Слике страница
PDF
ePub

west of Genesee river. Indian Allen, so notorious in the history of this region, erected a grist mill and saw mill on the hundred acre lot on which part of the city of Rochester now stands, in 1789, receiving a deed of a hundred acres of land adjoining, from Messrs. Phelps and Gorham, the proprietors, for his encouragement.

In a few years, these decayed and were abandoned. Rochester was not settled till 1811, and was laid out as a village in

1812.

In 1813, the Seneca Indians held a great sacrifice and thanksgiving of several days continuance, on the present site of Rochester.

The terror inspired by the incursions of the British and their savage allies, during the late war, prevented the rapid settlement of the county.* After the close of that war, however, its growth was astonishingly rapid. The completion of the Erie canal, by opening a market for the productions of its fertile soil, gave a new impulse to its prosperity, and it is now one of the most populous counties in the state.

CITIES AND VILLAGES. ROCHESTER city lies on both sides of the Genesee river, seven miles from Lake Ontario. It is finely situated and handsomely built. The streets are generally wide and well paved. The two sections of the city are connected by several bridges, and by the splendid aqueduct of the Erie canal. It has many fine edifices, among its churches and public buildings.

* In 1814, Sir James Yeo, with thirteen vessels of various sizes, appeared off the mouth of the Genesee river, threatening the destruction of the infant settlement. There were but thirty-three people in Rochester capable of bearing arins. They assembled, together with the few who could be gathered from the other settlements, and hurried down to the mouth of the river. The militia were undisciplined and not in uniforin, but they were brave and determined. They were inarched and counter-marched through the woods, in order to deceive the enemy in regard to their numbers. Presently an officer was sent from the British fleet with a flag of truce. He was received by ten of the most soldier-like of the militia, who, in order to be ready for action, kept fast hold of the triggers of their muskets. The British officer expressing his surprise at this, the officer, to rectify his mistake, ordered his men to ground arms. This astonished the British officer still more, and believing their ignorance to be feigned, he hurried back to the fleet, fully satisfied that a plot was laid for them.

In the afternoon of the same day another officer was sent with a flag of truce, the object of the enemy being, if possible, to obtain the provisions stored there, without endangering their own safety. Captain Francis Brown was deputed with a guard to receive the flag. The officer was still suspicious, and finally asked that the military stores and provisions should be given up, on the condition that the settlements were spared by Sir James Yeo. "No," was the prompt reply of the patriotic Brown, "Blood knee deep first." While this parley was in progress, an American officer with his staff, on their return from Fort Niagara, were accidentally seen, passing from one wooded point to another. This confirmed the suspi cions of the British officer, and on his return to the fleet, a vigorous attack was made upon the woods with bomb shells and balls, which were returned with some effect by a rusty old six pounder, which had been furbished and remounted for the occasion.

After a few hours, Admiral Yeo slipped his cables and ran down to Pulteneyville, where, to his mortification, he learned how he had been outwitted by a handful of militia.

This city owes its rapid growth to the vast hydraulic power created by the falls of the Genesee river, which amount to 268 feet within the bounds of the city, there being three falls of ninety-six, twenty, and 105 feet, besides rapids. The passage of the Erie canal through the city, and the navigability of the Genesee river, above and below the falls, render it a central point for the immense trade of the fertile counties by which it is surounded.

hester was laid out in 1812 by Nathaniel Rochester, Charles Carrol and William Fitzhugh, and received the name of the senior proprietor. In 1816 it numbered but 331 inhabitants; and in 1817 it was incorporated as a village, under the name of Rochesterville. In 1834 it received a charter as a city, and now (1846) has a population of more than 25,000 inhabitants.*

The quantity, as well as the quality of the flour manufactured here, entitle the city to rank among the first flour markets in the world. Between one and two millions of dollars are invested in this business.

Brockport, a village in the town of Sweden, is pleasantly situated on the line of the canal. It has a large trade, particularly in grain. The collegiate school edifice, erected by the citizens at an expense of $25,000, is a noble stone building, five stories high. Population 2000.

Wheatland is appropriately named; the fertility of its soil and its adaptation to the culture of grain is such as to render it the granary of the county. It is rich also in gypsum and marl.

Scottsville, in this town, was founded by Isaac Scott, in 1800. It is a thriving village, and has some manufactures. Population 600.

Mumfordsville and Garbellsmills are small villages in the

town.

West Mendon, in the town of Mendon, is a manufacturing village of some importance.

Port Genesee, at the mouth of the Genesee river, in the town of Greece, has a customhouse, lighthouse, several large warehouses, &c. Its harbor is good, having thirty feet water within the bar. It has some trade.

Pittsford, in the town of the same name, is a thriving village on the canal. Population 800.

About the commencement of the present century, it was proposed in the leg. islature of New York, to build a bridge across the Genesee river, at the present site of Rochester. The project was strongly opposed, and one member remarked that it was "a God-forsaken place, inhabited only by muskrats, and visited only by straggling trappers, through which neither man nor beast could gallop without fear of starvation, or fever and ague."

[merged small][merged small][graphic][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small]

Lakes. BB. Seneca. h. Canandaigua. m. Crooked.
Villages. PENN YAN. Rushville. Bellona. Dresden.

BOUNDARIES. North by Ontario county; East by Seneca lake; South by Steuben county, and West by Crooked and Canandaigua lakes, and Ontario county.

SURFACE. The surface of this county is greatly elevated. It lies on the northern declivity of t e ridge which separates the waters of the Susquehanna from those flowing into the lakes and the St. Lawrence. The southern extremity of the county is elevated from 1200 to 1300 feet above tide water, and in the town of Barrington attains the height of 1600 feet. From this height it descends to the surface of the Canandaigua and Seneca lakes-the former of which is 670, and the latter about 420 feet above the level of the ocean.

The hills, however, are never abrupt, but generally gently waving, and rounded at their summits.

RIVERS AND CREEKS. The principal streams of the county are Flint creek, Crooked lake outlet, connecting Crooked and Seneca lakes; West river, a tributary of Canandaigua lake, and Big and Rock streams flowing into Seneca lake. The Crooked lake canal follows the course of the outlet.

LAKES. Seneca lake forms the entire eastern boundary of the county. Two-thirds of Crooked lake lie within its limits, and Canandaigua lake forms its northwestern boundary.

CLIMATE. The climate is temperate and healthful, and for the cultivation of fruit is not surpassed by that of any county in the state.

GEOLOGY AND MINERALS. The Ludlowville shale is the prevailing rock, and approaches the surface in the southern part of the county. The soil above this is a marly clay, highly fertile, and particularly favorable to grass crops. The northern portion of the county belongs to the great central limestone formation, but the limestone alternates with slate.

Sulphate of iron (copperas) is found native in the eastern part of the county. There is a valuable sulphur spring near the foot of Crooked lake. An inflammable gas spring has been discovered near Rushville, and a very productive brine spring has been found at the Big stream falls, near Dundee, in the town of Starkey.

VEGETABLE PRODUCTIONS. The timber of the county is large, but not so dense as in some other sections. It consists of oak, hickory, chestnut, black and white walnut, wild cherry, maple, beech, linden, poplar, ash, &c. The apple, pear, plum, cherry, melons and grapes, are all very successfully cultivated here.

PURSUITS. Agriculture is the pursuit of a majority of the inhabitants-the elevated and diversified surface of the county renders it well adapted to grazing. In portions of it, however, grain is successfully cultivated.

Manufactures are attracting some attention. The principal articles manufactured are flour, lumber, woollen cloths, oil, distilled liquors and leather.

The commerce of the county is confined to lake and canal navigation, and is not very extensive. There are no mines of importance.

STAPLE PRODUCTIONS. Wheat, oats, corn, barley, butter, wool and pork.

SCHOOLS. There are in the county 106 public school houses. In these, schools were taught an average period of seven months, in 1846. The number of volumes in the district libraries is 13,644; 6536 children were instructed during the year, at an expense of $8789.

There were in the county eighteen private schools, with 218 pupils, and one academy, with twenty-six scholars.

RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS. Methodists, Baptists, Presbyteians, Episcopalians, Congregationalists and Dutch Reformed. There are forty-five churches, and forty-one clergymen, of all denominations, in the county.

HISTORY. This county was entirely included in the Massachusetts grant, and formed a portion of the Pulteney estate. The first inhabitants were from New England and Pennsylvania. This county was the residence of the celebrated Jemima Wilkinson, during the latter part of her life.*

VILLAGES, &C. PENN YAN, the seat of justice for the county, is a village in the town of Milo. It is pleasantly situated at the foot of Crooked lake, and received its name from the circumstance that its original inhabitants were Pennsylvanians and Yankees, in equal numbers. Population 2500.

Jerusalem, one of the earliest settled towns in the county, is fertile and well cultivated. Bluff point is a high bold tongue of land extending between the arms of Crooked lake. The landscape, which spreads itself before the beholder, from this lofty headland, is one of the most picturesque and beautiful afforded by the scenery of the smaller lakes.

Starkey is a hilly but well watered town. The falls of Big stream, in this town, are worthy of the attention, both of the geologist and traveller. The stream, after dashing over a rapid half a mile in length, leaps down 140 feet, into a basin eight or ten rods in diameter, from whence its foaming waters find their way to the lake, by a channel some eighty rods in length.

Dundee is a busy and thriving village in the town of Starkey. It has some manufactures. Population 1000.

* Jemima Wilkinson, or as she styled herself, the "Universal Friend," was born in Cumberland, Rhode Island, about the year 1753. She was educated among the Friends. When about twenty-three years of age, she was taken sick, and during her illness an apparent suspension of life occurred. After her recov ery she professed to have been raised from the dead, and to have been invested with divine attributes, and authority to instruct mankind in religion. She also pretended to foretell future events, and to possess the power to heal the sick and to work miracles; and if any person who made application to her was not healed, she ascribed it to a want of faith. She asserted that those who refused to believe her claims, would be forever punished for their incredulity. She possessed extraordinary beauty, and though illiterate, discovered great tact in maintaining her extraordinary pretensions. Her memory was said to be very retentive. She settled at Milo, in this county, with her followers, in 1790, and subsequently removed to Bluff Point, where she died, in 1819. The settlement at Milo numbered about forty familes, and was then the largest in the whole Genesee country. A few of her disciples still remain at Bluff Point.

« ПретходнаНастави »