A History of the City of Buffalo and Niagara Falls E-Book

John Devoy

• Herausgeber: Jazzybee Verlag
• Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 927

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2022

Beschreibung

This volume is the result of an earnest and conscientious effort to present in concise form a full history of Buffalo, Niagara Falls, and adjacent territory in Erie Conuty, containing an account of every event of importance from earliest times to the first years of the twentieth century. The compiler of this fantastic book has aimed to make the history complete and valuable as a book of reference.

Leseprobe

A History of the City of Buffalo and Niagara Falls

JOHN DEVOY

A History of the City of Buffalo and Niagara Falls, John Devoy

Jazzybee Verlag Jürgen Beck

86450 Altenmünster, Loschberg 9

Deutschland

ISBN: 9783849662400

www.jazzybee-verlag.de

[email protected]

CONTENTS:

PREFACE1

CHAPTER I2

CHAPTER II19

CHAPTER III44

CHAPTER IV58

GREATER BUFFALO93

MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT98

BUFFALO HARBOR110

EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS114

HOMES, ASYLUMS, ETC.118

NATIONAL GUARD123

MUSIC124

JOURNALISM141

CLUBS OF BUFFALO145

WOMEN'S ORGANIZATIONS149

BANKS AND BANKING155

RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS169

ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCHES181

THE BENCH AND BAR198

MEDICAL PROFESSION236

THE BUFFALO HISTORICAL SOCIETY262

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES265

NIAGARA FALLS375

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES403

PREFACE

THIS volume is the result of an earnest and conscientious effort to present in concise form a full history of Buffalo, Niagara Falls, and adjacent territory, containing an account of every event of importance from earliest times to the present day. While avoiding such unimportant details as would make the work cumbersome, the compiler has aimed to make the history complete and valuable as a book of reference.

To this end he has had recourse to the works of his predecessors in the same field of research, and acknowledges his obligation to the authors of H. Perry Smith's "History of Buffalo and Erie County"; "The History of Buffalo: Its Rise and Progress," by Charles P Dwyer; Holley's "History of Niagara Falls," and Hon. William Dorsheimer's address before the Buffalo Historical Society in 1863. Information obtained from the Buffalo Historical Society and the Buffalo and Grosvenor Libraries was of great value.

The publisher also acknowledges his obligation to Mark Hubbell, Esq., City Clerk, for valuable assistance in preparing the chapter on Municipal Government; to Mrs. Helen Leigh Sawin of the Buffalo "Times"; and to Hon. Peter A. Porter of Niagara Falls, whose knowledge of that region is more extended than that of any other living person, the compiler is especially indebted.

CHAPTER 1

THE section of country now Erie County was known to travelers as early as 1620 as " A land of quiet, while tempests raged around." It was inhabited by the Neuter Indians, a tribe who dwelt in peace, with hostile tribes on either side of them. They were a large and powerful nation with villages on both sides of Niagara River. The Eries occupied the greater part of the south shore of the lake bearing their name. The word "Erie" signified "cat," and the lake was at that time frequently called " Lake du Chat." The Algonquins or Hurons occupied the territory to the northwest as far as Lake Huron, and the Iroquois, a warlike and hostile tribe, inhabited the country to the east. The latter at this time was composed of the "Five Nations," and their "Long House," as they called their confederacy, stretched from east to west through all the rich central portion of New York. The most deadly strife prevailed between the Hurons and the Iroquois, and between the latter and the Eries as well.

The French held Montreal and the Canadas, the English held control in Massachusetts, and the Dutch were masters on the Hudson. In 1625 a few Jesuits arrived on the banks of the St. Lawrence, and the following year Father De La Roche Daillon, a Recollect missionary, passed the winter with the Neuter nation, preaching the gospel. In 1627 Cardinal Richelieu organized the Company of New France, or Company of One Hundred Partners. It had three objects, to wit: The conversion of the Indians to Christianity; to discover a new route to China by way of the Great Lakes; and to extend the fur trade. In the last regard the company was successful, but not in the others.

In 1628 Charles I. granted a charter for the government of Massachusetts Bay. The County of Erie was included in the limits as well as the rest of Western New York. The Jesuits soon had flourishing stations as far west as Lake Huron. During the next fifteen years the quarrels between the Neuter Indians and the Iroquois were frequent, and the latter finally exterminated both the Eries and Neuters from the face of the earth. In 1794 or 1795 the first tavern was opened. The Duke De La Rochefoucauld Liaincourt says of the landlord: "If he kept a tavern, he kept nothing else, neither furniture, room, candles, nor milk." The landlord's name was Skinner. The village of Buffalo, or New Amsterdam as it was sometimes called, was only an Indian settlement, with few, if any, white inhabitants, when other towns in Western New York were important business centers. Admirable as was the site for purposes of trade, the adjacent country inhabited by hostile savages, and lying within easy range of a British fort, the settlement by whites was practically postponed until the War of the Revolution had resulted in the independence of the American colonies, and the growth of the infant settlement was then retarded by the War of 1812, when the town was destroyed by the British and their Indian allies, making the beginning of the effort to found here an important trade center far from propitious.

In January 1679, Robert, Chevalier De La Salle, a Frenchman of good family, arrived at the mouth of Niagara River, and built at the mouth of Cayuga creek a sailing vessel of sixty tons burden, to carry on trade with the Indians on the Western lakes. This vessel was called the Griffin, and the place where it was launched is now known as La Salle. The vessel was armed with seven small cannon, two of which were brass, and it was regarded with alarm by the wondering savages, who looked upon it as a floating fort. On the seventh of August the Griffin set sail with a crew of thirty-four men, all of whom were Frenchmen, except Tonti, an Italian exile. As the boat sailed into Lake Erie the priests led in singing a joyful Te Deum, and cannon were fired, the Indians shouting "Ganoran! Ganoran! " — Wonderful! Wonderful! This was the beginning of commerce on the upper lakes, and, after all, the venture was a disastrous one. On August 11 the Griffin arrived at the mouth of the Detroit River, and sailing up this stream, arrived at Lake St. Clair, to which La Salle gave its name. On the twenty-third of the same month, the vessel entered Lake Huron, and being driven by a storm across Lake Saginaw, the party arrived four days later at Michelli Mackinack. The Griffin entered Lake Michigan September 2, and sailed to the mouth of Green bay. On its return voyage, loaded with furs, it was lost with all on board.

For forty-five years the French maintained substantial ascendancy in this region, although the disturbances by the Indians were frequent and serious. In 1687 De Nonville destroyed the Seneca villages in the vicinity of Victory and Avon, and defeated the Indians utterly in several engagements, who, after burning their towns, fled to the Cayugas. De Nonville then sailed to the mouth of the Niagara River and erected a fort, which for half a century was considered the key of Western New York, and, indeed, of the whole upper lake country. From this fort, in 1689, De Nonville sent Baron La Hontan to escort his Indian allies to their western home. He found a large Indian village at the eastern end of Lake Erie, and in his letters to Colbert, Minister of Louis XIV., he enlarged on the site of Buffalo, and pointed out the necessity for erecting a fort at this point to keep the Seneca Indians in check: " For," said the Baron, " rest assured that at the mouth of this creek there will be a settlement which will rival the speculation in favor of Niagara; as the latter is at the head of Ontario, so this is at the foot of Erie." In the light of subsequent events, this prophecy seems to savor of the humorous. Until 1697 the Five Nations were allies of the English and most of the time were engaged in active hostilities with the French.

In October 1763, six hundred British soldiers under Major Wilkes, who were on their way by boats to reinforce the troops at Detroit, were fired upon by a band of Seneca Indians from a point near the present site of Black Rock. About fifty soldiers were landed and attacked the Indians, but were repulsed with a loss of ten killed and as many wounded. This is the first recorded conflict of arms in Erie County in which white men participated.

In April 1764, Sir William Johnson concluded a treaty of peace with the chiefs of the Senecas at Johnson's Hall, by which the Indians conveyed to the King of England a tract of country around Niagara Falls, fourteen miles in length by four miles in breadth, for carrying or portage purposes. In the summer of this year General Bradstreet, with twelve hundred British and Americans, came by water to Fort Niagara, accompanied by a body of Iroquois warriors. He held a council with the friendly Indians at the fort, and satisfactory treaties were made. The Seneca Indians, however, held aloof, and General Bradstreet ordered their immediate attendance, under penalty of the destruction of their settlements. The chiefs came and ratified the treaty and afterwards faithfully adhered to the terms.

In the meantime, a fort had been erected on the site of Fort Erie, the first one ever built at this point. In August, Bradstreet's army had increased to three thousand, including three hundred Senecas, and came to Buffalo creek. Israel Putnam, a loyal soldier of King George and lieutenant colonel, commanded the Connecticut battalion. This was the same brave soldier who rallied the wavering lines of the Continental troops at Bunker Hill.

The War of the Revolution began in 1775, and for a time the Seneca Indians maintained a strict neutrality, but two years later they joined in a treaty with the Cayugas, Onondagas and Mohawks at Oswego, agreeing to serve the British throughout the war. The Oneidas remained neutral, and the whites on the Canadian frontier were assailed by the Indians in all directions. Joseph Brant, or Thay-en-dane-ga, was the most active and distinguished of the Iroquois chiefs. Farmer's Brother, Cornplanter, and Governor Black Snake were the principal chiefs of the Senecas at this time. At the massacre of Wyoming, Young King was the principal chief. The devastation of the Wyoming valley led to the expedition in 1779 of General Sullivan against the Six Nations with four thousand men. He destroyed all the Seneca villages on the Genesee and about Geneva, and the Indians fled to Fort Niagara. The Onondaga villages were also burned, and the league between the Six Nations was practically destroyed by this expedition. The year following a body of Senecas, with a few Cayugas and Onondagas, came from Niagara and established themselves near Buffalo creek, about four miles from its mouth, near the present site of Ebenezer. This was the first permanent settlement in Erie County by the Senecas since the extinction of the Neuter nation 135 years before. In 1784, the year of Fort Stanwix treaty, the county of Tryon, of which Erie County was part, was changed to Montgomery, in honor of the slain hero of Quebec.

In 1788 Massachusetts sold all her land in New York, about six million acres, to Oliver Phelps and Nathaniel Gorham, for themselves and others, for one million dollars, subject to the Indian right of occupancy. A council with the Indians was held at Buffalo July 5 of that year. Brant, Red Jacket, and Farmer's Brother taking part. The rights of the Indians to occupy two million six hundred thousand acres of their purchase was ceded to Phelps and Gorham at one-half cent an acre. At this council a Yankee named Phelps purchased the Indians' title to a tract of land for a mill-site. When asked how much land he required, Phelps replied that he wanted a tract twelve miles wide from Avon to the mouth of the river, now Rochester, a distance of twenty-eight miles. The Indians thought this a very large mill-site, but let him have the land, containing over two hundred thousand acres.

In 1791 Colonel Thomas Proctor was commissioned by the United States Government to solicit the intervention of the principal chiefs of the Senecas with the Miami and other hostile tribes to secure a treaty of peace. A council was held at which Red Jacket, Farmer's Brother, Captain Snake, Captain O'Beil, and Young King were present. The latter used every effort to defeat the plan and even appeared at the council in the full uniform of a colonel of the British army. The eloquence of Red Jacket however prevailed, but the mission was not accomplished for want of a vessel to carry the embassy to Sandusky.

In Colonel Proctor's report he notices the existence of a store kept by Cornelius Winney on the north side of Buffalo creek, which was doubtless the first house occupied by a white resident. The close of the Revolutionary War gave confidence to trade, and settlers from New England began to arrive in this section. In 1784 the treaty of Fort Stanwix was agreed upon between the United States and the Six Nations, the latter agreeing to relinquish all claims to the "country lying west of a line beginning at the mouth of Oyonagra creek, four miles to east of Niagara, thence southerly to a line four miles east of the Carrying path; to the mouth of Buffalo creek; thence to the northern boundary of Pennsylvania; thence east to end of boundary, and thence south along the Pennsylvania line to the Ohio river."

By the terms of an Indian treaty made at a council of Seneca Indians held at Geneseo in September, 1797, Robert Morris became purchaser of the preemption right to the Massachusetts tract, which, acting by his agents, he sold to the Holland Land Company, extinguishing all claims of the Indians, with the exception of certain reservations, of which one was 130 square miles on both sides of Buffalo creek and extending east from Lake Erie, about seven miles wide. This obliged the Holland company to secure a landing place on the water side, and Captain William Johnson, the British Indian interpreter, procured for them a grant of two square miles at the mouth of Buffalo creek. In 1798 there were but eight dwellings of white inhabitants here, including taverns and stores.

Ellicott, who was directed by the Holland Company's agent at Philadelphia to plot out the village, proposed to call the place New Amsterdam, but his plan was never carried out. He took care to secure for himself a most desirable site for a residence. It was to have occupied the site of Main Street from Swan to Eagle, and North and South Division streets were so called from the fact that they divided this farm.

Fort Niagara was surrendered to the United States July 4, 1796, and the same year Asa Ransom, a resolute young man from Geneva, settled at Buffalo and built a log house in the village. In 1797 a daughter was born to him, the first white child born in the settlement, who afterwards became Mrs. Frederick B. Merrill. In November 1801, Dr. Cyrenius Chapin took a lot in Buffalo. At this time there were but fifteen real estate holders in the village, the others being mere squatters and settlers by sufferance. The names of the landowners were: William Robbins, Henry Chapin, Sylvanus Maybee, Asa Ransom, Thomas Stewart, Samuel Pratt, William Johnson, John Crow, Joseph Langdon, Erastus Granger, Jonas Williams, Robert Kain, Vincent Grant, and Louis Le Conteulx.

Crow's tavern and garden occupied the site of the present Mansion House. In 1806 there were sixteen dwellings, principally frame structures, in the village. Three were on the Terrace, three on Seneca street, two on Cayuga, and eight on Main Street. There were two stores, one kept by Vincent Grant on Main Street, east side, corner of Seneca, and one by Samuel Pratt, adjoining Crow's tavern. Le Couteulx kept a drug store on Crow street, now Seneca. Judge Barker kept a tavern on the west side of Main Street, where the Terrace fronts on that street. In 1802 emigrants began to arrive more frequently. Ten landowners were added to the population of Clarence, while several more settled in Township twelve, Range five, now Newstead. The same year Peter Vandenventer built himself a log cabin and opened a tavern, the first in Newstead.

In July of this year occurred the first recorded murder. An Indian, called by the whites Stiff-armed George, stabbed to death John Hewitt, for which crime he was tried and convicted, but was pardoned by Governor George Clinton on condition of his leaving the State.

The first town meeting on the Holland purchase occurred at Vandenventer's tavern March 1, 1803. Peter Vandenventer and Jonathan Bemis were announced as candidates for supervisor. The chairman, Enos Kellogg, placed the candidates side by side in the middle of the road fronting to the south. He then said: " Now all of you in favor of Peter Vandenventer take your places on his right, and all in favor of Jonathan Bemis take your places on his left." Bemis's line stretched toward Batavia, and Vandenventer's line toward Buffalo. They were then counted, and it was found that Vandenventer was elected, he having seventy-four men in his line, while Bemis had but seventy. The method of voting was somewhat primitive, but there was small chance for fraud.

The other officers were elected by uplifted hands, and were as follows: David Cully, town clerk; Enos Kellogg, Alexander Rea, Isaac Sutherland, and Sylvanus Maybee, assessors; David Cully and Benjamin Porter, overseers of the poor; Abel Rowe, collector; John Mudge, Levi Felton, Rufus Hart, Abel Rowe, Seymour Kellogg, Hugh Howell, Martin Middaugh, Timothy S. Hopkins, Orlando Hopkins, Benjamin Morgan, Lovell Churchill, Jabez Warren, William Blackman, Samuel Clark, Gideon Dunham, Jonathan Willard, Hugh Powell, Benjamin Porter and William Wadsworth, overseers of the highway (or path-masters). Of these, Vandenventer, Cully, Ransom, Maybee, Felton, Timothy S. and Orlando Hopkins, Middaugh, and perhaps several others, were Erie County men. At this meeting an ordinance was passed offering a bounty of five dollars for wolf scalps, " whelps half price," and half a dollar each for foxes and wildcats. The first state election on the Holland purchase was held at the same place in April following. At this election 189 votes were cast for Member of Assembly.

in 1803 Jabez Warren, by contract with Ellicott, surveyed the " Middle road from near Genesee to Lake Erie," and the same year the village of New Amsterdam was surveyed by William Peacock. Erastus Granger, a cousin of Gideon Granger, was the first postmaster of Buffalo. He was the leader of the Republican (Democratic) party, as Dr. Chapin was leader of the Federal party. The first resident of Erie County entitled to be called " judge " was Samuel Tupper, who had charge of the " Contractors' store " in Buffalo. He was appointed Associate Judge of the Court of Common Pleas in the fall of 1805. In the spring of this year there came to Erie County a large number of settlers. One of these was Jonas Williams, a clerk in a law office at Batavia. He rebuilt a mill on Ellicott creek which had been abandoned some time before. Another new arrival was William Warren, afterwards General Warren, a young man, who this year erected a house in East Aurora. Having been an officer in the militia service before, he was soon afterwards commissioned as captain, and at the first muster of his company but nine men responded. In 1806 Joel Henry made the first settlement in Evans, and began business as keeper of a tavern at the mouth of Eighteen-mile creek. On this stream, the same year, John Cummings built the first mill in the southwestern part of the county. It was a large structure and a grand house-raising was held, at which a large number of Indians were present. The rejoicing continued for four days, when the building was completed. In this year the Quakers at Potter's Corners, in East Hamburg, organized a " Friends meeting," and built a log meetinghouse at the same place the following year. This was the first church building of any description in the county, and was for ten years the only one. They also built a log schoolhouse there, and Henry Hibbard was the first teacher. In 1807 Christopher and John Stone located on a small stream emptying into the Cattaraugus, on the present site of Springville. In 1807 Phineas Stephens built the first gristmill in the southeastern part of Erie County. It was of hewn logs. Early in the same year William Warren hung out a sign in front of his log house, this being the first tavern in the southeastern part of the county. In the summer of this year the cabin in which Warren first lived was converted into a schoolhouse, and the school was taught by Mary Eddy of East Hamburg. The winter following, however, Warren himself taught the school, being then schoolmaster, captain of militia, and tavern-keeper. At the muster of his company this year sixty men were present. Asa Ransom was at this time Major-commandant. The first mail was brought from the east by Evor Metcalf, on horseback, in 1806.

A religious society was formed in 1807 by a union between the Presbyterians and Congregationalists. The meetings were held in the Courthouse. The first settlement in Wales was made by William Allen in 1806, where the Big Tree Road crosses Buffalo creek. Amos Clark and William Hoyt located here the same year, east of Holmes' hill. In February 1808, Ebenezer and John W. Holmes settled here. In 1807 Lemuel Osborn located at Newstead, and soon afterwards the first Methodist society was organized with twelve members. This was the second religious society organized in Erie County. This year Archibald S. Clark opened a store on his farm near Vandenventer's, being the first store in the county outside of Buffalo.

In 1807 Arthur Humphrey made the first settlement in the present town of Holland, and a year or two later Currier and Scott brought their families to this place. Henry Anguish made the first settlement in Tonawanda village in 1808.

The first town meeting in Clarence was held in this year at Elias Ransom's tavern, two miles west of Williamsville, in what is now Amherst. Jonas Williams was elected supervisor; Samuel Hill, Jr., town clerk; Timothy S. Hopkins, Aaron Beard and Levi Felton, assessors; Otis R. Hopkins, collector; Francis B. Drake and H. B. Annabill, constables; Samuel Hill, Jr., Asa Harris and Asa Chapman, commissioners of highways (path-masters); and James Cronk, poor master. Excepting Annabill, not one of those elected lived in Buffalo. At this meeting licenses to sell liquor were granted to Joseph Landon, Zena S. Barker, Frederick Miller, Elias Ransom, Samuel McConnell, Asa Harris, Levi Felton, Peter Vandenventer and Asa Chapman. Jacob Taylor, a Quaker, this year built a sawmill at Taylor's Hollow in Collins, and a grist-mill the following spring. The same year George Richmond and his two sons, George and Frederick, opened a tavern three miles east of Springville.

In 1808 the counties in the Holland purchase were reorganized; towns one hundred miles long by eighteen miles wide were found to be very inconvenient. Going from Fort Niagara to Buffalo, a distance of forty miles, to a town meeting was too much even for the public spirit of the early settlers in this section. The residents of Olean, in the town of Willink, if they ever went to the election, which is doubtful, were obliged to travel sixty miles, and twenty miles further to a town meeting. On March 11 the reorganization was effected. All that part of the county of Genesee, lying north of Cattaraugus creek and west of the line between the fourth and fifth ranges, was formed into the county of Niagara, with the county seat at Buffalo or "New Amsterdam," provided the Holland company should erect a suitable courthouse and jail and deed to the county at least half an acre of ground, on which the buildings were to be erected. Terms of the Common Pleas Court and two Courts of General Sessions were provided for, all of which were to begin on Tuesday and might be continued until the Saturday following.

All of Niagara County north of the center of Tonawanda creek was formed into the town of Cambria, covering the ground now occupied by Niagara County. All the land between Tonawanda creek and the center of Buffalo creek, and comprising parts of Willink and Erie, was formed into the town of Clarence, which included the village of Buffalo. The first town meeting was directed to be held at the house of Elias Ransom, near the present site of Eggertsville. All that part of Niagara County south of the center of the Reservation, including parts of Willink and Erie, constituted the town of Willink. This entirely obliterated the town of Erie.

The Governor appointed Augustus Porter of Niagara Falls the first Judge of Common Pleas. His jurisdiction embraced the counties of Niagara, Cattaraugus and Chautauqua. His four associates were: Samuel Tupper and Erastus Granger of Buffalo, Joseph Brooks of Cattaraugus, and Zattu Gushing of Chautauqua. Asa Ransom was appointed sheriff; Louis Le Couteulx was made county clerk, and Archibald S. Clarke, surrogate. The last named was the same year elected a member of the State Senate for the district composed of the three counties. At this time there were but four attorneys in Niagara County; they were: Walden and Bates Cooke of Lewiston, and John Root and Jonas Harrison of Buffalo. After the formation of the new counties, the Holland company began the erection of a frame courthouse in the middle of Onondaga, now Washington street, in front of the site of the " Old Courthouse," which was built five or six years later. The company also conveyed to the county one-half acre of land lying in a circle around the new building. The courthouse was completed in 1809. The first court was held at Landon's tavern in June 1808, and at the following term, held in November of that year, five men were indicted for stealing a cow in 1806. Peter Vandenventer was foreman of the grand jury, and William Stewart was district attorney, his field of labor extending halfway to Albany.

At this time a log house sixteen feet square, with a shingle roof and board floor, and with six lights of glass, was considered very stylish and the owner was regarded as an aristocrat. Bedsteads were very rare and chairs were used only by the upper classes. A slab with four holes bored in the corners and legs inserted in the holes were generally used for seats. Bedsteads were constructed by boring holes in a log forming part of the sides of the house, and two poles were cut, one sixteen and the other three feet long, and the end of each was inserted in the holes. Others were fastened to the post forming the corner of the house, and the frame of the bed was complete, if the family was well-to-do, they strung a bed-cord on the poles, but otherwise bark was used. This article of furniture was called a "horse-bedstead," or "Holland-Purchase bedstead."

The corn was coarsely ground by making a mortar of a tree stump and pounding it with a wooden pestle. House-raisings, logging-bees, and corn-huskings were the chief source of amusement of the people, and on all these occasions the whiskey-jug was in frequent circulation. The angular Virginia rail-fence was almost universally used, the height of which was usually four and one-half feet, but "eight rails, staked and ridered," was the farmers' standard.

For twenty-five years " sweep "-wells were used exclusively, and no thought of pumps disturbed the order of things in this section. "Browse," by which term is meant the tender twigs of beach, maple, birch, and other trees, was chiefly relied upon as food for cattle. Corn and wheat bread, according to the circumstances of the people, with pork as meat for all classes, constituted the chief food of the settlers. Beef was a rare luxury. Wild animals were not abundant near the reservations, as the Indians kept them well hunted down in the neighborhood, but venison was frequently obtained in winter.

In 1808 there was not a carding-mill in the whole Holland purchase, but in the year following one was built at Bushville, Genesee County. Sugar maples grew everywhere, and sugar-making was the occasion of merry-making in the early spring. At this time there was not a church building in the county, except a log meetinghouse of the Quakers at East Hamburg. Meetings were held at long intervals in the schoolhouses, and frequently, when no minister was to be had, a layman read a sermon and conducted the services. Outside of Buffalo, A. S. Clarke's was the only store in Niagara County, but taverns were abundant.

Farmer's Brother lived on Buffalo creek in the first cabin outside New Amsterdam. White Seneca and his son, Seneca White, lived near him, and further beyond lived Red Jacket, on the Aurora Road, west of the village of Ebenezer. At a very early day, Farmer's Brother and other chiefs went to meet the white commissioners at Elmira. They stopped on their way at a log cabin, recently erected. In describing his journey to the whites. Farmer's Brother said they stayed at " a house put together with parts of trees piled on each other, to which a pole was attached, on which a board was tied, on which was written, ' Rum is sold here.' " He was the principal war-chief of the Senecas at this time, and Red Jacket was the principal sachem or civil-chief.

In 1808 Ezra Nott settled in Sardinia, he and Richmond being the pioneers of that settlement. The same year Apollos Hitchcock made the first settlement in Cheektowaga, and the land is still occupied by his descendants. Settlements were made this year in the eastern part of the present town of Lancaster. There were then twelve houses on the road running through the center of Lancaster. The first settlement of the present town of Eden was made this year by Ezra Welch and Deacon Samuel Tubbs, at what is now known as Eden Valley, but which was for a long time known as " Tubbs' Hollow."

This year, Aaron Saulisbury and William Cash made the first settlement in the present town of Evans, at the mouth of Eighteen-mile creek. One of the newcomers in Clarence was Rev. Glezen Fillmore, a cousin of Hon. Millard Fillmore, afterwards President of the United States. Mr. Fillmore was licensed to preach as a Methodist exhorter in March 1809, and set out on horseback, with his knapsack on his back, on a journey of two hundred miles, in the early spring, for Oneida county, to begin his labors. He made his permanent home at Clarence Hollow.

In 1810, the United States census was taken. The population of Niagara County was then 6132, two thirds of whom were in the present county of Erie.

On the tenth of February a law was passed creating the town of Buffalo, comprising all that part of Clarence west of West Transit. It comprised the present city of Buffalo and the towns of Grand Island, Tonawanda, Amherst, Cheektowaga, and the northern part of West Seneca. The town was eighteen miles long north and south, and from eight to sixteen miles wide from east to west. Asa Ransom, who was appointed sheriff in 1808, resigned his commission as lieutenant-colonel of militia, and Timothy S. Hopkins was appointed in his stead. Captain William Warren, not yet twenty-four years of age, was appointed first-major, and Asa Chapman second-major. The men subject to military duty in Buffalo and Clarence constituted the regiment under Lieutenant-colonel Asa Chapman, then living near Buffalo, and Samuel Hill, Jr., of Newstead, was one of his majors. The men of Willink formed another regiment, and young Major Warren was appointed lieutenant-colonel commanding.

Benjamin Whaley of Boston and W. C. Dudley of Evans were appointed majors. There was also a regiment formed in Cambria and in Chautauqua County, the whole force being under command of Brigadier general Timothy S. Hopkins.

After his election to Congress in 1810, Peter B. Porter removed to Black Rock from Canandaigua, and became a member of the leading business firm in the county, Porter, Barton & Co. He was the first citizen here who exerted a wide political influence.

The same year the Holland company sold their preemption right to all the Indian reservations in the Holland purchase to David A. Ogden, for himself and others, known as the Ogden company. This included the sole right to purchase 196,000 acres from the Indians when they wanted to sell, the consideration being $98,000.

in the spring of this year Moses Fenner removed to Albion, and raised the first crop harvested in that town, and at the same time Joseph Freeman, William Snow, and Arundah Hibbard came to Alden. The Ingersolls, about this time, located on the lake shore in the town of Hamburg. Richard Buffum became the first settler in Colden in 1810. He came from Rhode Island and built a log house forty feet long, and the same fall he erected a sawmill at that place. In the spring of that year Turner Aldrich and family located on the present site of Gowanda, and this was the only family in Collins, except those at Taylor's Hollow. During this year Congress declared Black Rock the port of entry from the first of April to the first of December, and Buffalo to be the port of entry the rest of the time, during this latter period there being no entries.

In 1811 Jabez B. Hyde became a teacher among the Indians. The Buffalo "Gazette" was established this year, the first number being issued October 3, by Smith H. and Hezekiah A. Salisbury, the former being the editor. It was originally a rough, little, brown sheet, twelve by twenty inches in size. The first number of the paper contained a list of 157 uncalled-for letters in the Buffalo Creek post-office.

Red Jacket was to the time of his death the inveterate enemy of civilization, Christianity, and education. He understood English, but pretended otherwise. He could speak a few words in English, and would not learn it. Among other caustic things he said was his reply to missionaries who tried to convert him. " Go, preach to the people of Buffalo," he said; "if you can make them decent and sober, and learn them not to cheat the Indians and each other, we will believe in your religion." Speaking of educated Indians, he said: "They became discouraged and dissipated; despised by the Indians, neglected by the whites, and without value to either; less honest than the former, and, perhaps, more knavish than the latter." Again he said: " Before the whites came, the papooses were all black-eyed and dark-skinned; now their eyes are turning blue and their skins are fading out." He frequently illustrated his meaning in unmistakable manner. The story is often told of his meeting the Indian agent, Joseph Ellicott, in a Tonawanda swamp. Both sat down on a log together, near the center. Presently, Red Jacket said, "Move along, Joe." Ellicott did so, and Red Jacket moved alongside. In a few moments the chief again said, " Move along, Joe," and again the agent complied, the speaker moving beside him again. The third time the request was made and complied with; but when asked again to "move along," Ellicott replied, "Why, man, I can't move any further without getting off the log into the mud." "Ugh!" said Red Jacket; "just so, white man want Indian to move along, move along. Can 't go no further, but he say " move along."

Red Jacket became very dissipated toward the end of his life, and, it is said, he frequently pawned his Washington medal in Buffalo for whiskey, always, however, redeeming it. His vanity made him prize the medal very highly. The following anecdote is told of him, which shows he did not always have the best of it in his interviews with others. He went with the Indian interpreter. Major Jack Berry, to David Reese, the blacksmith for the Indians, and requested him to make him a tomahawk, describing the kind he wanted. He whittled a wooden pattern, and said if the blacksmith would make one just like it he would be satisfied. " All right," said Reese, who was out of patience with the whims of the chief. In due time the tomahawk was made, and Red Jacket got it. It was precisely like the model, but after looking at it for a moment and then at the pattern, he threw it down with an angry "ugh!" and left the shop. It was exactly like the model, which had no hole in it for a handle.

On his election to the position of sachem the name Sa-go-ye-wat-ha was given to Red Jacket, his name originally having been O-te-ti-ani, or " Always Ready." In reply to the inquiry as to his deeds of arms, he exclaimed: "I am an orator! I was born an orator!" thus evading the inquiry, as his war record was not brilliant. In the war of the Revolution he, with the other Senecas, was an ally of Great Britain, and in 1812 he served under the American colors, but he never won the right to wear the war-plume of eagles' feathers. In the Revolutionary war he was openly charged with cowardice, and in the war of 1812 he was not conspicuous for his valor. He had, however, great moral courage, and was a statesman of sagacity. He loved his people and swayed them by his eloquence. His tribe was one of the original Five Nations, or United People. By the adoption of the Tuscaroras the Five Nations were afterwards known as the Six Nations. This change occurred in 1712.

The Senecas were the fifth nation in the confederacy. The great councils of the Six Nations were always held at Onondaga, where the alliance was formed. Red Jacket was styled the " Last of the Senecas." Cornplanter and Farmer's Brother were contemporaries of great ability. During the Revolutionary war he was a runner for the British officers on the border, and one of them, in return for his services in that capacity, gave him a richly embroidered scarlet jacket, and when that was worn out he gave him another. He wore this coat as a mark of distinction, a circumstance which gave him the name of Red Jacket, and by which name he was universally known to the whites afterwards. Rev. Dr. Breckenridge said of him, "that, like Cicero and Demosthenes, he better understood how to arouse his countrymen to war, than to lead them to victory." Joseph Brant, or Thay-en-dan-ga, the famous leader of the Mohawks, regarded Red Jacket with the greatest contempt. He called the Seneca orator the "Cow Killer." When Red Jacket, with others, led the retreat from an attack by General Sullivan, Cornplanter tried to rally them in vain, and turning to the young wife of Red Jacket he said: "leave that man, he is a coward." Red Jacket arrived in Philadelphia March 13, 1792, with a deputation of fifty of his people. It was at the suggestion of General Washington, who desired to attach the Indians more closely to the United States. Red Jacket made several eloquent speeches on this occasion. It was during this visit that Washington presented Red Jacket with a large silver medal bearing his likeness, which the chief wore on all state occasions, and which he treasured to the day of his death as his most valued possession. Shortly before his death Red Jacket said to a distinguished clergyman: "Brother, if you white people murdered the Son of the Great Spirit, as you say, we Indians had nothing to do with it. If he had come to any of us we would not have killed him; we would have treated him well, and the white people who killed him ought to be damned for doing it. You must make amends for that crime yourselves." On another occasion he said: "Make the whites less inclined to make Indians drunk and take from them their lands. Let us know trees by their blossoms, and blossoms by their fruit." On Colonel Snelling being ordered to the command of Governor's Island this great Indian orator said: " Brother, I hear you are going to a place called Governor's Island. I hope you will be a governor yourself. I understand you white people think children are blessings. I hope you may have a thousand, and above all, I hope wherever you may go you may never find whiskey above two shillings a quart."

In 1821 Tommy Jerry, an Indian, was tried for murder at Buffalo. The circumstances were these: An Indian woman had been found guilty, by an Indian court, of witchcraft, and was sentenced to death. The executioner at the last moment refused to perform the duty, and Tommy Jerry, seizing a knife, cut her throat. On his trial his counsel filed a plea involving the jurisdiction of the court, claiming that the Seneca court was sovereign, and that the woman was judicially executed. In support of the plea Red Jacket was sworn as a witness. The prosecution asked him if he believed in the existence of a God. " More truly than one can who could ask me such a question," he replied with indignation. When asked what rank he held in his nation he replied: " Look at the papers which the white people keep most carefully," meaning the treaties by which the Indians ceded their land to the whites, " and they will tell you who I am."

When the prosecution ridiculed the superstition of the Indians in reference to witchcraft, the chief broke forth in an eloquent reply. He exclaimed: " What I do you denounce us as fools and bigots because we still believe that which you yourselves believed two centuries ago? Your black coats thundered this doctrine from the pulpit, your judges pronounced it from the bench and sanctioned it with the formalities of law, and you would now punish an unfortunate brother for adhering to the faith of his fathers and of yours. Go to Salem I look at the records of your own government and you will find that hundreds have been executed for the very crime which has put the sentence of condemnation against this woman and drawn upon her the arm of vengeance. What have our brothers done more than the rulers of your people have done, and what crime has this man committed, by executing in a summary way the laws of his country, and the command of the Great Spirit?" The expression in his eye was terrible, and his sarcasm was irresistible.

The verdict on the demurrer was that the allegations in the prisoner's plea were true. On certiorari the liberation of the prisoner was allowed on the ground that the case was not one of murder " as the Indians understood it." He (Red Jacket) gave to Dr. Breckenridge the name of Con-go-gu-wah, and to his death had more regard and respect for the reverend doctor than for any other clergyman.

The dignity of this remarkable Indian was sometimes amusing. A young French nobleman, making a tour of this county in 1820, visited Buffalo. Having heard of the fame of Red Jacket he sent him word that he was desirous of seeing him, and asking him to pay him a visit the next day. Red Jacket received the message with contempt, and replied as follows: " Tell the young man that if he wishes to see the old chief he may find him with his nation, where other strangers pay their respects to him, and Red Jacket will be glad to see him." The count sent back word " that he was fatigued with his journey, and could not go to the Seneca village; that he had come all the way from France to see the great orator of the Senecas, and after having put himself to so much trouble to see so distinguished a man, the latter could not refuse to see him in Buffalo." "Tell him," said the sarcastic chief, " that it is very strange he would come so far to see me, and then stop short within seven miles of my lodge." The count made the first visit to the chief's wigwam, and then the latter accepted an invitation to dine with the nobleman in Buffalo. The count said he considered him a greater wonder than the falls of Niagara.

Once, while speaking to Colonel Pickering, the latter turned to speak to a third person, when the chief rebuked him, saying: "When a Seneca chief speaks he ought to be listened to with attention from one extremity of this great island to another." Towards the close of his life the chief was present by invitation at the launching of a schooner at Black Rock bearing his name. In a speech on that occasion he spoke as follows: " You have had a great name given to you; strive to deserve it. Be brave and daring. Go boldly into the great lakes and fear neither swift winds nor strong waves. Be not frightened nor overcome by them, for it is by resisting storms and other perils that I whose name you bear obtained my renown. Let my great example inspire you to courage and lead you to glory." He had a great contempt for criminal law. When a man had been convicted of burglary and was sentenced to prison for life, Red Jacket asked to be heard in the convict's behalf. Estimating the enormity of the crime by the amount stolen, which in this case was only a few spoons, and not understanding the serious aspect of the breaking into the house, he spoke with great indignation of the life sentence for stealing a few spoons, when a man had been sentenced to a few years for stealing a horse. Pointing to the Coat of Arms of the State, he said, referring to one of the figures: " What him call?" The answer was that it represented Liberty. " Ugh! " he said, " and what him call? " pointing to the other statute. When told it was Justice, he asked " where him live now? "

Having become somewhat dissipated, and having used his influence against Christianity and the improvement of his race. Red Jacket was considered worthless by the better class of his people. A council was called to depose him from his position as sachem. It was held in September 1827. The act of disposition charged him with disturbing their councils; sending false stories to their father at Washington; that he opposed the improvement of their nation, abused and insulted our White Father, the President; that he did not regard the rules which make the Great Spirit love them, and which make his Red children do good to each other; that he had a bad heart, because in times of great distress when his people were starving, he took and hid the body of a deer he had killed when his starving brothers should have shared their proportions with him; that the last time the Great Father, the President, was fighting the king across the great waters, he divided his nation; that he had prevented and always discouraged the children from going to school where they could learn, and abused and lied about his people who were willing to learn, and about those who were offering to teach them how to worship the Great Spirit in the manner Christians do; that he had taken goods for his own use which were received as annuities, and which belonged to the orphan children and the old people; that for the last ten years he had often said the communications of our Great Father to his Red children were forgeries, made up at New York by those who wanted to buy their lands; that he left his wife because she joined the Christians and worshipped the Great Spirit as they do, knowing that she was a good woman; that they had waited for nearly ten years for him to reform, but were now discouraged, as he declared he would never receive instruction from those who wish to do them good, as the Great Father advised them to do, and induced others to hold the same language The act concluded as follows:

"We now renounce you as a chief, and from this time you are forbid to act as such. All our nation will hereafter regard you as a private man, and, we say to them all, that everyone who shall do as you have done will, if a chief, in a like manner be disowned and be set back where he started from by his brethren. Declared at the Council House of the Seneca Nation, September 15, 1827." It was written in the Seneca language, and was translated into English for publication by Dr. Jameson, a half-breed, who retained his connection with the Indians. Red Jacket was greatly affected by this decision and made a journey to Washington where he called on Colonel McKenny, the commissioner then in charge of the Indian Bureau, to vindicate himself. The result of the conference was that Red Jacket agreed to return home, and at a council to be convened, express his willingness to bury the hatchet, and leave it to those who chose to to be Christians to adopt the creed of that religion, while for himself and those who thought like him he claimed the privilege of retaining the faith of his fathers. He returned and entered upon the work of regaining his position in earnest. " It shall not be said that Sa-go-ye-wat-ha lived in insignificance and died in dishonor. Am I too feeble to revenge myself of my enemies? Am not I as I have been?"

At the council held in the Council House of the principal reservation, in the neighborhood of Buffalo, Half-Town, of the Cattaraugus reservation, declared that the voice of his section of the nation was unanimous, and that the indignation was general at the contumely cast upon so great a man as Red Jacket. Several other chiefs spoke to the same effect. Red Jacket then rose and spoke with great dignity and force, denying the charges which he claimed were ridiculous, and concluded with these words: "When I am gone to the other world; when the Great Spirit calls me away, who among my people can take my place?'' " The argumentum ad hominem prevailed, and the chief was restored to his position by a unanimous vote. He made his last journey to Washington in the spring of 1829. General Jackson was then President. He lost all of his pride in the latter years of his life, and so low did he sink in his own esteem that he allowed the keepers of museums in Boston and Albany to exhibit him for money. Before his death he said to those at his deathbed: "Bury me by the side of my former wife, and let my funeral be according to the custom of our nation. Let me be dressed and equipped as my fathers were, that they may rejoice at my coming. Be sure that my grave be not made by a white man and let them not pursue me there." When the last attack of sickness came upon him, he said he would not survive, and refused all medical aid. He died January 20, 1830, at his residence. The funeral was largely attended by Indians and Whites. For nine years his grave was unmarked, but during the summer of 1839 Henry Placide, an actor, while on a visit to Buffalo, secured, through subscription, the erection of a handsome marble slab to mark the resting-place of this famous chief. The stone bears the following inscription:

Sa-go-ye-wat-ha. (He keeps them awake.)

Red Jacket, Chief of the Wolf Tribe of the Senecas. The Friend

and Protector of His People.

Died January 20, 1830, Aged 78 Years.

CHAPTER II

ON March 20, 1812, Willink was greatly reduced in area, and out of it were formed the towns of Hamburg, Eden, and Concord. Eden comprised what is now Boston, Eden, Evans, and part of ' Brant. Hamburg was composed of the present towns of Hamburg and East Hamburg, and Concord comprised the present towns of Sardinia, Concord, Collins, and North Collins, leaving the area of Willink about twelve miles square, and embracing what are now the towns of Aurora, Wales, Holland, and Colden.

In February of this year, Congress passed an act to organize an army of 25,000 men. Ebenezer Walden was the Federal member of assembly, from Niagara, Cattaraugus, and Chautauqua counties. In April 1812, Abel M. Grosvenor was nominated for Assembly by the Federalist party, or, as they called themselves, "Federal Republicans." At this meeting a large committee of the prominent Federalists was appointed. The members from Buffalo were as follows: Nathaniel Sill, Joshua Gillette, Benjamin Caryl, James Beard, Gilman Folsom, William E. Grant, John Russell, Daniel Lewis, Rowland Cotton, David Reese, Elisha Ensign, S. H. Salisbury, Ransom Harmon, Frederick House, Guy J. Atkins, Samuel LaSuer, John Duer, John Watkins, R. Grosvenor Wheeler, Fred Buck, Henry Anguish, Nehemiah Seeley, Henry Doney, Solomon Eldridge, and Halden Allen.

The names of the Democratic-Republican committee from Buffalo at this time were as follows: Nathaniel Henshaw, Dr. Ebenezer Johnson, Pliny A. Field, William Best, Louis Le Conteulx, and John Sample. Early in May 1812, a lieutenant of the United States Army advertised in Buffalo for recruits, offering those who enlisted 160 acres of land, three-months' extra pay, and sixteen dollars bounty.

The election was held May 12th. Willink gave Grosvenor 71 votes, Hamburg 47, Eden 41, Concord 33, Clarence 72, and Buffalo 123; total, 387.

For Jonah Williams, republican, the founder of Williamsville, Willink gave 114, Hamburg no, Eden 46, Clarence 177, and Buffalo 112; total, 609. Archibald S. Clarke was elected State senator, the first citizen of Buffalo to hold that office. He had been the first assemblyman and the first surrogate for this town.

The militia at this time were organizing for war. Dr. Ebenezer Johnson was appointed surgeon's mate (now assistant surgeon), in Lieutenant-colonel Chapman's regiment, and Abiel Gardner and Ezekiel Sheldon, lieutenants; Aziel Smith, paymaster, and John Henry and Samuel Edsall, ensigns. In Lieutenant-colonel Warren's regiment, Adoniram Eldridge, Charles Johnson, John Coon, Daniel Haskell, Benjamin Gardner, and John Russell were appointed captains; Innis B. Palmer, Isaac Phelps, Timothy Fuller, Benjamin I. Clough, Gideon Person, Jr., Frederick Richmond, and Varnum Kenyon, lieutenants; William Warriner, surgeon; Stephen King, paymaster; Samuel Cochran, Elihu Rice, Benjamin Douglass, Lyman Blackman, and Oliver Blezer, ensigns.

Rumors of Indian outrages were frequent and greatly disturbed the people of the Niagara border. Congress passed an act this year calling out 100,000 militia. New York State to furnish 13,500, and an order was issued at once detailing 240 men of Hopkins' brigade for immediate service. On May 17 Colonel Swift of Ontario County arrived in Buffalo to take command on the frontier. The first regiment of militia passed through Buffalo on their way to Lewiston, May 18, under command of Benjamin Whaley. On May 26, Superintendent Granger, with interpreters Jones and Parrish, held a council with the chiefs of the Six Nations, and urged them to remain neutral. The Indians agreed to send a delegation to consult with their brethren in Canada. The declaration of war was now being discussed in Congress. On June 23, Colonel Swift was in command here, with headquarters at Black Rock. His command was composed of 600 militia. A small garrison of regulars were at Fort Niagara with no artillery except at the fort.

On Friday, June 26, 1812, a messenger, probably dispatched by the British representative at Washington, arrived at Lewiston carrying to the Canadian government information that the United States had declared war against Great Britain. With singular promptitude hostilities began next day. About one P. M., June 27, the schooner Connecticut, Captain Johnson, owned by Peter H. Colt of Black Rock, was lying off the mouth of Buffalo creek, waiting for a favorable wind. At this time two rowboats, with about forty men, put off from Fort Erie and rapidly approached the vessel. Captain Johnson immediately weighed anchor and attempted to reach Sturgeon point, but the winds were contrary and the boats soon overtook him, and the vessel became a British prize, the first one taken on Lake Erie. Along the roads a constant stream of militia was to be seen daily, and drills in front of Crow's tavern were hourly witnessed.

Fort Erie was fully garrisoned and strengthened, and guns of large caliber were mounted, paralyzing shipping entirely. On the eleventh of August, General Van Rensselaer arrived and took command of the United States troops, with headquarters at Lewiston. At a council in which Erastus Granger, Indian commissioner, and the chiefs of the Senecas were present. Red Jacket eloquently advocated neutrality, and one great danger was averted. The pledge was faithfully kept by the Indians, and much credit is due for this action of the Senecas at this period, critical indeed for the pioneers on the Canadian frontier.

On July 4, 1812, 3000 American militia were assembled on the Niagara frontier under General William Wadsworth. Two companies of old men were recruited, and were called "Silver Greys," one in Willink commanded by Phineas Stephens, captain; Ephraim Woodruff, lieutenant, and Oliver Pettengill, ensign. The other company was organized at Hamburg, under Captain Jonathan Bemis. General Amos Hall of Ontario County succeeded General Wadsworth as Major-general of this division, and he, in turn, was superseded by Major-general Stephen Van Rensselaer, July 11, with headquarters at Lewiston.

The British had several armed vessels in the lake, one of which, named Charlotte, kept the people of Hamburg and Evans in a constant state of anxiety and alarm. A feeling of gratification prevailed among the inhabitants upon reading the headlines in the "Gazette " announcing " The Charlotte Taken." This feeling somewhat subsided when the article was read announcing the marriage of Jared Cranfield, a sergeant in Captain McClure's volunteer company, to Miss Charlotte King of Concord.

A council was called by Mr. Granger to meet on the Buffalo reservation July 6 of this year, it was opened by Red Jacket and Granger in long speeches, urging the Indians to take no part in the war between the United States and Great Britain. Their counsels prevailed, but the neutrality of the Senecas and Cayugas was of short duration.

On July 27 the "Gazette" announced the surrender by General Hull of Detroit and his army to an inferior force of British and Indians.

On October 8 a detachment of sailors arrived from New York and were placed under command of Lieutenant Jesse D. Elliott at Black Rock. At this time there were two armed British vessels lying at anchor opposite Fort Erie. They were the Detroit, with six guns, lately captured from the United States, and named the Adams; and the Caledonia, with two guns. On the night of the ninth of October three boats put out from the American shore in the direction of Fort Erie, the first containing fifty men under Lieutenant Elliott; the second with forty-seven men under Sailing-master Watts, and the third with six men under Dr. Chapin. They arrived where the two vessels were anchored, and after a short but stubborn resistance, in which two of the attacking party were killed and five wounded, the enemy was overpowered, the cables were cut and the vessels were under way down the river. Seventy-two officers and men were taken prisoners and forty American prisoners were released. The Adams was run aground on Squaw Island, and the guns of Fort Erie opened fire on the vessels as they passed Black Rock. The first shot killed Major William Howe Cuyler of Palmyra, aide-de-camp of General Hall. The stranded vessel was afterwards burned by the Americans. The capture of these vessels greatly encouraged the people, who soon grew despondent on learning of the defeat of General Van Rensselaer at Queenston. Brigadier-general Alexander Smythe, of the regular army, was assigned to the command of the Niagara frontier. He was a Virginian who concentrated all the troops at Black Rock preparatory to an invasion of Canada. Some nine hundred regular troops were collected there under Colonel Moses Porter, Colonel Winder, and Lieutenant-colonel Boerstler. General Smythe, on November 12, issued a flaming address from "Camp near Buffaloe" to the men of New York, calling for aid to plant the American flag in Canada, and concluded with the words: "We will conquer or die." Three or four hundred volunteers reported at once, the two companies of Silver Grays making part of the force. Peter P. Porter, afterwards Quartermaster-general of the State, was placed in command of the New York volunteers.

November 27 General Smythe issued orders for the troops to cross the river next day. At this time there were over four thousand troops at Black Rock. The landing was effected, but after spiking a number of the enemy's guns, a retreat was ordered, and at a council of war it was decided not to again invade Canada that year. The troops were utterly disgusted. Smythe's bombastic address was republished in doggerel rhyme and the newspapers were filled with ridicule of this pompous Virginian. General Porter published a card in the Buffalo "Gazette" charging General Smythe with cowardice, and a challenge from Smythe was the result. The challenge was promptly accepted, General Porter selecting Lieutenant Angus as his second. General Winder acting for General Smythe in the same capacity. The two generals met at Dayton's tavern, below Black Rock, October 14, and crossed to Grand Island. One shot was fired by each of the principals, as stated by the seconds "in as intrepid and firm a manner as possible," without effect, when the charge made by General Porter was withdrawn and the hand of reconciliation was extended and received. Major (Doctor) Chapin was even more furious than Porter and published a statement bitterly denouncing General Smythe. General Smythe resigned December 22, and Colonel Moses Porter took command. Major Frederick Miller was appointed commandant of forces at Black Rock, and Colonel Swift of the troops at Lewiston. An express was dispatched to Canandaigua for arms and ammunition. Several of the companies were ordered to Black Rock, and Captain Wells' light infantry company and Captain Hull's company of militia were held to protect Buffalo.

The English built breastworks at Waterloo and the Americans constructed earthworks at Black Rock. The Sailor's battery was on the south side of Scajaquada creek, near its mouth, and was furnished with three long thirty-two pounder guns. Early in March, 1813, Oliver Hazard Perry, a young man of twenty-six years, and wearing the uniform of a captain in the United States Navy, arrived at Buffalo from the East. ' Five vessels were fitted out at the mouth of Scajaquada creek. In April of this year Lieutenant Dudley of the Navy, Dr. Trowbridge, Frederick B. Merrill, and three seaman, who were hunting on Strawberry Island, were seen from the Canadian shore, and a squad of British soldiers was sent across and made them prisoners. A battery of three guns was planted on the property, afterwards belonging to Mr. William A. Bird, and Fort Tompkins was located on the ground now occupied by the car barns on Niagara Street, being the largest of the fortifications. Its armament consisted of six or seven guns of different calibers. A mortar battery was placed in a ravine near the waterworks, with one eight-inch mortar, popularly known as "Old Sow." On the northerly corner light earthworks were thrown up, and here was placed a gun of twenty-four pound caliber.