large emigration
in the spring, just about time enough having elapsed since the war for
people to make up their minds to go West. Forty families came into
the present town of Holland alone, and elsewhere the tide was nearly
as great.
An overflowing population and an extremely short crop, with no
reserves in the granaries to fall back on, soon made provisions of all
kinds extremely high and dear. The fact that there is little or no grain
in store always makes a failure of the crop fall with terrible severity on
a new country, as has been seen in the case of drouth in Kansas and grass-
hoppers in Nebraska. How closely the reserve was worked up in this
section may be seen by the fact that on the 17th of August, 18 16, just
before the new crop was ground, flour sold in Buffalo for $15.00 a barrel,
and on the 19th there was not a barrel on sale in the village.
The new crop relieved the pressure for a while, but this was very
small and ran low early in the winter, and then came scenes of great suf-
fering for the poorer class of settlers. In many cases the hunter's skill
furnished his family with meat, but in a large part of the county there
had been just enough settlement to scare away the game. There is no
proof that any of the people actually starved to death, but there can be
no doubt that the weakening from long privation caused many a prema-
ture death.
At one time during the summer the Indians tried to produce a
change in the weather by pagan sacrifices. Major Jack Berry, Red
Jacket's interpreter, a fat chief who usually went about in summer with
a bunch of flowers in his hat, said that to avert the cold weather his
countrymen burnt a white dog and a deer, and held a grand pow-wow
under the direction of the medicine men — but the next morning there
was a harder frost than ever before.
Visit of Marshal Grouchy. 179
Probably the event had not much effect on the fortunes of Erie
county, yet it seems worth mentioning that in November, 18 16, Marshal
Grouchy and suite, returning from Niagara Falls, came to Buffalo and
then visited the Seneca Indian village. It is interesting to pause a
moment from chronicling the erection of towns and the laying out of
post-roads to contemplate the war-worn French marshal, (the hero of a
score of battles, jet half-believed a traitor because he failed to intercept
the march of Blucher to support Wellington at Waterloo,) soothing his
vexed spirit with a visit to the greatest of natural wonders, and then
coming to seek wisdom at aboriginal sources, and exchange compliments
with Red Jacket and Little Billy.
Doubtless the renowned Seneca orator arrayed himself in his most
becoming apparel, and assumed his stateliest demeanor to welcome the
great war-chief from over the sea, and doubtless he felt that it was he,
Sagoyewatha. who was confering honor b)' the interview. An anecdote
related by Stone shows how proudly the sachem was accustomed to
maintain his dignity.
A young French count came to Buffalo, and hearing that Red Jacket
was one of the lions of the Western world, sent a messenger inviting the
sachem to visit him at his hotel. Sagoyewatha sent back word that if
the young stranger wished to see the old chief, he would be welcome at
his cabin. The count again sent a message, saying that he was much
fatigued with his long journey of four thousand miles; that he had come
all that distance to see the celebrated orator. Red Jacket, and he thought
it strange that the latter would not come five miles to meet him. But
the chief, as wily as he was proud, returned answer that it was still more
strange that, after the count had traveled all that immense distance for
such a purpose, he should halt only a few miles from the home of the
man he had come so far to see. Finally the young nobleman gave up,
visited the sachem at his home, and was delighted with the eloquence,
wisdom and dignity of the savage. Then the claims of etiquette having
been satisfied, the punctilious chieftain accepted an invitation to dine
with his titled visitor at his hotel.
The same year, several Senecas were taken to Europe to be shown,
by a speculator called Captain Hale. The principal ones were the Chief
So-onongise, commonly called by the whites Tommy Jemmy, his son.
Little Bear, and a handsome Indian called " I Like You." Th^ specula-
tion seems not to have been a success, and Hale ran away. An English
lady, said to have been of good family and refined manners, fell des-
perately in love with " I Like You," and was with difficulty prevented
from linking her fortunes to his. After his return the enamored lady sent
her portrait across the ocean to her dusky lover. There have been many
such cases, and sometimes the woman has actually wedded her copper-
colored Othello, and taken up her residence in his wigwam or cabin.
i8o History of Erie County.
The town of Boston, with its present boundaries, was formed from
Eden on the 5th day of April, 1817. It comprised the whole of Town-
ship 8, Range 7, except the western tier of lots, which was left attached
to Eden. It was organized the next year.
Cattaraugus county was separately organized in the summer of 1817.
A notable event for this frontier county was the first visit of a President
of the United States. President Monroe, having spent a day at the
Falls, came up the river on the 9th of August, accompanied by General
Jacob Brown, Commander-in-Chief of the Army. He was met below-
Black Rock by a committee of eminent citizens, and escorted to Lon-
don's hotel. There was an address by the committee, a brief extempo-
raneous reply by the illustrious guest, the usual hand-shake accorded to
our patient statesmen, and then the President embarked the same even-
ing for Detroit. It was noticed by the press that the President had then
"already been more than two months away from Washington," and his
western trip and return must have consumed nearly a month more.
Even at this period there was only a tri-weekly mail from and to the
East, the stage leaving Buffalo Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 5
o'clock a. m. These were the days of terrible roads, in both spring and
fall. In summer the big coaches bowled along easily enough over hill
and dale, the closely-packed passengers beguiling the time with many a
pleasant tale, until " stage-coach stories " have become famous for their
wit and jollity. But woe to the unlucky traveler, doomed to a stage-
coach experience in spring or fall. That he should be required to go on
foot half the time was the least of his troubles. His services were fre-
quently demanded to pry the coach from some fearful mud-hole, in which
it had sunk to the axle, with a rail abstracted from a neighboring fence,
and through pieces of wood it was often thought best to take a rail along.
" To go on foot and carry a rajl," and pay for the privilege besides, was
a method of stage-riding as celebrated as it was unpleasant.
Erie county had something more than its full share of such highways,
as the reservations in it had no roads that were even tolerable. Frequent
were the complaints of the Cayuga Creek road, the Buffalo road, the Big
Tree road, etc., but the climax of despair was only reached at the " Four-
Mile Woods," on the lake shore, a little this side of Cattaraugus creek.
Old settlers tell wonderful stories of the Plutonian depths to which
the mud reached in that dreadful locality. The historian of Evans insists
that it was there and nowhere else that the story originated of the trav-
eler who, while passing over a horrible road, descried a good-looking hat
just at the top of the mud. Picking it up, he was surprised at being
denounced by some one underneath, for taking a gentleman's hat off his
head without leave. On offering to help the submerged individual out,
he was still more astonished when the latter declined on the ground that
he couldn't leave the horse he was riding, which was traveling oi. hard
Suffering Caused by the Cold Summer. i8i
ground. All agree that this event ought to have happened in the " Four-
Mile Woods," whether it did or not.
The Indians on the various reservations had suffered quite as severely
as any one from the effects of the " cold summer." Their game had been
largely driven away by settlement around them, their own small crops
had been destroyed by frost, and even their annuities were reduced in
actual value by the high price of provisions. The schoolmaster, Mr.
Hyde, made a public appeal for help, declaring that there was great
actual want.
At this time the few Onondagas received about six dollars each, while
the Senecas, numbering seven hundred, received about two dollars and a
half to each individual. Part of this came from an annuity of five hun-
dred dollars a year, being the principal consideration for Grand Island,
their claim to which they had sold to the State a short time previous.
Some of the Indians cut wood for the Buffalo market, receiving a
trifling pay in flour and pork. Some of them obtained credit for pro-
visions, and Mr. Hyde declared that they were honest and punctual in
paying their debts. He said that after doing so they would have just
about enough left of their annuities to buy their seed. He got little help
from the people, who had slight patience with Indian peculiarities. The
Presbyterian synod of Geneva, however, furnished some aid, and some
way or other the Indians worried through.
At this time the Presbyterians, including the Congregationalists,
with whom they were united for church work, were the leading denom-
ination of the county, so far as any could be said to lead, though the
Methodists, led by that enthusiastic young preacher, Glezen Fillmore,
were rapidly gaining upon them. We have before spoken of " Father
Spencer," who was a Congregational minister acting under the Pres-
byterian synod. We find his traces everywhere, especially south of
the Buffalo reservation. Almost every old settler, whatever his religious
proclivities, has a story to tell of Father Spencer, a short, sturdy man,
on a big, bob-tailed horse, riding from one scattered neighborhood to
another, summer and winter, preaching, praying, organizing churches,
burying the dead and marrying the living ; a man full of zeal in his
Master's cause, but full also of life and mirth, ready to answer every jest
with another, and a universal favorite among the hardy pioneers.
He himself would not admit being thoroughly beaten in jest, save in
a single instance. His big horse was almost as noted as himself. One-
day, when the roads were terrible, he was resting the animal by going
on foot ahead, leading him by the bridle. The little man trudged
sturdily along, but the horse, being old and stiff, hung back the full
length of the reins. Passing through a little village, a pert young* man
suddenly called out, " See here, old gentleman, you ought to trade that
horse off for a hand-sled ; you could draw it a great deal easier."
1 82 History of Erie County.
Father Spencer thought so too, and made no reply, but he kept
the big horse, and used to tell the story on himself with great zest.
This proves that there were some saucy young men in those days,
and also that people could get a great deal of enjoyment out of a very
moderate joke.
In 1817, we find the first account of anything resembling a revival
of religion. On one Sunday eight members were admitted into the
Presbyterian church in Buffalo, and a writer congratulates the public,
that " through this section of this lately heathen country the spirit of
the Lord and the spirit of the Gospel are extending far and wide." The
same writer is delighted with similar results attained in " the towns of
Willink, Hamburg and Edon, where lately the spirits of the evil one
enchained the hearts of many."
The year 1817 was notable in the history of the State for a measure
deeply affecting the interests of Erie county, viz. : the passage of a law
actually directing the construction of a canal from the Hudson to Lake
Erie. Previously, all had been uncertain ; now the work was made as
sure as Legislative enactment could make it. The first ground was
broken near Rome, on the 4th of July of that year.
Like almost everything in this county, the canal question found its
way into politics. Candidates were interrogated as to their position,
and in this part of the State a charge of infidelity to the " Grand Canal"
was the most damaging that could be brought.
A full account of the numerous movements, legislative, financial,
scientific and Hibernian, which have been necessary in order to produce
the Erie Canal of to-day, will be given in a subsequent chapter. At
present, we need only note that the passage of the law just mentioned
caused strong hopes of financial prosperity to spring up in the hearts of
the depressed people of Erie county, and also caused a very livelj' con-
test between the rival villages of Buffalo and Black Rock as to which
should be the western terminus of the canal.
The year 1818 was distinguished by the creation of four new towns,
and the annihilation of the oldest one in the county. On the loth day
of April, an act was passed forming the town of Amherst out of Buffalo.
It comprised the present towns of Amherst and Cheektowaga, and nom-
inally extended to the center of the reservation.
Five days later the town of Willink, the organization of which dated
back to 1804, was stricken from existence. From its former magnificent
proportions, rivaling those of a German principality, comprising at one
time a strip eighteen miles wide by a hundred long, at another a space
twenty-seven miles by thirty-five, it had been reduced to a block twelve
mile^ square, and was now about to suffer annihilation.
Whether the settlers had some special grudge against the worthy
Amsterdam burgher, who was the recognized head of the so-callec' Hoi-
The Town of Willink Abolished. 183
land Land Company, or whether they thought his name lacking in
euphony, we know not, but they determined, as far as they could, to get
rid of " Willink." Petitions were sent to the Legislature, and on the 15th
of April, the necessary law was passed.
Township 8, in Range 5, and Township 8, in Range 6,were formed into
a new town named Holland, comprising the present towns of Holland
and Colden. It could hardly have been dislike of the Holland Com-
pany that led to the casting off of the name of ** Willink,*' for Holland
must have received its appellation purel)- out of compliment to that Com-
pany. Nothing could have been well more unlike the half-submerged
plains at the mouth of the Rhine, than the narrow valley, precipitous hill-
sides, and lofty table-lands of the new town.
There was more propriety in the name of " Wales," which was given
to another new town, composed of Township 9, Range 5, with the nominal
addition of half the reservation-land opposite. Its hills, though not lofty,
were numerous enough to give it a strong resemblance to the little prin-
cipality which overlooks the Irish channel.
Finally, by the same act, the remainder of Willink (viz., the 9th
Township in the 9th Range, and the adjoining reservation-land,) was
formed into a town by the name of Aurora. As it contained a larger
population than either of the others, it has usually been considered as the
lineal successor of Willink, but the law simply annihilated the latter town
and created three new ones.
This was during what has been termed the " era of good feeling,"
when the Federal party had almost entirely disappeared, and no new one
had taken its place. l*he Republican, or Democratic* party, was in full
possession of the National field, but in local matters it frequently split
into factions, which waged war with a fury indicating but little of the
"good feeling" commonly supposed to have prevailed.
In this Congressional District, in 181 8, the regular Republican Con-
vention nominated Nathaniel Allen, from an eastern part of the county,
and Albert H. Tracy, the young lawyer of Buffalo. Isaac Phelps, Jr., of
Aurora, was re-nominated to the Assembly, along with Philo Orton, of
Chautauqua county. Forthwith a large portion of the party declared
war against the nominees. The cause is hard to discover, but there was
a vast amount of denunciation of the " Kremlin Junta." By this it is
evident that the original "Kremlin block" was already in existence,
having doubtless been thus named because built among the ruins of
Buffalo, as the Kremlin was re-built over the ashes of Moscow. It was
there that the "Junta," consisting of Mr. Tracy, Dr. Marshall, James
Sheldon and a few others, were supposed to meet and concoct the most
direful plans.
♦By that time the party in question was usually called •* Democratic," in conversation, but its
official proclamations generally retained the older name of "Republican.'* A little later it was
officially designated as ''Democratic Republican."
1 84 History of Erie County.
Ex-Congressman Clarke was the leader of the opposing faction.
Ere long an independent convention nominated Judge Elias Osborne,
of Clarence, for the Assembly, against Phelps, but seems to have been
unable to find candidates for Congress. The old members, John C.
Spencer and Benjamin Ellicott, declined a re-nomination, but were voted
for by many members of the anti-Kremlin party. The Buffalo Patriot^
to which name that of the old Gazette had lately been changed, was the
organ of the Clarke-Osborne faction, while a new paper, called the Buf-
falo Journal, fought for Tracy and Phelps. Dire were the epithets .
hurled on either side. No political conflict, over the most important
issues of the present day, has been more bitter than this little unpleasant-
ness during the "era of good feeling." At the election in April, Tracy
was chosen by a large majority, and Phelps by twenty-three. The for-
mer was then but twenty-five years of age, barely old enough to be
legally eligible to Congress, and considerably the youngest member who
has ever been elected in this county.
A law was passed that year abolishing the office of ^sistant-justice,
restricting the number of Associate Judges to four, and requiring a Dis-
trict Attorney in every county. Under this statute Charles G.Olmsted
was the first District Attorney of Niagara county.
A hundred and thirty-nine years after LaSalle entered Lake Erie
with the pioneer sail-vessel, the first steamboat plowed these waters
on the 23d day of August, 181 8. This was the celebrated "Walk-
in-t he-water,'* which had been constructed at Black Rock during the
previous nine months. There was still but little commerce on the lakes,
what there was being carried on by thirty or forty schooners, and one-
fourth as many sloops, with a few open boats. The greater part of the
freight was westward bound, consisting of supplies for garrisons, trad-
ing posts, and. emigrants up the lakes. Half the returning vessels came
in ballast. If loaded, their most valuable cargoes were composed of
furs. The great trade in breadstuffs frohi the West, was almost unknown ;
the first mention made of it in the newspapers being in 18 17, when an
open boat brought down a little flour from Cleveland.
Notwithstanding the large and growing population of the county,
there was not a solitary church-building within its limits in 1818, except-
ing the log meeting-house of the Quakers at East Hamburg. In that
year, however, that energetic young servant of Christ, Glezen Fillmore,
after serving nine years as a local preacher, was regularly ordained as a
Methodist minister, at the age of twenty-eight, and appointed to a cir-
cuit comprising Buffalo and Black Rock, and a wide region northward
from those villages.
On arriving at Buffalo he found just four Methodist brethren. The
court house and school house being occupied by other denominations, the
Methodists began the erection at Buffalo of a frame building, thirty-five
CDL. WILLIAM A. BiHD.
The Boundary Commission. 185
feet by twenty-five, on the 8th day of December, 181 8, and dedicated it
forty-seven days afterwards.
At the same time improvements were taking place in every direc-
tion. The forest was being constantly swept away, and every little while
a new grist-mill or store marked another step toward the condition of
older communities. Yet the fierce denizens of the forest still prowled in
large numbers around the frontier cabins.
Numerous combats took place between them and their human antag-
onists, the most celebrated of which was one which occurred in 1818. in
the present town of North Collins, when John Turkey, an Indian of the
Cattaraugus reservation, slew three panthers in a single combat.
In the forepart of 1819 the boundary commission, coming from the
East, established the line between the United States and Canada along
the Niagara, and in July passed on to the west end of Lake Erie. Gen-
eral Porter was the American, and Colonel Ogilvie the English commis-
sioner. The principal surveyor on the part of the Americans was Will-
iam A. Bird, (the well-known Colonel Bird, of Black Rock,) who had
just succeeded to that post, having previously been^n assistant.
The sovereignty of Grand Island was first decisively settled by this
commission, though previously claimed by the United States. It was
found by actual measurement of depth, width and velocity that the main
channel of the river was on the Canadian side. There passed on that
side 12,802,750 cubic feet of water per minute; on the American side
8,540,080 cubic feet rolled by in the same time. To prove the accuracy
of these measurements, the quantity passing Black Rock per minute was
calculated by the same method, and found to be 21,549,590 cubic feet, or
substantially the same as the sum of the amounts at Grand Island.
As, however, the determination of the " main channel " was held by
some to involve other considerations than the amount of water, it is pos-
sible that Grand Island would not have fallen to the Americans had not
a large island in the St. Lawrence just been awarded to Canada. All the
small islands in the Niagara were also, on account of their location,
assigned to the Americans, except Navy island, which fell to Canada.
In the summer of 1819 a strong effort was made by the pre-emption
owners to induce the Indians to sell a part or the whole of their lands.
A council was held on the Buffalo reserve, at which were present a com-
missioner on the part of the United States, one on the part of Massachu-
setts, Colonel Ogden and some of his associates, and all the principal
chiefs of the Senecas, Cayugas and Onondagas;
After the United States commissioner had explained the object of
the council, and had submitted two propositions, both looking to the sale
of the Buffalo Creek reservation, Red Jacket, on the 9th of July, " rekin-
died the council fire'* and made a long speech. As .usual he went over
the whole ground of the intercourse between the white men and the red
1 86 History of Erie County.
men, and declared roost emphatically as the voice of his people that they
would not sell their lands, no not one foot of them. Warming with his
subject, the indignant orator declared that they would not have a single
white man on their reservations — neither workman, school-master or
preacher. Those Indians who wished could send their children to schools
outside, and those who desired to attend church could go outside the
reservation to do so.
He added bitterly that if Colonel Ogden had come down from heaven
clothed in flesh and blood, and had proved that the Great Spirit had said
he should have their lands, then, and then only, they would have yielded.
Afterwards Captain Pollard and thirteen other chiefs apologized to
the commissioner for the language of Red Jacket. Captain Pollard
declared that he saw nothing to admire in the old ways of his people,
and wished for civilization and Christianity. But all were united in
opposing the sale of any of their lands, and nothing was effected to
that end.
By this time two distinct parties had been developed among the
Indians. One favored Christianity and improvement, among whom Cap-
tain Pollard was the most prominent. Captain Strong, a distinguished
chief on the Cattaraugus reservation, also announced himself a Christian.
The other faction was devoted to paganism, and resisted every attempt
at change, of whom Red Jacket was the unquestioned leader.
The great orator had become more and more bitter against every-
thing in anywise pertaining to the white race — except whisky. He was
doubtless sincere in the belief that the adoption of white customs would
work the destruction of his people, and he fought them at every step.
He could see the evil wrought through the excessive use of liquor, of
which he was himself a most conspicuous example; he could see that
since the arrival of the whites the once mighty Iroquois had dwindled to
a few feeble bands dependent on the forbearance of their conquerors, and
he could not, or would not, see anything else.
Even in minor matters he detested the laws of the whites, and
derided their justice. Not far from the time of which I am speaking,
an Indian was indicted at Batavia for burglary, in entering Joseph Elli-
cott's house and stealing some trifling article. Red Jacket and other
Indians attended the trial, and the latter obtained permission to address
the jury on behalf of the prisoner (of course through an interpreter.) He
boldly questioned the jurisdiction of the court, declared that the Senecas
were allies, not subjects, of the United States, and said that Indians who
committed offences should be tried by their own laws; asserting that if
accused persons should be delivered to them they would be so tried and,
if guilty, duly punished.
The culprit was, however, convicted and sentenced to imprisonment
for life, whirh was then the penalty for burglary. At the same l.me a
Second Execution in Erie County. 187
white man who had stolen a larger amount than the Indian, but without
the accompaniment of burglary, was*sentenced to only a few years impris-
onment. This was a new cause of disgust to the chieftain, who in his
youth had lived in a wigwam, to whom a house had none of the sacred-
ness that it has to a white man, and in whose mind, consequently, the
crime of theft was not enhanced by that of burglary.
Going from the court-house to the tavern, after the session, in
company with some lawyers, the old sachem observed the State coat-
of-arms painted over the door of a newspaper office. Pointing to the
representation of Liberty, he mustered his little stock of broken English
and inquired: —
"What— him— call?"
" Liberty," replied one of the legal gentlemen.
" Ugh ! " exclaimed the chieftain, in a tone of derision. Then he
pointed to the other figure on the coat-of-arms and again asked :
"What— him— call?"
"Justice," was the reply.
Red Jacket's eye flashed and his lip curled, as he slowly asked, in a
tone of mingled inquiry and sarcasm :
" Where — him — live — now ? "
Very likely the sachem knew as well as his companions what the
figures represented, and asked the questions merely to make a point.
In December, 18 19, the second execution for murder took place in
the present county of Erie, The crime, however, was committed out-
side its limits, having been the murder of a soldier of the garrison of Fort
Niagara, by Corporal John Godfrey, who was impatient at his dilatory
movements.
Again the people assembled in throngs, again the militia companies
guarded the prisoner, and again the sonorous tones of Glezen Fillmore
rolled out deep and strong, as he preached the funeral sermon of the
doomed man.
But probably the most important event of the year occurred on
Grand Island. The stave-cutting squatters, heretofore mentioned, had
been so little disturbed by the civil authorities, (partly because of the
difliculty of reaching them, and partly because it had not been quite
determined whether the island belonged to the United States or
Canada,) that they had grown to consider themselves a kind of inde-
pendent nation.
They set up a sort of government of their own, under which they
settled whatever difficulties may have arisen among themselves, but bade
defiance to the authorities on both sides of the riv«r. A Mr. Pendleton
Clark, one of the squatters, was recognized as " governor " by his fellows,
justices of the peace were elected, and precepts were actually issued " in
the name of the people of Grand Island."
i88 History of Erie Countv.
On one occasion a constable crossed to the island to arrest one of
these squatter-sovereigns, when several friends of the culprit assembled,
put the officer back in his boat, took away his oars and set him adrift on
the river. He might very likely have been carried over the Falls, had
he not been rescued b}' a more humane outlaw, living farther down the
stream, and taken to the American side.
Then the authorities of the State, to which all the land belonged,
thought it was time to clear out this nest of offenders. In April, 1819,
an act was passed requiring them to leave the island, and in case they*
did not the Governor was authorized to remove them by force. To this
they paid no attention.
In the fall the Governor sent orders to remove the intruders, to
Sheriff Cronk. That official transmitted the orders to the transgressors,
with directions to leave by a specified day. Some obeyed, but over
many cabins the smoke continued to curl as saucily as before.
The sheriff then called out a detachment of thirty militia, under
Lieutenant ^afterwards Colonel) Benjamin Hodge, and on the gih of
December the little command marched down the river from Buffalo to
a point opposite the head of the island, to which they crossed by boats,
landing about 5 o'clock P. M. The First Sergeant of the company was
Nathaniel Wilgus, who wrote an account of the expedition for the
Buffalo Historical Society. Rumors of resistance having been rife,
muskets were loaded with ball-cartridges, and guards and pickets duly
stationed ere the men encamped for the night. No resistance was
actually made, however, and no less than five days were occupied in
removing the scjuatters by boat to Canada, (where all but one of them
preferred to be taken.) and in destroying their buildings. One hundred
and fifty-five men, women and children were thus removed. This brief
and bloodless campaign comprises the only civil war ever known in
Erie count)'.
By the beginning of 1820, the Clintonian and Bucktail parties were
in full blast all over the State. Clinton was of course the leader and
candidate of the former, which claimed, and generally received, the
benefit of the strong canal feeling which prevailed. The latter had to
some extent the benefit of the regular Republican organization, and
nominated Vice-President Tompkins for Governor.
Clinton was elected by a large majority, though his opponent had
a few years before been the most popular man in the State. In the
present county of Erie, Clinton received seven hundred and thirty-seven
votes, to three hundred and ten for Tompkins. Boston gave thirty-five
votes for Clinton, to one for Tompkins; Aurora a hundred and sixty-
four for Clinton, to twenty for Tompkins ; Wales a hundred and twenty-
six for Clinton, to twenty-seven for Tompkins; and Concord a hundred
and twenty-eight for Clinton, to twenty for Tompkins.
Slavery in Erie County. 189
The Patriot was the organ of the Bucktails, the Journal of the Clin-
tonians. It should be remembered that there was still a property quali-
fication, which accounts for the small vote. It seems, too, that fraudu-
lent voting was not an unheard of offense in those days, for the Patriot
charged that neither Aurora nor Wales had a hundred legal voters,
although the former polled a hundred and eighty-four votes, and the
latter a hundred and forty-seven.
One hardly ever thinks of slavery as having existed in Erie county,
and in fact slaves were extremely rare there, even when the institution
was tolerated by law. Yet we think there had been two or three colored
people permanently held in bondage, besides those brought here by offi-
cers during the war. The law of 181 8 decreed the gradual abolition of
slavery, providing that males under twenty-eight and females under
twenty-five should remain slaves until those ages, and allowing none but
young slaves to be brought from other States ; in which case the owner
was obliged to file an affidavit that they were only to be kept till those
ages, respectively. The only case in this county under the law, of which
we are aware, occurred in 1820. General Porter married a Mrs. Gray-
son, of Kentucky, daughter of Hon. John Breckenridge, Attorney-Gen-
eral of the United States under Jefferson, and aunt ol the late John C.
Breckenridge. She brought five young slaves to Black Rock, and a
certified copy of the affidavit of herself and husband, under the above
mentioned law, is now on file in the old town-book of Buffalo. It is sur-
rounded on all sides by records of town elections, stray heifers and
sheep's ear-marks, among which this solitary memento of a powerful but
fallen institution has a curious and almost startling appearance.
In the spring of 1820, a new mail route was established, running
from Buffalo to Olean, with three new offices in this county — one at
" Smithville,** more commonly called Smithes Mills (now Hamburg), one
at ** Boston," generally known as Torrey's Corners, and one at ** Spring
ville," in common parlance called Fiddler's Green. The same year the
first daily mail was established between Buffalo and Albany.
The year was also noteworthy for the holding of the first agricul-
tural fair, an important event in those days. It was under the manage-
ment of the Niagara Count}^ Agricultural Society, which had been
organized the fall before, with Dr. Cyrenius Chapin as its first president.
A more full account of the event will be given in the chapter devoted
to that society.
By the census of 1820, the population of the whole of Niagara county
was 23,313, of which 15,668 were in the present county of Erie. These
numbers were considered sufficient to justify a division, and the north-
ern part of the county was anxious to have its business transacted nearer
home than Buffalo; a desire which was gratified by the Legislature
of 1821.
13
\go History of Erie County.
Just before the division of the county, three new towns were created.
By a law of the i6th of March, 1821, all that part of Eden comprised in
Township 8, Range 9, was formed into a new town named Evans. This
was a little larger than an ordinary township, being nearly nine miles
east and west on its southern boundary, and thence narrowed by the
lake to about four miles and a half on its northern boundary.
By the same law the excessively long town of Concord was sub-
divided into three towns. That part comprised in Townships 6 and 7^
Range 8, and in three tiers of lots on the west side of Townships 6 and ■
7, Range 7, was formed into a new town named Collins. That part
comprised in Township 7, Range 5, and three tiers of lots on the east
side of Township 7, Range 6, and in the portion of Township 6, Range
6, north of Cattaraugus creek, was formed into a new town named
Sardinia.
CHAPTER XXI.
FROM FDRMATIDN DF ERIE COUNTY UNTIL 1B3D.
The New County — Niagara Perpetuated — Change of Characteristics — Towns and Post Offices —
Wolves and Hunters — A Supine Cleopatra — Pigeons — Buffalo and Black Rock — So-on-
ongise and Kauquatnu — A Crime of Suoerstition — A Remarkable Trial — Resignation of
Ellicott — Beginning the Canal — New Constitution — A Future President — Alden and
Erie — Paying for Land in Produce — The Three Thayers — LaFayette's Visit — Noah and
Ararat — Completion of the Canal — Purchase of Part of the Reservations — The Morgan
Excitement — Shooting Niagara — Impeachment of Red Jacket — An Erie County Cabinet
Ofhcer — Anti-Masonry — Census of 1S30 — Post Offices — General Appearance — Death
of Red Jacket.
ON the second day of April, 1821, a law was passed, enacting that all
that part of the county of Niagara north of the center of Tona-
wanda creek should be a separate county, by the name of Niagara,
while the remainder shouM thenceforth be known as Erie.
Thus at length was formed and named the great county, the annals
of which we have the honor to record. It had the boundai'ies specified in
the first chapter, and those boundaries it has ever since retained.
As stated in Chapter XI II, the old county of Niagara was per-
petuated in most respects in the countv of Erie rather than in the one
that bore the ancient name, since Erie retained more than half the area,
two-thirds of the population, the county scat, the county records and
most of the county officers. In every respect except the name, Erie
is a continuation of old Niagara, organized in 1808, while the present
Niagara is a new county, organized in 1821.
Formation of Erie County. 191
Doubtless the reason for giving the old name for the smaller and less
important county was because the great cataract, which makes Niagara's
name renowned, was on its borders, and it was felt that there would be
an incongruity in conferring the name on a county which, at its nearest
point, was three miles distant from the famous Falls. (Even this is prob-
ably nearer than most people suppose, but it is a trifle less than three
miles from the cataract to the lower end of Buckhorn island.)
The reader and the author have now arrived at a turning point in
the history of the county. Not only was its name changed, but it so
happens that that change is very closely identical in time with an
important change in its general character. Hitherto it had been a pio-
neer county. Henceforth it might fairly be called a farming county.
There was no particular year that could be selected as the epoch of
change, but 1821 comes very close to the time. Previously the principal
business had been to clear up land. As a general rule, there was little
money with which to build comfortable houses, little time even to raise
large crops, except in a few localities. After a time not far from 1821,
although there was still a great deal of land-clearing done, yet it could
not be called the principal business of the county.
The raising of cattle and grain for market assumed greater impor-
tance, and in fact, from that time forward, the county taken as a whole,
though still a newish country, would hardly be called a wric country. Yet
there were a few townships almost entirely covered with forest, and
everywhere the characteristics of the pioneer era were closely inter-
mingled with those of a more advanced period.
Probably the most conspicuous manner in which the change was
manifested to the eye was by the material of the houses. Hitherto, log
houses had been the dwelling-places of nearly all the people outside of
the village of Buffalo. Even the little villages, which had sprung up in
almost every township, were largely composed of those specimens of
primeval architecture.
But with improved circumstances came improved buildings. After
the time in question, a majority of the new houses erected in the county
were frames, and every year saw a rapid increase in the proportion of
that class of buildings over the log edifices of earlier days.
When Erie county was named it contained thirteen towns. At that
time there were but ten post-offices in it, but there were several others
established a little later. The ten were situated at Buffalo, Black Rock,
VVilliamsville, Clarence, Willink, Smithville, Barkersville, Boston, Spring-
ville, and Eden. The Eden post-office, as has been said, was in Evans, on
the lake shore. That of ** Barkersville,*' was at the old Barker stand in
Hamburg, at the "head of the turnpike." ** Willink" was at Aurora
village. Besides these there had been one, and probably there was still
one, called " Hamburg," at John Green's tavern.
192 History of Erie County.
There was also the nuclei of villages, but without post-offices, at
" Cayuga Creek " (Lancaster), Alden, Hall's Mills (or Hall's Hollow),
Holland, Griffin's Mills, East Hamburg and Gowanda.
Notwithstanding these signs of improvement, and the general trans-
formation of the county from a land-clearing to a land-tilling district, the
farmers met with incessant discouragement. Keeping sheep was their
especial difficulty, yet sheep must be kept, for there was no money to
buy clothes. The wolves were almost as troublesome in peace as the
Indians in war.
Besides the gray-backed prowlers, an occasional bold, black wolf
was seen, though very rarely. The bounty varied in the dififerent
towns ; ranging from ten dollars to ninety dollars per wolf — whelps half
price. An Indian is reported to have made $360 in one forenoon, catch-
ing young wolves. It was generally supposed that many hunters, both
Indians and whites, were in the habit of letting old she-wolves escape —
in fact of guarding against their discovery by others — in order to get an
annual revenue from the whelps. In this case it was the wolf that laid
the golden eggs.
On several occasions the citizens in different parts of the county
got up grand wolf-hunts, forming long lines and beating the woods for
miles, or trying to enclose them in circles, but few or none that were
successful. The "Anaconda System" did not work any better then
than in later years. The wily marauders almost always found a loop-
hole for escape.
The most remarkable of these primitive raiders was an old she-wolf
which ranged chiefly through the territory of Collins and North Collins,
and whose exploits gave her a reputation which still endures through-
out all the southwestern part of the county. She seduced into complic-
ity with her evil deeds half of the large dogs of that section, whipped
the rest, evaded all attempts to shoot or entrap her, destroyed her
victims by the hundred, and reigned the female Napoleon of farm and
forest. When she was at last entrapped, men assembled from far and
near to witness and rejoice over her death.
Besides the four-footed wild game, pigeons were a frequent resource
in their season, especially for the Indians. Not merely the few that can
be shot as they fly, but the vast numbers that can be obtained from their
nestb. The banks of the Cattaraugus were celebrated as their resorts,
and a little west of Springville, on both sides of the creek, there were
millioos of nests. The whole tribe used to go out from Buffalo creek to
get a supply. The pigeons were obtained by cutting down the trees, and
of this, as of all other work, the squaws at that time did the greater
part. Sometimes they would cut down trees from two to three feet
through, getting fifty or sixty nests from one tree. Each nest contained
a single " squab," that is a fat young pigeon, big enough to eat, but not
SO-OKONGISE ANl> KaUQUATAU. I93
big enough to fly. Occasionally! but very rarely, there were two in a
nest These were scalded, salted and dried by the thousand, furnishing
food most acceptable to the Indians, and not despised by the whites.
While the cpuntry was thus divided between raising crops, starting
villages and hunting game, the embryo aty at the head of the Niagara
was beginning to make rapid progress. At the lime of the formation of
Erie county it had nearly two thousand inhabitants.
Black Rock, too, which had long remained an insignificant hamlet,
was now rapidly advancing, and was making desperate efforts to secure
the termination of the grand canal. General Porter had returned home
from his work of locating the intematioilal boundary, had resumed a
portion of his former influence, and wu the leader of the Black Rock
forces in their contest with Buffalo* As that village still had the only
harbor in the vicinity, as not a ship was built at, nor sailed from, any
other American port within a hundred miles, its chances of success
appeared good, and it grew even faster than Buffalo.
Scarcely had the county of Erie entered on its separate career,
when there occurred within its limits a series nf events of startling and
dramatic character, which show as vividly as anything in American his**
tory how closely civilization treads upon the footstep^ of barbarism —
how narrow in our country is the space which separates the bloody
rites of the savage council from the stately deliberations of the Anglo-
Saxon tribunal. The facts in the case are derived from Stone's Life
of Red Jacket, the papers of the period, and the reminiscences of Mr.
James Aigin.
In the spring of 1831, a Seneca Indian died of some lingering dis-
ease, the nature of which was incomprehensible by the medicine-men.
They accordingly attributed it to sorcery^ and designated as the culprit
a squaw nan^ed Kauquatau, who had nursed the deceased* during his
sickness. A council was assembled, and, after such /evidence as the case
admitted of, Kauquatau was solemnly pronounced gnilty,' and sentenced
to death. The frightened woman fled to Canada. T^e Indians were
shrewd enough not to attempt her execution there, nor even in the
United States, off from their own reservation. Some of them followed
her to Canada, and by some means, doubtless by false promises of
security, persuaded her to re-cross the Niagara.
Among her betrayers was the chief, Saonongise, commonly called
by thie whites Tommy Jimmy, who had been secretly appointed herexe-
cutionr. On the second day of May, Mr. Aigin states that he saw
Tommy Jimmy treating Kauquatau from a bottle of wtiiskey» in the
streets of. Buffalo, The blandishments of the c^iieftain and the quality of his
liquor were too much for poor Kauquatau, and toward night she accom«
panied her pretended friend across the -eservation Une» which ran close
to the village.
194 History of Erie County.
No sooner had she done so than the friend disappeared and the exe-
cutioner showed himself. Drawing his knife, Tommy Jimmy seized the
wretched woman and cut her throat, killing her on the instant. Then,
leaving her on the ground where he had slain her, making no attempt to
conceal the body, he strode off to the Indian village, doubtless feeling
that he had done his country good service.
The next morning she was found by the whites, lying near Buffalo
creek, only a short distance above Pratt's ferry. A coroner's inquest was
held, and as the Indians made no concealment, it was easily ascertained
that Tommy Jimmy was the murderer. It appears to have been the first
event of the kind which had become known in Erie county, though Mary
Jemison says there was scarcely a year passed, while the tribe lived on
the Genesee, that one or more persons (generally women) were not killed
as witches. The .claim of sovereignty over the reservation, set up by
the Indians, did not reconcile the whites to the shocking occurrence, and
it was determined to bring the slayer to trial.
Stephen G. Austin, then a young lawyer and justice of the peace in
Buffalo, issued a warrant. The constable to whom it was first given
objected to going out among a tribe of savages to arrest one of their
most popular chiefs, and Pascal P. Pratt, uncle of the gentleman who
now bears that name, was deputized for the purpose. He was well
acquainted with Tommy Jimmy and was a particular friend of Red
Jacket.
Pratt found the culprit at the house of the orator. Making known
his mission, he advised them to yield peacefully, and make whatever
defense they might have, before the courts. Red Jacket pledged himself
that Tommy Jimmy should appear before Austin the next day, and Pratt
departed, perfectly satisfied that he would come.
Punctually at the hour appointed, Sagoyewatha and So-onongise
came before the young justice of the peace, accompanied by a crowd of
other Indians. The whites also gathered in numbers, and as Austin's
office was small, he held his court on a pile of timber across the road
from it. The slaying was admitted, the jurisdiction of the whites denied,
and the victim declared to be a witch, executed in accordance with
Indian law. Austin, however, committed the slayer to jail, to take his
trial in a higher court.
So-onongise, aiins Tommy Jimmy, was duly indicted for murder.
The Indians obtained the assistance of able counsel, who put in a plea to
the jurisdiction of the court, claiming that Kauquatau was executed in
accordance with Indian law, on Indian land. This was denied by the
District Attorney, and the question was sent to a jury for trial.
Thus it was that at the Erie county Oyer and Terminer, in June,
i»2i, there occurred one of the most singular trials recorded in legal
annals. The court-house was crowded by a motley throng of red uk n and
A Remarkable Trial. 195
white men, the latter drawn by curiosity, the former by intense interest
in the fate of their brother, and intense anxiety regarding their own priv-
ileges. All the lights of the Buffalo Bar were there, eager to know how
this curious legal complication would result.
Tommy Jimmy, a middle-aged and fairly intelligent Indian, though
the center of observation, sat perfectly unmoved, and doubtless consid-
ered himself a martyr. By his side was Red Jacket, acting as amateur
counsel, and wearing his stateliest demeanor. He still had sufficient self-
control to force himself into a few days* sobriety on great occasions, and
was in full possession of his faculties. When the jurors were called he
scanned every man with his piercing eye, formed his opinion as to his
bias, and communicated to the regular counsel his decision in favor of
acceptance or rejection.
After several other witnesses had been sworn. Red Jacket was put on
the stand by the counsel for the accused. The prosecuting attorney
sought to exclude him by inquiring if he believed in a God.
*' More truly than one who could ask me such a question," was his
haughty reply.
When asked what rank he held in his nation, he answered con-
temptuously : —
" Look at the papers which the white people keep the most carefully ;
they will tell you what I am." He referred to the treaties which ceded
the Indian lands to the whites.
Like the other Indians he testified that the woman had been con-
demned by a regular council, in accordance with immemorial law, and
that So-onongise had been duly authorized to execute the decree. Seeing,
or imagining, that some of the lawyers were disposed to ridicule his
views of witchcraft, he broke out in a fierce philippic, which, as inter-
preted, was thus published in the Alba?iy Argus, one of whose editors
was present : —
"Whati Do you denounce us fools and bijgots because we still
believe what you yourselves believed two centuries ago ? Your black-
coats thundered this doctrine from the pulpit, your judges pronounced
it from the bench, and sanctioned it with the formalities of law ; and
would you now punish our unfortunate brother for adhering to the faith
of his fathers ana of yours ? Go to Salem I Look at the records of your
own government, and you will find that thousands have been executed
for the very crime which has called forth the sentence of condemnation
against this woman, and drawn down upon her the arm of vengeance.
What have our brothers done more than the rulers of your people ? And
what crime has this man committed, by executing in a summary way the
laws of his country and the command of the Great Spirit?"
As Red Jacket had certainly not read the story of Salem witchcraft
he must have informed himself by conversation before the trial, doubtless
for the express purpose of making a well-studied point against the pale-
faces. His appearance as he delivered his philippic, his tall form drawn
196 History of Erie County.
up to its utmost height, his head erect and his black eye flashing with
ire, is said to have been impressive in the extreme.
On the question of fact submitted to them, the jury found that Kau-
quatau was really executed in accordance with Indian law. The legal
question still remained as to whether this would exempt him from pun-
ishment. The case was removed by certiorari to the Supreme Court,
where it was argued the ensuing August. The result was a most lame
and impotent conclusion of so dramatic a trial. No judgment was ren-
dered. The court, being unable to deny that the Indians had from the
beginning been recognized to a certain extent as independent peoples,
and yet unwilling to decide that they had absolute authority to commit
murder, permitted the discharge of the prisoner by the consent of the
Attorney-General.
Laws were afterwards passed, subjecting the Indians even when on
their reservations, to the same penalties for crimes as were inflicted on
the whites.
Tommy Jimmy was afterwards in the habit of recounting his great
exploit to the whites, especially to children, imitating at the same time
the gurgling sound made by his victim's blood when it rushed forth
beneath his murderous knife.
In the autumn of 1821 Joseph Ellicott, the founder of Buffalo,
resigned the local agency of the Holland Company, which he had held
for twenty-one years. There had been considerable dissatisfaction on
the part of the settlers, during the latter years of his administration, but
it principally originated in the difficulty of keeping up the payments on
their lands, in the hard times succeeding the war. Probably the chief
fault of the company and its agents was in permitting men to buy large
tracts without any substantial payment in advance, and in letting the
occupants get so far in arrears as they did during the first ten or fifteen
years. There is nothing like a steady, gentle pressure to stimulate indus-
try and compel frugality. Mr. Ellicott's mind was still clear, but he had
already developed that tendency toward hypochondria which, after five
years of inaction, led to the insanity and final suicide of one who had been
for two decades the most influential man in Western New York. Jacob
S. Otto, of Philadelphia, took his place as local agent.
In the fore part of 1822, Buffalo at last succeeded in providing her-
self with a passable harbor, and in 1823, the long contest between Buffalo
and Black Rock for the western terminus ol the " Grand Canal *' was
decided in favor of the former village. The first work on the canal in
Erie county was performed in Buffalo, accompanied by an enthusiastic
celebration, on the 23d of August, 1823.
During the summer of 1822, a new State constitution was formed,
and adopted by the people. By its provisions, sheriffs and county clerks
were to be elected by the people instead of appointed — each holdnig for
Millard Fillmore. 197
three years. Justices of the Peace and District Attorneys were ap-
pointed by the Judges of the Common Pleas and the Board of Super-
visors, acting conjointly. All other judicial officers were appointed by
the Governor and Senate. Erie, Niagara, Cattaraugus and Chautauqua
counties became the Thirtieth Congressional District, entitled to one
member. At this time, too, the date of holding elections was changed
from April to November.
In the autumn of 1821, a tall young man, of stalwart form, open
countenance and pleasing demeanor, came from Cayuga county to the
little village of Aurora, where he taught the district school during the
succeeding winter. The next spring he entered a law office in Buffalo.
This was Millard Fillmore, the future President of the United States.
Born in Cayuga coimty, at the very beginning of the century, he had
passed his boyhood amid the privations of a backwoods farm, and had
in early youth learned the trade of a clothier. Approaching man's
estate, his aspiring mind had sought more congenial employment in the
study of the law. A lawyer who aj)preciated his abilities gave him some
assistance, and the young man supported himself partly by working at
his trade, and partly by teaching a country school. Meanwhile his
father, Nathaniel Fillmore, had emigrated to Aurora, in this county,
whither Millard followed him. In the spring of 1823, the latter was ad-
mitted to practice in the county court, and immediately opened an office
at Aurora, where hct remained seven years.
All the elder Fillmores were men of powerful frame, and all had
considerable local prominence, such as is often gained in country towns,
by sensible though not highly educated men. Nathaniel's brother,
Simeon, was Supervisor of Clarence several years. His brother Calvin
was a prominent local politician, a Colonel of militia, and at one time a
Member of Assembly. Millard's father, Nathaniel, was less noted, but
was for several years a Justice of the Peace, and was generally recog-
nized as a man of unblemished integrity and sound judgment.
Early in that year, the Legislature erected two new towns from
Clarence — Alden and Erie. The former occupied the same territory as
now, with the nominal addition of part of the reservation opposite. The
name of the latter was afterwards changed to Newstead, and the exist-
ence of the previous town of Erie, which was formed in 1804 and obliter-
ated in 1808, has caused remarkable confusion among the statisticians.
All the gazetteers, civil-lists, etc., state that the town of Newstead was
''formed as Erie, in 1804," whereas the town of Erie, which was formed
in 1804, had ceased to exist for fifteen years when the town of Erie, which
afterwards became Newstead, was erected, and the two " Eries " were
six miles apart at the nearest point.
Clarence, after the division, still included the present Lancaster,
making a town six miles wide and nearly twenty long.
198 History of Erie County.
The year 1824 was not an eventful one in Erie county. The canal
was nearly finished within the county limits, and only awaited the com-
pletion of the great cut through the mountain ridge at Lockport, and
some work of less importance on either side. While it was thus in prog-
ress, its great advo'cate, DeWitt Clinton, who, after being Governor
many years was then serving as Canal Commissioner, was removed from
that humble but important office through partisan hostility. This
ungrateful act roused the intense resentment of a large portion of the
people, and in the fall he received an independent nomination for Gov-
ernor, and was triumphantly elected. Erie county remembered her
benefactor and gave him a handsome majority.
Not far from the time under consideration, certainly, during the
administration of Mr. Otto as local agent, the Holland Company adopted
a system of receiving from the settlers the products of their farms, in
payment for land. Agents yearly received cattle at certain advertised
points, and endorsed the value thereof on the contracts. Turner states
that, while the measure was highly beneficial to the settlers, the company,
by reason of the expense of agencies, etc., lost largely by the new system.
The quiet of 1824 was more than compensated by the excitements
of 1825. Since the close of the war no such eventful twelvemonth had
passed over the count3' of Erie.
Early in the year the public first learned of a tragedy which became
celebrated throughout the country, and to which old residents of West-
ern New York still look back as the event most deeply branded on their
memories. This was the celebrated tragedy of the ** Three Thayers."
An account of the crime, (the murder of John Love), committed by
them will be found in the history of the town of Boston. Suffice it to
say here that the body of Love was found and the Thayers were arrested
in the latter part of February, 1825.
They were tried at the Erie county Oyer and Terminer, on the 19th
and 2oth of April. Reuben H. Walworth, Judge of the Fourth District
and afterwards Chancellor of the State, presided, while on the bench
with him sat Ebenezer Walden, First Judge of the Common Pleas,
and Associate-Judges Russell, Douglass and Camp. District Attorney
Potter appeared for the people, assisted by Sheldon Smith and Henry
B. White, both young lawyers, lately admitted. The prisoners were
defended by Thomas C. Love, Ebenezer Griffin and Ethan B. Allen.
The evidence was too plain for serious contest, and all three were
found guilty and sentenced to death.
On the 7th of June, 1825, was seen the remarkable spectacle of three
brothers led to execution for murder. It was this circumstance which
made the crime famous, and which drew an enormous crowd to the
scene of doom. When executions were public every one attracted a
throng— but three executions at once had a fascination which hardly
Execution of the Three Thayers. 199
any one could resist. Even the day before the last tragedy, many bent
their way toward Buffalo, and on the morning of the execution, every
road was crowded with people — men, women and children — hurrying
forward in every kind of vehicle, on horseback and on foot. Never had
there been seen such thronging numbers since that dismal day in Decem-
ber, 1813, when all the people fled, not to, but from, the execution which
they feared at the hands of savage invaders.
There was, however, one notable exception. As Judge Walden was
entering the village from his farm in Hamburg, he met the veteran Red
Jacket, striding alone toward his home at the Seneca village.
" Why, how is this," said the Judge, ** why do you not go to see the
execution, like the rest ? **
•* Ugh," growled the old chieftain contemptuously, " fools enough
there now — battle is the place to see men die ; " and with this aphorism
he haughtily pursued his way.
A mass of people, estimated at from twenty to thirty thousand, but
probably not half so large, was gathered about Niagara Square, near the
west side of which the gallows was situated. Again, as twice before.
Elder Glezen Fillmore was chosen to preach the customary sermon, and
the survivors of the scene still remember the solemn impression which
he made, as his mighty voice rolled out over the heads of the hushed
throng.
Between the trial and the execution of the three Thayers, General
LaFayette, then the guest of the Nation, visited Buffalo on his return
trip from a western tour,. and passed onward to the Falls; an event of a
transient nature, but causing the deepest interest throughout the county.
A very amusing incident, which will be described elsewhere, occurred
on the isth of September, 1825, when Major Mordecai M. Noah, a prom-
inent editor and politician of the city of New York, of Hebrew blood
and faith, "laid the corner stone" (on the communion table of the Epis-
copal church of Buffalo,) of a city called Ararat, which was to be erected
on Grand Island as a refuge for the Hebrews of the whole world.
But the great event of the 3'ear, so far as the prosperity of Erie
county was concerned, was the completion of the Erie canal, or the
"Grand Canal" as it was generally termed at that time. It was
finished on the 24th of October, 1825, and on the 26th, in accordance
with previous arrangements, a grand celebration was held all along the
line, in which Buffalo took a leading part. It will be more fully men-
tioned in the Chapter on the Erie canal.
The State census was taken in June of this year, and showed the
population of Erie county to be twenty-four thousand three hundred
and sixteen. Buffalo numbered two thousand four hundred and twelve
inhabitants — only one-tenth of the whole population of the county. By
this census Erie county became entitled to two members of the Assembly.
200 History of Erie County.
The construction of the canal was not, at first, rewarded by the
immense business which its sanguine supporters expected. But little
grain, as yet, found its way down the lake, and for several years loads
were light. A large part of the business of the canal was the carrying
of passengers in packet 'boats, a business which became quite extensive,
yet did not prevent an immense amount of travel by stage-coach.
During the succeeding year the efforts of the pre-emption owners
to purchase Indian lands were at length rewarded with a partial success.
A council was held the last of August, 1826, and, notwithstanding
the remonstrances of Red Jacket and his supporters, a treaty was
made by which the Indians ceded to the Ogden Company 33,637 acres
of the Buffalo reservation, 33,409 of the Tonawanda reservation, and
5,120 of the Cattaraugus reservation, besides some 1,500 acres in the
Genesee valley.
All of the Tonawanda reservation in Erie county was thus ceded,
except a strip about a mile and a half wide, and two miles and a half
long, in the northeast corner of the town of Erie or Newstead. The
thriving village of Akron is on the land then purchased, near its south-
west corner.
From the Buffalo Creek reservation a strip a mile and a half wide
was sold off on the south side, running from a point in the present town
of Cheektowaga, a mile and a half east of Cayuga creek to the east end
of the reservation. Also a strip about three miles wide from the east
end, (including all east of the " two-rod road " in Marilla), and finally a
tract a mile wide, commonly called the " mile-strip," extending along
the whole south side of the reservation.
Of the Cattaraugus reservation, besides a mile square in Chautauqua
county, there was ceded in Erie count)^ a strip a mile wide along the
north side of the reservation, for six miles from the northeast corner,
also called in that section the " mile-strip," and a tract a mile square,
known as the " mile-block," south of the east end of that strip. Both
are in the present town of Brant, the north edge of that " mile-strip "
being about half a mile south of Brant Center.
Red Jacket's influence was evidently waning, but he still clung to
the semblance of his former greatness. After the treaty was agreed to
by the greater part of the chiefs, the agent of the Ogden Company told
the veteran orator that as he had opposed its adoption he need not sign
it. But no, the name of Sagoyewatha had been affixed to every treaty
made by his people for nearly forty years, and must not now be omitted.
His opposition to Christianity and civilization was yearly growing more
bitter, and the breach between his pagan adherents and that large part
of the Indians who favored progressive doctrines, was all the while
becoming wider. Although his vanity prompted him to have his name
in its usual prominent position, yet he afterwards tried to have the treaty
The Morgan Excitement. 201
set aside as fraudulent. On examination, however, the negotiations
appeared to have been conducted with entire fairness.
As soon as practicable, the land thus purchased was divided among
several individuals who were collectively called the Ogden Company,
and most of it was put in market.
In the winter of i826-'27, intense excitement manifested itself in Erie
county, in common with the whole of western New York, over the
abduction and supposed murder, in the previous September, of the cele-
brated William Morgan, of Batavia, when he was on the eve of publish-
ing an expose of the secrets of Masonry.
As time passed, and Morgan could not be found, the people became
still more angry. Meetings were held, and committees of investigation
appointed, and bitter language toward all Masons became common. At
length it was discovered that the unfortunate man had been taken from
Canandaigua to Fort Niagara, thence across the river to Canada, and
thence back to the fort, in the magazine of which he was kept until about
the 29th of September, when all traces of him disappeared forever.
Plentiful inferences have been drawn, but his precise fate is still unknown.
Some of his first abductors were discovered and indicted, but they
pleaded guilty of the abduction in January, 1827, leaving the main ques-
tion undecided. The feehng grew stronger and spread wider, and
nowhere was it stronger than in Erie county, except perhaps in Genesee.
Many Masons abandoned the connection.
As the town election approached, in the spring of 1827, the preva-
lent excitement showed itself in politics. In many towns meetings were
held, at which resolutions were adopted that no adhering Mason should
be supported for any office.
During the year many Masonic lodges in Western New York gave
up their charters, and distrust of the institution extended to other parts
of the country. Parties were in a chaotic state, nearly all men claiming
to be Democrats. The most definite division was into supporters of the
Adams-Clay administration, on the one hand, and of Jackson's aspirations
to the succession on the other. Neither of these parties would consent
to the exclusion of Masons from office, so the ardent Anti-Masons advo-
cated the policy of separate nominations. Some of the counties were
carried by an Anti-Masonic ticket in the fall of 1827.
In Erie, however, that question was complicated with that of opposi-
tion to the Holland Land Company. Notwithstanding the reception of
produce by the company, there was still a large indebtedness, with poor
prospects of payment. When, added to this, came rumors that the com-
pany was about to raise the price of land on which the time of payment
had passed, there was a general desire for legislative relief. Doubts
were started as to the title of the company, and the proposition that in
some way its property should be subjected to very heavy taxation was
202 History of Erie County.
received with favor. David E. Evans had succeeded Mr. Otto as agent,
and during his administration the contracts were somewhat modified in
favor of the settlers.
At this time the veteran soldier and statesman, Peter B. Porter, again
came to the surface of political affairs. He was almost unanimously
elected to the Assembly, representing a mingled feeling of opposition to
Masonry and to the Holland Company.
In the fall, the Masons charged with the murder of Morgan were
brought to trial in Niagara county, the trials resulting in disagreement of
the juries, which only increased the popular excitement. The principles
of the Anti-Masons were vigorously supported by the Buffalo Patriot^
while the Journal defended Masonry. It defended it very moderately,
however, for the feeling in opposition was too strong to be rudely
dealt with.
Church buildings were extremely rare anywhere in the county.
We cannot learn of one, out of Buffalo, in the beginning of 1827, except
the Friends' meeting house at East Hamburg. In that year the Baptist
and Presbyterian churches in Aurora combined, and built a good-sized
frame church. The Methodists there erected one about the same time, and
thenceforth white spires began to rise in all parts of the county.
There were already several steamers on the lake, and a large fleet of
sail vessels. Two or three small steamers had also been built to run
on the Niagara. A curious exhibition was seen on that river in Septeni-
ber, 1827. The schooner Michigan, which was found to be too large to
enter the lake harbors, and had besides become partially unseaworthy,
was purchased by several hotel owners and others, and public notice
given that on a certain day it would be sent over the Falls. The novel
exhibition drew immensely. Strangers came for days beforehand, and
at the time appointed the number of people on Goat Island and the neigh-
boring shores was estimated all the way from ten to thirty thousand.
Five steamers, all there were on both lake and river except the Superior,
went down from Buffalo loaded with passengers, besides thousands who
took land conveyance.
The Michigan was towed by one of the steamers to Yale's landing,
three miles above the Falls, on the Canadian side. In the afternoon it
was taken in charge by Captain Rough, the oldest captain on the lake,
who with a yawl and five oarsmen undertook to pilot the doomed vessel
as near the rapids as was possible. The Michigan had been provided
with a crew, for that voyage only, consisting of a buffalo, three bears,
two foxes, a raccoon, a dog, a cat and four geese. It had also been
officered with effigies of General Jackson and other prominent men of
the day.
Captain Rough took the schooner to a point within a quarter of a
mile of the first rapids, and but little ov'er half a mile from the Horst-shoe
Impeachment of Red Jacket. 203
Fall: Then it was cut adrift, and the oarsmen had to pull for their lives,
but succeeded in insuring their safety. Both shores were lined with
immense crowds, eagerly watching this curious proceeding.
With the American ensign flying from her bowsprit, and the British
jack at her stern, the Michigan went straight down the center of the
stream, keeping the course the best pilot would have pursued, and was
soon dashing over the first rapids. Then there was trouble among the
amateur crew. One of the bears was seen climbing a mast. The foxes,
the coon, the dog and the cat were scampering up and down, apparently
snuffing mischief in the air, but not knowing how to avoid it. Two of
the bears plunged into the seething rapids and swam to the Canadian
shore. The poor buffalo was inclosed in a pen, and could do nothing but
meet his fate in dignified silence.
Passing the first rapids uninjured, the schooner shipped a sea, but
came up and entered the second, still ** head on.** There its masts both
went by the board. Then it swung around, entered the third rapid stern
foremost, and the next instant plunged over the Horse-shoe [Fall. Of
course it was shivered into ten thousand pieces, many of the largest tim-
bers being broken into atoms. Two of the geese survived the tremen-
dous plunge and swam ashore, being the only animals, except fish, ever
known to have descended alive over that fearful precipice. Their com-
pagnons de voyage all disappeared ; even the buffalo was never heard of
rfiore. Of the effigies. General Jackson's alone passed uninjured over the
cataract, and was seen with head, arms and legs complete, riding tri-
umphantly around one of the eddies — which was doubtless considered by
the friends of the real General as an omen of success at the next Presi-
dential election.
About the same time that this singular pageant was attracting a mul-
titude of spectators, the old orator of the Senecas was being metaphori-
cally sent over the Falls, as an unseaworthy hulk, by his countrymen.
The school at the Seneca village was then in a forward condition, and
many of the most promment Indians began to profess their belief in
Christianity. Red Jacket's opposition became more bitter than ever,
while his personal habits were those of a perfect sot.
His wife had lately joined the Christians, whereupon the angry old
pagan abandoned her, and lived for several months with another woman
on the Tonawanda reservation. At the end of that time, however, he
returned to his wife, and afterwards manifested no opposition to her
attending church.
Twenty-five of the chiefs determined to depose him from his sachem-
ship. They accordingly had a written deposition drawn up, which they
all signed. The list was headed by "Gayanquiaton," or Young King,
followed by the veteran Captain Pollard, White Seneca, Seneca White,
Captain Strong and the rest.
204 History of Erie County.
This singular document was directly addressed to him, saying, " You,
Sagoyowatha," have committed such and such offences ; accusing him of
sending false stories to the President, of opposing improvement, of dis-
couraging children from attending school, of leaving his wife, of betray-
ing the United States in the War of 1812, of appropriating annuity goods
to his own use, and of hiding a deer he had killed, while his people were
starving. His accusers closed by renouncing him as chief, and forbidding
him to act as such.
These charges extended over a long time, and as to many of them
there are no means of ascertaining their correctness. Those relating to
his opposition to "improvement," etc., were doubtless true, but were
hardly proper subjects of impeachment. As to the accusation of betray-
ing the United States in the war, it was generally repudiated by Ameri-
can officers, who doubted Red Jacket's courage, but not his fidelity. He
sought, indeed, to keep his people out of the fight entirely, but his right
to do this can hardly be questioned. It will be observed that his accus-
ers say nothing about the gross drunkenness which really unfitted him
for performing any duties which may have attached to his rank. Proba-
bly a good many of them thought it not best, on their own account, to
meddle with that subject.
Chiefs were so numerous among the Indians that twenty -five was a
minority of those who could claim that dignity ; and the action of that
number could not be considered the voice of the Nation. Red Jacket,
however, was deeply cut by it. He made a visit to Washington in 1827
or '28, and the Commissioner of Indian Affairs advised him to return and
offer his opponents to bury the hatchet. He came back and called a
council. Much indignation was unquestionably felt among the Indians
that their greatest man should have been treated with such indignity.
He exerted his waning powers to the utmost, and made a most eloquent
speech. The council agreed to restore him to his rank, and it is reported
that it was done by a unanimous vote, his opponents being awed into
silence by the popular feeling. - But this was the last effort of that brilliant
mind. He sank rapidlj' into comparative imbecility and utter sottishness.
In 1828, a vacancy having occurred in the office of Secretary of War,
President Adams selected General Peter B. Porter for that position. He
was the first cabinet officer from Western New York, General Porter
discharged with credit the duties of his office during the remainder of
Mr. Adams' term, and then retired permanently from public life. Still
later he removed to Niagara Falls, where he died in 1844. His only son
was the late Colonel Peter A. Porter, (a native of Erie county, though
long a resident of Niagara,) who inherited the valor of the early volun-
teer, and fell at the head of his regiment in the war for the Union.
Although the feeling against Masonry was very strong in this section,
and constantly growing more so, yet the lodges at Buffalo and Black
Political Events of 1828-30. 205
Rock continued to meet throughout 1828. As the fall elections ap-
proached, the combat grew more intense. Charges of murder and of
abetting "murder were freely used on the one hand, and were met by
accusations that the leading Anti-Masons were merely stirring up strife
for the purpose of obtaining office.
This was also the autumn of the first election of Jackson, and the
contest was exceedingly bitter throughout the country, between his sup-
porters (who by this time were generally recognized as the actual Dem-
ocratic party) and those of the Adams-Clay administration. In Western
New York, the lines were pretty closely drawn between the Jackson
Democrats on the one hand, and the Anti-Masons on the other, the latter
having a large majority.
It was at this time that Millard Fillmore, then twenty-six years old
and a practicing lawyer at Aurora, first entered public hfe; being then
elected by the Anti-Masons as a member of the State Assembly.
The Anti-Masons continued to hold sway throughout 1829, and the
adhering Masons gradually decreased in numbers. Then, or not long
afterwards, the Erie county lodges gave up their charters. In the fall
of 1829, Albert H. Tracy again entered political life, being elected State
Senator by the Anti- Masons, by a majority of over seven thousand in* the
Eighth Senatorial District. At the same time Mr. Fillmore was re-elected
to the Assembly, in which he had taken high rank by his industry and
talents. By 1830, the opponents of Jackson's administration throughout
the country had generall)' assumed the name of National Republicans,
but in Western New York the Anti-Masons still absorbed nearly all the
elements of opposition.
Most of the present town of Marilla was included in the tract
bought of the Indians. Its excellent soil caused it to be quickly settled
as soon as the land was for sale. Jeremiah and G. W. Carpenter opened
farms near the site of Marilla village in 1829 and '30. Jesse Bartoo had
settled still earlier, near what is now Porterville, but was long called
Bartoo's Mills.
The large tract purchased in Erie (Newstead) was also rapidly filling
up. The Erie postoffice was on the old Buffalo road but business had
already begun to be drawn toward what is now the village of Akron,
and in 1828 or '29, Jonathan Russell opened a store there.
By the census of 1830, the population of the county was 35,719;
showing an increase of 11413, or forty-seven per cent., in five years. The
population of Buffalo was 8,668.
From a register of that year, we learn that there were then twenty-
seven postoffices in the county. We have been able to give the exact
year of establishing many of them ; the others had all been established
between 1825 and 1830. Nine of the sixteen towns had one office each,
viz. : Alden, Amherst, Boston, Eden, Erie, Colden, Concord, Holland,
14
2o6 History of Erie County.
and Sardinia. Each bore the same name as the town, except those in
Amherst and Concord, which were named respectively Williamsville and
Springville. Four towns had two offices each : Aurora having" Willink
and Griffin's Mills ; Clarence having Clarence and Cayuga Creek ; Evans
having Evans and East Evans; and Wales having Wales and South
Wales. Two towns had three offices each : Buffalo, with Buffalo, Black
Rock and Tonawanda ; and Hamburg, with Hamburg, East Hamburg
and Hamburg-on-the-Lake. Finally, the fertile fields of Collins must
have attracted a very large emigration, or else its people were especially
given to letters, as that town had four postoffices in 1830 — Collins,
Angola, Collins Center and Zoar.
The country towns had then begun to assume something of their
present appearance. Nearly all the villages now existing were then in
being, and many of them were nearly as large as now. The buildings in
them, however, were by no means as large or expensive as at the present
day. There was probably not a three-story building in the county except
in Buffalo. Log houses were frequently seen, even on the main roads,
and on the back roads were still in the majority. Few new ones, how-
ever, were built. Of the frame houses the common ones retained their
original wood-color, but the aristocracy covered theirs with a coat of glow-
ing red. The old well-sweep still held its own, or was replaced by a wind-
lass ; the pump was still an institution seldom affected by the farmer.
The animals of the forest were still often seen, though in decreasing
numbers every year. Along the Cattaraugus the bears lasted longer
than the wolves, and were still frequent in 1830.
On the 20th of January, 1830, the renowned orator. Red Jacket, died
at his log cabin near the Mission church, on the Buffalo reservation.
He had sunk very low since the time of his great struggle over the ques-
tion of his rank, even hiring himself to keepers of museums to be exhib-
ited for money. Having returned home, and being satisfied that death
was approaching, he raUied his waning powers to give counsel to his
people. He visited his friends at their cabins, conversed with them on
the wrongs of the Indians, and urged them when he was gone to heed
his counsels, to retain their lands, and to resist all efforts to convert them
to the habits of the white man. According to McKenney's " Indian
Biography/' he was anxious that his funeral should be celebrated in the
Indian manner.
*^ Bury me," he said " by the side of my former wife ; and let my
funeral be according to the custom of our nation. Let me be dressed
and equipped as my fathers were, that their spirits may rejoice at my
coming. Be sure that my grave be not made by a white man ; let them
not pursue me there."
Nevertheless, while thus earnest, he was not so bitter as he had
formerly been. Almost at the last he convened a council of his people,
Death of Red Jacket. 207
both Christians and pagans, and advised them to live in harmony,
leaving every one to choose his religion without interference. He
was taken mortally sick (with cholera morbus) during the council, but
a resolution was adopted in accordance with his wishes, at which he
was much pleased.
He said he knew the attack was fatal, and refused all medical aid.
One of his last requests was that, when she saw him nearing his end, his
wife should place in his hand a certain vial of water, to keep the devil
from taking his soul. Thus, enveloped in the superstitions of his race,
passed away the last of the Iroquois orators, the renowned Red Jacket.
His precise age was unknown, but he was probably about seventy-five.
His sons had all died before him, and but one or two daughters remained
of a large family, who mostly fell victims to consumption.
Notwithstanding his wishes, as the members of the Wolf clan, to
which he belonged, were largely Christian, as well as his wife and her
family, he was buried according to the rites of the Christian Church.
The remains of Red Jacket had a strange fate, though one not incon-
sistent with his own hapless career. For many years his grave remained
unmarked. In 1839, however, a subscription was set on foot under the
auspices of the actor, Henry Placide, and a marble slab with a suitable
inscription placed over his grave. Long after the Senecas had removed
to the Cattaraugus reservation, some admirers of the orator, perhaps
fearing that his grave would be ploughed up, took up his bones and put
them in a lead coffin, intending to remove them to Forest Lawn. His
Indian friends, however, heard of the project with strong dislike, and
immediately came from Cattaraugus, and demanded and obtained the
precious relics. The monument was afterwards transferred to the rooms
of the Buffalo Historical Society, where it still remains.
The most singular part of the matter is that the bones have never
as yet been re-buried. When visiting the Cattaraugus reservation some
time since, the writer was informed that the mortal remains of the most
celebrated orator produced by the aborigines of America were pre-
served in a bag, under the bed of an old Indian woman who had consti-
tuted herself their custodian. Since then the bones have come into the
possession of William C. Bryant, Esq., and will be buried at Forest
Lawn as soon as some necessary arrangements can be made by him and
his associates regarding a lot to be used as a resting place for Red
Jacket and other Indians.
2o8 History of Erie County.
CHAPTER XXII.
FROM 1B31 TD 1B4D.
" The Year that Holt was Hung " — Eric and Newstead — German Immigrants — Mary Jemison —
Incorporation of Buffalo — Politics — The Cholera — Commercial Prosperity — Inflation —
Speculative Collapse — Formation of Tonawanda — General Gloom — An '* Agrarian Conven-
tion" — Opposition to the Holland Company — The Patriot War — Camp on Navy Island —
Destruction of the Caroline — Militia Called Out -r Scott on the Frontier — Dispersion of the
Patriots — An Expedition to Erie — North and the Volunteers — Patriotism on Ice ^Captur-
ing Cannon — Final Dispersion — Bargaining for the Reservations— Dubious Proceedings —
Formation of Brant and Black Rock— The Harrison Campaign ^ Population in 1840.
THE first year of the new decade passed almost eventless away. The
circumstance which most strongly marks it on the memories of old
settlers is that it was " the year that Holt was hung." Murders had
not yet become so common in the county as to be flung aside with the
morning paper. Nearly seven years had passed since the last one, and
a still longer time was to elapse before there should be another; so,
although the execution of the wretch who slew his wife with a hammer,
in Buffalo, obtained no such celebrity as the awful doom of the three
brothers in 1825, still it formed an era to which local events are often
referred by the men of that day. The crime was quickly punished ; it
was committed in October, Holt pleaded guilty the same month, and he
was executed on the 22d of November.
In April, 1831, the name of the town of Erie was changed to " New-
stead," on account of the confusion and difficulty caused by the letters,
etc., of the inhabitants going to Erie, Pa.
Ever since 1823, when the first person of German birth arrived in
Buffalo, there had been occasional accessions of Germans to the popula-
tion of that village, until in 183 1 there were perhaps a hundred families
there. About 1831 or 1832, the first settlements by men of that nation-
ality were made in Erie county outside of Buffalo. The new comers
located themselves in and about the village of White's Comers, now
Hamburg, and some found their way into Eden. Since then there has
been a constant and constantly increasing tide of German immigration
into both city and country, until the Germans and their children now
number fully one-third of the population of the county.
In the year 1831, there came to make her home in the county of Erie
one whose life had been of the most strange and romantic character —
albeit the romance was of such a kind that few would wish to undergo
her experience. Born on the Atlantic in 1743, while her* parents were
migrating from the Old World to the New, the restless billows of Mary
Mary Jemison. 209
Jemison's birthplace well typified the ever-changing vicissitudes of her
long career.
At the age of twelve she saw her home on the frontier of Pennsyl-
vania destroyed by a band of savages, and all its inmates save herself —
father, mother, brothers and sisters — all slain by the same ruthless foes.
But the caprice so often manifested by the Indians toward their captives
induced them to spare her alone, and to take her to Fort Du Quesne.
There she was adopted by two Indian sisters, who treated her with the
greatest kindness and gave her the name of Dehhewamis.
Ere she had hardly attained to womanhood she was required to wed
a young Delaware brave, and, though she became the bride of an Indian
with great reluctance, yet, as she always declared, his unvarying kind-
ness was such as to gain her affection. " Strange as it may seem," she
said, " I loved him." For some unknown reason she went (on foot, with
her children on her b^ck) several hundred miles from her home on the
Ohio, to take up her residence among the Senecas on the Genesee, where
her husband was to join her. He died, however, before doing so. This
is the most curious part of her story, and it looks as if there was some-
thing hidden about that portion of her life.
She soon married a Seneca, a monster of cruelty toward his enemies,
but kind to her. By this time she had become so fully reconciled to her
savage surroundings that she declined the opportunity to return to the
whites afforded by the peace between England and France, and when an
old chief sought to take her to Fort Niagara by force, to obtain the
reward offered for prisoners thus delivered up, she used every means to
bafile his efforts, and finally succeeded in doing so.
She remained among the Senecas during the Revolution, her cabin
being the habitual stopping place for Butler, Brant and other leaders,
while going on or returning from their raids against the wretched inhab-
itants of the frontier. When Sullivan came on his mission of vengeance,
her cabin and crops were destroyed with the others. We say " her," for
she seems to have been the principal personage in the household, as well
of her second as of her first husband. With her two youngest children
on her back and three others following after, she hunted up a couple of
runaway negroes living with the Senecas, whose crop had escaped
destruction, and by husking their corn on shares obtained enough to feed
herself and children through the winter.
She remained near her old haunts when most of the Senecas came
West, and when they sold to Phelps and Gorham, she managed to pro-
cure for herself a reservation of near thirty square miles. This might
have afforded her an ample fortune, and she did draw considerable revenue
from it. But she showed little desire for the comforts of civihzed life,
and retained to a great extent the dress, appearance and habits of a squaw.
She was commonly called " The White Woman " by the Indians, and
even those of her own race generally adopted this curious appellation.
2IO History of Erie County.
In time her second husband died, leaving his savage characteristics
to his eldest son, who developed a nature of the deepest malignity,
inflamed by drunkenness, who in different quarrels slew his only two
brothers, and who was finally murdered himself in a drunken brawl. Sad
indeed were the latter days of the old " White Woman," and they were
made still more so by the progress of settlement, which shut her off from
the wild companions of so many years.
At length she determined to spend her remaining days with her old
friends, and in 1831, at the age of eighty-eight, she disposed of her remain-
ing interest on the Genesee and came to make her last home on the Buf-
falo Creek reservation. There, among the barbaric customs which had
so strangely fascinated her, she- survived for two more years ; and then
Mary Jemison, Dehhewamis, "The White Woman," found rest in the
grave, after nine decades of a tempest-tossed life.
In 1832 Buffalo was incorporated as a city, with five wards, and a
population of about ten thousand.
In the fall (which, as will be remembered, was the time of Jackson's
second election) Millard Fillmore was chosen to represent the thirtieth
district of New York in Congress.
To achieve such a success at the age of thirty-two is most creditable
to the abilities of any man ; and was all the more so in this case, the
young Congressman having had absolutely no aid from extraneous
sources, and having achieved his entrance into the National Legislature
only nine years after commencing life in a country village, as an attorney
in the Common Pleas.
It will be understood that the only difficulty was in regard to the
nomination ; the Anti-Masonic National Republican opposition to Jack-
son's administration, had an overwhelming majority in the county, and the
election of their candidate was a foregone conclusion. The strength of
the feeling is shown by the fact that in this county William L. Marcy, the
Democratic candidate for Governor, received but 1,743 votes, while 4,356
votes were cast for Francis Granger, the opposition nominee.
It was in 1832 that the cholera made its first visit to the shores of Amer-
ica. Passing along the main thoroughfares, it inflicted a heavy blow upon
Buffalo, but it did not spread into the country. Yet none knew what
track the destroyer might take, and for many weeks every village waited
with fear and trembling the appearance of this hitherto unknown scourge.
There had been no new towns formed since the creation of Colden, in
1827. Though Clarence was about 17 miles long, (besides the part
included in the reservation,) the steady-going Pennsylvania Germans who
formed a large part of its population were in no haste to create a new set
of officers, at length, however, the numbers in the southern part of the
town became so large that a division was almost imperative, and on the
20th ot March, 1833, a new town was formed, comprising Township 11,
Formation of Lancaster. 211
Range 6, of the Holland Company's survey, and that part of the mile-
and-a-half-strip, sold in 1826, which lay opposite that township — besides
a nominal jurisdiction over the unsold Indian land, to the center of the
reservation. As Clarence had been named after one English dukedom,
that of another was selected for the new town, which received the appell-
ation of Lancaster.
We have now reached the time when the tide of commerce began
to roll steadily through the county of Erie. The fertile lands of Michi-
gan, Northern Indiana, Northern Illinois, and other parts of the West
were opened to settlement, and their products found their way into
the Erie canal. Its boats went loaded to the sea coast, and brought back
crowds of German and Irish immigrants, most of whom went farther
west, but many of whom sought the companionship of their countrymen
in and around Buffalo.
Almost at the same time, the closing of the United States Bank,
caused the chartering of a large number of State banks, which issued an
immense amount of paper money. Frequently the guarantees required
by the States were wretchedly inadequate, especially in the West and
South, so that the new money had no better foundation than the faith
of the people.
From these two causes, the increase of Western production and the
increase of money, the former real and the latter fictitious, there followed
a general inflation of business and advance of prices. This inflation
extended throughout the United States, but nowhere else was it quite so
balloon-like in its growth and collapse as along the line of the great lakes,
where both the causes above mentioned were in their fullest vigor.
A slight advance of prices began to be observed in 1833. They
increased through 1834, and in 1835 the great speculation was under full
headway. It of course ran highest in Buffalo, but was strongly felt
throughout the county. All up the lakes, too, wherever there was a
possibility of a harbor, and sometimes where there was not even a
possibility, a city was laid out, a magnificent name was given it, and its
proprietors became Rothschilds and Astors — on paper. That there was
some ground for the advance in this county, is shown by the fact that the
population had increased from 8,653 in 1830, to 15,661 in 1835, or more
than eighty-one' per cent. A more remarkable fact is that the population
of the whole county in 1835, was 57,594, to 35,719 in 1830, an increase of
over sixty-one per cent.
Never did the fever of speculation rage more fiercely anywhere than
it did in Erie county, and especially in Buffalo, in 1835 ^"^ 1836. Some
incidents of the infatuation of the people will be mentioned in the history
of that city in the second volume. The financial catastrophy impending
over the whole county, was hastened, so far as this and the adjoining
counties were concerned, by the exposure, in August, 1836, of the for-
212 History of Erie County.
geries of Benjamin Rathbun, then the leading business man of Buffalo.
Consternation seized upon the public, prices went rapidly down, and
many a man who had supposed himself a millionaire, soon found himself
reduced to absolute poverty.
Amid the general dismay, the Presidential election probably drew
less attention than any other that ever occurred in the county. While
Van Burenwas elected President, and Marcy, Governor, Erie county as
usual went heavily for the opposition, which had now assumed the name
of the Whig party throughout the country. Anti-Masonry had ceased to ■
exist as a political organization, or as a source of present excitement, but
its results were seen in the large Whig majorities which Western New
York gave throughout the existence of that party. Masonry, too, was
utterly extinct in this section, and any attempt to revive it at that time
would undoubtedly have caused a renewal of the old excitement. Mill-
ard Fillmore, after two years' retirement, was again elected to Congress.
The increase of population shown by the census of 1835, entitled Erie
county to three Members of Assembly.
The town of Tonawanda was formed from BufiFalo April 16, 1836,
comprising the present towns of Tonawanda and Grand Island.
The year closed in gloom and anxiety, though the depression had not
yet reached its lowest point. Nevertheless, it was during this year that
the first railroad was completed in Erie county, that from Buffalo to
Niagara Falls.
Steadily prices went down, down, down, all through 1837. Through-
out the country failure, bankruptcj' and disaster were the order of the
day. Banks failed everywhere, and the wretched paper money of the
country became more worthless than before. As speculation had proba-
bly reached its climax in Buffalo, so there the universal reaction was
most strongly felt. Fortunes disappeared almost in a night. Mortgages
were foreclosed on every hand, and property which but yesterday had
been sold for thirty, forty, fifty dollars per foot would now hardly bring
as many per acre.
Even in the country towns the re-action, though of course less than
in the city, produced great distress, and some who had deemed themselves
rich suffered for the necessaries of life.
In the course of 1837, matters probably got about as bad as they
could be, so that after that they did not grow any worse ; but it was sev-
eral years before there was any sensible recovery from the " Hard Times,"
as that era was universally called. Unquestionably the designation was
a correct one ; for never has the country, and especially this part of it,
known so disastrous a financial crisis. The " hard times " inaugurated in
the fall of 1873 were mere child's play in comparison.
Even before the crash there had been a steadily growing opposition
to the Holland Company, throughout the Holland Purchase, and an
The "Agrarian" Convention. 213
increasing desire, on the part of the possessors of lands not paid for, to
lighten what they felt to be an intolerable burden, the long arrears of
interest then due. When to these was added the weight of general finan-
cial distress, the discontent rose to still greater heights.
Meetings were held in many towns, denouncing the company, de-
manding a modification of terms, requesting the Legislature to interfere,
and asking the Attorney-General to contest the company's title. In Feb-
ruary, 1837, there assembled at Aurora a meeting at which the counties
of Erie, Genesee, Niagara and Chautauqua were represented, and which
boldly assumed the name of an " Agrarian Convention." Dyer Tilling-
hast, of Buffalo, was president ; Charles Richardson, of Java, Genesee
county, (now Wyoming,) and Hawxhurst Addington, of Aurora, were
vice-presidents ; and A. M. Clapp, of Aurora, and H. N. A. Holmes, of
Wales, were secretaries. Resolutions were passed denouncing the
"Judases" who sided with the company, and requesting the Attorney-
General to contest its title.
In some localities the people did not confine themselves to resolu-
tions. Without any very decided acts of violence, they made every agent
of the company who came among them feel that there was danger in the
air. Whenever an attempt was made to take possession of a place of
which its holder was in arrears, armed men gathered on the hillsides,
threatening notices were sent, and a state of terror was kept up until the
company's representatives became demoralized and abandoned the field.
There was no chance for contesting the company's original title, and the
Legislature refused to interfere. In most of the towns the settlers, in
the course of many weary years, paid up and took deeds of their lands.
In a few localities, however, they made so stubborn a resistance, and the
company was so long in enforcing its claims, that many of the occupants
acquired a title by " adverse possession," which the courts sustained.
In 1837, a company was chartered to build a macadam road from
Buffalo to Williamsville, and actually did build it within a year or two
afterwards. This was nearly, or quite, the first successful attempt to re-
place one of our time-honored mud roads by a track passable at all seasons.
In the fall of that year William A. Mosely, of Buffalo, was elected
'State Senator in place of Albert H. Tracv, who then finally retired from
public life, at the early age of forty-four, after a twenty-years* career of
remarkable brilliancy.
As the winter of i837-'38 approached, the people of Erie county,
with those of the rest of the Northern frontier, were at least furnished
with something else than their own misfortunes to talk about.
For several years there had been a growing discontent in the Cana-
dian provinces with the government of Great Britain. Among the
French population of Lower Canada it was quite strong, and at length
it broke out in armed rebellion, which was only suppressed at consider-
able cost of blood and treasure.
214 History of Erie County.
After the outbreak there was put down, there were some small
uprisings in Upper Canada. But whatever political opposition there
might have been in that section to the home government, there was
little disposition to seek the arbitrament of battle, and very few appeared
in arms.
Those who did so sought a position close to the American line in
order that they might receive all possible aid from their sympathizers
on this side. For it was impossible that anything in the shape of a revolt
against British power, whatever the cause, or whatever its strength,
should not awaken interest and sympathy on the part of Americans. The
two contests in which we had been engaged with that country, and the
fact that we owed our National existence to a successful revolt against
monarchial government, combined to produce such a result. Secret
lodges of " hunters," as they were called, were formed along the frontier
for the purpose of affording aid to the " patriots," which was the desig-
nation generally given to the insurgents, and some armed men crossed
the line.
William Lyon Mackenzie, an ex-member of the Provincial Parlia-
ment, and the leader of the rebellion in Upper Canada, after a slight and
unsuccessful outbreak north of Toronto, fled to Buffalo in the fore part
of December, 1837. Meetings were held, and addresses made by Mac-
kenzie, by one T. J. Sutherland, who was called General, and by several
Buffalonians. About the middle of the month, there was still greater
excitement along the Niagara frontier, for it was learned that the main
force of the "patriots" had established themselves on ^lavy Island.
This was closer to American territory than any other British soil in
this vicinity. Between it and Grand Island, the channel is less than a
quarter of a mile wide, and it was, besides, convenient of access from the
old landing-place at Schlosser.
There were perhaps three or four hundred men on the island. Of
these a considerable proportion were Americans, and their commander
was General Rensselaer Van Rensselaer, a son of the gallant Colonel
Solomon Van Rensselaer, who was wounded on Queenston Heights.
Days passed on. Most of the people were in a fever to do something
for the " patriots." The United States Marshal appointed thirty deputies
from among the most prominent citizens of Buffalo, to prevent violations
of neutrality. The winter was one of unexampled mildness, and vessels
still continued to run on both lake and river. On the 29th of December,
the little steamer Caroline, belonging to William Wells, Esq., of Buffalo,
went down to Navy Island, the intention being that she should run back
and forth between the camp of the insurgents and Schlosser, carrying
men and supplies. After discharging freight at the island, she made two
trips to and from Schlosser that afternoon, and then tied to the wharf at
the latter place.
The Patriot War — Destruction of the Caroline. 215
Early the next morning, hurrying messengers reached Buffalo with
the news that a British force had crossed the river, cut out the Caroline,
killed fifteen or twenty men, and then set her on fire and sent her over
the Falls.
As may be imagined, the excitement was intense. Rumors of every
kind flew about the streets. The British had invaded Grand Island.
They had threatened to attack Buffalo. They had killed ever3'body on
board the Caroline and some on shore — etc., etc. Further news, while
it refuted some of these stories, confirmed the main statement. The
Caroline had certainly been cut loose from the Schlosser wharf by a
British force, set on fire, and sent over the Falls.
A man named Durfee was found dead on the wharf the morning after
the attack, shot through the brain. His body was brought to Buffalo
and buried, the funeral being attended by a vast and excited crowd, after
which a speech of extraordinary eloquence and power was made in the
park by that fier}' young advocate, Henry K. Smith. For a long time it
was asserted that from ten to twenty men had been slaughtered on board
the Caroline, and even the English official report stated that five or six
had been killed. But after thorough investigation, it was found that no
one was slain except Durfee, though two or three others were wounded.
It soon transpired that the assailing expedition was sent over by Sir
Allan McNab, commanding the British forces on the frontier, under an
officer of the Royal Navy, whose proceedings were fully endorsed by Sir
Allan, and by the Governor-General of Canada. It was as clear a viola-
tion of American sovereignty as it would have been of English sovereignty
if a successful blockade-runner, during the Rebellion, had been attacked
and burned in an English port by an American man-of-war. But there was
some palliation in the fact that so many of the insurgents were Ameri-
cans, and Mr. VanBuren, who was then President, was a very pacific
personage. So, notwithstanding a long diplomatic contest, no redress
was ever obtained.
Sir Allan McNab claimed that the Caroline had been bought by the
Navy-Islanders. This, however, was denied under oath by Mr. Wells,
and the denial was undoubtedly true ; for the whole treasury of the
" patriots " would have been hardly sufficient to buy a canoe.
The officers and crew of the Caroline numbered ten men, and twenty-
five more went on board at Schlosser, on account, as was alleged, of the
lack of hotel accommodations at that place, but probably for the purpose,
of crossing to Navy island the next morning. It was stoutl}' asserted
that none of the crew or passengers were armed, but as three of the
attacking party were wounded, this looks improbable. It was claimed
by some that they wounded each other in the darkness.
Over these, and a hundred other controverted points, the Buffalo
Daily Star, and the Daily Commercial long kept up a heated controversy,
2i6 History of Erie County.
the former accusing the latter of being in the interest of the British, and
opposed to the patriots who were striving to throw off the yoke of a
foreign tyranny, etc., while the Commercial retaliated by charging the Star
with abetting unlawful operations, fomenting war, etc.
Meanwhile the American authorities were taking vigorous measures
both to prevent armed expeditions from going from this side, and to repel
further invasion from the other. A company was organized in Buffalo,
called the City Guard, under Captain James McKay. By order of Gov-
ernor Marcy, General David Burt called out the 47th Brigade of Militia,
(infantry,) the larger part of whom responded, and rendezvoused at Buf-
falo. Randall's Brigade of artillery was also called out, and all of its
companies marched to the same point. The 47th Brigade of infantry
was entirely from Erie county, and every town furnished its quota.
Among the officers were Colonel Orange T. Brown, of Aurora, and
Colonel Harry B. Ransom, of Clarence. Randall's Brigade of artillery
covered a much larger district.
On the 5th of January, 1838, the President issued a proclanlation,
and sent General Scott to the frontier. He was accompanied by Colonel
William J. Worth, as aid and chief of staff. Scarcely had he arrived,
when rumors came that the British were about to cross and attack
Schlosser. The troops, regulars and militia, were ordered out and
marched to that point. No attack took place and they returned.
A day or two afterward it was reported that three English armed
schooners, lying opposite Lower Black Rock, were about to fire on the
steamer Barcelonay which was plying between Buffalo and Navy island.
To Lower Black Rock the troops were accordingly marched, and there,
sure enough, were seen the three British schooners, lying nearly in line,
awaiting the Barcelona^ one of them being in American waters and not
far from the shore. Scott formed his infantry along the bank, and posted
his artillery on the high ground in the rear. Then the veteran General
rode down to the water's edge, hailed the nearest schooner, and ordered
her to draw out of American waters, and not to molest the Barcelona^
which could then be seen steaming up the river, close along the Ameri-
can shore. After some hesitation, the schooner lifted her anchor and
drew off across the line, and the Barcelona passed safely by.
But the " revolution" could not be kept up much longer. The Brit-
ish regulars and Canadian militia concentrated opposite Navy island,
fiercely cannonaded the forest which covered it and prepared to cross the
channel. Rensselaer Van Rensselaer was brave enough, but his exchequer
was low, his followers were few, and the hope of re-inforcements was cut
off by the vigilance of Scott. So, on the 15th of January, his army fled
to the American mainland and dispersed in every direction.
Their stolen cannon they abandoned to the State authorities. Soon
after, however, another attempt was made to furnish the disorganized
Expedition to Erie. 217
" patriot " army with artillery. Five of these same cannon were in charge
of a body of militia, at Tonawanda, under Colonel Harry B. Ransom.
To him came a squad of men, whose acting commandant presented
an order for the delivery of the five guns, sigpied by Winfield Scott,
Major-General commanding. Ransom hesitated, but a prominent citizen
came forward, declared that he knew Scott's handtv^riting, and that the
signature was genuine. So the cannon were delivered — on a forged
order. But the " patriots " were obliged to scatter for fear of the United
States Marshal, and the guns were again recovered by the State.
Meanwhile Brigadier-General Thomas Jefferson Sutherland had gone
to the other end of Lake Erie, gathered a few men, and begun issuing
proclamations preparatory to an invasion of Canada across the Detroit
river. A body of United States regulars was forthwith sent to put a
stop to unlawful proceedings in that quarter. It was desired to send
with them a small detachment of militia as far as Erie, Pa., to watch
movements there. Twenty volunteers were called for, and twenty men
responded from the Aurora company, commanded by Captain Almon M.
Clapp, then editor of the Aurora Standard.
The regulars and Captain Clapp's detachment went up the lake under
the command of Colonel Worth, on the steamboat Robert Fulton. An
incident which occurred on the steamer illustrates the character of that
gallant officer. Soon after leaving Buffalo, the regular commissary
brought the rations for both regulars and volunteers, and flung them
down on the lower deck. The volunteers demurred. They said they
were not used to taking their victuals off from the floor, and did not pro-
pose to begin then. The commissary roughly told them they might go
without. They made known their dissatisfaction to Captain Clapp, who
was in the cabin with the regular officers. He at once appealed to
Colonel Worth, declaring that his men were accustomed to as decent
treatment as himself, and did not relish such conduct.
"Certainly not, certainly not," said Worth; "bring your men into
the cabin here and let them have their breakfast."
So the cooks were set at work, and in a short time the squad of vol-
unteers sat down to an excellent breakfast, and did not have to take it off
from the deck, either.
Stopping at Dunkirk, the troops went to Fredonia, took two or three
hundred stand of arms stored there by the " patriots," and proceeded by
steamer to Erie. A vessel on Lake Erie in January is a sight seldom
seen, and the presence of one in the first month of 1838, marks the mildest
winter of which there is any record as visiting this county since its
settlement. But when the Fulton reached Erie the ice was rapidly form-
ing, so that it was difficult to enter the harbor, and the planking of the
boat was badly injured by it. The volunteers remained there eleven
days and returned by land.
21 8 History of Erie County.
By this time it was thought the danger of trouble in this vicinity
was nearly over, and Burt's infantry and Randall's artillery were both
discharged.
The ice rapidly closed over the whole lake, and this circumstance
was taken advantage of by bands of sympathizers to project another inva-
sion of Canada. A company of the Buffalo City Guard and Clapp's vol-
unteers were sent, one cold winter night, in sleighs, to the " head of the
turnpike," in Hamburg, and thence three or four miles on the ice, toward
the middle of the lake. There they found a most remarkable scene.
Thirty or forty men had established themselves there on the ice, built
shanties, procured a plentiful allowance of hemlock boughs to sleep on,
and were awaiting re-inforcements to liberate Canada.
They readily surrendered on the appearance of the troops. Only a
part of them had fire-arms, but there were a large number of rude pikes,
each consisting of a strong pole with a spear several inches long, and a
hook of proportionate size. The shanties were torn down, the arms
seized and the would-be heroes dispersed.
One part of their preparations was peculiar enough to deserve especial
mention. Extending from their camp, in a straight line, nearly to the
Canada shore, was a row of hemlock bushes, waving over the vast field
of ice. It was intended that the liberating army should march over in
the night. But if they did so there was danger that in the middle of the
lake, with an unbroken plain of ice extending in every direction, they
might lose their way and perhaps perish with the cold, for the part of
the shore where they intended to land was uninhabited, and there would
be no lights to steer by. So they put up that line of hemlock boughs to
guide them on their conquering way, making holes in the ice with their
pikes, planting the bushes, and pouring on water, which soon froze solid
around them.
While some of the people, organized in militia companies, were faith-
fully at work to prevent the violation of the neutrality laws, their friends
and neighbors were willing to run a good deal of risk to aid the insur-
gents. One of the companies of Randall's artillery-brigade, belonging in
Allegany county, had returned home b}- way of Aurora and Holland, but,
owing to the badness of the roads, had been obliged to leave one of their
pieces at the latter place. It was stored in a barn to await better travel-
ing. Some of the sympathizers at Aurora determined to secure it for the
use of a body of liberators, who were expected to make another effort to
cross the lake on the ice. A'ccordingly, the first sleighing that came, two
good teams were hitched to sleighs, which with several men in each,
started just after nightfall for Holland. Passing rapidly over the inter-
vening ten miles, they arrived at that village, drove to the barn where
the cannon was kept, loaded it into one of the sleighs, put the ceisson
into the other, and had the horses going down the creek-road ac full
Bargaining for the Reservation. 219
speed ere any one else knew what was going on. It is not likely, how-
ever, that any one would have interfered, even if they had known, for the
feeling of friendship for the insurgents was so general that few cared to
oppose it, save when compelled by official duty. The stolen gun was for-
warded through Hamburg to the lake shore.
Getting possession of another piece of artillery, the "patriots"
assembled to the number of three or four hundred near Comstock's tavern,
in Hamburg. But on the 24th of February a detachment of regulars and
volunteers, and the crew of a revenue cutter, all under the command of
Colonel Worth, who had returned from the West, marched out from Buf-
falo, surprised the camp of the four hundred " patriots," dispersed them,
and captured their cannon. This was the last attempt to invade Canada
from within the borders of Erie county, until the Fenian effort of 1867.
For this, as is not unfrequently the case, they blamed the administration and
the party in power, and already murmurs, deep and far extending, fore-
boded that party's temporary overthrow. There was no need of such
aid to the Whigs of Erie county, as they already had an overwhelming
majority, but even that majority was doubtless increased by the prevail-
ing discontent.
In 1837 and 1838 a most strenuous attempt was made (which was
kept up for several years,) to obtain possession of all the Indian lands in
this and the adjoining counties. A treaty was sanctioned by the execu-
tive department of the government by which the government agreed
to give the New York Indians, mostly Senecas, 1,820,000 acres of land
in Kansas, and build mills, shops, churches, schools, etc. A council of
chiefs was called at the council house on the Buffalo Creek reservation,
in January, 1838. The treaty was laid before them, and also a deed by
which they agreed to cede to the Ogden Company all their reservations,
for two hundred and two thousand dollars; a hundred thousand for
the land, and a hundred and two thousand for the improvements.
Both documents received forty -five signatures of chiefs, either actual
or pretended, for it was always difficult to tell who were and who were
not chiefs.
The treaty was sent to the Senate, who declared it so defective in
many respects that it could not be sanctioned, and who also amended it
by striking out the various appropriations for mills, schools, etc., and
inserting the sum of four hundred thousand dollars. Mr. Gillett, United
States Commissioner, again called the chiefs together on the Buffalo
reservation to ratify the treaty. By this time there was an intense feel-
ing aroused in the tribe against both treaty and deed. The Commis-
sioner directed a council-house to be built on purpose for the coming
council, which assembled there on the 7th of August, 1838. Many chiefs
being absent the council was adjourned three days. During the interval
the council-house was burned to the ground, doubtless by some of the
220 History of Erie County.
opponents of the treaty. The Commissioner had a new one built, and
the council again met. Mr. Gillett declared that the deed to Ogden &
Company was good even if the treaty was not ratified, but General
Dearborn, the Commissioner for Massachusetts, insisted that it was not.*
In the council the amended treaty was signed by only sixteen chiefs,
while sixty-three, the rank of forty-eight of which was undisputed, signed
a remonstrance against it.
The agents of the Ogden Company, however, declared that this
result was obtained by intimidation on the part of the Indians hostile to
the treaty, and this was probably, to some extent, true. The Commis-
sioner accordingly announced that those chiefs who desired might sign
the treaty at his rooms at a hotel in Buffalo. Twenty-six more did so
sign ; their signatures being witnessed by General Dearborn. Of the
forty-two names thus obtained, only twenty-nine were those of undis-
puted chiefs, while there were in the Seneca tribe seventy-five chiefs
whose title was not disputed. The list of all those claimed to be chiefs
on both sides numbered ninety-seven. Yet by counting only those
present at the council, while allowing them to sign out of the council
and off from the reservation, the Commissioner managed to figure out a
majority.
It afterwards transpired that written contracts had been entered
into by which the agents of the Ogden Company agreed to pay certain
chiefs considerable sums of money, besides giving them life-leases of
their improvements, on condition of their not only doing their best to
help forward the treaty and sale, but of their voting in favor of them.
These payments were to be in addition to the pay for improvements
which those chiefs would receive in common with their brethren, and
were simply bribes.t Notwithstanding the defective number of signa-
tures, and the means used to obtain them, the treaty was ratified by the
Senate. Yet the facts brought to light caused so much popular feeling,
and the determination of the Indians was so strong not to go West, that
the company were unwilling to proceed to extremities. The manner in
which the difficulty was finally settled will be described in the next
chapter.
In March, 1839, three new towns were created. On the 22d of that
month the south part of Amherst was cut off and called Cheektowaga.
Amherst was the last of the very large towns of Erie county. Before
* By the agreement between Massachusetts and New York regarding the title to the western part
of the latter State, Massachusetts reserved the right to protect the Indians by sending a Commissioner
to every council held with them.
f The Quakers, who were the steadfast friends of the Indians throughout the series of transac-
tions under consideration, procured and published several of these contracts, by which eight chiefs
were to receive over $20,000, besides pay for their improvements. These payments were not like
the allowances previously made to Complanter, Farmer's Brother, because the former were secret,
while the latter were public, and were acquiesced in by the tribes.
Formation of Braxt. 221
its division it was eighteen miles long, besides the part on the reserva-
tion. Afterwards, there was no town over eleven miles in length.
On the 25th of that month, too, the town of Brant was formed by
the Legislature out of the south part of Evans, and a part of the Catta-
raugus reservation, nominally belonging to Collins. It included the
** mile-strip " and "mile-block" sold off from that reservation in 1826. It
was doubtless expected when the town was formed, that the sale of the
whole reservation would soon be consummated, in accordance with the
"treaty" of 1838, and that Brant would thereby become a town of the
ordinary size. This expectation, however, was disappointed and the
space outside of Indian territory is smaller than the area of any other
town in the county.
The same spring, all that part of the town of Buffalo outside of
the city was formed into the town of Black Rock. It extended clear
around the city from Black Rock village to the lake shore. About the
same time a law was passed allowing Buffalo a supervisor for each of
its five wards.
There was little or no change for the better in the financial situation
during the last two years of the decade, and the country grew more
and more Whiggish. The next year came the great excitement of the
Harrison campaign. Erie county was one of the strongest fortresses
of Whiggery in the United States, and probably developed more than
the average amount of the enthusiasm then so prevalent. Nowhere
were there more log cabins erected, more hard cider drank or more
coon skins displayed, and nowhere were there louder shouts for "Tippe-
canoe and Tyler too.**
When election day came the Harrison electoral ticket received
nearly two to one in this county, and was triumphantly elected in the
nation. For the fourth time Millard Fillmore was chosen as representa-
tive in Congress, that being once more than any other citizen of Erie
county has ever been elected to that office.
The general depression is shown by the fact that the population of
Buffalo in 1840 had only increased about nine and nine-tenths per cent,
over that of 1835, having reached the number of 18,213. The population
of the whole county was 62,465, an increase of ten and a fifth per cent,
over 1835. This is the only instance of the county's increasing faster
than the city.
15
222 History of Erie County.
CHAPTER XXIII.
FROM 1841 TD IBGD.
Slow Recovery — First Railroad — The Indian Treaty Confirmed — A Compromise — Buffalo Creek
Reservation Surrendered — Cattaraugus and Allegany Reservations Retained — Tonawanda
Reservation bought and given to Indians — New Settlements — Mr. Fillmore a Candidate for
Governor — General Prosperity — New Constitution — The Buffalo Convention — Mr. Fill-
more Elected Vice-President — He succeeds to the Presidency — Census of 1850 — The Eben-
ezer Society — German Immigrants — Increased Prosperity — Formation of West Seneca —
Extension of Buffalo — Formation of Collins, Manila and Grand Island — Political Changes
— The Census of 1857 — Formation of Elma — Campaign of i860.
THE county recovered very slowly from the terrible financial crisis
heretofore described, and it was not till near 1845 that it could be
considered to have full}' regained a healthy condition, by which
time moderate prosperity was the rule throughout its borders, as dis-
tinguished from the feverish fortune-making of ten years before.
In 1842, the Buffalo and Attica railroad was completed, giving the
former place its first railroad connection with the East. Travel west-
ward was still by boat' in summer, and by stage in winter. This was a
fine time for Buffalo hotels. Every traveler had to stay in town for at
least one meal, generally over night, and frequently in spring and fall, for
several days.
As stated in the last chapter, the Senate of the United States, after
much debate and many unsavory disclosures, finally confirmed the
treat}'^ of 1838 with the Senecas. But a majority of the latter insisted
that it had never been really confirmed by them or even by their chiefs.
If so, the courts might still refuse to sanction their removal, and their
friends, the Quakers, were disposed to aid them in an appeal to the
courts. Such a proceeding, however, would be long and costly and both
parties were evidently afraid of the result. Accordingly a compromise
was resorted to.
In May, 1842, a new agreement was made, by which the Ogden
Company allowed the Senecas to retain the Cattaraugus and Allegany
reservations, (subject to the Company's pre-emption right) and the
Indians gave up the Buffalo Creek and Tonawanda tracts, on condition
of receiving their proportionate value. That is to say, the value of all
four of the reservations was estimated as before at $100,000, and the
value of the improvements at $102,000, and the Company agreed to pay
the proportion of $100,000 which, according to the decision of arbitra-
tors, the value of the Buffalo Creek and Tonawanda reservations bore to
the value of the whole, and the proportion of $102,000 which the improve-
Sale of the Buffalo Creek Reservation. 223
ments on those reservations bore to the improvements on the whole.
The occupants of those reservations were to have the privilege of set-
tling on the Cattaraugus and Allegany tracts. This was satisfactory to
the Buffalo Creek Indians, but not to the Tonawandians.
Arbitrators duly chosen decided that the proportionate value of the
Indian title of those two reservations was $75,000, and that of the im-
provements on them $59,000. The)' also awarded the portion of the
$59,000 due to each Indian on the Buffalo reservation, but could not do
it on the Tonawanda tract, because the inhabitants of the latter refused
to let them come on the reservation to make an appraisal. After some
two years, one of the claimants undertook to expel one of the Tonawanda
Indians by force, whereupon the Indian sued and recovered judgment ;
• the courts deciding that the proper steps had not been taken to justify
the claimant's action. Finally, to end the controversy, the United States
opened its purse, as it has so often done before and since to help indi-
viduals. The Government bought the entire claim of the Ogden Com-
pany to the Tonawanda reservation, and presented it to the Indians re-
siding there. Consequently they now own the " fee-simple " of the land
as well as the possessory right. That is, they hold it by the same title
by which white men own their lands, except that the fee is in the whole
tribe, and not in the individual members.
Meanwhile the Buffalo Indians quietly received the money allotted
to them, and, after a year or two allowed for preparation, they, in 1843
and *44, abandoned the home where they had dwelt for over sixty years,
and which had been a favorite rendezvous of their nation for nearly two
centuries. Most of them joined their brethren on the Cattaraugus reser-
vation, some went to that on the Allegany, and a few removed to lands
allotted them in the Indian Territory, now Kansas.
The company immediately had the land surveyed and divided among
the members, who began selling it. Settlers began to occupy Elma and
that part of Marilla not included in the purchase of 1826. A few Indians
remained until 1846 or 1847, when they departed, and their clearings
were occupied by white men.
New clearings, too, were made here and there, log houses were
erected, and all over the reservation the traveler witnessed ^ reproduc-
tion of the scenes of pioneer life. The old towns, it will be remembered,
still ran to the center of the reservation, so that the newly opened terri-
tory belonged to Black Rock, Cheektowaga, Lancaster and Alden, on
the north, and to Hamburg, Aurora and Wales on the south.
The increase by the settlement of this new territory was but slight
before 1845, ^"d the county had but partially recovered from the great
downfall of 1837, yet the census of 1845 found us with a population of
78,635, against 62,465 in 1840. Buffalo had 29,773 in 1845, to 18,213 in
1840. Though still strongly Whig, the county was not so overwhelm-
224 History of Erie County.
ingly so as in the previous years. The old Anti-Masonic feeling was pass-
ing away, new settlers of various politics were coming in, even among
the Americans, and the immigrants of foreign birth were very largely
Democratic.
In 1842, Mr. Fillmore declined a re-election to the office which he
had so long and so creditably filled, and William A. Mosely was elected
in his place. During the last two years of Mr. Fillmore's service, he was
Chairman of the Committee of Ways and Means, the most important
post in the House of Representatives next to that of Speaker, and dis-
charged its duties with marked ability and fidelity. In 1844, when Henry
Clay was nominated for President by the Whig National Convention,
Mr. Fillmore's name was presented by the delegates from New York,
and from some of the Western States, for the second place on the ticket.
Mr. Frelinghuysen was, however, selected, and then the Whigs, with
hardly a division, chose Mr. Fillmore as their candidate for Governor.
The State, however, as well as the Nation, went for Polk, and Silas
Wright was elected Governor.
After 1845, we find the subject of this history in a condition of decid-
ed prosperity. Money was reasonably plenty, without being so abund-
ant as to cause fears of another crash. After long years of labor, most of
the farmers had their land paid for, or so nearly as to be able to see their
way through. On all the back roads handsome farm-houses were being
erected in place of the log structures of primeval times. New churches
sent up their spires in almost every hamlet, and the old log or red frame
school-house was frequently replaced by a neat, white building, the
typical American school-house of the present day.
The villages showed less improvement than the farming country ;
for Buffalo more and more absorbed the trade of all the country around.
That city was again on the high tide of success. No financial depression
could long hinder the growth of the mighty West, and, as there were
no through lines of railway, its produce must be poured through the
Erie canal. Great fleets transferred their cargoes of grain from the lake
to the canal, at Buffalo, and the vicinity of the harbor swarmed with
thousands of laborers.
In 1846, a new State constitution was formed, being, except as to
some amendments, the same under which we now live. By its provisions,
judges, district-attorneys and nearly all other officers were to be elected
by the people. It also provided that senators should hold but for two
years, and that there should be a senatorial district for every senator,
and an assembly district for every assemblyman. The court of Com-
mon Pleas was exchanged for a county court, presided over by a county
judge. There were no associate judges, but in criminal cases he was to
be assisted by two justices of sessions. The State was also divided into
eight judicial districts, each of which elected four justices of the Supreme
The Buffalo Convention. 225
Court, Erie county being in the eighth district. The new constitution
was ratified by the people in 1846, but no officers were elected under it
until the next year.
A special election was held in June, 1847, to choose judicial officers
and district-attorneys, as directed by the new constitution. The eighth
judicial district being overwhelmingly Whig, four Whig Justices of the
Supreme Court were elected, among whom were Seth E. Sill, of Buffalo,
and James Mullett of Chautauqua county, who also kept an office in Buf-
falo. In this county, however, owing to a defection among the Whigs,
all their candidates were defeated — for the first time since the organiza-
tion of the party.
In the succeeding autumn the first State officers were chosen under
the new constitution. Millard Fillmore was nominated by the Whigs
for comptroller. The fight between the " Hunker " and " Barnburner"
wings of the Democracy was then in full blast, and Mr. Fillmore and his
associates were elected by a large majority.
In June, 1848, after General Taylor had been nominated for the
Presidency by the Whig National Convention at Philadelphia, Mr. Fill-
more was selected for the second place on the ticket. The Democratic
National Convention nominated Cass and Butler for President and Vice-
President, but the contest was not confined to the two tickets just named.
The " Barnburners," or Radical Democrats, had espoused the cause of
the Wilmot Proviso, which was intended to exclude slavery from the
territory lately acquired from Mexico, The proceedings of the Demo-
cratic convention at Baltimore not having been satisfactory to them, the
Radicals met in convention at Utica, and nominated Martin Van Buren
for President, with a Vice-Presidential candidate from the West, who
declined the honor.
As it was desired, however, to unite as many as possible of the oppon-
ents of slavery-extension thrcrughout the country, the celebrated Buffalo
convention was called to meet in that city. Thus it was that on the
ninth day of August, 1848, the Queen City of the Lakes was crowded
with distinguished strangers, and with numerous residents of the vicinity,
about to take part in the most important assemblage which has ever met
within the limits of Erie county.
It was a mass convention, attended by men from every Northern
State, and also from Delaware, Maryland and Virginia. A great tent
had been erected in the court house park, and at noon the multitude
assembled beneath it was called to order. Nathaniel Sawyer, of Ohio,
was elected temporary chairman and a committee on permanent organi-
zation was appointed, consisting of one from each State represented.
At the beginning of the afternoon session the park was filled with an
eager throng, and large numbers congregated in the adjacent streets.
The committee on organization, through their chairman Preston King,
226 History of Erie County.
reported the name of Charles Francis Adams, of Massachusetts, as presi-
dent of the convention, who was forthwith elected. Thereupon a com-
mittee of two escorted to the chair a small, unpretending man, scarcely
forty years of age, but looking somewhat older from partial baldness,
who then for the first time became propiinent before the nation, but who
has since been a leader among its statesmen, has fulfilled its most import-
ant diplomatic trusts with consummate skill, and now remains almost the
only survivor of the then eminent members of the convention, over which
he presided twenty-eight years ago.
One of the committee who attended him to the chair was a robust,
broad-shouldered man, about thirty-eight years old, with a bold, high for-
head, a compressed mouth, and a face written all over with the evidence
of courage and determination. This was Salmon P. Chase, of Ohio, then
just entering on his brilliant and useful National career.
A committee on resolutions was appointed, of which Benjamin F.
Butler was chairman. That gentleman has been obliterated, as it were,
by another political luminary bearing the same name, but in his day
Benjamin F. Butler, of New York, was a power in the land, being the
right-hand man of Mr. Van Buren in his political contests, and Attorney-
General of the United States during his friend's Presidency.
For the purpose of equalizing the representation a committee of con-
ference, consisting of six conferees-at-large from each State, and three
from each congressional district, was appointed by the delegates of the
respective States, to whom was referrred the nomination of candidates.
While awaiting the action of these committees several gentlemen ad-
dressed the convention, and members of the celebrated Hutchinson
family sang their inspiring songs of freedom. Among the speakers none
attracted more attention than a tall, white-haired old man, whose bold
and vehement denunciations of slavery were cheered to the echo by the
multitude. This was Joshua R. Giddings, of Ohio, long known as the
Nestor of the anti-slavery contest.
The committee of conference met at the court house in the evening,
and appointed Salmon P. Chase, chairman, but declined to nominate
candidates until the convention should have adopted a platform of
principles.
The next morning the proper committee reported a series of resolu-
tions, embodying the creed of the free-soilers, which was substantially
the same as that afterwards promulgated by the Republican party.
While repudiating all claim on the part of the Federal government to
interfere with slavery in the States, they declared that that institution
should be prohibited in all the territory subject to the jurisdiction of
Congress. " No more slave States and no slave territories," was the
summing up of the whole. Of course they were enthusiastically adopted.
On this action being reported to the committee of conference, which
President Fillmore. 227
had met in the Second Universalist church, they proceeded to the nomi-
nation of candidates. The selection was by no means a foregone conclu-
sion. Although they were entering on an utterly hopeless contest, and
although Mr. Van Buren had been nominated by a convention of Free-
Soil Democrats of New York, who constituted the bulk of the new party,
yet there was a strong feeling among the thorough-going anti-slavery
men in favor of selecting Hon. John P. Hale, of New Hampshire.
Mr. Butler was called on by the committee of conference to explain
the position of Mr. Van Buren, and did so at considerable length. When
the informal ballot was taken Martin Van Buren had 244 votes and John
P. Hale 181, while 41 were reported as scattering. Mr. Van Buren had
only 22 majority over all others. However, the vote was at once made
unanimous.
On consultation, the feeling in regard to the choice for Vice-Presi-
dent was found to be so strong in one direction that all other names were
withdrawn, and Charles Francis Adams was unanimously nominated.
It was not until the evening of that day that the names adopted by
the committee were reported to the mass convention. Mr. Adams,
being one of the nominees, called Mr. Chase to the chair, who submitted
the nominations to the assemblage. The multitude, which filled the
great tent to its utmost capacity, responded with tumultuous cheers, and
Martin Van Buren and Charles Francis Adams were made the standard-
bearers of the " Free Democratic " party in the coming campaign.
David Dudley Field then read a letter from Mr. Van Buren, several
short but vigorous speeches were made, and it was eleven o'clock ere an
adjournment was carried, and the Buffalo Convention became a thing of
the past. Although its nominees did not carry a single State, yet its
action had a strong influence in strengthening the growing opposition
to slavery propagandism, which at length resulted in the entire over-
throw of the institution.
Its only apparent result that year, however, was to give the State of
New York to the Whigs, and cause the election of Gen. Taylor and Mr.
Fillmore. At the same time, Elbridge G. Spaulding was chosen as
Member of Congress from Erie county.
The next spring a citizen of Erie county was installed in the second
office of the Republic. As Vice-President, Mr. Fillmore's only duty was
to preside over the Senate, a duty for which his equable temperament
and judicial turn of mind peculiarly fitted him.
On the 9th day of July, 1850, General Taylor died, and Millard Fill-
more became President of the United States. He was then fifty years
of age; it was twenty -one years since he had. entered public life as a
Memberof the Assembly, twenty-seven years since he had commenced
the practice of law in Aurora, and thirty-one years since he had been a
clothier's apprentice.
228 History of Erie County.
His first task was of course the formation of his cabinet In select-
ing its members, after making Daniel Webster Secretary of State, Thomas
Corwin Secretary of the Treasury, and John J. Crittenden Attorney-
General, he called his former student and partner, Nathan K. Hall, who
had been a Member of Congress but a single term, to the office of Post-
master-General. The seeming favoritism occasioned some comment, but
Mr. Hall's unquestioned integrity, sound judgment and laborious devo-
tion to duty, well fitted him for the post to which he was called, and it
is doubtful if it has ever been more worthily filled.
Congress was still in session when Mr. Fillmore became President,
and all through the hot summer months it continued to wrestle with
problems caused, and passions aroused, by the same question of slavery
which ten years later came to a bloody arbitrament. Both houses at
length passed the celebrated "Compromise Measures" embodied in five
acts, which provided for the admission of California, the organization of
the territories of New Mexico and Utah, without any prohibition of
slavery, the abolition of the slave-trade in the District of Columbia, and
the summary return of fugitive slaves, claimed to have escaped from one
State to another. The President signed them all. The last named act,
commonly called the Fugitive Slave Law, was strongly denounced by a
large portion of the Whig party, as well as by a considerable number of
the Northern Democrats. It is not necessary here to discuss the merits or
demerits of that law, nor of the compromise measures generally. Not-
withstanding the opposition just referred to, all those measures were
sanctioned by a majority of both parties, and for a short time the excite-
ment regarding slavery sank to comparative quiet.
Mr. Fillmore's friends were naturally desirous that his own county
should be represented by some one who approved his course, and it was
probably for that reason that Solomon G. Haven, the third member of
the renowned firm of Fillmore, Hall & Haven, was brought forward as a
candidate for Congress. There was a very earnest contest for the Whig
nomination, but Mr. Haven carried the Convention, and was duly elected
in November.
By the census of 1850, the population of the count}- was 100,993, an
increase of 22,358 in five years, while that of Buffalo was 42,261, an addi-
tion of 12,488 to the number in 1845.
On the 15th of October, 1850, Hamburg, which had stood unchanged
since 1812, was divided by the Board of Supervisors, who were then
intrusted with the necessary power. All but the two western tiers of
lots in Township 9, Range 7, were included in the new town, which
received the name of EUicott. It was organized by the election of offi-
cers the next spring. The name was soon changed to East Hamburg.
Probably the most noticeable locality in the county, at this period,
was that occupied by the " Ebenezer Society." This Association 01 Ger-
S. G. HAVEN.
The Ebenezer Society. 229
mans, mostly from Rhenish Prussia and Hesse, soon after the final sale of
the BuflFalo Creek Reservation, had bought of the Ogden Company some
ten thousand acres of land, embracing the old Indian village, and situated
in the present town of West Seneca, in the history of which its internal
structure will be described ; the land being owned in common and con-
trolled by a board of managers.
Their residences, which were large, substantial frame buildings,
capable of holding two or more families, were grouped in two villages,
and two or three smaller clusters. What most attracted the attention of
their American neighbors was their method of working. The sight of
great gangs of men and women, fifty to a hundred in number, engaged
in the ordinary avocations of a farm, was something entirely new to the
eyes of Erie county people. Especially striking was it to see in harvest
time on the rich flats of the Cazenove, a row, half a mile long, of women,
a few yards apart, reaping with sickles the grain of the community.
Another curiosity to Yankee eyes was the shepherd, with his little port-
able residence and his watchful dogs, pasturing his sheep by the road-
side, and on the grass-bordered paths leading through the grain. By this
means every spear of grass was saved, and not a spear of grain was lost.
During the period between 1857 and 1863, the Society sold their land
in Erie county and moved to Iowa.
Meanwhile the German element had increased largely in both city
and country. After the disturbances in Europe in 1848, a fresh impetus
was given to German emigration. Some brought capital; nearly all
brought habits of industry, frugality and order which were certain to
bring them at least a moderate degree of success. Many were added to
the German settlements in Collins, Eden, Hamburg, Cheektowaga and
Lancaster, and still larger numbers filled up Batavia and Genesee streets,
and began to spread over all the northeastern part of Buffalo.
During the first seven years of the sixth decade of its occupation by
the whites (1850 to 1857) Erie county enjoyed great general prosperity.
The farmers, now mostly out of debt, still further improved their property,
and even the back roads showed hundreds of neat, white houses, with
outbuildings to correspond. Before their front yards handsome board
or picket fences superseded the crooked barrier of rails, which still did
duty around the rest of the farm. As the old well-sweep had been super-
seded by the windlass, so the latter was now replaced by the still more
convenient pump.
It was about this time that the farmers in the pine districts began to
rid themselves of their veteran stumps. The hard-wood stumps rotted
down in a few years after the trees were cut, but the pines remained in-
tact after twenty, thirty, or even forty years of lifelessness, and seemed
likely to defy the attack of centuries. Machines of various kinds were
invented, and ere long the business of pulling stumps became an impor-
230 History of Erie County.
tant part of the industry of the pine regions. These, when pulled, were
generally placed in the road-fence, the bottoms of their roots facing out-
ward, forming one of the most durable, though also one of the homeliest
enclosures ever known. Notwithstanding the general improvement in
the rural districts, the amount of grain raised did not increase, as the
farmers engaged more and more in the dairy business, and in raiding hay,
potatoes, etc., for the Buffalo market. As a rule the villages remained
nearly dormant, though a few exceptions were seen.
On the i6th of October, 185 1, a new town was formed, called "Sen-
eca." It was entirely a part of the Buffalo Creek reservation, and com-
prised almost all that part of it previously embraced in the towns of
Black Rock, Cheektowaga, Hamburg and East Hamburg. The Eben-
ezer colony comprised the greater part of its inhabitants. As its name
clashed with one somewhere else in the State, it was changed the next
spring to " West Seneca." There had been an attempt, two years before,
by the Board of Supervisors, to organize a town with substantially the
same boundaries, by the appropriate name of Red Jacket, but it failed,
and though it seems appropriate that the great orator's home should be
called after his name, yet we presume the people did not relish the idea
of being " Red Jackcters."
Buffalo continued to engulf the business of the county ; its streets
pushing out in every direction, and its houses overflowing the old city
line into the town of Black Rock. At length it was determined to extend
the municipal boundaries, and, as the population was then rapidly increas-
ing, it was thought best to make the city large enough for all exigencies.
Accordingly, by a new charter, granted in April, 1853, the whole town
of Black Rock was included in the city of Buffalo. The new metropolis
was nine miles long, north and south, by from three to six miles wide,
with an area of about forty square miles. This magnificent municipal
domain was divided into thirteen wards, which still remains the number.
Ever since the division of Amherst, Collinshad been the largest town
in the county. On the 24th of November, 1852, that part of it north of
the line between Townships 7 and 8 (except the southernmost tier
of lots) was formed into a new town called Shirley, the name being
derived from a little hamlet and post-office two miles southwest of Kerr's
Corners. But, as in the case of East Hamburg, the inhabitants soon
became tired of any name which did not remind them of the old town in
which they had so long resided, and the next spring " Shirley " was
changed to ** North Collins."
That same autumn, on the 19th of October, Grand Island was organ-
ized as a town. Thus, at length, the locality which had been the seat of
"Governor" Clark's independent nationality, and of Major Noah's
Hebrew-judge government, was supplied with the more humble, but more
appropriate, organization of an American town, The population was
The Town of Marilla Formed. 231
still sparse, and mostly distributed along the shores of the Island, but
their isolated position made a separation seem desirable.
On the 2d day of December, 1853, ^ ^^^ town was formed, called
Marilla. It comprised all of the old Buffalo Creek reservation within the
limits of Wales and Alden, except the mile-and-a-half-strip on the north
side, first sold off. A strip about a mile and a quarter wide, within the
limits of the survey township, (Township 10, Range 5,) but lying out-
side and east of the reservation, had for convenience been left in Genesee
county at the original division, in 1808, so that Marilla is only about four
and three-fourths miles wide by five and a half long.
President Fillmore's course, after the passage of the compromise
acts, was in harmony with his party, and his administration of the
government was creditable both to his ability and integrity. He was,
however, considered the leader of the conservative portion of the party,
and when the Whig National Convention assembled, in 1852, he was
opposed by all those who considered themselves more progressive,
especially in regard to slavery. The convention nominated General
Scott, over both Mr. Fillmore and Mr. Webster. Though his selection
was looked on as a defeat of the conservatives, yet the " platform '* was
as decidedly in favor of the compromise measures as Mr. Fillmore him-
self could have desired. As it turned out, it made but little difference
who received the nomination, since the Whig party was overwhelmingly
defeated, and probably would have been with any candidate it could
have selected, Hon. S. G. Haven was re-elected to Congress.
Down to this time the Whig party had, during it whole existence,
maintained complete control of the county, electing every member of
Congress, every State Senator, nearly every Assemblyman, and all the
county officers except at the special election in 1847. when there was a
temporary defection. At each election the result could be predicted
with almost infallible certainty. But in 1854 came the repeal of the
Missouri compromise, followed by the general indignation of the North,
and the taking of steps to organize a new anti-slavery party. Almost at
the same time the American, or " Know-Nothing," party began its exist-
ence in secret lodges, which soon spread rapidly over a large portion of
the country. Its creed of opposition to foreign and papal influence
found many supporters, but its chief strength was received from the
conservative members of the Whig party, who saw the time had come
for abandoning that organization, but were unwilling to join either the
Democrats or the Anti-Slavery men. The new party made a full set of
nominations in this State, their candidate for Lieutenant-Governor being
General Gustavus A. Scroggs, of Buffalo. The Whigs, however, main-
tained their organization till the fall election, and carried the State. In
this county, Mr. Haven, who had voted against the Nebraska bill, was
elected to Congress for the third and last time.
232 History of Erie County.
In 1855 the Republican party was organized, and received into its
ranks a large proportion of the voters of Erie county, but not a majority,
nor even a plurality. Three tickets were nominated, and for the first
time in over a quarter of a century, the Democrats carried the county
at a regular election.
The next year came the exciting triangular contest between the
Democrats, Republicans and Americans, the three parties being more
nearly equal in strength in Erie county than in almost any other in the
Union. In February, the National American Convention nominated
Millard Fillmore for the Presidency, with A. J. Donelson, of Tennessee,
as the Vice-Presidential candidate. But that party, after a few spasmodic
successes, was already on the wane. In some parts of the country it
had almost entirely disappeared. Probably Mr. Fillmore's candidacy
helped to keep it alive in this county and caused the comparative equal-
ity, just mentioned, between the three parties. Notwithstanding, how-
ever, all local pride as to the candidate, and notwithstanding the eloquence
of Solomon G. Haven, who again acted as Mr. Fillmore's lieutenant,
and was for the fourth time a candidate for Congress, the American
party was third in the race, even in Erie county, and Israel T. Hatch,
Democrat, was elected to Congress.
This was the last appearance of our Erie county President in the
political field. The remainder of his hfc was passed in quiet and digni-
fied retirement, mostly at his residence in Buffalo.
The tide of prosperity', which in the middle of this decade had been
growing and swelling for ten or twelve years, maintained its onward
course until the autumn of 1857. The commerce of the West continued
to roll through Buffalo, leaving golden deposits as it passed. The
county had a ready market for its produce, and the numerous plank-
roads teemed with wagons in summer and sleighs in winter, laden with
hay, grain, potatoes, and other products of the farm. Similar prosperity
was seen throughout the country, though it was more marked here, in
consequence of the nearness of a great commercial city. But, as has so
often been the case, prosperity brought recklessness and over-trading.
The banks inflated the currency beyond what was necessary for business
purposes, and again, as in 1837, inflation was followed by disaster. The
crisis came in the fall of 1857.
It was not, however, by any means as injurious in its results in this
section as that of 1 837, both because the preceding speculation and inflation
.had been less reckless, and because the people were far better prepared to
meet it. Their farms were paid for, and their houses were seldom
covered with second and third mortguages, as in the time of the great
wreck of 1837. There was a good reserve of crops on hand, of valuable
improvements, and of other actual property, to resist the shock of
financial disaster. In some parts of the Far West, where there v as no
Formation of Elma. 233
such reserve, the hard times which followed the panic of 1857 bore a
strong resemblance to those consequent on the disaster of 1837, in the
East. Still, compared with previous prosperity, the times were " hard *'
throughout 1858 and '59, and had only just begun to be ameliorated
when the alarm of war gave notice of still severer troubles.
On the 4th of December, 1857, a new town was formed from that
part of the Buffalo Creek reservation within the limits of Aurora and
and Lancaster. As in the case of Marilla, it included the mile-strip on
the south side, but left the mile-and-a-half-strip, on the north side, in
Lancaster. It received the name of Elma, in commemoration of a grand
old elm, near the village of that name. Some cynic, who thought the
names of Marilla and Elma rather " soft," said that the next new town
had better be called " Miss Nancy." To the writer, however, " Elma "
sounds like a very appropriate and euphonious appellation. At all events
there has been as yet no opportunity to put the suggestion in practice,
for no town has been formed since that time, and Elma is still the muni-
cipal baby of the county.
By 1858 the American party had become so feeble that it was clearly
seen that its continued existence could be of no practical use. In this
county it dissolved, some of its members joining the Republicans, some
the Democrats, and some endeavoring to stand aloof from the constantly
deepening strife. A combination was formed between the Republicans
and a portion of the Americans, by which Elbridge G. Spaulding was
elected Member of Congress.
The next year the line was pretty closely drawn between Repub-
licans and Democrats, the former carrying the county, and the " Ameri-
cans " disappearing from the field.
The census of i860 showed a population of 141,971 in Erie county,
of which 81,129 were in the city of Buffalo. It will be seen that there
were then a trifle over 60,000, outside the city. In 1850 there were 51-
224 in the country towns, aside from Black Rock, which had since been
absorbed in Buffalo. The rate of increase in the city, (including Black
Rock,) was sixty-three percent.; that of the country, sixteen.
In i860 came the great Presidential contest, the most important since
the formation of the government. Of the four presidential tickets in the
field, that headed by Mr. Breckenridge received almost no votes in Erie
county, and that by Mr. Bell very few. The vote of the county was
substantially divided between Lincoln and Douglass, the former having
a majority. Mr. Spaulding was reelected to Congress.
Scarcely had the rejoicings of the triumphant party ceased, ere there
came from the South murmurs of discontent and anger. How they
swelled and increased through all that fateful winter, how State alter
State fell away from its allegiance, how the whole South resounded with
preparations for war, need not be recounted here. It is a part of the
234 History of Erie County.
Nation's history. Here, as elsewhere throughout the North, men looked
on in amazement, hoping even to the last for peace, deeming it impos-
sible that the lunacy of session could ever ripen into the open madness of
armed rebellion. Few made any preparation for the event, yet nearly
all were in that angry and excited condition which needs but a word to
develope into the most determined action.
CHAPTER XXIV.
DURING AND SINCE THE ITNIDN WAR.
The Outbreak — The First Company — The Militia — First Erie County Regiment — Other Organ-
izations — Erie County in Congress — Origin of the ** Greenbacks " — Another Regiment in
1862 — Changes in the Board of Supervisors — Events of 1864 — Close of the War — Numer-
ous Political Changes — The Commercial Barometer — Conclusion of Continuous History.
ON the 15th of April, 1861, the spark came. The Buffalo morning
papers contained the news of the bombardment and surrender of
Fort Sumter. Everywhere men were seen scanning the fateful lines
with eager gaze, and denouncing to each other the inexcusable treason.
All business was at a stand-still, save at the printing offices, which every
hour sent out new editions containing the latest details, which were in-
stantly purchased by the excited crowd.
Soon there appeared a call for a meeting at the old court house, at
half-past seven o*clock that evening, to organize a body of " Minute-men "
for immediate service. Early in the evening great numbers came hurry-
ing toward the venerable temple of justice. The court-room was soon
filled, and Eli Cook was elected Chairman of the meeting. In an eloquent
speech he declared that the time for discussion had passed, and that all
must now work together to save their imperiled country. But the peo-
ple came surging in, in such numbers that it was found necessary to
adjourn to Kremlin Hall, and still again to the street, in front of the
American Hotel. After fiery speech(^s had been made by prominent
men, it was announced that a roll was at the old court house, ready for
the signatures of volunteers. Away rushed the crowd, and so great was
the press that it was with difficulty men could get to the table to sign.
A hundred and two names were taken that evening.
On the succeeding days there were similar scenes of excitement,
meetings of citizens, and enrolling of volunteers. On the i8th, General
Scroggs called a meeting of those who had enrolled their names. A
portion of them were then organized into the first volunteer company of
The War of the Rebellion — First Volunteer Regiment. 235
Erie county. They elected William H. Drew as Captain, R. P. Gardner
as First Lieutenant, and E. R. P. Shurley as Second Lieutenant.
In subsequent chapters we shall furnish brief sketches of the gallant
part acted by the various regiments and batteries, wholly or partially
raised in Erie county. In this chapter we merely give an outline of
events connected with Erie county, but outside of the army.
Meanwhile the news flew into every village and hamlet and farm-
house in the county, and everywhere awakened the same feelings of
indignation and patriotism. Owing, however, to the predominant influ-
ence in the affairs of Erie county, naturally obtained by the great city
within its borders, separate action was not at first generally taken by the
towns in organizing volunteers, but their young men began hurrying
toward Buffalo to enroll themselves as soldiers of the Union.
The militia regiment also began to prepare for whatever exigencies
might arise. In response to an inquiry of the Governor, Colonel Chaun-
cey Abbott, of the 67th, reported two hundred and fifty men ready for
duty. The 74th and 65th militia regiments established recruiting offices
in the city.
On the 3d of May, four companies set out for Elmira, being the first
soldiers who left the county to defend the Nation's life. On the nth,
six more companies, principally recruited from the 74th militia, pro-
ceeded to the same rendezvous, where the ten companies were organized
into the 21st New York Volunteer Infantry — the first Erie county regi-
ment — under Colonel William F. Rogers.
Through the summer, the citizens of the count}- watched the surging
tide of events with unabated interest, and in July, Major Daniel D. Bidwell,
of Buffalo, obtained authority to raise another regiment. This was filled
up principall}'^ from Erie and Chautauqua counties, and went forward in
September, becoming the 49th New York Infantry.
Battery I, of the ist New York Artillery, was formed in August
and September, under Captain Michael Medrich,and went to the front in
October, besides numerous detachments raised for outside regiments.
Still another regiment began its career in Erie county, in September.
This was not filled up until February, 1862, when it was ordered to the
seat of war as the looth New York Infantry.
Oddly enough, notwithstanding the Republicans swept the State in
the autumn of 1861 by over a hundred thousand majority, and although
they had carried the county the two previous years, yet this time the
Democrats were at least partially successful, electing both the State Sen-
ator and Sheriff.
On the assembling of Congress in December, the member from Erie
county, Mr. Elbridge G. Spaulding, was placed on the most important
committee of the house, that of Wa}-^ and Means, of which Thaddeus
Stevens was Chairman. That Committee soon constituted two sub-
236 History of Erie County.
Committees from among its members, to one of which all subjects
were referred relating to the making of loans, the issuing of Treasury
notes, and the creation of a currency. Of the latter, Mr. Spaulding
was Chairman.
The Secretary of the Treasury had, in his report, opposed the issu-
ing of Treasury notes, and had recommended that the entire money of
the country, aside from coin, should be furnished by National banks. At
the request of the Secretary, Mr. Spaulding drew up a bill embodying
these views, but, while doing so, became convinced that such a currency
could not be made available quick enough to meet the enormous and
pressing demand for money. He therefore drafted a legal-tender, treas-
ury-note section, which the urgency of the case soon caused him to
change into a separate bill, which he introduced into the House of Rep^
resentatives on his own motion, on the 30th of December, 1861. It pro-
vided that, for temporar)' purposes, the Secretary of the Treasury was
authorized to issue $50,000,000 of Treasury -notes, payable on demand, of
denominations not less than five dollars, which should be a legal-tender
for all debts public or private, and which should be exchangeable for the
bonds of the Government at par. This was the germ of the vast " green-
back " currency of the United States.
The Committee of Ways and Means was about equally divided in
regard to it, and it was severely criticised by some financiers. To such
critics Mr. Spaulding had, in substance, but one reply : —
" Show us a better way. We shall be out of money in a very brief
period. Taxes cannot be raised in time. A National-bank act cannot be
put in operation in time. What is to be done ? **
Most of those who were in earnest in support of the Government,
either favored the bill from the first, or were convinced by Mr. Spauld-
ing's cogent statement of the case. After considerable hesitation, the
Secretary of the Treasury gave his assent to it, and a majority of the
Committee of Ways and Means reported it to the House. There it was
strongly opposed, not only by leading Democrats, but by a few Republi-
cans. While it was under discussion. Secretary Chase became urgent in
its favor, as he found he had no other means to carry on the Govern-
ment. The amount of currency provided for was changed to $150,000,-
000, and a section was added providing for §500,000,000 of United States
bonds, in which these legal-tender notes should be fundable.
In this shape the bill was passed by the House. The Senate amend-
ed it so as to provide for the payment of the interest on the bonds in
coin, which occasioned another hot debate in the House. Mr. Spauld-
ing and other leaders believed that the coin could not be obtained with-
out a ruinous sacrifice. Finally the expedient was hit on of providing
for the payment of the interest in coin, by making the duties on imports
also payable in coin. In this form, (for the other changes were o< minor
^
-r-^
^
The Close of the War. 237
importance) the bill was passed by both Houses, and on the 25th of Feb-
ruary, 1862, was approved by the President. The Bank Act was not
passed until a year later, and by that time the " greenbacks " authorized
by Mr. Spaulding*s bill had become the principal currency of the country,
and remained so throughout the war.
After the disasters of the Virginia Peninsula, and the subsequent call
of the President for 300,000 more volunteers, Governor Morgan divided
this State into regimental districts, of which Erie county was one,
appointed a committee of prominent men in each district, to supervise
the formation of a new regiment. In this county it was pushed rapidly
forward, and on the 5th of September, the ii6tfi Regiment, under Colonel
Edward P. Chapin, set out for the front; nearly, or quite every man
being a citizen of the county of Erie.
The summer's disasters naturally strengthened the opposition to the
administration, and at the fall election the county went for the Demo-
cratic party ; the Hon. John Ganson being elected to Congress by about
three thousand majority.
By a law passed in 1862, the representation of Buffalo in the Board
of Supervisors was increased to three each in the ist, 2d, 4th, 5th and
6th wards; two each in the 3d, 8th, 9th, loth, nth and 12th wards; and
one in the 13th ward ; giving a total of thirty-one city members to twenty-
five country members. This caused general distrust in the towns, and
the next year the law was again changed so as to give two supervisors to
each ward of Buffalo except the thirteenth, which was allowed one. By
this arrangement the city had twenty-five members of the board, being
the same number which represented the towns — thus preventing any
unfair advantage on the part of either urban or rural portion of the
county, although at the expense of an occasional deadlock. This balance
of power has ever since been retained.
During 1864, the intense public interest regarding the success of the
armies in the field and the task of recruiting and supplying them was
increased to still greater heat by a most exciting presidential election, on
the result of which in the opinion of a large majority of the Northern
people the very existence of the Republic depended. In this county, for
the fourth time the Democratic party was successful, the Hon. James
M. Humphrey being elected to Congress.
The next spring saw the close of the great war, and the restoration
of the National power. During the summer of 1865, the gallant bands of
Erie county soldiers who had gone forth to defend the Nation's life
(except the 21st infantry, which had been mustered out on the expira-
tion of its two years' service in 1863,) came back from fields of carnage
to lay down their arms and to engage almost instantly in the pursuits
and labors of peace. Since that time there have been few events in Erie
county requiring a record here. Human nature is so constituted that
16
238 History of Erie County.
while the story of conflict is almost always perused with eager eye, the
story of labor needs the mystic touch of time to give it zest. The
details of the progress of city and towns will be given in the separate
histories of each, and the wonderful development of railroads around
the foot of Lake Erie, will be told in the chapter particularly devoted
to those enterprises ; so there is little left for this continuous record.
Yet the political changes in Erie county during the last eighteen
years have been so numerous and so violent as to furnish something of a
study to those who take an interest in partisan warfare. At the election
succeeding the close of the war, the Republicans at last obtained a ma-
jority in Erie county, but Ihe very next year they were dispossessed by
the Democrats and Hon. James M. Humphrey was re-elected to Congress.
In 1867 the last-named party retained power, but in 1868 the county went
over with a rush to the Republican side ; the Grant electoral ticket and
Hon. David S. Bennett, the Republican candidate for Congress being
elected by over two thousand majority.
In 1869 the Republicans still held possession, but the next year the
Democrats captured all the prizes, the Hon. William Williams being
elected to Congress. In 1871, the Republicans took their turn, and in
1872, the year of the Grant and Greeley campaign, the bird of triumph
seemed to have come to that side to stay ; Hon. Lyman K. Bass, the Re-
publican nominee for Congress, with all his associates being elected by
over five thousand majority. Yet the very next year there was a mixed
result, the Democrats electing one of the candidates for the three leading
officers, and the Republicans two. With one more turn of the wheel
(1874,) the Democrats had a majority in everything but Congressman,
Mr. Bass being re-elected to the National Legislature. The next year
the Republicans were ahead by three thousand five hundred majority. In
the Presidential election of 1876, the results were divided; the Hon.
Daniel N. Lockwood being elected to Congress by the Democrats by a
small majority.
In 1877 the Repblicans were decidedly in the advance and again in
1878, when Hon. Ray V. Pierce was the successful Republican candidate
for Congress. The next year they still maintained their ascendency. In
1880, while the Republicans gave a handsome majority for General Gar-
field and their nominees for the county offices, the Democratic candidate
for Congress, Hon. Jonathan Scoville, was the winner by a small major-
ity. Next year the Republican State ticket had a majority in the county,
while the local candidates of that party were badly defeated. In 1882
the case was exactly reversed ; the Republicans electing most of their
local candidates (although General William F. Rogers was successful
as the Deipocratic nominee for Congress) while their State ticket was
buried under an enormous adverse vote. The Democratic candidate
for Governor, Hon. Grover Cleveland, was the first citizen 01 Erie
Commercial Position of Erie County. 239
county ever elected Governor of New York, and had the largest majority
ever cast for Governor in any State of the Union.
The commercial barometer, during the eighteen years since the
war, has not changed so often nor aa freakishly as the political, but it
has been sufficiently variable to fill the votaries of commerce with the
wildest hopes and the gloomiest fears, to cause the upbuilding of many
fortunes and the wreck of many others, and to sweep through three
broad phases of financial experience, most deeply affecting the welfare of
the Nation.
In fact, this is a matter more of National than of local history, for
Erie county has been chiefly affected by the same causes which have
elevated or depressed the financial fortunes of the country at large, yet
with a difference. Like the rest of the country it rode on the tide of
apparent prosperity, when an inflated currency gave fictitious value to
every description of property ; like the country at large it sank into
five years of depression, when the bubble burst in 1873 — a depression
by no means so disastrous as the celebrated "Hard Times" of 1837,
but more serious than the financial crisis of 1857 — and like the country
at large it regained and has retained prosperity during 1879 ^^^ ^^^
succeeding years.
But regarding this last phase there seem to be elements of larger
increase and greater permanence than are elsewhere observed, at least in
the Eastern States. The commercial value of the position at the foot of
Lake Erie seems never before to have been so thoroughly appreciated
as now. Railroads are centering here from every direction, and now
more plainly than ever before the county of Erie is seen to be the
great natural gateway between the East and West. It is the gateway
through which the warriors of the " Long House" sped on their errands
of slaughter; through which the French explorers, traders, priests and
soldiers passed on their various missions of peace and war, through
which the red-coated English marched to dispossess both their Indians
and Gallic foes, through which passed a little later a host of American
farmers and mechanics, superseding the adventurers of all nations and
seizing fast hold of the soil itself, the source of all National greatness
and endurance, through which for more than fifty years has swept a
vast tide of emigration from other lands into the fertile regions of
the mighty West, and through which now rolls an ever-increasing tide
of commerce, never surpassed, in one narrow channel, in the history
of the world.
240 History of Erie County.
CHAPTER XXV.
TWENTY-FIRST INFANTRY AND OTHER REGIMENTS.
The First Company — Four Companies go to Elmira— The Rest Follow — Organisation of the
Regiment— Roster of OflScers — Dispute about Length of Term— Men Imprisoned —
Off to Washington— In Garrison at Fort Runyon — Bull's Run — In Wadsworth's Brigade —
At Upton Hill through the Winter — Fort Buffalo — Parting with Wadsworth — Operations
in the Spring — The Twenty-First at Fredericksburg — Its Farthest Southern Point — Weary
Marches— Conflict of July 28th — Second Bull Run — Hard Fighting — Attacking a
Railroad Embankment — Men Falling Fast— The Attack Repulsed — Fight Continued —
Pope's Army Defeated — Heavy Losses of the Twent-First — Sufferings of the Wounded
— The Twenty-First at South Mountain — At Antietam — Driving the Enemy — The
Campaign of Fredericksburg — Provost Duty — Return Home and Discharge — Changes
Among Officers— Final Roster — Thirty-Third Infantry — Richmond Guards— In Virginia
— Brigaded with the Forty-Ninth — The Thirty-Third at Yorktown— At Golden's Farm —
At Mary's Heights— Discharge — Forty-Fourth Infantry — Company A — Battles of the
Regiment — Changes Among Officers of Company A.
Twenty-First Infantry.
AS stated in the last chapter, the first company of Erie county vol-
unteers was organized at Buffalo by the election of officers on the
1 8th day of April 1861, but probably the ranks were not then full,
as the muster-in rolls showed that the company was not legally organiz-
ed until the first day of May. By the 3d of May, three more companies
had been formed, (though these two were not legally organized until
somewhat later,) and all four set out from Buffalo for Elmira, which had
been designated as the rendezvous for the volunteers of Western New
York. An immense number of people witnessed their departure. They
were escorted to the Erie railroad depot by the '* Union Continentals," a
body of elderly citizens, who had donned the old " Continental " Uniform
and organized themselves into a company, with ex-President Fillmore as
Captain, to encourage warlike spirit among the more youthful part of the
community. At Niag^ara Square a short halt was made, and a handsome
flag was presented to the volunteers, by the young ladies of the Central
School, represented by Miss Julia Paddock. On arriving at Elmira, the
four companies went into camp and awaited the arrival of the other six.
These were rapidly formed, several companies of the 74th Militia
being used as puclei of the new organizations. On the nth of May, the
remaining six companies proceeded to Elmira, where the wliole ten were
speedily organized into a regiment which took the name of the Twenty-
first New York Volunteer Infantry. The line officers were elected by
The Twenty-First New York Volunteers. 241
the men of their respective companies, and the former then chose
the field officers. The following is the first roster of the officers,
with the total number 61 officers and men in each company, and the
time it was organized, according to the muster rolls officially published
by the State :—
FtWd and Staff. — Colonel, William F. Rogers ; Lieutenant-Colonel,
Adrian R. Root ; Major, William H. Drew ; Adjutant, C. W. Sternberg ;
Surgeon, H. P. Clinton; Assistant-Surgeon, J. A. Peters; Chaplam,
John E. Robie.
Company A. — Captain, Robert P. Gardner; Lieutenants, Levi Vallier
and Charles S. McBeau; organized May i, 1861; seventy-seven officers
and men.
Company B. — Captain, Henry M. Gaylord ; Lieutenants, Algar M.
Wheeler and James J. McLeish ; organized May 10, 1861 ; seventy-seven
officers and men.
Company C. — Captain, J. P. Washburn; Lieutenants, Allen M. Adams
and John H. Canfieid; organized May 18, 1861 ; seventy-seven officers
and men.
Company D. — Captain, William C. Alberger ; Lieutenants, George
M. Baker and William F. Wheeler; organized May 8, 1861 ; seventy-seven
officers and men.
Company E. — Captain, James C. Strong ; Lieutenants, Charles E.
Efner and Thomas Sloan; organized May 7, 1861 ; sixty-six officers
and men.
Company F. — Captain, George DeWitt Clinton ; Lieutenants, Thomas
B. Wright and Charles B. Darrow ; organized May 7, 1861 ; seventy-seven
officers and men.
Company G. — Captain, Edward L. Lee ; Lieutenants, Daniel Meyers,
Jr., and J. E. Bergtold ; organized May 12, 1861 ; seventy-seven officers
and men.
Company H. — Captain, Elisha L. Hay ward; Lieutenants, Samuel
Wilkesonand Hugh Johnson ; organized May i, 1861 ; seventy-one officers
and men.
Company /. — Captain, Horace G. Thomas; Lieutenants, Abbott C.
Calkins and William O. Brown, Jr.; organized May i, 1861 ; seventy-
four officers and men.
Company K. — Captain, John M. Layton ; Lieutenants, Augustus N.
Gillett and John Nicholson; organized May 18, 1861 ; (accepted April
23d) ; seventy-four officers and men.
These, with the seven field and staff officers and the f6ur non-com-
missioned staff officers, shown on the roll, make an aggregate of seven
hundred and forty-one officers and men in the regiment when it was
sworn into the United States service. All were from Erie county, and
nearly all were from Buffalo.
The men had enlisted at Buffalo for two years, but through some
blunder they were mustered into the United States service for only three
months. The mistake was one of the many caused by the organization
of a large army almost at a moment's notice. At the end of the three
months a part of the men demanded their release, though the majority
were willing to serve during the time originally agreed upon. Those
242 History of Erie County.
who had had enough of war declared that, though they might be held
to two years' service by the State of New York, they could not be
retained beyond three months by the United States. Governor Morgan
sought to avoid this difficulty by transferring the State's authorit}' over
them to the United States. The legality of this proceeding was dispu-
ted, but after considerable trouble all but forty-one men agreed to per-
form service during the remainder of the two years. The forty-one who
positively refused to do so were confined in Fortress Monroe, but were
subsequently released on their promising to do duty, and serve out their
time in another regiment.
On the i8th of June, the Twenty-first proceeded by rail from Elmira
to Washington, where it remained until the fore part of July. It was
then moved across the Potomac, being stationed at Fort Runyon, about
two miles west of the Virginia end of the famous ** Long Bridge." One
company, however, was stationed directly at the bridge, and one at the
Navy yard in Washington. Here the regiment remained nearly two
months, acquiring the elements of soldiership, and drilling not only as
infantry, but as artillery ; so as to be able to repel an assault, if one should
be made upon the fort.
Here, early in the morning of Monday, the next day after the
battle of Bull Run, the men of the Twenty-first saw the first fugitives
from the beaten army come straggling back from the fatal field, and all
day they watched the demoralized throng containing hardly a single
regiment that was not utterly broken up, come surging back toward
the Long Bridge. At first the runaways were allowed to pass, but
ere long the Twenty-first was ordered to stop them, in order that
they might be re-organized on the west side of the river. Near night
two companies of the regiment were sent out as skirmishers, remain-
ing on the skirmish line two or three days. There they saw their first
armed rebels, being some cavalry who rode up, took a look at them
and rode away.
It was not until the latter part of August, 1861, that the regiment
was assigned to a brigade, at which time it was made a part of the one
commanded by the lamented General James S. Wadsworth, of Geneseo.
Some time was spent near Arlington Heights, where a part of a fort was
built by the regiment, but ere long it was removed to Upton Hill, located
five or six miles a little north of west from Fort Runyon. This was its
abiding place during the winter of 1861 and *62, being engaged in drill and
other routine duties, with an occasional reconnoisance. While there, also,
the men erected a fort a little westward of Upton Hill, on high ground,
overlooking the valley in which Falls church is situated. To this, in
honor of the city where they were organized, the name of " Fort
Buffalo " was given. It remained throughout the war one of the
prominent defenses of Washington.
In Wadsworth's Brigade. 243
In March, 1862, Wads worth's brigade advanced to Centerville.
While there the General was relieved of the command and ordered to
Washington, and the action of the brigade shows the feeling which
always prevailed on the part of the men under his command toward that
kindly gentleman, true patriot, and gallant soldier. His removal from
the command was known in the brigade less than an hour before his de-
parture, but by a spontaneous movement all the men not on duty hastened
to his quarters, and when he mounted his horse to go he found them
ranged on either side of the road ready to greet him with the warmest and
most heartfelt cheers. The old General, who though long past middle
age had left a luxurious home to aid his stricken country, was deeply
touched by the devotion of his soldiers, and after thanking them, with
the tears standing in his eyes, he promised never to forget them ; and in
fact, as long as the brigade existed he never came into its vicinity with-
out visiting it. He was succeeded by General Marsena R. Patrick, a
strict disciplinarian, at first not much admired by the volunteers, but
afterwards well liked on account of his thorough impartiality, his bravery
in battle, and his zealous care for the welfare of his men.
Soon afterwards, the brigade moved back to Alexandria. After Gen-
eral McClellan removed to the Peninsula with his main army, Patrick's
brigade, as a part of McDowell's corps, marched to Fairfax Court House
and other points, and finally arrived at Fredericksburg, where it camped
on the north side of the Rappahannock. Here the Twenty-first remained
until the middle of the summer, except for a short time when it marched
to re-enforce General Banks. During most of this period, Company C
was headquarter guard for General McDowell.
After the regiment returned from Banks' army, it was encamped on
the south side of the Rappahannock, on the heights south of Fredericks-
burg. While there, two companies, acting as guard for a train, had a
skirmish with some Confederate cavalry, which they easily repelled, on
a branch of the Mattapony river. This, we believe, was the farthest
southern point reached by any of the Twenty-first New York.
A week or two later, McClellan's army began to arrive at Freder-
icksburg, after the disastrous campaign of the Peninsula. All the Union
forces in Virginia were placed under the command of General Pope.
Then came long and weary marches in rapid succession. The Twenty-
first moved to Cedar Mountain to aid Banks, but arrived there after he
had been defeated. He and his opponents were both gone, and the
Twenty-first encamped on the side of the mountain. A day or two later
it retreated to Culpepper Court House, whence it moved to Rappahan-
nock Station. From there it marched up the Rappahannock toward the
enemy, coming in conflict with some of the rebel troops at long range,
but suffering no loss, although cannon balls and sharp-shooters' bullets
frequently fell in unpleasant proximity.
244 History of Erie County.
At length Patrick's Brigade reached Warrenton Springs, and the
signs of impending conflict grew more numerous. Clouds of dust were
seen rising in various directions where Union and Confederate columns
were moving to secure what their Generals considered the most desir-
able positions. The next march was to Gainesville, where the men
bivouacked, with their arms by their sides. The following day Patrick's
Brigade moved out toward the enemy on the Warrenton turnpike. A
Wisconsin brigade was posted just in advance of it, and became warmly
engaged with the rebels. Both parties held their position until dark.
Late in the afternoon the Twenty-first was placed in the skirmish line
on the left of the Wisconsin brigade, and at dark was moved past that
brigade into the same wood in which the rebels were posted, where it
remained during the night.
The following day, August 29th, the Brigade marched to the point
where the Warrenton turnpike crosses a branch of Bull Run. On its way
it passed General Fitz John Porter's Corps, at the time and place where
he was charged with refusing to attack the enemy according to orders.
Before King's Division, which included Patrick's Brigade, reached Bull
Run, the troops of Kearney, Hooker, and other Generals had driven
back the rebels, and the men of the Twenty-first again bivouacked by
the side of their arms.*
On the 30th the Brigade was driven from its position by Rebel shells,
but moved only a short distance back. Until 3 o'clock the Union troops
were concentrating from right and left to meet the expected foe. At
that hour the conflict known as the Second Battle of Bull Run, began.
At first Patrick's Brigade was in the second line of battle, with another,
under General Hatch, in a piece of woods in front of it. Then the last
mentioned force was moved to the right, and Patrick's Brigade marched
into line on its left. As it emerged from the woods on the farther side,
the rebels opened with artillery and musketry from a railroad embank-
ment held by them. The Twenty-first knelt down behind a rail fence,
and steadily returned the fire.
Presently advance was ordered, the men sprang over the fence and
moved rapidly toward the embankment. The bullets flew thick among
them, and men fell fast all along the line. Sergeant Bishop fell with the
flag only a few steps from the fence. Corporal Sheldon raised it and fell
dead a moment later. But others quickly raised it again, and bore it
onward. Nearly every man of the Color Guard was killed or wounded,
and scores of others fell on either side.
It was found impossible to seize the embankment, and the men were
ordered to shelter themselves as best they could in a dry ditch about half
way between the fence from whence they had started and the railroad.
An active fire was kept up between the ditch and the embankment. Col-
onel Rogers walking along the edge of the ditch and steadily directing
The Second Battle of Bull Run. 245
the men. At length the enemy turned the right of the line, and the
shattered remnant of the Twenty-first was ordered to rally around its
colors and move slowly back to the wood. As is well known, Pope's
army was entirely defeated, and compelled to retire toward Washington,
though not in such wild disorder as marked the retreat from the same
ground a year before.
Of the four hundred officers and men, (or a little over) of the Twenty-
first who made that attack on the embankment, fifty were killed and a
hundred and thirteen seriously wounded, besides many others slightly
wounded. Eleven officers were killed or wounded. Captain Washburn
and Lieutenant Whiting were killed and Lieutenant Mulligan was mor-
tally wounded. Colonel Rogers was slightly and Major Thomas severely
wounded. Captains Lee, Canfield and Wheeler and Lieutenants Efner,
Barney and Myers were also wounded.
When the Union troops retired, the Confederates swept over the field,
found many wounded, and some it must be admitted who were unhurt.
When the order was given to " rally on the colors " these preferred stay-
ing in the ditch. These the rebels took with them in their hurried march.
To the badly wounded they merely said " You are prisoners," and passed
rapidly on.
This was Saturday, and it was not until the next Saturday, a full
week later that all of the wounded were removed from the battle ground.
For a day or two the triumphant rebels refused to allow ambulance
trains to pass from Washington. This, however, they permitted' by
Monday, when some Confederate officers came upon the field and an
arrangement was made by which the wounded prisoners were paroled or
exchanged where they lay. Surgeons came out from Washington and
men were sent over the battle-field — or fields, for that whole region had
been fought over for several days — with stretchers and ambulances, to
bring the wounded men together at a central point, where some of the
most necessary surgical operations were performed. Surgeons and assis-
tants were alike overwhelmed with labor, and it was not until Wednes-
day or Thursday that all were even brought together. Many suffered
for lack of food and more from lack of attendance. Even after they were
collected at one point they lay, with little food, under the open sky, and
as before said it was not until Saturday that all were removed to the
hospitals at Washington.
Meanwhile the Twenty-first, or what was left of it, with its comrade
regiments, marched, sad and dispirited, to Germantown and Upton Hill,
and finally to Washington. McClellan being restored to the command
of the army, it moved northward to meet the enemy, who had crossed
into Maryland. On the 14th day of September, Hooker's corps, pre-
viously commanded by McDowell, came in contact with the Confeder-
ates on the slopes of South Mountain. With the Twenty-first and Thirty.
246 History of Erie County.
fifth New York, covering the front as skirmishers, the corps moved
steadily up the mountain, driving back the enemy's skirmishers and then
his main line. The Twenty-first secured a well-protected position, so
located that the Confederates were obliged to drive it away or retire
themselves from its front. They made a gallant attempt to dislodge it,
but were driven back with heavy loss, falling in large numbers all along
the front of the Erie county regiment. So well were the latter sheltered
that their whole loss consisted of four men wounded, one mortally.
South Mountain being firmly secured by the Union army without
serious difficulty, that army pressed forward to the banks of Antietam
creek, and on the i6th of September the battle of Antietam was fought
between the armies of McClellan and Lee. The Twenty-first was hotly
engaged. After a long and steady interchange of musketry with the
Confederates in its front, a test which the men bore like veterans, they
fixed bayonets, charged fiercely on the foe and drove him in hot haste
from what he had considered a secure position. In fact, in their enthu-
siasm they got so far in advance of their brigade that General Patrick
ordered them back into line. The rebels seemed to think they were giv-
ing way and came yelling in their rear, but the Erie county men again
faced about, charged, and drove them back again with severe loss.
Meanwhile, the battle raged fiercely over a wide field. The enemy
was slowly pressed back, and though not entirely routed was so severely
punished that the next day he gave up the contest and retreated toward
the Potomac. In the Twenty-first seventeen men were killed, while
Captain Gardner, Lieutenants Vallier and Hickcy and fifty-three men
were wounded. As there were but few over two hundred men in the
ranks at the beginning of the battle, this was proportionately a very
severe loss.
The army followed the rebels across the Potomac, and again took up
its position in Northern Virginia. A general advance was expected, but
General McClellan declared it impracticable, and at length he was
removed from the command, which was transferred to General Burnside.
General Paul was placed at the head of the brigade previously com-
manded by General Patrick.
After several weeks of preparation, and much marching in the cold
and mud of late autumn, General Burnside led his army against the Con-
federates, well posted and well intrenched, behind the Rappahannock, at
Fredericksburg. The result, as is well known, was the severe defeat of
the Union arms at that place on the 12th of December, 1862. Fortunately
for the decimated Twenty-first it was kept in reserve on the north side
of the Rappahannock, and suffered but little loss, although on the 13th it
had one man killed and three wounded by the Confederate artillery
firing across the river.
The men suffered greatly however from cold, and rain, and snow,
both at the time of the fight and during the subsequent retreat. From
Muster Out of the Twenty-First. 247
these discomforts it was relieved, to a great degree, before the end of the
year, as, on account of its hard service and weak numbers, it was trans-
ferred to its old commander, General Patrick, then acting as Provost-
Marshal of the Army of the Potomac. The regiment was retained on
the comparatively easy duty of provost-guard until the end of its term.
It was ordered home the last of April. When all its members were
recalled from hospital and special duty it had four hundred and ninety-
five officers and men. These proceeded by rail to Buffalo, where a grand
ovation was tendered them, as they formed the first regiment which had
returned to Erie county from the seat of war. Besides the decrease in
the number of men, numerous changes had taken place among the offi-
cers. Lieutenant-Colonel Root had been made Colonel of the Ninety-
fourth New York, and Captain Strong, Lieutenant-Colonel of the Thirty-
eighth New York ; both of these officers subsequently becoming Briga-
dier-Generals. Captain Alberger became Lieutenant-Colonel of the Forty-
ninth New York in the summer of 1861. Major Drew had been com-
missioned as Lieutenant-Colonel in place of Alberger, but had resigned in
September, 1862. Captain Thomas had been promoted to Major, but
had also resigned. Adjutant Sternberg had been promoted to Major in
September, 1862, and to Lieutenant-Colonel in December, 1862. Cap-
tain Lee had succeeded him as Major. The following were the officers
of the Twenty-first when it was mustered out of service, according to
the report of the Adjutant-General of the State : —
Field and Staff. — Colonel, William F. Rogers, (Brevet Brigadier-
General); Lieutenant-Colonel, Chester W. Sternberg; Major. Edward
F. Lee ; Adjutant, Samuel P. Gail; Quartermaster, Albert F. Ransom ;
Surgeon, Seth French ; Assistant Surgeons, Thomas W. Johnson and
Charles B. Fry ; Chaplain, John E. Robie.
Captains, — Robert P. Gardner, Algar M. Wheeler, George L. Rem-
ington, Byron Schermerhorn, Allen M. Adams, George De Witt Clinton,
Daniel Myers, Jr., Levi Vallier, Peter C. Doyle, (Brevet-Major), and
John M. Layton.
First-Lieutenants, — ^John E. Ransom, James J. McLeish, George
Hurst, Henry C. Beebe, Charles E. Efner, Frederick Minery, Samuel
McMurray, Jacob E. Bergtold, Henry H. Halsey and James S.
Mulligan.
Second-Lieutenants, — John W. Davock, Francis Myers, Daniel Blatch-
ford, James S. Go wans, Harmanus H. Bridges, Wilham B. Jewett, John
McCabe, Gayer Gardner and George T. Cook.
Immediately after its arrival in Buffalo the regiment was disbanded,
but a large mumber of its members subsequently re-entered the serviqe
and continued battling to the end of the war for the existence and wel-
fare of their country.
Thirty-Third Infantry.
Soon after the fall of Fort Sumter, Theodore B. Hamilton, of Buf-
falo, raised a company of Infantry, which for a time was called the Rich-
248 History of Erie County.
mend Guards, in honor of the late Dean Richmond. Its ranks were
speedily filled, when it proceeded to Elmira under the following officers :
Captain, Theodore B. Hamilton ; First-Lieutenant, Alexis E. Ensta-
phieve ; Second Lieutenant, Ira V. Germain.
There it united with other companies (from Ontario and ad-
joining counties) to form the Thirty-third New York Infantry, which
was organized on the 2ist day of May, 1861, although it was only mus-
tered into service (for two years from the date of organization) on the
3d day of July following ; the Richmond Guards ^became Company G.
Five days later the Regiment set out for Washington, and after remain-
ing two months in and near that city, it crossed into Virginia. It con-
structed Fort Ethan Allen, about six miles northwest of Washington,
and remained in that vicinity until the following spring, having occa-
sionally slight skirmishes with a rebel scouting party.
During this time it was made a part of the Third brigade of Gen-
eral W. F. Smith's division, along with the Forty-ninth and Seventy-
seventh New York, and Seventh Maine, and remained in that brigade
till it was mustered out. A g(*.neral idea of its services can therefore be
gained by reading the sketch of the Forty-ninth New York, down to
the battle of Chancellorsville, and as the Thirty-third contained but one
Erie county company, we will refer the reader to that sketch.
On two or three occasions, however, the last named regiment hap-
pened to be more warmly engaged than the Forty -ninth. On the 6th
of April the Thirty-third had a sharp skirmish near Yorktown, in which
St. Gale and several privates of Company G were wounded.
On the 28th of June, while the Thirty-third, with two companies of
a Pennsylvania regiment, was holding the picket line near Golden's
farm, they were furiously attacked by two full Confederate regiments,
who drove them back a short distance, capturing Captain Hamilton of
Company G, and several of his men. The New Yorkers and Pennsyl-
vanians then made a stand, reserving their fire until the enemy was
close at hand, when they poured in a murderous volley, and the Confed-
erates fled in great confusion. The latter again charged and were again
repulsed. Colonel Lamar^ of the Eighth Georgia, called them forward
once more, but fell dangerously wounded and was taken prisoner, when
the rebels finally fled, leaving ninety -one dead on the field, and many
wounded. Captain Hamilton was soon exchanged.
On the 3d day of May, 1863, the Thirty-third was one of twenty-
four regiments selected to storm Mary's Heights, south of Fredericks-
burg, and most gallantly did it perform that duty. While leading a
charge' against a heavy battery it had six color-bearers shot down in a
few moments, and seventy men killed and wounded, but in spite of this
the colors were still borne aloft, the Regiment still swept forwaid, and
the battery was captured.
Thirty-Third Infantry — Forty-Fourth Infantry. 249
Then, as related in the sketch of the Forty-ninth, Sedgwick's com-
mand pushed toward Chancellorsville, but was attacked from the left at
Salem Heights, and compelled to re-cross the Rappahannock. In this
conflict the Thirty-third suffered stilf more severely than before, and it is
estimated that it had two hundred and fifty men killed, wounded and
captured in the Chancellorsville campaign.
During its term Captain Hamilton, of Company G, had been pro-
moted to Lieutenant-Colonel of the Sixty-second New York Infantry.
At the muster-out the officers of Company G, were Captain George A.
Gale, promoted from First Sergeant ; First Lieutenant George W. Mar-
shall, promoted from Sergeant, and Second Lieutenant Byron F. Crain,
promoted from Corporal.
Forty-Fourth Infantry.
The Forty-fourth New York Infantry, commonly known as the
Ellsworth Regiment, was raised in various parts of the State during the
summer of 1861, and was mustered into the United States' service from
the 30th of August till the 15th of October in that year. Company A
was raised in Erie county, its first officers being Edward P. Chapin,
Captain; George M. LovCj First Lieutenant ; and Benjamin K. Kimberly,
Second "Lieutenant.
The regiment soon joined the Army of the Potomac, and remained in
it till the close of the war, taking part in the conflicts at Yorktown,
Hanover Court House, Gaines* Mill, Malvern Hill, Second Bull Run,
Antietam, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Jones' Cross
Roads, Rappahannock Station, Mine Run, Wilderness, Spottsylvania,
North Anna, Bethesda Church, Weldon Railroad and Siege of Peters-
burg. It was mustered out of service on the nth of October, 1864;
the re-enlisted veterans and the recruits being transferred to the One
Hundred and Fortieth and One Hundred and Forty-sixth New York
Volunteers.
Captain Chapin was promoted to Major in January, 1862, and in
August following was discharged to accept the Colonelcy of the One
Hundred and Sixteenth New York. Lieutenant Love was promoted to
Captain in place of Chapin, and was likewise discharged in August, 1863,
being appointed Major of the One Hundred and Sixteenth. Lieutenant
Kimberly was promoted to First Lieutenant in January, 1863, and to
Captain in May, 1863. He was mustered out with the regiment.
2SO History of Erie County.
CHAPTER XXVI.
FDRTY-NINTH INFANTRY RNB OTHER REGIMENTS.
Organization of the 49ih — Roster of Officers — To New York and Washington — Preparation —
Movement to the Peninsula — Williamsburg — Gallantry of the 49th — Mechanicsville —
The Retreat — Return to Alexandria — Too Late for Second Bull Run — Antietam — Fred-
ericksburg — Chancellorsville — Capture of Mary's Heights — Re-crossing the Rappahan-
nock — Accession from the 33rd — Extraordinary March — Gettysbui^ — Winter Quarters —
The Great Campai^ — Wilderness — Spottsylvania — Cold Harbor — Heavy Losses —
Fort Stevens — On the Shenandoah — Opequan Creek — Discharge of Non-Veterans —
Consolidation into a Battalion — Cedar Creek — Death of Bidwell — Back to Petersburg —
Capture of the Last Stronghold — Return and Discharge — Roster of Officers at Muster-out
— List of Battles — Sixty-Fourth Infantry — Company A, from Erie County — Its Battles
— Various Officers — Seventy-Eighth Infantry — One Company from Erie County — Its
Battles, etc.
FoRTY-NiNTH Infantry.
ON the 25th day of July, 1861, Governor Morgan issued a proclama-
tion, calling for twenty-five thousand more volunteers from the State
of New York, to serve three years, or during the war ; their ren-
dezvous being established at New York, Albany and Elmira. The details
of organization were set forth in an order from the office of the Adju-
tant-General of the State, issued five days later.
On the 25th of July, there was a meeting of the Buffalo Committee
on the Defense of the Union, at which were present Major F. A. Alber-
ger, Messrs. H. W. Rogers and Jason Sexton, of the citizen's branch
of the committee, and Aldermen A. S. Bemis, E. P. Dorr, James Adams,
Edward Storck, A. A. Howard and C. C. Felton, of the Common Coun-
cil. The committee adopted a resolution to furnish subsistence and
other aid in raising another regiment of infantry, and requested Major
Daniel D. Bidwell to superintend its formation. Major Bidwell ac-
cepted the task thus offered, with the understanding on all sides that he
was to be the Colonel of the regiment, though this of course could not
be finally determined until it was organized. He was then about forty-
five years old, and was a son of Buffalo's pioneer ship-builder, Benjamin
Bidwell. He had long been a zealous officer of militia, and had gained
considerable celebrity as the commander of " Company D," an organiza-
tion unsurpassed as to drill or discipline in the State.
On the 30th of July, Colonel Bidwell issued his first recruiting com-
missions. These were speedily followed by others, several being sent
to citizens of Chautauqua county, and the work of raising the new regi-
Roster of Officers. 251
ment was pushed rapidly forward. In the fore part of September, the
various companies and detachments were assembled at Buffalo, and on
the i6th, the regiment, though not quite full, set out for New York.
There several detachments were consolidated, a compan)^ from West-
chester count}' was added, the officers were commissioned and the regi-
ment received the name of the Forty-ninth New York Volunteer Infan-
try. The following is a roster of the officers, with the number of officers
and men in each company and the locality where it was raised, accord-
ing to the muster-rolls published by the State : —
Field and Staff, — Colonel, Daniel D. Bid well ; Lieutenant-Colonel,
William C. Alberger : Major, George W. Johnson ; Adjutant, William
D. Bullymore ; Quartermaster, Henry D. Tillinghast ; Surgeon, James
A. Hall; Assistant-Surgeon, William W. Potter; Chaplain, Rev. John
Baldwin.
Company A. — Captain, Henry N. Marsh : Lieutenants, Philip S.
Cottle and Thomas F. Cluney ; ninet)--five officers and men; raised at
and near Fredonia, Chautauqua county.
Comyany B. — Captain, John F. E. Plogsted : Lieutenants, Frederick
Von Gayl and William Wuerz ; seventj-five officers and men ; raised at
Buffalo.
Company C — Captain, Charles H. Palmer ; Lieutenants, Gilbert J.
Greene and William T. Wiggins; ninety-five officers and men ; raised at
and near Port Chester, Westchester count}-, and in the city of New
York.
Company D, — Captain, William F. Wheeler ; Lieutenants, George
H. Selkirk and Peter A. Taylor ; ninet)' officers and men ; raised at
Buffalo.
Company E. — Captain, Reuben B. Heacock; Lieutenants, George
W. Gilman and William Ellis ; one hundred and six officers and men ;
raised at Buffalo.
Company F. — Captain, Erasmus W. Haines ; Lieutenants, Charles
H. Bidwell and Clarence A. Hickmott ; seventy-nine officers and men ;
raised at Buffalo.
Company G, — Captain, Jeremiah C. Drake ; Lieutenants, Philip
Stevens and Justin G. Thompson ; ninety-one officers and men ; raised
in Chautauqua county.
Company H- — Captain, Charles H. Moss ; Lieutenants, Andrew W.
Brazee and Henry D. Hall; ninety-three officers and men; raised in
Niagara county.
Company /. — Captain, Erastus D. Holt ; First-Lieutenant, James A.
Boyd; Second-Lieutenant not then mustered; sixty-seven officers and
men ; raised in Chautauqua county.
Company K. — Captain, Alonzo M. Marsh ; Lieutenants, Andrew J.
Bowen and Elial F. Carpenter ; ninety-one officers and men ; raised in
Chautauqua county.
The Forty-ninth proceeded from New York to Washington on the
2ist of September. It was ere long assigned to the Third Brigade in the
division commanded by General W. F. Smith, and remained in it
throughout its term of service. Its comrade regiments in the beginning
were the Thirty-third and Seventy-seventh New York and the Seventh
252 History of Erie County.
Maine. Through the autumn and winter the regiment, with its brigade
was encamped a short distance from Washington, on the Virginia side
of the Potomac, engaged in drilhng and other duties preparatory to the
more active scenes of a soldier's life. While there it took part in the bat-
tle of Duanesville, but without suffering much loss.
In Marchj 1862, the regiment proceeded with the army of the Poto-
mac to Fortress Monroe. It participated in the siege of Yorktown, and
then marched with the army up the peninsula toward Richmond ; the
Third Brigade being then commanded by General Davidson. At the
battle of Williamsburg that brigade and Hancock's, both under the com-
mand of that General, were ordered to turn the enemy's right. They
succeeded in gaining a desirable position, and then a brisk interchange
of musketry took place. Ere long the rebels made a gallant charge on
the two brigades. The latter made a countercharge and after a short
but desperate fight the Confederates were defeated, and this decided the
whole battle in favor of the Union army. General McCIellan personally
thanked the regiments of the two brigades mentioned, declaring that
while others had done well, they had won the fight. In May the brigade
was transferred to the Sixth Corps, in which it remained throughout
the war.
The Forty-ninth, %vith its brigade, was also in a sharp fight at
Mechanicsville, on the 23d of May, driving back the enemy without
difficulty, and capturing the town. The brigade then marched back to
Gaines* Mill, on the east bank of the Chickahominy, where it was stationed
during the battle of Fair Oaks. On the 5th of June it crossed the Chicka-
hominy to Golden's Farm, where it remained three weeks. On the 27th
of June occurred the battle of Gaines' Mill, or Gaines' Farm, just across
the Chickahominy. General McCIellan then, if not before, determined
to retreat to the James River. That night all the troops on the east side
crossed the Cnickahominy. • On the 28th the enemy made a fierce attack
at Golden's farm. They did not succeed in driving the Union troops
away, but they inflicted severe loss, and made a retreat more imperative
than before. Then followed the wearisome retreat to Malvern Hill,
Smith's Division, of which the Forty-ninth formed a part, was not very
seriously engaged during the retreat, although it was under fire at Savage
Station, and was subjected to a heavy cannonade at White Oak Swamps
on the 30th of June.
After the battle of Malvern Hill, the Fort)'-ninth retreated down the
James river, with the rest of the Army, to Harrison's Landing. There
it remained six weeks, during which time the brigade built a large fort.
About the middle of August the Sixth corps marched to Hampton where
it embarked'on shipboard, reaching Alexandria on the 23d, and going
into camp at Fort Ellsworth. On the 30th of August the Sixth corps,
commanded by General W. B. Franklin, was moving leisurely toward.
The Forty-Ninth at Antietam — Chancellorsville. 253
Bull Run, where Pope was being defeated by Lee and Jackson, but did
not reach the field in time to render any assistance.
The army then fell back on Washington and moved thence north-
wardly, under the command of General McClellan, to stop Lee's invasion
of Maryland. On the 14th of September, the Forty-ninth took part in
the capture of Crampton's Pass ; on the i6th it engaged in the skirmish
work preliminarv to the battle of Antietam, and on the 17th it was hotly
engaged in that great conflict. With the rest of Franklin's corps it
attacked the Confederates when the latter were pressing back the
Unionists and in turn compelled the rebels to flee. Lieutenant-Colonel
Alberger was severely wounded in this battle and the regiment suffered
heavily in killed and wounded. That officer resigning on account of his
wounds, Major Johnson was appointed Lieutenant-Colonel, and Captain
Ellis, who had gone to the front as Second Lieutenant, was made Major
The next day alter Antietam, the defeated enemy fell back toward the
Potomac, and two days later Smith's division moved to Williamsport,
Md. After several changes of location in that State and Northern Vir-
ginia, the Army of the Potomac, then under the command of General
Burnside, set out on the 15th of November, 1862, for Fredericksburgh.
At Falmouth, a short distance above Fredericksburg, on the opposite
side of the Rappahannock, there was another long delay, but on the 12th
of December the army crossed the river and, as is well known, was cono-
pletely defeated. The Forty-ninth was so stationed that it was not
seriously engaged.
On the 19th of December the Forty-ninth moved with its brigfadeto
White Oak Church, a short distance from Falmouth, and built cabins
where, except during a few days in January, 1863, (known as the period
of the " mud campaign,") it remained until the 27th of April, 1863.
When the Army of the Potomac, commanded by General Hooker,
moved against the enemy at Chancellorsville, the left wing, (of which the
Forty-ninth was a part), under General Sedgwick, crossed the Rappa-
hannock at Fredericksburg, while the main army passed over several
miles above. The regiment took part in the capture of Marye's Heights,
a strongly intrenched position back of Fredericksburg. Then Sedgwick's
command pushed on toward Chancellorsville to join Hooker, but was
attacked on the left flank and driven to the river, which it re-crossed.
The Forty-ninth was so stationed that it did not suffer serious loss.
A few days later the Thirty-third New York, a two years' regiment
in the same brigade, was ordered home to be mustered out. One hun-
dred and sixty-three of its men had still a considerable time to serve ;
these were formed into one company, under Captain Henry J. Gifford,
and transferred to the Forty-ninth.
Lee's Army having been victorious at Chancellorsville, that General
soon marched it northward to invade Pennsylvania. The Army of the
254 History of Erie County.
Potomac moved in a course nearly parallel with that of the Confederates
on their right rear, watching their action. The Sixth corps was far
in the rear of the rest of the army and when the enemy's object was
ascertained and the union tr6ops were concentrated for battle the
marching powers of that corps were tried to the utmost. It accom-
plished the tremendous task of marching two hundred and fifty miles
in seven days, carrying arms, accoutrements, ammunition and rations,
arriving on the field of Gettysburg at 5 P. M., on the 2d day of July.
The Forty-ninth, however, was held in reserve during the remainder of '
the battle.
Through the rest of the season it was engaged in those marches and
counter-marches in Northeastern Virginia which formed so large a part
of the duties of the Army of the Potomac. Early in December it went
into winter quarters near Brandy station. Just at the close of the year
one hundred and forty-nine men of the regiment re-enlisted for another
term of three years, which, by the terms of the '* veterans" order was to
begirt at once, without waiting for the close of the old one.
The Forty-ninth remained in comparative quiet until the beginning
of May, 1864. Down to this time, though responding readily to every
call of dut)% it had been extremely fortunate in escaping serious loss in
battle ; not an officer had been killed and but few of the men. From
the various casualties of war, however, its numbers had been reduced to
three hundred and eighty-four enlisted men on duty with the colors, and
about twenty-five 'officers. Colonel Bidwell was in command of the
brigade ; Lieutenant-Colonel Johnson and Major Ellis were with the
regiment. The metal of the little band was now to be subjected to the
severest tests.
On the 4th of May, 1864, the Forty-ninth moved forward with the
rest of the Sixth corps, toward Richmond. On the 5th, the army struck
the enemy in the Wilderness, and during the fierce conflict of that and
the following day the Forty-ninth was in the hottest of the fray. In
those two days Captains J. F. E. Plogsted, William T. Wiggins and Clar-
ence H. Hickmott, and Lieutenants Henry C. Valentine and Reuben F.
Preston were killed or mortally wounded.
Marching forward with depleted ranks the gallant little band again
met the foe at the battle of Spottsylvania. There Captain Seward H.
Terry and Lieutenants M. S. V. Tyler and Herman Haas were killed.
Major Ellis was wounded, too, by a rapirod flung from some rebel gun
which pierced his arm and bruised his chest, but was not then supposed
to have done serious injury, though the wound finally proved mortal.
Again the army moved forward, operating all the time against the
left flank of the enemy, and soon engaged in the terrific conflict of Cold
Harbor. There, at the "death angle " fell Captain Reuben B. Hezcock
and Lieutenants J. P. McVean and Charles A. Sayer.
Heavy Losses of the Forty-Ninth. 255
Thus, in these four conflicts, occurring within two weeks, twelve
officers, including a major and five captains, had been killed or mortally
wounded, being full half the number present with the regiment. Besides
these, several were seriously wounded, though the number was less than
that of the killed. The proportion of deaths was not so great among the
enlisted men, but still the roll of killed and wounded was very long. In
those two weeks, out of the three hundred and eighty-four men with
which the regiment left Brandy Station, sixty-one had been killed and
a hundred and fifty-five wounded, while thirty were reported missing.
Of the latter some were undoubtedly killed, (their fate not having been
ascertained) while more were wounded and taken prisoners. Certainly,
not less than two hundred and forty officers and men had been killed or
wounded, or three-fifths of the total strength. Many of the wounded,
however, soon returned to duty, and the ranks received some recruits.
The Sixth Corps then advanced with the army, to the lines before
Petersburg, but about the first of July it w^as ordered back to Washing-
ton, by boat, to defend that city from a threatened attack by General
Early. Scarcely had it arrived, when on the 12th of July, it was engaged
in a short but sharp conflict with the enemy, who attempted to capture
Fort Stevens, situated in the District of Columbia, about five miles north
of the Capitol, and two miles from the Soldiers* Home. President Lin-
coln was present, and saw Colonel BidwelKs Brigade charge up a hill
and drive back the foe. The Forty-ninth had twenty-one killed and
wounded, among the former being its commander, Lieutenant-Colonel
George W. Johnson, and Lieutenant David Lambert. The President was
so well pleased with the valor and vigor displa)'ed by Colonel Bidwell,
that he appointed the latter a Brigadier-General immediately afterward.
As the Senate was not in session, the appointment could not then be
confirmed, and, as we understand the matter, General Bidwell remained
legally the Colonel of the Forty-ninth New York Volunteers. On the
3d of August, Major Ellis died of the wound received at Spottsylvania,
a splinter from a fractured bone having entered his heart. Captains Holt
and Brazee, the former of Chautauqua county, and the latter of Niagara,
were appointed Lieutenant-Colonel and Major.
The Sixth Corps was made a part of the command of General Sher-
idan, and proceeded to operate against General Early, in the valley of the
Shenandoah. After numerous marches and counter-marches, the Forty-
ninth took part in the battle of Opequan Creek, on the 19th of Septem-
ber. The men had th^ pleasure of seeing the enemy defeated, with but
slight loss to their own thrice decimated ranks. They had eight men
killed and wounded.
Two days before the battle, eighty-nine men, all that,were left of the
original regiment, who had not re-enlisted, were sent back to Buffalo
under Major Brazee, and there discharged.
256 History of Erie County.
Immediately after the fight the rolls were examined and it was found
that there had been in all about one thousand five hundred and fifty names
upon them. There were then four hundred and ten men in the field.
These were consolidated into a battalion of five companies under Lieu-
tenant-Colonel Holt, still retaining the appellation of the " Forty-ninth ;**
Captain George H. Selkirk, of Buffalo, received a commission as Major.
After Opequan General Sheridan pushed rapidly on in pursuit of the
retreating Early, and at Fisher's Hill inflicted a very severe defeat.
Bid well's brigade captured the first five cannon taken from the enemy,
and fortunately without serious loss to itself.
On the 19th of October, occurred the battle of Cedar Creek, when the
Eighth corps was surprised and defeated during Sheridan's absence, and
when the sudden return of that General, as has so often been described,
turned the tide of war, and gave the Union army a complete victory, won
by the Sixth and Nineteenth corps. Bidwell's brigade was, as usual, at
the front, and the Forty-ninth suffered a loss of thirty-seven, all told.
Here, too, the gallant Bidwell, the only Colonel of that regiment, while
bravely leading his brigade, was mortally stricken down by the bullet of
the foe. He was taken to a house not far distant, and expired a few
hours later. Mr. Jerome B. Stillson, of Buffalo, one of the most promi-
nent of the correspondents who recorded the deeds of the armies in the
field, visited him there, and found him aware that death was upon him,
but as ready to meet it then as he had ever been in the field.
Thus, in less than six months, every one of the three field-officers
of the Forty-ninth, who had turned their horses' heads southward in
the beginning of May, had been killed, besides five Captains and seven
Lieutenants. It is doubtful if another regiment in the service suffered
such a loss of officers in so short a time. Thus, too, of the three three-
years' regiments of infantry, principally raised in Erie county, every
one of the Colonels had been killed in action. " The paths of glory
lead but to the grave."
In December the battalion, with the rest of the Sixth corps, returned
to the vicinity of Richmond and Petersburg, and was on hard service in
the entrenchments during the remainder of the winter, but without being
in any important battle.
On the 2d of April the little battalion took the lead in attacking the
last stronghold of rebellion. The Forty-ninth and Seventy-seventh New
York formed the front center of the column which assaulted the Confed-
erate works on the. South Side railroad, and the flag of" the Forty-ninth
was the first Union color planted upon them. The battalion suffered
severely considering its small numbers, and its commander, Lieutenant-
Colonel Erastus D. Holt, was mortally wounded, dying on the 7th of
the same month. Major Selkirk was promoted to fill his place, and was
mustered in as Lieutenant-Colonel. He also received a commission
The Sixty-Fourth Infantry. 257
as Colonel from the Governor of New York, but had not enough men
under his command to muster with that rank. . The battalion was on
easy duty during the remainder of its service. It was mustered out on
the 27th of June ; speedily set out for home and arrived at Buffalo on
the 3d day of July.
Eighteen officers and two hundred and seventy-four men out of over
fifteen hundred whose names had been borne on the rolls, were mustered
out with the regiment. Sixteen officers (whose names have been given)
had been killed or mortally wounded in action and a somewhat smaller
proportion of the enlisted men. Captain Charles H. Morse, Captain
Rasselas Dickinson, Adjutant William Bullymore, Quartermaster Henry
D. Tillinghast and Lieutenant Frederick Von Gayl had died of disease.
The following officers were mustered out with the battalion : Lieu-
tenant-Colonel, George H. Selkirk, (commissioned as colonel) ; Surgeon,
John Jenkins; Quartermaster, Lewis C. Richards; Captains, Thomas F.
Cluney (commissioned as lieutenant-colonel), S. W. Russell (brevet ma-
jor and commissioned as major), William J. Kaiser, Henry J. Gifford
(brevet major) and Walter D. Wilder (brevet major); First Lieutenants,
French W. Fisher (brevet captain), Augustus B. Meyer, Joseph Conradt,
John C. White and Hamilton Disbrow ; Second Lieutenants, Otis B.
Hayes, JuKus Smith, Sylvester Churchwell, Jacob Vosburg and Henry
Handy. Of these names only two were to be found on the original ros-
ter — Lieutenant-Colonel Selkirk, who was a first lieutenant at the organ-
ization of the regiment, and Captain Cluney, who at the same time was
a second lieutenant.
We will close this sketch with a list of the battles of the Forty-ninth
New York Volunteer Infantry as officially pubHshed by the Adjutant-
General of this State : Drainesville, Yorktown, Williamsburg, Golden's
Farm, Savage Station, White Oak Swamp, Malvern Hill, Crampton's
Gap, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Marye's Heights, Salem Heights, Get-
tysburg, Rappahannock Station, Wilderness, Spottsylvania, Cold Har-
bor, Petersburg, Fort Stevens, Opequan, Fisher's Hill, Cedar Creek, to
which South Side Railroad should be added.
Sixty-Fourth Infantry.
Company A of this regiment, was raised in Collins, Erie county,
and Persia, Cattaraugus county, principally in the former town. Its first
officers were: Rufus P. Washburn, Captain; Albert Darby, First Lieu-
tenant; and James M. Pettit, Second Lieutenant. The regiment was
mustered into the service for three years, at various times between the
7th day of September and the loth day of December, 1861.
The Sixty-fourth fought at Yorktown, Fair Oaks, Gaines* Mill,
Savage Station, White Oak Swamp, Glendale, Malvern Hill, Antietam,
Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Bristow Station, Mine
258 History of Erie County.
Run, Wilderness, Po River, Spottsylvania, North Anna, Totopotomy,
Cold Harbor, Siege of Petersburg, Strawberry Plains, Deep Bottom,
Ream's Station. The original members who had not re-enlisted were
mustered out at the end of three years from their enlistment, but the
regiment retained its organization until the end of the war, being finally
mustered out on the 14th of July, 1865.
Captain Washburn was discharged in June, 1863. Theodore Tyrer,
of Bufifalo, was appointed Captain in the regiment in May, 1864; was
promoted to Major in December, 1864; was commissioned as Lieutenant-
Colonel in January, 1865 ; and was mustered out of service with the
regiment. Lieutenant Albert Darby was promoted to Captain in Decem-
ber, 1862, and resigned in July, 1863. James B. Morrow,' of Aurora,
Erie county, was appointed Second Lieutenant in March, 1863, and First
Lieutenant in July, 1863.
Seventy-Eighth Infantry.
The Seventy-eighth contained one company from Erie county, the
first officers of which were William H. Randall, Captain ; Levi Metz,
First Lieutenant; and John Blocher, Second Lieutenant. The regiment
was mustered into service by companies or detachments from October,
1861, to April, 1862. It chanced not to be engaged in any important bat-
tle until it was sent as a part of General Hooker's command to join the
Western army in 1863. It then took part in the battles of Manhatchie,
Lookout Mountain, Resaca, Dallas, Lost Mountain, Pine Knob, Kenesavv
Mountain, Peach Tree Creek, and Atlanta. It lost heavily in those con-
flicts, and was consolidated with the One Hundred and Second Infantry
on the 29th day of June, 1864.
Captain Randall was promoted to Major in May, 1863, and resigned
in March, 1864; Lieutenant Metz was promoted to Captain in July, 1863,
and was mustered out on account of the consolidation before mentioned
in June, 1864.
The Oxe Hundredth Infantry. 259
CHAPTER XXVII.
ONE HUNDREDTH INFANTRY.
A New Regiment Authorized — Recruiting Commissioners — Camp Morgan — Colonel Brown —
Rosier of Officers — Homes of the Men — Off to Washington — On the Peninsula — Will-
iamsburg — Battle of Fair Oaks — Colonel Brown*k Coolness — Chaiige — The One Hun-
dredth — Deadly Conflict — Death of Brown —Other Losses — Valor of Casey's Division —
Retreat of ihe Enemy — March to the James River — Malvern Hills — The Regiment
Adopted by the Board of Trade — To Gloucester Point — Colonel Dandy — Removal to
North Carolina — To South Carolina — Charleston Harbor — Folly Island — Capture of
Part of Morris Island — Assault on Fort Wagner — Second Assault — Valor of the One Hun-
dredth — Desperate Fighting — Repulse — Heavy Losses — The Siege — Captain Payne's
Ser\ices — Capture of Wagner — Thiough the Winter — Return North — In the "Army of
the James" — Surprised and Driven Back — ** Ware Bottom Church" — North of the James
— Capturing a Battery — Before Petersburg — Across the James Again — Winter Quarters —
Again Before Petersburg — Capture of Fort Gr^g— Final Victory — OfHcial Changes —
Consolidation — Discharge — Final Roster.
ON the 22d day of August, 1861, General Gustavus A. Scroggs, of Buf-
falo, received an order from the War Department, dated three days
previously, authorizing him to raise and organize a brigade of four
regiments of three years' volunteers. He accepted the charge thus
imposed upon him, and determined to raise one regiment in Erie and the
adjoining counties, with headquarters at Buffalo, and the other three in
the eastern part of the State.* After some needful preparations, the first
authority to raise a company for the new regiment was issued by Gen-
eral Scroggs to Captain Walter B. Moore, of Le Roy, Genesee county,
on the 2d day of September, 1861. This was followed on the i8th day
of the same month by recruiting orders to Captain Daniel D; Nash, of
Springville, and to Captains John Nicholson, Charles E. Morse and
Michael Bailey, of Buffalo; on the 21st to Captain P. Edwin Dye, of
Buffalo ; on the 24th to Captain Charles H. Henshaw, of Buffalo ; on the
26th to Captain George Hinson, of Buffalo ; on the 9th of October to
Captain Lewis S. Payne, of Tonawanda ; and on the 19th of the same
month to Captain Charles E. Rauert, of Buffalo.
All these began recruiting for their respective companies. In most
cases this was slow work. An immense number of the young men of
* It was expected that the regiments to be thus raised would form one body to be known as the
" Eagle Brigade," and to be commanded by General Scroggs as Brigadier-General. Owing, however,
to the constant demand for troops, commands were consolidated and hurried to the front as speedily
as possible, so that the ** Eagle Brigade " never came into existence. General Scroggs was nominated
for Brigadier-General in July, 1862, but, as the number of Brigadiers then allowed by law had
already been appointed, the nomination was not confirmed by the Senate.
26o History of Erie County.
the country had already entered the service, and no large bounties had
been offered to stimulate the patriotism of the more cautious class. Cap-
tain D. D. Nash, however, the dashing young commander of the Spring-
ville company, speedily filled its ranks from Concord and the adjoining
towns, so that when he received his commission it gave him rank from
October i, 1861, he being the senior captain of the regiment and his
command being designated as "Company A."
As soon as Company A appeared at Buffalo, General Scroggs
established a camp at Fort Porter, named it Camp Morgan, in honor of
Hon. Edwin D. Morgan, then governor of the State, erected barracks
and obtained rations for the newly enrolled soldiers. Company after
company, with ranks more or less full, established themselves at Camp
Morgan, an* the work of recruiting was continued with varying success.
In the fore part of November there appeared at Camp Morgan a stern-
looking, square-built man of thirty-six, with iron resolution written all
over his face, who proceeded to take command of the regiment. This
was James Malcolm Brown, a Scotchman by birth, an Assistant-Surgeon
in the Mexican war, then a lawyer at Jamestown, Chautauqua county,
and after the breaking out of the Rebellion a Captain in the Seventy-
second New York Infantry, whom General Scroggs had selected for the
new regiment. The other field-officers, chosen by the same authority,
Were Phineas Staunton, at the opening of the war, an artist of New York,
and a son of an eminent officer in the War of 1812 previously mentioned
in this work, who was to be the Lieutenant-Colonel, and Calvin N. Otis,
an architect of Buffalo, who was to fill the post of Major.
Colonel Brown was a strict disciplinarian and soon established com-
plete order among the bands of recruits (for the companies were of course
nothing else) under his charge. The camp was occasionally enlivened
by presentations of military equipments to officers by admiring friends,
and with humbler gifts of socks, mittens, etc., to the soldiers. On the
19th of January, 1862, the new regiment was first designated as the looth
New York Volunteer Infantry. It was not until the 7th of February,
1862, that the regiment was sufficiently full, so that the officers re-
ceived their commissions, those of the field officers giving them rank
from the loth of January, and those of the line officers from various
dates during the preceding autumn. The following is the roster of
officers, with the number of men in their respective companies, when the
regiment was mustered into the United States service : —
Field and Staff, — Colonel, James M. Brown ; Lieutenant-Colonel,
Phineas Staunton ; Major, Calvin N. Otis ; Adjutant, Peter R. Chadwick ;
Quartermaster, Samuel M. Chamberlain ; Surgeon, Martin S. Kittenger ;
Assistant Surgeon, William D. Murray.
Company A, — Captain, Daniel D. Nash; Lieutenants, William L.
Mayo arid Charles S. Farnham ; eighty-seven officers and men.
Company B. — Captain, Walter B. Moore ; Lieutenants, M. H. Topping
and Martin S. Bogart ; eighty -four officers and men.
Roster of Officers. 261
Company C. — Captain, John Nichols ; Lieutenants, Unike C. Mackay
and William Noble ; eighty-eight officers and men.
Company D. — Captain, Lewis S. Payne ; First Lieutenant, Augustus
Newell ; [Second Lieutenant not then mustered ;] ninety-one officers
and men.
Company E. — Captain, Michael Bailey ; Lieutenants, William Brown
and Tiniothy Lynch ; eighty-four officers and men.
Company F. — Captain, Charles H. Rauert ; Lieutenants, Charles F.
Gardner and Charles E. Claussen ; ninety officers and men.
Company G. — Captain, Georgfe Hinson ; Lieutenants, Samuel S.
Kellogg and Jacob L. Barnes; one hundred and eight officers and men.
Company H. — Captain, P. Edward Dye ; Lieutenants, Rodney B.
Smith, Jr., and Charles E. Walbridge ; eierhty-four officers and men.
Company L — Captain, Charles E. Morse ; Lieutenants, Frank C.
Bninck ancf Herbert H. Haddock ; ninety-four officers and men.
Company K. — Captain, Charles H. Henshaw ; Lieutenants, John
Wilkeson, Jr., and Warren Granger, Jr. ; eighty-five officers and men.
The above numbers make a total of nine hundred and two officers
and men at the muster-in. Nearly all of these were from Erie county.
A part of Company B were from Genesee and Monroe counties ; a
small^mrt of Company D were from Niagara county, in the vicinity of
Tonawanda, and the majority of Company H were from Chautauqua
county. Of the remainder nearly all were enrolled in Buffalo, and the
majority were probably residents of that city, but a large proportion
were from the various towns of Erie county. Company A, as has been
said, came from Concord and the adjoining towns; Company D, was
^principally enlisted in Tonawanda and Grand Island, while nearly every
'one of the other towns of the county had ten or a dozen representatives
in the One Hundredth New York Infantry.
On the 7th day of March, 1862, the tedium of barrack life was
broken up and the regiment, with full ranks, but without arms, left
Buffalo on the New York Central Railroad. The next day they reached
New York and on the 9th were supplied with Enfield Rifles, accoutre-
ments and camp equipage. On the loth they proceeded on their way,
and on the 12th arrived at the capital of the Nation, and the following
day went into camp on " Meridian Hill." Here they were soon assigned
to the First brigade of Casey's division, commanded by Coloriel W. W.
H. Davis, of the One Hundred and Fourth Pennsylvania Infantry. On
the 29th of March, Casey's division proceeded to Alexandria, Virginia,
where they embarked on transports, and landed at Newport News on
the I St day of April.
At length the One Hundreth was in the immediate vicinity of the
enemy. But for a time their chief foes seemed to be the wretched cold
and rain and mud of a Virginia spring. About the middle of April
Casey's division moved to the lines of Yorktown, in the siege of which
it was engaged until the 4th of May, when the enemy abandoned his
works and marched up the peninsula. McClellan's army followed, the
262 History of Erie County.
troops exchanging cold, rain and mud for mud, rain and cold. Neai
Williamsburg the command of General Naglee, who had taken the place
of Colonel Davis as brigade-commander, was ordered swiftly forward to
the music of musketry in front, arriving too late to take part in the con-
flict (a skirmish) and bivouacing in the cold rain without equipage of
any kind, undergoing sufferings during the night which the surviving
soldiers of the One Hundredth remember as the worst they knew in
all their long and severe service. The next day the battle of Williams-
burg was fought, in which Naglee's (late Davis') brigade closely and
gallantly sustained that of General Hancock when the latter made the
famous charge which won the day, but was not itself actively engaged
with the enemy.
On the 9th of May, the One Hundredth, with the rest of McClellan's
army, moved forward toward Richmond. Its movements were slow, but
on the 24th it crossed Bottom's Bridge, and on the 2Sth had a short
skirmish with the enemy. Light skirmishing continued several days, the
One Hundredth suffering no loss from the enemy's bullets, but having
many of its officers and men stricken down by malarial fever. On the
30th of May, there were six hundred and forty-six men fit for duty.
During the night of the 30th, there was a terrific rain storm, the
Chickahominy rose rapidly, and the two wings of the Union army were
to a great extent cut off from each other. The enemy moved forward
with a heavy force to crush -the nearest wing before the other could
aid it. The battle of " Seven Pines," or " Fair Oaks," followed— the first
battle of the One Hundredth New York Infantry.
Nearly'the whole force of the foe was fjung upon Casey's division
and a fierce conflict ensued. Naglee's brigade was stationed on the
Richmond road, the One Hundredth being on the left of that road. Com-
panies D, E, and F were on picket so that there were less than four hun-
dred men with the colors. The brigade was advanced in front of the
defensive works which had been erected, and at length the One Hun-
dredth stood in the midst of a tract of " slashing " or trees cut down at
random. The enemy approached and his bullets and cannon-ball flew
thick and fast over and among the unseasoned soldiers. Colonel Brown
sat on his horse, just in rear of the line, calmly smoking his pipe, but
keenly watching the fray. As the fight grew hotter he rode up and
down the line encouraging his men in tones which often rang above the
din of battle.
At length an order came from Naglee's brigade to charge the enemy.
It was repeated to Colonel Brown, who was very unfavorably impressed
with the idea of charging through slashing against an overwhelming foe,
and muttered an angry denunciation of the order, but the next moment
he thundered forth the command " Charge ! the One Hundredth," and
led forward the men into the deadly hail. The enemy was temporarily
Battle of Fair Oaks — Severe Losses. 263
driven back by Naglee's brigade, but having several divisions within
easy reach, he pushed forward and utterly overwhelmed Casey's Divis-
ion before aid could, or at least before it did, reach him.
In the slashing the One Hundredth was badly broken up, and when
at length the reluctant order to retreat was given, it suffered very severely.
Colonel Brown was seen vainly endeavoring to rally his men, and then
suddenly disappeared. Strange to say, no absolute knowledge of his fate
was ever obtained. Stricken down in the deadly conflict, he was doubt-
less either instantly slain, or so severely wounded that he died before his
name and rank could be ascertained by the Confederates who swept over
the field. Perhaps when wounded he dragged himself into some thicket,
hoping to be able to i.ejoin the Union troops, and there died unseen by
friend or foe. At all events, when after the battle, a detail was sent in
the field to bury the dead. Colonel Brown could not be found, and when
inquiry was made of the Confederate Commander, by means of a flag of
truce, the reply was that nothing whatever was known of his fate.
In the same locality Lieutenant Kellogg, of Company G, and Lieu-
tenant Wilkeson of Company K, were killed, while Captain Nash and
Lieutenant Mayo, both of Company A, and Lieutenant Brown of Com-
pany E, fell seriously wounded. Lieutenant-Colonel Staunton was slightly
wounded. The regiment reported a loss of one hundred and sixteen
killed, wounded and missing out of less than four hundred who took part
in the fight. Very few of these were taken prisoners, but Captain Bailey,
Lieutenants Lynch and Newell and twelve men were cut oflF and cap-
tured while on picket.
General McClellan at'first censured Casey's Division for retreating,
but afterward withdrew his censure, for he learned that that division
really sustained the brunt of the fight ; having seventeen hundred men
killed, wounded and missing — nearly one-third of all the casualties in the
army on that day. General Keyes' corps, consisting of Casey's and
Couch's divisions, lost three thousand one hundred and twenty officers
and men, while all the rest of the army lost but two thousand six hundred
and seventeen. Severe as was the punishment inflicted on Naglee's Bri-
gade, its desperate charge helped to check the onslaught of the enemy
until Heintzelman's Corps arrived at 5 P. M., to turn the tide of battle.
The Confederates fell back into Richmond, leaving the battle-field in the
possession of the Union soldiers. If the object of the rebel commander
was merely to inflict heavy loss on the Union army, he was successful.
If, as seems probable, he intended to defeat it and drive it permanently
from the position it had assumed, he failed, and his failure was principally
due to the gallant resistance made by Casey's division against overwhelm-
ing numbers.
AJ^few days later Casey's division was moved back to the rear of the
anriy, near Bottom's Bridge, where it remained during that rain-laden
204 History of Erie County.
month of June, with the country spreading in a swamp around^it and the
roads seeming like long mortar beds, being almost impassable for wagons
and artillery. On the 28th of June came the battle of Mechanicsville, on
the extreme right of the Union army, in which Casey's division did not
take part. This was followed by the movement of the National troops
toward the James river. During that movement Naglee's Brigade was
selected as the rear guard of one of the retreating columns, but though in
sight of the enemy was not actively engaged.
General McClellan directed that all the sick and wounded, who
were unable to march, should remain at Savage's Station. Surgeon Kit-
tenger, of the One Hundredth, established a temporarj'^ hospital, where
over two hundred wounded were received, who, with the devoted sur-
geon, were all captured by the advancing foe. When Naglee's Brigade
moved forward as the rear guard, a part of the One Hundredth NewjYork,
with two other regiments, were accidentally left behind on picket, and
were not notified of the movement until four hours later, at two o'clock
A. M., on the I St of July. They then followed the retreating troops and
reached Malvern Hills without serious misadventure where the two por-
tions of the regiment were re-united.
First Lieutenant Rodney B. Smith, Jr., of Company H, who was
sick at the time, was last seen at Savage Station. It is supposed that
he attempted to walk to Malvern Hills, and died from fatigue and dis-
ease, or was perhaps slain by some random bullet of the foe. Second
Lieutenant Farnham, of Company A, had died a few weeks before, and
it is remarkable that, out of all the officers who served in the One Hun-
dredth New York, only these two (perhaps only one of them) died of
disease during nearly four years of hard campaigning. From the 2d of
July, 1862, to the muster out of the regiment, in August, 1865, not an
officer died except by the bullets of the foe.
At Malvern Hills the One Hundredth stood steadily in line, though
not under severe fire, and saw the legions of Lee, flushed with triumph
and confident of further victory, driven back with terrific loss by the
wearied, decimated, but not demoralized army of the Potomac. Then
followed the retreat to Harrison's Landing, where the army remained
until the middle of August.
On the last day of July, the strength of the One Hundredth had
been reduced by battle and disease to four hundred and thirty-six officers
and men, less than half the number which had left Buffalo in the pre-
vious March. The news of this great reduction had already reached
Buffalo, fears were aroused lest the organization should be consoli-
dated with some other command and its identity destroj'ed. On the
29th of July, the Buffalo Board of Trade formally adopted the regiment
as its especial charge, and at once set about recruiting for it with con-
siderable success.
The One Hundredth near Charleston. 265
On the 1 5th of August, the One Hundredth, with the rest of the army,
set out on its march down the James river, that regiment reaching York-
town on the 20th, and moving thence to Gloucester Point on the 23d,
while in the meantime the greater part of the army sailed back to North-
ern Virginia to defend the threatened capital of the Nation.
The One Hundredth remained at Gloucester Point until the 26th of
December, in a well-arranged camp and in circumstances which might
be called pleasant as compared with the sufferings of the Peninsular
campaign. Between the first of August and the first of October there
were recruited and sent forward, principally through the efforts of the
Buffalo Board of Trade, no less than three hundred and forty-five men,
swelling the depleted ranks to the number of nearly eight hundred. During
that time, too, (in August), George B. Dandy, of the regular army, was
commissioned as Colonel of the regiment, and on the 15th of September,
assumed command. Lieutenant-Colonel Staunton was greatly disgusted
by this proceeding, and forthwith resigned his -commission and retired
from the army after eight or nine months of active service and one
battle. Civilians turned soldiers acquire opinions regarding their own
indefeasible right lo promotion quicker than any other military ideas.
Colonel Staunton afterward joined a scientific expedition to the Andes,
and died at Quito, on the slopes of those mountains, in September, 1867.
Major Otis was promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel and Captain Daniel D.
Nash, of Company A, to Major.
On the 26th of December, Naglee's Brigade, with other troops, went
on board ship and proceeded to Carolina City, North Carolina, whence,
after a stay of three weeks, it continued its course to Port Royal bay,
South Carolina, arriving there on the 31st day of January, 1863, but not
disembarking until the loth of February, where it landed on the island
of St. Helena. Here it remained until the 23d of March, during which
time General Naglee was ordered North and was succeeded in the com-
mand of the brigade by its first chief, Colonel W. W. H. Davis.
On the day last named the One Hundredth again embarked, and
after much steaming to and fro reached Charleston harbor, landing on
Cole Island on the 26th. The regiment had been selected to lead the
movement against Charleston, having been transferred from Davis*
Brigade to Howell's for that purpose. The whole force consisted of
three divisions of infantry, a brigade of artillery, a light battery and a
battalion of engineers.
On the 3d of April the One Hundreth, again in the advance, went
on shipboard and landed on the south end of Folly Island in the same
harbor, whence, on the 7th, its officers and men witnessed the splendid
but fruitless bombardment of Fort Sumter by the fleet under Admiral
Dupont. Soon afterward the regiment established its permanent camp on
Folly Island. It remained there in comparative quiet until the middle
266 History of Erie County.
of June, when General Gilmore superseded General Hunter in command
of the force operating against Charleston.
Immediately afterward, works were erected on the extreme north
end of Folly Island by the One Hundreth, and other regiments, much of
the time under the fire of the enemy. Disease and hardship now became
enemies as much to be dreaded as the rebels. At this time Lieutenant-
Colonel Otis resigned and went North, as did several line officers. The
romance of war was evidently passing away. The work of erecting
batteries was extremely tedious, but by the 3d of July they were subu.
stantially finished.
On the loth a tremendous cannonade was opened against the rebel
works on Morris Island. Two hours later a brigade of troops moved in
boats to Morris Island piloted by Captain Payne of the One Hundredth
who made himself thoroughly acquainted^ with both land and water, by
constant scouting since the arrival of his army in the harbor. After a
short fight the Confederate works were captured with eleven pieces of
artillery. The One Hundredth passed over immediately afterward.
The next morning Fort Wagner, situated further north on the same
island, was assaulted by seven regiments including the One Hundreth
New York, but that regiment seems not to have been stationed far enough
in the advance to suffer much loss. The leading regiments under a
heavy fire crossed the ditch and mounted the parapet, but were then
obliged to retire, leaving their killed and wounded where they fell.
Intrenchments were then thrown up and more careful preparations
made for a second assault, which took place in the night of the i8th of
July. It was heralded by a tremendous bombardment during the day
from our ironclads and batteries, the guns of Fort Wagner being silenced
at 4 P. iM.
After dark the brigades of General Strong, Colonel Putnam and
General Seymour moved to the assault in the order named, the One
Hundredth New York being in Putnam's Brigade. General Stephen-
son's Brigade was held in support. At the head of Strong's Brigade, in the
advance of the whole column, was the Fifty-fourth Massachusetts (col-
ored) commanded by the gallant Colonel Shaw, of Boston. The enemy
was expecting an attack, and as the assailants approached, ball, shell and
canister came crashing through the foremost lines with deadly effect.
Still Shaw led forward his dark battalion, followed closely by the rest of
Strong's Brigade. They reached the parapet, where a terrific conflict
took place, the slope being thickly covered with white men and black
lying side by side in the brotherhood of death. Colonel Shaw was
killed. General Strong was wounded and his brigade was driven back
from the parapet at the same time that Colonel Putnam's command, in
which was the One Hundredth New York led by Colonel Dandy and
Major Nash, came rushing up to take their places. Another fierce con-
The Attack on Fort Wagner. 267
flict ensued, and a part of the brigade clambered over the parapet into a
comer of the fort, which, however, was swept by grape, canister and
musketry. Seymour's Brigade supported Putnam's, but Seymour was
soon wounded, and his men were unable to effect a lodgement. Stephen-
son's reserve was ordered forward, but ere it arrived Colonel Putnam,
the only remaining brigade commander in the fight, was killed on
the parapet and the assailants gave up the contest, leaving their killed
and wounded behind, to whose number scores were added at every
step of the swilt retreat. Stephenson's Brigade was consequently
ordered back.
The total loss in the three brigades which made the assault was over
fifteen hundred officers and men. In the One Hundredth New York,
Adjutant Haddock and Lieutenant Runckle were killed and Lieutenant
Brown was mortally wounded. Major Nash, Captains Ranert and
Granger, and Lieutenants McMann and Friday were wounded. Ser-
geant Flanders, of Company A, was killed while defending the colors
which he had planted on the parapet, and eleven other Sergeants, Pratt,
Davy, Whaples, Hughson, Morgan, Everts, Emery, Rustin, Gaylord,
Lynch and Grebler were wounded, the first five severely.
On the 25th of July the engineers began work for the regular reduc-
tion of Fort Wagner by siege. These were pressed forward as rapidly
as possible, under almost constant fire from Forts Sumter and Wagner.
The sick list was large throughout the army, but the One Hundredth,
composed of hardy men and cared for by a good surgeon, escaped with
less suffering from that cause than any other regiment in the vicinity.
Both before and after the capture of Morris Island, Captain L. S.
Payne had been acting as scout, and sometimes as commander of pickets
of the army. Night alter night he patrolled the waters of Charleston
harbor, with a boat-load of men, gathering important mformation regard-
ing the position and movements of the enemy, on which the Union Gen-
erals justly placed implicit reliance. General Gilmore gave him a writ-
ten order to call on the Adjutant-General of the Department, for what-
ever men he needed, and made him the practical Commander of the
whole picket line. On the resignation of Lieutenant-Colonel Otis, Gen-
eral Gilmore recommended Captain Payne to the Governor of New
York, for Lieutenant-Colonel of the One Hundredth, and after some
delay, he was dul}- commissioned to that office. But in the meantime, on
one of his nocturnal excursions, on the 3d of August, 1863, he and his
crew were assailed by a large force of the enemy, (who were probably
watching for him, as he had greatly annoyed them,) and after a hard fight
they were all captured. He was imprisoned until near the close of the
war, and in consequence never mustered as Lieutenant-Colonel.
The siege of Fort Wagner lasted from the 25th of July till the 7th
of September, the troops erecting parallels and zigzag approaches under
268 History of Erie County.
the direction of the engineers, and steadily working their way up to the
walls of the fort. Sickness was prevalent and the balls and shells of the
enemy were constantly dropping among the workmen. The One
Hundredth had a hundred and four men killed and wounded during the
siege. A thin assault was ordered for the day last mentioned, but when
the troops advanced, it was found that the rebels had evacuated Fort
Wagner, and also Fort Gi'egg, situated in its rear, although they did not
retire from the latter quick enough, so but that seventy prisoners were
captured within its walls by the victorious Yankees.
TtTe forts were re-built and furnished with the heaviest guns known,
which were constantly employed against Fort Sumter and Charleston.
The people were driven out of the lower part of the city, but neither
Sumter nor Charleston was captured until the appearance of Sherman's
army in the rear compelled their evacuation in February, 1865.
The One Hundredth remained on Morris Island through the autumn
of 1863, and the succeeding winter, and as no assault was made on the
rest of the enemy's works, and sickness decreased as the weather became
cooler, the period was passed in what seemed like comfort, after the
hardships and dangers of the summer. Colonel Dandy and other officers
were absent on recruiting service during the winter, the regiment being
commanded by Major Nash.
In April, 1864, the One Hundredth New York, with other troops in
General Gilmore's department, were ordered north to re-inforce the armies
operating against Richmond, and after an uneventful voyage, landed
once more at Gloucester Point. Here it was rejoined by Colonel Dandy,
a number of Officers and men, and was assigned to the Third Brigade
(commanded by Colonel Plaisted of Maine) of Terry's Division, Tenth
Corps in General Butler s " Army of the James." On the 6th of May,
that army landed at Bermuda Hundred, on the Appomattox river, and the
next day the One Hundredth was engaged in a brisk fight with the
enemy at Walthal Junction. Lieutenants Adriance and Richardson, were
wounded. This was the opening of a campaign of the greatest hardship
and danger, and one requiring such constant movement on the part of
the regiment of which we are writing, that it will be very difficult to
give even an outline of its operations in the space we can spare.
On the 13th of May, it took part in the capture of Fort Darling.
The next day it was in a hand-fight just in front of that Fort, in which
Lieutenant A. H. Hoyt, was killed, and Lieutenant Edward Pratt
severely wounded.
On the morning of the i6th, favored by a dense fog, General Beau-
regard with a large force suddenly and fiercely attacked the right flank
of the Army of the James, at Drury's Bluff, inflicting heavy loss. The
One Hundredth moved slowly forward in the fog, and in a short time
was directed to lie down in line of battle and await further orders. But
Tee Advance on Richmond. 269
the messengers subsequently sent were wounded, and no orders came.
Suddenly the men were surprised by long lines of rebels advancing
rapidly through the fog, and only a few rods distant, who poured tre-
mendous volleys in quick succession among the prostrate and astonished
Unionists. The right wing of the latter sprang into a line of rifle pits a
little in front of them and checked for a time the progress of the enemy.
Others surrendered where they lay, but the main body of the regiment
was driven rapidly back to the protection of the reserves. Lieutenant
French was mortally wounded ; Lieutenant Babbitt was also wounded
and Lieutenant Pierson was taken prisoner. Over two hundred men
were killed, wounded, and captured out of the seven hundred who com-
posed the One Hundredth New York, on the 13th, 14th, and i6th of May.
On the 2 1 St the One Hundredth was fiercely attacked by the rebel
General Walker, but his men were repulsed and he himself was wounded
and captured. A sharp conflict ensued, known as the battle of "Ware
Bottom Church,*' but the Unionists held their ground. A similar attack
failed on the succeeding day. The lines on both sides were well in-
trenched and it was no slight task to break through them. About the
last of May two-thirds of Butler's army was sent to reinforce Grant,
who was slowly fighting his way down from the northward, thus
doubling the duties of those who remained.
During the night of the 15th of June, the Confederates abandoned
their lines to move to the defense of Petersburg, then threatened by
Grant, and the Unionists occupied them. On the 17th, Company K, of
the One Hundredth, under Lieutenant Stowitts, was again engaged, not
far from Ware Bottom Church.
On the 20th of June the Third Brigade, then commanded by General
Foster, moved to "Deep Bottom," ten miles down the James river from
Richmond, where the men laid a pontoon bridge on which troops passed
to the north side of the James. The One Hundredth was soon engaged
in almost daily skirmishing with the enemy, both sides being as
usual heavily intrenched. Regular forts were built by the Union troops
and their labors were all that could have been borne. On the 27th of
July, Hancock's corps and Sheridan's cavalry crossed to the north side
of the James and a battle was fought, resulting in a slight advance of the
Union forces. Captain Richardson, of the One Hundredth, was mortally
wounded while on duty on the picket line, and died soon afterward.
Near the middle of August a still larger force joined the Unionists
at Deep Bottom, and an advance was made toward Richmond, under the
direction of General Grant himself. On the 14th of that month Foster's
Brigade including the One Hundredth New York, took an active part,
the latter regiment advancing under heavy musketry fire and capturing
thirty, prisoners. A little later the same regiment, supported by the
Sixth Connecticut, and led by Colonel Dandy and Major Nash, dashed
18
270 History of Erie County.
through a ravine and charged and captured a four-gun battery, under
the eye of General Grant. Lieutenant McMann was wounded, and about
thirty men were killed or injured. The heat was terrific and many men
suffered from sun-stroke.
On the i6th of August, the One Hundredth was again in the advance,
and twice charged an intrenched line of the enemy, but were both times
driven back; Captain Granger and several men were captured. Sergeant
Kuhns and others of Company A, were killed. The Union troops, how-
ever, held their ground and constructed intrenchments close to the Con-
federate lines. On the i8th the rebels drove in the Union pickets and
attacked the fortified lines behind them, but the One Hundredth with
other regiments repulsed the assailants with heavy loss. Such, in fact,
was the course of events throughout the war ; the party which attacked the
intrenchments of the other was almost invariably beaten. The advantage
given by even slight breastworks is enormous, and with troops of equal
quality a very great superiority is necessary on the part of the assailants
to insure success. During the attack just mentioned Sergeant Scott, of
Company D, was killed and three men were wounded by a shot from a
Union battery stationed in rear of the One Hundredth. That night the
lines were moved back ; Lieutenant Stowitt's and the pickets under his
command being forgotten and left at their stations. Fortunately, how-
ever, they were remembered in time and were with some difficulty
extricated from a situation of the greatest danger. Then the whole
force north of the James was withdrawn to Deep Bottom, the previous
movement being called a "reconnoisance in force.'*
On the night of the 26th of August, the Tenth corps, then com-
manded by General Birney, moved from Deep Bottom to the front of
Petersburgh, almost opposite the point where Burnside's celebrated mine
had been exploded. Lieutenant Hughson, was severely wounded, while
^standing between Captain Brunck and Lieutenant Stowitts, soon after
the arrival of the regiment. Colonel Plaisted was again in command of
the brigade, Qeneral Foster being assigned to that of the division.
After a month in the trenches, (three or four days in and two out,)
the Tenth corps suddenly marched back to Deep Bottom, crossed the
James, joined Ord's Eighteenth corps, (both being commanded by General
Butler) and advanced towards Richmond, which was supposed to be
feebly guarded. The Eighteenth corps captured important intrenchments
and the Tenth marched within three and a half miles of Richmond, but
Fort Gilmer repulsed the Union troops and the rebel capital could not
be captured.
The National forces intrenched close to the confederate fortifications,
and about the 5th of October the rebels made a desperate attack which
was repulsed by the One Hundredth and other regiments. Adjutant
Peck was very severely wounded. Soon afterward Major Nas.i hav-
The Assault on Fort Greig. 271
ing served three years, retired from the army. He was succeeded by
Captain James H. Dandy, a brother of the Colonel.
On the 27th of October Butler's army made a feint against Richmond,
to cover movements on the south side of the James, but without impor-
tant results. During the day's fighting Lieutenant Stowitts then As-
sistant-Adjutant-General on the brigade staff, was ordered to advance
on the skirmish line and move it nearer to the enemy, but was severely
wounded on the way. At night the corps fell back into its intrench-
mcnts,and soon established itself there in winter-quarters.
Soon afterward a hundred and seventy-four officers and men, who
had served three years and did not wish to remain longer were mustered
out and sent home. After this the regiment was substantially a new
one, there being only about fifty re-enlisted veterans among the enlisted
men of the regiment. The line officers, however, with very few excep-
tions were original old soldiers who had been non-commissioned officers
or privates at the muster-in of the regiment.
After this the One Hundredth remained in front of Richmond until the
latter part of March 1865, and seems to have been required to do but little
fighting, and to have enjoyed comparative comfort. On the evening of
the day last named the Third brigade commanded by Colonel Dandy,
the One Hundredth being commanded by his brother, Major Dandy, left
its quarters, with the rest of its corps, marched all night, crossed the
James and Appomattox rivers, and on the morning of the 29th took up a
position to the southward of Petersburg.
On the 30th of March Foster's division, in which the One Hundredth
was still included, drove in the rebel pickets. The next'day there was
considerable fighting, and about 3 A. M., April ist, the rebels made a des-
perate charge on the One Hundredth and the rest of the Third brigade,
which repulsed them with heavy loss.
The following day (Sunday, April 2d,) the division moved forward
to the assault of Forts Greig and Alexander, two of the last of the rebel
strongholds. The One Hundredth, with other regiments, was launched
against Fort Greig. It was defended by only two hundred and fifty
Mississippians, but these, desperate to the last degree, had sworn never
to surrender, and the fort was extremely strong. The assailants were
probably six or eight times as numerous as the defenders, but the latter
were able to hold them at bay for nearly half an hour. Then the Union
columns dashed through and over all obstacles, the One Hundredth
New York leading the way and planting its flag, first of all, on the para-
pet of the fort. Scarcely was this done when the color-bearer was shot
and fell dead beside his flag. Major Dandy sprang forward to raise the
fallen banner when he, too, was instantly killed. But the Union soldiers
swarmed into the fort on all sides, and in a few moments the survivors
surrendered. Yet they had come as near keeping their oath as could
well be expected, for all but thirty had been killed or wounded.
2/2 History of Erie County.
The next day and the next, the corps followed hard after Lee's re-
treating army, reaching Burkesville Tuesday night. There the One
Hundredth was detailed to guard the wagon train, and was not farther
engaged with the enemy. The remainder of the Third brigade, how-
ever, of which Colonel Dandy was commander, and Captain Stowitts As-
sistant-Adjutant-General, was in the very last combat, four days after
the battle of Appomattox, when General Lee, finding his path diirectly
blocked by a portion of the Union soldiers, sadly decided that the gal-
lant Confederate army of Northern Virginia must lay down its "arms.
The One Hundredth returned at once to Richmond, at or near
which it remained until the 28th of August on easy duty. Lieutenant-
Colonel Payne, on his release from imprisonment by exchange, having
retired from the army in March, (without mustering as Lieutenant-Col-
onel) Captain Warren Granger, Jr., was appointed Lieutenant-Colonel,
and was also brevetted Colonel. Colonel Dandy was brevetted Brigadier-
General of volunteers. Captain Stowitts was commissioned as Major,
but, the fighting being over, retired from the service without mustering
into that office. Captain C. E. Walbridge, who had been detailed on
important service in the Quartermasters department, had acquired
there the special rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. Captains Cook and Coury
received brevet commissions as Majors. In July, the remnants of the
One Hundred and Forty-eighth and One Hundred and Fifty-eighth
New York Infantry were consolidated with the One Hundredth. Fred-
erick A. Sawyer mustered as Major of the combined corps. After the
consolidation the regiment numbered about seven hundred and forty men.
It was mustered out at Richmond on the 28th of August, 1865, and was
transported thence to Albany for its final discharge.
Numerous changes had been continually taking place among the
officers, besides those named in this sketch. Lieutenant-Colonel Gran-
ger, who was Second Lieutenant when the regiment was mustered in,
was the only remaining officer of those on the first roster. Ten had
been killed or mortally wounded in action, viz. : Colonel James M.
Brown, Major James H. Dandy, Captain William Richardson, Lieuten-
ants Samuel S. Kellogg, John Wilkeson, Jr., Herbert H. Haddock,
Charles H. Runckle. James H. French, Azor H. Hoyt, and Cyrus
Brown. One had died, Lieutenant Charles S. Farnham. One had either
died or been killed, Lieutenant Rodne}^ B. Smith, Jr. Of the others,
some had been discharged for disability, some had resigned early in the
war, some had been discharged after three years* service. The follow-
ing is the roster of officers at the final muster out : —
Field and Staff— Qo\om\, (Brevet Brigadier-General) George B.
Dandy ; Lieutenant-Colonel, (Brevet Colonel) Warren Granger, Jr.;
Major, Frederick A. Sawyer; Surgeon, (Brevet Lieutenant Colonel)
Norris M. Carter; Assistant Surgeon, Edwin Schofield ; Quartermi ster,
George G. Barnum.
Roster of Officers at the Muster-Out. 273
Company A. — First Lieutenant, Henry Heinz ; Second Lieutenant,
Peter Kelly.
Company B. — Captain, Jonathan E. Head ; First Lieutenant, Joseph
Pratt.
Company C. — Captain Edwin Nichols ; First Lieutenant, Wayne
Vogdes.
Company /?. — Captain, Samuel Ely.
Company E. — Captain, Edward Pratt.
Company F. — Captain (Brevet Major), Edward L. Cook ; First Lieu-
tenant, Henry Jones.
Company G. — Captain, Jacob S. Kittle ; First Lieutenant, John S.
Manning.
Company H. — Captain (Brevet Major), Henry W. Conry ; First Lieu-
tenant, John Gordon.
Company L — Captain, Patrick Connolly.
Company K. — First Lieutenant, Charles H. Waite.
CHAPTER XXVin.
DNE HUNDREri AND SIXTEENTH INFANTRY AND OTHER
REGIMENTS.
Committee to Raise a New R^ment — Major Chapin Appointed Colonel — Rapid Recruiting —
Muster In — Roster of OflSccrs — To the Front — At Sea— Ship Island — Carrollton —
Baton Rouge — Demonstration against Port Hudson — ''Camp Niagara"— Forward Again
— Battle of " Plain Store " — The Charge of the One Hundred and Sixteenth — Assault on
Port Hudson — Death of Chapin — Siege of Port Hudson— The Surrender — Down the
River — "Cox's Plantation — At Fort Williams — Officers Furnished the "Corps d' Afrique"
— To Sabine Pass and Back — Western Louisiana — "Camp Emory"— The Red River
Expedition — Sabine Cross-Roads — Battle of Pleasant Hill — Return to Alexandria — To
Morganza — At Sea Again — At Washington — In the Shenandoah Valley — Victory at
Opequan .Creek — At Fisher's Hill — The Army Surprised at Cedar Creek — Sheridan
Restores the Battle — The One Hundred and Sixteenth Plants its Flag on the Intrenchments
— Through the Winter— ** The Best Regiment in the Nintccnth Corps" —At Wasliington
— Mustered Out — Reception at Buffalo — The Last Roster of Officers — Concluding
Remarks — The One Hundred and Fifty-Fifth Infantry— Two Companies from Buffalo —
Services in Virginia — Promotions and Changes — One Hundred and Sixty-Fourth Infantry
— Two Buffalo Companies — Officers' Names — Its Battles — Its Losses — One Hundred
and Eighty-Seventh Infantry — Roster of Officers— Services — Discharge.
One Hundred and Sixteenth Infantry.
ON the 7th day of July, 1862, Governor Morgan issued an order direct-
ing a new regiment to be raised in each of the thirty-two Senatorial
districts of New York, to aid in filling the State's quota under the
recent call of the President for three hundred thousand more volunteers.
Erie county was constituted the thirty-first regimental district, and the
274 History of Erie County.
following committee was appointed to supervise the recruiting and
organization of the new regiment : Henry M. Lansing, (Brigadier-Gen-
eral State Militia) Hon. George W. Clinton, Hon. Nathan K. Hall, Hon.
William G. Fargo, Hon. John Ganson, Jacob Beyer, Henry M. Kinne,
John G. Deshler, Philip Dorsheimer, Asaph S. Bemis, E. S. Warren, S.
G. Austin and Alexander W. Harvey. General Lansing was elected
chairman, and Mr. Harvey, secretary.
After tendering the colonelcy of the new regiment successively to
Messrs. John Wilkeson and Henry W. Rogers, who declined, (though
the latter offered to act if no younger or more experienced man could
be agreed upon), the committee offered the position at Mr. Rogers' sug-
gestion to Major Edward P. Chapin, of the Forty-fourth New York In-
fantry, then in Buffalo on recruiting service, by whom it was promptly
accepted.* He took command of Camp Morgan, at Fort Porter, the
rendezvous of all Erie county recruits, and authority was speedily
given to men throughout the county to raise recruits. There was some
difficulty with the authorities at Washington about Colonel Chapin's
leave of absence from the Forty-fourth, but after a short interval of
absence he re-assumed command of Camp Morgan on the i6th of
August, with a commission from the Governor as Colonel of the One
Hundred and Sixteenth New York Volunteer Infantry.
At this time five hundred and seven men had already been mustered
in by Lieutenant John B. Weber, formerly of the Forty-fourth, who had
been appointed adjutant of the regiment and camp at Colonel Chapin's
request. Notwithstanding the fact that at least three full regiments had
been raised in Erie during the previous )'ear, taking away a large part
of the young men available for military service, notwithstanding the
discouraging disasters to the National arms during the summer of 1862,
and in spite of the fact that all the old regiments were seeking recruits,
and that the Buffalo Board of Trade was obtaining a largQ number for
the One Hundredth New York, yet the filling up of the new regiment
proceeded with great rapidity, and on the third day of September, less
than eight weeks after the first meeting of the committee, and about
seven weeks after the commencement of recruiting, .it contained nine
hundred and twenty-nine men.
On that day it was mustered into the United States service by compa-
nies by Lieutenant Sturgeon of the regular army. Some sixty or seventy
persons had been authorized to recruit for volunteers, and as it was found
impracticable to harmonize their various claims in the necessary time,
♦Colonel Chapin, a native of Seneca county. N. Y., though a little under thirty years old
at the outbreak of the war, had then been practicing .law in Buffalo almost nine years. Very
soon afterward he raised Company A, of the Forty-fourth New York, or *' Ellsworth " regiment,
serving a short time as Captain and being then promoted to Major. His being at Buffalo at the time
mentioned in the text was caused by his having been severely >^<5unded at Hanover Court House,
in May, 1862.
The One Hundred and Sixteenth — Roster of Officers. 275
Colonel Chapin recommended those he thought best, to the Governor,
who promptly commissioned them. The following is the first roster of
the commissioned officers and non-commissioned staff of the One Hun-
dred and Sixteenth, with the number of officers and men in each Com-
pany, and the locality in which it was enrolled, so far as shown by the
published muster-rolls : —
Field and Staff, — Colonel, Edward P. Chapin ; Lieutenant-Colonel,
Robert Cottter ; Major, George M. Love ; AcJjutant, John B. Weber ;
Surgeon, C. B. Hutchins ; First Assistant-Surgeon, Uri C. Lynde ;
Second Assistant-Surgeon, Carey W. Howe ; Quartermaster, James
Adams ; Chaplain, Welton M. Moddesit.
Non-Commissioned Staff — Sergeant-Major, Orton S. Clark ; Quarter-
master-Sergeant, Alexander Gosfin ; Commissary-Sergeant, J. L. Clag-
horn ; Hospital Steward, C. F. A. Nichell.
Company A. — Captain, Ira Ayer; Lieutenants, J. C. Thompson, and
Warren T. Ferris; ninety-eieht officers and men enrolled in Evans,
Eden, Brant, Hamburg, East Hamburg, and a few in Buffalo and Aurora.
Company B. — Captain, Albert J. Barnard ; Lieutenants, Leander
Willis and Daniel Corbett ; one hundred and one officers and men,
enrolled in Clarence, Newstead, Lancaster, Alden, Cheektowaga, Elma,
and Aurora.
Company C — Captain, David W. Tuttle ; Lieutenants, Robert F.
Atkins and Edward J. Cornwell ; ninety officers and men enrolled prin-
cipally in Buffalo, with a few in Cheektowaga, Alden, Eden and Saraina.
Company D. — Captain, John Higgins ; Lieutenants, Charles F. Wads-
worth and Elisha W. Seymour ; one hundred officers and men enrolled
mostly in Buffalo, with some from Newstead, West Seneca, Aurora and
Colden.
Company E. — Captain, Richard C. Kinney ; Lieutenants, James Mc-
Gowan and Thomas Notter ; ninety officers and men enrolled princi-
pally in Buffalo, with a few in Amherst.
Company F. — Captain, George G. Stanbro ; Lieutenants, Wilson H.
Grey and Clinton Hammond ; eighty-four officers and men enrolled in
Concord, Sardinia, Boston and Collins.
Company G. — Captain, John M. Sizer ; Lieutenants, Timothy Lina-
han and George Peterson ; ninety officers and men enrolled in Buffalo.
Company rl. — Captain, William Wuerz; Lieutenants, David Jones
and Frederick Sommers ; eighty-nine officers and men ; fifty-seven
enrolled in Buffalo, the rest in Aurora, Amherst, Clarence, Brant, Ham-
burg and West Seneca.
Company /. — Captain, Jefferson Stover; Lieutenants, George W.
Carpenter and Edward Irwin ; ninety officers and men ; twenty-two
enrolled in Marilla, the rest in Buffalo, Wales, Holland, Lancaster, Sar-
dinia and Elma.
Company K. — Captain, James Ayer ; Lieutenants, Philip W. Gould
and John W. Grannis; eighty-four officers and men enrolled princi-
pally in Evans, with some from Hamburg, Brant and North Collins.
Total, nine hundred and thirty-one officers and men, all residents of
Erie county.
Only two days later the One Hundred and Sixteenth (except Com-
pany K., which receivecf a short furlough to enable its members to settle
276 History of Erie County.
their business at home) set out for the front, receiving ere they left, a
handsome stand of colors, presented by the citizens of Buflfalo through
the Hon. Henry W. Rogers. The regiment received its arms and equip-
ments in bulk at Elmira,and then sped on through Pennsylvania to Balti-
more, which it reached on the 7th of September. It encamped near that city
and remained there, except during a few days' absence in Pennsylvania,
until the 5th of November,-being thoroughly drilled and carefully in-
structed in all soldierly duties by Colonel Chapin and the few experi-
enced officers under him.
On the day last mentioned, the One Hundred and Sixteenth, with
five other regiments, all forming a brigade commanded by General Will-
iam H. Emory, took boat for Fortress Monroe. Here they remained
three weeks, but on the 4th of December, they again set sail together with
the rest of a large force known as the Banks Expedition, but then com-
manded by General Emory. After nine days more on shipboard, the
expedition reached Ship Island, off the southern coast of Mississippi, on
the 13th of December. Sixteen days more were spent there in drill and
other preparations, and then the One Hundred and Sixteenth proceeded
by ship to Carrollton, near New Orleans, where its Colonel again re-
ported to General Emory.
Here another month was spent, Colonel Chapin utilizing every day
in preparation for active ser\'ice. General Banks' command was at this
time organized as the Nineteenth army corps, with this regiment in the
Third Brigade of the First (Emory's) Division. In the fore part of Feb-
ruary, the One Hundred and Sixteenth was transferred to Baton Rouge
and made a part of the First brigade of the Third (Augur's) division,
probably to secure the services of Colonel Chapin as brigade commander,
as the other colonels of his brigade at Carrollton out-ranked him, while
he out-ranked those with whom he was brigaded at Baton Rouge. At
all events he was placed in command of his new brigade, all the regi-
ments except his own being composed of nine months* men.
On the 9th of March, 1863, the regiment was supplied with shelter
tents in place of the " A " tents previously used, and on the 14th it took
the road, with the rest of the army, for Port Hudson, sixteen miles up
the river. The command bivouaced only a few miles from that cele-
brated stronghold, but the movement seems to have been intended only
as a demonstration to aid Admiral Farragut's fleet in sailing up the river,
past the fortress. After this was accomplished the troops returned to
Baton Rouge, although the One Hundred and Sixteenth spent a few
days at Winter's plantation, nearly opposite Port Hudson. The greater
part of Banks' army soon returned down the river, leaving Augur's divi-
sion at Baton Rouge. For two months the One Hundred and Sixteenth
occupied a camp at the latter place, which the men called ** Camp
Niagara."
Gallantry of the Regiment at " Plain Store." 277
In the meanwhile General Banks, with the rest of his forces had
made a long circuit through Western Louisiana, had come down the Red
river and had crossed the Mississippi, so as to approach Port Hudson
from the north. On the 20th of May, Colonel Chapin's brigade moved
to Merritt*s plantation, only five miles from Port Hudson, where it joined
other troops of Augur's division, and where that General took command
of the whole. The next day the command advanced on the Bayou Sara
road, which runs four miles in rear of Port Hudson, being intersected by
a road from that place at a collection of a few houses known as " Plain
Store," where General Augur was directed to await the arrival of Gen-
eral Banks. As the advance approached that point about ten o*clock on
the morning of the 21st of May, 1863, it was checked by the fire of Con-
federate artillery. This was promptly replied to and a brisk artillery
fight took place while the advance brigade (Colonel Dudley's) was de-
ployed into line and Chapin's Brigade was massed in support of the
Union batteries.
The enemy at length retired, but ere long the fight re-commenced,
and Colonel Chapin was ordered to send two of his best regiments to
report to General Augur in person. He sent the One Hundred and
Sixteenth New York and the Forty-ninth Massachusetts, which moved
to the left toward the location of our artillery on the Port Hudson road,
west of Plain Store. As the two regiments approached that point their
cars was saluted by heavy musketry fire, and a part of the Forty-eighth
Massachusetts came rushing back in great haste, seriously demoralizing
the Forty-ninth. The One Hundred and Sixteenth, however, under the
command of Major Love, moved steadily forward without a man break-
ing ranks.
Meeting General Augur, the regiment formed line by his order, but
had scarcely done so when the enemy poured a heavy volley of musketry
into it almost directly from its rear. The men were at once faced about
as there was no time for any other maneuver, and promptly returned the
fire. After twenty or thirty rounds had been exchanged General Augur
asked Major Love if his regiment could make a charge. His reply was
" The One Hundred and Sixteenth will do anything you order them
to do " — a somewhat risk}' statement to make of any body of men — but
perhaps a natural one for a young and confident soldier.
The General gave the order, the Major rode down the line and in.
formed the company commanders and then led the way toward the
enemy, twenty paces ahead of the line. The regiment rushed forward
with a yell and the enemy broke at once and fled through an open field
to another belt of woodland, where they were rallied and again opened
fire. The One Hundred and Sixteenth returned it a few moments,
when General Augur ordered another charge, before which the enemy
again fled, and this time did not attempt to rally.
278 History of Erie County.
Although the battle of Plain Store will not rank as one of the great
conflicts of history it was a very sharp fight while it lasted, and as all the
real fighting was done by the One-Hundred and Sixteenth New York,
which then met the enemy for the first time, that regiment was fairly en-
titled to plume itself on the gallantry and energy which it then displayed.
General Augur congfiatulated Colonel Chapin warmly on the vic-
tory, which the former officer justly attributed to the regiment which
the latter had trained. During the short time the One Hundred and
Sixteenth was engaged, it had thirteen men killed and forty -four wound-
ed, including Lieutenant Charles Boniski, who died soon after.
On the 24th General Banks' army having arrived from Bayou Sara
and General W. T. Sherman's division from New Orleans, the whole com-
mand of twenty thousand men advanced and invested Port Hudson. A
council of war determined to assault the fortress, the brigade commanders
were directed to form storming parties of special volunteers to lead the
attack in front of their respective brigades. Colonel Chapin called for
eleven officers and two hundred enlisted men from his brigade, the pro-
portion of the One Hundred and Sixteenth being about three officers and
fifty men. From that regiment alone nine officers, (Major Love, Captains
Higgins, Kinney and Wadsworth, and Lieutenants McGowan, Grey,
Ferris, Morgan and Dobbins,) and sixty-five enlisted men promptly re-
sponded to the call.
At noon on the 27th of May, 1863, Colonel Chapin's Brigade was
moved forward to a position just in rear of the skirmish line already
held by Companies B and G of the One Hundred and Sixteenth. The
brigade storming party was commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel James
O'Brian, of the Forty-eighth Massachusetts, while Lieutenant William J.
Morgan was selected to lead the detachment from the One Hundred and
Sixteenth. Between one and two o'clock the command was given and
the various brigades, led by their respective storming parties, rushed
forward toward the coveted fortress, though not with the unity of
movement which the circumstances required. Colonel Chapin led the
stormers of his brigade out of the wood where they had stood, by the
side of Colonel O'Brian, directed him in his course and then turned to
lead his brigade.
But the enemy was well intrenched at the edge of a high table-
land, the approach to which was through wild ravines and over steep
and broken ground, made still more impassable by large tracts of
" slashing," skillfully disposed beforehand. Both brigade and storming
party were speedily disorganized by these obstacles, even more than by
the terrific hail of round-shot, shell, and bullets, which came crashing
among them. Colonel Chapin, while most gallantly leading his men
was wounded in the knee very early in the fight, but kept on his course
and a few moments later was instantly killed by a ball through the head.
Before Port Hudson. 279
Lieutenant-Colonel O'Brian at the head of the storming party pushed
forward as near the works as man could go, when he, too, was instantly
killed. The loss of these two gallant'commanders added to the difficul-
ties caused by natural and artificial obstacles, and the men, utterly un-
able to keep in line or act together, could only shelter themselves behind
stumps and trees, and maintain an active fire against their almost unseen
enemies. The brigades which attacked on the right and left and all
along the line only attained a similar result, and after a fruitless fusilade
of several hours the troops were withdrawn into the woods from
which they had started. The One Hundred and Sixteenth had a hun-
dred and six officers and men killed and wounded, including Colonel
Chapin killed. Lieutenant Jones mortally wounded, and Major Love and
Lieutenants Grey and Morgan wounded.
Just after the battle, Lieutenant-Colonel Cottier, who had sent in
his resignation before leaving Baton Rouge, left the army to return
home. Major Love being disabled. General Augur selected Captains
John Higgins and John M. Sizer as acting field officers. The brigade
passed under the command of Colonel Charles J. Paine, a Massachusetts
officer then in command of the Second Louisiana (white) Volunteers.
Regular siege was then laid to Port Hudson, and digging intrench-
ments and erecting batteries became the order of the day. Early in the
morning of the 13th of June, the regiment took part in a feigned attack
on the enemy's center, intended to cover more zealous assaults on the
right and left. During the skirmish fire which the One Hundred and
Sixteenth kept up for several hours, Lieutenant Timothy Linahan was
killed and twenty-seven enlisted men were killed and wounded. The
assailing forces on either side failed to gain an entrance, but in some
places the intrenched lines were advanced to within fifty yards of the
rebel works.
From the nearest point a mine was then run under the enemy's in-
trenchments, while in the center the One Hundred and Sixteenth was
kept busily at work, supporting batteries and sharp-shooting with the
watchful foe. The mine before mentioned being well advanced, volun-
teers were again called for, on the 24th of June, to form one storming
party for the whole command, intended to lead the wa)' into the fortress
when the mine was exploded, and, notwithstanding the defeats previously
suffered, twenty-four men of the One Hundred and Sixteenth responded
to the call. All the stormers were assembled and drilled in a separate
body, but before it was deemed time to act, the news came on the 6th of
July, that Pemberton had surrendered Vicksburg, and immediately after-
ward General Gardner, the Commander of Port Hudson, yielded it to
General Banks.
It was decided that only a part of our troops should enter the for-
tress at the time of the surrender, and each Division-Commander was
28o History of Erie County.
directed to select his two best regiments for that purpose. General
Augur selected the One Hundred and Sixteenth New York, and the
Second Louisiana (white) for the post of honor. On the 9th of July, the
chosen regiments marched in and received the surrender of over six
thousand rebels. The sapie day the One Hundred and Sixteenth took
boat and went down the river to Donaldsonville.
On the 13th, the regiment, with other troops, was ordered out to
meet the forces of General Richard Taylor, who was operating in the
vicinity. Colonel Paine*s brigade was stationed in a ditch with a fence
in front of it, and when the rebel line approached, the brigade rose and
poured in volley after volley, which sent the assailants to the right-about
in very brief time. They took refuge in the numerous buildings of
" Cox's Plantation," and a desultory fire ensued between the hostile
parties. Finally a Union brigade on the other side of a bayou on the
right, needlessly retreated, thus uncovering the flank of Paine's brigade,
when General Weitzel, the commander of all the Union troops, ordered
them back to Donaldsonville. The commander of the brigade which
first retreated, was court-martialed and dismissed the service. Captain
David W. Tuttle, of the One Hundred and Sixteenth, was killed, as were
four enlisted men, besides Lieutenant Orton S. Clark, and twenty-two
men wounded, and twenty-one men captured ; aggregate of casualties,
forty-nine. The fight was known as the Battle of Cox's Plantation.
General Taylor did not farther molest our troops, and soon retired
from the vicinity. The One Hundred and Sixteenth remained at Don-
aldsonville until the ist of August, and in the meantime Major Love was
commissioned as Colonel, Captain Sizer as Major, and ere long Captain
Higgins as Lieutenant-Colonel.
On the first of August, the regiment returned to Baton Rouge, and
two weeks later was put in garrison at Fort Williams, the principal
defense of that place ; being at the same time made a part of the First
brigade, First division of Bank's army.
During that summer General Banks was forming a body of colored
soldiers, called the " Corps d'Afrique," and in July, Adjutant John B.
Weber, was selected to raise and command one of the regiments, after-
wards called the Eighty-ninth United States Colored Infantry. He
naturally selected many of his officers from among his comrades of the
One Hundred and Sixteenth, and the following were in time duly com-
missioned to the respective positions named : Adjutant John B. Weber,
as Colonel ; Captain Robert F. Atkins, as Lieutenant-Colonel ; Sergeant-
Major Richard M. Hair, as Adjutant ; Commissary-Sergeant, J. L. Clag-
horn, as Quartermaster ; Second-Lieutenants, Philip J.Webber and Oscar
F. Tiffany and Sergeants John W. Tuttle and Rollin C. Hubbard, as Cap-
tains ; Sergeants John L. Carmer and Willard S. Berry, as First-Lieuten-
ants ; and Corporal Charles Faul, as Second-Lieutenant. After the regi-
The Red River Expedition. 281
ment was nearly filled, however, most of his men were transferred to
another, and in the summer of 1864, it was consolidated with other com-
mands ; its Colonel resigned, and most of its officers were mustered out.
During its existence, Colonel Weber was nearly all of the time in com-
mand of a brigade.
On the 27th of August the One Hundred and Sixteenth was ordered
to New Orleans, and sailed thence with General Franklin's Nineteenth
corps to Sabine Pass, on the coast of Texas. Three gun-boats had a
brief fight with a Confederate fort, two of them being disabled and cap-
tured, when General Franklin immediately took his army and fleet back
to New Orleans.
Three days later the One Hundred and Sixteenth moved west by
rail to Brashear City, where there was assembled an army consisting of
the Thirteenth and Nineteenth Corps. This army marched slowly, with
long rests, to the western part of Louisiana, without the occurrence of
any important event, and on the ist of November turned back. On the
night of the 2d, a division of the Thirteenth Corps, under General Bur-
bridge, while encamped several miles from the main army, was surprised
and badly cut up by a Confederate force. The Nineteenth Corps has-
tened to their aid, but the enemy was gone.
After staying two weeks at Vermillion Bayou, the regiment removed
to New Iberia, where it remained until the 7th of January, 1864, when it
marched to Franklin. This was its home until the 15th of March, and its
camp ("Camp Emory") became famous for its fine appearance and the
numerous ornaments, such as miniature fortresses, elegant arbors, etc.,
erected by the various companies.
On the day last named, the One Hundred and Sixteenth set out on
the famous " Red River Expedition;** Colonel Love being in command
of the brigade and Lieutenant-Colonel Higgins at the head of the regi-
ment. At this time, owing to deaths, resignations, absence, detachment
on special service, etc., eight companies had only one commissioned
officer each, on duty with them ; the others having two each.
The army marched westward by easy stages, along the road trav-
ersed the previous fall, to Bayou Grand Coteau, and thence northwest-
ward to Alexandria on the Red River. Then General Banks took com-
mand, and in the latter part of March his army supposed to be thirty-five
thousand strong (Grover s division of Franklin's corps being left at Alex-
andria) moved up the river toward Shreveport; the One Hundred and
Sixteenth being in Dwight's brigade, Emory's division of Franklin's (Nine-
teenth) corps. At noon on the 8th of April, the force being then eight miles
above the village of Pleasant Hill, heavy cannonading was heard, and it
was soon learned that the cavalry, eight miles further in advance, was
being rapidly driven back. The Thirteenth corps went to their aid, and
Emory's division, all of the Nineteenth corps present, followed, while
the Sixteenth corps was eight miles back of that.
282 History of Erie County.
At Sabine Cross-roads, the division went into line ; the One Hun-
dred and Sixteenth being on the extreme right, behind a rail fence, with
an open field in front. Another regiment sent in advance to check the
enemy, fell slowly back through the line, but the division steadily held its
fire until the rebels were within a few paces, when the boys in blue poured
in several rapid volleys, driving them out of sight in less than double-
quick. The Nineteenth corps remained there until midnight, when it
retreated to Pleasant Hill.
The next day preparations were made against an expected attack,
and when the enemy approached at 4 P. M., the One Hundred and Six-
teenth again found itself on the right of the line, with a sort of breast-
work of rails in front of it, behind which it lay down. The rebels
charged the line five times but were defeated ever)' time, as was also an
attempt to turn the flank of the regiment. Then an advance was made
along the whole Confederate line, outflanking and driving back one brig-
ade on the left, but being in turn routed and driven back more than a
mile by the bullets and bayonets of the Sixteenth corps. But notwith-
standing its victory the army had no rations, (though it might have
had) and General Banks had become as thoroughly alarmed as he had
before been overconfident ; so, early the next morning it started back
down the river. The losses of the One Hundred and Sixteenth were
comparatively light, doubtless owing to l^their protected positions ; only
twenty-one men being killed and wounded at Sabine Cross-roads and
twelve officers and men at Pleasant Hill.
The retreat continued to Merritt's Blufl^, where there was a sharp
fight, but where the One Hundred and Sixteenth was only slightl)'
engaged, and thence to Alexandria, which the army reached on the 25th
of April. Here it remained until the 13th of May; the One Hundred
and Sixteenth taking an active part in building the famous wing-dams
which enabled the gunboats to get over the falls at that place. From
there the army proceeded, uninterrupted except by an artillery fight at
Mansura Plains, to Morganza on the Mississippi, which it reached on the
2 1 St of May.
On the 2d of July, 1864, the One Hundred and Sixteenth — again,
after various changes, in the First brigade, (commanded by Colonel Love,)
of Emory's division— took boat at Morganza, and re-shipped at New
Orleans under sealed orders, which were opened in the Gulf of Mexico,
when officers and men were astonished to find themselves on their way
to Fortress Monroe. Reaching that place on the 12th of July, the Nine-
teenth corps proceeded to Washington without disembarking, landed
there on the 13th, and the next day marched out to check the rebel forces
hovering around the capital.
After numerous inexplicable marchings to and fro in Maryland and
Northeastern Virginia, the Nineteenth corps found itself on the loth of
In the Shenandoah Valley. 283
August, 1864, located near Harper's Ferry, and just entering, with other
troops, in the " Campaign of the Shenandoah ;" all being under the orders
of a man then almost unknown, who had assumed command but a day or
two before — General Philip H. Sheridan. The troops at once moved up
the valley, and on the 13th drove the rebels easily from the line of Cedar
Creek. Three days later they again moved down the river and lor a
month the armies of Sheridan maneuvered in the lower valley of the
Shenandoah.
On the 19th of September, the Union cavalry found a rebel force
strongly posted on Opequan creek. The horsemen drove it away, when
Sheridan's army crossed the creek, moved through a narrow gorge,
(which it would seem as if Early should have tried to hold) and formed
on the open ground beyond. Grover's division, in the advance of the
Nineteenth corps, was furiously attacked and driven back, but rather by
the side of Dwight's division, to which the One Hundred and Sixteenth
belonged. After two or three hours' firing with comparatively slight
results, the Eighth corps came up fresh from the rear, and led in a de-
termined charge of the whole army which drove the rebels in headlong
flight, capturing five pieces of artillery, fifteen battle-flags and numerous
prisoners. In the battle (sometimes called ** Opequan Creek "and some-
times '* Sheridan's Winchester,") the One Hundred and Sixteenth had
nine men killed and forty wounded.
The victory was promptly followed up, and on the 22d of Septem-
ber, our army was in front of Early's, which was thoroughly fortified at
the extremely strong natural position of Fisher's Hill. The Sixth and
Nineteenth corps made a great parade of intrenching and fighting, while
the Eighth corps made a long march, and then a fierce attack on the
enemy's flank. The other two corps joined in the assault, but the enemy
was defeated before they were fairly engaged. The chief work of the
One Hundred and Sixteenth was to drive a rebel force from a line of
rail pens, which was so quickly done by a gallant charge that the regi-
ment had but ten men killed and wounded. Early's army was thor-
oughly defeated, losing two thousand prisoners, twenty-one pieces of
artillery, and nearly all the battle-flags there were left.
Sheridan drove Early up the valley three days more in hot haste,
but rested when he reached Harrisonburg. After some operations at
or near Staunton, the army moved back from Harrisonburg on the 6th
of October, and on the loth, encamped at Cedar Creek.
At daylight on the 1 8th, while General Sheridan was absent,(being then
on his return from a trip to Washington on official business,) General
Early, who had been re-inforced by Longstreet's corps from Richmond,
outflanked, surprised and utterly defeated the Eighth corps. Following up
his victory, he compelled the Nineteenth corps to abandon its works,
and half-face to the rear, and in the fighting which ensued the One Hun-
284 History of Erie County.
dred and Sixteenth suffered considerable loss. Soon the whole army
retreated, though in less confusion than before, with a loss of two thou-
sand prisoners and twenty-four pieces of artillery.
But ere long tremendous cheers were heard rolling along the col-
umn, and it was soon learned that "Little Phir* had returned. He
speedily put the army in line, facing the enemy, who was not pressing
as urgently as before, and ordered the men to get dinner. After this, at
three P. M., the line moved forward. The First brigade coming under a
heavy fire, its commander. Colonel Davis, ordered a charge, which was
gallantly made; Colonel Love leading the One Hundred and Sixteenth
against a line of rebels behind a stone wall, which was captured at a
dash with little loss. This was the first brigade to burst through the
enemy's line, and General Sheridan at once ordered re-enforcements to
be sent to it.
Another charge by the same brigade and the rest of the division
broke the Confederate line again, when Early's whole army at once
retreated in great confusion, closely followed by the Union infantry, and
repeatedly charged in flank by Custer's Cavalry. Colonel Love in
person captured the battle-flag of the Second South Carolina regiment,
and the One Hundred and Sixteenth, first of all the army, planted its
flags on the fortifications at Cedar Creek, so hastily abandoned in the
morning. The cavalry captured more prisoners than they could take
care of, and General Emory sent his first brigade to help bring them in.
Afterward the First Brigade, with the rest of the army resumed its place
in the fortifications at Cedar Creek. The One Hundred and Sixteenth
had fifty-one men killed and wounded during the fighting of the day,
including Captains George W. Carpenter, Charles S. Crary, and John
H. Rohan, wounded.
On the 9th of November the power of the enemy in the Shenandoah
being effectually broken, the army moved down to Newtown. The
Sixth and Eighth corps, were sent away, leaving that region held only
by the Nineteenth corj)S and the cavalry. On the 30th of December,
the corps moved to Stevenson's Depot, near which it remained until the
4th of April, 1865. While the corps lay there, General Emory, being
requested by the Ordnance Department to furnish some new fashioned
gun-cappers to the best regiment in his corps, sent them to the One
Hundred and Sixteenth New York, and when they were voted worth-
less, General Sheridan endorsed the Colonel's report, saying: —
" The regiment of Colonel Love enjoys the reputation of being the
best in the Nineteenth Army Corps. ******
P. H. Sheridan, Major-General Commanding."
While there, too, the Nineteenth Army corps, with which the One
Hundred and Sixteenth New York had long been identified, was broken
up and Lieutenant-Colonel Sizer (Lieutenant-Colonel Higgins h d re-
Return of the One Hundred and Sixteenth. 285
signed) who had been on General Emory's staff a year, returned and
took command of the regiment, Colonel Love being again in command
of a brigade and being brevetted a brigadier-general. Captain George
W. Carpenter had been appointed major.
On the 4th of April the One Hundred and Sixteenth broke camp, and
after spending two or three weeks more at various points in the valley,
proceeded by rail to Washington. Here it was soon detailed as provost
guard, and continued on that duty until the 8th of June, when it was
mustered out of the United States service. Three days later the regi-
ment took the cars for Buffalo, which it reached at 3 o'clock in the after-
noon of the 13th of June.
Great preparations had been made to do honor to the returning
heroes, and a vast throng had assembled at the depot. Slowly the
veterans made their way through thousands of friends, formed in line,
and moved along Exchange street, under the escort of the Seventy -fourth
regiment of the National guard, the veterans of the Twenty-first volun-
teers, and numerous other bodies. The men of the One Hundred and
Sixteenth wore their dress coats and shoulder-scales, and were in " spick
and span" order in every respect, and their marching* and wheeling
well displayed the effects of their three years' training. Their whole
route to Fort Porter was gay with banners and decorations, and lined
with thousands upon thousands of applauding people. After being wel-
comed at Fort Porter by Judge Clinton, they were given a short fur-
lough to await the arrival of the paymaster, and it was not until the
26th of June, that the officers and men of the One Hundred and Six-
teenth New York Volunteers were finally paid off, received their dis-
charges and re-entered civil life.
Numerous changes had taken place among the officers. We have
noticed those among the field-officers as they occurred, and the names of
those killed in action. Besides these Captain James Ayer and Lieutenant
Elisha B. Cottier died in the service. The following is a roster of the
commissioned officers and non-commissioned staff at the muster-out, with
the number of officers and men in each company : —
Field and Staff, — Colonel, George M. Love, (Brevet Brigadier-
General); Lieutenant-Colonel. John M. Sizer; Major, George W. Car-
pentcr ; Adjutant, John C. Nial ; Quartermaster, George vV. Miller ;
Surgeon, Chauncey B. Hutchins ; Assistant-Surgeon M. Eugene Shaw ;
Chaplain Hiram J. Gordon.
Non-Commissioned Staff — Sergeant-Major, Oloff W. Stadin ; Quarter-
master-Sergeant, Michael Danner, Jr.; Commissary-Sergeant, William H.
Matthewson ; Hospital-Steward, Charles F. A. Nichell; Principal Musi-
cians, John Martin and Julius S. Knapp.
Company A. — Captain, George H. Shepard; First-Lieutenant, John
G. Dayton ; forty-three officers and men.
Company B, — Captain, John G. Woehnert ; First-Lieutenant, Wm. F.
Feldhani; Second-Lieutenant, Sam'l Leonard ; forty-four officers and men.
19
286 History of Erie County.
Catnpany C\ — Captain, William J. Morgan ; twenty-six officers and
men.
Company D. — Captain, Elisha W. Sej'mour ; forty-seven officers and
men.
Company E. — First-Lieutenant, Henry A. C. Swarz ; Second Lieuten-
ant, William Kelso ; thirty-five officers and men.
Company F. — Captain, Charles S. Crary ; First-Lieutenant, William
W. Grace; thirty-eight officers and men.
Company G. — Captain, John H. Rohan ; First-Lieutenant, William
Holden ; fifty-seven officers and men.
Company H, — Captain, Orton S. Clark ; First-Lieutenant, Charles D.
Ballard ; forty-three officers and men.
Company I, — Captain, William Tibbitts; First-Lieutenant, Charles H.
Curry ; twenty-seven officers and men.
Company K. — Captain, Warren T. Ferris ; First-Lieutenant, John H.
Dingman ; fifty-one officers and men.
Total in regiment at muster-out, four hundred and forty-three officers
and men.
The One Hundred and Sixteenth did not suffer as much in battle as
some of the regiments which fought in the Army of the Potomac, yet
eighty-nine of its officers and men were killed or mortally wounded dur-
ing its two and a half years of active service. Eighty-four died of disease,
which is much less than might have been expected, considering that the
regiment spent a year and a half in the malarial swamps of Louisiana.
Two hundred and three officers and men were wounded in action — aside
from those mortally wounded. There were only twenty-seven deserters
from the regiment during its whole term of service, which was certainly
much less than the average, and is very creditable to the character of
the men. Of the nine hundred and thirty-one officers and men who
were mustered into the United States service on the 3d of September,
1862, those not recorded as dead, deserted, nor mustered out with the
regiment were nearly all discharged on account of disability, resulting
from wounds or disease, though a few were promoted out of the regi-
ment and a few were transferred to a Louisiana cavalry regiment. There
were also a few recruits who joined the One Hundred and Sixteenth
after it returned North, and who were transferred to another regiment
when the former was mustered out. Substantially, however, it was the
same body throughout, composed of the ever decreasing number of
those who entered its ranks between the loth of July and the 3d of Sep-
tember, 1862.
One Hundred and Fifty-Fifth Infantry.
In the autumn of 1862 several companies were raised in Buffalo and
vicinity, with the expectation that they would be formed into a new
Erie- County regiment, but this was found impracticable, and the men
were assigned to various organizations. Two companies went into the
One Hundred and Fifty-fifth Infantry. This regiment was organized at
The One Hundred and Sixty-Fourth. 287
New York, and was mostly raised in that city. It was mustered into the
United States service for three years on the i8th day of November, 1862,
the two Erie county companies being designated as " I *' and " K. " The
oflficers of the former at the muster-in, were Captain, John Byrne ; First
Lieutenant, James Worthington ; and Second Lieutenant, Hugh Mooney.
Those of the latter were Captain, James McConvey ; First Lieutenant,
John McNally ; and Second Lieutenant, John Ternan.
The regiment joined the forces stationed near the mouth of the
James river, in Virginia. There its onl)- serious conflict with the rebels
was at the battle of Suffolk and it had the fortune to escape from any
other severe engagements during the whole of the year 1863. In the
spring of 1864, however, it moved forward as a part of the Army of the
Potomac, and it soon had fighting enough on its hands to make up for
any lost time. It was engaged in the desperate battle of Spottsylvania
Court House and again at North Anna and Totopotomy. Moving south-
ward with the army, it took part in the deadly and disastrous assault upon
the impregnable intrenchments of Cold Harbor. Thence it moved
across the James river, and took active part in the long, wearisome and
often dangerous siege of Petersburg. During the death-struggle around
Petersburg and Richmond, the One Hundred and Fifty-fifth participated
in the conflicts at Strawberry Plains, Deep Bottom, Ream's Station, and
Boydton Road. After its efforts were crowned with success by the cap-
ture of the rebel Capital and army, the regiment was soon granted a
release from the restraints of military life; being mustered out of service
on the 15th day of July, 1865.
During its term, one of the two Buffalo Captains who went to the
front with the regiment, John Byrne, was promoted to Major, and then
to Lieutenant-Colonel, and was finally commissioned as Colonel although,
owing to the reduced members of the regiment, he was not mustered
into service in that capacity. The other Buffalo Captain, James Mc-
Convey, was also promoted to Major, but for the same reason was not
mustered as such. Second Lieutenant, Hugh Mooney, was promoted
to Captain. All these were mustered out with the regiment.
The One Hundred and Fifty-fifth, both as to officers and men,
was mostly composed of men of Irish birth or parentage, and well
sustained the reputation for impetuous valor borne by those of that
nationality.
One Hundred and Sixty-Fourth Infantry.
The next day after the One Hundred and Fifty-fifth New York
Infantry was mustered into the United States service, viz. : on the 19th
of November, 1862, the One Hundred and Sixty-fourth New York was
in a similar manner made a part of the great National army organized to
subdue the Slave-holders' rebellion. This regiment was also principally
288 History of Erie County.
raised in the city of New York, and also contained two companies from
Buflfalo and vicinity, officered as follows : —
Company C. — Captain, Timothy W. Kelly; First Lieutenant, William
T. Sizer ; Second Lieutenant, Micnael G. Stapleton.
Company D, — Captain, Christopher Graham ; First Lieutenant, Chas.
Waters ; Second Lieutenant, Michael Riley.
Among the field, staff and non-commissioned staff officers from Buf-
falo, were the Colonel, John E. McMahon ; the Quartermaster, Maurice
Courtney ; the Surgeon, Matthew F. Regan ; the Assistant Surgeon,
John C. Wall ; the Quartermaster-Sergeant, Stephen A. Callanan ; th6
Commissary Sergeant, William Bryan ; and the Hospital Steward, James
W. Kinslen
The One Hundred and Sixty-fourth, which came within one day of
being the twin sister of the One Hundred and Fifty-fifth, was also its
almost constant comrade in service. Like that regiment it proceeded to
the mouth of the James river, and took part in the battle of Suffolk, and
in addition participated in the fight at Blackwater. Like the regiment,
too, it chanced not to be engaged in the great battles of the war until the
campaign of i864-*65, when it repeatedly participated in the most deadly
conflicts, suffering very heavy loss in killed and wounded. It fought at
Spottsylvania, at Cold Harbor, at Strawberry Plains, at Deep Bottom,
and at Ream's Station ; it braved the dangers and suffered the hardships
incident to the siege at Petersburg, and finall}- took part in the battle of
Boydton Road, one of the closing conflicts which overthrew the totter-
ing fabric of the Southern Confederacy.
Ten officers and a corresponding number of men were killed or
mortally wounded in action, besides a large number of officers and men
who were wounded, though not fatally. The first Colonel, John E.
McMahon, died of disease in March, 1863. His successor, Colonel James
P. McMahon, was killed at the head of his regiment, during the assault
on Cold Harbor.* First Lieutenant Waters, of Buflfalo, was killed at
Spottsylvania. Lieutenant Stapleton, after being appointed Quarter-
master of the regiment, died ot disease in March, 1863. Quartermaster-
Sergeant Callanan was promoted to Lieutenant and then to Captain, and
was mustered out with the regiment. Hospital Steward Kinsler was
promoted to Assistant-Surgeon, and was mustered out with the regiment.
One Hundred and Eighty-Seventh Infantry.
In the autumn ot 1864, strenuous efforts were made to raise still an-
other Erie county regiment, composed principally of men of German birth
* General Humphreys, in his work entitled ** The Virginia Campaign of '64 and *65,** speaking^
of the attack made by Gibbon's division of the Second Corps at Cold Harbor, says :—
** Colonel McMahon, One Hundred and Sixty-fourth New York, forming the left of McKeon's
brigade, but separated from it by the swamps, gained the breast-works with a portion of his regi-
ment, and whijst along side of his colors cheering on his men. fell, with many wounds, dyirpj in the
enemy's hands, they captured his colors and the men with them.
The One Hundred and Eighty-Seventh. 289
or parentage. Many were enlisted who had been members of the Sixty-
fifth New York State Militia. It was found impracticable, however
to fill up the regiment, and in October six companies were mustered into
the United States service for two years, the organization being desig-
nated as the One Hundred and Eighty. seventh New York Infantry, and
being under the command of a lieutenant-colonel and major. The fol-
lowing is a list of the commissioned officers at the muster-in with some
facts regarding the companies : —
Field and Staff, — Lieutenant-Colonel, Daniel Meyers ; Major, Conrad
Sieber; Adjutant, Carl Zeny ; Surgeon, Peter L. Sonnick : Assistant-
Surgeon, E. William Wachter.
Company A, — Captain, Frederick Frankle ; Lieutenants, Frank Schaf-
fer and Johnson D. Ensign ; eighty-three officers and men, from Bufifalo,
and nearly all of the towns of Erie county, with a few from Cattaraugus
county.
Company C. — Captain, Charles Gayer ; Lieutenants, Valentine
Hoffman and Charles Bartholomy ; seventy-seven officers and men, prin-
cfpally from Buffalo and the northern towns of Erie county, with some
from Cattaraugus county.
Company D. — Captain, John C. Beckwith ; Lieutenants not recorded ;
eighty-four officers and men, from Buffalo, the towns of Erie county and
OHttaraugus county.
Company E, — Captain, Philip H. Wagner ; First Lieutenant, Albert
Schoenwald ; ninety-two officers and men, from Buffalo and the towns
of Erie county.
Company G. — Captain Frank Mauerman ; First Lieutenant, George
H. Hodges; eighty-six officers and men, from Erie, Wyoming and
Niagara counties.
Company /. — Captain, Daniel Loeb ; Lieutenants, Frederick C. Hyde
and Henry Tyler ; eighty-six officers and men, from Chautauqua and
Cattaraugus counties.
The One Hundred and Eighty-seventh joined the army before
Petersburg, and took an active part in the subsequent operations which
resulted in the capture of that city and Richmond. At the battle of
Hatcher's Run it had about sixty men killed and wounded, and it pah-
ticipated in numerous minor engagements. The regiment (or more
properly battalion) was mustered out on the ist day of July, 1865. The
following were the officers mustered out at that time according, to the
report of the Adjutant-General of New York: —
Lieutenant-Colonel, Daniel Meyers; Major, Conrad Sieber; Sur-
feon, P. L. Sonnick; Assistant-Surgeon, E. W. Wachter; Adjutant,
lenry Tyler : Captains, Frederick Frankle, John C. Beckwith, Philip
H. Wagner, Franlc Mauerman, Daniel Loeb and Frank Schaffer ; First
Lieutenants, Valentine Hoffman and Albert Schoenwald.
290 History of Erie County.
CHAPTER XXIX.
CAVALRY AND ARTILLERY VOLUNTEERS.
Tenth Cavalry — Four Erie County Companies — Their Officers — Hard Senrice — Battles —
Consolidation — Master Out— Promotion, Etc. — Eleventh Cavalry — Company M — Its
Services — Twelfth Cavalry — Companies K and M — Services — Muster-Out — Fourteenth
Cavalry — Metcalfs Company — lU Services — Consolidation, Etc. — Sixteenth Cavalry —
Four Eric County Companies — Services — Consolidation, Etc. — Twenty-Fourth Cavalry —
Three Erie County Companies — Their Officers — Battles of the Regiment — Muster Out
— Second Mounted Rifles — Three Erie County Companies — Officers — Battles, Etc.—
Wiedrich's Battery— Its Organisation — Battle of Cross Keys — Second Bull Run — Chan-
cellorsville — Gettysburgh — Lookout Mountain — The Atlanta Campaign — Final Grand
March — Twenty-Seventh Light Battery — Services and Officers — Third Light Battery.
Tenth Cavalry.
FOUR companies of this regiment, sometimes called the Porter Guard
were wholly or principally raised in Erie county. They were
not designated by letters when mustered, but were distinguished as
the First, Second, Fourth and Fifth companies of the regiment. The First
contained ninety-five men, under Captain Albert H. Jarvis and Lieuten-
ants Henry Field and John C. Hart. The Second contained ninety-three
men, under Captain John Ordner and Lieutenants Barney L. Luther and
John Werick. The Fourth contained ninety-five men under Captain
Norris Morey, and Lieutenants Layton T. Baldwin and William A.
Snyder. The Fifth company contained ninety-two men under Captain
Wilkinson W. Paige and First Lieutenant William H. Whitney. The
regiment was mustered into the service at Elmira, for three years, between
the 27th of September and the 23d of December, 1861.
As a rule, throughout the war, the cavalry, though constantly on
hard service and frequently under fire, was seldom engaged in very hard
fighting. Even in European regular armies the cavalry is rarely called
on to do as severe fighting as the infantry, a\id the difference between
the two arms of the service was increased in America by the nature of
the Southern country, largely covered with dense timber, and by the
great ease with which hastily levied soldiers can acquire a knowledge of
the infantry service. But the Tenth New York Cavalry was again and
again engaged in as severe fighting as was known by most of the infantry.
It had eight officers killed in action, which was full as many as fell in the
average of the infantry regiments, and more than in many. The companies
before mentioned were largely recruited in the southern towns of Erie
county, and we have been informed that more than one family in those
towns has lost three members each in the Tenth Cavalry.
The Tenth, Eleventh and Twelfth Cavalry. 291
The list of its battle-fields included Leesburg, Brandy Station, Mid-
dleburg (where there was a severe fight, three officers and many, men
being killed, and a proportionate number wounded) Gettysburg, Shep-
hardstown. Sulphur Springs, Todd's Tavern, Fortifications of Richmond,
Hawts* Shop, St. Mary's Church, Charles City, Cross Roads, Ream's
Station,Vaughan Road and Boydton Road. It chanced that some of these
presented more open ground than was usually found in the South, and
the sabers of the Tenth Cavalry frequently clashed fiercely against those
of J. E. B. Stuart's and Fitzhugh Lee's horsemen, when the Northmen
gave a most excellent account of themselves in what might be considered
the favorite fighting-method of the Southern chivalry.
This regiment was consolidated with the Twenty-fourth New York
Cavalry, on the 17th of June, 1865 ; forming the First Provisional Cavalry,
which was soon afterward mustered out of the service. Among the offi-
cers of the Erie county companies. Captain John Ordner and Captain
Wilkinson W. Paige were both killed at the battle of St. Mary's Church,
on the 24th of June, 1864. Lieutenant Elijah Hartwell was promoted to
Captain in January, 1865, and was subsequently brevetted Major for gal-
lant conduct. He was transferred to the First Provisional Cavalry at
the time of the consolidation before mentioned, and was mustered out of
service with that regiment. Edgar S. Hinkley was promoted to Lieu-
tenant in July, 1863, and was mustered out at the end of his term of ser-
vice, in October, 1864.
Eleventh Cavalry.
Company M, of the Eleventh New York Cavalry, which regiment
was at first usually known as " Scott's Nine Hundred," was raised in
Buffalo. Its first officers were : Captain, John Norris ; First Lieuten-
ant, Ira W. Allen ; and Second Lieutenant, James S. Bennett. The
company was more than full, containing one hundred and four officers
and men. The regiment was mustered into the service in the winter of
1861 and '62. It served principally in Louisiana, its most important con-
flict being that of New River. Samuel H. Wilkeson was appointed
Lieutenant-Colonel with rank from December, 1862. He was subse-
quently commissioned as Colonel, but was not mustered as such. He
was mustered out of service at the expiration of his term of three years,
in March, 1865. Captain Norris resigned in February, 1863,' and Lieuten-
ant Bennett in January, 1865. Thomas Mitchell Was commissioned as
Second Lieutenant in March, 1865, and the company came home under
his command.
Twelfth Cavalry.
This regiment, sometimes called the "Third Ira Harris Guard,"
was mustered into service, by companies and detachments, at various
292 History of Erie County.
times from November 10, 1862, to September 25, 1863. Companies K
and M were raised in Erie county. The former, at the time of muster-
in, was commanded by Second Lieutenant Andrew T. Pierson ; the lat-
ter by First Lieutenant William H. Ashford and Second Lieutenant
Edward M. Ketchum.
Before all the detachments were mustered in, the regiment was des-
patched to North Carolina, where it was engaged in a sharp fight at
Tarboro, on the 2d day of July, 1863. It served in that State during
the greater part of its term, being again engaged in battle at Wise's
Ford, on the 8th day of March, 1865, besides numerous minor skirmishes.
It was mustered out on the 9th day of July, 1865. Second Lieutenants
Pierson and Ketchum were promoted to First Lieutenants, and were
mustered out as such with the regiment.
Fourteenth Cavalry.
The companies of this regiment were mustered into service at vari-
ous periods between November, 1862, and July, 1863. Among them was
one raised in Erie county. It was commanded by Captain Albert W.
Metcalf, and contained, at the muster-in, eighty-seven men. The regi-
ment served principally in Louisiana. In August, 1863, it was consoli-
dated into a battalion of six companies. This battalion was consolidated
with the Eighteenth New York Cavalry in June, 1865, with which it was
mustered out in May, 1866. Captain Metcalf was discharged in May,
1863, but was again 'commissioned in June, 1864. Dyer D. Lum, who
was mustered as First Sergeant of the Erie county company, was com-
missioned as Adjutant of the regiment February 17, 1864. He was
commissioned as Captain, October 31, 1864, and was discharged April
24, 1865.
Sixteenth Cavalry.
Of the Sixteenth New York Cavalry, four companies were raised in
Erie county. The regiment was mustered into the service at various
times, from June until October, 1863. The Erie County companies were:
Company B, which at the time of muster contained one hundred and
nine officers and men, the officers being Captain, John Nicholson and
First Lieutenant, William J. Keays ; Company C, with eighty-five officers
aud men, commanded by Captain Joseph Schneider, First Lieutenant
Francis M. Baker, and Second Lieutenant Julius Winsperger; Com-
pany D, with eighty-eight men, under Captain A. L. Washburn and First
Lieutenant G. H. Grosvenor, and Company E, with eighty-six men, under
Captain Charles E. Morse, and First Lieutenant W. H. Wells.
The regiment served principally in North Cai ^lina. It was consol-
idated with the Thirteenth New York Cavalry, on the 23d of June, 1865 ;
the two becoming the Third Provisional Cavalry, which was mustered
out on thd 2 1st day of September, 1865.
The Twenty-Fourth Cavalry— Second Mounted Rifles. 293
Captain Nicholson was promoted to Major, Februar)- 4, 1865, and
was discharged when the consolidation took place. Samuel P. Gail was
commissioned as Adjutant, in the forepart of 1864; was promoted to
Captain, in November, 1864; was transferred to the Third Provisional
Cavalry on the consolidation, and was mustered out with that regiment.
Lieutenants Francis M. Baker, William J. Keays, Julius Winsperger, were
promoted to Captains, were transferred to the Third Provisional, and
were mustered out with it.
Twenty-Fourth Cavalry.
This regiment was raised in Erie and several Eastern counties, being
mustered into service in January, 1864. Three companies were princi-
pally raised in Erie county. The officers of the first of these three at
the time of muster-in, were Leland L. D'oolittle, Captain, and Willard S.
Silliman, First-Lieutenant ; those of the second were Charles B. Cov-
entry, Captain, and Benjamin F. Street, First-Lieutenant ; those of the
third were Morris H. Alberger, Captain, H. J. Tucker, First-Lieutenant,
and William W. Cook, Second-Lieutenant.
The regiment soon joined the Army of the Potomac, and took an
active part in the great campaign of 1864 and '65, which closed the
rebellion. The official report of the Adjutant-General of this State,
shows it to have taken part in the battles of the Wilderness, Spottsyl-
vania. North Anna, Totopotomy, Bethesda Church, Cold Harbor, Siege
of Petersburg, Cemetery Hill, Weldon Railroad, Ream's Station, Peebles*
Farm and Vaughan Road.
Captain Alberger was appointed Assistant-Quartermaster, with the
rank of Captain, in December, 1864, and was subsequently brevetted
Lieutenant-Colonel. Captain Doolittle was appointed Surgeon in Feb-
ruary, 1864, and resigned in July following. First Lieutenant Abram
Tucker, was promoted to Captain, in December, 1864, and was dis-
charged when this regiment was consolidated with the Tenth Calvary,
forming the First Provisional Calvary, which event took place on the
17th day of June, 1865.
Second Mounted Rifles.
This regiment was organized at Buffalo, in the summer and autumn
of 1862, having been raised in Erie and other counties in the western
part of the State. Three of its companies, D, H and K were principally
recruited in Erie county. The first officers of Company D were Henry
Wells, Captain, and Augustus Budd and Franklin Rogers, Lieutenants.
Those of Company H were James T. Hall, Captain, and Harlan J. Swift,
Second Lieutenants. Those of Company K were Samuel D. Stevenson,
Captain, and John V. Bedell and John F. Numan, Lieutenants.
294 History of Erie County.
The regiment joined the Army of the Potomac, and fought at Cold
Harbor, Petersburg, Bethesda Church, Weldon Railroad, Pegram's
Farm, Hatcher's Run and Poplar Spring Church.
Captain Stevenson was mustered out with the regiment. First
Lieutenant Budd was promoted to Captain in August, 1864, and was
mustered out with the regiment as such. Second Lieutenant Swift was
promoted to First Lieutenant in September, 1864, and Captain in June,
1866, being mustered out with the regiment as such. Second Lieutenant
Rogers was promoted to First Lieutenant in August, 1 864, and to Adjutant
in September following, being subsequently brevetted Captain and mus-
tered out with the regiment. First Lieutenant Bedell was mortally
wounded before Petersburg, and died on the 8th of July, 1864. Second
Lieutenant Numan was killed at Hatcher's Run, December 9, 1864.
WiEDRicH's Battery.
One of the most famous of Erie county organizations was " Wied-
rich's Battery." It was formed in August, 1861, as Battery I, of the
First New York Artillery, but acted as a separate organization, during
the greater part of the war. It had at its organization a hundred and
forty men and the following officers: Captain, Michael Wiedrich; First
Lieutenants Nicholas Sahm and Diedrich Erdmann ; Second Lieutenants,
Christopher Schmidt and Jacob Schenkclberger. It was composed entire-
ly of men of German birth or parentage, and on many a hard-fought field
well maintained the reputation of the Teutonic race for stubborn, un-
flinching courage. The battery left Buffalo for the front on the i6th of
October. Arriving in Virginia it was attached to Blenker's Division,
but remained mostly in camp during the winter of i86i-'62.
Wiedrich *s Battery fought bravely and suffered severely during the
campaign of 1862. On the 8th of June it was at Cross Keys, under
Fremont, where six of its men were wounded, two mortally. On the
22d of August it took part in the battle of Freeman's Ford, where it had
one man killed and five wounded. At the second battle of Bull Run the
gallant Germans were in the thickest of the fight ; Lieutenant Schenkcl-
berger and thirteen men being wounded, out of a little over a hundred
engaged. Five of the six guns belonging to the battery were disabled
and two of the carriages had to be left on the field, but by desperate
exertions the men saved the pieces. The battery was only in some
minor engagements during the remainder of the year.
Its first severe battle in 1863 was at Chancellorsville. When Hooker
fell back from that fatal field. Captain Wiedrich was obliged to leave
two of his pieces — at one of them all the men but one were shot down ;
at the other four horses were killed. In all, four men were killed and
fourteen wounded. After many a wearisome march, the batteiy was
again in the thickest of the fight, at Gettysburg. In fact it seemed never
Wiedrich's Battery— Twenty-Seventh Light Battery. 295
to miss a battle. In that glorious triumph of the Union Arms, Wiedrich's
battery had three men killed and Lieutenants Palen and Stock, and
seventeen men wounded. In September it was sent to Nashville, and
thence to the vicinity of Chattanooga. In November it was present at
the battles of Lookout Mountain and Mission Ridge, but fortunately
escaped loss in both conflicts and during the rest of the year.
Early in February the gallant Captain was promoted to Lieutenant-
Colonel of the Fifteenth New York artillery. Lieutenant Sahm was pro-
moted to Captain, but soon after died, and Captain Winegar took com-
mand. Sixty of the men re-enlisted as veterans, being more than half of
the original members. The battery went through with Sherman to At-
lanta, and thence to the sea, and participated in nearly every battle on
the route. It did not suffer as severely in any one fight as in some of its
eastern conflicts, but wherever the foe made a stand it was brought to
the front, and generally some of its men were killed or wounded. At Lost
Mountain, June 4th, two men were wounded ; at Ackworth Station one
man was killed ; at Kenesaw Mountain, one was killed and one wounded ;
at Peach Tree Creek, July 20th, one was killed and five were wounded ;
and at the siege of Atlanta, Lieutenant Aenchen was killed and two
men were mortally wounded. The battery accompanied Sherman to
the sea, and thence on his triumphal march northward, but was not
in any other serious engagement, and in 1865 was mustered out with
the rest of the victorious Arnfiy of the Republic.
Twenty-Seventh Light Battery.
This battery was raised in Erie county, and was mustered into the
United States service for three years on the 17th day of December, 1862.
Its Captain was John B. Eaton, its First Lieutenant was William A. Bird,
Jr., and its Second Lieutenant, Charles A. Clark. It joined the Army
of the Potomac and fought at the battle of the Wilderness, at Cold
Harbor and at Petersburg. It was mustered out of the service on the
22d day of June, 1865.
Captain Eaton was brevetted Lieutenant-Colonel, and was mustered
out with the battery. Second Lieutenant Clark, was promoted to First
Lieutenant, in February, 1863, and to Captain of the Twelfth New York
Light Battery, in January, 1865. Peter L. Moore was appointed Second
Lieutenant, in January, 1863, and First Lieutenant, in March, 1864, and
was mustered out with the battery. John J. Teller, Jr., was appointed
Second Lieutenant, in March, 1864, and First Lieutenant, in January,
1865, and was mustered out with the battery. Orville S. Dewey was
appointed Second Lieutenant in January, 1863, and was transferred to the
Thirty-third Light Battery, in November, 1863. Henry Phillips was
appointed Second Lieutenant in January, 1865, and was mustered out
with the battery. William M. Church was appointed Second Lieuten-
296 History of Erie County.
ant in March, 1864, and First Lieutenant of the Thirty-third Light Bat-
tery in March, 1865. William R. Scott was appointed Second Lieuten-
ant in March, 1865, and was mustered out with the battery.
THiRTv-TiHiRD Light Battery.
The Thirty-third New York Battery of Light Artillery was raised
in Erie, Niagara and Chautauqua counties. Its first officers were Algar
M.' Wheeler, Captain ; J. D. Woods and Orville S. Dewey, First Lieuten-
ants; and Otis S. Drake and William G. Burt, Second Lieutenants ; under
whom it was mustered into service on the 31st day of August, 1863.
The battery served principally in the defence of Washington, and in
Virginia.
Captain Wheeler was brevetted Major and mustered out with the
battery. Thomas E. Berry was appointed Second Lieutenant in Octo-
ber, 1864, and subsequently promoted to First Lieutenant. Otis L.
Drake was promoted to First Lieutenant in May, 1864. William M.
Church was appointed First Lieutenant m March, 1865, and was mus-
tered out with the battery. Lieutenant Burt died at Camp Barry, D.
C, in April, 1864. E. G. Fenton was appointed Second Lieutenant in
October, 1864. William P. Northrup was appointed Second Lieutenant
in May, 1864, and was mustered out with the battery.
CHAPTER XXX.
THE CITIZEN SDLHIERY.
The Early Militia — "General Trainings " — Early Organisation — Changes in 1 8 16 — Numerous
Successive Changes — A Strange Looking Inspector — A Court-Martial— A Roster of i8a8
— The Militia in the Patriot War— Prompt Tum-Out — Buffalo City Guard— The Two
Hundred and Eighth Infantiy — Re-organization of the Militia — The Uniformed Regiments
— The Sixty-Seventh Regiment — Its Services —The Ninety-Eighth Regiment — Its Services
— Sketch of the Sixty-Fifth Regiment — Sketch of the Seventy-Fourth Regiment — The
Seventh Battery.
AS soon as the first settlers began making their homes in what is now
the county of Erie, commissioners were sent to some of the more
prominent ones with instructions to organize companies of militia.
These were soon formed into a regiment, which was ere long divided into
two. Mention of the part taken by these in the War of 18 12 has been
made in the chapters devoted to that war.
Beginning at its close we will glance at a few of the characteristics
of the old militia, though the means of information, so far as organiza-
The Early Militia of Erie County. 297
tions are concerned, are very meager. The older citizens of the county
however, all remember the "general trainings" of early days, when all
the rank and file wore their ordinary clothes, the officers alone being
supplied with apparel more or less resembling the uniform prescribed
by the regulations ; and when some of the men carried rifles, others shot-
guns, others old muskets, while many by the indulgence of their officers
went through the drill with sticks or canes. The writer remembers
seeing a ** company training " as late as 1846, where the Captain ordered
the few men who had fire-arms to lay them aside and get sticks, so that
the company would be uniformly armed.
In the early part of the century, both before and after the War of
1812, each militia regiment was commanded by a Lieutenant-Colonel,
assisted by two Majors. At the close of that war, General Timothy S.
Hopkins of Williamsville, who had been Brigadier-General, surrendered
his commission, and Lieutenant-Colonel William .Warren, of Willink,
was made Brigadier in his place. William W. Chapin became Lieuten-
ant-Colonel commanding the regiment between the reservation and Ton-
awanda Creek, with James Cronk and Joseph Wells as Majors. Ezekiel
Cook was made Lieutenant-Colonel commanding the regiment in the
southern town of the county, its Majors being Ezra Nott and Sumner
Warren.
In the spring of 1816, another regiment was formed ; Lieutenant-
Colonels Chapin and Cook disappear from the record, and a commission
was issued making Sumner Warren, of Willink, (Aurora,) James Cronk,
of Clarence, (Newstead,) and Ezra Nott, of Concord, (Sardinia,) Lieu-
tenant-Colonel commanding ; Joseph Wells, of Buffalo, and Luther Col-
vin, of Hamburg, (East Hamburg,) First-Majors; and Calvin Fillmore,
of Clarence, (Lancaster,) Frederick Richmond, of Concord, and Benja-
min I. Clough, of Hamburg, Second-Majors.
Two years later Brigadier-General Warren was appointed Major-
General of the Twenty-fourth division of the New York Militia, Colonel
Ezra Nott becoming Brigadier in his stead, over the Forty-seventh brigade.
By this time at least four regiments of Infantry had been organized within
the present county of Erie, and as the law had recently been changed, each
had a Colonel, Lieutenant-Colonel and a Major. The field-officers of the
Seventeenth regiment, north of the reservation, were James Cronk,
Colonel; Calvin Fillmore, Lieutenant-Colonel; and Arnnah Hibbard,
Major. Those of the One Hundred and Seventieth regiment, apparently
comprising only the old town of Willink, (now Aurora, Wales, Holland
and Colden,) were Sumner Warren, Colonel; Lyman Blackmar, Lieu-
tenant-Colonel ; and Abner Currier, Major. Of the Forty-eighth regi-
ment, in the towns farther west, Charles Johnson was Colonel ; Asa
Warren was Lieutenant-Colonel ; and Silas Whiting was Major. Far-
ther south was the One Hundred and Eighty-first regiment, of which
298 History of Erie County.
Frederick Richmond was Colonel, Truman White, Lieutenant-Colonel,
and Benjamin Fay, Major. Besides these in the Twelfth regiment of Cav-
alry and the Seventh regiment of Infantry, we find mention in the
journals of the day, of Hawxhurst Addington, of Aurora, as a Captain
in the former, and of Reuben B. Heacock, of Buffalo, as a Captain in the
latter. This was a very military community in those days.
Occasional notices in the newspapers are nearly the only source of
information regarding the warriors of that period. From a military
commission published in 1821, one learns that at that time, Abner Cur-
rier, of Holland, was made Colonel, and Josiah Emery, Lieutenant-
Colonel of the One Hundred and Seventieth regiment, while Hiram
Yaw, of Boston, became Colonel of the Forty-eighth regiment, and
Robert Kerr, Lieutenant-Colonel; the latter, we believe, taking the place
of Lieutenant-Colonel Truman Cary. The old militia, though far inferior
to the present National Guard,was like it, in the fact that the higher officers
seldom retained their positions for a verj' long period. After a man
became Major or Lieutenant-Colonel, if he was not promoted in a few
years, he usually resigned. The honors were too expensive for long
maintenance. Some held on until they became Brigadier-Generals and
Major-Generals, and then they, too, speedily gave way.
In 1822, S. K. Grosvenor was appointed Colonel of the Seventeenth
regiment of cavalry, Daniel S. Conkey, Lieutenant-Colonel, and Lucius
Storrs, Major. From the names of its officers this regiment was evidently
located in and around Buffalo. Major Storrs subsequently became a
Major-General. A little later Heman B. Potter was commissioned as
Colonel, and as such commanded a regiment of infantry at the execution
of the three Thayers in 1825, on which occasion we also find mention
of Captains Matthews' and Vosburgh's troops of horse, and Captain
Crary*s artillery. Captain Lyman Rathbun's " Frontier Guard " was
also an organization of that day which appeared at the reception of
LaFayette the same summer.
James M. Stevens, of Aurora, commonly known as "Jim" Stevens,
was a prominent military character of that day. A man of considerable
ability, though of invincible indolence, he had obtained an appointment
as brigade inspector, the only office to which a salary was attached. He
was entirely competent to perform the duties of the position, but for an
inspector, he set an especially bad example by appearing at parade on a
scraggy Indian pony, in ragged, homespun clothes, surmounted by an
old straw hat, and sometimes, it is said, without shoes or stockings. At
length, on his committing some especially flagrant outrage against the
military proprieties (tradition says that he appeared on parade bare-
headed,) General Warren lost patience and ordered the recusant before
a court-martial. The court met at the lower village of Aurora, Colonel
Potter and several other military magnates being members. It lasted
Various Commanding Officers of the Militia. 299
several days, and concluded with a sentence of guilty ; the sentence
being that the redoubtable inspector should be reprimanded by the
General Commanding. The latter was so disgusted by this lame and
impotent conclusion, and was so certain that the irrepressible " Jim "
would care no more for a reprimand than for a summer breeze, that he
at once disapproved the proceedings, dissolved the court and left the
bareheaded inspector master of the field. Nevertheless, the latter seems
to have been somewhat impressed with the proceedings, for at the next
parade he appeared m all the glory of full '' regimentals,*' with chapeau,
sword and boots complete, and mounted on a handsome steed in place of
the scraggy Indian pony.
A little later General Wan*en resigned, when Brigadier-General
Nott was promoted to the vacant Major-Generalship. Colonels Rich-
mond and Potter both became Brigadiers about this time. As near as
we can learn, Colonel Richmond (Frederick Richmond, of Springville,)
was first promoted, held the position a short time, and then gave way to
Colonel Potter. At all events the latter was Brigadier-General of the
Forty-seventh brigade of infantry about 1828, with the following as the
principal officers of his brigade : Brigadier-General, Heman B. Potter,
of Buffalo; Colonels, David Burt, of Buffalo, Harry B. Ransom, of
Clarence, Jonathan Colby, of Holland, and Uriel Torrey, of Boston ;
Lieutenant-Colonels, Lyman Rathbun, of Buffalo, Alanson Fox ot Clar-
ence, Nathan M. Mann, of Wales, and Perry G. Jenks, of Boston ;
Majors, Alanson Palmer, of Buffalo, Ansel Badger, of Alden, Edward
H. Nye, of Aurora, and Whitman Stone, of Eden. The brigade staff
was composed of the following officers : Hospital Surgeon, John E.
Marshall ; Judge- Advocate, Philander Bennett: Brigade-Quartermaster,
James W. Higgins ; Aid-de-Camp, George Hodge ; Brigade-Major and
Inspector, Millard Fillmore. Major Fillmore's professional and political
duties soon withdrew him from military life.
By the time of the " Patriot War,' in 1837, numerous changes had
taken place among the officers, although the regimental organizations
remained substantially the same. General Potter had resigned and had
been succeeded by Colonel David Burt ; the latter having been succeeded
by Lieutenant-Colonel Lyman Rathbun, and the latter again by Major
Alanson Palmer. Colonel Colby and Lieutenant-Colonel Mann of the
One Hundred and Seventieth regiment had resigned, and Major Nye
had died. The new Colonel and Lieutenant-Colonel were Orange T.
Brown and Aaron Riley, both of Aurora. Doubtless there were many
other changes of which we have met no record. Colonel Harry B.
Ransom, however, was still at the head of his regiment, of which he was
the commander at least ten years.
Of some of the operations of the militia, we have spoken in the chap-
ter which describes the " Patriot War." We may state here, however,
300 History, of Erie County.
that the militia responded with the greatest promptness when called
into service. General Aaron Riley, then Lieutenant-Colonel of the One
Hundred and Seventieth regiment, gives a vivid account of the excitement
felt throughout the county immediately after the burning of the Caroline
and the killing of Durfee. He was then employed in the Sheriff's office in
Buffalo, under Sheriff Charles P. Persons of Aurora, and as Colonel, Brown
the commander of that regiment was absent. Colonel Riley was ordered
to call it into the field. Returning home at evening he issued the necessary
orders to the company commanders and despatched them by trusty mes-
sengers the same night. He allowed the commanders of companies but
twenty-four hours from the coming morning to assemble their men at
Aurora and East Hamburg in order to march to Buffalo. The men
turned out without delay, and at the appointed time the companies
marched to the rendezvous with nearly full ranks. Thence the regiment
proceeded to Buffalo, but, perhaps fortunately, their ardor was not sub-
ject to the strain of combat.
The excitement arising from the '* Patriot War," was substantially
the origin of the uniformed militia of Buffalo. There had been two or
three uniformed companies at an earlier date, but these had become almost
or quite defunct, and there was then substantially no force of citizen
soldiery in the city except the old-fashioned militia, armed, equipped
and clad, not as ** the law directs," but as indolence, apathy or chance
might decide.
Immediately after the affair of the Caroline, the " City Guard" was
formed under Captain James McKay. Other Companies followed, and
in the course ot the year they were organized as a regiment, all retain-
ing the name of the " City Guard "—certainly the first regiment of uni-
formed militia in Buffalo — with James McKay as Colonel, Dr. Ebenezer
Johnson as Lieutenant-Colonel and George P. Barker as Major. It was
not a ver}^ numerous corps, for in 1839 it had but five companies, A, B, C,
D and E. At that time McKa)- was Colonel, Barker Lieutenant-Colonel,
and H. H. Sizer, Major. It was designated as the Thirty-seventh regi-
ment of artillery, but in fact, most or all of the companies were armed
and drilled as infantry.
In 1839, there was also an old-style regiment of infantry (the Two
Hundred and Eighth") in the city and vicinity, of which Squire S. Case
was Colonel and Timothy A. Hopkins of Williamsville, was Lieutenant-
Colonel. There were also several separate companies described as the
Lafayette Guards, the Washington Guards, the Rifle Company, etc.
These were largely or wholly composed of Germans.
In 1840, the Lieutenant-Colonel and Major of the Two Hundred and
Eighth were Joseph Faxon and Alfred demons. Colonel Case remaining
in command. George P. Barker had become Brigadier-General of
the Eighth brigade of artillery, while the Thirty -seventh regiment of
Organization of the Different Military Regiments. 301
artillery was commanded by Colonel H. H. Sizer, Lieutenant-Colonel M.
S. Faulkner and Major John J. Fay. A company of cavalry had been
added to the fourth or fifth companies of infantry which constituted this
regiment of artillery.
In 1844 the organizations remained about the same ; Volncy Randall
being Brigadier-General of the Eighth brigade of artillery, and David
Burt of the Forty-seventh brigade of infantry. The Thirty-seventh
artillery (still called the Buffalo City Guard) was commanded by
Colonel Fay, Lieutenant-Colonel Brown, and Major Charles Winne.
The Buffalo Light Artillery corps was composed of the officers of the
regiment, with Fay as Captain, and Brown as Lieutenant. The Two
Hundred and Eighth Infantry was commanded by Colonel Alfred
demons. There was also a German battalion commanded by Major
Daniel Devening, Jr., containing the Lafayette Guard, Steuben Guard,
Jefferson Guard, Buffalo Plains Guard and Lancaster Guard, all uni-
formed companies.
In 1848, the Sixty -fifth regiment of infantry was organized with nine
companies, being the first uniformed regiment which was officially desig-
nated as infantry. A sketch of this regiment is given a little further on.
It absorbed the greater part of the Thirty-seventh artillery and of the
German battalion before mentioned. At this period and for several
years later Nelson Randall was Major-General of the Fourth division
of Infantry, and Volney Randall was Brigadier-General of the Eighth
brigade of artillery.
During these years the old un-uniformed militia had been gradually
losing its efficiency throughout the State and in 1847 ^ l^^ ^^^ passed
providing for its disbandment and for the organization of a smaller
number of uniformed regiments. The Sixty-fifth was retained and in
1854, the Seventy-fourth (of whichasketch is given later,) was organized,
making a small brigade in Buffalo, commanded by Brigadier-General Gus-
tavus A. Scroggs. Lieutenant-Colonel Aaron Riley, previously of the One
Hundred and Seventieth, was commissioned as Colonel and authorized
to organize the Sixty-seventh regiment of uniformed militia in that part
of Erie county outside of the city. In the course of two or three years,
he formed a regiment comprising six companies of infantry, one of cav-
alry and one of artillery. Before the work was completed, however, Col-
onel Riley was appointed Brigadier-General of a brigade embracing the
Sixty-seventh regiment, another regiment in Wyoming county and
another in Chautauqua. The command of the Sixty-seventh devolved
on Colonel Chauncey Abbott, Lieutenant-Colonel Clough and Major
John A. Case. For several years the Sixty-seventh retained a high
degree of efficiency. In 1863, when the rebels invaded Pennsylvania,
the Sixty -fifth commanded by Colonel Chauncey Abbott and Lieutenant-
Colonel Clough, went to Harrisburg, where it was held, with other
20«
302 History of Erie County.
forces about thirty days, to prevent a possible irruption of the enemy
in that direction.*
In the latter part of 1863, Dr. George Abbott, who had been out as
surgeon of the Sixty-seventh, raised a new regiment of militia, the Nine-
ty-eighth, in the Fourth Assembly District, comprising the southern and
central parts of the county, and nearly corresponding with the present
Fifth District. The' first field-officers were George Abbott, Colonel,
and William B. Church, Major ; the Lieutenant-Colonelcy being left
vacant. In July, 1864, the regiment was called out for a hundred days,
and was mustered into service at Elmira with nine companies, with the
field-officers before mentioned ; Captain C. C. Smith being mustered
for that term of service only, as Lieutenant-Colonel. It acted as a
part of the guard of the great camp of rebel prisoners at Elmira, and
numerous detachments went forward as far as Petersburg in charge of
squads of recruits, who had volunteered principally on account of the
large bounties, and were thought to need watching. The regiment was
kept under excellent discipline, and the authorities at Elmira were very
loth to part with them, holding them about a month beyond the time
for Avhich they were mustered.
The next year, 1865, the Sixty-seventh regiment was consolidated
with the Ninety-eighth, the latter retaining its number and commander.
Lieutenant-Colonel D. C. Corbin and Major William H. Candee, of the
Sixty-seventh, were made Lieutenant-Colonel and Major of the Ninety-
eighth. The latter thus became a ten-company regiment with full ranks,
embracing all of Erie county outside of Buffalo. It retained its organi-
zation until 1869, when it was disbanded; the National guard of the
State being at that time reduced about two-thirds.
Having now given an outline of the militia forces which have passed
away, we will close with brief sketches of those organizations which are
still in existence.
The SixTV-FfFTH New York Regiment.
The Sixty-fifth regiment was organized in 1848, with the following
officers : —
Field and Staff— QoXowfX, Henry K. A'iele ; Lieutenant-Colonel, Otis
A'aughn ; Major, Jacob Krettner; Adjutant, Martin Buck; Quarter-
master, Henry B. Woodbridge; Engineer, John J. HoUister; Paymaster,
Edward F. Cronyu; Surgeon, John S. Trowbridge; Assistant-Surgeon,
B. K. Hosnier; Chaplain, George \V. Haskins.
Line Offecrs. — Captains, William Stone, Henry D. Huff, John F.
E. Flogstcd, Benjamin Burdett, Lewis Weber, Christian Zink, Henry
* During the previous year, (April 23, 1S62), the uniformed militia of the Stale had been
designated by law as the ** National Guard, " while those citizens liable to military duty, who were
not uniformed nor enrolled, retained the name of militia — though they were not to be cn'led out
except on extraordinary occasions.
Officers of the SiXTY-Firrn. 303
Mochel, John P. Kline, Lysander R. Smith ; First Lieutenants, James
E. Slocum, Daniel D. Bidwell, John Galligan, Alexander Sloan, Martin
Hottinger, Michael Kuntz, Aloeis Bohmer, Solomon Scheu ; Second
Lieutenants, Benjamin F. Salisbury, Sylvanus Marvin, John Chapin,
John Schenacker, George H. Stewart, John Walsh, Michael Weidnch,
James Peet.
The gallant General Daniel D. Bidwell was one of the organizers of
the regiment, and General William F. Rogers entered it as Second
Lieutenant, in 1849. The commanding officers have been as follows: —
Colonels. — Henry K. Viele, from 1848 to 185 1 ; Gustavus Il.Scrog^,
from 1851 to 1854; Jacob Krettner, from 1854 to 1863: William F.
Berens, from 1863 to 1865 ; Richard Flach, from 1865 to 1879; J<^hn C.
Graves from 1879 ^^ '881 ; Thomas S. Waud, from 1881.
This regiment has been called out for active duty as follows: —
In January, 1849, ^^ quell a riot. The disturbance was quelled only
after a hard struggle between the troops and rioters. On the 19th of
June, 1863, the regiment was ordered to the front to assist in repelling
the rebels in Pennsylvania. It took three hundred and eighty-two men
and participated in a laborious campaign. On the 15th of July, 1863,
while still at the front, the regiment was ordered to New York City to
assist in quelling the riot there, and performed four days of severe and
meritorious service. On the 20th of July, 1863, it was ordered back to
Buffalo, where it remained under arms until the 30th of July, when it
was mustered out of the United States service. It was also ordered out
for service in the city of Buffalo in 1877 during the labor riots and
acquitted itself with credit.
The Sixty-fifth has been in camp three times : In 1848, in Buffalo;
in 1850, at Niagara Falls; and in 1883, at the State Camp at Peekskill.
It now numbers about five hundred officers and men, and is in excellent
condition as to both drill and discipline. The present officers ol the
Sixty-fifth are as follows : —
Field and Staff, — Colonel Thomas S. Waud ; Lieutenant-Colonel,
Samuel M. Welch, Jr; Major, John E. Robie; Adjutant, Edward Mulligan;
Quartermaster, G. J. Metzger; Commissary, O. G. Nichols; Inspector
of Rifle Practice, Henry A. Menker; Surgeon, A. H. Briggs; Assistant
Surgeon, G. W. Pattison ; Chaplain, Rev. Charles H. Smith.
Company A, — Captain, James C. Fullerton ; First Lieutenant, George
Williams ; Second Lieutenant, Sidney^G. Cluxton.
Company C — Captain, George H. Howard.
Company F, — Captain, William T. Parsons; First Lieutenant, Willis
K. Jackson ; Second Lieutenant, James Sheldon, Jr.
Company G. — Captain, Robert H. Montgomery ; First Lieutenant,
William E. De Laney ; Second Lieutenant, H. S. Bellsmith.
Company H. — Captain, Otto F. Langenbach ; Second Lieutenant,
Frederick B. Wall.
Compatiy I. — Captain, Angelo C. Lewis ; First Lieutenant, D. W.
Collins; Second Lieutenant, William J. Archer.
304 History of Erie County.
Seventy-Fourth Regiment, N. G., S. N. Y.
This regiment was organized in 1854, with "Company D" as
nucleus, and with the following field and staff officers : J. W. Griflith,
Colonel; John A. Bliss, Lieutenant-Colonel; Watson A. Fox, Major;
Captain W. F. Rogers, Acting Adjutant ; Harvey M. Wilcox, Engineer ;
Charles Rosseel, Quartermaster ; Thomas F. Rochester, Surgeon ; M. L.
li. P. Thompson, Chaplain. Company B, " Spaulding Guards," previ-
ously a company of cadets, was mustered into the regiment in the
summer of 1856. The following have been the field officers of the
regiment : —
Colonels.—], W. Griffith, Watson A. Fox, Walter G. Seeley, William
F. Rogers, George M. Baker, Charles J. Wing, Lewis M. Evans, Louis
P. Reichert, William M. Bloomer.
Lieutenant-Colonels. — John A. Bliss, Watson A. Fox, Walter G. Seeley,
John McManus, Thomas J. Hines, James A. Gault, Charles J. Wing,
Lewis M. Evans, William B. Sirrett, Louis P. Reichert, Edgar B. Jewett,
Charles D. Zacher, Usual S. Johnson.
Majors. — Watson A. Fox, Walter G. Seeley, Charles J. Wing, James
A. Gault, Lewis M. Evans, Alfred Lythe, William B. Sirrett, John M.
Kelley, Samuel M. Pooley, John A. Holloway, Usual S. Johnson.
When the Rebellion broke out nearly the whole regiment volun-
teered for three months' service, and was ordered to Elmira. The order
was countermanded, however, and then a large proportion of the officers
and men volunteered for two years in the Twenty-first Volunteer Infan-
try, commanded by Colonel W. F. Rogers, who had been Captain of Com-
pany C, in the Seventy -fourth. An outline of their gallant services has
previously been given. Many others took service in other volunteer
regiments. J. A. Jewell became Adjutant, Major, Lieutenant-Colonel
and Brevet-Colonel of the One Hundred and Fifty-first New York Vol-
unteers. E. J. Faxon raised a company for the Thirty-sixth New York,
was promoted to Major, and was killed at the battle of Fredericksburg.
George W. Johnson, the Adjutant of the Seventy-fourth at the begin-
ning of the war, became Major and Lieutenant-Colonel of the Forty-
ninth New York Volunteers, and was killed at the head of his regiment
at the battle of Fort Stevens. The services and fate of the gallant Bid-
well scarcely need mention here. Generals A. R. Root and George M.
Love were both graduates of the Seventy-fourth. A host of other officers
and soldiers were trained for the work of real war in the ranks of the
Seventy-fourth and with hardly a single exception did honor to their
training.
When Lee's army invaded Pennsylvania in the summer of 1863, the
Seventy-fourth was at once called into active service. It left Buffalo on
the 19th of July, 1863, proceeded to Harrisburgh, and thence to Clear
Springs, on the Potomac, where it held a fort for two days, to prevent
the crossing of the Rebel General, Imboden. From there the regiment
Officers of the Seventy-Fourth. 305
proceeded to Loudon, and thence to New York, where it was on duty
several days, engaged in suppressing the riots in that city. It arrived at
Buffalo on the 23d of July, 1863.
During the celebrated riots of 1877, the Seventy-fourth was twice
called into active service. It had a brief tour of duty at Buffalo from
June 29th to July ist. On the 20th of July, it was again ordered out
and on the 22d it was sent to Hornellsville, where it rendered valuable
service in preventing violence and the destruction of property. It
returned to Buffalo on the 26th, and was dismissed on the 27th. Since
then it has not been called on for dangerous service, but has kept itself
well prepared by careful drilling and rifle shooting, and by general good
conduct for whatever duties may be required of it. The following are
the present officers of the Seventy-fourth : —
Field and Staff, — Colonel, William M. Bloomer; Lieutenant-Colonel,
Usual S. Johnson ; Adjutant, William H. Chapin ; Inspector of Rifle
Practice, William Franklin; Quartermaster, Henry R. Clark; Commis-
sary, William J. Sloan ; Chaplain, Rev. Walter North ; Surgeon, Charles
G. Stockton ; Assistant-Surgeon, George W. York.
Company A, — Captain, William N. Smith ; First Lieutenant, William
E. Kingston.
Company B, — Captain, Frank T. feloomer ; First Lieutenant, William
H. Bradish ; Second Lieutenant, Walter E. Mason.
Company C. — Captain, C. Lee Abell ; Second Lieutenant, Frederick
E. Fowler.
Company D. — Captain, Thomas H. Windsor; First Lieutenant, Albert
J. Danc^.
Company F. — Captain, George C. Fox ; First Lieutenant, P. Curtis
Dening ; Second Lieutenant, Charles W. Wells.
Company G. — Captain, Peter Paulus.
The SevexXth Battery N. G., S. N. Y.
This organization was formed on the ist day of October, 1875, as
Battery A, of the Thirty-first brigade, with one hundred and twenty
enlisted men and the following officers : Captain, Henry W. Linderman ;
First Lieutenants, Louis Shautol and Julius Heffner ; and Second Lieu-
tenant, Charles Kibler.
In January, 1878, its description was changed to Battery M, of the
Fourteenth brigade. In January, 1882, it was again changed to the
Seventh battery, Fourth division, its commander reporting directly to
the commander of the division.
Captain Linderman has been in command from the organization to
the present time. The other officers at this time are First Lieutenants,
Garrett Breier and G. P. Meister; and Second Lieutenant, W. M. Weis-
beck. There are now between seventy and eighty enlisted men, with
four three-inch guns and one ten-barrel Gatling gun.
3o6 History of Erie County.
General and Staff Officers.
To these sketches of the National Guard we append the following
names of Erie county officers who have been on the stafiFs of various
governors, and of the present Generals and staff officers of the Fourth
division and Eighth brigade : —
Inspector-General. — W. L. G. Smith ; from May 7, 1853, to January
I, 1855.
Commissary-General of Ordnance. — Benjamin Welch, Jr.; from Feb-
ruary 20, 1850, to April 25, 1863.
Judge-Advocate General. — Alexander W. Harvey, from January, 1865,
to January, 1867.
Paymaster-General. — G. Barrett Rich, from January i, 1883.
Engineer. — Brigadier-General George S. Fields, from January i, 1883.
Fourth Z>iVi>fV7«.^Major-General William F. Rogers, commanding;
Colonel E. A. Rockwood, Assistant Adjutant-General; Lieutenant-
Colonel John A. Holloway, Inspector; Lieutenant-Colonel Pascal P.
Beals, Inspector of Rifle Practice; Lieutenaut-Colonel Louis H. Knapp,
Engineer; Lieutenant-Colonel Henry H. Seymour, Judge- Advocate ;
Lieutenant-Colonel Charles N. Palmer, Surgeon ; Lieutenant-Colonel
Abram B. Lawrence, Ordnance Officer ; Lieutenant-Colonel Charles A.
DeLaney, Quartermaster; Lieutenant-Colonel Daniel Sourwine, Com-
missary ; Majors Charles R. Wheeler, Allen G. Bigelow, and Frank T.
Moulton, Aids.
Eighth Brigade. — Brigadier-General John C. Graves, commanding ;
Lieutenant-Colonel Edgar B. Jewett, Assistant Adjutant-General ; Major
William W. Lyon, Inspector ; Major Edward H. Rounds, Inspector of
Rifle Practice ; Major Harvey J. Hurd, Engineer; Major Robert C. Titus,
Judge-Advocate; Major James S. Smith, Surgeon; Major Harlow C.
Palmer, Ordnance Officer; Major Charles Clifton, Quartermaster ; Major
Leonard H. Best, Commissary ; Captains Edward S. Warren and Fred-
erick A. Jewett, Aids.
CHAPTER XXXI.
THE ERIE CJR.NAL.
Its First Advocate, Jesse Hawley — Gouveraeur Morris — Hawley's Essays — Western Inland Lock
Navijration Company — Judge Forman's Resolution — Survey Ordered — Commissioners
Appointed — The Inland Route Adopted — Law Authorizing Canal — Law Repealed During
Year of x8i2 — DeWitt Clinton — Canal Law of 1817— Ground Broken — Contest Between
Black Rock and Buffalo — Decision in Favor of Buffalo— First Work in Erie County —
Breaking Ground at Buffalo— The Canal Completed —Grand Celebration— Telegraphing
by Cannon — The Wedding of Waters — Description of the Canal — Immense Business
— Enlargement Authorized — Work on it Stopped — Political Conflict — The Enlargement
Carried Through — Description of the Enlarged Canal — Its Cost — Preparations to Sel Jthe
Canals— The Canals Relieved of Tolls.
THE first person who definitely and publicly advocated the construc-
tion of a canal from the Hudson river to Lake Erie, was Jesse
Hawley, a native of Connecticut, but from early youth a citizen of
New York, who on the 14th day of January, 1807, while temporarily
The Erie Canal First Advocated. 307
residing at Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, published in the Pittsburg Common-
wealth, an essay, signed " Hercules/' in favor of such a work. Before
this no one had printed a word, no one had spoken a word in public on
that subject. So far as the public is concerned, therefore, Jesse Hawley
is fairly entitled to be called the originator of the Erie canal.
According to the statement of Simeon DeWitt, the Surveyor-
General of the State, a similar plan was suggested to him in private con-
versation, by the celebrated statesman, Gouverneur Morris, in 1803. If
this be true, however, it gives Mr. Morris but slight claim to especial
honor in this respect, for not only was the suggestion not brought before
the public, but it was not even a permanent idea in his own mind ; there
is ample evidence that most of his efforts in regard to internal navigation
pointed to an improvement of the old route from the Hudson, by way of
the Mohawk river, Oneida lake and Oswego river, to Lake Ontario, or
some similar scheme.*
Still less consideration need we give to the sayings attributed to
Cad wallader Golden, General Washington, General Schuyler and others;
they were merely fugitive expressions, which, even if uttered, were so
vague that few would have deemed either of them to refer to a canal be-
tween the Hudson river and Lake Erie, had not such a canal been subse-
quently constructed.
Mr Hawley, on the other hand, not only published the article before
mentioned at Pittsburg, but on his return to his previous residence in
Ontario county published a series of elaborate essays on the same sub-
ject, under the same signature of " Hercules," in the Ontario Messenger, •\
a paper issued at Canandaigua. There were fourteen in the series ; the
publication beginning in October, 1807, and closing in April 1808. In
these he discussed the subject in every light, set forth the advantages of
such a work, described the canals of Europe, compared his project with
the established facts of the old world, and carefully estimated the cost,
coming very close to the actual expense of the canal as afterwards built.
The only important particular in which Mr. Hawley *s plan differed from
the subsequent reality was this : he recommended that the canal should
be built by the United States, while in fact it was built by the State
of New York. In every other important respect the views of Jesse
Hawley, published in 1807 and 1808, were realized in the Erie canal com-
pleted in 1825.
♦ In fact, Mr. Morris' diary, under date of September 12, 1803, goes far to prove positively that
he had no idea of any canal running farther west than the Onondaga creek. But such a canal would
interest the people of Onondaga county almost as much as one to Lake Erie, and there is strong
proof that James Geddes, an engineer, and Judge Joshua Forman, both of that county, look a very
active part in awakening public opinion on such a canal, and that Judge Forman was elected to the
Assembly on a *' canal ticket " in the spring of 1807, in order to promote the construction of such
a work.
t Or Genesee Messenger, for the name is given both ways,
3o8 History of Erie County.
So much for ideas. The practical forerunner of the Erie canal was
the work done by the " Western Inland Lock Navigation Company," in-
corporated in 1 792, with General Philip Schuyler as president, for the
purpose of improving the ancient route through Oneida lake to Oswego>
pursued by the Dutch and .English traders with the Indians long ):>efore
the Revolution. A part of the scheme was the construction of a ship
canal around Niagara Falls, thus forming a continuous, though circuitous
and inconvenient water route from New York to the upper lakes. Noth-
ing was done toward carrying out that part of the scheme, but the east-
ern portion of the route was somewhat (though not greatly) improved
by the " Inland " company.
The Lake Ontario route, however, was found entirely inadequate
to the demands of commerce as well as to the development of the State,
and when Mr. Hawley's clear and forcible essays were published, they
awakened very general interest. True, they were ridiculed by some,
but far-seeing men were greatly attracted by them. In that same year,
1808, Judge Forman already, if our previous suggestion is correct,
elected to the Assembly in order to promote the construction of a canal
to the Onondaga creek, introduced a resolution into that body, providing
for a joint-committee of the Senate and Assembly to consider the subject
of "a canal between Hudson river and Lake Erie," and made a most
vigorous and convincing speech, which was followed by the adoption
of the resolution. This was the first action of any legislative body
tending toward the construction of the Erie canal. Judge Forman and
Mr. Geddes were afterward two of the most zealous promoters of the
great work.
On the recommendation of the joint-committee another resolution
was adopted, directing the Surveyor-General to survey the waters in
the " usual route *' and such other route as he might see fit. The " usual
route " was the one through lakes Oneida and Ontario, and it is evident
that the inland line was still considered ver}- chimerical. Like Mr. Haw-
ley, the Legislature looked to Congress to do the work, whichever route
should be chosen.
The small appropriation made under the last resolution was speedily
expended, in exploring the Ontario route. Mr. Geddes made a cursory
examination of the inland route at his own expense and nothing more
was done until 1810, when the Legislature appointed Gouverneur Morris,
Stephen Van Rensselaer, DeWitt Clinton, Simeon De Witt, William
North, Th^vnas Eddy and Peter B. Porter, commissioners to explore the
routes from the Hudson to Lakes Ontario and Erie. They did so during
the summer of 1810, and reported to the next Legislature in favor of the
inland route, subsequently adopted.
All efforts to obtain assistance from the general government failed,
and in March, 1812, DeWitt Clinton and Gouverneur Morris, the com-
Commencement of the Erie Canal. 309
missioners appointed to secure such aid, reported their failure and recom-
mended the construction of the canal by the State. In June following
the Legislature authorized the borrowing of $5,000,000, with which to
construct the canal, but the war with Britain stopped all such efforts
and in 18 14 the law was repealed.
Soon after the close of the war, Mr. Clinton, particularly assisted by
Jonas Piatt and Thomas Eddy, again began to agitate for the construc-
tion of the canal, and Clinton drew up a most exhaustive memorial to the
Legislature, which was signed by many leading citizens, and exercised
great influence in favor of the work.* In April, 18 16, the Legislature
passed a law appointing a new commission, consisting of DeWitt Clinton,
Stephen Van Rensselaer, Joseph Ellicott, Samuel Young and Myron
Holley, to make further surveys and estimates. Mr. Clinton was chosen
President, Mr. Young, Secretary, and Mr. Holly, Treasurer. The com-
missioners discharged the duties assigned them, and reported to the suc-
ceeding Legislature.
In that Legislature, the measure was discussed in all its bearings,
and on the 15th day of April, 18 17, a law was finally passed authorizing
the construction of the Erie canal.f The same commissioners remained
in charge of the work ; they proceeded at once to raise funds, employ
engineers and let contracts, and on the 4th of July, 18 17, ground was
broken at Rome, Oneida county. In the following autumn the people
of the State proved their anxiety for the canal by electing DeWitt
Clinton Governor by an overwhelming majority.
From that time the great work was pushed forward with all prac-
ticable speed. The middle section, from Utica to Montezuma, which
was the one first built, was completed in July, 1820. The part east of
Utica was finished in October, 1823. The western section was begun
later than either of the others. It extended from Montezuma westward
to — well, the location of the western terminus of the "Grand Canal"
was a question long and anxiously discussed. The contestants were the
rival villages of Buffalo and Black Rock, and most vigorous was the
war waged with tongue and pen in behalf of their respective claims.
Much depended on the question which locality could offer the best
harbor, and some very vigorous harbor-building was the result. At this
time, Mr. Clinton's term ot office as Governor had expired, and he was
again chairman of the Board of Canal Commissioners. He and his
associates finally decided in favor of Buffalo, chiefly on the ground that
the water could be taken out of the lake at a higher elevation than out
of the river at Black Rock, thus saving a large amount of excavation
along the whole Lake Erie level.
* Thenceforward DeWitt Clinton was recognized throughout the State as the leader of the
friends of the canal.
f That name, however, was not generally given to it until many years later During the period
of Us construction it was generally called the *' Grand Canal."
3IO History of Erie County.
The first work done on the canal in Erie county was at Tonawanda,
or rather at the point where Tonawanda now stands, for that village is
entirely an outgrowth of the canal. The commissioners, having deter-
mined to use a portion of Tonawanda creek as a part of the canal, con-
tracted in the winter of i822-*23 with Judge Samuel Wilkeson and Dr.
Ebenezer Johnson to build *a dam across that stream, near its mbuth.
Work was soon begun and was continued through the summer of 1823.
On the 9th day of August, 1823, the work of actual canal-digging in
Erie county was formally opened ; ground being broken near the Com-
mercial Street bridge, in Buffalo. The people of that struggling village
were intensely interested, and turned out fn masse to celebrate the event.
The second of the other two sections being finished, as already
stated, two months later, the authorities were able to direct all their
efforts to the western portion. So zealously was the work pushed for-
ward that in September, 1825, all was completed except where the canal
cut through the "mountain ridge** at the little village of Lockport. It
was officially announced that the whole canal would be ready for the
passage of boats on the 26th of October.
A grand celebration was resolved on, and the people all along the
line entered into the project with the greatest enthusiasm. Committees
were appointed in every city and village on the canal, the city of New
York took an active part, and every distinguished man in the State was
invited to participate. As the appointed day approached, the force at
Lockport was largely increased, and was thus enabled to complete the
work in time. In the evening of the 24th of October, the filling of the
Lake Erie level was begun, and in twenty-four hours, the whole canal
was ready for use.
DcVVitt Clinton was again Governor of the State. His political
opponents,* when in power, had removed him from the office of Canal
Commissioner. As every one knew that Mr. Clinton had almost created
the canal-system of the State, the act aroused the generous indignation
of the people, who in the autumn of 1824, again elected him Governor
by a handsome majority. On the evening of the 25th of October, 1825,
Governor Clinton, and other distinguished gentlemen from Albany
and New York, arrived at Buffalo, where everything was ready for a
grand ovation.
The next morning was ushered in by an artillery salute, and the vil-
lage was soon in a fervid state of enthusiastic excitement- At 9 o'clock
a procession moved from the park down Main street in which nearly
every citizen took part, with a band of music and Captain Rathbun's
rifle company at its head, followed by a body of canal-diggers with spades,
*That is the "regular" Democrats, sometimes called ** Bucktails." There was no organized
opposition to the Democratic party in the country at that time, but Clinton was at the head of an
independent wing in this Stale, distinctively known as ''Clintonians," and distinguished by their
friendship for the canal system.
Opening of the Erie Canal. 311
sailors under their officers, mechanics of every trade, militia officers in
uniform, etc., etc., the rear being brought up by a carriage containing
Governor Clinton, then unquestionably the foremost man of the Em-
pire State not only in political position, but in ability and influence.*
The procession marched to the Canal basin, where the Governor
and other eminent gentlemen went on board the canal-boat "Seneca
Chief." Jesse Hawley the first public advocate, and in all probability
the actual originator of the Erie canal, made a brief speech on behalf of
a committee from Rochester, which was replied to by Judge Oliver
Forward on the part of the Buffalo committee. At 10 o'clock the
attached horse-power was put in motion and the "Seneca Chief" set out
on its journey to the Hudson, amid the wild cheers of the assembled
people. Its departure was announced by the firing of a 32-pound cannon
on the bank. Other cannon were stationed at convenient intervals along
the canal, which one after the other repeated the shots, and thus the
news of the departure of the "Seneca Chief" was carried to Albany,
two hundred and eighty miles distant in one hour and forty minutes.
So far as we are aware this transmission of news over so long a distance
in so short a period had at that time never been equaled.
The procession then returned to the court house, where an eloquent
oration on the benefits to be derived from the canal was delivered by
Sheldon Smith a prominent Buffalo lawyer of that day. Then there
were public dinners at " Rathbun's Eagle Hotel," and " Landen's Man-
sion House ;" the festivities of the occasion closing with a grand ball at
the former place.
A committee of Buffalonians, headed by Judge Samuel Wilkeson,
went through by canal and river to New York, where they obtained a
keg of ocean water, which they brought back to Buffalo. This was taken
on board a vessel and carried a short distance but on the lake by the
committee, accompanied by many prominent citizens. Then, after the
inevitable speech-making, the water of the Atlantic was mingled with
that of Lake Erie, a poetic and appropriate closing of the ceremonies
attendant on the completion of t-he Erie canal.
This great work, the longest canal in the world except that of China,
was, as then constructed, three hundred and sixty-three miles long, forty
feet wide at the surface and twenty-eight feet at the bottom, with only
four feet depth of water. It had eighty-three locks, each ninety feet
long between the "quoins " and fifteen feet wide in the clear; the total
amount of lockage being six hundred and fifty-five feet. The water fell
to the east in all the locks, except for twenty-seven miles in the vicinity
of Syracuse, where it fell forty-six feet to the westward ; leaving the
actual descent from Buffalo to Albany five hundred and sixty-three feet.
* It may be doubted, too, whether in the qualities of a statesman he had his equal in the Nation,
though others were more plausible and skillful in working their way into high places.
312 History of Erie County.
The largest boats then used were of seventy-six tons burden, and the
average ones of seventy tons. The original canal cost $7,600,000.
All know how largely the Erie canal aided in the development not
only of the great State which had constructed it, but of the whole vast
Northwest, which thus found a better outlet to market for its ever-in-
creasing surplus of products than could be obtained by any other route.*
Buffalo, being the point where the freight and passenger traffic of the
lake was transferred to the canal, increased with greater rapidity than
any other town on the line, and Erie county to a considerable extent
shared in its prosperity.
By 1835 the traffic had become so great that an enlargement was
authorized by the Legislature and begun by the Canal Commissioners,
which would more than treble the capacity of the canal. The great
panic of 1837, however, seriously injured the financial ability of the State,
and after several years of embarrassment, work was stopped when the
Democratic party came into power in 1843. By the Constitution of
1846, the Legislature was forbidden to incur a debt of more than a million
of dollars. When the Whigs returned to power a little later, they
sought to continue the enlargement, .and to avoid the constitutional re-
striction by selling or pledging the income of the canal in advance, claim-
ing that this was not the incurrence of a debt. A heated contest ensued
in the Legislature, and most of the Democratic Senators resigned in order
to deprive the Senate of a quorum. At the special election called to fill
their places, the majority of the resigned Senators were repudiated by
their constituents, and the proposed law was duly enacted, only, how-
ever, to be declared unconstitutional by the Court of Appeals.
But the people were as determined to have the canal enlarged as
they had originally been to have it constructed, and when a constitu-
tional amendment was submitted to them, permitting an increase of debt
in order to complete the work, it was adopted by a large majority. Prog-
ress was slow, however, being retarded by the necessity of allowing
the canal to be used during the proper season, and it was not until 1862
that the enlargement was completed.
By cutting off some needless portions the length had been decreased
to three hundred and fifty and a half miles. The width at the surface
along most of its length, is seventy feet, and at the bottom is fifty-six
feet ; the debt of water being seven feet.f By a little calculation, it
will be found that a cross-section of the old canal had an area of one
hundred and thirty-six square feet, while the area of a cross-section of the
enlarged canal is four hundred and forty-one square feet ; the latter being
nearly three and a fourth times as large as the former. The capacity of
* Lines of packets were handsomely fitted up for the carriage of passengers, and during the
season when the canal was open, largely superseded the stages of an earlier day.
t On the Lake Erie level, reaching from Buffalo to Lockport, the canal is seventy-two f ?et wide
at the top, and sixty feet at the bottom, with nine feet of water.
Enlargement of the Erie Canal. 313
the boats has increased in a corresponding ratio ; the average burden
being now two hundred and ten tons, and the maximum burden two
hundred and forty tons. The number of locks smce the enlargement
is seventy-two, each one hundred and ten feet long and eighteen feet
wide.
The enlargement had been far more expensive than the original
canal ; so that down to 1866, the construction, enlargement and improve-
ment of the Erie and Champlain canals, (the latter requiring but a small
part of the whole amount,; had cost no less than $46,018,234. The repairs
and maintenance had cost $12,900,333 ; making the total expense of those
canajs $58,918,567. On the other hand, the receipts for tolls on the Erie
and Champlain, had then amounted to $81,057,168; leaving a balance in
favor of those canals of $22,138,601. The cost of other canals reduced
the direct profit on the canal system of the State to a trifle, although the
indirect benefits had been enormous.
But the canal system had reached its climax. As early as the con-
stitutional convention of 1867, some members favored the sale of all
canals to private parties. This proposition was rejected, though the
unprofitable lateral canals were disposed of. Still the railroads steadily
drew away the business, although the tolls were made as-low as was pos-
sible under the requirements of the constitutic^n, which declared that
the canals must pay for their own repairs and maintenance. At length
it became evident that this could no longer be done ; that in fact the
canals must be made free of tolls or must be given up entirely. Believing
that they were still valuable in drawing business into the State, and
especially as a regulator of railroad freights, the people favored the for-
mer proposition and, when the question was submitted to them in the
autumn of 1882, they voted by a large majority in favor of amending
the constitution so that the canals would be relieved of all tolls and
would be maintained at the expense of the State. This measure has
already resulted in a considerable accession to the business of the canals,
and the friends of those great works are encouraged to believe that
they will continue through a long and prosperous future to confer far
greater benefits than they impose expense on the people of the Empire
State.
314 History of Erie County.
CHAPTER XXXII.
RAILROADS.
Charter of Bttfialo & Anioim Railroad Company — First Railroad Bnilt— Buffalo ft Niagara Falls
Railroad — Other Eoterprisa — Completion of the Buffalo & Attica Road — The Lake Shore
— The Buffalo & Rochester — The Buffalo & New York City Company ~ Road to Batavia
Taken Up ~- The Buffalo & Brantford Road— Formation of the New York Central — The
Buffalo & Pittsburg — The Buffak) & Allegany Valley — The Canandaigua & Falls Road —
Purchase of the Buffalo ft Niagara Falls Road by the Central — The Buffalo ft Washington —
Consolidation with the Buffalo ft Allegany Valley — Name changed to Buffalo, New York &
Philadelphia — Slow Construction — The Canada Southern — The ' ' Air Line ** — Consolida-
tion of the Grand Trunk ft Great Western — Suspension Bridge & Erie Junction Railroad —
The Buffalo & Jamestown — Changed to Buffalo & Southwestern— New York, Chicago & St.
Louis Railroad — Buffalo, Pittsburg ft Western — Consolidation with the Buffalo, New York
& Philadelphia — Leased Lines of the Latter — Other Property — Assumed Business — New
York, Lackawanna ft Western Railroad — Rochester & Pittsburg — New York, West Shore
& Buffalo — The Lehigh Valley Railroad— General View.
THE first incorporation of a company to build a railroad in Erie
county, took place on the 14th day of April, 1832, when the Legis-
lature incorporated two companies. One was the Buffalo & Erie
Railroad Company, whose road was to run from Buffalo through Chau-
tauqua county to the State line. The corporators were all residents of
Chautauqua county. The movements had no practical results. The other
was the Aurora & Buffalo Railroad Company. Its road was designed to
run from Buffalo to the village of Aurora, now known as East Aurora,
seventeen miles southeast of the former place.* Considerable stock was
subscribed, and the line was carefully laid out by Mr. William Wallace,
who, after a long life spent in his profession in this vicinity, is now a
resident of East Aurora. For several years the people of Aurora had
lively hopes of the speedy construction of a railroad to their village, and
it was not until 1837, that the panic of that year crushed, for the time,
their ardent ambition.
The first railroad actually built in the county was the Buffalo &
Black Rock Railroad, about three miles long — at least it was called a
railroad then, although more like a modern street-railroad, for the cars
were drawn by horses. This road was in working order as early as 1834.
The first railroad operated by steam power in Erie county was the
Buffalo & Niagara Falls. In the spring of 1836, it was in the course of
rapid construction. On the 26th of August, in that year, the first loco-
♦Thc Corporators were Joseph Howard, Jr., Edward Paine, Joseph Riley, Robert Person, Cal-
vin Fillmore, Deloss Warren and Aaron Riley, all residents of Aurora.
First Locomotive in Erie County. 315
motive was put on the road at Black Rock, and ran from that place to
Tonawanda, at the rate of fifteen or twenty miles per hour. On the 6th
of the next month, the locomotive ran from Buffalo to Tonawanda, and
on the 5th of November, 1836, trains began running regularly from Buf-
falo to Niagara Falls.
The Niagara Falls road was built just in time for the great financial
crisis, which occurred immediately afterward and put a sudden stop to
all enterprises of that kind in this region. The Aurora road, as we have
stated, was crushed by it. In July, 1836, directors of the Buffalo &. Erie
(Pa.) Railroad Company were elected, but no road was built on that line
for over fifteen years. In August, subscriptions to the stock of the Buf-
falo & Attica Railroad Company were opened, but this enterprise, too,
was submerged by the wave of financial disaster, and did not re-appear
until several years later.
It was, however, the first, after the Niagara Falls road, to be com-
pleted, being opened for travel on the 8th day of January, 1843. The
work of railroad-building was then slow in comparison with later achieve-
ments, and though the Attica road formed a connection with others,
afterward consolidated with it into the New York Central, and though
the New York & Erie was creeping slowly in this direction, yet the next
road actualh' constructed in this county was the Buffalo & State Line
(now a part of the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern), which was opened
for travel from Buffalo to Dunkirk on the 22d day of February, 1852,
having been already opened from Dunkirk to the State Line, on the ist
of the previous month.
The same year the Buffalo & Rochester Railroad Company, (which
had been formed in 1850, by the consolidation of the Buffalo & Attica
Company with the "Tonawanda** Company — whose road ran from
Attica to Rochester,) opened a new direct line from Buffalo to Batavia,
and sold its line from Buffalo to Attica, thirty miles, to the New York
City Railroad Company. The latter leased this line to the New York &
Erie Company, which built a branch sixty miles long, from Hornellsville
to Attica, thus forming a continuous line from Buffalo to New York,
which was opened in 1852.
In 1852, also, the Buffalo & New York City Company opened a line
from Buffalo to Batavia, (a short distance from the Central track) thence
eastward to Avon, and thence southeastward to Corning. In a short
time, however, the track from Buffalo to Batavia was taken up, and the
road-bed has remained unoccupied to the present time. The line beyond
Batavia is operated by the " Erie " Company.*
• The name of the Buffalo & New York City Company was changed to Buffalo, New York & Erie
in 1857. Ii owns a continuous road from Buffalo by way of Attica, Batavia, LeRoy, Avon and
Bath to Corning. All of it is leased to the ** Erie,'' but the section from Buffalo to Attica forms a
part of that company's continuous line, while the remainder is operated as a branch.
3i6 HmoRY OF EuE^ Couirrv^
This wa3 an era of nulroad-buildin^. The Buffalo & Brantfbrd road
was begun in 1851 or 1852, and was completed to Brantford, Ontario, by
1854. -^ extension was planned to Goderich, on Lake Huron, and the
name was changed to the Buffalo, Brantford & Goderich Railway. It
was not opened to Goderich until Ju le 28, 1858. The name was again
changed to the Bu&lo A Lake Huron Railway, and on the ist of July,
1868, it was leased in perpetuity to the Grand Trunk Railway Company,
and it is now operated as a part of the Grand Trunk system.*
In i8S3, a strenuous effort was made — ^in fact two efforts were made
-*-to build a railroad from Buffialo through Aurora and the southeastern
part of th<; county. In. the fore part of that year the Buffalo & Pitts-
burgh Railroad Company was chartered under the presidency of the
late Orlando Allen. It selected a line running near the village of Wil-
link (now the west end of the village, of East Aurora) and thence up the
valley of Cazenove creek ; the design being to meet the coal-fields of
Pennsylvania, and to connect either. directly or indirectly with Pittsburg.
Owing ta dissatisfaction with the route selected, the Buffalo & Alle-
gany Valley Railroad Company was formed, and began work on a road
designed to run from Buffalo through the east part of the village of East
Aurora, and thente up. the Cazenove valley to a point near Arcade,
where it was to connect with the "Allegany Valley" road running
south from Attica to the Pennsylvania line. Both the companies thus
organized did considerable work in the vicinity of Aurora, in the year
1853, but neither had sufficient financial resources to accomplish the task
it had undertaken. The Buffalo & Allegany Valley Company first suc-
cumbed and stopped work, but did not abandon its organization. The
Buffalo & Pittstnirg Company also stopped work, and at length gave up
its organization ; nothing more was done on either line until after the war.
The Canandaigua & Niagara Falls Railroad Company was organ-
ized in i8si» and its road wa$ completed in 1854; running from the Sus-
pension Bridge to Tonawanda, and thence eastward through the north-
em towns of Erie county— continuing in an eastern course to Canan-
daigua. The name was changed to the Niagara Bridge & Canandaigua
Railroad, and in 1858 it was leased to the New York Central Company,
by which it is still operated.
In 1855 the Buffalo^ Niagara Palls railroad was purchased by the New
York Central Company, and the former road made a part of the latter.
The financial crisis of 1857 and the war which broke out in 1861 caused
a long blank in railway-building in Erie county. Even before the close
of the Rebellion, however, when peace was seen to be approaching, prep-
* In Maji 1853, the Tmriods ihort ixMds between BoIIaIo tad Atbnny were consolidated under
the name of the New York Centnl Railrond, and Buffalo thut becune the western tenninus of one
of the most important nulroads in the world. In November, 1869, ha importance was still further
increased by its union with the Hodaon Ritcr toad, forming the New York Centnl ft Hudson River
Railroad.
Various New Railroads Completed. 317
arations were made for a renewal of railroad work. On the loth of
December, 1864, Mr. Wallace, the engineer already mentioned, having
projected a route from Buffalo to Olean and thence up the Allegany
river, (instead of down that stream, where previous routes had run),
obtained the subscription of six leading citizens of Olean to the stock of
the Buffalo & Washington Railroad Company. On the 4th of February,
1865, the company was organized, and on the 14th. day of April in that
year, it was consolidated with the Buffalo & Allegany Valley Railroad
Company, (of which Perry G. Parker was then President, and General
Aaron Riley, Secretary,) and with the Sinnemahoning & Portage Rail-
road Company, the whole taking the name of the Buffalo & Washington.
This name was ere long changed to the Buffalo, New York & Philadel-
phia, which has fortunately been spared from further transmutations.
The company selected substantially the line of the old Buffalo &
Allegany Valley Road through Erie county, and slowly carried forward
the work of construction. It was not until December 22, 1867, that the
road was completed to East Aurora, seventeen miles from Buffalo, where
it made a long halt. Then it was built to South Wales, five miles further
south, where there was another halt until the latter part of 1870. It was
then pushed forward with more vigor, so that in July, 1872, it was opened
to Olean, and on the ist of January, 1873, it was completed to its
terminus, at Emporium, Pa.
The same year saw the completion of another road terminating in
Buffalo, the Canada Southern, which had been chartered on the 28th of
February, 1868, and begun soon after, and which was opened for traffic
November 15, 1873. It extended from the Niagara river to Amherst-
burg, Ontario, near the mouth of Detroit river, two hundred and twenty-
nine miles distant. In 1878 the ownership of the road passed into the
hands of a new company, organized in the interest of the New York
Central Railroad Company, which guaranteed the interest on the bonds
of its Canadian associate. During the past year the road has been
leased to the Michigan Central Railroad Company, another branch of
the same great combination.
The year 1873 was also distinguished by the completion of the "Air
Line," or " Loop Line " branch of the Great Western Railway, from
Fort Erie to Glencoe, on the main line of that road, one hundred and forty-
five miles westward. This branch was begun by the Canada Air Line
Company, chartered in December, 1867, but subsequently became the
property of the Great Western Company. During the winter of i882-'83
the Great Western & Grand Trunk Railroad Companies were consoli-
dated under the latter name, and the Grand Trunk Railroad conse-
quently has two important branches, (the old Buffalo & Lake Huron, and
the Air Line) practically terminating in Buffalo, with which they com-
municate by the International Bridge across the Niagara.
3i8 History of Erie County.
A little before the completion of these works a road had been built
from Buffalo to the Suspension Bridge by a company organized under
the auspices of the "Erie" company, in October, 1868. The road was
completed in December, 1870, under the name of the " Suspension Bridge
& Erie Junction" railroad, but was immediately leased to the Erie*
company and has been known as the Niagara Falls branch of that road.
The next Erie county railroad enterprise was the Buffalo & James-
town. This company was organized March 25, 1872. The road was
completed from Buffalo to Jamestown, Chautauqua county, in 1875, run-
ning almost due south from Buffalo, through the towns of West Seneca,
Hamburg, Eden, North Collins, and Collins, and crossing Cattaraugus
creek at the village of Gowanda. The company was re-organized in
1877, after a foreclosure, under the name of the Buffalo & Southwest-
tern, and on the ist of August, 1881, it leased the road to the New York,
Lake Erie & Western Railroad Company, by whom it is now operated
as the Buffalo & South-Western division of that road.
Since the revival of business in 1879, after the long depression, there
has been apparently a rage for railroad building throughout the country,
and, owing to its position at the foot of Lake Erie, this county has been
the scene of even more than the usual activity of capitalists, engineers
and contractors. The first of the new roads to be completed was the
New York, Chicago and St Louis, running from Buffalo to Chicago, by
way of Fort Wayne, Indiana. The company was organized — in this
State — on the 13th of April, 1881. Work was begun soon after, and
the track was completed (522 miles) in the latter part of 1882— about a
)'ear and eight months after its commencement, — a fact almost, if not
quite, unequaled in the history of railroad building. It was constructed
by a syndicate of New York capitalists who, during the winter of 1882-
'83, sold it to William H. Vanderbilt and other owners of the Lake Shore
Railroad, but the New York, Chicago & St. Louis is managed as a special
route, although, of course, in close harmony with the Lake Shore.
From Buffalo westward to Brocton, Chautauqua count}^ the track
occupied by the New York, Chicago & St. Louis Company was built
jointly by that company and the Buffalo, Pittsburgh & Western. This
was the first appearance in Erie county of the tracks of the last-named
company though they had previously run trains from Brocton to Buffalo,
over the track of the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railroad. The
Buffalo, Pittsburg & Western Railroad Company was formed on the 20th
day of January, 1 881, by a consolidation of the Buffalo & Pittsburg Rail-
road Company (organized September 29, 1880, to build a road from Buf-
* The New York & Erie Railroad Company was reorganized as the Erie Railroad Company in
June, 1S61, after the road had been two years in the hands of a receiver, on account of non-payment
of interest. The road again went under the control of a receiver in May, 1875, and in June, 1878,
it passed into the hands of the New York, Lake Erie & Western Com|)any, by which name the
road is now known.
Various New Railroads Completed. 319
falo to Portland, near Brocton,) with several roads, principally in Penn-
sylvania.* On the 14th of February, 1883, the road in question, together
with the Oil City & Chicago and the Olean & Salamanca Railroads
were consolidated with the Buffalo, New York & Philadelphia, taking
the name of the last named road.
The Buffalo, New York & Philadelphia Company is the only one
of the great companies described which has its headquarters in Buffalo,
and we give it a little more extended description on that account. Besides
the roads consolidated with its own, as already mentioned, it controls the
following leased railroads: The Genesee Valley Canal Railroad; the
Rochester, New York & Pennsylvania; the McKean & Buffalo; the
Kendall & Eldred; the Olean & Bradford: and the Mayville Exten-
sion Railroad. The total number of miles of railroad owned and con-
trolled by the company is seven hundred and eighteen.
In addition to its railroad property the company controls extensive
coal mines and coal lands in Pennsylvania, from which it can furnish its
roads with an apparently unlimited amount of coal traffic, which cannot
be diverted from them. It also controls most of the passenger and freight
business of Chautauqua lake, on which it has a fleet of five large steam-
ers. Its branch roads also reach to Bradford, the center of the principal
oil producing territory, to Clermont, the seat of the coal mines just men-
tioned and to other points, whence comes a large and constantly increas-
ing business in the carriage of coal (anthracite and bituminous,) oil, lum-
ber, bark, grain, and numerous other articles.
The New York, Lackawanna & Western Railway Company was
chartered on the 24th of August. 1880, for the purpose of construct-
ing an extension ol the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad, from
Binghamton to Buffalo, a distance of two hundred miles. The work was
pushed rapidly forward and the track was completed in 1883. This com-
pany, however, like some of the others, has still a vast amount of work to
do in constructing sidetracks, building depots, obtaining facilities on the
water-front, etc., etc., in and around Buffalo.
The Rochester & Pittsburg Railroad Company which, as the succes-
sor of the Rochester & State Line Company, is the owner of a road from
Rochester to Salamanca, Cattaraugus county, deterniined in the year
1882, to build a branch from Ashford, Cattaraugus county' to Buffalo.
Surveys were made on various lines, and in August of that year a
contract was let for the construction of the road by way of East Ham-
burg, West Falls, Colden and Springville. The work was completed in
August, 1883. As the company is also extending its road into the coal
and lumber fields of Pennsylvania, it furnishes another important feeder
to the manufactures and other interests of Buffalo.
* In April following, Uie company purchased the New Castle & Franklin Road, which it re-organ-
ized first as the New Castle & Oil City, and then as the Oil City & Chicago, so that there is now a
continuous line from Buffalo to New Castle, with branches into important coal -bearing tracts.
320 History of Erie County.
Last of all in date of completion is the New York, West Shore &
Buffalo Railroad, the company owning which was organized on the i8th
of February, 1880. This great work was completed to Syracuse at
the time of the printing of this history, and was to be constructed to
Buffalo with the utmost possible speed. It is the most important of any
of the new roads through Erie county, having a first-class, double-track
line from Weehawken, New Jersey, opposite New York, along the west
shore of the Hudson river nearly to Albany and thence westward,
almost parallel to and but a short distance from the Central railroad, to
Buffalo, a total distance of four hundred and twenty -five miles. It was
evidently intended to be a formidable rival of the Central Railroad, but
its business achievements are still in the future.
Although the Lehigh Valley Railroad has no track through Erie
county, yet the company sends its coal-laden cars hither over the tracks
of the New York, Lake Erie & Western, and has acquired vast facilities
in the southern part of Buffalo for the purpose of transhipping its coal
and sending it up Lake Erie and over other roads. So far as the coal
trade is concerned, Buffalo is the western terminus of the Lehigh Valley
railroad.
It will be observed that in regard to every road mentioned, Buffalo
is the terminus of either a main line or a branch. Not a single road runs
through Buffalo. It is the western terminus of the New York Central
& Hudson River Railroad, of the New York, West Shore & Buffalo,
and the New York, Lackawanna & Western ; also of what is practically
the main line of the New York, Lake Erie & Western, besides being the
freight terminus of the Lehigh Valley Road. It is the southern terminus
of the Niagara Falls branch of the Central, and the Niagara Falls branch
of the Erie. It is the northern terminus of the two great divisions of
the Buffalo, New York & Philadelphia, whose tributary roads spread far
and wide through the coal fields, the oil fields, and the lumber fields of
Pennsylvania. It is also the northern terminus of what is likely to be the
main line of the Rochester & Pittsburg, which is advancing in the same
direction, and of the Buffalo & Southwestern branch of the Erie. It is
the eastern terminus of three great roads, the New York, Chicago & St.
Louis, the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern, and the Michigan Central,
(as the lessee of the Canada Southern,) each of which reaches out over
500 miles, to the great city of the West, Chicago. Finally it is the east-
ern terminus of one great branch, and the southeastern terminus of
another, belonging to the Grand Trunk system of Canada, which stretches
its mighty arms from the western shore of Lake Michigan to the chief
city of Maine, on the coast of the North Atlantic.
In short, a person can travel more than nine thousand miles over the
various railroads centering at Buffalo, and their branches, without repeat-
ing his journey over a single mile.
The Erie County Agricultural Society. 321
CHAPTER XXXIII.
ERIE CDITNTY HBRICULTTJRJIL SOCIETY.
Niagara County Agricultural Society — Officers and Town Managers— First Fair— Dr. Chapin's
Efforts — Success under Difficulties — Change of Name — Decease of the Society — Revival
in 1841 — First Fair of the New Society — The Cattle of that Period — Second Fair —
** Hamburg Cheese " — Report for 1843— For 1845 — 1846 and 1847 — The Fairs Deterio-
rating — The State Fair of 1848 — Great Success — Distinguished Visitors — Another County
Fair at Buffalo— First County Fair in the Country Towns held at Aurora — Great Improvement
— At Lancaster in 1851 — At East Hamburg in 1852 — Large Crops — At Cold Spring in 1853
— At Aurora in 1854 — At East Hamburg in 1855 — First Charge for Admission — Horace
Greeley's Address — Re-organization in 1856 — Ground leased Near the Indian Church —
Fairs Held There Nine Years— At Cold Spring in 1865 — At Springville in 1866 and 1867
— At Hamburg in i868 — It Continues There — Officers for Successive Years — Efforts to
Change Location — Fair Extended to Four Days in 1876 — Increase of Funds — Purchase of
Land — Clean Purchase — Large Receipts — Value of the Property — The Grounds.
THE first Agricultural Society organized within the present limits
of Erie county was formed previous to the division of Niagara
county, in the latter part of 1819, or beginning of 1820 — under the
name of the Niagara County Agricultural Society. Its headquarters
were in Buffalo, and that energetic pioneer, Dr. Cyrenius Chapin, was its
first president The secretary was Joseph M. Moulton, the treasurer,
Reuben B. Heacock, and the auditor, Heman B. Potter, all of Buffalo ;
the vice-presidents being Arthur Humphrey, Asher Saxton, Ebenezer
Goodrich, Ebenezer Walden and James Cronk. A Board of Town
Managers was also appointed, doubtless composed principally of some
of the leading farmers of their respective towns. Those in that part of
Niagara county, which is now Erie so far as recorded, were : Elias
Ransom, Adiel Sherwood, and Elijah Leach, of Buffalo; William W.
Morseman, Abner Wilson and David Eddy, of Hamburg; Isaac Phelps,
Jr., Jonathan Bowen and Ephraim Woodruff, of Aurora; Richard
Buffum, Asa Cronk and Samuel Corliss, of Holland ; Ethan Allen,
Ebenezer Holmes and Henry B. Stevens, oi Wales; John Hill, Benjamin
Bowen and John March, of Eden ; Belden Slosson, Alexander Hitchcock
and Abram Miller, of Amherst ; S. Parmely, M. Cary and Daniel Swain^
of Boston.
In the summer of 1820, preparations were made to hold the first fair
of the society. It was very difficult to arouse much interest in a new
scheme, involving considerable labor and expense, for the farmers of
Erie county were then nearly all poor and a large majority of them in
debt But Dr. Chapin, then one of the most influential men in the
322 History of Erie County.
county, was determined that the fair should succeed, and the Doctor was
accustomed to achieve success whenever it could be brought by
unequaled energy and liberality. Owning five farms in various parts of
the county, on which he kept a large amount of stock, then considered
as first-class, he was able to give considerable aid to the fair from his
own resources.
In the sketch of the life of the late Orlando Allen, by William C.
Bryant, Esq., published among the papers of the- Buffalo Historical
Society, there is an interesting and somewhat amusing account of the
successful efforts to get together stock for the fair, made in the face of
adverse circumstances, by Mr. Allen, then an active youth of seventeen,
nominally a student of medicine with Dr. Chapin, but principally occupied
as general manager of that gentleman's numerous interests. The Doctor
had arranged that the men living on his farms should each bring in certain
stock (especially sheep) to Buffalo the day before the fair. Fearing fail-
ure, however, he sent young Allen with a boy, both on horseback, the
morning before the fair, to his farm in Hamburg, lately known as the
Deuel Place, a mile south of " Orchard Park." On arriving there he
found, as the Doctor had feared, that no movement had been made
toward bringing the stock. He and the boy undertook to drive it to the
city, except a fine Merino ram, which the farmer was to lead. The road
lay most of the distance through the unfenced forests and moors of the
Indian reservation, but Allen and his still more useful assistant drove
the twenty head of cattle and sheep safely through, though with much
diflticulty, arriving about three o'clock P. M. Scarcely had he done so
when the farmer came in, announcing that he couldn't lead the ram, and,
having no way to carry him, had been compelled to leave him. Seeing
the Doctor's great disappointment, his nephew, Gorham Chapin, took a
horse and light wagon, drove to Hamburg and brought the ram in.
Meanwhile, finding that nothing had been heard of the sheep
expected from the Doctor's farms in Clarence, young Allen volunteered
to see about them, mounted a fresh horse and set out, still accompanied
by his boyish aid-de-camp. Arriving at the principal farm, near " Harris
Hill," at dark, he found that here, too, nothing had been done. The farmer
was pressed into the service rather against his will, and the three went
to the pasture, a half-mile distant, with lanterns, and drove the sheep to
the barn, where Allen selected forty of the best, and with his assistants
began the weary journey toward Buffalo. It was near daylight when
the sheep were driven into Dr. Chapin's yard in that village.
Then Allen learned that there was still one fine ram missing, which
was on Major Miller's farm, eight miles distant on the road just traversed.
The indefatigable Orlando hitched another horse to the wagon, drove out
there, had a battle with the ram, finally conquered and bound him, and
drove back tq Buffalo, arriving a little after breakfast time. Certainly
this was getting up a fair under difficulties.
DRLANDD iLLLEN.
The First County Fair. 323
Dr. Chapin was determined that all of his family should appear at
the fair in clothes of domestic manufacture, and besides flannels, linens,
etc., he had a piece of black cloth made for the male members and one
of pressed woolen cloth for the lemales.
Young Allen had a " brand new suit " of the former fabric and, not-
withstanding labors through the previous night, enjoyed himself greatly
at the ball which closed the grand event. Of the fair he says : ** The day
was fine, the entries quite numerous and everything passed off to the
satisfaction of all concerned."
When the greater part of Niagara county became Erie county the
name of the agricultural society suffered a corresponding change. But
the general interest in the institution was weak, the difficulties, especially
of transportation, were great, the exhibits dwindled away and it was
found impracticable for a few zealous men to bear the whole burden of
keeping up the society ; so after two or three years it was given up.
It was not until 1841, that another Erie County Agricultural Society
was organized, with Lewis F. Allen, of Buffalo, well-known for his active
interest in agricultural matters, as its first President. The first fair of
the new society was held at Buffalo in October of that year, and as it
was again a new thing there was a very creditable exhibition. The
Commercial Advertiser of the following day, said : —
" Some remarkably fine animals were present, and a very choice
lot of vegetables. The specimens of domestic manufacture, though few,
were very superior. A spirited and practical address was delivered by
L. F. Allen, Esq., President of the society, which was listened to with
much gratification by a crowded auditory. On the whole, for an exhi-
bition got up on only six weeks' notice, it surpassed all reasonable
expectations. *
There were at that time almost none but native cattle in the county.
Mr. Allen had introduced the first thorough-breds — Short-horns and
Devons — into the county in 1833, of which he has bred some hundreds
in number, and sold in this and other States down to the present day.
Mr. Sweetapple, of Golden, had brought in a short-horn bull and cow
about 1840. These and their descendants, with possibly a few others,
were all the cattle of improved breeds to be seen in Erie county at the
time of the first fair of the new society.
Of the proceedings of that year, there is no record, save the inci-
dental newspaper mention already quoted, but from, and including 1842
down to the present time, a fairly accurate account of the Erie County
Agricultural Society can be compiled from the reports annually made
to the State Society, and published by it, and from the records of the
County Society, which have been preserved since 1856.
The second fair was held at Buffalo, on the 5th and 6th of October,
1842. Premiums to the amount of nearly $500 were offered, and over
$400 were actually awarded. The Report to the State Society says : —
324 History of Erie County.
" The number of fine horses, superior specimens of fine sheep and
swine, and the great variety of farm products, domestic manufactures,
vegetables, fruits, etc., have rarel}' been excelled in any part of the State."
The committee on cheese gave especial praise to the specimens of
that article exhibited. They awarded the first premium on cheese to H.
Arnold & Son, of Hamburg, and the second to Truman Austin, of the
same town. The reputation of " Hamburg cheese *' was already well
established. No better cheese than the many years' celebrated " Ham-
burg" was ever made in the United States; but since the cheese facto-
ries have usurped that important industry, the " Hamburg " proper has
retired from the field of production, yielding to the inferior quality of
its successor. The premium crop of Indian corn yielded fifty-seven
bushels per acre ; of oats, sixty-seven ; of barley, forty-two.
During the third year of the existence of the association, Hon.
Thomas C. Love, of Buffalo, ex-Member of Congress from this district,
was the President, and Warren Bryant, Esq., was the Secretary. The
sum of $3*6 was awarded in premiums. The address was delivered by
Dr. Daniel Lee.
For 1844 there is no report from Erie county.
In 1845 the President was Robert McPherson, of Black Rock; the
Vice-Presidents were R. L. Allen, of Buffalo, James Wood, of Wales,
Benjamin Hodge, of Black Rock, O. Mansfield, of Clarence, N. G. Steb-
bins, of Cheektowaga, and William S. Rees, of Evans.
For 1846 there was a brief report showing that the President was
Robert McPherson and the Secretary, Robert Hadfield. The premiums
offered amounted to S470.
The officers in 1847, were as follows : President, Orlando Allen, of
Buffalo ; Vice-Presidents, A. McArthur of Buffalo, Augustus Raynor of
Clarence, W. S. Rees, of Evans, J. W. Hamlin, of Aurora, and James
Wood, of Wales ; Secretar)-, Robert Hadfield, of Buffalo.
The Address was delivered by George W. Clinton, Esq., of Buffalo.
The report for this shows that the exhibition did not equal those pre-
viously held. Buffalo was rapidly becoming a city in size as well as
name, farmers did not care to go there to attend a farmers' show, and
the zeal of Buffalonians which had supported the first two or three fairs
had begun to wane.
In 1848, the officers were Augustus Raynor, President; Robert
Hadfield, Secretary, and Arthur McArthur, Treasurer.
This year the interest of the agriculturists of Erie county was ab-
sorbed in the State fair, which for the first time was held at Buffalo,
under the presidency of the Hon. Lewis F. Allen, near the point pre-
viously occupied by the Barracks, on Delaware Avenue.
The report of the Secretary, Benjamin P. Johnson, of Albany,
declared it to have been " successful beyond the highest hope o.f the soci-
The County Fair First Held at Aurora. 325
ety. " . The Governors of New York and Michigan were present, Messrs.
Holmes and Barnwell of South Carolina, Hon. W. A. Graham of North
Carolina, the Hon. William Stanley, son of the then Earl of Derby of
England, and other distinguished gentlemen from this and other States.
The weather was fine and the attendance was immense. The hall for
agricultural implements was a hundred and fift)' feet by seventy, and
the dairy hall was one hundred and fifty feet by sixty. The exhibition
of cheese received the especial praise from the authorities of the State
society. The oration was delivered by the distinguished Hon. John
C. Spencer.
The county fair for 1849 ^^'^s again held at Buffalo ; the amount of
premiums paid was$i22.i9. The report shows a good exhibition of cattle,
especially of grades. There were also a few Shorthorns and Devons,
and a large number of Herefords. But the interest was steadily decreas-
ing from causes already mentioned and it was determined that the next
fair should be held in the country.
The point selected in 1850 was Aurora, the officers being Robert
Person, president; Aaron Riley, secretarj- ; and D. D. Stiles, treasurer.
The result showed the wisdom of the change, the exhibition being better
than at any previous Erie count)' fair. One hundred and thirty-three
head of cattle were entered for premiums, eighty -nine horses, seventy-
three sheep, many swine, etc. ; besides a large number present but
not entered. Farm products were shown in great abundance, and the
ladies* department was fully represented. Eight thousand persons were
estimated to be present. Premiums to the amount of §345, were
awarded, besides numerous volumes of transactions of the State Societ)',
diplomas, etc.
The following year the fair was held at Lancaster ; the officers being
ApoUos Hitchcock, president; Henry A. Bingham, secretary; and
Henry Atwood, treasurer. The show was much smaller than the year
before.
At Ea3t Hamburg, in 1852, there was a moderate attendance, on
account of the rain, but the show of fruits and vegetables was better
than ever before. Truman Pattengill, of Wales, made oath to raising
fifty-two bushels of wheat on one acre of ground " by weight and meas-
urement." John Woodruff, of Aurora, exhibited specimens of Indian corn,
which he stated had yielded seventy bushels per acre.
The next fair was held at Cold Spring, Buffalo. Warren Granger
was the president; the other officers not being recorded. In spite of
bad weather there was a fine display of horses, some thorough-bred
stock and the best show of poultry ever known in the State. The address
was by Hon. G. W. Clinton.
In 1854, the fair was again held at Aurora, the officers being John
W. Hamlin, president ; Nathaniel A. Turner, secretary ; and H. Z. Per-
326 History of Erie County.
son treasurer. The report was brief, showing a fine exhibition of horses,
and numerous entries of all kinds from Aurora and the adjoining towns,
but comparatively few from other parts of the county.
The year 1855 was distinguished by two important circumstances in
the history of the Agricultural Society of Erie county. First — it was
then for the first time, that an admission fee, twelve and a half cents,
was charged to the grounds; second — it was the year in which Horace
Greeley delivered the address. This was a practical talk, largely relating
to drainage and the use of tile, with some remarks favorable to canned
fruit, then just coming into use. The presence of this distinguished
gentleman drew a large number of visitors, relying on which the officers
went to considerable expense in fitting up the grounds and building a
temporary hall, one hundred feet by twenty, for the display of domestic
manufactures, fruits, flowers, etc., which was filled to overflowing.
The show of stock was creditable; that of grain and root crops still
better. Benjamin Maltby exhibited samples of winter wheat which
had yielded thirty-nine bushels per acre, and William Hambleton showed
corn forming part of a crop of nearly one hundred bushels per acre.
The receipts were the largest known in the history of the association;
being, aside from the State appropriation, $682.00. The expenses were
§555.00. The officers were Allen Potter, president; Myron H. Stillwell,
secretary ; and Amos Chilcott, treasurer.
An act of the Legislature having been passed in April, 1855, provid-
ing for the more thorough organization of Agricultural Societies, a special
meeting of the members of the Erie County Society was called at the
court-house in Buffalo, on the 4th of June, 1856, to consider the ques-
tion of re-organization linder that law. At that meeting it was unani-
mously resolved that the Erie County Agricultural Society as it then
existed should be dissolved and it should be, and was, thereby re-organ-
ized under the act of April 13, 1855.
A certificate declaring that the signers organized themselves as the
Erie County Agricultural Society, and naming the first directors, was
duly signed and acknowledged by the following persons : George W.
Scott, Erastus Wallis, Benjamin Baker, A. K. Humphrey, James Wood,
Austin Kimball, George C. Bull, Hiram C. White, William Hambleton,
John S. King, Aaron Riley, J. M. Paine, Myron Stilwell. Subsequently
a constitution was adopted which provided for the election of a presi-
dent, two vice-presidents, a secretary, a treasurer and six directors; the
first five officers to be chosen yearly at the annual meeting* of the society,
and the directors to be elected for three years, two each year.
The eleven officers named were to constitute a board of managers,
having the general direction of the affairs of the society. Any resident of
* By the original consliiuiion this meeting was lo be held on the Second Wednesday of Jinuary,
but the date was changed, in 1870, to the Third Wednesday.
Re-organization of the Society. 327
Erie county could become a member for a year on payment of $1, and a
life member on payment of §10.00.
The following were the officers for 1856 :* president, George W. Tifft ;
vice-presidents, John S. King and William Hambleton; secretary, H.
C. White ; treasurer, George W. Scott. The president, secretary and
treasurer were the same who had been elected the previous autumn b}^
the old organization.
Arrangements were made to hold the fairs on ground leased for ten
years near the Indian church in the town of West Seneca, although in
fact they were not held there but nine years. The fair was more suc-
cessful than before ; the receipts being about Ssoo.
From this time forward we follow the secretary's book, the same
one having been used from 1856 to the present time. The records relate
principally to the election of officers, with occasional statements of the
financial situation, but from the last a tolerably good idea can be obtained
of the progress of the society. The records date from the re-organiza-
tion, and the fair held in 1856 is considered the first one of the society ;
consequently that of 1883 is numbered the twenty-eighth, although there
have been forty-three consecutive annual fairs held in Erie county by a
•body called the Erie County Agricultural Society.
In 1857 the officers (aside from directors) were as follows : president,
Erastus Wallis; vice-presidents, William Hambleton and E. S. Ely;
secretary, James M. Paine ; treasurer, George W. Scott.
At the annual election in 1858 the following officers were elected:
president, William Hambleton ; vice-presidents. Warren Granger and
William B. Hart ; secretary, Amos Freeman ; treasurer, George W.
Scott. One of the first results of the new organization seems to have
been to increase the expenses ; for at this meeting outstanding liabilities
were reported for the first time amounting to $151.83. At subsequent
meetings of the board of managers, the superintendent of cattle at the
coming fair was instructed to examine particularly in regard to all cattle
presented as thorough-breds, and see that none were entered for pre-
miums without an undeniable pedigree. The superintendent of horses
was directed to form two classes, putting the " Black Hawks " and " Mor-
gans " in one, and all belonging to other breeds in the other.
When the officers settled the accounts after the fair it was found
that the expenses were as follows: Premiums left unpaid from 1857,
$77.00; premiums awarded in 1858, $803.00; erection of buildings and
holding fairs, $926.00; total $1,806.00. To meet these demands the re-
ceipts were, from members' tickets $640.00; gate tickets $285.00;
$100.00; State appropriation, $186.00; other sources, $33.25 ; total,
$1,244.24; leaving a debt of $561.76. To meet this the sum of $600.00
was borrowed by the society from William Hambleton.
The officers for 1859 were a^ follows : president, William Hamble-
ton; vice-presidents, Charles Rogers and D. D. Stiles; secretary,
328 History of Erie County.
Amos Freeman ; treasurer, George W. Scott. This year the price of
gate tickets was raised from ten to fifteen cents.
In i860 the officers elected were: president, William Hambleton;
vice-presidents, D. D. Stiles and H. C. White; secretary, Ellis Webster.
A committee was appointed to obtain subscriptions to establish a trotting
course. The period of holding the fair was for the first time extended
to three days. Provision was also made for obtaining silver medals to
distribute as premiums, but this was not popular and was not continued
after the year in question. At this time two classes were appropriated
to horses, seven to cattle, four to sheep, and one each to swine, poultry,
fruits, plants and flowers, grain and roots, vegetables, farm implements,
domestic articles. E. W. Stewart delivered the address.
In 1861 the officers elected were: president, Z. Bonney; vice-
presidents, D. D. Stiles and G. W. Paine; secretary, Ellis Webster;
treasurer, George W. Scott.
In 1862 they were the same except that Warren Granger was secre-
tary. In the latter year the treasurer reported the number of family
tickets sold at two hundred and seventy-eight and that of the gate tickets
at two hundred and seventy-two. The total number of entries in all classes
was four hundred and twenty-eight, against three hundred and eighty-
five the previous year.
In 1863 the officers elected were: president, Z. Bonney; vice-
presidents, D. D. Stiles and Christopher Hambleton; secretary, Warren
Granger; treasurer, G. W. Scott.
In 1864 the officers elected were: president, George A. Moore;
vice-presidents, Jason Sexton and Christopher Hambleton ; secretary,
Warren Granger ; treasurer, G. W. Scott. The amount paid for pre-
miums and current expenses in that year was $1,112.16; the amount
received from all sources was $1,063.75 ; leaving a balance due the treas-
urer from the society of $48.41.
In 1865 the officers elected were: president, George A. Moore;
vice-presidents, Jason Sexton and Christopher Hambleton ; secretary,
Hiram C. White; treasurer, George W. Scott. The amount paid for
premiums and expenses was $1,326.25. The total indebtedness of the
society, was $433.00. The fair this year was held on the race ground at
Cold Spring, Buffalo.
At the Annual meeting, in 1866, a ballot was taken to determine the
location of the next fair, resulting in thirty-eight votes for Springville,
and thirteen for Aurora ; which choice was confirmed by the board of
managers. The officers elected were : president, Edwin Wright ; vice-
presidents, John W. Hamlin and James Hopkins; secretary, Bertrand
Chaffee ; treasurer, Plinj^ Smith. The fair was held on the grounds of
of the Union Agricultural Society, at Springville.
At the annual meeting, in 1867, vote was again taken on location,
when Springville received thirty-eight ballots, and Aurora thirty-one.
Prosperous Growth of the Society. 329
This vote was confirmed, and the fair was held on the same ground as in
1866. The officers elected were: president, L. C. P. Vaughn; vice-
presidents, Allen Potter and James Hopkins ; secretary, Bertrand Chaf-
fee; treasurer, Pliny Smith.
At the next annual meeting, in 1868, the treasurer's report sHbwed
that the indebtedness from that fair, besides old debt, was $108.28, which
it was stated would be more than covered by the State appropriation.
Luther Titus, on behalf of the Hamburg Driving Park Association,
offered the free use of the track, grounds, buildings, etc., of the Associ-
ation, for the purpose of holding the fair. A ballot was taken at which
Hamburg received eighteen votes, and Springville, seventeen. Oddly
enough, the choice made by this narrow majority was the one which
became a permanent location. Although for many years the society had
no permanent interest at Hamburg, yet every year it was voted to hold
the fair there, and finally, with the purchase of real estate at that point,
rival localities seem to have given up all the honors and emoluments of
the annual exhibition. After making the location at the meeting men-
tioned the following officers were elected: president, P. W. Powers;
vice-presidents, L. C. P. Vaughn and Allen K. Dart ; secretary, Robert
C. Titus: treasurer, Robert B. Foote. At a subsequent meeting of the
board ol ii anagers, the price of single tickets was raised to twenty-five
cents. Member tickets remained at one dollar. Single teams were
charged twenty-five cents, and double teams thirty -five cents. An effort
was made tr» secure the services of Horace Greeley, to address the peo-
ple, but without success.
In 1869 the officers elected were: president, P. W. Powers; vice-
presidents, Allen K. Dart and V. R. Cary; secretary, R. C. Titus;
treasurer, R. B. Foote. The balance reported unexpended in the treas-
urer's hands, was $129.82, but there was still an old debt of several hun-
dred dollars.
In 1870 the officers elected were: president, P. W. Powers; vice-
presidents, Allen Potter and V. R. Cary ; secretary, R. C. Titus ; treas-
urer, R. B. Foote. The balance in the treasurer's hands was $361.61, of
which $50.00 was applied to the payment of the old debt. The time of
holding the annual meeting was changed from the second to the third
Wednesday of January.
In 1 87 1 the officers were the same as the previous year.
In 1872 the officers were the same as the previous year. The balance
outstanding against the society was $143.34.
In 1873 the officers elected were : president, P. W. Powers; vice-
presidents, V. R. Cary and Adam Pierce ; secretary, R. C. Titus ; treas-
urer, Moses Clark.
In 1874 the officers elected were: president, V. R. Cary; vice-
presidents, Isaac Russell and Adam Pierce ; secretary, Thomas J.
Powers; treasurer, Moses Clark.
330 History of Erie County.
The officers elected at the annua] meeting in 1875 Were the same as
those chosen the previous year, but during the succeeding spring, Mr.
Adam Pierce died, and Mr. George M. Pierce was elected second-vice-
presi4ent in his place. There were efforts made at nearly every annual
meeting to procure the location of the fair at some other place than
Hamburg, Aurora being the one most frequently mentioned, but all were
unsuccessful. In 1875 the board of managers voted to contract with
the Hamburg Driving Park Association to pay that body $50.00 a year
for the use of the grounds during the life of the lease held by it. A
barn was also erected costing $330.22, of which the Agricultural Society
owned thirty sixty-sixths ; the remainder being owned by the Driving
Park Association aed Mr. Frederick Thompson. The tendency of the
Society was evidently toward a permanent location at Hamburg.
In 1876 the officers elected were : president, V. R. Gary ; vice-
presidents, Isaac Russell and George W. Pierce ; secretary, Thomas J.
Powers ; treasurer, Moses Clark. This year, for the first time, the
period of holding the fair was extended to four days. It was also
declared that a family ticket should admit the husband and wife and
three minor children over ten years old; those under ten being
admitted free.
In 1877 the officers elected were: president, V. R. Gary; vice-
presidents, Isaac Russell and George W. Pierce ; secretary, Amos H.
Baker; treasurer, Moses Gl ark. The first article of the constitution
was changed so that any person, whether a resident of Erie county or
not could become either an annual or a life member by paying the
amount designated by the board of managers. The price of life tickets
was fixed at $10. It was also voted a family ticket should admit only
one minor over ten years old. The price of single tickets was fixed at
twenty cents ; that of single-team tickets at the same sum, and that of
double-team tickets at twenty-five cents.
The officers elected in 1878 were : president, V. R. Gary ; vice-presi-
dents, Seth Fenner and Isaac Russell; secretary, A. H. Baker; treas-
urer, William S. Newton ; one honorary vice-president was also elected
for each town not otherwise represented, who was expected to make a
special effort to promote the interests of the society in that town. The
price of single tickets and single-team tickets was raised to twenty-five
cents each ; those of double-team tickets to thirty cents. A resolution
was adopted to hold the next fair at East Aurora, if the people there
would erect the necessary buildings. Nothing came of this proposition
however, and the fairs continued to be held at Hamburg.
In 1879 ^^^ officers elected were: president, Isaac Russell; vice-
presidents, John Kraus and H. W. White ; secretary, A. H. Baker ;
treasurer, William S. Newton. The amount in the treasurer's hands
was $949.15.
Present Officers. 331
In 1880 the officers elected were: president, Isaac Russell; vice-
presidents, John Kraus and H. W. White ; secretary, H. K. Williams ;
treasurer, W. S. Newton. The treasurer's report showed the sum of
$1,614.27 in his hands. Encouraged by this proof of prosperity, a com-
mittee was appointed with authority to purchase land for a permanent
location. Accordingly twelve and two-hundredths acres situated where
the previous fairs had been held, were purchased for $200.00 per acre.
The receipts during that year, including the amount on hand in the begin-
ning, reached the very handsome sum of S5»768.49. The premiums paid
amounted to $1,309.90, and the running expenses to $1,524.50, making the
total current expenses $2,834.46. This left a balance of $2,934.03 out of
which there was paid for the land first mentioned the sum of $2,404.00.
In 1881 the officers elected were: president, George W. Pierce;
vice-presidents, H. W. White and John Kraus ; secretary, H. K. Will-
iams ; treasurer, W. S. Newton. The society purchased twelve and six-
hundredths acres of land of George M. Pierce, for which it gave a bond
and mortgage. The receipts this year, including the balance brought
from 1880, amounted to $4,686.38. The premiums amounted to $1,459.65,
and the current expenses to $551.53; the total being $2,011.18. This
left a balance of $2,675.20, which was applied on permanent improve-
ments, buildings, etc.
In 1882 the officers elected were: president, George W. Pierce;
vice-presidents, John Kraus and Alonzo Richmond; secretary, Oscar
Wheelock; treasurer, W. S. Newton. The receipts this year amounted
to $3,955.65. The expenses including $305.67 paid for the erection of
building and $571.25 used to cancel the floating debt and interest were
$3,044.00, leaving $91 1.25.
At the last annual election which this work can record, 1883, the fol-
lowing officers were elected : president, John Kraus ; vice-presidents,
H. P. Hopkins and A. H. Baker; secretary, H. W. White; treasurer,
William S. Newton. A. H. Baker subsequently resigned and E. H.
Hubbard was elected second vice-president by the board. The report
of the treasurer, which covered the five years of his stewardship, set
forth the financial improvement of the society during that time as shown
in the past few paragraphs, and farther stated that out of the $91 1.25 just
mentioned, he had paid $500.00 principal and $101.00 interest to George
W. Pierce, leaving in the treasury on the 17th of January, 1883, the
sum of $202.06. The same report showed that the total value of the
property and cash of the society at that time was $7,146.29, and the
amount due on the bond and mortgage to George M. Pierce was $706.00,
leaving the actual value of the property $6,440.29.
The grounds, located about midway between the village of Ham-
burg and that of Abbott's Corners, are furnished with ample buildings
and are extremely pleasant in every respect ; the northern part being
332 History of Erie County.
shaded by trees, while in a beautiful glen is to be seen one of the finest
springs of living water in the State, the unfailing flow of which keeps a
pipe two inches in diameter constantly filled, although a considerable
amount escapes and ripples over the ground beneath.
The increased wealth and vitality of the society is largely represent-
ative of the increased prosperity and higher development of agriculture
in Erie county. Not only has there been a complete transformation in the
character of the county since the pioneer period of seventy years ago,
but there has been an immense change during the last forty years. Forty
years ago the cultivated portion of the county was almost entirely
devoted to the raising of crops and the dairy interest. The raising of
stock was considered of comparatively little importance. The cattle
were substantially all of the native breeds, dairying for market was in its
infancy, and money could be obtained from any considerable number of
cattle only by a long and weary drive across the country to New York
or Philadelphia.
Moreover, the Indian reservation, seven miles wide, stretched the
whole width of the county. Here the roads were almost always in an
extremely bad condition, and the access of the farmers in the southern
part of the county to Buffalo was rendered especially difficult. A
majority <A the people had not yet paid all the purchase money of their
farms, (jr at least had not been out of debt long enough to erect good
buildinjfs and thoroughly improve their farms. This condition related
to the towns in the south part of the county. The northern or upper
part, above the '* reservation," was a limestone formation of soil well
adaj^ted to the production of the various grains of the climate and cul-
tivated by industrious farmers, free from the road impediments of the
other section, and its agricultural crops were in easier access to market;
hence it was, in improvement, superior to it.
About forty years ago, however, the reservation was open to settle-
ment, and this was followed by the construction of comparatively good
roads through it thus uniting the previously divided portions of the
county. Near the same time continuous connection by railroad, east
and west, was made with the city. The market for butter and cheese
improved *^rcatly, and this again stimulated their production. Within
the past twenty-five years, cheese factories have sprung up in large num-
bers through the count3% and the production of cheese has become one
of its principal industries. With increased profit from stock has come
increased attention to this industry. Comfortable barns have been
erected for cattle which (uicc shivered through the winter as best they
could, and improved breeds have been largely introduced. As before
stated, Hon. L. F. Allen, of Buffalo, took the lead in this important work.
Of late much has been done in this respect by wealthy men, residents
of Buffalo,' and others, such as Henrj- C. and Josiah Jewett, who own
Fine Herds of Thorouhgbred Stock. 333
probably as fine a stud of horses — over one hundred in number — of as
select breed as the State can show, besides a number of choice Holstein
cattle at their large farm near East Aurora ; also C. J. Hamlin, who has
an equal number of fine horses which he keeps and breeds on his farm at
East Aurora; and also J. D. Yeoman, who has fine horses and choice
breeds of cattle on an extensive farm near the same village.
In Short-horn cattle, Bronson C. Rumsey has a large herd which, in
both quantity and pedigree, is not excelled by any others either in Eng-
land or America, a large majority of the animals being selected and
imported by himself and his agents in England, at unlimited expense. To
them he is annually adding by their breeding — all kept on his large farm
adjoining the great park within the city boundaries of Buffalo. Lewis
F. Allen has a few^ Short-horn and Guernsey cattle on his Grand Island
farm. S. D. Cornell, of Buffalo, has a choice herd of Short-horns at his
farm on Grand Island. Hon. E. G. Spaulding has a large herd of thor-
ough-bred Holstein, Jersey, Short-horn and other grades of those breeds
at his " River Lawn," Grand Island farm, adjoining that of Mr. Allen.
Carl Adam also has some Short-horns and their high grades on his Grand
Island estate. Charles E. West, LL. D., now residing at Brooklyn, N.
Y., has a fine herd of a few Short-horns and Jerseys, with their grade-
descendants for dairy stock, at his considerable farm within the limits of
Buffalo. C. J. Hamlin has a few good Short-horn cattle at his East
Aurora farm. Jewett M. and Alonzo Richmond, together with Hiram
P. Hopkins and R. L. Howard, all of BuflFalo, have choice herds of
Jerseys at their several farms in Hamburg. George L. Williams, of
Buffalo, has a choice herd of Jerseys at his farm near Lockport. A. P.
Wright of Buffalo, has as fine imported "Percheron" horses and Hol-
stein cattle on his farm also near Lockport. E. W. Stewart, at Lake
View, has a herd of Jerseys and their grades at his dairy farm, and a
considerable herd of Holstein cattle were recently imported intcSpring-
ville, in this county, Burt Chaffee has a large herd of Holstein cattle
at Concord. Many other farmers in this county are also improving their
heads of dairj' cows by infusion of the blood of the above mentioned
breeds into their dairy herds. Choice breeds of sheep and swine are
also bred by many parties in the county. So that taken togjether, prob-
ably no one county in the State excels that of Erie in the possession
and numbers of choice farm stock.
Handsome, even elegant, commodious houses, with their outbuild-
ings too, smooth fields, gardens, orchards and good fences, have taken
the places of the rude structures and stump-disfigured tracts of forty years
ago, and few more pleasant scenes can be found than are revealed by a
drive through almost any town in this great and prosperous county,
whose agricultural advancement has been mainly achieved within the
last forty years.
334 History of Erie County.
CHAPTER XXXIV.
CDUNXr BUILDINGS.
First Court House— A CircuUr PUt ^ First Jail ~ Destruction of the Court House — Another
Erected — The Second Jail — Erie County Penitentiary — The Third Court House — Erie
County Alms House —Movement for a County and City Hall — Law Aslhorizing It —
Commissioners Appointed — Franklin Square Selected — Ground Broken — Laying the
Comer Stone — Changes of Material — The Work Completed — Celebntion of the Event
— Description of the Building — The New Jail.
THE first court house in the present county of Erie was erected for
the use of Niagara county by the association known as the Holland
Company in the year 1806 and 1809. It was a frame building
located in the centre of a half acre of land, laid out in the form of a
circle, the centre of the circle being in the middle of North Onondaga,
(now Washington) street, in the village of Buffalo, just east of Lafayette
Square, and immediately in front of the site of the new court house —
the one used from 18 17 to 1876. The erection of the court house and
jail was made incumbent on the Holland Company by the Legislature
as a condition of the formation of the county of Niagara. It does not
appear to have been accepted by the Judges of the County Court, in
accordance with the law until 18 10 — at all events the deed of the lot
before mentioned (which recites the acceptance of the building) was not
executed until the 21st of November in that year. Even then it was
not completed, for it was mentioned the next year as ** an unfinished
wooden court house."
The jail, which the Holland Company was also required to build
was of stone, and was situated on the site of the ** Darrow block," on the
east side of Onondaga (Washington) street, between where Clinton and
Eagle streets are now located.
On the 30th of December, 1 813, as already related, the village of
Buffalo was burned by the British and Indians. The wooden courthouse
was destroyed without difficulty, but the jail was harder to conquer. A
fire was built in it, and the wood-work was somewhat injured, but the
building as a whole, was not seriously damaged. It was repaired soon
after the war, and remained in use as a jail nearly twenty years.
Scarcely had the news of the conclusion of the treaty of peace
been received, when the Legislature, in March, 1816, passed an act
authorizing the supervisors of Niagara county, to raise four thousand
dollars wjth which to build a new court house. This act was not car-
ried into effect, apparently for the reason that the supervisors thought
Erection of County Buildings. 335
the people could not stand so heavy a tax ; for on the 17th of April, 1816,
the Legislature passed an act loaning five thousand dollars to the county
of Niagara, with which to build a court house, and appointing Samuel
Tupper and Joseph Landon, of Buffalo, and Jonas Williams, of Williams-
ville, as commissioners to direct its construction.
Joseph Ellicott's plan of having the court house in the midst of a
circular tract, which should cut Onondaga street in two parts, was set
aside, the street was made continuous, and the west part of the block
lying just east of the old site was acquired by the county for the new
structure. In the spring of 1816 werk was begun, and the building was
so far advanced as to be occupied early in the year of 1817. It was built
of brick, two stories high, with a porch in front, ornamented with white
pillars running up to the cornice. A portion of the first floor was occu-
pied as a County Clerk's office. It was considered and probably was
the largest and finest building in Western New York.
This was the only court house in Erie county until 1850. It was
increased in size, however, by an extension to the rear, and other
improvements were made in 1826. The old jail was also given up in 1833,
or '34, the east part of the court house block was acquired by the county,
and a new jail built upon it.
In 1846 a law was passed authorizing the supervisors of Erie county
to erect a penitentiary or work house for the occupation of prisoners
under sentence for minor offences, for whom there was neither room nor
labor at the jail, and whom it was not desirable to send to a State prison.
It was erected in 1847, being substantially built of stone and located on
Fifth street, between Pennsylvania and Root streets, Buffalo.
In 1850, the old court house having become entirely inadequate to
the business of the county, a new one was erected on the southeast
corner of the same lot, facing on Clinton street. This was a square
building of brick, three stories high, and built in the plainest manner, as
may be seen on inspection, it being the structure now occupied by the
Young Men's Christian Association. It cost about $17,000.00. It was
used for twenty-five years jointly with the older building — courts being
held in one or the other as was convenient.
In 185 1 and 1852, the previous arrangements for the poor proving
insufficient, a new alms-house was erected on a tract of one hundred and
fifty-three acres of land located in what was then the town of Black
Rock, but is now just inside the city of Buffalo on Main street, or, as that
part of the street was then called, the Williamsville road. The first cost
of this structure was $20,000. The main building was destroyed by fire
on the 2ist of February, 1855, and was rebuilt the same year.
But little change or effort for change was made in regard to the build-
ings belonging to the county until the winter of 1870 and '71 > when the
Common Council of Buffalo and many leading citizens took steps to bring
336 History of Erie County.
about the erection of a large structure sufficient for the use of both
county and city. On the 21st of April, 1871, the Legislature passed an
act providing for the erection of such a building. Commissioners* were
duly appointed by the Governor, who, after examining various proposed
sites, selected Franklin square, between Delaware avenue and Franklin
streets, Buffalo, as the most desirable location. The first estimate of the
Commissioners placed the cost of the building at $772,000. In July,
1871, the Commissioners employed a superintendent f and accepted
proposals for furnishing foundation stones, and ground was broken on
the 2 1 St of August, 1871.
In April, 1872, A. J. Warren was employed as architect and his
plan of the building adopted.ij
In October, 1873, an amended estimate was adopted, providing for
the use of granite in place of a softer stone, for the use of black walnut
or other hard wood in place of pine, and for various other improvements,
making the total cost $1,207,234. This change was sactioned by the
Legislature and by an act which declared that the total cost should not
exceed $1,400,000.
The work was carried forward through the years 1874 and 1875.
Early in 1876 the building wasannounced to be read)' for occupation, and
on the 13th of March it was formally taken possession of by the Judges
the Bar and the various county and city officers. A meeting of the Bar
was held at the old (that is the oldest) court house on the preceding
Saturday, at which a valuable and interesting paper was read by Hon.
James Sheldon, giving a history of that court house, and of its prede-
cessor, destroyed in 18 13, and another by Hon, George R. Babcock,
filled with reminiscences of the judges and lawyers who had there dis-
played their judicial dignity and legal acumen — with brief addresses by
Hon. George W. Clinton and Hon. James M. Smith. On the 13th, the
Judges, the Bar and others met again at the old court house, and
marched in procession to the new, where addresses were delivered by
Hon. S. S. Rogers, Hon. A. P. Nichols and Hon. E. C. Sprague.
The Common Council chamber was formally taken possession of on
the afternoon of the same day, when addresses were delivered by Hon.
•The first Board of Commissioners consisted of James M. Smith, Dennis Bowen and Albert P.
Laning, of Buffalo ; Jasper B. Youngs, of Williamsville. and Allen Potter, of East Hamburg. In
May, 1872, by authority of an act of the - Legislature, James Adams, Philip Becker and George S.
Wardwell. of Buffalo ; and John Nice, of Tonawanda. James M. Smith was chosen chairman. In
May, 1872. he resigned his place as commissioner on account of his appointment as Judge of the
Superior Court. George W. 11 ay ward, of Buffalo, was made commissioner in his place, and Mr.
Wardwell was chosen chairman.
tThc first Superintendent was Samuel H. Fields; he was succeeded in October, 1873, byCooley
S. Chapin, who remained in charge until the completion of the building.
tThc cornerstone of the - County and City Hall" as the structure was named, was laid on the
a4lhof June, 1872, with Masonic ceremonies by Christopher G. Fox, Grand Master of Masons in
the Stale of New York, after an imposing procession through the streets, and an eloquent oration by
Hon. Geo. W. CUnton. ^ ^
The Present Court House and City Hall. 337
Philip Becker, Mayor of BufiFalo;.by A. S. Bemis, Esq., President of the
Common Council, and by Hon. George W. Clinton, Judge of the
Superior Court, with short speeches by Aldermen Simons, Lothridge,
Ambrose and Ferris.
Of the building thus dedicated, in its completed form, we need say
but little. This work is intended for the citizens of Erie county, and
there are and will be few citizens of that county who have not gained or
will not gain from actual observation, a better idea of the county and
City Hall, than can be conveyed by printed words. Nevertheless, for
convenience of reference, we will give some facts regarding it.
The building is a double cross in form, having its main front on
Franklin street, with a total length, parallel to that street, of two hun-
dred and fifty-five feet — its greatest width, (through the arm of the cross,
being one hundred and fifty-eight feet.) In other words, it may be
described as a rectangle, one hundred and fourteen feet wide and two
hundred and fifty-five feet long, with six projections, one at each end
and two on each side ; each projection beiing fifty-two feet broad, and
running out twenty feet from the main part. The area on the ground i§
thus thirty-five thousand three hundred and ten square feet — or five
hundred and sixty-two feet more than four-fiflhs of *an acre.
It has three stories above the basement; the first being finished
on the outside in rough granite ; the two higher ones in dressed granite.
The parapet of the cornice is seventy-four feet high, while the highest
parts of the slate roofs are one hundred and five feet high. The whole
is surmounted by a large, square, central tower, containing in its lower
part an immense clock, with four dials, each nine feet in diameter, while
at the extreme top is an observatory two hundred feet above the earth.
On turrets, situated at the four corners of the tower, stand statues sixteen
feet high, representing, the one at the northeast corner, "Justice ; " at the
northwest, " Mechanic Arts ; " at the southeast " Agriculture ; " at the
southwest, " Commerce."
The general system of the interior is such that the coilnty offices,
court room, etc., shall be on the north side, while the city officials shall
transact their business on the south side, although there are necessarily
two or three exceptions to the rule. It is farther arranged so that those
offices most used by the people, such as the County Clerk's, County
Treasurer's, City Treasurer's, etc., shall be on the first floor ; the Court
rooms principally on the second floor, and the Common Council chamber,
Supervisors* room, etc., on the third floor. The Common Council cham-
ber occupies the whole south end of the third story, ahd is furnished in
a style of remarkable, if not superfluous splendor. Two or three Court
rooms, however, are on the third floor. The center, from top to bottomt
is occupied by a large open space, with corridors extending north and
south, while three apertures through the two upper floors, provide for
ample ventilation.
338 History of Erie County.
The floors of the hall and corridors, and of the uncarpeted portions
of the rooms, are of marble ; the exposed wood-work is of black walnut,
and the metal-work, of which there is considerable, is composed of or
finished in bronze. In the basement are furnaces, together with engines
and appliances for supplying all parts of the building with either warm
or cold air, according to the season.
As a whole, the County and City Hall, as to both its interior and its
exterior, impresses the spectator with the idea of solid construction, con-
venient arrangement, and harmonious proportion in a remarkable degree.
We think we are perfectly safe in saying that there is no building in the
city of New York, belonging to the public, which equals it — hardly one
that approaches it in either of these particulars. We do not believe there
is one in America, which surpasses it in those respects. Although
some tax-payers have doubtless thought that a smaller and less ornate
structure, costing less than fourteen hundred thousand dollars, would
have served equally well the purpose of the public, yet all who under-
stand and have examined the subject, admit that such a building as was
erected could not have been constructed for less money, and that it is in
every way admirably adapted to the present and future use of the county
of Erie, and the city of Buffalo. It is a good, honest, substantial, service-
able structure, inside and outside, from front to rear, from end to end,
'* From turret to foundation stone."
The only County buildings erected since the County and City Hall,
have been the new jail and a wing to the Insane Asylum connected with
the County Alms House. The former is situated on the west side of
Delaware Avenue, opposite the County and City Hall. It is plainly built
of gray stone, but is of ample size, and cost about two hundred thousand
dollars. It was built in 1877 ^"cl ' 
Open Library