From: THE DEVELOPMENT OF CENTRAL AND WESTERN NEW YORK 1958
By: Clayton Mau 1958
Edward Thomas Coke
In the summer of 1832, Edward Thomas Coke, a young British army officer on furlough, visited Niagara Falls. His observations covered a wide range of subjects pertinent to the theme of the present volume, and are sufficiently interesting to deserve extended quotation:
Proceeding to the village of Cayuga, situated near the northern extremity of a lake of the same name, we embarked in a steamer which plies upon the lake, and crossed to the opposite side, touching for some more passengers at a village connected with Cayuga by a bridge exceeding a mile in length, over which the western road passes. The extreme length of the lake is 40 miles by 2 at its greatest breadth. The scenery is tame and uninteresting, until towards the southern end, when it assumes a more pleasing appearance, the banks becoming high and craggy in some places, and in others cultivated to the water's edge. But throughout there is an overpowering quantity of dense forest, with an intervening space of eight or ten miles between villages. For the last few miles, the face of the country presented a singular appearance, being broken every hundred yards, or thereabouts, with narrow and deep ravines, formed by the heavy rush of water from the hills in the spring of the year. In some, the rock was rugged and bare; in others the grass had sprung up again, or, where the ground more easily yielded to the force of the torrent, there were long and heavy undulations, like the swelling of the sea. At the head of the lake, entering a coach again, after a drive of two miles across a plain which had once formed part of the lake, we arrived at the pretty town of Ithaca, containing 3300 inhabitants, surrounded on three sides by hills varying from 600 to 800 feet in height, with their slopes and summits partially cleared and cultivated. The plain between the town and the lake is so densely covered with forest that the water is not visible from the former; and in many places it is so boggy and unsound that no houses can be built upon it. Two adjoining squares in the town, encircled with a wooden railing and a grove of trees, are quite occupied by churches, there not being fewer than seven of them. The Clinton House, in the vicinity of those squares, at which we put up, is one of the handsomest buildings of the kind in the States, but its bar-room is one of the dirtiest.
There are many factories and mills in and about Ithaca, on the small streams which pour their waters into the lake. A rivulet within a mile of thet own forms two of the prettiest Falls imaginable. The lower one, about 80 feet in height, falling over a series of small rocky ledges, appears like so many flakes of snow upon the dark masses of stone; and, where the sun strikes upon the foam, it glitters like the sparkling frost on a December's morn, after the preceding day's thaw. The other Fall, 200 yards higher up the hill, exhibits more water; but the fall is not quite so high, nearly one-third of the stream being diverted through a tunnel 90 yards long in the solid rock, above the lower Fall, for the purpose of turning several mill-wheels; and in course of time the latter cataract will be reduced to a few gallons per minute, like the Passaic at Patterson....
Not wishing to return up Cayuga Lake, and in fact having made a point of never returning by the same road when it could be avoided,
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we hired a carriage with two excellent horses, and at a quarter to three in the afternoon, on the 9th of August, departed from Ithaca, ascending a steep and long hill for two or three miles. While enjoying a most extensive and charming prospect from the summit, we encountered one of the heaviest storms of wind and rain I ever experienced. After struggling against it for a quarter of an hour, we succeeded in gaining an open shed by the road side, already filled with half-drowned pedestrians and equestrians, who were seekiiag shelter from the pitiless peltings of the storm. Such an arrival as ours, with a carriage loaded with heavy trunks, a pile of carpet bags and hat-boxes, with umbrellas, water-proof cloaks, and great coats innumerable, would have attracted the curiosity of less inquisitive people than thoroughbred Yankees. Five or six inmates of the shed busied themselves with examining the ivory Chinese handle of Mr. B.'s umbrella; and a person, whom they designated as "Doctor," dressed in a threadbare, shabby-genteel, frock coat, of blue cloth, with a collar originally black velvet, but which, by wear and tear of weather, had been transformed into a nondescript colour, observed that "they carved cleverly in New York." The patent leather hat-box soon fixed their attention, and, my answer not satisfying them that it was not made of wood, they took it out of the carriage and minutely inspected it both within and without. The patent boxes of the carriage wheels next became subjects of their conjectures and guesses; they had evidently seen none before. At this time we were joined by a most consequential person,Äthe landlord of an adjoining tavern, whose curiosity had been excited by the crowd in his shed. Some one asked whether he had ever seen such "mortal curious things in a carriage before;" he answered, "Yes;" and just glancing at one of the fore wheels, "but these are those poor Yankee things; I have been a teaming these fifteen years, and would never wear one of them;" then turning to a hind wheel, "why here, this box is clear gone, the wheel will come off the first heavy lurch you have, and you'll be cast adrift." For once, curiosity proved of service, it being very evident that the first heavy jolt would throw the wheel from the carriage. Another bystander, a black-smith, an old weather-beaten man of sixty, whom the innkeeper addressed as "Uncle Jack," said he would render it se- cure in five minutes, and carried the box away to his forge, which was "but a few rods up the road." The rain had now subsided, though we were still threatened by thick dark clouds. The doctor and a companion, . . . took their departure on their poor and sorry animals, with their small black saddle-bags stowed with phials and cayenne pepper. The pedestrians commenced their wet and floundering journey anew through mud and mire; the landlord returned to his bar, and we alone were left to await "Uncle Jack's" pleasure, who spun out his five min-
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utes to three quarters of an hour; and then, having reported all right, we also once more pursued our route towards the setting sun, over a road where there was no road, over bridges where it would be much safer to ford the stream, and through a country rich only in stones and stumps; where land would be no bargain at half a dollar per acre. Half an hour before sunset, when we gained the summit of a long dreary hill, the great orb of day burst through the clouds in all his setting glory, and the thin vapours were seen rising from the woods and valleys beneath us, and floating gradually away before the fast subsiding gale. The road, too, at the same moment improved, running over a firm earthen track; the driver cracked his whip, and, smiling, observed that "we should be in by an hour after sun-down yet." The horses trotted merrily along; we threw aside our wet cloaks and coats; while every thing to us wore a different appearance, and we now saw some beauty in the vast and endless forests which encircled us on every side, save here and there a solitary patch of cleared land, the effects of the industry of some hardy settler, who, one would almost imagine, had quarrelled with the whole world by seeking so secluded a spot; but we were now in a humour to be pleased with every thing.
Our gleams of sunshine and good fortune were only transitory; for in a few minutes we again dived into the dark, thick pine forest, whose ragged branches and tall straight trunks had but a few minutes before formed so fine a contrast against the lighter foliage of some other natives of the grove. Ascending higher ground, too, we were once more enveloped in the heavy damp clouds, and, as night set in, the road became worse, and the habitations of men and all signs of cultivation disappeared. Neither the coachman nor ourselves had ever travelled in the direction we were moving; so alike uncertain whither we were going, but trusting to chance and good fortune, we renewed our journey, grumbling against America and its miserable roads, and arriving at the following conclusion -that to move out of the common coach route, to leave the turnpike road which was passable, and to attempt exploring new and undescrihed scenery by striking out a line of road for ourselves, would never answer any end, and was in itself almost impracticable,Äthat, for the future, we must be content with the old well-worn track of former tourists, and visit no places but those notified in the "Stranger's Guide," or "Northern Traveller." Tourists, however, are always in search for some incident which may be rather out of the common way, and which may vary some little the dull pages of their diary; and we too should have been satisfied had the fair and chaste moon shone brightly on us, laying open to our view some of the dark recesses of the dense forest, or the dreary depths of the vast ravines beneath us. But we had not a spice of the true romantic spirit
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in us; we preferred a warm supper and a good dry mattress, in a comfortable inn, to weathering it out in an unknown country, where we might be half drowned ere golden Phoebus again walked forth from his chamber in the East. At nine o'clock, from the cold breeze which swept past us, and from the streak of light along the horizon, as if the clouds, having nothing to cling to, were compelled to rise from earth, we knew that some large sheet of water was nigh, and shortly afterwards saw Seneca Lake, like a narrow stream lying far beneath us. We were doomed, however, to still farther disappointments; nor was it until an hour past midnight, after having trudged about eight miles on foot through deep and muddy pools, that we reached a- small inn, at the head of the lake, wet, weary, famished, and consequently out of humour.
After much knocking at doors, and shaking of windows, we succeeded in rousing the landlord from his lair. In half an hour's time, he spread out before us a "rudes indigestaque moles" of apply-pye,. -new cheese, sour beer, heavy Indian bread, and port wine, which savoured strongly of logwood and brandy; but our appetites had been well sharpened by our wanderings; and we were in no humour to find fault. Sitting by the cheerful wood fire, we already began to laugh at the misfortunes and slow progress of our journey, having been more than nine hours performing a distance of twenty-one miles. Excellent beds being provided, in a few minutes the troubles of the past, fears and anticipations of the future, were alike forgotten. . . .
On the morning of the 10th of August, -embarking on board a steamer, we left Watkins, Jeffersonville, Seneca Head, or Savoy [Watkins Glen], as we heard the small village, where we had passed part of the night, severally called. Though commanding a much finer situation than Ithaca in every respect, with a canal running past. it which connects the water of lake Erie and Seneca with the Susquehannah River by the Chemung Canal, yet there are not above twenty frame-houses in the settlement, arising from the mistaken policy of-the proprietor of the land, who will scarcely sell a rood under a New York price; whereas, if he gave away every other lot for building upon, the increased value of the remaining lots would make him more than an adequate return. The head of Seneca Lake, like that of Cayuga, is black marsh, overgrown with bull-rushes and reeds. Several- large streams, with fine waterfalls enter it a few miles from the village, of which the Hector, 150 feet in height, and those at the big stream Point 136, are the most worthy of observation. -
We considered ourselves fortunate in - meeting with a gentlemanly, well-informed person in Captain Rumney', an Englishman, the: proprietor of the "Seneca Chief," the only steamer which plies upon the
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lake. He purchased the right of steam upon these waters for a mere trifle, from ex-governor Lewis, to whom it had been sold by Fulton, who possessed originally the exclusive right of steam navigation on those inland waters of the State of New York, which did not interfere with the interests of neighbouring States, as the Hudson does with the communication to Vermont and Lower Canada. This charter was granted to Fulton for a term of thirty years, six of which have not yet expired; before the lapse of that time the present possessor may expect to realize a considerable fortune. The profits arise principally from towing the Erie Canal boats to the different ports in the lake, the traffic on which will be much increased by the Chemung and Crooked Lake Canals, now nearly completed. The charge for towing vessels from one to the other extreme of the lake, a distance of forty miles, is six dollars, and it is performed in a few hours.
At Rapeley's Ferry, a few miles down the lake on the western bank, are the remains of a pier from which the celebrated Jemima Wilkinson proved the faith of her followers. She had collected them for the purpose of seeing her walk across the lake, and addressing them, while one foot touched the water, enquired if they had faith in her, and believed she could reach the opposite shore in safety; for, if they had not faith, the attempt would be vain. Upon receiving the most earnest assurances of their belief that she could pass over, she replied "that there was no occasion then to make a display of her power, as they believed in it;" and, turning round, re-entered her carriage, and drove off, to the chagrin of thousands of idle spectators, and to the astonishment of her numerous disciples. Captain Rumney, who was acquainted with her during her life-time, described her as a tall, stately, and handsome woman; but of rather a masculine appearance. In her costume she much resembled a clergyman, having her hair brushed back, wearing a surplice and bands, with a Quaker's hat. She was a native of Rhode Island, and during the Revolutionary war formed an attachment with a British officer, who subsequently deserted her. In consequence of this merciless treatment, she suffered a violent attack of fever, and for some days lay in a deep trance, though the medical men affirmed she might have easily roused herself from it had she only the wish to do so. It is supposed that at this time she was engaged in laying the deep plot which was so successfully carried into execution on her recovery, by stating that, "Jemima Wilkinson having died, the angels in Heaven had disputed who should enter her body, and visit the earth as the Universal Friend of Mankind, -as the Saviour of the World; that she (now calling herself an angel in Jemima's body) had been appointed to fill the body of the deceased, and was come upon earth to preach salvation to all. Many believed in her, and, a sect being soon formed,
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she quitted Rhode Island, and settled near Crooked Lake, a few miles to the west of Seneca, where her followers, some of whom were men of independent fortune, purchased a large tract of land for her; the deeds of her farm being drawn up in the name of Rachel Mellon [Maim], a relative who inherited the estate after Jemima's death,six years since. Upon all her plate, carriage, &c., the letters U. F.(Universal Friend) were inscribed. She observed the Jewish Sabbath, but preached on Sundays to the numerous visitors who were attracted to her house by mere curiosity. She was well versed in the Scriptures, and possessed a remarkably retentive memory; but, in other respects,was an illiterate woman. The creed of her sect is the Metempsychosis;but since her departure the number of believers has considerably dimished, the present head of the Society, Esther Plant, not having sufficient tact to keep them united. In Jemima's life -time, so jealous were her discipies of due respect being paid to her that no answer would be returned to enquiries after "Jemima," but only if designated as the "Friend."
The town of Geneva possesses a beautiful situation upon a rising bank at the northern extremity of the lake, with terraced gardens approaching to the water's edge, and many pretty villas scattered around. About a mile from the town, on the borders of the water, are some extensive glass works, which however have not been worked during the last year, the owner having failed to a great amount, through mismanagement in his farming speculations. When the works were first established, they occupied a narrow space in the midst of a forest where fuel was plentiful; but the ground is now so well cleared about the town that a cord of wood, measuring 4 feet in height and 8 in length, costs a dollar and a quarter, (more than 5s. sterling.) An opinion prevails, from an appearance of the strata at the head of the lake, that coal may be found, when required. Geneva is altogether a pretty spot, and contains one particularly fine street, in which is the college, a dull, heavy-looking building, with castellated walls and other tasteless appendages. But the private residences equal any in the State..
The cholera being very prevalent in the town [Rochester], we departed on our route to the westward on the morning of the 13th of August. In answer to our enquiries at the office the preceding evening, the bookkeeper informed us that the coach would start at four o'clock in the morning. This being rather too early an hour for some of' the party, we agreed to take an extra coach, which can always be obtained (there being no post-chaises in the country) at all the principal hotels. The book-keeper no sooner heard this our determination, than, being alarmed at the idea of losing so many passengers, he proffered to delay the coach until after breakfast, if that would be an accommodation to
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us. At half-past eight, accordingly, the heavy vehicle drove up to the door, with the only seat we had not secured occupied by a retailer of groceries, who, with the patience of Job, had been awaiting our pleasure for upwards of four hours and a half. His eyes beamed with evident delight, and he gave a kind of inward chuckle as he saw No. 1 carpet bag thrown into the boot; and not a hint did he drop during the whole journey of the unconscionable time we had delayed him for the mere purpose of gratifying our gastronomic propensities. For small families, the travelling arrangements in America are most inconvenient, as there is no alternative but either to be crowded with nine inside passengers, and no one knows who, as companions, or to be put to the heavy expense of hiring an extra. The time, too, at which the regular stage (as they term them) arrives at the place of its destination is a matter of the greatest uncertainty, depending entirely upon the number of passengersÄnot that any delay is caused by their additional weight, but by the distance they may reside from the direct line of road; for a coachman will drive a quarter of a mile out of his way to take up or put down a person.
At this time, travelling amongst the Americans themselves was nearly at a stand still; every landlord and coach-proprietor complained bitterly of the presence of the cholera, as having done them incalculable injury. The only people I met on the move for pleasure, during the latter part of my journey, and through the infected districts, were foreigners, to whom the panic was a vast advantage, as there was not the usual crowd ofsummertourists,and I was never at a loss for a seat in the coach, bed, or board, which would not have been the case in healthier seasons. Our party this day consisted of a ci-devant lieuienant of the British navy, now a naturalized American, two Frenchmen, two Englishmen, one Scotchman, and a Welchman, whom chance only had brought together within the last two days. .
During the morning we visited the Seneca tribe of Indians, who, to the amount of 700 or 8oo, possess a large tract of land of an irregular form, but containing about i oo square miles [Buffalo Creek Reservation], to the S. E. of the town [Buffalo], upon which their farms and woods closely verge. The school in the mission-house, four miles from Buffalo, is an object of great interest. It consists of from thirty to thirty-five boys and girls, between the ages of eight and fourteen, the greater portion of whom are maintained at the mission-house by the Society, the parents scarcely contributing any thing towards their support. The instructress informed us that some of them now and then brought a few provisions and some clothing, but nothing more. We heard the first class read the ninteenth chapter of St. Matthew, without any previous study, each scholar (there being eight in the class) reading two
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verses until the chapter was concluded, afterwards spelling and defining the most difficult words in it, in a manner which would have reflected great credit upon English children of the same age. Their mistress said that she invariably found them intelligent, willing, and apt to learn; but their countenances appeared to me very heavy, and far from being indicative of sense. They are allowed to converse with each other in the English language only, and have been christened after the most approved American manner. In the first class, there were Phcebe, Letitia, Maria, and other awkward creatures, with similar romantic names; and two clumsy-looking lads, of fourteen years of age, with faces as round and flat as a Cheshire cheese, were known as James and Edward, though I should imagine their distinctive titles amongst the tribe would be "Sleepy-eye," and "Owl." The mission has been established nine years; and, though there are but fifty church-going people amongst the tribe, yet it is equally divided between the Christians and worshippers of the Great Spirit, the latter of whom are steady opposers of the mission and will never cross the threshold of the house. The tribe (which since the death of their celebrated warrior, "Red Jacket," has been governed by a kind of oligarchy of chiefs) is divided, according to their religion, into two distinct parties, which, though associating but little, yet live upon good terms with each other, having the same influence and an equal voice in the councils and management of the public affairs. All the Reservation is common property; but, if any individual [cl]ears and encloses a tract for the purposes of cultivation, no one can interfere with that farm so long as he tills the ground; for the time being, it is to all intents and purposes his own. Many of the tribe are honest, industrious farmers; we saw several of them with their squaws riding to town on horseback, and in the common American carriole, or carry all. But the majority are indolent and intemperate, suffering much in winter for want of clothing and provisions, and being generally supplied with the necessaries of life by their richer and more sensible brethren, some of whom, even were they of the "pale faces," would be considered men of small but independent fortune.
The Church, situated near the Mission-house, is a neat wooden edifice, with accommodation for about 250 persons. The psalms and prayers are printed on one page of the book in the Seneca and on the opposite in the English language. The members of the church marry according to the established forms.
We now proceeded to a house in the village (which is scattered widely over the country,) for the purpose of making some enquiries respecting their treatment of the cholera, which had already appeared with fatal effects amongst many of the Indian tribes. A party, amongst whom were several women, were sitting at the door busily employed
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in picking greens for dinner, despite the great outcry raised against vegetables at this time. The females, upon our approach, immediately rising, entered the house, while I entered into conversation with a heavy, dull-looking man. He spoke English, and was a thorough Yankee, guessing I came from the East, and reckoning that it was considerable sickly in New York. When I came to the point, however, and wished to discover the cholera remedy, he referred me to a fine, Roman-nosed, curly-headed man, who did not understand English, and put my questions as an interpreter to him. This man pointed out some herbs which grew wild in every direction, saying that they boiled and then administered them as a broth to the patient, wrapping him afterwards in blankets, and producing great artificial heat in his body by means of hot stones, &c. This treatment had met with wonderful success, there being only eleven deaths out of one hundred cases, a much greater proportion of recoveries than amongst the "pale faces." I tasted the herbs, and found one to be the wild camomile; the other was hot and pungent to the taste, and fiery as Cayenne pepper. The houses in the village were similar to those of the American labouring class, and the "Indian Hotel" was quite a respectable-looking edifice, and doubtless well attended. As in many other instances, I had formed very erroneous ideas of the personal appearance of the red men of the woods, imagining them to be noble-looking warriors, of fine stature, with countenances of the Grecian or Roman cast; but I found them more like the dark and vengeful Malay. A French gentleman, one of my fellow-travellers, had evidently formed a similar opinion; for when I pointed out to him a female of the tribe, who, with her papoose (infant) slung across her shoulders, and in her person resembling a moving bundle of old clothes, was walking past the hotel in Buffalo, he enquired with the greatest naivet to what sex the person belonged, and upon my informing him, exclaimed, raising his hand with astonishment, "Oh! la malheureuse! la malheureuse !"
Edward Thomas Coke, A Subaltern's Furlough (New York, 1833), Vol. II, pp. 7-17, 20-21, 24-27.
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