Distemper leagued with famines wan, Ranged where the panther yelled before. Look now abroad! the scene how changed, Clad in their savage costume ranged, In praise of pomp let fawning Art Almighty may thine out-stretched arm ERRATA. Page 131-arts of peace, instead of "acts." Page 151-read sister instead of " daughter of Zachariah Seymour." - 326. Page 483 Shay's Rebellion-"General order”. date should have been 1786. Page 314-8th line, " after," should precede "his appointment." Page 416-9th line $200 instead of $2,00." Page 597-15th line, receipts of Rochester P. O., should be as in a few lines above, $3,46, instead of "$346." PREFACE. - A WORK, commenced nearly one year since, the publication of which has been delayed far beyond the promised period, owing to causes unforseen-principally to the fact that it is of greater magnitude, and has involved a far greater amount of travel, labor and research than was anticipated is now presented to the public. The general plan of it will hardly be misunderstood by its readers: It is a history of the Pioneer, or FIRST SETTLEMENT, of that portion of the Genesee Country embraced in the purchase of Oliver Phelps and Nathaniel Gorham of the State of Massachusetts and the Seneca Indians, and of that portion purchased by Robert Morris, which he reserved in his sale to the Holland Company. The boundaries of the region embraced are indicated in the title page, and are more clearly defined in the body of the work. It is the eastern, and nearly the one half of what constitutes, properly, Western New York; its eastern boundary being the Massachusetts line of pre-emption. The work commences with the advent of the French upon the St. Lawrence, and traces their progress to this region, and along the shores of the Western Lakes to the Mississippi; briefly recognizing the prominent events that followed under English and French dominion. Enough of colonial history has been embraced that which tended in the direction of our local region to make such an induction to the main design of the work, as would secure an unbroken chain, or chronology of events, commencing with the landing of the French upon the St. Lawrence, and continued through the period of French and English occupancy. As all this was but incidental, it has been, generally, briefly disposed of, for the author was admonished that his space would be required when he had entered upon a less beaten track. Yet he may venture to anticipate that even the student of history, will find something of interest in this precedent portion of the work; for it is not wholly an explored field, and each new gleaner may bring something from it to add to the common stock of historical knowledge. It was the original design of the author to incorporate in the work, something of the history of our immediate predecessors, the Senecas. It was mainly abandoned however, on learning that a local author, quite competent for the task, (as his now published work bears witness,) was preparing for the press, a work which would embrace much of interest in their history. Much of them, however, will be found scattered throughout a large portion of the work, and a separate chapter is appropriated to them, from the pen of a native, and resident of the Genesee Valley - a scholar and a poet, whose fame has gone out far beyond our local region, and conferred credit upon its literature. See chapter II, Part I. The colonial period passed, the local events of the Revolution briefly disposed of;- Indian treaties, commencing under the administration of GEORGE CLINTONthe almost interminable difficulties in which the State, and individual purchasers were involved in with the Lessees, the slow advance of settlement in this direction are subjects next in order. Much of all this has been drawn from authentic records, and did not previously exist in any connected printed record. -- The main subject reached-settlement of the Genesee country commenced-a general plan of narrative, somewhat novel in its character was adopted: - History and brief personal Biography, have been in a great measure blended. This has vastly increased the labor of the work, but it is hoped it will be found to have added to its interest. It will readily be inferred that it involved the necessity of selecting the most prominent of the Pioneers in each locality. those with whom could be blended most of the Pioneer events. In almost every locality there has been regretted omissions; a failure to recognize all who should have been noticed. This has been partly the result of necessity, but oftener the neglect of those who had promised to furnish the required information. While the work contains more of names and sketches of personal history, than are to be found in any other local annals that have been published in our country, there are hundreds of Pioneer names reluctantly omitted. *"League of the Iroquois," by Lewis H. Morgan, Esq., of Rochester. W. H. C. Hosmer, Esq., of Avon. In all that relates to early difficulties with the Indians; to threatened renewals of the Border Wars, after the settlement of the country commenced, the author has been fortunate in the possession of authentic records, hitherto neglected, which gives to the subjects a new and enhanced interest. The accounts of the treaties of Messrs. PICKERING and CHAPIN, with the Indians, are mostly derived from official correspondence; while most of what relates to the councils held with them to obtain land cessions, west of the Seneca Lake, are derived from the manuscripts of Oliver Phelps and Thomas Morris, the principal actors in the scenes. The author cannot but conclude, that poorly as the task may have been executed, it has been undertaken at a fortunate period. More than one half of this volume is made up from the reminiscences, the fading memories, of the living actors in the scenes described and the events related. No less than nine, who, within the last ten months, have rendered in this way, essential service, -- without whose assistance the work must have been far more imperfect are either in their graves, or their memories are wholly impaired. The thanks of the author are especially due to HENRY O'RIELLY, for the use of valuable papers collected with reference to continuing some historical researches, he had so well commenced; to JAMES H. Woods, for the use of papers of CHAS. WILLIAMSON; to OLIVER PHELPS and JAMES S. WADSWORTH, for the use of papers in their possession, as the representatives of OLIVER PHELPS and JAMES WADSWORTH; to JOHN GREIG and JOSEPH FELLOWs for access to papers in their respective land offices; and especially to the former, for the essential materials in his possession as the representative of ISRAEL CHAPIN, and his son and successor, ISRAEL CHAPIN; to the managers of the Rochester Atheneum, for free access to their valuable Library; to C. C. CLARKE, of Albany, and S. B. BUCKLEY, of Yates, for valuable contributions; to numerous other individuals, most of whom are indicated in the body of the work. And to LEE, MANN & Co., the Printers, and WM. ALLING, the Publisher, for their liberal terms, and the business accommodation with which they have aided the enterprise. The manner of publishing is a material departure from the original intention. Instead of publishing ONE WORK, there will be FOUR. This is the first of the series. Those that will follow in order (and in rapid succession if no unforeseen difficulties occur) will be: -- P. and G. Purchase - Livingston and Allegany;-P. and G. P.-Ontario and Yates; -- P. and G. P.-- Wayne. In this plan it is confidently believed the interests of Author, Publisher and Purchaser, will be made to harmonize. It obviates the necessity of a large work of two volumes, and a HIGH PRICE, fatal to that general sale that a local work must have, within its scope, to remunerate the labor of its preparation and defray the necessary expenses attending it. While the citizens of Monroe, for instance, will have all the GENERAL HISTORY of Phelps and Gorham's Purchase, and Morris' Reserve-493 octavo pages-brought down to a late Pioneer period; they will not be under the necessity of purchasing at an an enhanced price, the mere local history of other counties. The only alteration there will be in the main body of the work, in the subsequent volumes announced, will be the correction of any material errors that are discovered; but there will be in each one of them, the "Supplement," or "Extension," of the Pioneer history of the counties, as in this instance- Monroe. The historical works which have been essential to the author's purposes, other than those duly credited, are:- -Conquest of Canada, Travels of the Duke De la Rochefoucault Liancourt, Mary Jemison or the White Woman, History of Schoharie, History of Onondaga, History of Rochester. There are no illustrations:- partly because they are not essential to history, but mainly because they enhance the cost beyond what the sales of any local work will warrant. The leading object has been in the mechanical execution of the work, to furnish a large amount of reading matter, in a plain, neat and substantial manner, at which object, it will probably be conceded, has been accomplished. It will be observed, that little is said of the early history of Steuben. In an early stage of the preparation of the work, the author was apprised that a local history of that county, was preparing for the press. a LOW PRICE, - Errors in names, in dates, in facts, will undoubtedly be discovered. Depending upon memories often infirm, one disagreeing with another, labor, weeks and months of careful research, could not wholly guard against them. With reference to the future enterprises announced, the author will be thankful for any corrections that may be communicated to him personally, or through the mails. Ir was one hundred and sixteen years after the discovery of America by Columbus, before the occupancy of our race was tending in this direction, and Europeans had made a permanent stand upon the St. Lawrence, under the auspices of France and Champlain. In all that time, there had been but occasional expeditions to our northern Atlantic coast, of discovery, exploration, and occasional brief occupancy; but no overt act of possession and dominion. The advent of Champlain, the founding of Quebec, from which events we date French colonization in America, was in 1608. One year previous, in 1607, an English expedition had entered the Chesapeake Bay and founded Jamestown, the oldest English settlement in America. In 1609, Henry Hudson, an Englishman, in the employ of the East India Company of Holland, entered the bay of the river that bears his name, and sailed up the river as far as Albany. In 1621, permanent Dutch colonization commenced at New-York and Albany. In 1620 the first English colonists commenced the permanent occupancy of New England at Plymouth. In tracing the advent of our race to our local region, French colonization and occupancy, must necessarily, take precedence. Western New-York, from an early period after the arrival of Champlain upon the St. Lawrence, until 1759,- for almost a century and a half, formed a portion of French Canada, or in a more extended geographical designation, of New France. France, by priority of discovery, by navigators sailing under her flag, and commissioned by her King, in an early period of partition among the nations of Europe, claimed the St. Lawrence and its tributary waters and all contiguous territory, as her part of the New World. Setting at defiance, as did England the papal bull of Pope Alexander VI., which conferred all of America, "its towns and cities" included, upon Spain and Portugal, her then King, Francis I. entered vigorously into the national competition for colonial possessions in America. While the English and Dutch were cruizing upon our southern and eastern coasts, entering the bays, and mouths of their rivers, hesitating and vascillating in measures of permanent colonization; and the Spaniards were making mixed advents of gold hunting and romance, upon our south-western coast; the French were coasting off the mouth of the St. Lawrence, and unappalled by a rigorous climate, and rough and forbidding landscapes, resolving upon colonization upon its banks. "Touch and take," was the order of the day; with but little knowledge of the value of the vast region that had been discovered, of its capabilities and resources, but such as had been gained by navigators in a distant view of the coasts, and an occasional entrance into bays and rivers; the splendid inheritance was parcelled out, or claimed by the nations of Europe, as lightly and inconsiderately as if it had been of little worth. The subjects of France, as it would now seem, when such a vast field had been opened for possession; after they had seen and heard of more promising and congenial regions, made but a poor choice of her share in the New World. We are left principally to conjecture for the explanation: First, the broad stream of the St. Lawrence invited them to enter and explore it; no where were Europeans met by the natives with more friendly manifestations; and a lucrative trade soon added to the inducements. It was a mighty flood that they saw pouring into the ocean, with a uniformity that convinced them of the vast magnitude and extent of the region it drained. Though ice-bound for long and dreary months, when spring approached, its fetters gave way, and on rolled its rushing tide, a "swift witness" that it came from congenial regions embraced in their discovery. Beside, a "shorter route to the Indies," across this continent, was one of the prominent and early objects of European navigators, following the discovery of Columbus. It was in fact, a main object, allied perhaps with visions of precious metals;-for actual colonization, was at first but incidental to the leading objects.* Upon the shores of the Chesapeake, upon the Hudson and St. Lawrence, and in the bays of New England, the first information sought after by European adventures, of the natives, through the medium of signs, had reference to the directions from which the rivers flowed, and the existence of precious metals. |