presented to
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PUBLICATIONS
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ROCHESTER HISTORICAL SOCIETY
ROCHESTER, N. Y.
YOL. I.
ROCHESTER, N. Y.
PUBLISHED BY THE SOCIETY.
1892.
F
/A9
V.I
E. B. ANDREWS, PRINTER, AQUEDUCT ST., ROCHESTER, N.
CONTENTS.
PAGE..
INTRODUCTION, - 5
I. NOTES ON THE ABORIGINAL TERMINOLOGY or THE GENE-
SEE COUNTRY. BY GEORGE H. HARRIS, - 9
II. HISTORY OF THE TITLE OF THE PHELPS AND GORHAM
PURCHASE. BY HOWARD L. OSGOOD, - 19
III. THREE EPISODES IN THE HISTORY OF THE GENESEE
VALLEY. BY GEORGE Moss, - - 52
IV. THE OPENING OF THE GENESEE COUNTRY. BY MRS.
JANE MARSH PARKER, - 59
V. THE GENESEE EIVER AND WESTERN NEW YORK. BY
HENRY E. EOCHESTER, - 67
VI. HISTORY OF THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF THE CITY OF
EOCHESTER. BY S. A. ELLIS, - - 71
VII. Music IN EOCHESTER. BY HERYE D. WILKINS, - - 90
VIII. MEMORIAL SKETCHES.
HENRY E. EOCHESTER, - - - 98
HENRY O'EEILLY, . 101
CHESTER DEWEY, - . 103
ASHBEL W. ElLEY, - - 105
HENRY E. PECK, - 106
HIRAM SIBLEY, - - . 106
JAMES L. ANGLE, - 107
IX. APPENDIX.
CONSTITUTION AND BY-LAWS, - - 109
DIGEST OF THE MEETINGS, - - 111
LIST OF OFFICERS, 1891 -'92, - - 113
LIST OF MEMBERS, - .... 114
LIST OF BOOKS IN THE LIBRARY, - - - - 116
The Rochester Historical Society was duly incorporated under the
laws of the state of New York, in November, 1888, and it is now
competent to hold and dispose of real estate ant 1 to receive gifts and
bequests.
PUBLICATIONS
OF THE
ROCHESTER HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
USTTEODIIOTIOlsr.
The society had its origin in a social gathering at the residence of
Mrs. Oilman H. Perkins, on December 17th, 1887, when it was re-
solved that the formation of an historical society in Rochester was
desirable. A committee was appointed to draw up a constitution,
which committee made its report at a meeting held in the same place
on March 3d, 1888, when the constitution was adopted and the fol-
lowing named persons were chosen for the respective offices: Dr.
E. M. Moore, Sr., president; Rev. Dr. A. H. Strong, vice-president;
Mrs. Jane Marsh Parker, corresponding secretary ; William F. Peck,
recording secretary ; Oilman H. Perkins, treasurer, and Herman K.
Phinney, librarian. The following were appointed by the president
.as the board of managers : Henry E. Rochester, M. F. Reynolds,
Hiram Sibley, Oeorge E. Mumford, James L. Angle, F. A. Whit-
tlesey and "W. C. Morey.
At the next meeting of the society a code of by-laws was
adopted, which, with the constitution, will be found in the latter part
of this volume. From that time to the present, meetings have been
held, generally on the second Friday in each month from November
to June, at each of which a paper has been read by some member of
the society, on a subject connected with the settlement and growth
6 INTRODUCTION.
of this locality. All the meetings have been held at the residence of
Mrs. Perkins, except that for December, 1891, which was held at the
house of Mrs. E. M. Moore. At the beginning of the second year of
the society the original officers were re-elected ; at the next election
Dr. Strong was chosen president, Judge James L. Angle vice-pres-
ident and Adelbert Cronise librarian. In April, 1891, Judge Angle
was elected president, Oilman H. Perkins vice-president, Charles H.
Wiltsie treasurer and Howard L. Osgood librarian. The sudden death
of Judge Angle, a few days later, rendering a new election necessary,
Dr. Strong was again chosen president, and Charles E. Fitch was
elected vice-president, in place of Mr. Perkins, who had resigned.
The two secretaries have been continued in their respective offices
froni the beginning to the present time. The board of managers
now consists of M. F. Reynolds, G. E. Mumford, "W. C. Morey, John
H. Rochester, C. E. Fitch and S. A. Ellis.
"While the society has not as yet acquired so much wealth as to en-
able it to purchase any real estate, or even to rent a building in which
to hold its meetings, it has the occupancy of a commodious room in
the Rochester Savings Bank building that is sufficient for the purpose
of storing and arranging in suitable form all the books, papers, maps
and relics that are now in the possession of the society. At the
meeting held April 6th, 1888, an appeal to the public, prepared by
the board of managers, was adopted, the following extract from which
is deemed appropriate in this connection :
It will be the business of the society to diffuse the information it
may collect by the establishment of a museum of local history, by the-
preparation and publication of papers upon matters of local concern,
and by such other means as may conduce to general instruction.
That this object may be effectually attained the society requests that
all who feel disposed to encourage the design will, at their earliest
convenience, transmit to its care manuscripts, records, books and
pamphlets relative to the history of this region and particularly to
the following points of inquiry : Orations, sermons, essays and poems
delivered on any public occasion; proceedings of any ecclesiastical
conventions of any denomination held in this vicinity, narratives of
missionaries sent to this region ; transactions and proceedings of local
INTRODUCTION. 7
political, literary and scientific societies ; catalogues and circulars of
the university, academies and schools; topographical descriptions,
directories and maps of cities, towns and villages of Western New
York ; magazines, newspapers and other periodicals, particularly such
as appeared prior to 1850 ; biographical memoirs of any of the earlier
settlers ; original essays on the natural, civil, literary or ecclesiastical
history of Western New York. The society solicits the aid of cit-
izens in the promotion of its ends, not only by the donations above
indicated, but by the enrollment of their names as members of the
organization, for which purpose application may be made to any one
of the officers or of the board of managers.
I NOTES GIST THE ABORIGINAL TERMINOLOGY OF
THE GENESEE KIVEE. 1
BY GEORGE H. HARRIS.
"When Columbus sailed westward upon an unknown sea his objec-
tive destination was India, the most celebrated of all the countries of
Asia. Situated on the river Indus, from which it derived its name,
this opulent country had become famed among the early nations, who
termed the people Indians.
Upon landing in America Columbus supposed he had reached
India, and applied the name Indians to the inhabitants of San Salva-
dor. Europeans continued the use of that term and the red men of
America became universally known by an appellation that originally
had no corresponding word in their languages.
Equally improper is the term Aborigines as applied to the race of
red men. Preceding it in the occupation of this continent were other
races of men whose history we may never know, but whose grim
relics and imperishable monuments still remain an indisputable evi-
dence of their earlier presence. 2 Long usage has fixed the names
Aborigines and Indians upon the native race, and we accept and
apply those titles as though the red men were in fact the primitive
inhabitants of the land.
Our definite knowledge of the Indians dates from the landing of
Columbus in 1492. The ante-Colurnbian history of these people is
derived mainly from their mythology. If we accept the belief of the
red men, regarding their origin as expressed in their traditions
they " sprang out of the earth " on the grounds of their early occupa-
tion; or, as explained by Dr. Morgan," they have been here for so
great a period they have lost all knowledge of their nativity and
know not whence their forefathers came. Cusic, a native historian, 4
asserts that the red men dwelt here six thousand years ago, that they
were contemporary with the mastodon, whose ponderous bones, occa-
sionally unearthed within the limits of Rochester, have resisted the
elements of decay for a period of time which geologists say may
exceed one thousand years.
'Read before the Rochester Historical Society, June 13, 1889.
2 Peck's History of Rochester, p. 14.
4 League of the Iroquois, by Lewis H. Morgan, p. 7.
4 Ancient History of Six Nations, by David Cusic, p. 20.
10 ROCHESTER HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
The Icelandic Sagas tell us the Indians possessed our eastern sea-
coast in the ninth century, and they had long occupied the interior.
When Achaius reigned in Scotland (787-819) and Egbert founded
the kingdom of England (827) Indian warriors trod the trails of the
Genesee country, their hunters roamed the plains and the smoke of
their wigwams ascended from the openings of its primeval forests.
"When the continent itself was first occupied," says Schoolcraft,
" when the impulse of population began its movement, and how far
it proceeded in the career of conquest and the division of nations and
languages, we cannot pretend with any certainty to say. ... It
was evident, however, as soon as inquiry began to be properly directed
to the subject, that, while the territory of North America was over-
spread with a multiplicity of tribes and bands, each bearing a separate
name, and claiming separate sovereignty, there were but few generic
stocks; and that the diversity noticed by Europeans, and insisted on
by the aborigines themselves, had arisen chiefly from the progress
and development of languages among rude and unlettered tribes.
Distinct from this diversity of language they might have all been
called One People."
When Europeans penetrated the interior of New York in the
seventeenth century, they found a portion of the present state
in the possession of a confederacy of Indian nations, known in
later years as the League of the Iroquois. The people comprising
this league belonged to that linguistic family designated Huron-
Iroquois. Tradition locates their early ancestral home on the lower
waters of the St. Lawrence. North of them in Canada dwelt the
fierce Algonkins, with whom they were continually at war. It is
asserted that many hundreds of years ago, these two great families of
hereditary enemies united their forces and overthrew a people known
as Allegewi, from whom the Allegany mountains derived their name,
who then owned and occupied the country south and west of the
great lakes. The conquerors spread over the new territory; time and
minor migrations effected separations of the original Huron and
Algonkin stocks, and in their places grew up other nations.
At a period described in aboriginal mythology as corresponding
with the ninth or tenth centuries, two tribes living on the St.
Lawrence became involved in war with the Adirondacs, to whom they
were tributary, and, like the Israelites of old, departed from the land
of their oppressors. Uniting their forces the refugees ascended the
St. Lawrence river, passed out upon the broad bosom of Lake Ontario,
ABORIGINAL TERMINOLOGY OF THE GENESEE RIVER. 11
turning the prows of their little crafts to the south, coasted the
shore seeking a favorable point to invade the country. The accounts
of this migration vary, and legendary lore fails to include any refer-
ence to the methods of invasion and conquest, beyond the supposition
that the two tribes entered the territory at the Chouaguen or Oswego,
and Casconchiagon or Genesee rivers, and were again united near the
Oswego, from whence they journeyed as one people down the Mo-
hawk and Hudson rivers to the ocean.
David Cusic, whose quaint book records the incidents of this
journey as related by the Tuscaroras, 1 says the main body returned
up the Hudson, and six families entered into a friendly alliance.
The first family settled near the Hudson, and are known in modern
history as Mohawks. The second family, now called Oneidas, located
on the bank of a creek two and a half days' journey westward of the
first. The third family, or Onondagas, took up its residence at Onon-
daga, the fourth or Cayugas, at Cayuga lake, and the fifth or Senecas,
between Lakes Seneca and Canandaigua. The sixth family, or Tus-
caroras, wandered west and south to Carolina.
The territory originally occupied by the first five families lay
between Hudson river and Lake Canandaigua. These families
increased in numerical strength until they attained the dignity of
separate nations possessing tribal divisions. About the middle of the
fifteenth century they united in a confederacy or alliance, governed
by fifty sachems. Their territory now stretched from the Hudson
to the Genesee, from Lake Ontario to the headwaters of the Susque-
hanna river. In the figurative language of their race, they likened
their league to the form of their houses, which were extended by con-
tinuous additions for new families until they were two or three hun-
dred feet in length. These dwellings were called "long houses," and
the people applied that term in the singular to their confederacy.
In Mohawk the name is " Ka-non-si-on ni," a compound word formed
of ka-non-sa, house, and ion-ni, extended or drawn out, signifying
" extended house." 2 The Seneca form is " Ho-de-no-sau-nee," or
" people of the long house," differing slightly in meaning from the
Mohawk.
The French who came in contact first with the Mohawks, termed
that nation Hirocois or Iroquois, and applied the same name to all
'See also Legends, Customs and Social Life of the Seneca Indians, by Rev. J.
W. Sanborn, p. 11.
^Iroquois Book of Rites, by Horatio Hale, M. A., 79.
12 EOCHESTEB HISTOEICAL SOCIETY.
members of the league. The English, who were more closely asso-
ciated with the Iroquois, learned to distinguish the separate govern-
ments and termed them collectively the Five Nations. About 1712
the Tuscaroras were expelled from Carolina and returning to New
York, reunited with the other families, settling between the Oneidas
and Onondagas. Thereafter the confederacy was called the Six
Nations of Iroquois.
The mother-tongue of these nations was Huron as spoken by the
Mohawks, but differences in location and the introduction of foreign
words in time produced variations in speech, or dialects. "While the
intercourse maintained in family and council between the Iroquois
served to preserve a certain unity in language, and some words are
identical in all the tribes, others exhibiting a slight difference caused
by sectional accent, the dialectical variation in the speech of the Six
Nations is distinctly marked.
At the origin of the league the Senecas were located at the western
end of the national territory or long house, and guarded the confed-
eracy from all enemies in that direction; hence they were termed
"door-keepers" of the league. In Mohawk they were called
Ro-na-nin-ho-hon-ti, " the door-keepers," or literally " they who are
at the doorway." In the singular this became Ro-nin-ho-hon-ti, or
"door-keeper," a term sometimes applied to the entire Seneca nation, 1
whoce two principal chiefs, as hereditary guardians of the western
door of the long house, held the rank of military commanders of the
league. In Seneca the term was rendered Ho-nan-ne-ho-ont, or the
" door-keeper;" 2 but this was properly a league name.
The Seneca, as well as each other nation of the league, had a
descriptive title by w r hich it was usually designated by other people.
As the country then occupied by them was mountainous, 3 the Senecas.
were mentioned by other nations by dialectical terms identifying
them with hills or mountains, the most prominent features of their
place of residence. These appellations were derived from the root
o-non-da, hill, with its qualifying adjectives go-wa, or go-wah-nah, big-
or great. There were many dialectical forms and combinations of
these words, the signification being nearly identical. The modern
Seneca term is Nun-da-wa-o-no, or Great hill people, compounded
from o-non-da-wa, great hill, and o-no, people. The name Seneca^
'The Iroquois Book of Rites, 79.
2 Leaque of the Iroquois, 97.
3 The principal town was on Bare Hill, in Middlesex, Yates Co.
ABORIGINAL TERMINOLOGY OF THE GENESEE RINER.
by which the nation is now denominated, is a modernized form
wholly unknown to the primitive nation.
The Iroquois had few, if any, places of permanent residence.
"While they sometimes lingered many years in one locality, their
towns were frequently moved to new locations. From their ancient
seat east of Lake Canandaigua, the Senecas migrated slowly west-
ward. The sites of their old villages are scattered over the country
from Seneca lake to Lake Erie. The date of occupation of some of
these former abodes of the Senecas are well known, but in numerous
cases no record regarding them exists, and it is only within the past
half century that public attention has been specially directed to their
identification; a work the writer hopes in time to accomplish. In the
restricted limits of this paper only a few points of special interest can
be presented.
The most important natural feature of the country between Seneca
lake and Lake Erie was the Genesee river. The eastern bank of the
stream formed the western boundary of the Iroquois till the middle
of the seventeenth century. Prior to that period the country south
of Lake Ontario, from the lower Genesee to Lake Huron, was owned
by a powerful nation, known to the Senecas as Kah-kwa, to the
the Hurons as Attiwandaronk, and to the French as Neutral. This
last name was given by the French from the fact that the nation
remained neutral in the wars existing between the Iroquois and the
Hurons of Canada. In 1649 the Iroquois conquered the Hurons,
and about 1651 destroyed the Kah-kwas. In 1656 they exterminated
the Eries, who dwelt south of the Kah-kwas between Lake Erie and
the upper Genesee. Rapidly increasing in numbers and skill of arms
they overran the country from the Hudson to Lake Huron, from the
back lakes of Canada to the Tennessee river.
To make good their losses in war the Iroquois adopted individuals r
and occasionally entire tribes, from conquered nations. Words from
a variety of foreign dialects were thus grafted on the mother tongue,
producing a language whose component parts included Huron-Iro-
quois, Kah-kwa, Erie, Andaste, Tuscarora, Delaware, Cherokee,
besides many terms borrowed from unknown and unnumbered lesser
tribes brought into intimate association with the conquerors.
With the exception of Erie, there is no distinct geographical title
in western New York that perpetuates the memory of the two mighty
nations who once owned the territory west of Genesee river. The
streams, the hills, the plains, the towns, are known by names selected
14 ROCHESTER HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
from the vocabulary- of the white man, except in a few instances
where modernized forms of Iroquois terminology serve as reminders
of the last red possessors.
The most prominent of these aboriginal names is the word Genesee,
a modern form of the ancient descriptive term Zon-es-che-o, by which
the Iroquois designated the Genesee valley between Avon and Mt.
Morris. The word was varied according to the pronunciation of
individuals, or difference in tribal dialects, as Zon-es-che-o, Chen-nu-
as-sio, Gen-ish-a-u, Jen-ess-he-o, Gen-is-haw, Gen-nee-see-o, Gen-ness-
-see; or to express certain meanings, as Gen-ish-a-u, " shining, clear
opening," Chen-ne-si-co, "pleasant, clear opening," Gen-nis-he-o,
" beautiful valley," Gen-ne-see, " clear valley " or " pleasant, open
valley."
The river was known to the Iroquois in its entirety simply as gah-
hun-da, a large stream; but various sections along its course bore
appellations descriptive of prominent objects or striking features
peculiar to the immediate neighborhoods described; and Zon-es-che-o
referred to the channel only in the section of the valley bearing that
name. When the first village of Senecas was established in that
quarter, the inhabitants were identified by other Iroquois as Zon-es-
che-os, a purely geographical designation. In time as the Zon-es-
che-o, or Genesee Indians advanced in national importance, their
locative title was given to all the valley and river; but the established
orthography of the word was not generally adopted until after the
revolutionary war, when the whole of western New York became
known as the Genesee country.
The Indians seldom considered an un-navigable stream of much
importance, and as the canoe navigation of the upper Genesee prac-
tically ceased near the present site of Angelica, in Allegany county,
they termed that place Ga-ne-6-weh-ga-yat, considering it literally as
the " head of the stream."
Caneadea, like Genesee, comprehended a section of several miles of
the river above Portage. The name is derived from the Seneca
locative Gah-6-yah-de-o. The word is given differently according to
the shade of meaning as, "the heavens rest upon the earth,"
" where the heavens rest upon the earth, " etc. It is related
by aged Senecas that in early days the country about Caneadea
was densely wooded. In one place near the river there was a
large open space in the forest, possibly one of the great clearings
made by the unknown people who preceded the Senecas in ownership
ABORIGINAL TERMINOLOGY OF THE GENESEE RIVER. 15
of the soil. The main trail up the river ran through this opening,
and when parties entered the ^lade the sky appeared to close the
opposite end, or " touch the earth." The Indians described the spot
as " the place where the sky (or heavens) rest (or lean) upon the
earth," and the description was so appropriate that no red man could
mistake the location. "When the Senecas established a settlement at
the place it received the descriptive name of the locality which also
included the river. In later years the term was applied to a creek,
and finally became the title of the reservation including the former
sites of several villages.
The commonplace name of Rush creek is the English form of the
Indian descriptive title of the Genesee at the mouth of the creek,
where a swift current was the peculiar feature of the river. The
Seneca name is Shon-witty-ye, and means " rushing waters."
Wiscoy is the anglicised name of the river at the lower angle of
the Caneadea reservation. There is some uncertainty regarding the
definition. The word is said to be a compound including the Seneca
numeral adjective " wis, " and its signification, " the creek with five
falls. " An Indian village located near the confluence of the river
and creek was designated O-wa-is-ki, and the interpretation is given
as "under the banks." As the village was really situated on a fiat the
description is not perfect, but the term was recognized as one that
designated that particular section of the Genesee in the days of Indian
occupation, and its true meaning may hereafter be accurately deter-
mined.
The falls in the Genesee at Portage were known by the same names
borne by a similar class of natural features at Rochester ; but various
points were described in more definite terms. Many words formerly
in common use by the Senecas, have become obsolete, and the con-
tinual compounding and abbreviation of terms have in numerous
instances so obscured their original roots and meanings that excellent
authorities in the dialect disagree in their interpretations. Regarding
the signification of Nunda there are different explanations. Certain
of the present generation of Senecas say the word means " a field of
potatoes, " averring that the dialectical term for potatoes is o-nun-un-
dah. This closely resembles o-non-da-deh, the ancient term signifying
that the hills or mountains " rise up, " in its abbreviated form indi-
cating that the country is rough or " hilly." The Indian town of
Nun-dow was named from this circumstance. The facts concerning
the terminology of this region would form a chapter.
16 ROCHESTER HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
The name Gardow, given to the river near the former home of
Mary Jemison, the old " white woman " captive, describes the great
mural escarpment forming the east side of the channel opposite her
residence. It is the hardened accent of Gah-da-o, meaning " bank in
front, " and is "probably akin to o-non-da-deh, though differing in
orthography.
Da-yo-it-ga-o, " where the river issues from the hills," exactly de-
scribes the location where the waters of the Genesee after their long
journey in the depths of the cheerless gorge of rock, emerge inta
bright sunlight near Mount Morris and pursue their onward course
through the winding channel of the open valley. The name Squakie
Hill, by which the west bank of the Genesee at this point is generally
known, does not apply to the river. Like the word So-no-jo-wau-ga,
the Indian title for Mount Morris on the opposite side, it was the
name of a Seneca village.
The site of Geneseo was termed O-ha-di, which means " trees
burned," or "scorched trees." It is still recounted by aged Cattarau-
gus Indians who were born in the Genesee valley, that this name had
its origin in the attempt of some man to burn a tree when the sur-
rounding woods took fire and all the forest in the neighborhood was*
burned or scorched. The incident, for some reason, became known
to all Indians in the valley, and to the present day the Senecas men-
tion Geneseo as O-ha-di, or as pronounced by some O-hot-ti.
When Mary Jemison and Gordon, the latter a white captive from
the Ohio, first resided with the Senecas in the Genesee valley during-
the old French war, there was a large Indian village, which Mrs.
Jemison called Gen-is-hau, on the flats near the mouth of Fall brook..
William Markham, in company with four other soldiers from General
Bradstreet's army, visited the place in 1764. It was then the great
town of the western Senecas, and termed the Chin-nee-see " castle ""
or residence of the principal sachem.
When the town removed to the west side of the valley on the present,
site of Cuylerville, where General Sullivan destroyed the settlement
in 1779, it was still called the Chin-nee-see castle, but the locative
term was De-o-nun-da-ga-o, descriptive of the place " where the hill
is near." The principal chief was then known as Little Beard, in dis-
tinction to Long Beard of Caneadea, and when the village was rebuilt
it was termed Little Beard's town.
The Indian village of Ga-no-wau-ges was on the west side of the
river, nearly two miles from the modern village of Avon, on the trail
ABORIGINAL TERMINOLOGY OF THE GENESEE RIVEK. 17
between Avon and Caledonia. The name is variously interpreted,
the accepted version being " the fetid waters," in allusion to the strong
scent from the waters of the mineral springs in that locality.
Two or three miles below Ga-no-wau-ges, as the river runs, a mighty
elm stood like a lone giant, towering above the open flat on the pres-
ent estate of Guy Markham, a grandson of William Markham the
colonial soldier who visited the Genesee castle at Fall brook in 1764.
This great tree was the forest-king of the Genesee valley. At the
smallest place in the trunk it was eleven feet in diameter. Its cir-
cumference just below the branches was thirty-eight feet, and one
yard above the ground it measured forty-five feet. At noon it shaded
an acre of ground, and was considered the largest tree in the Indian
settlements along the Genesee. The Seneca name was Kon-gah-go-
wah, or Kon-gah-go-wah-nah, from kon-gah, " elm," and go-wah, or
go-wah-nah, "big" or " largest ;" literally u elm-largest," or as ren-
dered in English " the largest elm." It constituted a local monument
of magnificent proportions, easily recognized by the unlettered natives
whose light canoes skimmed the surface of the river in that vicinity.
Black creek, six miles south of Rochester, and Red creek, which
enters the river through the new Genesee Yalley park in the city,
were distinguished by the color of the waters in the respective
streams, as Te-car-na-ga-ge, " black waters, " and Gwa-tah-ah, " red ;"
but each creek had other names the history of which would occupy
several pages.
Each distinct section of the Genesee from Red creek to Lake On-
tario bore a descriptive title. The natural condition of the river from
Red creek to the lower falls was, in the period of aboriginal occupa-
tion, very different from its present appearance. The deep water of
the upper channel north of Elmwood avenue, shallowed up below
the present bridge, making a good fording place over the ledge of
limestone that then formed a rapid extending from the State dam to
Court street The river in that interval was choked by massive
boulders, rendering the otherwise unobstructed waters exceedingly
rough. In the Seneca this section was termed Gah-na-wan-deh, " a
rough stream," or " rapids."
The falls were the most important characteristics of the river in the
vicinity of Rochester. The Seneca for waterfall is Gah-sko-sa-deh.
It has several forms of application. Collectively all the falls in Roch-
ester would be Gah-sko-sa-deh-ne-o, or " many falls." If we wish to
say " at the falls," the form would be Gaht-sko-sa-go; or if we speak
18 ROCHESTER HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
of the two steps of the lower falls it would be Gah-sko-sa-deh-nyoh,
or "falls near together." The upper fall of about fourteen feet, once
situated between the Erie canal aqueduct and Court street, was Gah-
sko-so-ni-wah-aah, or Gah-sko-so-ne-wah, " little fall." The fall ninety
feet in height north of the New York Central railroad bridge, was
Gah-sko-so-wah-neh, or " great fall."
The lower fall just above Seneca Park bridge was called Gah-sko-
sah-go, " under" or " below the falls;" rendered by some " at the
falls," as specially designating the present site of Rochester, but the
orthography of the term, as previously stated, should be Gaht-sko-sa-
go. The Indians applied the locative more particularly to the river
in the vicinity of the East Seneca park (formerly Brewer's) landing,
where several of their trails converged on the bank. The primitive
term was Gas-kon-cha-gon, another form of Gah-sko-sah-deh. This
was applied to the channel generally from the lower fall to the lake,
and was the earliest form adopted by white voyageurs on the coast
of Lake Ontario, and was interchangeable with Gan-ia-ta-ron-to-quot,
the aborginal name of Irondequoit bay. This confusion of locatives
arose from the fact that the Indians considered the bay the navigable
or practical mouth of the river, and regarded the portages from the
lower fall to the rapids, and from Irondequoit creek to the rapids, as
the same portage crossed by different paths.
"
TITLE OF THE PHELPS AND GORHAM PURCHASE. 19>
II. THE TITLE OF THE PHELPS AND GOEHAM
PURCHASE. 1
BY HOWARD L. OSGOOD.
I. INTRODUCTORY.
The Phelps and Gorham Purchase lies in Western New York
within the lands once occupied by the Seneca Indians, the largest and
most important tribe of the Iroquois or Six Nations, a confederation
composed of the Senecas, Cayugas, Onondagas, Oneidas, Mohawks r
and, after 1715, the Tuscaroras, whose several territories extended
from the Hudson rather indefinitely westward. These Six Nations
carried their conquests of native tribes into parts far remote
from their homes, and were lords of the land in all the adjoining
districts. Neighboring tribes after subjection obtained permission
before selling lands.
It is happily unnecessary to discuss the right of the discoverers and
first settlers of North America, or that of the European states, ta
take the lands of the aborigines. In strong contrast with the policy
generally adopted is the course pursued by the Dutch traders and
their English successors in New York, no land within our state has
been summarily taken, but all has been bought from the Indians,
some fairly and some by artifice. As early as the year 1629, the
West India Company prescribed, in the "Freedoms and Exemptions"
granted to colonists, that " whoever shall settle any colony out of ih&
limits of Manhattes Island shall be obliged to satisfy the Indians
for the land." The English followed the Dutch in this policy.
At different times during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries
parts of the western territory of the present state of New York were
claimed by her neighbors, Pennsylvania, Connecticut and Massa-
chusetts, and each of these claims, based on a charter and not on
actual or constructive possession, affected the title of some part of the
Phelps and Gorharn Purchase.
II. THE WESTERN LANDS.
By the terms of the royal charters granted to the colonies of
before the Rochester Historical Society April 5, 1889.
"20 ROCHESTER HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
'Connecticut and Massachusetts, each was entitled to territory extend-
ing to the Pacific ocean, and the conflicts with "New York arising
therefrom were so far settled after the colonial period as to limit
these disputes to territory lying on the east of the present west
line of New York state. It may be interesting to notice the circum-
stances of this limitation. The claims to western lands pressed by
seven of the original United States, and the demands of the remain-
ing six, delayed and even imperiled the ratification of the Articles of
Confederation. After several years of effort to secure the unanimous
ratification of these Articles, and in order to prevent a disruption, the
>state of New York nobly took the initiative and passed an act on
February 19, 1780, "to facilitate the completion of the Articles of
Confederation and perpetual union among the United States of
America," and to assist in providing "a common fund for the
expenses of the war," and offered for that purpose a cession of her
western lands. About a year later, on March 1, 1781, the New York
delegates in Congress executed a deed ceding to the United States
both the jurisdiction and the right of soil in lands west of a north
and south line passing through the most westerly bent of Lake
Ontario. (See Plate I.) This cession, together with other related
questions, was referred to a committee of five, which, among other
matters, examined the claims of New York to the ceded territory, and
reported May 1, 1781, recommending that the cession be accepted,
and gave the following reasons for its action :
" 1. It clearly appeared to your committee that all the lands belong-
ing to the Six Nations of Indians, and their tributaries, have been
in due form put under the protection of the Crown of England by
the said Six Nations, as appendant to the late government of New
York so far as respects jurisdiction only.
" 2. That the citizens of the said colony of New York have borne
the burthen, both as to blood and treasure, of protecting and sup-
porting the said Six Nations of Indians, and their tributaries, for
upwards of one hundred years last past, as the dependants and allies
of the said government.
" 3. That the Crown of England has always considered and treated
the said Six Nations, and their tributaries, inhabiting as far as the
forty-fifth degree of north latitude, as appendant to the government
of New York.
" 4. That the neighboring colonies of Massachusetts, Connecticut,
Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia, have also, from time to time,
TITLE OF THE PHELPS AND GORHAM PURCHASE. 21
*by their public acts recognized and admitted the said Six Nations
and their tributaries to be appendant to the government of New
York.
" 5. That, by Congress accepting this cession, the jurisdiction of the
whole western territory, belonging to the Six Nations, and their
tributaries, will be vested in the United States, greatly to the ad-
vantage of the Union."
On October 29, 1782, Congress accepted "all the right, title, inter-
est, jurisdiction and claim of the State of New York," as ceded by
the instrument of March 1, 1781.
Maryland, immediately upon the delivery of the New York deed,
ratified the Articles of Confederation, and at last the States were
United. In 1785 Massachusetts yielded her claims to all the lands
beyond the New York cession line, but not until 1800 did Connecti-
cut completely surrender her western territory to the United States,
and then only by securing to herself a large tract in Ohio, afterward
called the Western Reserve.
By these cessions the disputes of Connecticut and Massachusetts
with New York became limited to the lands lying within the western
part of the last named state.
Plate I. shows these cessions and the lines of the colonies referred
to hereafter. The Phelps and Gorham Purchase is shown by the
shaded part.
III. THE NEW YORK CLAIMS.
The territorial rights of New York are derived from three sources,
{!) the early occupancy by the Dutch, under the authority of the
United Netherlands; (2) the submissions and cessions of the Indians;
and (3) the royal charters.
A company of Dutch merchants fitted out the first ship which
sailed within the waters of this state, and Henry Hudson, an English-
man, commanded it. After having coasted along the New England
shores, in September, 1609, he entered the river now named after
him, and, finding that it could not lead him to India, returned to his
employers with a glowing account of the rich furs produced by the
region he had discovered. Trading expeditions fitted out by private
enterprise soon followed this news, and by the year 1615 small
settlements had been made on New York Island, and near the present
location of Albany. The name New Netherlands was now given to
Dutch North America.
On October 11, 1614, the States General of the United Nether
3
22 ROCHESTER HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
lands granted a monopoly of trade for four voyages to the " United
Company of Merchants, who have discovered and found New
Netherland, situate in America between New France and Virginia,
the sea coasts whereof lie in the latitude of forty to forty-five
degrees," but did not purport, however, to convey any right of soil.
The great Dutch West India Company was incorporated June 3,
1621, and by its charter obtained an exclusive right for twenty-four
years to trade " in the countries of America," to take jurisdiction of
the same " for the promoting of trade," and was charged with " the
peopling of those fruitful and unsettled parts."
Both the trade and the settlements on the Hudson river progressed
rapidly under a system of bounties offered by the West India Com-
pany to colonists, and because of the religious freedom which invited
fugitives from continental persecutions. In 1655, the redoubtable
Stuyvesant reduced the Swedish settlements on the Delaware, and
extended the Dutch possessions to that river.
The New Netherlands, in 1649, asserted its boundaries to be New
England on the north-east, Virginia on the south-west; "on the north
runs the river of Canada a great way off in the interior; the north-
west side is partly still unknown ;" and Yan Der Donck in his "De-
scription of New Netherlands " published in 1656, judged that the
land extended "several hundred miles into the interior."
During the occupancy by the Dutch they made various treaties
with the Indians, including the Senecas, who in 1660 renewed the
" peace made some years before," and declared that the Dutch were
" Chiefs of the whole land," and particular mention is made of the
extensive beaver trade which they enjoyed with this tribe. In fact,
a pacific policy was quite uniformly carried out and the Indians be-
came close friends with the Dutch and even submitted themselves in
a limited way to their government. These merchants continued the
custom of purchasing the land from the Indians before excluding-
them. In 1662 Governor Endicott of Massachusetts and Governor
Bredout of Nova Scotia informed the Dutch Council that the Mo-
hawks had been depredating in their colonies, and asked assistance to-
obtain satisfaction from the Indians. This request has been alleged
to be an acknowledgment of the jurisdiction of the Dutch.
King Charles II. had no love for the Hollanders and, with a wil-
ling ear to the complaints of his customs officers and as an answer to
the demand of the States GeneraHor the establishment of the bound-
ary between the Dutch and the English, on February 29, 1664, he
TITLE OF THE PHELPS AND GOKHAM PURCHASE. 23
directed a grant to issue to his brother, the Duke of York, of lands
now comprised within the state of Maine and other adjoining lands,
and also that island or islands commonly called by the several name
or names of Matowacks or Long Island, .... together also with
the said river called Hudson's river, and all the lands from the west
side of Hudson's river to the east side of Delaware bay." This de-
scribed with some intelligibility the lands purchased for the Crown
from the Earl of Stirling and those in possession of the Dutch on the
Hudson and Delaware ; but the grant itself, which is of March 12,
1661, conveyed premises identical with these, except that it included
" all the land from the west side of Connecticut river to the east side
of Delaware bay." The reason of this change is somewhat conjec-
tural. It was found that the coveted city of New Amsterdam was
on the east side of Hudson's river, and that, if the boundary was
stated to be the Connecticut, the inclusion of the city would be cer-
tain. There had been a small but troublesome Dutch fort planted on
the west side of the Connecticut river, which by the terms of the
grant would be included within its amended bounds. It seems rea-
sonable to conclude that this patent was drawn so as to give the Duke
of York the right of soil as soon as the settlements on the Connecti-
cut, Hudson and Delaware should be conquered and to furnish one
excuse for an expedition against the colony. There were no Dutch
settlements in North America, outside of the territory comprised in
this grant.
On the same day that the king ordered the grant to his brother,
he directed an expedition to be sent against the Dutch in America and,
on September 8, 1664, the royal purpose was fulfilled in the capture
of New Amsterdam by Richard Nicolls, a dependent of the duke,
and by him made deputy-governor of the new province. On the
25th day of the same month, Nicolls made a compact with the Mo-
hawks and the Senecas whereby they were granted the protection of
his government. Soon afterward the fleet reduced Fort Orange
(renamed Albany from one of the duke's titles), and a little later
the Delaware settlements were forced to capitulate. New Amster-
dam and New Netherlands became respectively the city and prov-
ince of New York.
The Treaty of Breda between the two home governments, made in
1667, quieted all Dutch claims in favor of England, but war was soon
renewed with the United Netherlands, and Admirals Evertsen and
Binckes, in 1673, suddenly appeared before New York and by supe-
24 ROCHESTER HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
rior force compelled the Commandant Manning to surrender on July
30. Albany and the Delaware settlements were soon reduced.
In a few months the treaty was made between the Dutch and the
Mohawks, in which the latter state that they have always been one
flesh with the Dutch. In fact, during both the Dutch and English
occupations, treaties were made almost annually with the Indians,
relating to trade, peace or protection, and, after the earliest years, in
order to create and establish a barrier to the incursions of the French
from the north. Ever after Champlain first f shot an Iroquois in an
expedition with the Hurons, the confederated tribes were enemies of
the French.
Under the Treaty of London, concluded February 19, 1674, Eng-
land ceded Surinam in the East Indies to the Netherlands and in
exchange received New York again, and Director Anthony Colve
ended the Dutch rule in North America by his surrender to Edmund
Andros on November 10, 1674.
As we have above noted, the duke's patent of 1664 was made be-
fore he or the Crown had obtained possession of the premises thereby
granted, and, seemingly in order to cure the legal defect arising from
this fact, Charles again gave these lands to his brother by a patent of
June 29, 1674, containing the same description of premises.
During all this period and for a hundred years more, the whole
northern and western parts of this state were claimed by the French
by right of prior discovery by Champlain in 1609, long and continu-
ous occupation by Roman Catholic priests and French traders and
conquest of the Indians ; but all such rights were concluded by the
English conquest of Canada and the Peace of Paris in 1763. Prior
thereto, however, and at the request of the Five Nations, Governor
Dongan had caused the arms of the Duke of York to be affixed to
the stockades of their towns; in 1690 the Five Nations admitted
themselves to be subjects of one great king and queen with the En-
glish ; in 1698 Lord Bellomont informed the governor of Canada
that the Five Nations were always considered as subjects of the king
of England; and Article 15 of the Treaty of Utrecht, 1713, provided
that the French should not " molest the Five Nations subject to the
Dominion of Great Britain." Lieutenant-Governor Nanf an, of New
York, had held a council with the Five Nations at Albany, July 19,
1701, at which they conveyed to the Crown by deed, a large tract of
land extending westward from Jarondigat (Irondequoit) to the head
of Lake Michigan, and in return obtained the promise of assistance
TITLE OF THE PHELPS AND GORHAM PURCHASE. 25
and protection against the French. N"anfan in his report to the Lords
of Trade, August 20, 1701, said that this tract was eight hundred
miles long and four hundred miles broad, including all the beaver-
hunting country of the Five Nations. The Senecas, Cayugas, and
Onondagas made a deed to the king, dated at Albany on September
14, 1726, confirming the deed of 1701 as to themselves, and granting
the king, George I., a strip of territory lying along the south side of
Lake Ontario and running sixty miles inland, and it was agreed that
the other lands of the Three Nations were to be protected by the
king. Each of these deeds included the site of Eochester, then far less
important than Irondequoit bay, the great gate to the Genesee coun-
try. Subsequently by deed dated January 10, 1741, the Senecas
conveyed to George II. a small tract around Tierondequat (Ironde-
quoit), twenty miles wide on the lake and extending southeastward
thirty miles. Soon after this, a permanent superintendent of Indian
affairs, Sir William Johnson, was appointed for New York, and con-
tinued to exercise the functions of his office until his death shortly
before the beginning of the Revolution. Col. Guy Johnson was then
appointed his successor, and continued to act until the beginning of
the war, when he retired to Canada.
The Indian deeds above mentioned were obtained by the efforts
and at the expense of the province of New York, and with the pur-
pose of gaining rights wherewith to oppose the French claims and to
exclude the French traders, as well as steps toward the erection of a
line of frontier military posts, and the province was under constant
expense for the preservation of the Iroquois alliance. Even at the
time of the Revolutionary war these Indians were true to the Eng-
lish cause.
The patents of New Jersey, granted by the Duke of York to
Berkeley and Carteret, June 24, 1664, and June 29, 1674, conveyed
a part of the territory given to him by his royal brother, " ex-
tending to the northward as far as the northermost branch of
said bay or river of Delaware," thus suggesting the duke's con-
struction of the New York patents, under the usual rule of construc-
tion of such documents, namely : That the northern boundary of his
province ran from the head waters of the Connecticut river, so as to
include all " the west side " of that river; thence to the head waters
of the Hudson river, so as to include all thereof, and thence to the
head of the northernmost source of the eastern or main branch of the
waters flowing into Delaware bay. This line, one may easily see by
26 ROCHESTER HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
reference to Plate I., excluded the whole of western New York; but
the preoccupancy of the Dutch along the Hudson, and the agree-
ments with Massachusetts (May 28, 1773) and Connecticut (November
28, 1683) as to the eastern boundary of New York, created a line
over which the latter province alleged that her neighbors should not
The commissions issued by the Duke of York, and after him by
the Crown, to the successive governors of the province, recite the
territory under their jurisdiction to be " the Province of New York
and the territories dependent thereon in America." These " terri-
tories dependent " were construed to include the lands of the Six
Nations on account of the treaties and deeds above mentioned; and it
seems that the adjacent provinces acquiesced in this construction.
The Congressional Report of May 1, 1781, is quite conclusive of the
fact that the most valid and important claim to western New York,
asserted in behalf of this state, was based upon the submissions and
cessions of the natives.
1Y. THE PENNSYLVANIA CLAIM.
William Penn, in payment of a debt due to his father, received a
patent from Charles II., under the date of March 4, 1682, which
included territory bounded on the east by Delaware river, " on the
north by the beginning of the three and fortieth degree of north-
ern latitude," on the south by the fortieth parallel, and " to extend
westward five degrees in longitude, to be computed from the said
eastern bounds."
Penn shrewdly obtained from the Duke of York, August 31, 1682,
a surrender of all claims to this territory; but one question was still
left open and was actually disputed for ninety years between the two
colonies : the meaning of " the beginning of the three and fortieth
degree of northern latitude." Pennsylvania suggested, rather than
alleged, that it was the forty-third parallel. New York argued, that,
as the equator is the beginning of the first degree of latitude, so the
forty-second parallel is the beginning of the forty-third degree. The
forty-third parallel of latitude crosses the Phelps and Gorham Pur-
chase, passing through it a little north of Geneva, and at the middle
of the town of Rush in Monroe county, and, if this line had been the
northern boundary of Pennsylvania, all of western New York would
have belonged to the former, except an irregular and narrow strip
along the shore of Lake Ontario. (See Plate I.)
TITLE OF THE PHELP8 AND GORHAM PURCHASE. 27
There was not a little friction between the two provinces on this
.account, each desiring to control the rich fur trade with the Six
Nations and the waterways leading into their lands, as well as the
and itself, when it should be ready for settlement. In 1774 the
Proprietaries of Pennsylvania, in a petition to the king, abandoned
their claims to any land north of the forty-second parallel and, a little
later in the same year, by joint action with New York, the northeast
-corner of Pennsylvania was marked by a monument in the forty-
second parallel of north latitude, on the bank of the eastern or Mo-
hawk branch of the Delaware river. In 1787 a part of the division
line was fixed by commissioners of the two states, and it was com-
pletely and finally verified and monumented under similar control in
1885.
It is not necessary to discuss the meridian or western boundary of
New York, as no claim affecting the Phelps and Gorham Purchase
has ever been connected with it.
Y. THE CONNECTICUT CLAIM.
This relates to a narrow strip of land two minutes in latitude or
about two and one third miles wide, extending along the whole of the
.north side of the Pennsylvania boundary line. This is usually called
the Connecticut Gore.
Space cannot be given to the story of the contest between Con-
necticut and Pennsylvania, as to their conflicting territorial rights
under their respective charters, nor to the history of the Susquehanna
Company. The claimants under Connecticut resorted even to arms
against the state of Pennsylvania in the two Pennamite and Yankee
wars, and, until a decree was rendered by the United States commis-
sioners at Trenton, December 30, 1782, in favor of Pennsylvania,
the dispute remained unsettled.
The colony of Connecticut, by the charter of Charles II., of
April 23, 1663, received territory bounded on the east by Narragan-
-sett bay, on the north by the line of the Massachusetts colony, on the
south by the sea, and extending from Narragansett bay to the South
Sea (Pacific Ocean) on the west. This charter was granted a year
before the first charter to the Duke of York, and these boundaries
included all the southern part of his province. Difficulties immedi-
ately arose between the two colonies, which continued until they
were temporarily composed by an agreement dated November 28,
1683, settling a joint boundary, as to its greater part, at twenty miles
28 ROCHESTER HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
east of the Hudson river. This agreement was confirmed by
king in council, in March, 1700. Disputes were continued, not,
however, by either party repudiating the agreement, but by conten-
tentions and delays concerning the survey of this line and its location
on the ground.
The decree of Trenton was accepted by Connecticut as settling her
claims to territory south of the forty-second parallel, but it was then
believed that the dividing line between Massachusetts and Connecti-
cut, running west through a point three miles south of the head of the
Charles river, was in forty-two degrees two minutes, north latitude; and
this parallel, being extended westward from the Delaware river, in-
cluded between it and the north boundary of Pennsylvania, and all
along the latter, a strip two minutes or two and one third miles in
width. In Plate I., the Gore is shown between the parallel lines
marked forty-two degrees two minutes and forty-two degrees and ex-
tends from the Delaware westward to the Cession line of New York.
In 1795 Connecticut was building a capitol, and the contractors,
Ward and Halsey, agreed to accept the Gore in payment of forty
thousand dollars of their account, and, as the state found this an easy
way of settling the bill, on July 25 this land was conveyed to them,
"extending from the northeast corner of said Commonwealth of Penn-
sylvania and abutting on the north line of Pennsylvania as aforesaid,
westward . . . and bounded northerly on the south line of
Massachusetts."
The division line between Pennsylvania and New York having been
determined before this time, the state of New York had taken juris-
diction of the Gore by including it within her county lines, and
Massachusetts, several years before, had assumed to convey a part of
this strip, as will be shown. Many conveyances of other parts of the
Gore had been made by New York also.
Emboldened by the petition to Congress made by Massachusetts in
1784, and with their deed to fortify them, the Connecticut Land
Company, organized by the contractors, entered on the Gore lands..
The New York legislature promptly resented this intrusion by suit-
able enactments in 1796, and assumed the defense of certain eject-
ment suits brought by the Connecticut claimants against grantees
under Massachusetts and New York. One of these suits was against
Mary Lindley and others, and involved the title to a part of Township
I., Range 2, of the Phelps and Gorham Purchase.
At Hartford, in September, 1797, one of these cases came on for
TITLE OF THE PHELP8 AND GOEHAM PURCHASE. 29 1
trial in the United States Circuit Court. The defendants alleged that
the Gore was not within the state of Connecticut, and hence was not
within the jurisdiction of the court, and on account of other techni-
cal defects in the proceeding the trial was postponed, but was soon
removed to the United States Supreme Court for the determination
of the question whether the states were parties to the action. A de-
cision was rendered in 1800, the court refusing to pass upon the ques-
tion of jurisdiction. Before a new trial was reached in the Circuit
Court, the state of Connecticut had formally renounced all her claims-
to land lying west of the east line of New York (excepting the West-
ern Reserve), and the controversy was terminated.
YI. THE MASSACHUSETTS CLAIM.
"We now reach the most important claim, and the only successful one
of those with which we have to deal.
In 1606 certain English adventurers applied to James I. for a char-
ter. He, " greatly commending and graciously accepting of their
desires for the furtherance of so noble a work, which may, by the
Providence of Almighty God, hereafter tend to the glory of His
Divine Majesty in propagating a Christian religion to such people
as yet live in darkness and miserable ignorance of the knowledge and
worship of God, and may in time bring the infidels and savages,
living in those parts to human civility, and to a settled and quiet
government," most piously, and doubtless sordidly, granted a char-
ter dated April 10, 1606, to two associations, named respectively
the London Company and the Virginia Company, giving to the former,
land on the eastern coast of North America, between thirty-eight de-
grees and forty-five degrees north latitude, and to the latter, land from
thirty-four degrees to forty-one degrees north latitude, both being
limited in extent to one hundred miles inland. It will be noticed that
these two territories overlap each other to the extent of three degreea
in latitude.
The colony of the Pilgrims at Leyden obtained a sub-grant of land
from the Virginia Company whereon to settle for the purpose of ob-
taining religious freedom, and sailed for America in the Mayflower,
with great store of household goods. They landed December 21,
1620 (N. S.), on Plymouth Rock, about in latitude forty-two degrees
north. Their grant did not take effect, as they had landed and settled
within the chartered limits of the London Company, and not in the
territory granted to them.
30 ROCHESTER HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
On November 3, 1620, James I. granted to the " Council estab-
lished at Plymouth, in the county of Devon, for the planting, ruling,
ordering and governing of New England in America," a new com-
pany of adventurers, lands in America " in breadth from forty de-
grees of northerly latitude from the equinoctial line to forty-eight
degrees of the said northerly latitude and in length by all the breadth
aforesaid throughout the main land from sea to sea . . . pro-
vided always, that . . any of the premises hereinbefore mentioned
and by these presents intended and meant to be granted, be not
actually possessed and inhabited by any other Christian Prince or
Estate, or within that southerly colony heretofore by us granted to
be planted by divers of our loving subjects in the south part."
A sub-patent to the New England colonists was executed by the
Council on June 1, 1621, and they then gained their first right of
soil.
The grantees under this last charter conveyed to Sir Henry Rose-
well and others, by deed dated March 19, 1628, " all that part of New
England in America, which lieth and extendeth between a certain
river there commonly called Monomack River, alias Merrimac River,
and a certain other river there called Charles River, being in the
bottom of a certain bay there commonly called Massachusetts . . .
Eay, and also all and singular those lands and hereditaments what-
soever lying within the space of three English miles to the south part
of said . . . Charles River or of any or every part thereof ; and
also all . . . the lands . . . lying and being within the space
of three English miles to the southward of the southermost part of
said Bay, called Massachusetts . . . Bay, and also all those lands
, . . which lie . . . within the space of three English miles to
the northward of said River, called Monomack, alias Merrimac, or to
the northward of any or every part thereof, and all lands . . .
within the limits aforesaid ... in length and longitude of and
within all the breadth aforesaid throughout the main lands there
from the Atlantic and "Western Sea and Ocean on the east part to
the South Sea on the west part." On March 4, 1629, Charles I.,
by a charter reciting this deed, confirmed these lands to a corporation
entitled " the Governor and Company of the Massachusetts Bay in
New England," composed of the grantees in said deed and some ad-
ditional associates ; but the lands u actually possessed and inhabited by
any other Christian Prince or State," at the date of the charter of
1620, were still excepted from the conveyance.
TITLE OF THE PHELP8 AND GORHAM PURCHASE. 31
The autonomy enjoyed by the New Englanders under their charter,
together with the fact that the charter itself had been transferred
to America, were galling to the king. After much opposition
on the part of the colony the patent of 1629 was finally revoked
by decree of the High Court of Chancery, June 18, 1684, and
New England was without a charter for seven years, during which
time the colony was ruled with much diffculty by royal governors.
William of Orange was naturally well disposed to the American
Puritans, and accordingly the charter of William and Mary to the
" Province of Massachusetts Bay in New England " issued on Octo-
ber 7, 1691. Under this grant the colonies of New Plymouth, Mas-
sachusetts Bay, Maine, Nova Scotia, and the intervening parts were
united under one government, and the description therein of the lands
of Massachusetts Bay followed that in the charter of 1629, except that
they were stated to extend " toward the South Sea or westward as
far as the colonies of Khode Island, Connecticut and the Narragan-
sett country."
The patent of 1620 constituted the foundation on which Massachu-
setts built her claim of title to lands in New York. It was a paper
title only, and obnoxious to much criticism. It was asserted on the
part of New York, when the conflict had matured, that (1) the charter
of 1620 was void on account of the proviso and the prior occupation
by the Dutch of some part of the territory granted ; (2) the grant by
the Council of Plymouth was of no effect because based on a void
charter ; (3) the charter of 1629 was void as being in terms a confir-
mation of a void deed and not a new and independent grant, and
also in that it contained a proviso similar in terms to that in the prior
charter; (4) the charter of 1629 was revoked and cancelled by the
decree of 1684 and the deed of 1628 followed its fate; and (5) the last
charter limited the territory of the colony to extend at least no farther
than the limit of Connecticut, which had been fixed by the agreement
of 1683 at a line twenty miles east of the Hudson.
Not until after the Revolution did Massachusetts press her claim
to the western lands. All prior disputes with New York had refer-
ence only to her eastern boundary.
VII. THE CONTROVERSY SETTLED.
The Revolutionary war temporarily composed this sisterly quarrel,
until, in 1784, after the treaty of peace, failing credit and a demand
for new lands suggested the Western New York tract to the finan-
32 ROCHESTER HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
ciers of Massachusetts as a possible source of revenue. This tract lay
to the east of the eastern line of the lands ceded in 1780 to the United
States. Sullivan's campaign against the Senecas in 1779 brought his
army into the Genesee country and the soldiers had carried away
memories of an unsettled region of marvelous fertility.
It will be remembered that the north and south limits of Massa-
chusetts were parallels respectively three miles north of the Merri-
mac river and three miles south of the Charles. The former parallel
is in forty-four degrees, fifteen minutes north ; the latter is in forty-
two degrees, three minutes north, but at this time it was believed to
be in forty-two degrees, two minutes north.
In 1784 (May 27) the Commonwealth of Massachusetts presented
a petition to Congress, reciting the charters of 1620 and 1629, and
the deed to Rosewell and others, and stating that the south boundary
of the state was in latitude forty-two degrees, two minutes north, and
the north boundary was in latitude forty-four degrees, fifteen minutea
north (see Plate I.); that all this territory was the just and proper
right of the Commonwealth ; that New York had set up a claim to
some part of this land ; and requested that commissioners be ap-
pointed to determine the controversy. Congress took action on this
petition on June 3, 1784, and gave notice, pursuant to the ninth of
the Articles of Confederation, that the two states appear before Con-
gress, by their agents, on the first Monday of the succeeding Decem-
ber, to proceed in the matter. On November 12 the New York leg-
islature passed an act, appointing James Duane, John Jay, Robert K,
Livingston, Egbert Benson and Walter Livingston, agents to " vindi-
cate the right and jurisdiction of this state against the claims of the
Commonwealth of Massachusetts." On December 8 the agents of
New York met John Lowell and James Sullivan, agents of Massa-
chusetts, before Congress, then sitting at Trenton. After presenta-
tion and exchange of credentials, the agents were directed (De-
cember 10) to agree upon judges to constitute a court for deter-
mining the matter in question. On June 9, 1785, they made a
joint report that they had agreed upon judges and requested commis-
sions to issue for a court to meet at William sburg, Virginia, on the
third Tuesday of November following. On the first of November,
however, they reported their difficulties in securing judges and asked
a postponement of the proceedings, which was granted.
The difficulty of securing judges suitable and willing to serve im-
pelled the agents of both states to request their legislatures to allow
TITLE OF THE PHELPS AND GORHAM PURCHASE. 33
them to settle the dispute out of court and in such manner as their
judgment should dictate. Accordingly, appropriate acts were passed
by New York and Massachusetts respectively on April 28, and July
5, 1786; and some changes were made in the agents. The agents
met at Hartford, Connecticut, in November, 1786, and, after nego-
tiating for about three weeks, on December 16, they executed a com-
promise agreement, by which New York retained jurisdiction of all
the territory claimed by her, and Massachusetts obtained the right of
extinguishing the Indian title to the soil of about six and one-quarter
millions of acres. The terms of this agreement were in substance
as follows :
After reciting the claims of the two states and the proceedings in
connection therewith, the agreement provides :
1. Massachusetts cedes to New York the government, sovereignty
and jurisdiction of the territory claimed by the latter state.
2. New York cedes to Massachusetts the right of pre-emption of
the soil from the Indians and all other right (except that of govern-
ment) in two hundred and thirty thousand four hundred acres lying
between the Owego arid Chenango rivers and in all the lands now
within the boundaries of New York west of a line " beginning in the
north boundary line of the State of Pennsylvania in the parallel of
forty-two degrees north latitude, at a point distant eighty-two miles
west from the north-east corner of the State of Pennsylvania on the
Delaware river . . . and from said point . . . running on
a due meridian north to the boundary line between the United States
of America and the King of Great Britain," but excepting a strip
one mile wide along the east side of the Niagara river.
3. Massachusetts cedes to New York all other lands involved in the
controversy.
4. The lands ceded to Massachusetts are to be exempted from gen-
eral or state taxes until fifteen years after grants thereof shall be
confirmed by Massachusetts, but are to be subject to town and county
taxes only, provided that the exemption " shal'l not be construed to
extend to such duties, excises or imposts, to which the other inhab-
itants of the State of New York shall be subject and liable."
5. No rents or services are to be reserved in grants by Massachusetts.
6. Citizens of the United States inhabiting any of these lands are
to be entitled to the same immunities as the citizens of New York.
7. No adverse possession is to interfere with the rights of Massa-
chusetts.
34 ROCHESTER HISTORICAL SOCIETY."
8. New York is required to retain the government of these lands
as long as Massachusetts retains the ownership.
9. Massachusetts may, by authorized agents, hold treaties with the
Indians concerning the right of soil, and with armed force, if neces-
sary.
10. Massachusetts may sell the pre-emption right, and the grantees-
may extinguish the Indian claims by purchase, but no such purchase
is to be valid unless made in the presence of and approved by a su-
perintendent to be appointed for the purpose by Massachusetts, and
having no interest in such purchase, and unless such purchase shall be
confirmed by Massachusetts.
11. The grantees under Massachusetts within six months after
the confirmation of their grants are to cause such grants to be recorded
in the office of the secretary of state of New York.
This agreement was signed by John Lowell, James Sullivan, Theo-
philus Parsons, and Rufus King, agents of Massachusetts, and by
James Duane, Robert R. Livingston, Robert Yates, John Haring,,
Melanchton Smith, and Egbert Benson, agents of New York.
On January 13, 1787, Governor Clinton reported this agreement
to the legislature, and on the 24th and 25th days of the same month,
the Senate and Assembly examined it. There seems to have been no
formal resolution confirming the cession.
The settlement resulting in this treaty was afterward approved by
Congress, and the judges who had been appointed were discharged.
VIII. THE PURCHASE FROM MASSACHUSETTS.
The state of New York had adopted its Constitution in 1777, and
Article XXXVII thereof provided " that whereas the frauds too
often practiced towards . . . Indians in contracts made for
their lands, have in divers instances been productive of dangerous
discontents and animosities ; Be it ordained, that no purchases or
contracts for the sale of lands made since the 14th day of October
in the year of our Lord 1775, or which may hereafter be made
with or of the said Indians within the lands of this State shall be
binding on the said Indians or deemed valid unless made under the
authority and with the consent of the Legislature of this State."
Oliver Phelps of Suffield, Massachusetts, had been engaged during
the Revolutionary war in the commissary department of the arni}^
and had been brought into business relations with Robert Morris, the
great financier of Revolutionary times. Robert Morris had heard of
TITLE OF THE PHELPS AND GORHAM PURCHASE. 35
the rich Genesee lands from Major Adam Hoops, an officer in Sulli-
van's campaign against the Senecas in 1779, and doubtless also from
Ebenezer Allen, an Indian trader residing in this region, who had
visited Philadelphia on business and, in 1783, as an ambassador from
the Six Nations to Congress. From Morris, Oliver Phelps obtained
information which induced him to undertake a speculation, with some
friends living in Berkshire, in a large part of the Massachusetts lands,
but before his plans matured he found that he had been anticipated
before the legislature by Nathaniel Gorham, of Charlestown, Massa-
chusetts, the president of the Continental Congress during some of
the years when the western cessions were before that body. The
value of the Genesee lands and the privileges secured by the instru-
ment of cession had drawn general attention to their desirability as-
an investment, and the cessation of Indian troubles in the region
made them available for settlement.
Phelps and Gorham joined their interests, and, with their asso-
ciates, Israel Chapin, William Walker, Judge Sullivan, and others, in
1787, made a proposition for the purchase of a million acres at one
shilling and six pence per acre, payable in the public securities of the
Commonwealth. This proposition was not accepted, but at the succeed-
ing session of the legislature they proposed to purchase for the con-
sideration of " three hundred thousand pounds in consolidated securi-
ties of the Commonwealth, or two thousand pounds specie together
with two hundred and ninety thousand pounds in like securities, the
right of pre-emption which the Commonwealth has in and to the
Western Territory lately ceded by the State of New York." On
March 31 the House of Representatives accepted the proposition,
being at about one shilling per acre, on the terms of payment first
mentioned, and agreed to sell to Phelps and Gorham
" All the right, title and demand which the said Commonwealth
has in and to the said Western Territory by the deed of cession
aforesaid . . . and the said Nathaniel Gorham and Oliver
Phelps are hereby authorized to extinguish, by purchase, the claims
of the native Indians holding the fee or right of soil in the territory
aforesaid; and it is hereby
" Resolved, That the Rev. Mr. Samuel Kirkland . . is appointed to-
superintend and approve, at the expense of the said grantees, the
purchase which the said Nathaniel Gorham and Oliver Phelps shall
make of the claims of such native Indians; and it is hereby further
" Resolved, That all such purchases as the said Nathaniel Gorham
36 ROCHESTER HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
and Oliver Phelps shall make of the claims of the said Indians,
in presence of the said superintendent, shall be confirmed by the
Commonwealth, provided the said Gorham and Phelps shall give
security to the satisfaction of the supreme Executive of this Com-
monwealth, separate obligations to pay the aforesaid consideration
moneys to the treasurer of this Commonwealth, or his successor in
office, for the use of this Commonwealth, one third thereof in one
year, one other third thereof in two years, and one other third
thereof in three years from the date of this resolve, with interest,
in like consolidated securities, to commence from the date of this
resolve, until paid."
The Senate concurred in this resolution on the next day, and
Phelps and Gorham gave to the Commonwealth three bonds of one
hundred thousand pounds each, payable at intervals of one year.
It may be stated here that the currencies of the states varied con-
siderably in value. The pound sterling was worth $4.44f; the
pound of Massachusetts was worth $3.3&J-; the pound of New
York was worth $2.50; the pound of New Jersey and Pennsylvania
was worth $2.66$-, and still another pound in use in some of the
other states was worth $4.28-^. These variations in currency must
be remembered in all calculations as to the money of the times.
Phelps and Gorham therefore paid one million dollars at par for the
.-six and one quarter million acres to which they proposed to complete
title; but the price in reality was only sixty thousand pounds or two
hundred thousand dollars, since the Massachusetts securities, ordinarily
called "final settlement notes," were at this time worth only twenty
per cent, of their face value.
It must be understood that Phelps and Gorham, throughout these
transactions were the agents or trustees of all the associated specu-
lators.
IX. THE LESSEES.
Before this purchase, another land company had been formed, with
headquarters at Hudson, Columbia county, New York, under the
name of the New York Genesee Land Company. It was com-
posed of eighty persons, of whom ten owned half shares, and the
remainder whole shares. In the list of these adventurers, we find the
names of John Livingston, Peter Schuyler, Dr. Caleb Benton,
Ezekiel Gilbert, Robert Troup, and others, and among them we find
-a state senator, the clerks of Albany and Columbia counties, seven
members of Assembly, and other men of political, financial and social
TITLE OF THE PHELPS AND GORHAM PURCHASE. 37
influence. A more powerful body of men could hardly have been
formed. "With the intention of evading the constitutional provision
above mentioned and of circumventing the state of Massachusetts,
they obtained from the Six Nations, on November 30, 1787, for a bonus
of twenty thousand dollars, a lease for nine hundred and ninety-nine
years, of " all that certain tract or parcel of land, commonly called and
known by the name of the lands of the Six Nations of Indians,
.situate, lying and being in the State of New York, and now in the
actual possession of the Chiefs or Sachems of the Six Nations;"
the yearly rent was two thousand Spanish milled dollars payable on
-July 4 of each year. On June 8, 1788, another lease was obtained
from the Oneidas, demising a large tract of their lands, for a term
of nine hundred and ninety-nine years, at a rent of one thousand
dollars for the first ten years and increasing after that time by
one hundred dollars annually until the sum reached fifteen hun-
dred dollars, which was to remain the constant annual rent thereafter.
In February, 1788, Livingston and Benton, by petition to the legis-
lature, sought to secure the recognition of these leases, and presented
a memorial from certain Indians asking that the leases be confirmed.
"The petition was rejected, and by concurrent resolution, on February
16, 1788, the legislature declared the leases to be equivalent to pur-
chases and therefore void, and authorized the governor to use force,
if necessary, to prevent the occupation of the Indian lands. The
Massachusetts General Court also repudiated these Indian cessions.
For some time after this a constant struggle continued between the
lessees on one hand and the state on the other for predominant influ-
ence with the Indians. The lessees had agents in all the Indian
towns; they were lavish in their presents, and unlimited rum was free
to the poor natives. The adventurers stopped at nothing to baffle
the state in its transactions with the Indians, hoping to force legisla-
tion in their favor, and, profiting by the example of Vermont, even
proposed the formation of a new state out of the coveted territory.
Their arrogance was so great, and their intrigues were so troublesome,
as to lead to the arrest of one of the New York lessees, on the charge
of treason; and at another time, finding one of them suspiciously pres-
ent at a council, Governor Clinton, by summary process, ordered him
to take himself away to a distance of forty miles.
On May 2, 1788, Livingston and his associates proposed a set-
tlement of the difficulties by presenting to the New York Com-
missioners for holding Treaties with the Indians, a proposition to
4-
38 ROCHESTER HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
obtain for the state a conveyance of all the Indian lands, in consider-
ation of which the state was to repay the company the consideration
money for which the Indians had executed the leases, and the state
was to grant to Livingston and his associates one million one hundred
thousand acres from the Indians' territory. The commissioners sum-
marily rejected the proposition.
These lessees had formed some kind of alliance with another com-
pany called the Niagara Genesee Land Company, having its head-
quarters at Fort Niagara, and composed of Col. John Butler, of
Wyoming fame, and at this time the British Deputy Superintendent
for Indian affairs under Col. Guy Johnson ; Col. Samuel Street, a
prominent Indian trader at Fort Niagara ; Capt. William Johnson, a
British interpreter and an adopted Seneca with an Indian wife ; Capt.
John Powell, an English officer ; one Murphy, also an Englishman, and
Benjamin Barton, of New Jersey, who supplied the cattle for Fort
Niagara. This Niagara Genesee Land Company had great influence-
with the Indians, both on account of the English partners and the fact
that all of them, except Barton, had been long identified with the Indi-
ans either in military, business or social affairs. But. all these schemes
fell through, and disappointment caused a rupture between the two-
companies. On February 14, 1789, Bryan and Birdsall surrendered
the leases to the Commissioners for holding Treaties with the Indi-
ans. In 1793 the legislature passed an act for the relief of the New
York company and made a conveyance to them of certain lands in
the northern part of the Military Tract.
X. THE PURCHASE FROM THE INDIANS.
While this unhappy condition of affairs existed, Oliver Phelps, with-
Israel Chapin and William Walker, came to Western New York..
In May, 1788, after obtaining an agreement for the assistance of the
New York Company and for a release of their alleged rights, Phelps
made efforts to secure a council with the Six Nations for the purpose
of purchasing their pre-emption right, but a council with Livingston
and the Indians appointed to be held at Kanadesaga (Geneva) in
June, was frustrated by the success of the Niagara company, assisted
by Joseph Brant, in keeping the Indians at Buffalo Creek. Just at
this time other large questions were being agitated among the Indi-
ans ; ambassadors had been going backward and forward between the
Six Nations arid the western and southern tribes, and a large gath-
ering of representatives had assembled at Buffalo Creek. Mr. Phelps,,
TITLE OF THE PHELPS AND GOKHAM PURCHASE. 39
about the middle of the month, went to Niagara and secured the co-
operation of the Niagara Company. He then returned to Kanade-
saga and remained there until, shortly before July 1, Red Jacket,
Billy and Heap of Dogs came to Kanadesaga and guided Mr.
Phelps, Mr. Lee and their companions to Buffalo Creek, which
the party reached about July 4. Mr. Kirkland, the representative
of Massachusetts, was already at the council place, having arrived on
June 26. Livingston and others of the lessees were there and all
of the Niagara company. The negotiations lasted several days. The
Indians at first were unwilling to sell any of their lands, and yielded
because Mr. Phelps had, by promising various tracts to the lessee com-
panies, secured their active co-operation. Mr. Kirkland also received
some land under an agreement dated in August, 1 788, probably in
payment of his services as required by the resolution of the legisla-
ture of March 31.
It is a tradition that the Indians at first refused to sell any lands
west of the Genesee, but Mr. Phelps was most urgent in pressing
upon them the necessity of a lot on the west side of the river for a
mill site, and stated that a tract about twelve miles by twenty-four
would be sufficient for the purpose, and proved the propriety of his
request by showing the great benefit to the Indians which would be
secured by having mills where their corn could be ground and their
timber sawed. The Indians are said to have been surprised at the size
of the mill lot, but finally acceded to the request, and executed a deed
dated July 8, 1788, conveying to Oliver Phelps and Nathaniel Gor-
ham territory described as follows: "Beginning in the north boundary
line of the State of Pennsylvania, in the parallel of forty-two degrees
north latitude, at a point distant eighty-two miles west from the north-
east corner of Pennsylvania on Delaware river, as the said boundary
line hath been run and marked by the commissioners appointed by
the States of New York and Pennsylvania respectively, and from said
point or place of beginning running west upon said line to a meridian
which will pass through that corner or point of land made by the
confluence of the Shanahasgwaikoreehi (so called) [Canaseraga Creek]
with the waters of the Genesee river ; thence running north along the
said meridian to the corner or point last mentioned ; thence north-
ward along the waters of the said Genesee river to a point two
miles north of Shanawageras Village, ( so called ) [near Avon] ;
thence running in a direction due west twelve miles ; thence run-
ning in a direction northwardly so as to be twelve miles distant
40 ROCHESTER HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
from the most westward bends of said Genesee river to the shore
of the Ontario lake ; thence eastwardly along the shores of said
lake to a meridian which will pass through the first point or place
of beginning above mentioned ; thence south along said meridian
to the first point or place of beginning aforesaid, together with all
and singular the woods, houses, streams, rivers, ponds, lakes, upon,
within, and in any wise appertaining to said territory." This deed
was signed by three Mohawks (Brant among them), three Oneidas,
eight Onondagas, twenty-two Cayugas, seven female Governesses, and
twenty-three Senecas, among whom were Farmer's Brother, Big
Tree, Little Beard and Red Jacket, and the witnesses were Col. John
Butler, Rev. Samuel Kirkland, superintendent of the sale for Massa-
chusetts, James Dean, interpreter for the lessees, Elisha Lee of Bos-
ton (said to be Mr. Kirkland's assistant superintendent), Joseph Brant,
Benjamin Barton, one of the Niagara lessees, David Smith and
Ezekiel Scott.
To this deed Mr. Kirkland appended his certificate, as follows :
"Pursuant to a resolution of the Legislature of the Commonwealth
of Massachusetts, passed March 30, 1788, I have attended a full
and general treaty of the Five Nations of Indians at the chief vil-
lage of their territory on Buffalo Creek, alias Teyoheghscolea, when
the foregoing instrument or deed of conveyance made to the Hon.
Nathaniel Gorham and Oliver Phelps, Esqs., of a certain part of
the lands belonging to the said Five Nations, the description and
boundaries thereof being particularly specified in the same, was
duly executed, signed, sealed and delivered in my presence by the
Sachems, Chiefs, and warriors of the above mentioned Five Na-
tions, being fairly and properly understood and transacted by all
the parties of Indians concerned and declared to be done to their
universal satisfaction and content."
The consideration of this deed is not stated in it. "We know it,
however, from the proceedings had before Congress in December,
1790, and January, 1791, on the petition of Cornplanter, Half Town
and Big Tree. They complained of great treachery by the lessees
and false representations by Mr. Phelps, and alleged that Phelps had
agreed to pay to the Indians ten thousand dollars in hand and one
thousand dollars a year forever, but Mr. Phelps produced affidavits
and proofs in reply to these assertions which showed without question
that the consideration to be paid was five thousand dollars in hand
one half immediately and one half a year later, and five hundred
TITLE OF THE PHELPS AND GOKHAM PURCHASE. 41
dollars annually, one half in cattle and one half in cash. A long
discussion as to the price occurred at the treaty, and it is said that
the amount was left to Butler, Brant and Mr. Kirkland. Mr. Lee
drew the papers after an agreement was reached, and when the deed
was delivered, Mr. Phelps gave back a series of bonds for the several
payments. 1
On November 21, in the same year, the Massachusetts legislature
confirmed to Phelps and Gorham all the right, title, claim and
demand of the Commonwealth in the land conveyed by the Indian
deed.
This was all the land of which Phelps and Gorham ever obtained
the complete title. The remainder reverted to Massachusetts.
At Canandaigua, on August 4, 1789, the Mohawks, Onondagas,
Cayugas and Tuscaroras, in confirmation of the former deed, and
for the consideration of two thousand five hundred dollars in goods
then paid (after having given to the Senecas the several proportions
of the payment then due to the Five Nations), released to Phelps and
Gorham all claims to the territory purchased by them at Buffalo
Creek " and to all moneys, goods, or other payments whatsoever, due
by said Phelps for said lands, except always reserving our just share
and proportion of five hundred dollars, the annual rent to be paid
for said lands forever."
XI. THE FIRST SURVEY.
The Phelps and Gorham Purchase measures very nearly eighty-
five miles in length on the east line, and about forty-four and three
fourths miles on the south line. It contains a little over two and
one half million acres. "Within its bounds are the counties of On-
tario, Steuben and Yates, and greater or less parts of Monroe, Living-
ston, Wayne, Allegany and Schuyler. On January 27, 1789, Ontario
county was erected, comprising all of New York state west of the
pre-emption line. On March 18, 1796, Steuben county was erected
from Ontario. On March 30, 1802, Genesee county was erected
from Ontario and Steuben, and embraced all of the state west of the
Genesee river, and the line running south from the forks. On April
7, 1806, Allegany was erected; on February 23, 1821, Livingston and
J At the council at Buffalo Creek, the lessees consented to the conveyance to
Phelps and Gorham and took a new lease, dated July 9, from the Indians at a reduced
rental, covering all the territory formerly demised excepting the premises sold out-
right to the " Bostonians."
This lease I find only in O'Reilly's "Sketches of "Rochester." page 129.
42 KOCHESTER HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
Monroe; on February 5, 1823, Yates; on April 11, 1823, Wayne, and
on April IT, 1854, Schuyler.
Phelps took immediate and active steps toward opening the land
for settlement and had brought Col. Hugh Maxwell with him to
make a survey of the purchase. This survey was begun in the latter
part of July, 1788, and was completed in 1789. On October 17,
1788, Mr. Kirkland, at the request of the Indians, set the stake at the
great fork of the Genesee, thus fixing the division line between the
lands sold and those remaining to the Indians. The survey of the
east or " pre-emption " line was first made by Maxwell and several
assistants, of whom one, it has been said, was interested in behalf of
certain of the lessees who had made a settlement at the head of
Seneca lake at Kanadesaga (Geneva). Dr. Benton already lived
at this place. Consequently it was in the interest of the lessees to
exclude the site of Geneva from the lands included in the survey.
The instruments used in running the line were quite crude, and the
line veered materially toward the west and had also a suspicious west-
ward inclination in it on the east side of Seneca lake, which was
said to have been made while Maxwell was away from the seat of
operations to obtain supplies. The line then trended eastward until
about opposite Kanadesaga, when it resumed a proper course. (See
Plates III. and IY.) The west line of the Mill Tract was wrong also :
instead of running, from the point twelve miles west of the Genesee,
approximately parallel to the general direction of the river, it ran due
north from that point to the lake. Plate II. is a reduced reproduc-
tion of a map of Maxwell's survey, and shows the error in the Mill
Tract; on it the old pre-emption line appears straight and does not
touch Seneca lake.
Upon this survey that part of this tract east of the Genesee river
was divided into lots, called townships, each six miles square, and
numbered from one to fourteen, beginning at the Pennsylvania line,
and arranged in seven ranges, numbering consecutively westward
from the pre-emption line. Toward the mouth of the Genesee some
deviation from this exact division became necessary. On the west
side of the river the Mill Tract was divided into a short range con-
taining two townships, and two other ranges containing four town-
ships each. (See Plate II.)
X
XII. THE SALE TO EGBERT MORRIS.
Phelps and Gorham had bought these lands at a time when the
PLATE II.
TITLE OF THE P HELPS AND GOEHAM PURCHASE. 43
'" consolidated securities" of Massachusetts were worth only four
-shillings in the pound, or twenty per cent, of their face value. At
this rate the price of their purchase, at three hundred thousand
pounds, would have been equal to two hundred thousand dollars only.
'The policy of Alexander Hamilton in procuring the general govern-
ment to assume the debts of the several states, caused a rise in the
value of the securities of Massachusetts, among others, and, by the
time the first payment was due by Phelps and Gorham, the securities
had risen nearly to par, and the proprietors became unable to pay
their bond. The debt was afterward compromised at thirty-one
thousand pounds, or one hundred and nine thousand, three hundred
and thirty-three dollars; the land bought of the Indians being esti-
mated at one third of the original amount bought from the Common-
wealth. Consequently, in 1790, they applied to their old friend
Morris, and he, having already embarked in extensive land specula-
tions, purchased the unsold territory, August 10, 1T90, and took from
them a deed which bears date November 18, of the same year. In
this deed Phelps and Gorham reserved two townships for them-
selves: No. 10, of the 3d range (including the site of Canandaigua),
and No. 9, of the 7th range. The expressed consideration is nominal
five Mexican dollars. The whole purchase is said in this deed to
contain about two million one hundred thousand acres.
XIII. THE SECOND SURVEY.
At the time of this purchase it had been discovered and was recog-
nized that Col. Maxwell's survey was incorrect, both as to the eastern
or pre-emption line, and as to the Mill Tract, and Phelps and Gor-
ham agreed to make an accurate resurvey of the whole tract. The
-deed to Morris, so far as it concerns the Mill Tract, recites : " A
manifest error has been committed in the laying out and dividing
the same, so that a new survey must be had in order to correct the
said error."
In 1791 and 1792 Adam Hoops, as superintendent, with Frederick
Saxton, John Adlum, Augustus Porter and others, made a new and
careful survey of the whole Phelps and Gorham Purchase, while
Benjamin Ellicott ran the new pre-emption line as the true eastern
boundary. According to the " Eeturn of Survey," made February
4, 1793, Major Hoops found the land actually conveyed to Morris to
have a net area of one million two hundred and sixty-four thousand,
iive hundred and sixty-nine acres, one rood and ten perches. This
44: ROCHESTER HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
" return " has endorsed upon it a certificate of settlement, stating
that Robert Morris had agreed to pay Phelps and Gorham for the
surplus of land conveyed over one million acres, at the rate of eight
pence half penny, Massachusetts currency, per acre. At this rate,,
which is believed to be the price paid for the whole, the land cost
very nearly one hundred and fifty thousand dollars.
The errors in the first survey were now shown to have been the-
inclusion of about eighty-seven thousand acres too much in the Mill
Tract, west of the Genesee river, and the exclusion of about eighty-
four thousand acres lying between the old and new pre-emption lines.
The new line ran about as far east of Geneva as the old line had been
to the west, and parts of Sodus bay and Seneca lake were found to
be within this tract. Plate III. is a reduced reproduction of the
map of this survey, made by Augustus Porter.
XIY. THE SALE BY MORRIS'TO THE LONDON ASSOCIATES. CHARLES
WILLIAMSON.
Robert Morris, immediately after obtaining title, prepared to dis-
pose of these lands and instructed his European agents to offer them
for sale. Within a few months his London agent, William Temple-
Franklin, announced that he had sold them to a company of Englishmen,,
consisting of Sir William Pulteney, William Hornby and Patrick
Colquhoun, all gentlemen of means and high position. The interest
of Pulteney was nine-twelfths; of Hornby, two-twelfths, and of Col-
quhoun, one-twelfth.
At this time aliens could not legally hold title to lands in New
York, and the associates sent to America as their agent a Scotchman
of vast energy and great ambition. Charles Williamson reached Bal-
timore early in June, 1702, and, visiting Mr. Morris at Philadelphia,
learned the requirements of the situation. He was naturalized under
the United States law of March 26, 1790, by taking the necessary
oath in open court on January 9, 1792, before Joseph Yeates, one
of the justices of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. Three months
later, by deed dated April 11, 1792, Robert Morris and Mary his
wife, conveyed the premises to Mr. Williamson for the consideration
of seventy-five thousand pounds sterling money of Great Britain,,
equivalent to three hundred and thirty-three thousand, three hundred
thirty three dollars and thirty-three cents, specie. Mr. Morris's profit
in the transaction was therefore over one hundred and sixty thousand
dollars.
PLATE III.
LAKE ONTARIO
TITLE OF THE PHELPS AND GORHAM PURCHASE. 45
Williamson, in fact, though not in form, took and held the title as
agent or trustee of the London associates, and drew upon them for
the enormous and even extravagant expenses which he afterward in-
curred to make roads and to otherwise improve the lands, to induce
and even import settlers, to attract attention to the property, and
to speculate in other lands.
One of his early efforts was to settle the title to the Gore between
the old and the new pre-emption lines. The state of New York,,
owning the Military Tract next west of the Phelps and Gorham Pur-
chase, had assumed Maxwell's survey to be correct and had granted
patents for lands within the Gore. Settlements were made partly
with "Williamson and partly with Robert Troup, his successor in the
management of this property, by conveying to these agents state lands,
around Sodus bay and in the mile strip along the Niagara river, of
much greater area than the lands for which this compensation was
made. Williamson, in 1793, took possession of about sixteen thou-
sand acres in and around Geneva, and in 1800 John Livingston (the
chief of the lessees) and Thomas Maule, who had received patents
for this land, procured from the state fifty thousand acres each in
settlement of their u rights."
Under an act of March 24, 1795, and another of April 6, 1796, and
a certificate of the surveyor general made pursuant thereto, April 7,
1796, the state accepted the pre-emption line as run by Benjamin
Ellicott as the eastern boundary line of the lands ceded to Massachu-
setts.
Mr. Williamson's energy and enterprises led him on until his ex-
penses became so great that his principals, in 1800, refused to pay
further drafts upon them and asked him to withdraw from his agency y .
and instructed him to divide the property between Pulteney, Hornby
and Colquhoun, according to their several interests, and offered him
thirty thousand pounds sterling, and twelve thousand acres of land
at cost if he would convey the lands as requested free from incum-
brance. Williamson could not accept these terms but attempted a
division of a part of the premises by conveying, on December 13,
1800, to each of his principals a tract of land, on condition of their
making certain payments to him amounting in all to two hundred
and seventy-five thousand dollars.
Before this time, and on April 2, 1798, the New York legislature
had passed " An Act to enable aliens to purchase and hold real
estate," making valid all conveyances to them or by them, requiring
46 ROCHESTER HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
every conveyance made pursuant to the act to be recorded in the of-
fice of the secretary of state within twelve months from its date and
providing that the act should be in force for three years and no longer.
This law was amended by the act of April 5, 1798, and was explained
by the act of March 15, 1819. This act was soon to expire and it
became important to obtain deeds from Williamson for the remainder
of the tract. Sir William Pulteney retained Robert Troup, an emi-
nent lawyer of New York city, to complete the transaction. Will-
iamson's numerous creditors were now pressing him hard, and, as he
was helpless, there was great danger of executions being levied on
the lands. Mr. Troup now succeeded in inducing Williamson to
execute deeds of the remaining lands to Sir William Pulteney.
These deeds were dated March 31, 1801, two days before the
enabling act expired, and were placed in escrow in the hands
of Mr. Troup until it could be learned whether Sir William
would accept the terms offered by Mr. Williamson, in substance, to-
wit : To pay him eighty-nine thousand dollars, to pay his debts to
the amount of about two hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars,
including certain mortgages, and to release him from all claims then
existing. Sir William, after some wavering, accepted the proposition
and gave to Williamson his obligations, dated July 23, 1801, agreeing
to the terms imposed and to secure their performance. The deeds of
March 31 were recorded in the office of the secretary of state on
October 21, 1801.
The lands and securities conveyed by Mr. Williamson to his prin-
-cipals in this settlement were valued at a little more than three and
one half million dollars, and of these Sir William received about
six-sevenths.
It is unfortunate that Mr. Williamson's letters, accounts and papers
have been in great part lost and destroyed, so that few sources remain
from which to prepare the biography of this remarkable man. The
-story of his life would form perhaps the most important chapter in
the history of the settlement of Western New York.
Since the deed last mentioned the Phelps and Gorham Purchase
has been commonly called the " Pulteney Estate."
The Hornby and Colquhoun estates were so small, as compared
with the Pulteney Estate., that they are not followed further.
Plate IY. is a map showing the tract as it was between 1802 and
1806. This is a reduced fac-simile of the rare original and is the
most correct map of the Phelps and Gorham Purchase.
TITLE OF THE PHELPS AND GORHAM PURCHASE. 47
XY. THE PULTENEY ESTATE THE KEAL ESTATE BRANCH.
Sir William Pulteney died May 28, 1805, intestate, leaving Henri-
etta Laura, Countess of Bath, his only child and heir-at-law. She
died July 14, 1808, without issue, intestate as to the real estate in
America, but leaving a will, dated November 5, 1794, disposing of
her personal estate. Her American real estate descended to Sir John
Lowther Johnstone, her cousin and heir-at-law, who was the only son
of the eldest brother of Sir William Pulteney ; the name of the latter
had been originally Johnstone and had been changed upon his mar-
riage into the Pulteney family.
Under an act of the legislature, passed January 26, 1821, the
testimony respecting the title of the Pulteney Estate was per-
perpetuated under exemplification from the Court of Chancery, wit-
nesses being examined under an order made and interrogatories
approved by Chancellor Kent. On November 28, 1821, an order was
entered by the chancellor that the depositions taken, in his opinion,
furnished " good priina facie evidence of the facts therein set forth."
Sir John Lowther Johnstone died in December, 1811, leaving a will
executed August 7, of the same year. This will was proved in the
.Supreme Court, January 3, 1820, under the law of February 20, 1801. '
By this will these lands were devised to Ernest Augustus, Duke of
Cumberland and afterward king of Hanover ; Charles Herbert Pierre-
point, Yiscount Newark ; David Cathcart, afterward Lord Alloway,
.and Masterton Ure, as trustees to sell and convert the same into money
.and to apply the proceeds, first, in payment of the decedent's debts
and the remainder in purchasing real estate in Scotland. The will
also gave the trustees and the survivor or survivors the power to
-appoint and substitute new trustees, and declared that where there
were four existing trustees the acts of three of them should be valid,
and when there were but three the acts of two should be valid.
The only changes which have taken place in this title since the
death of Sir John Lowther Johnstone are the substitutions of trustees.
On the first of March, 1819, Pierrepoint, by the title of Earl Man-
vers, relinquished his trust and by deed of that date conveyed to his
co-trustees all his interest in the estates. On November 19, 1827, the
remaining trustees, by deed of that date, appointed John Gordon a
-co-trustee in the place of Earl Manvers, and conveyed to him a joint
Interest in the lands.
The death of Ernest Augustus, king of Hanover, occurred on
November 18, 1851, and that of David Cathcart, on April 26, 1829.
48 ROCHESTER HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
These facts were proved by commission executed pursuant to chapter
161 of the laws of 1860. On the first of June, 1851, by deed of that
date, Masterton Ure and John Gordon, the surviving trustees^
conveyed all the interest of Gordon in the trust estates in question,
to the Earl of Craven, Alexander Oswald and Edmund Bucknall
Estcourt, and on April 4, 1859, Masterton Ure made a deed releas-
ing his interest as trustee to Craven, Oswald and Estcourt. The Earl
of Craven died on the 25th of August, 1866, and proof of the fact
was made under commission in the following year. On November
12, 1867, Oswald and Estcourt, by deed, released the trust estates to-
Henry C. Howard (Yiscount Andover), George C. K. Johnstone,.
Henry Chaplin and James E. Farquharson.
XVI. THE PULTENEY ESTATE THE PERSONAL ESTATE BRANCH.
On the death of the Countess of Bath, her personal property, ac-
cording to her will, was bequeathed in trust, for Mrs. Elizabeth
Evelyn Markham and her children. Among the effects thus be-
queathed, were the moneys arising from contracts for the sale of
the Pulteney Estate lands, made before the will took effect, besides
certain bonds and mortgages. The proceeds were paid over to Mrs.
Markham, who afterward married John Pulteney. Mrs. Elizabeth
Markham Pulteney died March 18, 1856, bequeathing this property
to her son, the Eev. Eichard Thomas Pulteney Pulteney, and there-
upon the executors of the will of the Countess of Bath, in June,
1856, conveyed to Mr. Pulteney Pulteney all the property held by
them and forming a part of the estate of the Countess of Bath,
situate in America; and by deed dated September 10, 1862, the
trustees under the will of Sir John Lowther Johnstone conveyed to
the same person the title to the lands at that time affected by the
contracts above mentioned. In June, 1874, the Eev. Mr. Pulteney
Pulteney died and left a will devising and bequeathing his estates to
Maximilian H. Dallison and Alfred Markley, in trust for his wife
during her life and his children after her death.
The Pulteney estates having been divided, as above described, at
the death of the Countess of Bath, the main or real estate branch has
since that time been commonly called the Johnstone Branch, and the
personal estate has been commonly called the Pulteney Branch.
XVII. THE AGENTS OF THE PULTENEY ESTATE.
In the year 1801 Eobert Troup succeeded Charles Williamson, as-
PLATE IV.
TITLE OF THE PHELPS AND GOEHAM PURCHASE. 49
agent for the management of the estates. In 1832 Robert Troup
died and Joseph Fellows succeeded him, and in 1859 William Young
was appointed agent jointly with him. In 1862 Benjamin F. Young
was appointed the attorney for the real estate branch, and still retains
the agency, with an office at Bath, N. Y.
"With respect to the personal or Pulteney branch, Eobert Troup at
first, and Joseph Fellows, for some time jointly with Troup, held the
agency until 1862, when Joseph Fellows became the sole manager,
:and in the same year Edward Kingsland, of Geneva, became joined
with Mr. Fellows. In 1871 Mr. Fellows retired, and Mr. Kingsland
has since that time had the full agency. These agents have appointed
.sub-agents as convenient.
At the present time there is very little property remaining undis-
posed of in either branch of the estate.
The Pulteney estate has been subjected to much litigation, and to
.several attacks in the legislature. The limits of this article will not
permit a discussion of these matters. It will be sufficient to say that
in every case the title has been upheld.
NOTE. Acknowledgment must be made of the courtesy of Mr. George H. Har-
ris, the well known investigator of the early history of this region, in permitting
the use of the electrotype plate of the map by Augustus Porter (Plate III). It is a
reduction from the rare original in his possession, and first appeared in Mr. Con-
over's " The Genesee Tract." Further acknowledgment is also made of the kind-
ness of Messrs. Scrantom & Wetmore, for the use of the plate for printing Max-
well's Map of 1790 (Plate II.), which appeared in Mrs. Parker's "Rochester, a
Story Historical," published by them. Mr. G. S. Conover has given most impor-
tant assistance to the writer.
It is believed that the three rare maps of the Phelps and Gorham Purchase are
iiere brought together for the first time.
XVIII. BlBLIOGEAPHY.
GENERAL HISTORY.
Bancroft, George. History of the United States. 6 vols., 8vo., New York, 1888.
Hildreth, Richard. History of the United States. 6 vols., 8vo., New York,
1880.
Curtis, George T. History of the ... Constitution of the United States
... 2 vols., 8vo., N. Y., 1854-1858.
Winsor, Justin (Editor). Narrative and Critical History of America. 8 vols.,
Royal 8vo., Boston, 1886-1889.
Wilson, James G., and Fiske, John. Appleton's Cyclopaedia of American Bio
graphy. 6 vols., Royal 8vo., New York, 1887-1889.
THE CHARTERS.
Poore, Ben. Perley (Compiler). The Federal and State Constitutions, Colonial
Charters and Organic Laws of the United States. 2 vols., Royal 8vo., Washing-
ton, 1877.
50 ROCHESTER HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
Marshall, Orsamus H. The Historical Writings of the late Orsamus H. Marshall.
8vo., Albany, 1887 (containing " The New York Charters of 1664 and 1674 ").
MASSACHUSETTS AND CONNECTICUT.
Palfrey, John G. History of New England. 5 vols., Royal 8vo., Boston,,
1884-1890.
GENERAL HISTORY OP NEW YORK.
Smith, William. History of New York. 8vo., Albany, 1814.
Broadhead, John R. History of the State of New York. 2 vols., 8vo., New
York, 1871-4.
Macauley, James. The Natural, Statistical and Civil History of the State of
New York. 3 vols., 8vo., New York, 1829.
O'Callaghan, E. B. The Documentary History of the State of New York. 4
vols., 8vo., Albany, 1849-1851.
Broadhead, John R., and Fernow, B. Documents Relative to the Colonial His-
tory of the State of New York. 14 vols., 4to., Albany, 1856-1883.
SPECIAL HISTORIES.
Collections of the New York Historical Society for the year 1870 (Vol. III. of the
Publication fund series). 8vo. New York, 1871. (Containing "State of the Evi-
dence and Argument in support of the Territorial Rights and Jurisdiction of
New York against the Government of New Hampshire, and the claimants under
it, and against the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. By James Duane, one of
the Agents and Commissioners appointed by the Legislature to manage those
Controversies." Pages 1-144).
Bowen, Clarence W. The ^Boundary Disputes of Connecticut. 4to. Boston,
1882.
The Connecticut Gore Title, Stated and Considered. 12mo. Hartford, 1799.
Report of the Regents of the University on the Boundaries of the State of New
York. 2 vols. 8vo. Vol, 1, Albany, 1874. Vol. 2, Albany, 1884.
Report of the Regents' Boundary Commission upon the New York and Pennsyl-
vania Boundary. 8vo. Albany, 1886.
Hough, Franklin B. (Editor). Proceedings of the Commissioners of Indian
Affairs. ., . . With an introduction and notes. 2 vols., 4to., Albany, 1861.
American State papers, Indian Affairs. 2 vols., folio, Washington, 1832-1834.
Report of Special Committee to Investigate the Indian Problem of the State of
New York. 8vo., Albany, 1889.
Turner, Orsamus. Pioneer History of the Holland Purchase of Western New
York. 8vo., Buffalo, 1849.
Turner, Orsamus. History of the Pioneer Settlement of Phelps and Gorham's
Purchase and Morris' Reserve ; Embracing the Counties of Monroe, Ontario, Liv-
ingston, Yates, Steuben, most of Wayne and Allegany, and parts of Orleans, Gen-
esee and Wyoming, to which is added a Supplement or Extension of the Pioneer
History of Monroe County. 8vo., Rochester, 1851.
Turner, Orsamus. History of the Pioneer Settlement of Phelps and Gorham's
Purchase and Morris' Reserve. To which is added a Supplement or Continuation
of the Pioneer History of Ontario, Wayne, Livingston, Yates and Allegany. 8vo.,,
Rochester, 1852.
TITLE OF THE PHELP8 AND GOEHAM PURCHASE. 51
McMaster, Guy H. History of the Settlement of Steuben County, N. Y., In-
cluding Notices of the Old Pioneer Settlers and their Adventures. 12mo., Bath,
1853.
Doty, Lockwood L. A History of Livingston County, New York. 8vo., Gen-
eseo, 1876.
Young, Andrew W. History of Chautauqua County, New York. 8vo., Buf-
falo, 1875.
Ketchum, William. An Authentic and Comprehensive History of Buffalo. 2
vols., 8vo., Buffalo. 1865.
Chapman, Isaac A. A Sketch of the History of Wyoming. 12mo., Wilkes-
barre, Pa., 1830.
Miner, Charles. History of Wyoming. . . 8vo., Philadelphia, 1845.
Sparks, Jared. The Library of American Biography. Vol. 25. (containing the
Life of the Rev. Samuel Kirkland.) 12mo., Boston, 1848.
Con over, George S. Early History of Geneva (Pamphlet). 8vo., Geneva, 1880.
Conover, George S. The Genesee Tract (Pamphlet). 8vo., Geneva, 1889.
O'Reilly, Henry. Sketches of Rochester. With incidental notices of Western
New York. 8vo., Rochester, 1838.
Peck, William F. Semi-Centennial History of Rochester. 4to., Syracuse, 1884.
(The first fifteen chapters are by Mr. George H. Harris).
Parker, Jenny Marsh. Rochester, A Story Historical. 8vo., Rochester, 1884.
In the Court of Chancery Between Sir John L. Johnstone, complainant, and
Sir James Pulteney, Sir Thomas Jones, Christopher Codrington, Robert Troup,
Mary Foster and Andrew Craigie, defendants. Case both on the part of the com-
plainants and of the defendants. Geneva. Printed by James Bogert, n. d. pp.
20. (Loaned by Mr. George S. Conover.)
Appeal books, briefs and opinions in
1. The People of the State of New York vs. Alonzo Snyder. 41 N. Y. 397.
2. Howard vs. Moot. 64 N. Y. 262.
3. Duke of Cumberland vs. Codrington. 3 Johns. Ch. 229.
And opinion in
4. Duke of Cumberland vs. Graves, 3 Seld. 305.
52 EOCHESTEE HISTOEICAL SOCIETY.
Ill THEEE EPISODES IN THE HISTOEY OF THE
GENESEE VALLEY. 1
BY GEOEGE Moss.
Aside from the visit of La Salle to the Genesee Yalley in 1669, the
expedition to this point of Denonville against the Senecas in 1687, the
brilliant campaign of Sullivan in Western New York in 1779, and
other prominent incidents in the history of this locality, there are
three important epochs in the development of the " Genesee country"
which deserve more attention than they commonly receive either from
students of history or modern historians. The apparent indifference
manifested toward the trio of events forming the basis of this paper is,
however, readily accounted for. It is clearly the result of restricted,
and, in some cases, obscure data concerning those events, and, in truth,
is more apparent than real, since if the facts in the premises were
as easily attainable they would be as widely known and as frequent-
ly commented upon as any of the achievements of peace or war dis-
tinguishing the early years of occupation or settlement here.
EPISODE No. 1.
In 1759 more than a decade of years before the revolt of the
American colonies against the rule of Great Britain, and at least a
-quarter of a century before the white settlement of the fertile region
of which Rochester is now the metropolis M. Pouchot, Chevalier
de Vordre Royal et Militaire de St. Louis, ancien Capitaine du
Regiment de, Beam, was French commandant of Fort Niagara,
where he and his troops were, in July of that year, defeated and dis-
possessed by the British under Sir William Johnson and Gen. Pri-
deaux. Returning to France, M. Pouchot shortly afterward wrote and
his friends had published in three goodly volumes a " Memoir upon
the Late War in North America, between the French and English,
1755-60, followed by observations upon the theater of actual war
and by new details concerning the manners and customs of the In-
dians; with topographical maps." In 1866 the late Dr. Franklin
B. Hough, of Lowville, Lewis county, this state, found a stray copy
of this valuable work in the library of Harvard university, and, by
permission, translated it into English and published a limited but
J Read before the Rochester Historical Society January 4, 1889.
THREE EPISODES IN THE HISTORY OF THE GENESLE VALLEY. 53
handsome edition in two volumes with additional notes and illus-
trations. Dr. Hough, in his preface, says : " The memoirs bear con-
clusive evidence of having been written in a spirit of candor and
truth, and being chiefly founded upon personal observation." M.
Pouchot, he continues, was " an honest, brave, and energetic officer,
inspired with honorable ambition and an earnest zeal for the success
of the French arms. . . . Although this work has been in the
hands of historians engaged upon the special period to which it re-
lates, it is scarcely known in our public libraries, or in private col-
lections of American history." The French edition was published
in Switzerland in 1781 fourteen years after the author's death.
" It is probable," says Dr. Hough, " that some restriction of govern-
ment upon publications of this class may have occasioned its issue
beyond the limits of France." M. Pouchot held distinguished ran^k
.among the intrepid French defenders of Canada against the English.
The Marquis of Yaudreuil, in 1761 governor of New France, certified
that Senor Pouchot conducted himself in the different commands at
Fort Niagara and elsewhere " with all the sagacity, zeal, intelligence
and economy of an accomplished officer." With the general topics
vof his "Memoirs" this paper, however, has little to do; it will be re-
stricted to quotations referring particularly to the section of country
traversed by our famous river, and to notes upon the topographical
charts and engravings contained in Dr. Hough's translated work. In
the text M. Pouchot calls the Genesee river the Casconchiagon. In
his map the word is hyphenated and spelled Cas-con-chacon. Ironde-
<quoit bay is pictured under the name of " Baye and Fort des Sables."
Just before the Genesee enters Lake Ontario, three falls (les 3 chutes)
.are designated on the map. The series of lakes in Western and Central
New York are shown, but none are named except Kanentagon (Can-
andaigua) and Goyogoin (Cayuga). An Indian village, styled on the
map " Anjageen," is located on the present Honeoye creek, probably
in the neighborhood of East Rush or Honeoye Falls. Trails lead
through it and also from the Allegany and upper Genesee rivers to
Niagara falls. The same map also shows lakes Ontario and Erie, the
'St. Lawrence river and Thousand Islands, the Hudson, Delaware and
Susquehanna rivers, and the mountain ranges, and gives a fairly cor-
rect topographical view of the whole of this state and most of Penn-
sylvania, together with a narrow strip of Canada abutting the two
lakes named. Of the several routes of communication between Can-
ada and the English colonies in Virginia, &c., M. Pouchot names as
5
54: ROCHESTER HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
fourth in importance that by the river Casconchiagon. He finds at.
its mouth, however, a harbor of sufficient size and depth, but a bad
bar at the entrance. I quote : " This river has a much longer course
into the interior than any other on this coast. It has three falls with
banks on the sides almost as fine as those of Niagara. They enter the
Baye des Sables to begin the navigation of the Casconchiagon. Thera
is a portage of three leagues (presumably to a point above the Rapids),
which is the most convenient route. . . . The Fort des Sables is
only some high banks of sand, which are found around the bay of this-
name. It is three leagues in depth, with a good depth of water. Be-
yond this bay the land as far as the foot of the Rideau des Cotes
[high falls, now in the heart of the city of Rochester, and doubtless
so called from their resemblance to side curtains formed by the falls-
and divided by a small island where the recently burned lantern works
stood] is very low and marshy and the wood thick. . . . The
bay of Casconchiagon [Charlotte] would be very good for the anchor-
age of vessels, but its entrance is difficult on account of a bar. If the
country were inhabited we might still make a very convenient passage.
. . . At present the navigation [of the upper Geuesee] is only
made in bark canoes. It would be necessary to have bateaux in re-
serve above the falls, where the water is deep enough and the currents
gentle. The falls [and here M. Pouchot quotes from Charlevoix]
are three in number ; the first 60 feet high and 2 arpents wide, the
third 100 feet high and 3 arpents wide ; the second is much less con-
siderable. This river has no portages but those marked on the map.
It traverses the whole country of the Five Nations, and communicates
witli the Ohio by a little lake, the waters of which in part fall into the
Casconchiagon, and in part into the Ohio. . . . Near this lake is
a bituminous oil spring of considerable size, [petroleum.]
The navigation of this river would be much more considerable if these
countries should come to be inhabited by Europeans. . . . Tha
banks of the Casconchiagon and of the Canestio are the parts chiefly
inhabited by the Senecas, which are the most numerous of the Five-
Nations. The whole country along these rivers is beautiful and fer-
tile. . . . Their [Indian] villages are near the lakes, where we find
meadows forming landscapes of the most charming kind, and lands
which would be most admirable to cultivate."
In Dr. Hough's translation is inserted a map of the country of the
Six Nations by Sir Guy Johnson, prepared in 1771. It names the
Genesee, "Little Senecas river;" Braddock's bay, "Prideaux bay;""
THREE EPISODES IN THE HISTORY OF THE G-ENESEE VALLEY. 55
Irondequoit, " Adiarundaquat bay;" Sodus, "Aserotus bay;" Can-
andaigua, " Canadanigey." It marks the Indian path from above the
Rapids to Irondequoit bay; locates the present site of Geneseo under
the name of Chenussio, and indicates a trail from the latter place,
through Canawaugus, to Fort Schlosser, above Niagara falls. All the
country between the Genesee river and where Buffalo has since grown
into respectable proportions is described as " never having been sur-
veyed or even thoroughly explored. It is chiefly laid down," says
Sir Guy, " from my journals and the sketches of intelligent Indians and
other persons." Seneca and Cayuga lakes are each given a place, with
a note that " there are more lakes hereabouts, but they cannot be laid
down with certainty."
Geneseo was an important Indian village in M. Pouchot's time, and
the savages were friendly toward the French commandant, a fact
which Sir "William Johnson confirms in MSS. found in the latter's col-
lection. Sir William tells of an Indian trader who had been " among
those Indians of Chenussio alias Senekas," and says, "he thinks most
of the Indians living at Chenussio will join the French ; . . . that
he had seen several English scalps in said Castle, and that Jean Cour
and four Frenchmen came to Chenussio last October ; that he was
also at the Seneca castle called Gannyhsadagy, where he desired no
English should be suffered to trade or build." Chenussio appears in-
deed to have been an important stopping place between Niagara and
Pennsylvania for both savage and civilized warriors a century and a
quarter ago.
In the translated "Memoirs" are engravings of the falls of the
Genesee. They are reduced from originals produced by Mazell, the
celebrated London artist who lived and flourished during the latter
half of the eighteenth century. Two of Mazell's originals are in pos-
session of the writer of this paper, and are fine specimens of the artis-
tic skill of those days. In size they are about 2-J- by 3 feet, and are in
an excellent state of preservation. One is a faithful sketch of the
lower falls, and the other portrays the center fall, a few rods above.
In fine copperplate text at the bottom of the engravings it is set forth
that they are views of cataracts " on the Casconchiagon or little Senecas
River on Lake Ontario," giving the height, etc., and stating that they
were drawn " on ye spot and published as ye law directs by T. Da vies,
Capt. Lieut in ye Royal Regiment of Artillery. Mazell, sculpt." This
Capt. Davies was evidently in Sir Wm. Johnson's command, and made
the sketches while on his way to fight M. Pouchot at Fort Niagara.
56 KOCHESTEK HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
The river then was wooded to the brink, and presented a most pic-
turesque appearance.
EPISODE No. 2.
In 1790 Viscomte de Chateaubriand, one of the most distinguished
of French authors, visited North America, and called upon General
Washington, to whom he had letters of presentation. Afterward, he
made a trip to Niagara falls, and details his experiences and impres-
sions during the journey in the seventh volume of his complete works,
entitled " Yoyage en Amerique." Leaving Philadelphia, where, by
the way, the president then lived, it being the seat of the Federal
government, he came to New York, thence up the Hudson to Albany,
and from there to Onondaga, where he was hospitably entertained by
the chief of the savages. Continuing his trip through the primeval
forest toward Niagara falls of which his book contains perhaps
the best engraving of the famous cataract ever produced he says he
could scarcely trace the route by reason of des abatis cParbres de-
bris of fallen trees. I make a somewhat free translation of his own
words, as follows : " The trunks of these fallen trees served as bridges
over the small streams, and their limbs answered the same purpose
crossing quagmires. An American population is making now toward
the concessions of the Genesee. The government sells these conces-
sions more or less dear, according to the excellence of the soil, quality
of the timber, and the course and number of the streams. The abodes
within the ' clearings ' here offer a curious admixture of wildness and
civilization. "Within the recesses of a forest that had previously only
heard the yells of savages and the noise of wild beasts we often come
across a patch of cultivated land, and perceive at the same time the
cabin of an Indian and the habitation of a white man. Some of these
finished homes in the woods recall the tidiness of English or Dutch
farm houses; others, half completed, have but the dome formed by the
standing forest trees for a roof. I was received in some of these habi-
tations, and found often a charming family, with the comforts and
refinements of Europe and all this within a few steps of an Iroquois
hut. One day, after travelling some hours without finding a trace of
habitation, I perceived the signboard of a tavern hanging from the
limb of a tree on the side of the road. . . . Hunters, farmers and
Indians met together at these caravansaries, but the first time I reposed
in one of them I asseverated solemnly it would be the last. Entering
I stood stupefied at the aspect of an immense bed constructed around
a stake ; each traveler took his place in this bed with his feet toward
THREE EPISODES IN THE HISTORY OF THE GENESEE VALLEY. 57
the center stake, and his head toward the circumference of the circle,
in such manner that the sleepers were ranged symmetrically, like the
spokes of a wheel or the sticks of a fan. After some hesitancy, I in-
troduced myself into this machine, and was falling asleep when I was
rudely awakened by the snoring of my grand dicMe of a Dutch guide
[procured at Albany], who was extended fast asleep at my side ! I
never felt greater horror in my life. I threw myself out of the ' bunk/
cursing cordially the usages of the first settlers, and went to sleep in
my manteau under the light of the moon." . . . Ariving at the
Genesee river, the viscomte saw across that stream what he denomi-
nates the " marvelous rattlesnakes," attracted by the sound of a flute.
A little farther on he came upon a family of savages with whom he
passed the night, at some distance from Niagara falls. The history
of that meeting and a description of the falls and of the scenery of
"Western New York generally may be found in Atala, in the JS'ssai
Historique, and Genie du Christianisme, by the same author. Vis-
comte Chateaubriand afterward became a prominent figure in French
literature, not only, but in politics as well, and in 1822 was appointed
ambassador-extraordinary to the British court.
EPISODE No. 3.
In 1814 General George Izard was the senior major-general of the
American army on the Canada frontier during the campaign of that
year. His family was among the earliest settlers of South Carolina,
his father, a man of fortune, marrying Alice de Lancey of New York
in 1767, niece of James de Lancey, lieut-governor of that province.
General Izard was the only strictly professional soldier of the war of
1812-14, and an admirable sketch of his life and military career is
given in the Magazine of American History for June last. During
the summer of 1814 he was ordered to march 4,000 men from Platts-
burg, N. Y., to Niagara. He started on the 29th of August, and ar-
rived at Sackett's Harbor on the 16th of September, where he was
delayed " five days on account of a violent gale which prevented any
embarkation, and it was not until the 21st that 3,000 of the troops
could be got on board Chauncey's fleet. These were landed the next
morning early at the mouth of the Genesee river. The light artillery
without their guns, the dismounted dragoons and a squadron of
mounted dragoons, continued the journey by land. Upon landing at
the Genesee river every exertion," says General Izard's diary, " was
used to collect a sufficient number of wagons and horses for the trans-
58 ROCHESTER HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
portation of our camp equipage and provisions ; but our appearance
being unexpected |[at Rochester] and that part of the country thinly
peopled, it was not until the 24th that we could resume our march.
Part of the tents and stores were unavoidably left, to follow as fast as
means could be procured for the purpose. Through excessively bad
roads, and amidst continual and heavy rains, we proceeded. . . .
On the 26th the whole of our corps arrived in good spirits at Batavia."
At Batavia he met General Brown, and their forces were joined, and
the siege of Niagara decided upon. The troops were moved to Lewis-
town, and General Izard assumed command, with General Brown next
in authority and General P. B. Porter commanding the New York
militia. The result is too well known to need recapitulation here.
The point to be ascertained is, from what place did Gen. Izard start
on his march from the Genesee to Batavia ? His diary gives no infor-
mation on this subject. It is pretty well authenticated, however, that
Chauncey's fleet did not come up the Genesee to Hanford's landing
on the west bank of the river, and there debark the troops, as has been
stated. They landed at what is now known as Charlotte, marching
thence but a short distance to the point where " the ridge," running
eastward and westward, is broken through by the ravine formed by the
river. General Izard from there proceeded west, via the ridge road,
until it became necessary to bear off in a more southerly direction
toward Batavia.
Since the incidents, above briefly set forth, took place, Rochester
has risen from a mere hamlet in the wilderness to a city of 140,000
inhabitants a city of progress, of business energy, of culture, and of
happy homes. Its past is a record of gallantry in war and noble
achievements in peace. Its future is secure.
THE OPENING OF THE GENESEE COUNTRY. 59
IV. THE OPENING OF THE GENESEE COUNTRY. 1
BY JANE MARSH PARKER.
The opening of the Genesee country of the state of New York, a
little more than ten years after the close of the war of the Revolution,
was to those troublous times what the opening of the new world was
to the old, when an outlet was demanded for the evolution of ideas,
which suppressed meant revolution. The Genesee country was an
outlet for prevailing and increasing discontent with oppressive taxa-
tion, abandoned fisheries, a disabled commerce, severe laws against
-debtors, when everybody was in debt and chiefly the government to
its discharged army a government powerless to collect duties on
imports, or to compel the states to raise their share of the national
debt. The opening of the Genesee country did much to transform
that discontent into a new force for the country's prosperity a force
making "Western New York what it is to day the brain, heart and
:siriew of the Empire state. The men who were foremost in opening
the Genesee country left the impress of their character upon it men
like Oliver Phelps, Nathaniel Rochester, "William Fitzhugh and
-Charles Carroll gentlemen in the truest sense of the word, who had
not failed at everything before taking up wild lands as a last venture.
The character of the first settlers in the Genesee country bore a
significant relation to the character of its first great land proprietors.
These pioneer settlers, as a rule, were of good family many of them
were the children of patriots. Their fathers had been impoverished
through loyalty to their country's cause, and fathers and children were
smarting under wrong for which there seemed no remedy.
Only 250 years ago the territory to the westward of Albany was
called " the Unknown Land/'' Two hundred years ago La Salle and
Father Hennepin, and Joncaire, were exploring Lake Ontario and the
Little Seneca river (Genesee) and telling the world of the wonderful
falls and the rattlesnakes.
The Franciscan missionaries had much to do with the opening of
the Genesee country, those true heroes, journeying on foot from one
Indian village to another, portable chapel on back, their lives at the
mercy of the Iroquois. So too had the French traders with their
'Read before the Rochester Historical Society, June 14, 1888.
60 ROCHESTER HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
" brand ie," and the English traders with their rum. But not until
Sullivan's raid (1779), could it be said that Western New York was-
fairly opened to the white man, and not then for the legal ownership
of land, as it was illegal to buy of an Indian without the authority and
the consent of the legislature, and certain complications between
Massachusetts and New York made the legal sale of land impossible..
What glowing descriptions of the beautiful Genesee valley were
given by Sullivan's soldiers when they returned from the border
their fury having been chiefly spent upon corn fields and patches of
beans, and in burning the deserted villages of the Senecas. But Sul-
livan could report to General Washington that he had not left " even
the appearance of an Indian on this side of Fort Niagara." Such
grass and corn and timber, such water privileges and soil, his men
had never seen before, and naturally such stories created a great in-
terest in the -country, and when it was known that Massachusetts and
New York had settled their difficulties concerning original grants, and
that the Senecas had sold their lands, there was a universal interest in
the Phelps and Gorham Purchase.
One hundred years ago July, 1788 Phelps and Gorham made
their purchase of the lands of the Senecas, some two million six
hundred thousand acres, extinguishing the Indian title forever.
When Phelps and Gorham had made a good title possible, and
James Wadsworth and others were holding out inducements to settlers,,
and a few mills had been built and something like roads had been
marked out, the ox teams took up their march for the Genesee coun-
try, and that mainly in the winter time, for the streams were without
bridges. Trees would have to be felled before the log cabin could be-
built ; the big box sleigh would serve awhile for a shelter. The land
must be cleared for the first ploughing and the sowing of crops.
Many of the journals of the pioneers tell how the family of little-
children lived for a week or more under the sleigh box, which was
banked up by boughs, a big fire before it, snow on the ground, the*
wolves howling at night, and not a neighbor within miles.
The southern townships of the Phelps and Gorham purchase were
far more popular than the northern. No locality was more unpopular
than "the falls," the present site of Rochester, that dismal swamp in
the roaring of the cataracts, that rendezvous of muskrats, mosquitoes
and rattlesnakes, and with the worst of reputations for fever and ague.
A mill had been built at the falls in the autumn of 1789. The mil-
ler was most disreputable, his reputation that of a murderer, thief,.
THE OPENING OF THE GENESEE COUNTRY. 61
tory, spy, in fact it is hard to find anything to redeem his character.
In less than ten years that first mill at the falls was a deserted ruin.
The water power of the locality did not count so much with the
average pioneer looking for a homestead as the distance he must go
for salt, or to a market for his potash. The falls were objectionable
for many reasons, and the river made a convenient door for Canada,,
when Canada was looked upon as an undesirable neighbor.
All in all, it is hard to understand what led Colonel Rochester,
Colonel Fitzhugh and Major Carroll, as early as the*year 1802, to buy
one hundred acres at the falls, on the west side of the Genesee river,,
and to pay what was considered a high price, 17.50 per acre. A
good part of the purchase was swamp land. Adjoining this hundred-
acre tract to the northward was what was called the Twenty Thousand
Acre tract, taken up twelve years before. The impression prevailed
that the future city of the Genesee country would be below the high
falls, not above them ; and that its nucleus was already on the Twenty
Thousand Acre tract, for that had a river landing for lake commerce
and the trade with Montreal, something the One Hundred Acre tract
could never have. Fording the river below the falls was easy enough,,
and safe fording was an important consideration when there was no-
bridge below Canawaugus some twenty miles above the falls. It did
seem as though those Maryland gentlemen Rochester, Fitzhugh and
Carroll, who had started out from Hagerstown on horseback one Sep-
tember day in the year 1800 to see what the Genesee country was like,
and to invest in its lands, if good opportunity were given had been
sharply dealt with when led to pay $17.50 per acre for land at the falls-
and above them at that. They were known to be men of experience,,
means and position, men eminently associated with public affairs, and
only that each of them had made a large investment in lands in Living-
ston county, the choicest land in the Genesee country, there would
have been few to congratulate them upon the result of their excursion.
"Were they investing in a preserve for deer, bears and racoons? Were
they going to manufacture " rattle-snake gall pills "? There was at
least one building on their purchase, or the remains of one : Allan's
old mill, built some thirteen years before, but that was anything but
attractive.
Colonel Rochester from the first had faith in the purchase. He
foresaw where the center of the future city would be, and mapped
out his streets and lots for that city, locating the " four corners " for
all time. He was eminently gifted with foresight. He had, moreover,.
62 ROCHESTER HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
a quiet, firm confidence in his own convictions. Having once reached
a final decision he was content to let others, even the majority, differ
from that decision. He was averse to controversy and self -vindication,
and therein lay the strength of the man's character. If he had waited
to be assured by friends and advisers that he would act wisely in in-
vesting in the One Hundred Acre tract, that there were good reasons
for believing that the water power and the mills of the Genesee would
develop a city, and that city's center would be at the "four corners"
of his map if he had waited for this encouragement the city of the
Genesee valley would have been called by some other name than
Rochester.
Colonel Rochester had passed his sixtieth year, and was far from vig-
orous when he decided to remove to the Genesee country, a step he
never would have taken in his declining years, only that he was im-
pelled by a conviction that his duty demanded the step for the good
of his family. He had no idea of ever settling on the One Hundred
Acre tract, but in Dansville, Livingston county, where he owned land
on each side of the mill creek, and where he believed he could lay the
foundations of a happy and useful future for his children. Born and
bred at the south, an owner of slaves as his fathers had been, he made
up his mind that a free state was better than a slave-holding one for
his children, and in a free state he was resolved to give them a home,
no matter what the sacrifice.
His eldest son, William B., who afterward made his mark in the
political history of the state of New York, approved of his father's
decision. " I feel well assured," he wrote to his father upon the sub-
ject, " that no step would contribute more effectually to the mutual
and general benefit of us all."
Colonel Rochester's intimate relations with Henry Clay (Mrs. Clay
before her marriage having lived in his family) were a source of en-
couragement for his resolution. In the considerable correspondence
that took place between Henry Clay and Colonel Rochester much
might be found if the letters were available showing perfect har-
mony of opinion as to the advantages of a free state for young men,
and a start in life as pioneers.
Colonel Rochester did not count upon any great increase of fortune
by the change, nor did he call giving up his old home and associations
in Maryland a sacrifice ; that would have been contrary to his nature.
Nevertheless he did not sell his slaves as a first step in freeing himself
from slavery. He decided to take them with him and emancipate
THE OPENING OF THE GENESEE COUNTRY. 63
them in a free state. He owned ten in all, a grandmother and her
descendants; the breaking up of slave families never had countenance
from him. The removal of the blacks to the Genesee country would
be troublesome and expensive, but that had little weight with him.
There was nothing in Colonel Rochester's departure from Hagers-
town, Maryland, suggesting that he looked upon himself as a martyr
for conscience sake. His going forth was not preceded by any open
protest against slavery discussion or controversy. If he made known
his reason for going, the temper in which he made it known did not
disturb pleasant relations with old neighbors, kinsfolk and friends.
Their respect for the man insured respect for his convictions ; it was
contrary to his nature to engage in discussion. His opposition to
.any measure was never a source of irritation to his opponents, as
has been amply illustrated in his public life in North Carolina and
Maryland. He knew no good would come of his condemnation of
the system of slavery. The time had not arrived when he could
have taken a different and what some may call a more heroic course.
And yet the name of Nathaniel Rochester has rightful place on
the list of early protestors against slavery, and it is one of the
few, perhaps the only one of note, which does not recall aught
pertaining to discord or rupture. Carrying a cross before the gaze of
a multitude, even if that multitude jeer and smite, is not so hard for
the most of us as carrying a cross with never a spectator. He walked
serenely in the path of his duty, thankful that his neighbors might
walk at peace in theirs.
The departure of the Rochester cavalcade from Hagerstown, Mary-
land, was a memorable event. It moved slowly through the main
street, the colonel's old friends and neighbors lining the way, many
weeping as if it were a funeral train. The colonel and his eldest
daughter and his five sons were on horseback the youngest son, only
four years old, upon his pet pony. Behind them were two family car-
riages, Mrs. Rochester's driven by a young man of good family, who
had asked the privilege, and three heavy wagons loaded with blacks and
luggage, four horses to each wagon a picturesque procession recall-
ing, no doubt, to some of the spectators the going forth of Abram of
old to build a city in a strange land, for the Genesee country was far
away, and the route of the cavalcade lay through the wilderness and
over the mountains. The rider of the pony, the Hon. Henry E. Roch-
ester, 1 is an honored citizen of Rochester to-day and he has a vivid re-
: Mr. Rochester has died since this article was written.
64: ROCHESTER HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
membrance of that journey through the valley of the Susquehanna,,
the camping by trout-brooks, the stop at the occasional block-houses,
and the hospitality of the settlers. The arrival of the cavalcade at
such places as Painted Post and Bath was the occasion of no little
excitement, stirring up quite a number to follow in its wake to the
Genesee country.
In less than five years after Colonel Rochester's settlement in
Dansville, he had built there a flour mill, a large paper mill and a saw
mill, each of which had his personal superintendence. In 1815 he
moved from Dansville to his large farm in Bloomfield, some twenty
miles from the One Hundred Acre tract, happy in the results of his
emigration from Maryland.
The year following his arrival in Dansville (1811), he had made a
map of village lots at the falls, and the lots sold exceedingly well.
Lot No. 1 at the "four corners" had brought $200 and that lot is
still the lot No. 1 of the city. A bridge costing $8,000 had been
built across the river not far above the high falls (1812). The-
settlers, as a rule, were substantial merchants and mechanics, mainly
from Pennsylvania and New England. Colonel Rochester thought
more of the character of the settler than of cash-down payments,
holding that the real value of his property depended upon the men
who became its owners. Until 1814 the trouble with Great Britain
had been a serious check upon the growth of the place. That
removed, Rochesterville was " booming," its prosperity simply phe-
nomenal. In 1815 its mills were making flour for the eastern market
and Genesee flour ranked second to none. (It will be remembered
that before the opening of the Erie canal in 1824 Montreal was the
market of the northern townships of the Phelps and Gorham Pur-
chase.) Settlers were arriving faster than roofs could be made to
cover them; it was not uncommon to see a line of wagons in the
main street, occupants living in and under them waiting for the
erection of their cabins. Henry E. Rochester, the boy of the pet
pony and the youngest son of the colonel, was the first express mes-
senger of the region, spending a good part of his time on the road
between the Bloomfield farm and Rochester, until his father's-
removal to the village, and then in making trips to Canandaigua,
Mount Morris and Geneva, the bearer of packages which made it
important for the lad to keep a sharp outlook as he journeyed alone.
In 1818 Colonel Rochester, decidedly against his choice, removed
his family to Rochesterville. The care of his property there
THE OPENING OF THE GENESEE COUNTRY. 65
-demanded his personal superintendence; famous travelers were
writing of its phenomenal growth, and foreign tourists went out
of their way to see its falls and the wonderful Carthage bridge span-
ning the river. It was already conspicuous in the canal movement,
and " Clinton's ditch " was begun, and would give it a direct water-
way to New York. Lots were in demand, and there was a marked
disposition on the part of land owners to hold their lots unless they
could get a high price for them. Colonel Rochester was opposed to
such a policy as one detrimental to the prosperity of the settlement,
maintaining that personal advantage should be made secondary to the
public good. He was strongly opposed to ground leases that is the
leasing of ground for a long term of years, the property to revert
to the lessors. He called ground leases feudal and anti-American
and would have none of them. He held that the future good of the
settlement demanded that its pioneers should own their homes free of
incumbrance if possible. He often sold his lots for what he could
get, and he died a comparatively poor man.
Not many years after Colonel Rochester's departure from Mary-
land, he was followed by Colonel Fitzhugh and Major Carroll and
their families, who made their homes on their great estates in Liv-
ingston county. Like Colonel Rochester they emancipated their
slaves in the Genesee country. There was a settlement of freedmen
at Sodus, Wayne county, in those days, and the old slaves of Fitz-
hugh and Carroll were largely located there.
Mrs. Gerrit Smith and Mrs. James G. Birney were daughters of
Colonel Fitzhugh. Mrs. Smith and Mrs. Birney united with their
three sisters in buying the slaves of their father's large estate and
emancipating them at the north. Some of the freedmen were settled
.at Peterboro.
Colonel Rochester died in 1831, aged seventy-nine years. Three
years after his death (1 834), Rochester became a chartered city. Those
who had felled its forests sat at the first council board of " the metrop-
olis of the Genesee valley."
" Together we have struggled through the hardships of our infant
settlement," we read in the inaugural of its first mayor, Jonathan
Child, a son-in-law of Colonel Rochester, " and together let us rejoice
in the glorious reward of our labors."
Nathaniel Rochester was pre-eminently a representative pioneer of
the Genesee country; a true gentleman, unostentatiously identifying
himself with the laboring class; a true southerner and a true patriot.
66 ROCHESTER HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
That cities and peoples have distinct individuality there are none-
to deny, nor that the individuality of each is largely the impress
upon its formative period of the characteristics of its founders. In
the rapid growth of the last twenty years .Rochester has not lost the
impress of her founders' individuality an impress still to be seen in
her marked conservatism, the disposition to decide her own matters
in her own way a rnind to retain what has been proved good, no
matter the fashion of the times; an adherence to the old unostenta-
tious hospitality of her early days, and to public customs belonging
to Kochesterville rather than to a city of about 150,000 inhabitants.
An idea of her founder's character is gained in what a citizen of
Hillsboro, N. C., wrote of him. Hillsboro has never forgotten that
Nathaniel Rochester was one of her sons, and although he removed
from Hillsboro in his thirty-first year, he had held many important
offices of public trust.
"President Swain of Chapel Hill used to impress upon his stu-
dents, that Nathaniel Rochester was a man whose character they
might study with profit * * * * a man whose schemes of life
were well and wisely planned, and well and wisely executed." To
this, those who live in the fair city that bears his name unite in say-
ing, to-day, with those who knew him well in the pioneer days of the
Genesee country : " Nathaniel Rochester was a public benefactor,,
rather than a land speculator."
THE GENESEE RIVER AND WESTERN NEW YORK. 67
Y.-THE GENESEE KIYEK AND WESTEEN NEW YOEK.'
BY HENRY E. EOCHESTER.
The Genesee, the most considerable interior river in Western New
York, has its most remote source near Coudersport, in Pennsylvania.
Its entire length to Lake Ontario, by direct line, is about one hundred
miles, by the course of the stream about one hundred and forty miles.
It has many interesting historical associations with the aborigines, who
once inhabited its borders, as also with the pioneers of our civilization.
Few who have not traversed its borders have any adequate apprecia-
tion of the beauty and grandeur of many portions of its course. Be-
fore the construction of the Genesee Yalley canal it was navigated
by a kind of water craft, called Durham boats, as far south as Mt.
Morris ; by these boats merchandise was transported to various points
up the river, and by return trips they brought down farm products
and potashes to the village of Eochester, thence transferred to lake
vessels at Hanford's Landing and shipped to Montreal, the market
for farm products of Western New York before the completion of the
Erie canal. By recent surveys, the total fall of the river from Bel-
videre in Allegany county to Lake Ontario has been ascertained to be
1,083 feet as follows:
Fall of river to falls at Portage, 253 feet.
From brink of upper falls at Portage to Mt. Morris, 475 u
From crest of dam at Mt. Morris to crest of mill
dam above Court street in Eochester, 95 "
From crest of this dam to the lake, 260 "
Total 1083 "
The immense water power of this series of falls in the river and its
numerous tributaries, applied in propelling the machinery of various
manufacturing establishments, has contributed very largely to the
development of the resources of the country and the prosperity and
wealth of its population.
One traversing the banks of the river will have his attention drawn
to the numerous beautiful creeks and lesser streams entering the river.
The more important on the west side are Black creek, near our city ;
next in order, Allen's creek, at Scottsville; White creek, in Caledonia,
'Read before the Rochester Historical Society, February 1, 1889.
68 ROCHESTER HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
and outlet of Silver lake. Crossing the river at Mt. Morris we have
the Canasaraga; at Avon, the outlet of Conesus lake, and at Rush
Junction, the Honeoye. Another object of much interest, and
attracting many visitors a few years ago, was the railroad bridge at
Portage; its great altitude and peculiar construction constituted its
attractive features; it crossed the river just above the brink of the
upper falls. Upon several stone piers of considerable height was a
superstructure of timber, of which every post, beam, girder and brace
was in duplicate, so that it could be repaired or entirely renewed
without interrupting the use of the bridge.
The face of the country in the counties of Monroe and Livingston
is rolling, with long and easy slopes, a rich and productive soil, admir-
ably adapted to agricultural purposes and production of cereals of
great variety and superior quality. In Allegany the surface is
rough and hilly, some of the higher ridges attaining an altitude of
2,000 to 2,500 feet above tide water; well adapted, however, to stock
farms and dairies, not much, if at all, inferior in profit to the grain
producing districts.
The area of drainage of the Genesee valley embraces a territory of
about 2,500 square miles, or of square feet 27,884,480.
Assuming the rain fall and melted snow over this region to be thirty
inches, we have in cubic feet 69,711,200. It is estimated that only
about forty per cent, of this volume of water reaches the Genesee
river; a great amount goes to fill up our interior lakes to their high
water mark, and swamps and ponds; a large per cent, is absorbed by
the soil, and a yet further large amount, not ordinarily duly appre-
hended, passes off by evaporation. Before the clearing away of the
dense forests of the water shed, the absorbing power of the soil was
much greater than now, and the evaporation much less. The water
was stored in the soil, and numerous ponds and swamps, supplying
springs with a copious and regular flow of water during the summer
and early fall months. At that early period in our history, it was
rarely, if ever, that water beyond the demand of our mill races did
not flow over our mill dams and falls continuously. At that early
period also, our spring floods embraced a period of about a month in
their rise and fall ; now a week or ten days suffices to carry off the
surplus water. Such change has been caused by the clearing away of
our forests, admitting the direct rays of the sun to more rapidly melt
the snow and reduce the absorbing quality of the soil, and the further
circumstance of the draining of all low lands and swamps, carrying
off the water more rapidly into the river.
THE GENESEE RIVER AND WESTERN NEW YORK. 69
Three notable and unusual floods have occurred within the last
-eighty-five years.
The first was in 1805, of which we know very little, except that it
Tvas a very high and destructive one.
The second of note occurred in 1817. By very^ great effort and
labor, a dyke was raised across Exchange street, from the guard-lock
:at the head of the mill race, to prevent the water flowing down the
street and flooding the lower parts of the village.
The third, in 1865, within the memory of the then inhabitants of
the city, deserves a more full description, if not for information of
the present generation, for a future one. The upper portion of our
valley was covered by a great body of snow. A period of very high
temperature, commencing about the 12th of March and continuing
for some six or seven days. On the 16th the flood was very high,
but few, if any, were apprehensive of a very disastrous flood. Dur-
ing the night of the 16th a very sudden increase of the volume of
water came rushing through the city, and on the morning of the 17th
was flowing over Main street bridge and the banks of the Valley canal,
on the west side of the third ward, and over the banks of the Erie canal
in the vicinity of Lyell street. Very soon large portions of the first,
second and third wards were submerged. The damage to merchandise,
-sewer and streets was very great.
The immediate cause of this very sudden and disastrous flood was
the blocking up of the water ways in the railroad embankment crossing
the flats from Avon over to Canawaugus, and the consequent damming
up of the water to an unprecedented depth as far up as Mt. Morris, and
then the sudden giving way of the railroad embankment and letting
down this great accumulated body of water in the space of a few hours.
Our past experience suggests the great importance of preventing any
further encroachment upon or obstruction of the channel of the river;
indeed this duty is imposed upon our common council by a law of the
-state, but seems to be little respected, if indeed there is not total
ignorance of such a law.
A scheme is now being considered by the Chamber of Commerce
and the mill owners, to construct a very high dam at Mt. Morris, to
.store up a large body of water in that great gorge up to Portage falls
to draw upon in times of low water, and in some measure control
river floods. If the dam that may be constructed does not at any
time give way, all very well, but if it does, we will be furnished with
an enlarged and improved edition of the flood of 1865.
6
70 ROCHESTER HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
If, in portraying the features of beauty and grandeur in nature and
art, presented to our view in Western New York, I should omit our
beautiful lakes, the picture would lack the most attractive feature
on our western boundary Lake Erie, the majestic Niagara and its
grand falls ; on our northern, Lake Ontario with its numerous
bays, and the large number of interior lakes, surrounded by fruitful
fields and charming country. At the west we commence the list with
Chautauqua lake, then next in order Silver lake, Conesus, Hemlock,
Honeoye. Canadice, Canandaigua, Crooked, Geneva, Cayuga, Owasco
and Skaneateles, besides numerous other very small ones, all gems of
purest water, adorning the attire in which nature has clothed our
beautiful land; they stand without rivals in number and beauty in the
wide expanse of our country.
In forming our estimate of the attractive features of Western New
York, and the Genesee valley especially, we are not limited by the
beauty and grandeur of its natural scenery. We possess a soil of
marvelous fertility yielding, in return for the labor of the husband-
man, a variety and quality of agricultural and horticultural produc-
tions and fruits combined, not surpassed, if indeed equaled, by any
other section of our country and a climate temperate and healthful,,
happily exempt from the extremes of heat and cold, tornadoes and
blizzards so disastrous, at times, to life and property in other regions..
The advanced stage of improvements in the development of the
resources of the country by the enterprise and industry of its people
is witnessed in the great progress of our manufacturing industries.
The numerous railroads constructed, ten lines radiating in all direc-
tions from our city, afford us the facilities for rapid transit of per-
sons and property throughout almost the whole continent. As to-
the electric telegraph, our city justly claims the high distinction of
organizing and placing in the van the great Western Union Tele-
graph company, which has put us in almost instant communication,,
or otherwise expressed, speaking distance, with all the civilized world,
We may rightly claim to have two of the most beautiful and prosper-
ous cities in our state, and several villages of matchless beauty for situa-
tion, as Charlotte, Avon, Geneseo, Mt. Morris, Canandaigua and
Geneva. Where else can we find combined so many of the elements
and conditions, contributing so largely to promote the health, happi-
ness and prosperity of the people.
"Verily the lines have fallen to us in pleasant places;
Yea, we have a goodly heritage."
BRIEF HISTORY OF THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF ROCHESTER. 71
VI. A BKIEF HISTOKY OF THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF
THE CITY OF KOCHESTEE. 1
BY S. A. ELLIS.
THE FIRST SCHOOL HOUSE.
Messrs. Fitzluigh, Carroll and Rochester, the proprietors of the
land constituting the site of the village of Rochester, set apart, as a
free gift, lots for a church, school-house, court-house and jail. The
lot for the school-house was located on Fitzhugh street, north of
and adjoining the lot on which St. Luke's church now stands. Here
the first school-house in the village was erected. It was built in the
fall and winter of 1813. It was a plain, one-story, wooden structure,
its dimensions being about eighteen by twenty- four feet. The
internal appointments of this primitive school-house the forerunner
of the thirty-four now devoted to the use of our system of public
schools was exceedingly simple. An inclined desk attached to the
wall extended around three sides of the room, the pupils being seated
on long benches without backs, and facing the wall, the feet of the
smaller ones dangling in mid air. The room was heated by a fire-
place, which served also for ventilation. The seats for the primary
pupils occupied a portion of the space in the middle of the room, and
for the most part were constructed of slabs just as they left the saw-
mill, with the flat surface uppermost, and supported by legs set into
the opposite sides. The only backs these seats possessed were those
furnished by the pupils. The building was, for some years, used for
religious services as well as for school purposes.
Some time prior to 1820 it was enlarged, and about 1823 it was
still more enlarged and improved. It was finally supplanted by a
large brick structure. Subsequently this building was superseded by
the present large'and ornate Free Academy building.
EARLY TEACHERS.
Of the early teachers, Mr. Riley, in Peck's history, says: "Aaron
Skinner is said to have been the first teacher in the new school-
house, and the first male teacher in Rochester. Thomas J. Patterson,
'Read before the Rochester Historical Society, February 14, 1890.
72 ROCHESTER HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
formerly member of Congress from this congressional district, has
stated that he .came to Rochester in his boyhood and resided with his
kinsman, Dr. O. E. Gibbs, and attended school in the winters of
1813-14 and 1815, and that his teachers were Mr. Dodge and Caleb
Hammond, then a medical student here. A relative of the late
Moses King states that Mr. King, who survived till 1881, always
claimed to have been the first male teacher in Rochester. If the last
named gentlemen were not employed as teachers here anterior to
Aaron Skinner, they all, doubtless, taught schools in Rochester about
the same period. Mr. King unquestionably taught the first school in
Frankfort."
Among those who, at later periods, were teachers in old " district
number 1" were General Jacob Gould, in the winter of 1819-"20;
Mr. Bailey, about 1822, and afterward Mr. Wilder, formerly a Ver-
mont lawyer. These were also employed there, though it is not
probable that they could now be named in correct successive order as
to the periods of their services : Thomas A. Filer, D. B. Crane, Zenas
Freeman, Ellery S. Treat, Clarendon Morse, Dr. Ackley, Mr. Spoor
and others. Most of the early teachers in different periods changed
and interchanged between the different schools, public and private, of
the time.
UNDER THE FIRST BOARD OF EDUCATION.
For a considerable period, and up to 18-11, the mayor, aldermen
and assistants were, by virtue of their office, commissioners of com-
mon schools in and for the city, and were authorised to perform all
the duties of such commissioners. On the 15th day of June, 1841,
the original free school law of the city came into effect.
It provided for an annual special election, to occur in June, for the
election of two commissioners from each ward, to constitute the
Board of Education, which board was authorised to appoint a school
superintendent.
Accordingly, on the 15th day of June, 1841, there being then but
five wards in the city, George R. Clark and Carlos Cobb, of the
first; John Williams and Silas Cornell, of the second; John Mc-
Connell and Charles G. Cummings, of the third; Moses Long and
Henry O'Reilly, of the fourth; and Harry Pratt and Levi A. Ward,
of the fifth ward, were duly elected as members of the first Board
of Education. Levi A. Ward was chosen president of the new
board. On the 5th day of July following, this board appointed
BRIEF HISTORY OF THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF ROCHESTER. 73
Isaac F. Mack as the first school superintendent. The old school
district organisations, with local officers, remained unchanged.
Each school was allowed a male principal and female assistants,
according to the number of pupils. The pupils were assorted
into three general divisions, named primary, intermediate and
seniors. The male and female pupils were seated and instructed
separately, constituting duplicate classes, of equal degree of advance-
ment throughout, in each school, and the public school fund was
appropriated to each, in parts corresponding to the ratio of the aver-
age attendance at each school during the year. By this unequal
method, some districts were provided with four, some six, some eight,
some ten, and some twelve months of school each year. This condi-
tion of things continued during the first seven years of trial of the
free school law district organisation, classification of pupils, and
methods of instruction remaining the same as before its enactment.
The essential benefits of the new law consisted in providing general
and free tuition, and in establishing at least partially a system of gen-
eral supervision.
In January of 1842 there were fifteen school districts in the city
and seven school buildings. The report for 1842 says that there were
2,300 children in attendance upon the schools, and thirty-four teach-
ers. The total cost of the schools was $13,000.
The report gives the number of districts as fifteen, with eight com-
modious brick school-houses; the average attendance as 2,500, and
total cost $19,000. The second annual report of the Board of Edu-
cation, for 1843, was presented by Superintendent Mack on January
12, 1844. It was published in pamphlet form and contains thirty-
two pages. It is an exceeding interesting, instructive and valuable
document, judged of even in the light of nearly a half century of
progress in common school education.
The city contained, at that time, about 24,000 inhabitants, and cov-
ered an area of six square miles. The number of school children
between the ages of five and sixteen, on December 31, 1843, was
5,650 a gain of 268 over the year previous. The aggregate number
attending the public schools was 4,246 a gain of $92 over the year
previous.
As an indication of the energy and push that characterised the
management of the schools during that period, the report says that
of the twelve school buildings then devoted to the use of the schools,
nine of them were built during the two years 1841 and 1842, at
74 ROCHESTER HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
an aggregate expense of $28,400 an amount that would now be
barely sufficient for the erection of a single grammar school building.
!N"o doubt that was a good deal for the young city that gloried in
many and excellent private schools, to put into buildings for the use
of the public schools within the short space of two years. We are,
therefore, not surprised that the " Board of Education was frequently
charged with extravagance in the erection of large and expensive
school houses." The people, however, sustained the board ; for at
that time each district was assessed to meet the larger part of the
expenditures for the maintenance of its school, and the money was
voted.
The school buildings in districts 1 and 3 were built before the
organisation of the Board of Education. The estimated value of all
these buildings was given as $36,200. The taxable property of the
city was valued at $4,367,756. In addition to the amount paid
by the city for the erection of school buildings, each district was
assessed for the support of the schools, which assessments, in 1843,
amounted to $10,000, while the amount secured from the state was
$2,386.80, and that for library books $457.20. The number of teach-
ers employed was 44.
THE SEPARATION OF THE SEXES, AND THE OLD DISTRICT SYSTEM.
Although much had been accomplished, it soon became evident
that tv^o serious obstacles to the progress of the schools still remained.
These were, the separation of the sexes, which interfered with the
work of grading and classifying the pupils, and required an unneces-
sary number of instructors; and the continuance of the old district
system, by which the more popular schools, having the largest attend-
ance, secured the "lion's share" of the public funds, and were thus
enabled to continue in session for most of the year, while others, less
fortunate as respects location and patronage, could be kept open
only for a period of from four to five and six months each year.
For several years the question of reform in these particulars was
agitated, both in the Board of Education and outside of it. A strong
prejudice existed in the public mind against the seating of male and
female pupils in the same room, and the residents of the districts in
which the successful schools were located were unwilling to yield the
advantages gained under the separate district system and opposed its
abolition most strenuously.
On the 26th of March, 1849, a free school law was passed by the
BRIEF HISTORY OF THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF ROCHESTER. 75
state legislature, that applied to the whole state, making the com-
mon schools from that time forth free indeed, as they had been for
-some time in name. The beneficial effects of this law very soon
became apparent. A new interest in the welfare of the public schools
was awakened, and a step forward was taken in this city, when dur-
ing the session of the legislature of 1849 and 1850 an amendment to
the city charter was passed, authorising the abolishment of the old
district system, with its local trustees, and placing all matters pertain-
ing to the welfare of the schools in the hands of the school commis-
-siouers, save the appropriation of school moneys for the maintenance
and support of the schools, which was left with the Common Council.
Then followed an ordinance by the Board of Education, requiring
that all pupils be seated, classified and taught without regard to sex.
The passage of this somewhat radical measure was followed by the
withdrawal of quite a large number of pupils from the schools; but,
at the end of a year or two, discussion and opposition ceased, and the
ordinance was soon quite generally accepted.
COLORED SCHOOLS.
In the early days of the public schools of the city the colored
children were instructed in a school by themselves. An attempt to
abolish this school, and admit the children to the schools in the dis-
trict in which they lived, was met by a storm of opposition. The
"race problem" was found then, as now, a difficult one to settle.
The discussion at that time seems to have ended in the establishment
-of two colored schools, instead of one, the parents of the colored
children, generally, demanding separate schools.
In January, 1850, a memorial was presented to the Board of Edu-
cation, asking for the discontinuance of the two colored schools, and
the distribution of the pupils in other schools. This memorial was
signed by George W. Clark, H. E. Peck, Win. C. Bloss, Kalph
Francis and J. P. Morau. At the same time, Fred. Douglass, Samuel
D. Porter, and other well-known citizens addressed the board, and
urged favorable action upon the memorial. No action was taken at
that time. Not long afterward in 1857 through sentiments
developed by the growth and extension of anti-slavery principles in
the community, the colored schools were abolished; and since that
time colored children have attended the schools in the neighborhood
of their homes.
76 ROCHESTER HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
YOCAL MUSIC.
At a meeting of the Board of Education, held on Sept. 13, 1852 r
vocal music as a branch of instruction was, for the first time, intro-
duced into the schools, by a vote of 7 to 6, and James Murray and
William Tillinghast were appointed teachers one for each side of
the river at an annual salary of $300 each. Subsequently, and for
some years, only one teacher was employed. From 1857 to 1862
no supervising teacher of this subject was employed, and it received
very little attention in the schools. In January, 1862, a special
teacher Mr. M. L. Dunn was again employed, and fresh interest
was awakened in this beautiful and useful art. But the services of
Mr. Dunn were dispensed with at the close of the school year for
which he had been employed, and it was not until the opening of the
school year in 1874 that vocal music was again introduced. Prof..
E. P. Andrews, formerly principal of No. 4, and an accomplished
musician, was appointed as special instructor and supervisor. In.
addition to his work as instructor in the schools, he gave instruction
and musical drill to classes of teachers, twice each month. Gratify-
ing success attended this experiment, and the teachers showed un-
common enthusiasm in the work. Nevertheless, in 1878, on grounds-
of economy so claimed the services of the special instructor were-
dispensed with, and music again dropped from the course. Some-
two years since the subject was brought to the attention of the board,
and on June of last year it was again introduced, and a competent
instructor and supervisor appointed. At the beginning of the pres-
ent school year in September last, fifteen minutes were added to the
forenoon sessions of the schools, in order to give time for this instruc-
tion.
The reintroduction of vocal music into the schools was hailed with
delight by the majority of teachers and pupils, and the progress of
the work up to the present time in all the schools is most gratifying..
EVENING SCHOOLS.
The importance of establishing and maintaining evening schools,,
for the benefit of those unable to avail themselves of the privileges of
the day schools, was brought to the attention of the board as early as-
in 1849. No action seems to have been taken on the subject, until
the winter of 1852, when two schools were organised, since which
time, with two or three short interregnums, evening schools have-
been successfully maintained until the present.
BRIEF HISTORY OF THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF ROCHESTER. 7T
DRAWING.
Drawing was introduced into the schools as early as 1858, but the-
work consisted mainly in copying pictures as was the custom in that
day and i n the outlining of mountains, lakes and rivers, and other
objects connected with map-drawing, on the black-board. In 1870 a
formal attempt was made to introduce free-hand drawing into
the schools. Bartholomew's drawing books and cards were adopted.
Considerable interest was excited; and, in schools where the teach-
ers possessed some knowledge and skill in drawing, very satisfactory
work was done. But the purchase of books and drawing materials
was optional with parents, and this fact made success impossible, and
after a short trial the Bartholomew system was abandoned. Walter
Smith's system, which formed the basis of the present Prang system
of form study and drawing, was adopted in 1871. This, in turn,
gave way to the Krusi system in 1878. In 1884 drawing was
dropped from the course of study. It was reintroduced and made
compulsory in 1886, and Prof. E. C. Colby, of the Mechanics' Insti-
tute, was employed to give instruction and supervise the work. As
no system of books was adopted, Prof, Colby gave the lessons to the-
teachers, and they in turn to their pupils, following practically the
Prang system. This course was pursued for two years, at the close of
which an exhibit, which was pronounced very creditable to teachers
and pupils, was made at the rooms of the Mechanics' Institute.
At the beginning of the school year in 1888, White's system of
free hand and industrial drawing was adopted by the board. Prof.
E. Rose, of the Mechanics' Institute, was appointed supervisor in
place of Prof. Colby, but he resigned his position in November.
Miss M. J. Dyer, of New York city, a teacher of long and successful
experience, was appointed to succeed him. During the last two
weeks of January, 1890, an extensive exhibition of drawing, model-
ing in clay, etc., paper cutting and industrial work by the pupils of
the schools, was made in the hall of the Free Academy, which was-
visited by many thousand school children, their parents, and by our
children generally. It was pronounced by far the best exhibit of the
kind ever made in the city.
i
UNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER SCHOLARSHIP.
The trustees of the University of Rochester, at a meeting held on
the 17th day of February, 1851, adopted the following resolution:
Resolved, That three scholars annually making in all twelve be-
'78 ROCHESTER HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
selected from the public schools, in any manner the Board of Educa-
tion shall designate, to receive gratuitous instruction during the full
college course, in the University of Rochester."
This generous gift was accepted by the Board of Education, and
the first scholarships awarded under the resolution were to Simon
Tuska, who afterward became a distinguished rabbi of the Jewish
church; Thomas Dransfield, who is well known in this city as a
former teacher and school commissioner, and as a successful business
man, and Ephraim Gates. With few exceptions, these scholarships
have been annually awarded from that time to the present; and, had
the competition been open to young women, none of them would
ever have a gone begging" in any year.
By this gift of the trustees of the university, that institution,
although privately endowed, is placed directly in line with our free
.school system, completing it from foundation to capstone.
THE HIGH SCHOOL.
The question of a free high school began to be agitated in 1830.
Arguments, reports, memorials and legislation relating to this ques-
tion followed from time to time, but it was more than a quarter of a
century before the desired end was consummated.
At a meeting of the Board of Education, on the 10th of October,
1853, by a vote of nine ayes and two nays, the resolution to establish
a free high school was carried. On account of various hindrances,
however, the school was not organised until the beginning of the
school year, in 1857. The building known as No. 1, located on the
lot adjoining St. Luke's church on the north, was enlarged and
remodeled for the accommodation of the school.
In September, 1857, at the first entrance examination, which was
held at No. 3, two hundred and sixteen candidates made application,
of whom one hundred and sixty-five were admitted. Of these thirty-
nine were boys and one hundred and twenty-three were girls.
At the inauguration of the school, the building was dedicated with
appropriate cerrnonies. Addresses were made by Dr. Kelsey, Samuel
]). Porter and Frederick Starr. These addresses were published in
the report for 1858, and furnish at this day most interesting and
instructive reading.
The first staff of teachers consisted of C. R. Pomeroy, A. M., prin-
cipal; Edward Webster, A. M.; Frederick Gr. Surbridge, A. M.; Mrs.
Mary J. Pomeroy, preceptress; Miss Emma M. Morse and Miss Susan
BRIEF HISTORY OF THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF ROCHESTER. 79
E. Butts, assistants. Professor Pomeroy shortly afterward resigned.
Professor Webster succeeded him as principal, and held this position
until the close of the school year in 1856, when he resigned. Dr. JS".
W. Benedict succeeded him, and was at the head of the school until
the close of the school year in June, 1883, when he was succeeded by
Professor Z. 1*. Taylor, A. M. Professor Taylor retired at the close
of the school year in 1886, and was succeeded by Professor John G.
Allen, who, for fourteen years, was principal of No. 14. The school
has had its vicissitudes and struggles. For several years after its
establishment its enemies for it had them sought to create a public
.sentiment against it. But its early friends such men as Frederick
Starr, William C. Bloss, Dr. Kelsey, S. D. Porter, Edwin Pancost,
George W. Parsons. Levi A. Ward, and a host of others rallied to
its support, and in the end it gained, rather than lost, the public
.approval.
The school having grown too large to be accommodated in the old
building, the legislature, in 1872, passed an act authorising the city to
raise, by public tax, the sum of $75,000, for the purpose of erecting a
new building. An additional lot was purchased directly north of the
old one, plans were drawn and accepted, and the work of construc-
tion was pushed rapidly forward. When the building was partially
finished, it became apparent that the appropriation would not com-
plete it, in accordance with the plans. Several members of the Board
of Education were in favor of changing the plans, so as to complete
the building and still keep within the appropriation. Other counsels
prevailed, however, and during the following session of the legisla-
ture an act was passed, authorising the raising of an additional $50,-
000. During the interval, and while the building was in progress of
construction, the school was accommodated with quarters in the
Masonic block. The building was completed and furnished in
March, 1873, and on the 23d of that month the school took possession.
The new building was dedicated with impressive ceremonies. A
report was presented by the building committee, through their secre-
tary, Comr. Theron E. Parsons, at the close of which he handed over
the keys to the president of the board, Comr. Geo. P. Davis.
Addresses were made by Pres. M. B. Anderson, of the university,
J. D. Husbands, John N". Pomeroy, D. M. Dewey, who had been large-
ly instrumental in bringing about the organisation of the school, at
the outset; Hon. Lewis H. Morgan, Aid. James H. Kelly, and by the
.superintendent, and letters were read from Geo. W. Parsons and
Eev. Dr. Campbell.
80 ROCHESTER HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
From a school of one hundred and sixty-five, it has grown to one*
of nearly eight hundred pupils, and with a staff of nineteen teachers.
All the available space not in use by the Board of Education and the
Central library is occupied by the school; and the time is not distant
when the question of another high school building for the east side-
of the river must be met.
SUPERINTENDENTS.
One of the most important steps taken at the organisation of the
board was the appointment of a superintendent. The men who-
formed that first Board of Education were in advance of their time,
in this action, as there were at that period, even in New England,
that led all other sections of the country in educational matters, but
few cities with superintendents at the head of their schools. Now,
any system of free schools without a supervising officer is the. excep-
tion. I. F. Mack was appointed the first superintendent, and
proved himself a very capable and efficient officer. He held office-
from 1841 to 1846, and was succeeded in turn by Samuel L. Selden
a part of one year Delos Wentworth, the balance of the term, B. R.
McAlpine, Washington Gibbons, Daniel Holbrook, R. D. Jones,,
J. Atwater, I. S. Hobbie, P. EL Curtis, C. N. Simmons, S. A. Ellis-
and A. L. Mabbett. Of these Daniel Holbrook served three terms,
two of two years and one of one year. C. N. Simmons served three-
terms, one of one year, one of two years, and one of five. The pres-
ent incumbent, S. A. Ellis, was in office from 1869 to 1876, and i&
now 1890 serving a second term, having been recalled in 1882.
All the others served one term each. Mr. Holbrook was elected by
the people, and served from 1848 to 1853. All the others were
chosen by the Board of Education.
THE CENTRAL LIBRARY.
The Central library was established in 1863, by consolidating the-
seventeen school libraries into one. Selections from these were
made, and in addition a few valuable works were purchased, making
one thousand volumes, thus forming a foundation on which this
library was built. It was first established in suitable rooms in
Baker's block, on West Main street, and in 1875 it was removed to
its present commodious quarters in the Free Academy building, on
Fitzhugh street. Mrs. S. M. Dransfield was appointed the first
assistant librarian in 1870, and was succeeded in 1881 by Mrs. K. L
BRIEF HISTORY OF THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF ROCHESTER. 81
Dowling, the present incumbent. An annual appropriation from
the state of $879 is devoted solely to the purchase of books. The
expenses incident to the care of the library, and for the binding of
books, is paid by the Board of Education.
The library will compare favorably with other similar institutions
of its kind throughout the country. It has been, until quite recently,
the only free circulating library in the city. It numbers over 15,000
volumes, and has an annual patronage of over seven thousand readers.
THE BIRNEY FUND.
In 1871 Miss Birney, of Canandaigua, set apart, by will, "one
thousand dollars for the education of the colored children of the city
of Rochester." This amount was to draw interest after three years,
;and S. D. Porter, Thomas C. Montgomery and Frederick Douglass
were appointed trustees, with power to execute the trust. As the
trustees found it difficult to determine just how best to meet the
requirements of the trust, the sum remained at interest in bank until
21 few years since, when Mr. Montgomery, the only resident trustee
Mr. Porter having died and Mr. Douglass living in Washington
consented to have the fund drawn upon by the superintendent of
schools for the purchase of books for the use of colored children in
-attendance upon the public schools.
THE ORPHAN ASYLUMS.
In 1850 a law was passed by the legislature, providing that the
schools in the various orphan asylums should participate in the dis-
tribution of the school moneys. At the first application of an asylum
for its portion of the funds, a question arose as to the amount to be
paid. The law was drawn so vaguely that lawyers differed widely in
regard to its construction and application, and a compromise was
made at that time by allowing each of the two asylums in this city
$200 annually. This arrangement was continued until 1865, when
the application of another asylum (St. Mary's) again opened the ques-
tion, and numerous discussions in the board only created a greater
difference of opinion in regard to the meaning of the law. It was
finally determined to make a case and refer it to the Supreme court
for decision. The case was tried at the September term, 1867
Hon. E. Darwin Smith, justice. The decision was in favor of the
orphan asylum. By it the Board of Education was required to pay
the teachers in the orphan asylum, on condition that the same
82 ROCHESTER HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
course of study and text books in use in the public schools be-
ad opted by them. Under this arrangement the salaries of teachers
in the Protestant, St. Mary's, St. Joseph's, St. Patrick's orphan asy-
lums, the Church Home, the Industrial School of the Sisters of
Mercy, and the Home of Industry, are paid by the board. The
amount paid annually, in these institutions, at the present time, is-
$6,150.
THE TEACHING OF GERMAN.
In 1872 a petition from prominent German residents was pre-
sented to the board, urging that the teaching of the German language
be introduced into the schools. While the matter was under consid-
eration, the superintendent and a committee from the board visited
the schools of Cleveland, Chicago and Cincinnati, in which German
was taught, to inspect the methods and observe results. Upon sub-
mitting their report, the board acceded to the request of the peti-
tioners, and classes in the German language were organised in several
of the schools. Three German teachers, besides a supervisor, were
employed. The enthusiasm, which at first was considerable, soon
died out, and the work was discontinued, except in the Free Academy,,
where German has been taught for many years.
THE BIBLE IN THE SCHOOLS.
During the early period of the history of our schools, the morning
sessions were opened, generally, with reading of the Scriptures and
prayer. Subsequently the prayer was omitted, and the Scriptures-
were read without comment. At length, as there was no rule of the
board requiring it, even this began to be omitted; and in many cases-
where it was continued, it came to be a mere perfunctory perform-
ance, of little, if of any, ethical value. It was at this time, .1875, that
the question of the discontinuance of the practice still observed in
some of the schools was brought before the board. I may be per-
mitted to say that this was not done at the request or dictation of any
religious sect, but was the result of a growing conviction on the part
of several members of the board, that the public schools ought to be-
secularised, and every objection that might reasonably be raised
against them on the ground of conscience, by any of their patrons, be-
removed. In June of that year, by a vote of 11 to 5, all religious-
exercises in the public schools, including the reading of the Bible,
" without note or comment," was ordered discontinued. An effort
BRIEF HISTORY OF THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF ROCHESTER. 83-
was subsequently made to reconsider the action of the board, but it
was unsuccessful.
No RECESS.
In 1883 the forenoon and afternoon recesses were discontinued in
all the public schools, and the daily sessions were shortened one hour.
The plan has worked with but little friction from the outset, and
to-day it may be considered a settled practice in our schools.
MALE AND FEMALE TEACHERS.
It was formerly the practice in our schools, as it was in the com-
mon schools of the country generally, to employ male teachers prin-
cipally. But now all the assistants in our schools are women, and
more than half of the principalships of our thirty-four schools are
held by women. No. 18, which is the largest grammar school in the
city, has a female principal at the head of it. Of the more than four
hundred teachers at present in the employ of the board, all but six-
teen are women.
THE SEATING OF PUPILS.
For many years after the organisation of the schools, the buildings
were so constructed as to require the seating of all pupils in large
study rooms on each floor. They were sent to rooms adjoining for
recitation. That plan gradually gave way to the present practice,
which requires the seating of pupils by grades, in rooms which are
both for study and recitation. As a rule, pupils remain under one
teacher but for a single year, when they are promoted to the next
grade, enter another room, and are managed and taught by another
teacher. This practice is general in cities throughout the country.
SCHOOL DESKS.
The evolution of the school desk is both interesting and suggestive-
First was the desk extending around the room, and attached to the?
wall, the pupil being seated on a bench facing the wall, as in old
No. 1.
Next, desks for two pupils, extended around the room, placed at
right angles to the wall, and if additional desks were required they
were located in the center of the room. Then came the more modern
double desk and seat combined, followed by the single desk, which
has reached almost, if not quite, the stage of perfection. It is made
in all sizes to accommodate the pupil, and for purposes of comfort
$- ROCHESTER HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
and health leaves nothing to be desired. The more than sixteen
thousand pupils now attending our public schools are seated on single
seats.
SCHOOL BUILDINGS.
The evolution of the school building is quite as interesting and
suggestive as thas of the school desk. From the low one-story build-
ing, with its single room, as bare of comfort as a barn, it has passed
through various stages of development, until it has arrived at the
stage of such buildings as the Free Academy, !Nbs. 14, 15, 20 and 32,
33 and 34 buildings heated by steam or hot air, thoroughly venti-
lated, and complete in all their appointments. For purposes of study,
for comfort and for health, these buildings are good examples of the
last stage in the development of the modern school building.
CORPORAL PUNISHMENT.
Corporal punishment has always been allowed in the public schools
of this city. During the early history of the schools, the rod played
a large part in the management of unruly pupils. By a gradual pro-
cess, it has finally lost its supremacy, until corporal punishment is
now rarely resorted to. In some of our schools, it has come to be an
unwritten rule that no pupil shall be subjected to corporal punish-
ment. In one of our primary schools, corporal punishment has not
been inflicted during the past seven years.
ORGANISATION.
The schools are divided into four departments : the primary, inter-
mediate and grammar, each consisting of three grades, and the Free
Academy. Each of the nine grades below the Free Academy
requires a year, of the average boy or girl, to do the work laid down
in the course of study.
The school year is divided into two semesters of twenty weeks
each. The regular promotions from grade to grade are made at the
close of the school year in June.
Promotions are based upon the regular school-room work, and
upon a written examination held at the close of the school year in
June. Any who do not reach the required standing, but whose
monthly standing in recitation gives promise that they may be able
to do the work of the grade above, are " transferred," and given the
opportunity to advance.
No written examinations are held in the first, second and third
grades.
BRIEF HISTORY OF THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF ROCHESTER. 85
TEACHERS' TRAINING CLASS.
In September, 1883, by order of the board, a teachers' training
olass was established, for the purpose of training applicants for posi-
tions as teachers in our schools. The class is under the direction of
the superintendent.
A general view of the aim and plan of the teachers' training class
is presented in the following outline :
1st. Conditions of entrance.
2d. Time.
3d. Subjects.
4th. Method of study.
5th. Program of weekly meeting.
6th. Reference library.
7th. Examination certificates.
8th. Practice.
First. Each applicant for membership must be eighteen years of
&ge, and must have received at least three years of academic training
and hold a Regents' preliminary certificate.
Second. The course embraces the forty weeks of the school year.
The class meet for one hour each week to discuss the topic assigned
the previous week.
Third. The subjects studied are
(a) Education.
(b) Teachers' qualifications.
(c) School Organisation, management and discipline.
(d) Duties of teachers in reference to the physical, moral
and intellectual well being of pupils.
(e) History of pedagogy.
(f) Psychology in its practical application to principles
of teaching.
(g) Methods of teaching the various school branches,
(h) Moral training.
Fourth. Questions upon each topic are arranged, printed and dis-
tributed to the class a week or more previous to the discussion of that
topic. Members of the class are required to prepare for the discus-
sion by the study of the books of any good author, by personal obser-
vation, by conversation with those who have given attention to the
subject, and by their own thinking and reasoning.
7
86 ROCHESTER HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
Fifth.
(a) Eoll call.
(b) Literary quotations from six or eight members of the-
class, and news items from an equal number, these
having been previously appointed for the purpose.
(c) Reading of the minutes of the previous meeting by
any one upon whom the leader may call, and
additions and corrections, comments.
(d) The leader calls upon members of the class in turn
(using cards), to answer and discuss the questions
in the printed list, opportunity being given for
voluntary remarks or questions upon each topic
thus discussed.
Sixth. Books of leading authors upon all subjects in the course of"
study, from a reference library for the special use of training class.
Seventh. A second grade certificate is given to all members of the-
class who pass successfully the examination given at the close of the
year's work, which is good for one year of teaching; at the expiration
of that time, all w r ho shall have demonstrated their ability to manage
and instruct a class of pupils receive a first grade certificate, which
makes them eligible to appointment to teach in any grade in the pub-
lic schools, below the high school, except as principal of a grammar
school.
Eighth. All substitutes and temporary assistants are taken from
the training class, as well as nearly all appointments to permanent
positions.
The only certificates now recognised by the board, besides those
issued to graduates of the training class, are New York state, col-"
lege and normal school certificates.
FREE KINDERGARTENS.
In 1882 or 1883 an effort was made to organise a free kinder-
garten for poor children, on the plan of Felix Adler's school in New
York city. The attempt failed for want of financial support. In
1887 the Mechanics' Institute of this city, whose board of trustees
embraced a considerable number of those who were interested in the
previous movement, decided to establish a kindergarten, and em-
ployed Miss Mary Tooke, a kindergartener of successful experience,
to take charge of the school. The Board of Education gave the use
of two vacant rooms at No. 20 for the use of the school. In addition.
BRIEF HISTORY OF THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF ROCHESTER. 87
to her work as teacher, Miss Tooke gave instruction to six young
ladies, in kindergarten methods. The school proved a great success.
Applications were made for three times the number that could be
received.
At the beginning of the new school year in September, 1888, the
Board of Education decided to open six kindergartens, under the
control of the board. They were located in districts Nos. 3, 4, 5, 10,
12 and 20, and are still in successful operation. The attendance has
averaged about two hundred and fifty pupils.
THE BOARD OF EDUCATION.
There are sixteen members in the Board of Education, one from
each ward in the city, who serve for a term of two years. They are
nominated in the ward " primaries/' and elected on the ward tickets,
with aldermen, supervisors, etc., etc. It was originally intended that
one-half the members should be retired annually, and the even ward
elect school commissioners one year and the odd ward the next.
This order is followed until the eleventh ward is reached. As
that ward was constituted the year when the elections for school
commissioners occurred in the even wards, a commissioner for that
ward was chosen for two years, at that time. The opposite of that
obtained with reference to the election in the twelfth ward, and as
the fifteenth and sixteenth wards were set off at the same time, the
commissioners in both those wards were chosen at the first local elec-
tion that occurred thereafter. It, therefore, happens that commis-
sioners will be elected this year (1890) from the first, third, fifth,
seventh, ninth, twelfth and thirteenth.
The Board of Education is organised annually, on the first Monday
in April, by the election of a president, who appoints all the stand-
ing committees. The superintendent acts as clerk of the board.
The officers elected by the board are as follows : The superinten-
dent, who is chosen for two years, at the second meeting in June,
and his term of office expires on the 15th of July thereafter; the
superintendent's clerk, assistant librarian of the Central library,
messenger, janitor and engineer of the Free Academy, school car-
penter and school policeman. All these officers, save the superin-
tendent, are elected on the first Monday in April, and serve for one
year. In addition to the appointment of all teachers and employees,
and the general management of the schools, the Board of Education
has entire charge of the erection and repairs of all school buildings,
ROCHESTER HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
and the general supervision of all the property of the city devoted to
school purposes. Members of the board, whose duties are often
exacting and burdensome, requiring time and labor in their proper
discharge, serve without compensation. The regular meetings of the
board occur on the first and third Mondays of the month, and begin
at 8 o'clock in the evening.
SCHOOL FUNDS.
The funds to meet the expenses of maintaining the schools are pro-
vided for, in part, by the annual state appropriation, and in part by
an appropriation by the Common Council, from the proceeds of the
annual tax levy. The appropriation from the state last year was
$57,998.58, and that from the city, for all school purposes, was
$295,000.00, which included an extra appropriation for new build-
ings of $30,000.
The school funds are in the hands of the city treasurer, and are
drawn out on the order of the Board of Education, by check signed
by the president and superintendent.
All bills against the board are referred in open board to the sev-
eral committees having them in charge, and, after they have been
approved and signed by members of the committee, are subsequently
referred to the finance committee for payment.
The monthly salaries of teachers and other employees of the board
are audited by the salary committee, and if approved are recom-
mended for payment.
ORGANISATION OF SCHOOLS.
The public schools of this city are divided into four departments,
viz.: Primary, intermediate, grammar and Free Academy.
The primary schools include the first, second and third grades.
The intermediate schools include the fourth, fifth and sixth grades.
The grammar schools include the seventh, eighth, ninth and tenth
grades.
There are fourteen grammar schools, and twenty intermediate and
primary.
ATTENDANCE.
The attendance for February, 1891, was as follows: Number regis-
tered, 17,187; Number belonging, 14,486; Number in daily attend-
ance, 13,524.
BRIEF HISTORY OF THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF ROCHESTER. 89
CONCLUSION.
Those who, in the beginning, amid many discouragements, laid the
foundations of the public school system of this city, " builded better
than they knew."
Most of them " rest from their labors and their works do follow
them."
All through the years there have been, and now are, wise heads and
noble hearts planning, guiding, teaching working not only for the
day and the hour, but for the coming ages. Surely these shall not
be without their reward.
90 ROCHESTER HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
VII. HISTOKY OF MUSIC IN EOCHESTER. 1
BY HERVE D. WILKINS.
There are many facts in the growth of civilisation in nations and
countries which are exemplified upon a smaller scale in the rise and
growth of smaller communities, and one of these is what may be
called the succession or sequence of ideas. The first thing to be done
in a new country is to clear the land and build a home, then follow
the pursuit of agriculture or of business calculated to provide the
necessaries^'and comforts of life, then the development of means of
communication with the outside world, roads, canals, railroads, steam-
boats, etc. It is only after all these are accomplished, and after
industrial, communal and perhaps political questions have been settled,
that man finds leisure and means adequate to the pursuit of an art.
The settlement and growth of our city has offered no deviation
from this rule, and we find that, although there were houses and peo-
ple here as early as 1810, it is not until twenty years later that we
learn of any musical operations. We may fairly conjecture that the
first musical instrument which was brought into Rochester was a
violin, and that its owner would naturally do a thriving business at
the social gatherings of those days.
Music is the youngest of the sisterhood of the arts. This is a result
of the fact that while the arts of painting, sculpture and architecture
-deal with tangible and stable materials and forms, the art of music
deals in sounds, which are fleeting and transient. It is therefore quite
natural that it should be only after man had tried his hand at that art
which can be seen and handled, that he should then for the first time
turn his mind to that art which can only be heard and felt.
The cultivation of music follows naturally three different paths,
sometimes widely diverging and again coinciding with each other;
these are church music, music in the home, and concert music. I will
therefore first speak of the choirs of Rochester.
In St. Luke's church there was in the early days, beginning about
1833, a chorus choir which contained many well-known names. The
late Rev. William Staunton, D. D., was one of the early organists,
succeeding Daniel Clark, who was the first organist in Rochester.
'Read before the Rochester Historical Society, March 14. 1890.
HISTORY OF MUSIC IN ROCHESTER. 91
The late D. M. Dewey was for many years leader of this choir, and
the list of members includes Mrs. D. M. Dewey, H. F. Atkinson,
Roswell Hart, Nathaniel Rochester, and others equally well known.
The organ was built by Appleton, of Boston, in 1825, and was in its
day remarkable for its sweetness and power of tone. Some of the
later organists were Miss Marion McGregor, the late ~R. F. C. Ellis,
and others.
In the First Presbyterian church, which stood on the site of the
present city hall, there was another Appleton organ, played for many
years by George Dutton and the late B. A. "Whaples. Members of
this choir were Dr. F. F. Backus, Loren Parsons, William H. Perkins,
G. H. Perkins, Miss Harriet Williams and others.
At St. Peter's church, on Grove street, built in 1852, through the
liberality of Levi A. Ward, there was a fine toned organ by Jardine
of New York. This organ was played for many years by Miss Marion
McGregor, and by Henry Belden, now of New York, and the choir in
1865 included such names as Miss Ailing, Willard Abbott, George
K. Ward, and others. The music at this church was always remark-
ably fine, and was especially promoted by the late Rev. Edwin Yeo-
mans, pastor from 1863 to 1869, who was, a very accomplished musical
amateur. In the spring of 1868 this church was burned, but it was
immediately rebuilt, and provided with a fine Hook organ, mainly
through the efforts of Frank B. Mitchell.
Some of the noted singers in the choir of St. Peter's since 1870
have been Mrs. Ernory Osburn, Frank Mitchell, Miss Ollie Moore,
Miss Louise Ailing and Theodore Hopkins, more recently pastor of
the Central church, of this city. Mr. Hopkins was a most accom-
plished vocalist, and sang his part, the bass, in a most effective
manner.
Plymouth church contained the first large organ in Rochester, and
it was played for many years by Dr. Baldwin, of North St. Paul
street, who was a very ardent musician. He now resides at Engle-
wood, N. J.
At the Central church there has always been a chorus choir. The
early organists were Professor Charles Wilson and Miss Tillinghast,
and from 1863 to 1870 Dr. S. N. Penfield, now of New York.
Among the members of this choir were Mr. W. A. Hubbard, the late
Mr. Albert Hastings and the late Thomas Parsons, and many other
well-known citizens.
The Brick church had a large and flourishing choir in the early
92 ROCHESTER HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
days, and one of the earliest directors was Dr. Stone, and another for
several years prior to 1852 was Mr. B. W. Durfee, who also owned a
violoncello which was celebrated all over "Western New York under the
name of the Durfee violoncello. The organists in the Brick church
were successively Henry Belden, Miss Tillinghast, now Mrs. Frohock,.
of Boston, and a celebrated player, and from 1856 to 1868 the late*
John Kalbfleisch. Mr. Kalbfleisch was an honored and eminent
member of the Masonic fraternity and a useful and upright citizen.
My father, the late Rev. A. Wilkins, of Rose, !N~. Y., was in his-
young manhood quite proficient in music and had a chorus and
orchestra in the church at Barrington, near Grove Springs, on Lake-
Keuka. He came to Rochester and succeeded in purchasing the Dur-
fee violoncello, and it is now in my possession. It is somewhat larger
than the usual pattern, but it is well preserved and of good tone.
Within the past few years a great advance has been made in the
church music of Rochester, and the high standard maintained has
been largely due to the fact that so many of our ministers have been,
and are, musical amateurs of ability.
Dr. Yeomans was, during his residence here, the only minister who
had showed proficiency and skill in music, but since then we have
had Dr. Robinson, of the First Presbyterian church, Mr. Adams, of
Plymouth church, Mr. Hopkins of the Central church, and Mr. Taylor,
of the Brick church, and others who have served their time and have
done good work either as organists or singers in church.
At present there are flourishing chorus choirs in the First Baptist,
Central Presbyterian, Brick church,' St. Andrews, St. Paul's, Christ
church, the Epiphany, and others. As a matter of record I have
arranged a list of names of organists and singers in the prominent
churches of the city.
Speaking generally, we are at present fully abreast of other cities
in the cultivation of church music, and many names can be recalled
of those who, reared and trained in Rochester, have distinguished
themselves as church musicians in ]STew York and elsewhere. Among
them are Louis Falk, the celebrated organist of Chicago; C. E. Rey-
nolds, also of Chicago; Mr. Tromblee, formerly tenor in St. Luke's
choir, now at the head of a music school at Montpelier, Yt.; Miss
Tyrrell, for many years soprano soloist at the Brick church, and now
of St. Luke's, and one of the finest singers to be found anywhere, and
many others.
Regarding music in the homes of Rochester, by which I mean the
HISTORY OF MUSIC IN BOCHESTEE. 93
cultivation of the piano, the voice, and domestic music generally^
Rochester has, since an early period, shown great activity and interest.
Benjamin Hill was one of the best known music teachers of the
city from 1830 to 1858 and his name is always mentioned- in connec-
tion with early musical affairs.
Professor B. C. Brown was a prominent music teacher here as early
as 1834, and in 1840 the celebrated English ballad singer, Henry
Russell, came to Rochester, and for a year or more taught singing,,
directed the Rochester Academy of Music, and gave vocal concerts.
Some of his songs, mostly descriptive, were very popular. Among
them, the " Maniac " and the " Burning Ship" are good types of the
favorite songs of that day.
Professor Robert Barron is still remembered by many of our citi-
zens as a very worthy man, and a good musician, who lived here and
taught music from 1841 until the close of his life in 1864.
J. S. Black was also a prominent vocal teacher in Rochester from
1859 to 1869. Mr. Black came from New York, where he held the
esteem of the best musicians, and while here numbered most of the
prominent local singers among his pupils. One of these was Miss
Jennie Bull, who was- a general favorite on account of her gracious
manners and pleasing voice. Miss Bull went to New York and
became the wife of Judge Yan Brunt. She is still singing in church,
and is a very charming vocalist. Mr. Black is now residing in Indian-
apolis, where he is apparently at the head of musical affairs.
In 1866 Henri Appy came to Rochester from New York, after
having for many years made a highly successful career as a violin
virtuoso, and has since then been continually active here as a teacher
of the violin and of singing. Other prominent vocal teachers have
been Miss Helen E. Phelps, who is still teaching here; J. S. Munson,
leader of the Brick church choir from 1863 to 1867, and a remark-
ably good tenor singer, Mr. Staples and others.
Among the successful piano teachers who might be named are-
Miss Julia Hill, Homer Robinson, R. F. C. Ellis, Mrs. Carey, Mr.
Sherwood, Mrs. Faber and Mr. Yan Laer.
In the departments of piano playing and singing Rochester has
long borne a high reputation. There are continually many pupils
from abroad, not excepting distant states, and including California
and Texas, who are residing in Rochester in order to perfect them-
selves in these branches of music, and there are already found here
many amateurs of great ability, some of whom have perfected their
D4: ROCHESTER HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
>studies in Europe, and we have local players and singers who are of
very high rank, and we have sent out many musicians who have
achieved distinction abroad. Among them may be mentioned Miss
Weed, Miss Clapper and Emil Schenck. All now reside in New
York.
The third branch of musical art of which I have spoken is that
of public secular music, which includes oratorio, opera and concerts.
One of the earliest organisations of this sort was the Rochester
Musical society, numbering sixty singers, formed in 1835, under the
direction of B. C. Brown, who kept the first music store here, and was
quite prominent in musical affairs.
The next organisation was that of the " Harmonic," in 1851, at
whose head was Professor Charles Wilson, assisted by Robert Barron.
Henry Schenck, H. Haass and Wm. M. Rebasz were active members
of this society, which brought forward among other works Haydn's
" Creation " and Handel's " Messiah."
In 1849 was built for Rochester one of the finest music halls in the
country; this was the old Corinthian hall, and in it were heard all
the great artists of the time, Jennie Lind, Rubenstein, Yon Bulow,
Gottschalk, Thalberg, and many others equally eminent.
William A. Reynolds was the proprietor, and the walls of his pri-
vate office, known everywhere as No. 7, were hung with the pictures
of many of the most notable musicians who had appeared in concert
here, and had enjoyed his acquaintance and hospitality. Some of
these pictures are still found in various rooms in the building, now
known as the Academy of Music. This hall was celebrated far and
wide for its acoustic properties. There was also a smaller hall seat-
ing about 500 persons in the old Rochester Savings Bank building.
Here for years Professor J. S. Black, and later Mr. Appy, conducted
both choral and instrumental rehearsals and concerts.
In 1817 the first brass band was organised, the leader being Pres-
ton Smith, and some of the members were Jehiel Barnard, Edwin
Scrantom, Nathaniel Rochester and Myron Strong. Other well-
remembered band leaders have been Captain Cheshire, Captain
Adams, Scott, Newman, Perkins and Hadley.
In 1865 the Philharmonic orchestra was organised under the vet-
eran Professor John H. Kalbfleisch, and then as well as in later
years, under the leadership of that distinguished musician, Henri
Appy enjoyed a large share of popular patronage and continued to
be the largest and most efficient orchestra between New York and
Chicago.
HISTORY OF MUSIC IN ROCHESTER. 95
The Opera club, beginning in 1879, with M. E. Wolff, business
manager, K. H. Lansing, musical director, and J. M. Angle, stage
manager, achieved a marked success, producing in fine style,
"Pinafore," "Chimes of Normandy," "Trial by Jury," and other
pleasing operas; and in 1881, with the co-operation of the Msenner-
-chor, Apollo club, Shakespeare club, and various solo artists, gave a
grand concert at the Corinthian Academy of Music for the benefit of
the soldiers' monument fund.
The Oratorio society was formed in 1882 under the direction of
Professor Henry Greiner, and continued for several seasons with great
success, both musical and financial. This society brought forward a
great number of works for chorus, soloists and orchestra, including
the " Messiah," the " Creation," and other great compositions, and
also introduced a great number of excellent singers from abroad to
our public, including D. M. Babcock of New York, Clarence Hay of
Cambridge, Mass., and others. The financial and business success of
the Oratorio society were largely due to the experience and skill
of Henry Amsden and J. H. Stedman, who undertook its manage-
ment.
In the spring of 1880 a few gentlemen interested in vocal music,
including Warren Cutler, Howard Osgood, John H. Hopkins, Fred
Allen and others, formed themselves into a temporary organisation
.and gave a complimentary concert in the studio of Herve D. Wilkins,
who held the post of musical director. So successful was this public
rehearsal that a season of concerts was decided upon. A permanent
organisation was effected, and the Mendelssohn vocal society began
its systematic practice. Its concerts for that season were given in
Mr. Wilkins's studio and in the attractive hall in the Powers block,
and later, in the Corinthian academy, and in the city hall. In 1883
the society enlarged its membership, secured a large subscription
list, and under the management of E. H. Satterlee and others enjoyed
until 1888 the most extensive patronage Rochester has ever bestowed
upon a local organisation. It was also instrumental in bringing
before the public many excellent artists from abroad, among whom
may be mentioned Mrs. Gerritt Smith of New York, Miss Louisa
Pyk of San Francisco, Miss Maud Morgan, the celebrated harpist,
daughter of the eminent organist of that name; Herr Alvary of the
<rerman opera company, Miss Agnes Huntington, and many others.
It is to be regretted that, through some errors in the policy of the
managers of the Mendelssohn society, the interest of its members and
the public was allowed to die out.
96 ROCHESTER HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
The accession of the Germans gave a strong impetus to activity m
the line of instrumental concerts. Fred Meyering, the father of the
present generation of that name, was for many years one of the most
successful and popular of Rochester musicians. He was an ardent
follower of his art, and spent much of his time in private practice
and in rehearsing classic music for stringed instruments.
The house of Dr. Kuichling on North Clinton street was for many
years a center of musical activity. It possessed a large and commodi-
ous music-hall, where weekly musicals were given with the assistance
of Mrs. Kuichling, who was an accomplished pianist, being a pupil
of the celebrated Ignatz Lachner. Many noted musicians were from
time to time guests at these musicals, notably among them Carl
Formes, the eminent basso, and Miss Mathilde Toedt, the violinist.
Fred Meyering was the musical director of the Euterpe society, an
orchestral band of twenty-four members, mostly from the old Har-
monic society.
In the early part of the year 1854: was founded the Msennerchor,
now the oldest and in many respects the most successful music club-
in Rochester, despite the rain that never fails to fall on the occasion
of its annual masquerade ball.
In the year 1865 Herve D. "Wilkins was engaged as organist at
Plymouth church and began what is believed to have been the first
organ recitals ever given in Rochester. Mr. Wilkins has continued
his organ recitals each season, excepting 1870 and 1874, in St..
Peter's church, then in the First Presbyterian church, and later in
the Brick church. These recitals have always been extensively
patronised and have given Mr. Wilkins an opportunity to present all
the best works written for the organ in the most advantageous-
manner.
Mr. Wilkins began his piano recitals in the music store of Mr. Ellis,,
then in Powers block, in 1871; these were later continued in the music
store of Gibbons & Stone on State street, and upon the enlargement
of the Rochester Savings Bank building Mr. Wilkins secured a large
room in the lantern, where he has since given his piano recitals and
lectures. The whole number of the organ and piano recitals already
given numbers nearly 140, and the number of works presented
nearly 600.
At the present writing, musical interests in Rochester are in a
nourishing condition. The Brick, Central and other churches have
fine choirs. A large number of musical professors are steadily
HISTORY OF MUSIC IN ROCHESTER. 97
imparting instruction in all branches of music. There are concerts
by local artists, and probably more public recitals of music by pupils
of various teachers are given in Rochester than anywhere else in the
country. The music trade is also particularly active and profitable ;
we have the most complete music store (Gibbons & Stone) outside of
New York city, and Rochester sells more pianos and other musical
instruments than any other city of its size and population in America.
98 ROCHESTER HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
MEMORIAL SKETCHES.
HENRY E. ROCHESTER. Henry Elie Rochester was born in Hagerstown,,
Maryland, January 7, 1806, and was the youngest son of Colonel Nathaniel
Rochester. His father was descended from a long line of Rochesters who
had resided upon a Virginia plantation, in Westmoreland county, since the
coming of the family from England in 1689. Nathaniel Rochester, how-
ever, lived for many years in North Carolina, and it was not until after he
had made an honorable military record in the Revolution, and had held
several civil offices, that he removed to Maryland. Here, in 1788, he mar-
ried Sophia Beatty, a native and a resident of Frederick, Maryland, whose
family traces back its maternal ancestry through Gutenberg.
Nathaniel Rochester and wife had twelve children. At the time of my
father's birth, my grandfather's home was in Hagerstown, where he held
many important commercial and political trusts. He had already made
his first visit to the Genesee country, had made large purchases in what
was then a part of Steuben county, and had, in 1802, in company with
Major Charles Carroll arid Colonel William Fitzhugh, bought the One-
Hundred-Acre tract near the Genesee falls. The price paid for this tract
was $17.50 per acre. It formed the nucleus of the city of Rochester, which,
as is well known, was named for Colonel Rochester. In 1810, when his son
Henry was but four years of age, Colonel Rochester came with his family
to Dansville. He resided there five years and then took up his residence
on a large farm in Bloomfield, Ontario county. He visited his purchase at
the Genesee falls often, and in April, 1818, removed his family to the little
town which already bore his name, through the choice of his associates in
the purchase. Here he lived, respected by all, until his death in 1831. I
recall, with much pleasure, the lively interest with which my father used
to tell the story of the journey from Maryland to the Genesee country.
Though but four years of age, he rode his pony all the way, excepting the
hours when taken into one of the carriages for needed sleep and rest. And
he remembered distinctly many of the interesting incidents by the way.
Mrs. Jenny Marsh Parker alludes in a graphic manner to the journey of
this cavalcade, both in an article published in this pamphlet and in her
"Story Historical."
Henry E. Rochester received his education at Wyoming seminary, and at
Hobart college, Geneva. He commenced the study of law with his brother,
William B. Rochester, at Bath, Steuben county. After admission to the
bar he came immediately to this city, and, when about twenty-three years
of age, formed a partnership with a Rochester lawyer named Ford. This
continued but a short time, and was followed by the formation of the firm
of Smith & Rochester, in which the late Judge E. Darwin Smith was
associated with him. On account of ill health, he retired from the practice
of the law in 1845. Mr. Rochester next engaged in the transportation busi-
MEMORIAL SKETCHES. 99*
ness on the canal and in furnishing pig-iron and coal to forges and furnaces.
In this business he was in partnership with his brother Nathaniel T. Roch-
ester, and they owned quite a number of canal boats and warehouses. In
1853 he removed to a farm in the town of Caledonia, near the line between
that town and Avon, where he lived until 1864, when he again became a
resident of this city. It is an evidence of the esteem in which he was held
by his neighbors, that he filled the office of supervisor nearly all the time
that he lived in Caledonia. Since 1864 Mr. Rochester lived in this city and
gave much time to municipal affairs. In the time of Henry Clay, he was
a devoted adherent to the Whig party, but, after the shattering of that
organisation, he became a Democrat and took a lively interest in the affairs
of that party. He served as alderman of the third ward in 1868 and 1869,
and was elected president of the board in the latter year. He also served
as supervisor of the third ward from 1873 to 1875 inclusive. He was twice
the Democratic candidate for mayor, but was defeated both times, owing,
doubtless, to the heavy Republican majorities which were the rule in this
city. Mr. Rochester was eminently qualified for public office, and was
often solicited to become a candidate for the Assembly and for other public
positions, but uniformly declined. He often represented meetings of citi-
zens at Albany, however, when favorable action on local bills was desired at
the hands of the governor. He was an especially warm friend of Governor
Tilden and possessed much influence with that executive.
My father was a member of the Protestant Episcopal church, and in early
life belonged to St. Luke's parish, where he was a vestryman and leader of
the choir. He went out from St. Luke's as one of the principal founders
of Trinity church, where he was a very earnest and active worker, being
superintendent of the Sunday school, lay-reader, and always director of the
music. More than one of the earlier rectors of Trinity found his home in
my father's house in Livingston park, where numbers of the clergy were
frequently entertained, and he continued to exercise this hospitality during
our residence in Livingston county. After his return to the city, feeling
sensitive in consequence of heavy losses which he had suffered, he was not
a very regular attendant at any church, but he retained his membership
with St. Luke's, and was a delegate from that church to the convention
held at Geneva, to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the formation
of the diocese of Western New York. He was then the only survivor of
the convention at which the diocese was organised. I may mention an
item of interest in connection with this sketch. On July 10, 1820, the vestry
of St. Luke's church resolved to avail itself of the offer made by the original
proprietors of the One-Hundred-Acre tract, "to convey lot number 85 to
the first religious society that should take possession of the same and build
a church thereon." Before the lot was secured, an effort was made in the
Roman Catholic interest to forestall the vestry, and a messenger was sent
to Geneseo to secure the signatures of Messrs. Fitzhugh and Carroll to a
deed of gift. But the vestry dispatched Henry E. Rochester, then a lad of
fourteen years, on a fleeter horse, with a similar object in view. The latter
succeeded in passing the other messenger, who was tarrying for refresh-
ment in the tavern at Avon.
Mr. Rochester was one of those most actively interested in the formation
of the Rochester Historical society, also a member of its board of managers,
100 ROCHESTER HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
and he was present at every meeting of the society, from its foundation
until the time of his death.
Henry E. Rochester was married to Jane Hart, a daughter of Roswell
Hart, Sr., on April 17, 1833, the ceremony being performed in LeRoy by my
mother's brother-in-law, Rev. Dr. Francis H. Cuining. My mother died in
1866, my father June 3, 1889. His was a life fraught with varied experiences,
and he had passed through many sore trials. Though spared to us for
more than fourscore years, death seemed awaiting him many times, and
many were his hair-breadth escapes, from the time that as a child, in the
woods near East Bl cornfield, he was pursued by wolves, until his marvel-
lous recovery after being run over by a wagon in this city, when he was
over eighty years of age. Perhaps one of the most remarkable of these
experiences was his hand-to-hand encounter with two arn-ed burglars, in
my mother's bed-room, when they were living in the suburbs of the city,
on Lyell road. This was especially notable, being the first thing of the
kind in Western New York.
I cannot close this sketch without a tribute to some of my father's noble
qualities his staunch integrity, his faithfulness to every trust committed
to him, his painstaking care for the ignorant and for the down-trodden.
It was not alone in municipal affairs that his services were called out, and
this without reward, but to the public charities, both of city and of state,
he gave like careful thought. With my father's closing years, there came
a restful peace in our quiet home, and I cherish the memory with great
satisfaction. It was my privilege to be always with him, and no one knows
so well the character evidenced in his last illness. With mental faculties
unimpaired, but with physical powers giving way hi those last weeks, there
was a wonderful patience and gentleness. His was a peaceful death, and
near the last there was a look that made us sure some spirit from another
world ministered to him.
To the late Hon. James L. Angle we are indebted for the following memo-
rial, read before the Historical society, Thursday, June 13, 1889, the first
meeting of the society at which my father was not present:
" Henry E. Rochester died in this city on the 3d day of June, 1889, aged
eighty-three years. Our public journals have given the biography and
obituary of this excellent and distinguished citizen, and have spoken in
appropriate words of his personal worth in all his relations and activities.
This society recognises the preservation of the memory and the incidents in
the lives of such men as he, as among its most useful and interesting objects,
and to that end does direct that its secretary preserve from our city papers
the articles that have been published with reference to our deceased friend
and fellow member. As was well befitting his personal taste, his long life
and his family name, he was among the first members of the Rochester
Historical society in valuable knowledge of matters within the objects of
its organisation, and in the painstaking, clear and reliable manner in which
he enriched the reminiscences of early events, as well as the facts of more
recent progress. The papers of his which have been read before us are
among our most valuable and interesting, and he brought to all matters
under oral discussion a personal knowledge at once entertaining and in-
structive, for he had himself been a part of many matters that we have
had under consideration. His place cannot be supplied, for his generation
MEMORIAL SKETCHES. 101
has passed away. With grateful memories of the pleasure and satisfaction
we have received from him as an associate, and saddened by his death,
after even so long a life full of honor and usefulness, we direct this memo-
rial to be entered upon our proceedings."
JANE E. ROCHESTER.
HENRY O'REILLY. Perhaps no one individual has made a deeper and
more lasting impression upon. the early history of Rochester than Henry
O'Reilly, one of our first newspaper editors and our first historian. He had
much to do with all of our important pioneer enterprises.
Henry O'Reilly was born in Carrickmacross, Ulster county, Ireland. He
died at St. Mary's hospital, Rochester, N. Y., August 17, 1886, aged eighty-
one years. When but a boy he began his career in the office of the New
York Columbian, where, as "printers' devil" he took up, with the intensity
of a bright Irish lad, the advocacy of the Erie canal, secretly setting up in
cold type his fiery denunciations of its opposers, and secretly slipping them
into the paper as "communicated." The editors soon discovered who the
writer was and promoted him at once to the editorial force, although he
was then but seventeen. Not long after he was made assistant editor of
the New York Patriot. When but twenty-two he was called to Rochester
to take charge of the new daily of the Genesee country, the first daily
newspaper of Rochester, the Advertiser. That was in 1826. From that
time until long after his connection with the Morse magnetic telegraph, his
name was associated with our public affairs. He had much to do with the
selection of the site for a public cemetery, the present Morfnt Hope, and
with the laying out of the grounds. He protested in his fiery way against
the destruction of such old Indian landmarks as then remained, the cutting
down of trees bearing the hatchet-marks and other signs of the Indians,
and he preserved, in Indian Trail avenue in Mount Hope, a section of the
route of the old Seneca trail from the head of the bay to the river.
With the Morgan affair of 1826 he was notably identified. He was the
leader of one of the two Anti-Mason factions the Jacksonian faction, rep-
resented by the Advertiser. Thurlow Weed, the editor of the Anti-Masonic
Enquirer, carried the flag of the Adams party. The bitterness between
these two factions of Anti-Masons exceeded that between Masons and Anti-
Masons, and Thurlow Weed and Henry O'Reilly were enemies to the end
of their lives. Thurlow Weed, it must be conceded, made overtures toward
reconciliation more than once, but these overtures only inflamed O'Reilly
the more. It was pitiful to see the serenity of his old age disturbed by
every recollection of the strife, particularly if the name of his antagonist
was mentioned. When Thurlow Weed's autobiography was published, in
which not the slightest mention was made of Henry O'Reilly, although it
gave an exhaustive version of the Morgan affair, O'Reilly naturally broke
out into pamphlets, giving his version of the matter. The chief root of
the bitterness lay in O'Reilly's having proved conclusively that the dead
body found at Oak Orchard Creek, and which Weed was reported to have
called "a good enough Morgan until after election," was not that of Morgan
at all, and that the Batavia monument had been erected over one Timothy
102 ROCHESTER HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
Munroe, of Canada. The bitter litigation between the two rival journalists-
lasted for years. O'Reilly, although he became a poor man, and Weed was
a rich capitalist, would neither withdraw from the courts nor compromise.
His legal difficulties with Thurlow Weed, added to those with the Morse-
Telegraph company, sadly embittered his life. His name is identified with
the Erie canal. In 1833 we find him chairman of the executive committee
of Rochester on canal affairs. He wrote the first memorial in favor of
enlarging and improving the canal. For many years he was chairman of
the state executive committee for canal enlargement.
As author of the first "History of Rochester," we of to-day know him
best. The book was a compilation of sketches which had appeared in the
Advertiser under the heading ''Settlement in the West; or, Sketches of
Rochester and Western New York." It was published by William Ailing
in 1838. The first and only edition was 1500 copies ; it retailed for $2.50 a
volume. The sales were comparatively light, much as it was talked about,
and the historian never made much if anything out of it. The book was
never stereotyped and was soon out of the market. Mr. Ailing tells the
story of his setting off for New York one cold February day in 1838, in
company with O'Reilly, to get a publisher for the book. O'Reilly carried
the package containing the MS. They took the stage, a sleigh, in front of
the Rochester House, on Exchange street, and were snugly tucked in, each
passenger having provided himself with a buffalo robe and a foot stove..
After five days of frost-bite and of cutting through snow drifts, and a rough
passage over the Catskills, they reached New York, and author and pub-
lisher, carrying the package between them, sought the printing house of
the Harpers, in Cliff street, with their history of the much-talked-of Roch-
ester in the Genesee country.
Next to the history we remember him as associated with the telegraph,
the "O'Reilly lines" of early telegraphy. When he was made postmaster
of Rochester, in 1838, Amos Kendall was postmaster-general, and Kendall
being one of the earliest pioneers of telegraphy, through him O'Reilly be-
came an enthusiast in the experiment, and the first lessee of a territory for
a Morse magnetic telegraph. He had faith enough in the new invention to
contract for a line, although the government and the capitalists of Boston
and New York were not to be beguiled into investing in one Rochester-
men furnishing him the means wherewith he contracted for the extension
of the Morse telegraph over a region of territory wider and more valuable
than any which had been contemplated under a single assignment, con-
necting the seaboard line at Philadelphia with the leading western cities.
In his misinterpretation of his original contract with Morse lay the root of
his financial failure. While postmaster he was engaged with James Wads-
worth, of Geneseo, in advocating a reform in the educational system of the
state, and their united efforts, it is said, led to our present common school
system. He claimed to have originated the State Constitutional associa-
tion, which brought about a change in our state constitution in 1846. After
his long war with the Morse Telegraph company he was in the service of
the state of Iowa, improving the navigation of the Des Moines river. A
few years later he was at the head of a constituency organised for the
defeat of the railroad monopoly in seekihg the abandonment of the Erie
canal. As chairman of the Clinton league he did much to frustrate the
MEMORIAL SKETCHES. 103
schemes of those opposed to the canal. When the civil war broke out he
became secretary of the society for promoting the enlistment of colored
troops. It would be difficult to enumerate all his pamphlets; his memorials
and compilations were voluminous, and he carried on important corres-
pondence with the leading men of his time. The New York Historical
society, in receiving the great bulk of his papers, reported : "It is the
most valuable collection of historical material concerning American pro-
gress, since the foundation of the republic, ever given to any institution."
He is buried in Mount Hope, a spot better loved by him than any other
upon earth. The great schemes of his life had disappointed him. He had
not attained success. His old age found him a poor man, although in his
middle-life few had doubted that he would become one of the great capi-
talists of the country. It was his fate to see others reap a golden harvest
where he had gleaned only thorns. But this can be said of Henry O'Reilly
he never disappointed his friends, he never failed in being the true Irish
gentleman.
JANE MARSH PARKER.
DR. CHESTER DEWEY. Dr. Chester Dewey was born in Sheffield, Mass.,
October 25, 1784. He died in Rochester December 15, 1867. He was gradu-
ated from Williams college in 1806, and was ordained in 1808. For seven-
teen years he was professor of mathematics and natural philosophy in
Williams college, and during this time he did much to advance the standard
of scholarship and to enlarge the course of study in this institution. He
never ceased to love the institution, and by word and deed ever aided in its
progress. He began to teach in Rochester in 1836. From that time his in-
fluence was marked and was everywhere felt in the young city, for it had
been but two years a city when Dr. Dewey found his home here. For many
years he was professor of chemistry and natural philosophy in our university,
and occupied this position until within a few years of his death. He loved
teaching, for he loved the young and enjoyed their society, and was emi-
nently successful as an instructor. He was a true naturalist; every thing in
nature was a joy to him. In all his teaching his aim was to lift the thoughts
of the learners above the thing itself to the designer of all the curious, the
wonderful, the beautiful, that came under their observation. He was the
author of several botanical treatises. He wrote a history of the herbaceous
plants of Massachusetts, for the state government. He took up the subject
of the carices of North America and for forty-two years contributed papers
on caricography to the American Journal of Science. He was specially an
authority upon this subject. A monograph upon this subject, embodying
the results of many years of labor, was left to Williams college. His entire
life was given to scientific pursuits, and he held a high position among the
naturalists of the world. The papers he contributed to the various journals
attracted the attention of the leading botanists of Europe. A correspond-
ence was begun, and continued for years, leading to discussions on all scien.
tific subjects. The true place of man in zoology was a subject that was
discussed with great zeal. Dr. Dewey examined the reasonings that were
put forth against the unity of mankind and wrote many convincing papers
founded on scientific facts, proving that all nations were one and the same
104 ROCHESTER HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
family. Many titles were conferred upon him. That of M. D. was con-
ferred by Yale in 1825, D. D. by Union in 1838, L. L. D. by Williams in 1850.
Dr. Dewey was free from dogmatism. He aimed to lift the souls of men
above the stoop and cramp of prejudice, and so fashion the thoughts of the
young that discussions in science or changes of opinion on theology would
not crush out belief, but broaden the domain of thought, lift up and enlarge
the way of life, as he would bring a cup of water to thirsty lips. His en-
thusiasm and his love of science were as broad as his love of mankind.
He wished all to partake and seek for new and grand results. His acts and
life were not heralded abroad; the full story of his life could be seen and
read, only by those who knew him and his teachings, and these may be
numbered by thousands. His heart was tender as a little child's, it had
been touched from heaven, he had been taught sacred wisdom, his thoughts
were ever lifted to the source of all good, and to that source he gave all
praise. Nothing passed unnoticed, however small, or weak, for he was
genuinely a humble man, a real seeker after truth.
The life of any man who leaves a lasting impress of right living upon all
with whom he comes in contact, moulding character, encouraging the
timid, lending a helping hand to the weak, can never be forgotten; such a
man was Dr. Dewey. He was^always ready to help. It was not to-morrow,
but to-day, the aid was given, whether in science, philosophy or literature.
He was skilled and clear in exposition, a true friend and instructor. He was
ever ready to consider new ideas, and if they were proven to be facts or
scientific truths he accepted them. When the science of geology was just
making its way through the thick prej udice and strong resistance made by
those who believed it to be contrary to the teachings of the Bible, Dr.
Dewey loved the science, and saw no reason why it should weaken the faith
of any who would allow themselves to think, or investigate in an unpreju-
diced manner. He directed the attention of the people to everything that
tended to prove the truth of the science.
Dr. Dewey never grew old, but ever loved the companionship of the young;
anything peculiar or interesting in geology or botany, a stone or a flower,
he sought out some class and explained every part with clearness and pre-
cision. All was done so gently, with such courtesy, under all circumstances,
that the recipient felt no awkwardness or fear of trespassing upon his time
or good will. He did it as if this one thing, above all others, was what
pleased him most to do. No wonder he attracted and retained the love of
all who knew him; such courtesy is a rare gift, and assures the possessor of
a power and influence incomparable. Conventional forms of politeness are
common in society, as such, but Dr. Dewey carried this Christian grace, for
I must so designate it, ever with him. Each individual felt that he was a
real friend, worthy of the highest consideration and affection.
During his life Dr. Dewey preached a great many sermons and gave a still
greater number of lectures. He frequently lectured before medical classes
as well as before classes in the other departments of science. He was active
in the advancement of the public schools; organised the first teachers' insti-
tute, and for many years he made daily meteorological reports. His help-
ing hand was everywhere felt. He was one of the founders and advisers
of Plymouth church, and frequently supplied its pulpit in the absence of
a regular pastor. He tried to avoid everything that would divert the mind
MEMORIAL SKETCHES. 105
from the highest and purest subjects; the foundation of all goodness was
love, from this fountain all could partake and life be filled with it. To
point to this fountain, to seek knowledge in nature, to behold the love of
the All- Father as expressed in his works, to lead up to the divine source of
all love, was the glorious life-work of Dr. Dewey.
C. M. CURTIS.
. A. W. E-ILET. The committee appointed to prepare a memorial
of Gen. Ashbel W. Riley, to place upon the records of the society, presented
the following at the meeting held June 14, 1888 : In recording our tribute
of respect for the character and services of our late and distinguished citi-
zen, Gen. Ashbel W. Riley, it seems a suitable occasion to express our high
appreciation of the character and labors of the pioneers and founders of
our city. Mostly of New England extraction, they brought with them the
indomitable spirit of enterprise, the moral and physical force and courage
of the Pilgrim fathers and their descendants, who stamped New England
with the distinguishing mark as a land of noble men and patriots. Among
our pioneers, Gen. Riley was a conspicuous figure, and one of the foremost
in his endeavors to promote the moral and Christian character of the com-
munity, and they failed not to secure for our then village the reputation of
being a community of exceptionally high Christian character and moral
tone. He was intimately identified with the social and public life of our
city. Coming here in 1816, he was, at his death, the oldest resident who
settled here in his manhood. He was a trustee of the village as early as
1824, and a member of the first board of aldermen under the municipal
government in 1834. Since that year he had received no public preferment.
Gen. Riley was a man of uncommon energy and moral and physical
courage; nothing daunted by difficulties or opposition, he labored zealously
with all his capacity and powers in every enterprise in which he engaged.
His chief object of effort was the temperance cause, and this was not limited
to the city or county in which he dwelt, but extended to other cities and
even foreign lands. He deserves to be ranked with Theobald Matthew
as an apostle of temperance. He did not possess the gift of eloquence of a
Gough and many other advocates of the cause, but he fortified his position
with an array of facts and reasons more potent than eloquent. He was an
active promoter of the cause of Sunday schools, the due observance of the
Sabbath, and the free distribution of the Bible to all who were destitute
of a copy in our county.
That dreaded scourge, the Asiatic cholera, when it first appeared in our
city in 1832, had no terror for him, but with a noble devotion and self-sacri-
ficing and fearless spirit he labored assiduously in visiting and waiting on
the victims of that pestilence, and with his own hands placing very many
of the dead in their coffins and carrying them to their burial. He empha-
sised his benevolent works by devoting his best energies in prosecuting-
them to within a short period of his death, at the advanced age of ninety-
three years. In all his labors he evinced the character of a philanthropist
and eminently useful citizen, and his name deserves to be inscribed on the
roll of honor among our worthy and noble pioneers.
HENRY E. ROCHESTER, )
FRED. A. WHITTLESEY, [ Committee.
CHAS. E. FITCH, )
106 ROCHESTER HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
HENRY E. PECK. At the meeting of the Historical society held De-
cember 13, 1889, Mrs. Parker, who had just returned from Port au Prince?
Hayti, read a paper, "Rochester in Hayti," a memorial of Minister Peck,
who died there of yellow fever in 1867. The following is an abridgment of
her paper:
Henry Everard Peck was born in Rochester, July 27, 1821. From the old
high school he went to Bowdoin college, where he graduated in 1841. From
there he passed to the Lane theological seminary, in Ohio, and was after-
ward a student of the Auburn ( N. Y.) theological seminary. He completed
his studies at Oberlin, O., and began his duties as an ordained clergyman
in "the mission" of Frankfort, in Rochester. In 1852 he accepted the
chair of history and belles lettres in Oberlin college, preaching regularly
in addition to his duties as an educator. It was here that he became nota-
bly identified with the cause of Abolition. He was not only ready to give
practical aid to fugitives from slavery, but was the fearless advocate of
measures for the abolition of slavery, and that when such advocacy meant
a self-sacrifice akin to martyrdom. He was foremost among u the Welling-
ton rescuers," those forerunners of John Brown. The Wellington rescuers
included Professor Langston and other prominent Abolitionists, and in the
summer of 1859 we find Professor Peck, with several of his confreres, lying
in the Cleveland jail, the United States government refusing to bring their
case to trial. Finally the United States district attorney moved a nolle
prosequi, and the prisoners were discharged.
In March, 1865, Professor Peck was appointed United States commissioner
to Hayti, the office being raised to that of minister resident before his
death. A wise, discreet diplomatist was particularly needed in the repre-
sentative of the United States just then. ... On his way to Port au
Prince, with his family, in June, 1865, he was shipwrecked on a coral reef
some twelve miles off the Bermudas, involving a loss to him of some thou-
sands of dollars. He was obliged to return to New York and start again
for his destination, which he finally reached in safety.
Sunday evening, June 9, 1867, Henry E. Peck died of yellow fever at his
villa on the heights overlooking the capital of Hayti. His remains are
buried in Oberlin, Ohio, where he was, for so long, a beloved teacher and
pastor. His surviving family of wife, daughter and two sons, is scattered
among the western states.
HIRAM SIBLEY. Hiram Sibley, a member of the board of managers of
the Rochester Historical society from its organisation until his death, was
born in North Adams, Mass., February 6, 1807, and died in Rochester, July
12, 1888. For half a century he was one of the most active and enterprising
citizens of Western New York. His direction of large business enterprises
gave him a national reputation, and his generous gifts to educational and
charitable institutions have enrolled his name among the prominent
philanthropists of America. Receiving an ordinary school education, he
employed himself in various mechanical vocations in his native place until
he was sixteen years of age, when he moved to Livingston county, in this
state, afterward establishing himself at Mendon, Monroe county, where
he had a foundry and machine shop. While residing in Mendon he was
MEMORIAL SKETCHES. 107
-elected sheriff of the county, and moved to Rochester in 1844, where he
resided during the rest of his life.
Early becoming interested in the electric telegraph, he did much by his
personal efforts to secure from Congress the appropriation necessary to
enable Prof. Morse to continue his experiments, and, with signal foresight,
invested largely in the stock of the early telegraph companies, which,
chiefly through his persuasion, were finally united in one corporation,
which has subsequently assumed mammoth proportions. Thus Mr. Sibley
laid the foundations of a princely fortune, and was the first president of
the Western Union Telegraph company, a position which he held for six-
teen years, the number of operating offices increasing during that period
from one hundred and thirty-two to over four thousand, and the value of
the property from $220,000 to $48,000,000. His faith in the development of
the system was ardent, and his plans were comprehensive, embracing the
completion of the trans-continental line ten years in advance of the Pacific
.railway, and contemplating the uniting of the two hemispheres by way of
Alaska and Siberia, a project abandoned only when the cable was laid
beneath the Atlantic ocean.
Disposing of his telegraphic interests, Mr. Sibley afterward engaged in
jrailway, banking, and mercantile affairs, always on an extensive scale, and
with profitable returns, and continued, to the last, active and influential.
To the University of Rochester he gave a fine library building, and of
'Cornell university he was one of the most liberal benefactors, the Sibley
.college of the mechanic arts being his enduring monument. He was a man
of noble presence, of commanding will and of versatile ability, and his
name will long be held in honorable remembrance.
C. E. F.
JAMES L. ANGLE. The Rochester Historical society sustained a severe
.loss in the death of Judge James L. Angle. He was the third elected
president of the society and one of its original board of managers, but his
interest therein was not confined to his official position, for he was one of
the most valued contributors of papers noteworthy for their depth of
research, while his remarks upon the productions of others and upon mat-
ters pertaining to the early history of this region were always listened to
with profound attention. Judge Angle was born in the town of Henrietta,
in this county, December 19, 1818. His boyhood was spent on his father's
farm, where his physical labor through the summer rendered him all the
better fitted for effective study during the rest of the year, so that at the
age of sixteen he obtained the position of teacher in the district school
where he had been a pupil. This continued till 1840, when he came to
Rochester for the study of law, to which he devoted himself in the offices,
successively, of Gay & Stevens, Haight & Chase, and Sackett & Chase, till
1845, when he was admitted to the bar as solicitor in chancery. He prac-
tised law continuously from that time till the day of his death, but his
fellow citizens demanded his services at different times in matters of politi-
cal and other interests outside of his profession.
In 1851 and 1852 he was the clerk of the board of supervisors, hi 1854 he
108 ROCHESTEK HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
was elected a member of the legislature, the next year he was chosen a
member of the board of supervisors, and in 1857 he was appointed city
attorney. Being in the board again in 1863 he was chosen chairman and
also served at the head of the committee on bounties and recruiting, hav-
ing in charge a fund of more than $1,000,000. Having filled in 1877 the
position of justice of the Supreme court of the state, by appointment, he
was, after a nomination and failure of election in the following year,
elected to the same office in 1883, continuing on the bench till the beginning
of 1889, when he retired, having reached the constitutional limit of seventy
years. Among the other offices, of a more private character, that he held,
were those of member of the board of trustees of the Home for the Friend-
less, of the board of trustees of the Unitarian church and of the board of
directors of the Monroe County savings bank, of which last named institu-
tion he was the attorney for ten years. In his early days he was greatly
interested in military afl'airs and attained prominence as the commander of
the Union Greys, of which organisation, after its disbandment as an active
company, he was the president for the last thirty years of his life.
Judge Angle was a man of the most sterling integrity of character,
purity of life and amiability of disposition, so that he possessed not only
the esteem of all his fellow-citizens but the affectionate regard of everyone
who knew him. He died May 4, 1891, at his summer residence in the town
of Greece, being stricken down while engaged in his favorite recreation of
working in his garden. Death came to him without warning, but it found
him not unprepared. At a meeting of the Historical society, held four
days later, the presiding officer, Dr. A. H. Strong, made the" following
remarks, which were ordered entered on the records of the society:
"It is my sad duty to announce to this society the death last Monday
of its president, Judge Angle. You will all remember how, at our last
meeting, Judge Angle was elected to this office, and how, with his usual
modesty, he assumed the new dignity and took the chair. We honored
ourselves when we honored him, and we anticipated for him an active and
useful year of service. It was the last public honor of many public honors
bestowed upon him by his fellow-citizens during the course of his long and
busy life. He had passed his allotment of threescore years and ten ; his
erect and stately form was familiar to us all. His life in business, in the
courts and in society was open to the inspection of all. No suspicion of a
stain ever attached itself to his character. Of him we can truly say:
' Whatever record leaps to light,
He never shall be shamed.'
He solaced his leisure with literature. Few men have known their
Shakespeare as well as Jutfge Angle, and few could render the thoughts
of Shakespeare so charmingly. He was a natural antiquarian and a born
student of history. He was one of the founders of this society. Too early
taken away, we mourn his loss, and of him we can say:
' Only the actions of the just
Smell sweet and blossom in the dust.' "
W. F. P,
CONSTITUTION. 10&
CONSTITUTION OF THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
1. This society shall be called u The Rochester Historical Society."
2. The object of the society shall be to discover, procure and preserve
whatever may relate to the history of the city of Rochester, and of those
adjacent localities which, in their historical growth or commercial rela-
tions, are intimately connected with the interests of this city.
3. The society shall consist of resident and honorary members ; the
former being persons who reside in the county of Monroe, and the latter
persons who reside elsewhere.
4. The officers of the society shall consist of a president, a vice-presi-
dent, a recording secretary, a corresponding secretary, a treasurer and a
librarian. These officers shall be elected annually and by ballot.
5. In addition to the above-named officers, there shall be a board of
managers, consisting of the president of the society and seven persons
appointed annually by him. The duties of this board shall be to solicit
and receive donations for the society, to recommend plans for the promo-
tion of the general purposes of the society and to perform such other duties
of an executive nature as may from time to time be committed to it.
6. All members, whether resident or honorary, shall be admitted to the
society only upon the nomination of the board of managers, and by a
majority of ballots of the members present at a regular meeting subsequent
to the regular meeting upon which the nomination has been made.
7. All resident members shall pay on admission the sum of five dollars,
and the sum of two dollars annually, which payments shall be the condi-
tion of retaining the privileges of membership in the society.
8. The payment by any resident or honorary member of the sum of fifty
dollars, at any one time and for that purpose, shall constitute such person
a life member, and shall thereafter exempt him from any further annual
dues.
9. This constitution may be amended by a two-thirds vote of the mem-
bers present at any regular meeting, provided a notice of the proposed
amendment has been given at the next preceding regular meeting of the
society.
10. All persons present at the two preliminary meetings of organisation
shall become members of this society upon paying the initiation fee within
thirty days.
110 ROCHESTER HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
BY-LAWS.
1. The meetings of this society shall be held at such times and places as
the president ( or, in his absence, the recording secretary ) shall designate.
Notices of meetings shall be given to resident members by mail, or by pub-
lication in the city daily papers, and any meeting may be adjourned to
such time and place as a majority of the members present shall determine.
2. The president shall preside at all meetings and have a casting vote
.and perform the duties usually appertaining to the office of president. He
shall also be chairman of the board of managers.
3. The vice-president shall discharge all the duties of the president in
case of the absence of the latter.
4. The recording secretary shall have the custody of the constitution,
by-laws and records of the society. He shall give due notice of all the
meetings and keep a record of the meetings. He shall be secretary of the
board of managers and keep a record of its proceedings.
5. The corresponding secretary shall have the custody of all letters and
communications to the society, shall read to the society all communications
received as secretary, and under the direction of the society prepare all
communications to be addressed to others in the name of the society, and
keep true copies of the same.
6. The librarian, under the direction of the board of managers, shall
have the custody of the library and cabinet, including all manuscripts,
papers, documents, coins and maps, and shall provide cases suitable for
their preservation and for convenient reference and inspection and shall
keep a record of all donations and report the same to the secretary.
7. The treasurer shall perform all the duties usually appertaining to the
office of treasurer, and deposit the funds of the society in such bank as the
board of managers shall designate, pay out such funds as the board of
managers shall direct, on the written warrant of the chairman of the board
of managers, and shall keep an account of the funds and render an annual
statement thereof, and oftener if called upon to do so by the society.
8. It shall be the duty of the board of managers to manage the aifairs
of the society and its funds, and make an annual report to the society.
9. All books, maps, and property of the society shall be plainly marked
with the name of the society and numbered and entered in the catalogue
by the librarian and arranged for convenient reference. No books or other
property shall be taken from the library or cabinet without the written
permission of the president.
10. The by-laws may be suspended temporarily by unanimous vote and
amended by a majority vote at any meeting, provided notice of the pro-
posed amendment be given at a previous meeting and also in the notice of
the meeting at which it is to be done.
11. Any member may be expelled by a two-thirds vote of any meeting,
provided notice of the Intention to move for such expulsion is given in the
notice of the meeting at least one month previous thereto.
12. The order of business at any meeting shall be as follows, subject to
change by a majority vote at such meeting:
1. Reading of the minutes of the previous meeting.
2. Communications from the president, board of managers or officers.
3. Miscellaneous business.
4. Reading of papers.
5. Discussion of papers.
DIGEST OF THE MEETINGS. Ill
DIGEST OF THE MEETINGS.
December 17, 1887. Preliminary; committee on organisation appointed.
March 3, 1888. Organisation effected; constitution adopted; officers
elected.
April 6, 1888. By-laws adopted; appeal to the public adopted; paper by
Jane Marsh Parker subject, "John Gait's Novel of 'Laurie Todd.' "
June 14, 1888. Paper by Mrs. Parker subject, "The Opening of the
Genesee Country;" memorial of Gen. Riley presented by the committee
and adopted.
November 30, 1888. Address by Henry E. Rochester on the subject of
riparian rights on the Genesee river; paper by Mrs. Parker subject,
"Mary Jemison, the White Woman of the Genesee."
January 4, 1889. Paper by George Moss subject, "Three Episodes in
the History of the Genesee Valley;" paper by H. E. Rochester subject*
"The One- Hundred- Acre-Tract Title."
February 1, 1889. Program, by Prof. W. C. Morey, adopted, for the
preparation of papers and the preservation of historical records; paper by
H. E. Rochester subject, " The Genesee River and Western New York."
April 5, 1889. Annual report of the treasurer; report of the recording
secretary from the beginning of the society; election of officers; paper by
Howard L. Osgood subject, "The Phelps and Gorham Purchase."
May 3, 1889. Paper by Mrs. Parker subject, "Rochester in Ancient
History;" paper by H. E. Rochester subject, "Inventions Made since
the Settlement of Rochester."
June 13, 1889. Memorial of Henry E. Rochester read by Judge James
L. Angle and adopted; paper by George H. Harris subject, "The Abo-
riginal History of the Genesee Country and its Terminology;" poetical
tribute to Mr. Rochester, by Mrs. C. M. Curtis; memorial of Henry O'Reilly,
by Mrs. Parker.
November 9, 1889. Paper by Mr. Harris subject, "Pioneers of the
Genesee Valley the Markhams ;" paper by George H. Ely, read by Mrs.
Seth H. Terry subject, " The Artist Spy; " paper by Judge Angle on the
colonial laws up to 1664.
December 13, 1889. Verbal report, by Charles E. Fitch, from the com-
mittee on perpetuating the name of Carroll ; poem by Mrs. Katherine J.
Dowling, entitled " Gleanings ;" reminiscences of Henry E. Peck, by Mrs.
Parker.
January 10, 1890. Paper by Rev. Dr. F. DeW. Ward subject, "Remi-
niscences of Rochester from 1817 to 1830."
February 14, 1890. Paper by S. A. Ellis subject, " The Public Schools
of Rochester."
112 ROCHESTER HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
March 14, 1890. Sketch of Dr. Chester Dewey, by Mrs. Curtis ; paper
by Herve D. Wilkins subject, "Music in Rochester."
April 7, 1890. Election of officers ; paper by Judge Angle subject,
" The Antiquities of Mount Hope ; " paper by the late Seth H. Terry, read
by Mrs. Terry subject, " The Last Indian Sacrifice."
May 9, 1890. Paper by Mr. Moss subject, "Transportation in the
Early Days of Western New York."
June 13, 1890. Paper by Mrs. Emil Kuichling, on Mrs. M. B. Anderson.
November 14, 1890. Paper by Dr. Ward subject, "Rochester's First
Things."
December 12, 1890. Paper by Mrs. William S. Little subject, "The
Story of the Massacre of Cherry Valley."
January 9, 1891 Paper by Mr. Osgood subject, "The One-Hundred-
Acre Tract ; " letter read from Hon. Wm. C. Bryant, of Buffalo, concerning
the Cherry Valley massacre.
February 13, 1891. Paper by Mr. Fitch subject, "Interviewing a
Statesman. "
March 13, 1891. Paper by Charles H. Wiltsie subject, " Reminiscences
of Mrs. Hiram Blanchard ; " verbal recollections of Rochester, by Col. J.
W. Bissell; report, by Mr. Wiltsie, from the committee on the old sun-dial;
paper by the recording secretary, regarding Leonard W. Jerome.
April 10, 1891. Election of officers; paper by Prof. H. L. Fairchild
subject, "The Geology of the Region of the Genesee River;" paper on
early Rochester by Col. Bissell, read by Mr. Fitch.
May 8, 1891. Memorial of Judge Angle, by Dr. A. H. Strong, adopted ;
report, by Clinton Rogers, from the committee on Enos Stone's house.
November 13, 1891. Paper by Dr. E. M. Moore subject, "The Story
of the Rochester Parks."
December 11, 1891; Paper by George H. Humphrey subject, "Old
East Avenue;" paper by Mrs. Parker subject, "Reminiscences of Mrs.
Eliza M. Reid."
OFFICERS AND MEMBERS. 113
OFFICERS OF THE SOCIETY.
PRESIDENT,
REV. AUGUSTUS H. STRONG, D. D.
VICE-PRESIDENT,
HON. CHARLES E. FITCH.
CORRESPONDING SECRETARY,
JANE MARSH PARKER.
RECORDING SECRETARY,
WILLIAM F. PECK.
TREASURER,
CHARLES H. WILTSIE.
LIBRARIAN,
HOWARD L. OSGOOD.
BOARD OF MANAGERS,
REV. A. H. STRONG, D. D., ex offido,
MORTIMER F. REYNOLDS,
GEORGE E. MUMFORD,
WILLIAM C. MOREY,
JOHN H. ROCHESTER,
HON. CHARLES E. FITCH,
S. A. ELLIS.
114
ROCHESTER HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
LIST OF MEMBERS. 3
Adams, Myron.
Allen, George H. , of Brockport.
Allen, Oliver, of Mumford.
Andrews, E. R.
Angell, E. B.
Angle, Mrs. J. L.
Arnold, George.
Atkinson, Hobart F.
Backus, Azel.
Barnard, Henry.
Barry, Wm. C.
Bower, John.
Brewster, Henry C.
Brown, Selden S.
Buell, George C.
Clarkson, Geo. G.
Cook, Frederick.
Cooke, M. W.
Craig, Oscar.
Cronise, Adelbert.
Curtis, Mrs. C. M.
Cutler, J. G.
Danforth, Geo. F.
Darrow, Erastus.
Dewey, C, A.
Doolittle, Mary A.
Doty, W. D'Orville.
Bowling, Mrs. K. J.
Durand, F. L.
Ellis, 8. A.
Ellwanger, George.
Elwood, F. W.
Elwood, G. M.
Ely, Alfred.
Ely, Wm. S.
Fairchild, H. L.
Farley, Porter.
Farrar, Raleigh.
Fitch, C. E.
Frost, Edw. A.
Gannett, W. C.
Gates, Mrs. C. R.
Gibbard, Isaac.
Gilmore, J. H.
Greenleaf, H. S.
Griffith, Mrs. Julia M.
Hall, Elizabeth P.
Harris, Edward.
Harris, George H.
Hart, Mrs. Roswell.
Hawks, Haywood.
Hill, David J.
Hill, John H.
Hollister, G. A.
Hollister, G. C.
Holmes, Daniel, of Brockport,
Hopkins, Mrs. Alice.
Howe, Jacob.
Humphrey, Geo, H.
Hunt, Daniel T.
Huntington, Elon.
Kimball, W. S.
Landsberg, Max.
Lattimore, S. A.
Lee, William B.
Little, Wm. 8.
Lomb, Henry.
Loomis, George W.
Lowe, Samuel H.
Macomber, F. A.
Macy, Silvanus J.
Markham, William G., of Rush.
Mathews, Robert.
Millard, Nelson.
Mixer, A. H.
Montgomery, Thomas^C.
Moore, Edward M.
Moore, Mrs. Mary D.
Moore, Samuel P.
Morey, William C.
Morse, C. C.
Moss, George.
Mumford, George E.
McClintock, J. Y.
McNaughton, Donald.
McVean, Alexander.
O'Connor, Joseph.
Oothout, John W.
i By resolution of the] society, the membership of one includes that of all others in
the family.
OFFICEES AND MEMBERS.
Osgood, Howard.
Osgood, Howard L.
Otis, Ira L.
Paine, Cyrus F.
Parker, Jane Marsh.
Parsons, C. R.
Peck, Myron G.
Peck, William F.
Perkins, Oilman H.
Perkins, Mrs. W. H.
Perrin, Darius.
Phinney, H. K.
Pitkin, Mrs. Louisa L.
Putnam, Earl B.
Reynolds, John A.
Reynolds, M. F.
Riley, George 8.
Riley, Mrs. M. E.
Robinson, Arthur.
Roby, Sidney B.
Rochester, Jane E.
Rochester, John H.
Roe, John O.
Rogers, Clinton.
Ross, Lewis P.
Sibley, Mrs. Hiram.
Sibley, Hiram W.
Sibley, Rufus A.
Skinner, James A., of Brockport.
Smith, Mrs. E. Darwin.
Smith, Mrs. Edward M.
Smith, George H.
Smith, J. Moreau.
Stoddard, E. V.
Strong, Augustus H.
Strong, Henry A.
Strong, Mrs. Maltby.
Terry, Mrs. Seth H.
True, Benj. O.
Vredenburgh, E. H.
Ward, William H.
Warner, Clara D.
Warner, John B. Y.
Westervelt, Z. F.
Whitbeck, John W.
Whittlesey, F. A.
Wilkins, Herve D.
Wiltsie, Charles H.
Woodworth, C. B.
HONORARY MEMBERS.
Bryant, William C., of Buffalo.
Conover, George S., of Geneva.
Hamilton, William, of Caledonia.
Johnson, James G., of Salamanca.
Minard, John S., of Fillmore.
Nisbet, William, of Avon.
Proctor, L. B., of Albany.
Van Zandt, William, of Avon,
DECEASED MEMBERS.
Ailing, Stephen Y.
Angle, James L.
Barry, Patrick.
Clarke, Mrs. Freeman.
Elliott, George W.
Morgan, Dayton S., of Brockport.
Rochester, Henry E.
Sibley, Hiram.
Smith, Charles F.
Ward, F. DeW., of Geneseo.
Wright, Alfred.
116 ROCHESTER HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
LIST OF BOOKS
IN THE
LIBRARY OF THE ROCHESTER HISTORICAL SOCIETY
American Annual Register, 1832-3. N. Y., 1835.
American Farmer. Monthly Journal. Rochester, 1866.
American Register, 1806-1808. 3 v., Philadelphia, 1807-8.
American Humane Association. Eleventh Annual Meeting, held at Rochester,
Oct. 19-21, 1887. Chicago, 1888.
American State Papers, 1789-1815. 8 v., Boston, 1815.
Anderson (F. L.). Sermon in memory of M. B. Anderson and of his wife, March
9, 1890.
Anderson (Martin B.). Work and Aims of the University of Rochester. Com-
mencement Address, June 28, 1876. Rochester, 1876.
Angevine (Edward). Guide or Handbook for Mt. Hope Cemetery. Rochester,
1885.
Anti-Masonic Convention ( U. S.), Proceedings. Philadelphia, Sept. 11, 1830.
Anstice ( Henry). Annals of St. Luke's Church, 1817-83, and Historical Sketches
of the other Parishes. Rochester, 1883.
American Expedition in Search of Sir John Franklin. Rochester, 1852.
Barber ( J. W.) and Howe ( H.). Historical Collections of the State of New York.
New York, 1841.
Bartlett (D. K.). Sermon on the death of Mary Eliza McAlpine. Rochester, 1867.
Barry ( Patrick ). The Horticulturist. Monthly Journal. 2 v., 1853-4.
The Fruit Garden. Auburn, 1853.
Beach (A. C.). Centennial Celebration New York State. Albany, 1879.
Bernard (David). Light on Masonry. Utica, 1829.
Bernhard, Duke of Saxe Weimar. Travels through North America during the
years 1825-1826. 2 v., Philadelphia, 1828.
Bible, King James Version ( contains the family record of Nathaniel Rochester ).
Philadelphia, 1812.
Bickerstaff (Bridget). Works. Rochester, 1842,
Billington ( L. W.). Review of A. J. Davis' Revelation. Rochester, 1840.
Board of Health. Report on Cholera in Rochester in 1852. Rochester, 1852.
Laws and Ordinances, 1863.
Health Officers Annual Report, 1867, 1883.
Bonney (Cath. V. R.). Legacy of Historical Gleanings. 2 v., Albany, 1875.^
Boughton (Joseph). The Conspiracy, or The Triumph of Innocence. Roch-
ester, 1845.
LIST OF BOOKS IN THE LIBRARY. 117
"Boundaries of State of New York. Reports of Regents. 2 v., Albany, 1874, 1884.
New York and Pennsylvania Boundary. Report of Boundary Commission*
with final Report of H. W. Clarke, Surveyor for the Commission. Albany, 1886.
Bowen (Clarence W.). The Boundary Disputes of Connecticut. Boston, 1882.
Boyd (Wm. P.). History of Town of Conesus, with brief Genealogical Record
of Conesus families. Conesus, 1887.
Brewster (H. Pomeroy). The House that Jack Built; from Journal Am. Folk
Lore. n. p., n. d.
A Jimmal of Gold. Rochester, n. d.
Brick Church. Catalogue and Manual, 1842. Rochester, 1842.
Bridel ( Louis ). Le Pour et le Centre . . . suivi d'une description du Ken-
tucky et du Genesy. Paris, 1803.
Brown (Henry). Narrative of the Anti-Masonick Excitement in Western New
York, 1826-9. Batavia, 1829.
Brown (Sylvester). Appeal against Imprisonment for Debt in Canada West.
n. p., 1859.
Bryant ( W. Clement). Interesting Archaeological Studies in and about Buffalo.
Buffalo, 1890.
Buffalo Historical Society.
Annual Reports, 1883-91.
Constitution and By-Laws, 1863.
Constitution and By-Laws, as amended, 1868.
Proceedings, 1869-70.
Publications, 1879-80.
Butts (A. P. ). Rhythmical Panorama of Early Pioneer Life. Rochester, 1890.
-Campbell (Douglass). How the Written Ballot Came into the United States.
Schenectady, 1880.
Campbell (William W.). Annals of Tryon county, New York, 1849.
Canals Laws of New York in relation to the Erie and Champlain. 2 v. , Albany,
1825.
-Canal Management, New York State Report, 1868. Albany, 1868.
Canal Regulations. Rates of Toll, &c. Albany, 1844.
Chamber of Commerce. First Annual Report, 1888. Rochester, 1889.
Chapin (G. H.). Address before Domestic Horticultural Society of Western New
York., Sept. 21, 1831. Lyons, 1831.
Chapman ( J. A.). Sketch of the History of Wyoming. Wilkesbarre, 1830.
Charter of Rochester.
Charter and Directory, 1834. Rochester, 1834.
Charter, with amendments. Rochester, 1839.
Revised Charter, 1844, 1850, 1851-6, 1861, 1868, 1871, 1874. 7 v., Rochester,
1844-'74.
Amendments to, 1858.
Amendments to, 1862.
'Chase (Jacob). A Defence of Truth. Rochester, 1841.
Childs ( Gilbert C.). Address before Veteran Soldiers of Parma and the old 13th
of Rochester, Aug. 20, 1879. Rochester, 1879.
Church Home. Manual, 1870, 1876-7, 1884-5, 1887-8, 1889-90, 1890-91.
City Hospital. Report, 1872. Rochester, 1873.
Clark (J. W.) John Baptist; a Poem delivered before Union Lyceum, Lyons.
Geneva, 1846.
9
118 ROCHESTER HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
Closet. Monthly Religious Paper, edited by David Slie. Rochester, 1845-7.
Cochrane (James C.). Memorial of ; 1824-1881. Rochester, 1881.
Coit (John T.). Discourse at funeral of Levi Ward, Jan. 7, 1861.
Commerce, Manufactures and Resources of Rochester. 1881.
Commerce, Manufactures and Resources of Rochester. 1884.
Common Council of Rochester. Proceedings, 1852-1887. ( Lacks 1857-8, 1861-2,-
1862-3, 1863-4, 1865-8, 1869-70, 1872-3, 1875-80, 1882-86.)
Rules and Orders, 1849, 1852.
Manuals, 1860, 1876, 1881.
Conover ( Geo. 8.). The Genesee Tract. Geneva, 1889.
Early History of Geneva. Geneva, 1880.
(Compiler). Journals of the Military Expedition against the Six Nations of
Indians in 1779. Auburn, 1887.
Constitution of the United States, with Acts relating to Slavery, including the
Nebraska and Kansas Bill. Rochester, 1854.
Cornell (Silas). Letter to E. F. Marshall and others, on their Pamphlet entitled
" The Inquisition and Orthodoxy." Rochester, 1830.
Craftsman, The. Weekly Newspaper, edited by E. J. Roberts. 2 v., Rochester,.
1829-30.
C. M. W. "How." Rochester, 1886.
Crapsey (A. S.). Sermon in memory of H. B. Ellwanger, 1883.
Crevecoeur ( Hector St. John de ). Voyage dans la Haute Pensylvanie et dans 1'Etat
de New York. 3 v. and Atlas. Paris, 1801.
Darling (Charles W.). New Amsterdam, New Orange, New York, with Chrono-
logical Data. Privately printed, 1889.
Day (David F.). Address Commemorative of Geo. W. Clinton. Buffalo, 1890.
Diocese of Western New York. Semi-Centennial Commemoration. Buffalo, 1888.
Diocese of Western New York. Annual Conventions, 1851, 1853, 1855, 1861,
1864-68, 1870-1, 1875-6, 1881, 1885, 1888-90.
Directory, Rochester, 1834, 1838, 1841, 1844-59, 1861, 1863-85. 34 v., Rochester,
1834-85.
Documents relating to Colonial History of New York State. Vols 1-10, edited by
E. B. O'Callaghan. General Index by E. B. O'Callaghan. Index by J. R.
Broadhead. Vol. 12 by B. Fernow. 13 v., i-x, xii and two Indexes. Al-
bany, 1845-77.
Dolley (Sarah R. A.). Closing Lecture to Class of 1873-74, Women's Medical
College, Pennsylvania.
Doty (Lock wood L.). History of Livingston Co., N. Y. Geneseo, 1876.
Douglass (William). British Settlements in North America. 2 v., London, 1755.
Durrie (Daniel S.). Index to American Genealogies and Pedigrees. Albany, 1886.
Duyckink (E. A.). History of the War for the Union. New York, 1862.
Early History of Rochester, 1810 to 1827. Rochester, 1860.
Edwards (Tryon, Pastor First Presbyterian Church ). Thanksgiving Sermon, Dec.
15, 1836. Rochester, 1837.
Ellicott (Andrew). Journal of. Philadelphia, 1803.
Ellinwood (F. F.). Discourse at Funeral of Orlando Hastings, March 22, 1861.
Elliott (G. W. ). Rochester Municipal Manual and Monroe County Register..
Rochester, 1887.
Year Book. " Union and Advertiser," 1888-89.
In memoriam. 1851-83.
LIST OF BOOKS IN THE LIBRARY.
Evans (Geo. G., Editor). Illustrated History U. S. Mint. Philadelphia, 1888.
Ely (Joseph A.). In memoriam, President J. A. Garfield, 1831-81. Poem and
Sermon.
The Well at Bethlehem's Gate. A Poem. Rochester, 1869.
Ely Reunion. Held at Lyme, Conn. , July 10, 1878. New York, 1879.
Fancy Party, The. Jan. 18, 1847. Rochester, 1847.
Fancy Dress Party at Mrs. Greenough's. Poem on. Jan. 18, 1847.
Fifth Ward Poll List, Nov., 1844. (Ms.)
Fifty-First Regiment New York Volunteers. Quarter Century Banquet. New
York, 1886.
Fire Department. Charter, By-Laws and Histoiy, 1817 to 1882. Also, Dedication
of Firemen's Monument. Rochester, 1883.
Francis ( J. E.). Lincoln Memorial Collection. Buffalo, 1887.
Fuller ( John, Medium ). Reports from the Celestial Court. Rochester, 1853.
Furman ( C. E.). Divine Songs and other Poems. Rochester, 1874.
The Valley of the Genesee; a poem. Rochester, 1879.
Gait ( John ). Lawrie Todd ; or, The Settlers in the Woods. 2 v. , New York, 1830,
Gardiner ( Addison ). In memoriam, 1797-1883.
Genealogical Records of the Pioneer Families in Avon, N. Y. Rochester, 1871.
Genesee Consociation. Reply to letter of Rev. Joseph Emerson on subject of their
Resolution relative to Masonic ministers and Masonic candidates for the
ministry. Rochester, 1829.
Genesee Farmer. Weekly paper, edited by N. Goodsell, L. Tucker, Daniel Lee
and others. 7 v., i-vi, vi new series. Rochester, 1831-6, 1845.
Genesee Farmer (New). 2 vols. in 1, Rochester, 1843.
Gilbert (Benj. and his family). Captivity and Sufferings of ; who were surprised
by the Indians on the frontier of Pennsylvania in the spring of 1780. Re-
printed; Lancaster, Pa., 1890.
Same. London, 1785.
Gliddon ( Thomas ). History of Hamilton Chapter ( 2d ed.). Rochester, n. d. By-
Laws and History of Monroe Commandery from 1826 to 1882. Rochester,
1882.
Guernsey (Lucy Ellen). The Soldiers of Christ. New York, 1889.
Hale (Benjamin). Sources and Means of Education. Lecture delivered before the
Union Lyceum, Lyons. Geneva, 1846.
Hall (A. G.). Twenty-fifth Anniversary Sermon, Third Presbyterian Church.
Rochester, 1855.
Hall ( A. G.). Discourse at Funeral of Moses Chapin ( 1791-1865 ).
Hall (Basil ). Travels in North America in the years 1827-8. 2 vols., Edinburgh,.
1829.
Hart ( Roswell ). Speech on Reconstruction. House of Representatives. Wash-
ington, 1866.
Heckewelder (John). History, Manners and Customs of the Indian Nations.
Philadelphia, 1876.
Hartford Convention, History of. New York, 1833.
Hawes (Lucy W.). Buffalo Fifty Years Ago. Buffalo, 1886.
Hayes ( Geo. E.). Geology of Buffalo. Buffalo, 1869.
Hay ward, ( John ). New England Gazetteer ( 3d ed.). Boston, 1839.
Hickok (M. J.). Eulogy on Henry Clay. Rochester, July 13, 1852.
120 ROCHESTER HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
Hibbard ( F. G.). History of the late East Genesee Conference, Methodist Episcopa.
Church. New York, 1887.
Highways and Bridges. Revised Act of New York State Legislature, Jan. 1, 1828.
Rochester, 1829.
Hill (David J.). The American College and Liberal Education. Inaugural Ad-
dress, June 19, 1889.
Hinman (R. R.). Letters from English Kings and Queens to Governors of Con-
necticut. Hartford, 1886.
Holly (Myron). Oration; Lyons, July 4, 1826, Fiftieth Anniversary, Independence
of the United States. Canandaigua, 1826.
Homoeopathic Hospital, First Annual Report, 1891.
Horticultural Society Western New York ; Twenty-first Annual Meeting, Roch-
ester, Jan. 5 and 6, 1876.
Hosmer ( W. H. C.). Later Lays and Lyrics. Rochester, 1873.
Yonnondio, or The Warrior of the Genesee. .A Poem. Rochester, 1844.
Address and Poem delivered before the Was-Ah-Ho-De-No-Sou-Ne, or New
Confederacy of the Iroquois, Aug. 14, 1845.
Hotchkin ( J. H.). History of the Purchase and Settlement of Western New York,
and of the Presbyterian Church in that section. New York, 1848.
Hough (F. B., Editor). Indian Treaties. 2 v., Albany, 1861.
Hubbard (J. N.). An Account of Red Jacket and his People, 1750 to 1830.
Albany, 1886.
Life and Adventures of Moses Van Campen. Dansville, 1841.
Hughes (Thomas P.). American Ancestry. 4v., Albany, 1887-9.
Humane Society, Annual Report, 1891.
Constitution and By-Laws, 1888.
Husband (Thos. B.). Memorial of. Rochester, 1887.
Kempis (Thomas &). The Imitation of Christ. Manlius, N. Y., 1816.
Indian Problem of New York State. Report of Special Committee on. ( Contain-
ing historical matter relating to Early History of Genesee Country.) Albany,
1889.
Industrial School. Annual Reports, 1871-87.
Industries of Rochester. Rochester, 1888.
Ingham (Marietta, one of the founders of Ingham University). Sermon on the
death of, by Wm. L. Parsons, June 6, 1867.
James (Wm., Pastor Brick Church). Discourse: Moral Responsibility of the
American Nation, July 4, 1828. Rochester, 1828.
Johnson (J. H.). Niagara Falls Guide. Rochester, 1852.
Jones (Chas. C.). History of Georgia. 2 v., Boston, 1883.
Judson ( Mrs. A. C.). The World as It Was and Will Be. Rochester, 1853.
Kelsey ( John ). Pioneers of Rochester. Rochester, 1854.
Kennedy (James H.). The Three Witnesses of the Book of Mormons, u. p., n.
d., (1890).
Kennicott ( E. D.). Zethe, and other Poems. Rochester, 1837.
Ketchum (William). An Authentic and Comprehensive History of Buffalo. 2
v., Buffalo, 1865.
Kirkham ( Samuel ). English Grammar. 10th ed. Rochester, 1828.
Lathrop (L. E.). Farmer's Library; Essay on Agriculture. 3d ed. Rochester,
1828.
LIST OF BOOKS IN THE LIBEAEY. 121
Lee (Henry W.). The Baptized Child; Christmas offering to the children of St.
Luke's Church. Rochester, 1851.
Two Discourses ; The Papal Aggression. St. Luke's Church, May 4, 1851.
Rochester, 1851.
Letchworth ( W. P.). Technologic Training in Reform Schools. Address before
Managers of Western House of Refuge, with Letters from J. D. Runkle and
M. B. Anderson. Buffalo, 1884.
Letter- Writer. Complete and Fashionable. Rochester, 1834.
Levi (Joseph M.). Photo. -Micrographic Work and Apparatus, n. p., n. d.
Little ( Mrs. W. S.). Story of Massacre of Cherry Valley. ( Read before Roch-
ester Historical Society, Dec. 12, 1890.)
Livingston County Historical Society. Annual Meetings, 1888-91. Dansville,
1888-91.
Locke (Clinton.) Sermon in memory of H. J. Whitehouse, Sept. 15, 1874.
Lodge (H. C.). Short History of the English Colonies in America. New York,
1891.
Loomis (Horatio N.). Trial of, for Libel, June 24, 1850. Buffalo, 1850.
Lovejoy (Isaac). Dr. Lovejoy's New Chemical Remedies. Rochester, 1&56.
Ludlow (E. G.)- Lake Fevers and other Diseases of the Genesee Country in the
State of New York. New York, 1823.
Lyceum, Rochester. Constitution, &c., 1842. (Ms.)
Medical College, Eclectic, Central New York. Report of Committee on, to New
York Legislature, March 27, 1852. (Adverse report.)
Memorial Pavilion. Souvenir, Highland Park, 1890. Rochester, 1891.
Military Statistics New York State. Chief of the Bureau of; First Annual Report.
Albany, 1864.
Miner (Charles). History of Wyoming. Philadelphia, 1845.
Monroe County Workhouse. Act for Construction and Rules for Regulation of.
Rochester, 1854.
Moral Reform Society of Rochester, organized August 5, 1836. MS. copy of the
Recording Secretary's Book of Records.
Morey (Cornell). Practical Arithmetic. Rochester, 1856.
Morey (Wm. C.). Genesis of a Written Constitution, n. p., 1891.
McMaster (Guy H.). History of the Settlement of Steuben County, N. Y. Bath, 1853.
McNaughton (J. H.). The Story of Yokeen. Dansville, 1890.
Mann (Newton M.). Rational View of the Bible. Rochester, 1879.
Marshall (O. H.). Historical Writings. Early History Western New York, &c.,
with Introduction by W. L. Stone. Albany, 1887.
Maude ( John ). Visit to the Falls of Niagara in 1800. London, 1826.
Mechanics' Institute. General Information, first and second years, 1885-87.
First and Second Annual Reports, 1886-7.
Circular, 8th year, 1889-90.
Morgan ( Lewis H.). Diffusion against Centralization, Lecture before Rochester
Athenaeum and Mechanics' Association, Jan. 6, 1852. Rochester, 1852.
Morgan (Wm. ). Illustrations of Masonry. "Printed for the author, William
Morgan," n. p., 1827.
Illustrations of Masonry. " Printed for the author." Rochester, 1827.
Illustrations of Masonry. 12th ed., Rochester, 1827.
Morse (J.). American Gazetteer. Boston, 1797.
Munro ( Robert ). Description of the Genesee Country. New York, 1804.
10
122 EOCHESTEE HISTOEICAL SOCIETY.
N. ( S. V.). Mein Besuch Amerika's im Sommer 1814. Aarau, 1827.
Natural History. New York State Cabinet. Regents' Report. Albany, 1850.
Neely ( Henry A.). Sermon on death of A. J. Brackett ( 1815-1862 ), Jan. 25, 1862.
Nettleton (Asahel ). Village Hymns. Supplement to Watts' Psalms and Hymns.
New York, 1828.
New England Genealogical and Historical Register, 1847-1868. 22 v., Boston,.
1847-68.
New York Colonial Land Papers. Calendar of, 1643-1803. Albany, 1864.
New York Historical Society. Collections. Publication Fund Series. 14 v., New
York, 1868-79, 1882-84.
New York State, Documentary History. 4 v., Albany, 1849-51.
New York State Manual for Legislature. Albany, 1864.
New York State Survey, 1887. Albany, 1887.
Niagara Falls Guide. Rochester, 1852.
Norton (A. T.). Gen. J. Sullivan's Campaign against the Iroquois. Lima, 1879,
Oneida Historical Society. Transactions at Utica, N. Y., 1887-89. Utica, 1889.
Onderdonk (H. U.). Appeal to Religious Public, with Three Dissertations on
Regeneration, &c. Canandaigua, 1818.
Ordinances of City Rochester, 1848, 1862, 1867, 1882. 4 v.
Osgoodby (W. W.). Osgoodby's Phonetic Short-Hand, compared with the How-
ard Pitman System.
Osgoodby's Stenographic Miscellany. Rochester, n. d.
Ostrander (Tobias). Practical Arithmetic. Canandaigua, 1834.
O'Reilly (Henry). Sketches of Rochester and Western New York. Rochester,
1838.
American Political Anti-Masonry. New York, 1880.
American Civil War, Memories of the Rebellion. New York, 1879.
Notices of Sullivan's Campaign; or, Revolutionary Warfare in Western New
York. Rochester, 1842.
Orphan Asylum. Organized Feb., 1837. Constitution and By -Laws, and Officers.
Rochester, 1868.
Constitution, By-Laws and Annual Reports, 1875 to 1883. Rochester, 1875-83.
Annual Reports, 1883-1888.
Palmer (Noble). Sermon in memory of Ormus Doolittle. Rochester, 1872.
Park Commissioners, Board of. By-Laws. New York, 1888.
Parker (Mrs. J. M.). Rochester: A Story Historical. Rochester, 1884.
A Defeated Success. Story of the Russian Telegraph. (In Overland Monthly.
July, 1888.)
Patching (Tallcut). Religious Convincement and Plea for the Baptism and Com-
munion of the Spirit, and that which is of material Bread, Wine and Water
rejected as Jewish Rites. Rochester, 1843.
Peck ( Wm. P.). Semi-Centennial History of Rochester. Syracuse, 1884.
Phillips (Charles). Speeches and Last Moments of. Also, Speech of Robert
Emmett. Rochester, 1823.
Pillsbury (Parker). Acts of the Anti- Slavery Apostles. Concord, 1883.
Pitkin (Tim.). Statistics of the United States. New Haven, 1835.
Pioneer Association Western New York, organized, 1847. Names of members up
to 1866. Rochester, 1866.
Political Tracts. Boston, 1807-9.
LIST OF BOOKS IN THE LIBRARY. 123
Pomeroy (J. N.). Address on Presentation of Memorial Portrait of, by C. B.
Ripley, 1888.
Pouchot (M.). Late War in North America, 1755-60. F. B. Hough, tr. and ed.
2 v., Roxbury, 1866.
Pouchot (M. ). Mdmoires sur la derniere guerre de 1' Amerique Septentrionale.
3 v., Yverdon, 1781.
Powers' Art Gallery. Catalogue, 1890, with Introduction by Jas. D. Trenor.
Red Jacket. Obsequies of, Buffalo, Oct. 9, 1884. Buffalo, 1885.
Remington (C. K.). Ship-Yard of the Griffon. Buffalo, 1891.
Revelation of Free-Masonry, by a Convention of Seceding Masons. Rochester,
1827.
Rider ( Wheelock ). The Frequency of Preventable Blindness. Rochester, 1888.
Robinson (Richard P.) and Jewett (Helen) . A Novel. Rochester, 1849.
Robertson (John B.). Trial of, Rochester, Jan. 12-20, 1858.
Rochester Art Club. Organized 1877; Incorporated 1882. Constitution and By-
La ws.
Annual Catalogues, 1880, 1882-1890.
Rochester (Nathaniel). Brief Sketch of Life of, by himself, n. p., n. d.
Rochester Academy of Science. Proceedings, 1889-90.
Catalogue of Exhibits, Dec. 6, 1887.
Constitution and By Laws. Revised, 1889.
Rochester Athenaeum. Young Men's Association. Catalogue of Library, 1839.
Rochester, 1839.
Rise, Progress and Condition of. n. p., 1840.
Rochester Athenaeum and Mechanics' Association. Catalogue of Library, 1854.
President's Annual Report, 1858, with Report of the Lecture Committee, 1858-9.
Rochester Illustrated. Rochester, 1890.
By H. Page & Co. 12 parts, 4to., n. p., 1890.
Alliance Pub. Co., n. d.
Rochester Savings Bank. Charter and By-Laws, 1874. Rochester, 1874.
Roe ( J. O.). Adenoid Growth in the Vault of the Pharynx. New York, 1879.
Rogers (Robert). A Concise Account of North America. London, 1769.
Rowley (Mary S.). Froth and Foam. Rochester, 1888.
Rural Annual and Horticultural Directory, 1882. Rochester, 1862.
-St. Andrew's Brotherhood. Constitution and By-Laws. Organized 1879. Roch-
ester, 1886.
St. Luke's Guild. Outline of Organization. Easter, 1882. Rochester, 1882.
Savage (Eleazer). Manual of Church Discipilne. Rochester, 1844.
Saxe (Asa). Sermon: Fear in Religion. Rochester, March 5, 1879.
Schaefer (Edward P.). The Hidden Voice, or the Ghost of the Old Geuesee. A
Story of Rochester. Rochester, 1887.
School Boy Stories. Rochester, 1871.
Schoolcraft (H. R.). Notes on the Iroquois. New York, 1846.
Scrantom (Edwin). Diaries (Ms.), and Scrap-books. 6 v., 1835-1880.
Scribner (J. M.). Scribner's Pocket Assistant. Rochester, 1856.
Selden (Mrs. Susan W.). Sermon at funeral of, April 15, 1862, by John T. Coit.
Selye (Lewis). Speeches: Tariff and Internal Tax. National Debt and Finances.
Delivered in House of Representatives, June 13, 1868 and March 14, 1868.
Washington, 1868.
124: ROCHESTER HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
Semi-Centennial. Souvenir and Chronological History of Kochester. Rochester,
1884.
Official Programme of, 1834-1884. Rochester, 1884.
Seneca Lake, including Watkins Glen, Geneva, and Intermediate Points. Hand-
book for Tourists. New York, 1885.
Sermon, St. Luke's Church, May 1, 1870. "Precious in the Sight of the Lord is
the Death of the Saints."
Shipherd (Jacob R. ). History of the Oberlin- Wellington Rescue. (Slavery.)
Boston, 1869.
Sibley ( Hiram ). Biographical Sketch of. New York, 1884.
Smith ( E. Peshine ). Political Economy. New York, 1860.
Smith (Edward Meigs). In Memoriam. Died April 11, 1884.
Spafford (H. G.). New York Gazetteer. Albany, 1813.
Sparks ( Jared). Lives of W. R. Davie and Samuel Kirkland. (Am. Biog., vol.
25.) Boston, 1847.
Spencer (John C.). Letter to a Committee of Friends of the Administration of
President Tyler, at Rochester, Oct. 19, 1842. New York, 1842.
Sprague ( Hon. E. C. ). Address at Semi-Centennial Celebration, Buffalo. Buf-
falo, 1882.
Squier (E. G.). Aboriginal Monuments of the State of New York. Smithsonian
Institute, 1849.
Starr (Charles S.). Medical Study in Europe. Address at the Annual Meeting of
the Medical Association of Central New York, May 20, 1884. Albany, 1884.
State Industrial School. Report of Board of Managers. Rochester, 1891.
Condition and Necessities of, as stated by State Board of Charities. 1 v.,
Rochester, 1890. ( See Western House of Refuge.)
Statistical and Chronological View of New York State. Rochester, 1846.
Stevens (Walter). Sermon in Memory of, by L. W. Billington. Canandaigua,.
1844.
Stone ( W. L.). Life of Joseph Brant. 2 v., Buffalo, 1851.
Stryker ( W. S.). General Maxwell's Brigade of the New Jersey Continental Line
in the Expedition against the Indians in . . . 1779. Trenton, N. J., 1885.
Stuart (C. B., City Surveyor). Map of Mt. Hope Cemetery, 1846.
Supervisors of Monroe County, Board of. Proceedings, 1854, 1856, 1865-7, 1870,.
1871, 1873-91.
Swift (Lewis). Simple Lessons in Astronomy. Rochester, 1887,
Thomas ( Arad ). Pioneer History of Orleans County, N. Y. Albion, N. Y., 1870.
Taylor (Wm. R., Pastor Brick Church). The Rise of Christian Associations..
(Anniversary of Y. M. C. A., Syracuse, Nov., 1888.)
Telegraph Magazine., Dec. 15, 1852. New York.
Tooker ( Manly ). Poems and Jottings of Itineracy in Western New York. Roch-
ester, 1860.
Tourist, The. Manual for Travelers on the Hudson River, Western and Northern
Canals and Railroads, and Stage Route to Niagara Falls. New York, 1839.
Trinity Church Guild. Office of Devotion, Constitution and By-Laws. Rochester,
1876.
True (B. O.). The Church of England: Its Present Condition and Phases of Its
Recent History. 1889.
Turner (C. P.). Pioneer History of Western New York. Buffalo, n. d.
Pioneer Period of Western New York. Buffalo, 1888.
LIST OF BOOKS IN THE LIBRARY. 125
Turner (O.). History of Phelps and Gorham's Purchase. Rochester, 1851.
History of the Holland Purchase. Buffalo, 1849.
University of Rochester.
Alumni Proceedings, 1872-3.
Class Day Exercises, June 26, 1876. Ballston Spa, N. Y., 1876.
Delta Upsilon Fraternity Constitution. Rochester, 1874.
Delta Upsilon Society University Annual, 1871, 1873.
Delta Upsilon Fraternity. Catalogue of the, 1870. Utica, 1870.
Interpres, 1874, 1876, 1877, 1882. Rochester, 1874^82.
Outline History of. Rochester, 1876.
Triennial Catalogue, 1850-1873.
Upper Crust Party, The Great, which came off Feb. 29, 1847. Irondequoit, 1847.
Van Ingen (J. V.). Pocket Mirror, or the Church's Pattern of a Good Life
Rochester, 1872.
Memories of Holy Week, 1874.
Vick (James). Monthly Magazine. 3 v., Rochester, 1878-80.
Vick's Illustrated Magazine. April, 1883.
Vought ( J. G.). A Treatise on Bowel Complaints. Rochester, 1823.
Walworth (R. H.). Hyde Genealogy. 2 v., Albany, 1864.
War of 1812. Battles of. Official Accounts of. New York, 1817.
War of 1861. Notes and Observations during Four Years Service with the 98th
N. Y. Volunteers, by Col. Wm. Kreutzer. Philadelphia, 1878.
Ward (F. DeW.). Churches of Rochester. Rochester, 1871.
Ward (F. DeW.). Churches of Rochester, 1815-71. Rochester, 1871.
Historical Address on Geneseo, N. Y., 1848-1888. Geneseo, 1889.
Warner Observatory. History and Work of, 1883-1886. Rochester, 1887.
Water Commissioners. Reports, 1872-75.
Water Supply for Rochester. Report on Introduction of, by Daniel Marsh. Roch-
ester, 1860.
R. Holly's System of Water Supply. Lockport, 1872.
Water Works for Rochester. Laws Relating to Construction of. Rochester,
1873.
Watson (Elkanah). History of Western Canals of New York, 1788 to 1819, with
History of Modern Agricultural Societies, 1807 to 1820. Albany, 1820.
Watson (John F.). Annals of New York City and State in the Olden Time
Philadelphia, 1846.
Watson ( Winslow C.). Men and Times of the Revolution. New York, 1865.
Werner (E. A.). Civil List and Constitutional History State of New York. Al
bany, 1888.
Western Education Society. Eighth Report, Dec. 28, 1825. Utica, 1826.
Western House of Refuge. Report of the Special Investigating Committe. n. p.,
1884.
Managers' 12th Annual Report. Albany, 1861.
Western New York Business Directory, 1842-3, by J. Dagget & Co. New York,
1842.
Western New York Institution for Deaf Mutes. Annual Reports, 3rd, 4th, 5th,
7th, 9th, and llth, 1879, 1880, 1881, 1883, 1885, 1887.
Report of Standing Committee on the Deaf and Dumb to State Board of
Charities, 1890.
126 BOCHESTEE HISTOEICAL SOCIETY.
Western Union Telegraph Co. Annual Report, 1869. New York, 1869.
President's Annual Report, Oct. 11, 1876. New York, 1876.
Statement of, on Proposed Union of Telegraph and Postal Systems. Cam.
bridge, 1869.
Whitbeck (Dr. J. F.). In Memoriam. Rochester, 1881.
Wilder (A. Carter). Memorial of, Dec. 23, 1875.
Wilkeson ( John ). Manufacture of Iron in Buffalo. Buffalo, 1864.
Williams ( John ). Sermon at Lenten Ordination of S. M. Rice, A. N. Littlejohn
and Geo. C. Foot, to Order of Deacons, 1848. Auburn, 1848.
Willson (George). Practical Arithmetic. Canandaigua, 1836.
American Class Reader. Canandaigua, 1836.
Women's Christian Association of Rochester. Jhird Biennial Report, 1890.
The preceding list contains the more important books now in the possession of
the Society. The purpose of the library Committee is to restrict the library, as
far as possible to those works which have a bearing upon the history of that por-
tion of New York State covered by the Phelps and Gorham Purchase.
Contributions of books, pamphlets, newspapers, maps, scrap-books, manuscripts,
letters, and relics in any way relating to Rochester or to the history of Western
New York or of its residents, whether red or white, are solicited for the library.
Contributions of money are needed even more ; there are many scarce and import-
ant books which must be bought when they come into the market, such as Cham-
plain's, Charlevoix's and other early travels, the Jesuit Relations and the early
maps. Lack of money has caused the loss of many excellent opportunities within
the past year. The library has lost one good collection of Indian relics and at
least one valuable collection of manuscripts and pamphlets, by the lack of a few
hundred dollars.
Books on genealog}* are desirable, as containing family history of residents of
the region. We also need maps and atlases of Rochester, of Monroe county,
and of all the neighboring counties.
If the members and friends of the society will make some effort we shall soon
have a most creditable library. It is becoming more difficult every day to collect
the books and papers of the earliest residents of Rochester. Earnest efforts alone
will now rescue many of them from utter loss.
Send all contributions to the
LIBRARIAN OF THE ROCHESTER HISTORICAL SOCIETY,
412 Wilder Building,
Rochester, N. Y.
EEEATA.
Page 24, line 13, for " the East Indies," read "Dutch Guiana."
Page 31, line 1, for "the," read "these," and line 6, for "New England," read
"Massachusetts."
Page 34, line 4 from bottom, for "Massachusetts," read "Connecticut."
Page 38, line 21, after " Birdsall," insert " two of the New York lessees."
Page 43, line 11, for "nine," read "three."
Page 44, line 12 from bottom, for " June," read " January," and line 9 from bot-
tom, for " Joseph," read " Jasper."
Page 45, line 9, for " west," read "east."
Page 49, line 8, erase "when Joseph Fellows became the sole manager."
F
129
R7R57
v.l
Rochester Historical
Society, Rochester, N.Y,
Publications
PLEASE DO NOT REMOVE
CARDS OR SLIPS FROM THIS POCKET
UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO LIBRARY
