The Greatest Highway in the World Part 9

SYRACUSE TO BUFFALO

290 M. SYRACUSE, Pop. 171,717. (Train 51 pa.s.ses 2:31p; No. 3, 3:45p; No.

41, 8:10p; No. 25, 8:50p; No. 19, 12:25p. Eastbound: No. 6 pa.s.ses 2:40a; No. 26, 3:28a; No. 16, 8:30a; No. 22, 10:35a.)

The Syracuse region first became known to Europeans through its salt deposits along the sh.o.r.e of Onondaga Lake which had been discovered and used by the Indians.

Syracuse lies within the ancient tribal headquarters of the Onondaga Indians, one of the six tribes forming the League of the Iroquois. Their territory extended northward to Lake Ontario and southward to the Susquehanna River. They were the official guardians of the council fire of the Iroquois, and their chief town, near the site of the present Onondaga (a few miles south of Syracuse) consisted of some 140 houses. This was in the middle of the 17th century, when the tribe was estimated as numbering between 1,500 and 1,700. Later the tribe divided, some of them migrating to the Catholic Iroquois settlements in Canada. About 500 Onondagas still live on a reservation south of Syracuse.

Although situated in a favorable trading location at the foot of the valley of Onondaga Creek where the latter joins Onondaga Lake, no settlement was made here until several years after the close of the War of Independence. The first white settler was Ephraim Webster, who built a trading post near the mouth of the creek in 1786. The village grew slowly. Between 1800 and 1805 a dozen families settled here, and the place received the name of Bogardus's Corners from the name of the proprietor of a local inn. In order to obtain money for the construction of a public road, the state government, which had a.s.sumed control of the salt fields, sold in 1809 some 250 acres embracing the district now occupied by Syracuse's business centre to Abraham Walton of Albany for $6,550--about $26.50 an acre. The town went under various names--Milan, South Saline, Cossitt's Corner, etc.--until 1824 when the present name was adopted. In 1818 Joshua Forman bought an interest in the Walton tract, had a village plotted and became the "founder" of the city.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Champlain's Attack on an Iroquois Fort

(_From Champlain's "Nouvelle France," 1619_)

Of this Indian fort which stood near Lake Oneida, Champlain says: "Their village was enclosed with strong quadruple palisades of large timber, 30 ft. high, interlocked the one with the other, with an interval of not more than half a foot between them; with galleries in the form of parapets, defended with double pieces of timber, proof against our Arquebuses, and on one side they had a pond with a never-failing supply of water, from which proceeded a number of gutters which they had laid along the intermediate s.p.a.ce, throwing the water without and rendering it effectual inside for extinguis.h.i.+ng fire."]

Several political events of national importance have occurred in Syracuse. The Free Soil movement in N.Y. began at the Democratic State convention held here in 1847, when the split occurred between the "Barnburner" and "Hunker", factions of the Democratic party.

These factions grew out of a dispute over questions involving the Erie Ca.n.a.l. The "Barnburners" were the radical element, determined to oust the "reactionaries" in office no matter at what cost to the party, and were given their name from the old instance of the Pennsylvania farmer who burned his barns to get rid of the rats. The "Barnburners" opposed the extension of the Erie Ca.n.a.l and, after 1846, the extension of slavery in the Territories. The "Hunkers," conservative and influential, were so called from the Dutch "honk," which signifies "station" or "home." Thus, "honker" or "hunker" meant one who "stayed put,"

and was opposed to progress.

The famous "Jerry Rescue," manifesting the strong anti-slavery sentiment in Syracuse, took place in 1851, following the enactment of the Fugitive Slave Law in 1850.

In the winter of 1849-50 an intelligent slave arrived in Syracuse traveling from Mississippi to Canada. He decided to remain, and after having for a while worked under Charles F. Williston, a cabinet maker, he opened a little shop of his own. On Oct. 1, 1851, the slave-hunters pounced on him and shut him up in a building then standing on the site of what is now known as the Jerry Rescue Block. When, later in the day he was taken before William H. Sabine, the United States Commissioner, the room was so crowded that Jerry, taking advantage of the fact, succeeded in making a break for freedom. Running eastward, he was pursued, captured in a hole near the railway tunnel, and taken back to the police office. By the time evening came, the fever of the mob was high, and Democrats and Whigs joined in planning the slave's rescue. A crowd gathered and soon upon walls and doors fell the blows of stones, axes, and timbers until the unhappy captors in the police office were concerned not for Jerry's retention, but for their own safety. One of them jumped from a window on the north side of the building, and broke his arm in the fall.

Finally the official who had immediate charge of Jerry, pushed him out into the arms of the rescuers, saying: "Get out of here, you d.a.m.ned n.i.g.g.e.r, if you are making all this muss." The slave was safely hidden in the city for ten days, and then driven on the first stage of his journey to Canada, where he found at length a haven. The act was in bold defiance of the law, and 18 of the Jerry rescue party were indicted, though never convicted.

For some years, Jerry's rescue was celebrated annually in Syracuse.

Present day Syracuse is built on high ground in an amphitheatre of hills surrounding Onondaga Lake--a beautiful body of clear water 5 M. long and 1 M, wide at its broadest point. James St. in the northeastern part of the city is a fine residence street, and the princ.i.p.al business thoroughfare is Saline St. The most noteworthy parks in Syracuse are Barnet Park (100 acres) on high land in the western part of the city, and Lincoln Park, occupying a heavily wooded ridge to the east.

Syracuse University, with a campus of 100 acres, is situated on the highlands in the southeastern part of the city where it commands a fine view of Onondaga Lake. The university was opened in 1871, when the faculty and students of Genesee College (1850) removed from Lima, N.Y., to Syracuse; one year later the Geneva medical college likewise removed to Syracuse and became part of the university. The university has a number of excellent buildings and a fine athletic field. It is a co-educational inst.i.tution under control of the Methodist Episcopal Church. There are about 4,000 students. The N.Y. State Fair, a civic event of considerable importance, takes place yearly (in Sept.) in grounds situated on the western border of the city. The "plant" covers 100 acres and there is an excellent race track where famous horses are run.

Salt works were established in Syracuse as early as 1788 and the production of salt and sodium derivatives still const.i.tutes an important industry.

For many years Syracuse was the princ.i.p.al seat of the salt industry in the United States, but the development of salt deposits in other parts of N.Y. State and in Michigan caused a decline in the Onondaga product, though Syracuse still produced 2,000,000 bushels of salt a year. The Onondaga deposits were mentioned in the journal of the French Jesuit Lemoyne in 1653, and before the Revolutionary War the Indians marketed salt at Albany and Quebec. In 1788 the state undertook, by treaty with the Onondaga Indians, to care for the salt springs and manage them for the benefit of both the whites and the Indians. By another treaty (1795) the state bought the salt lands, covering about 10 Sq. M., paying the Indians $1,000 outright, supplemented by an annual payment of $700 and 150 bushels of salt.

Subsequently the state leased the lands, charging at various times a royalty of 4 to 12 cents a bushel. It was stipulated in 1797 that the lessees should not sell the product for more than 60 cents a bushel. In 1898, after the royalty had been reduced to 1 cent a bushel, the state ordered the sale of the salt lands because the revenue was less than the expense of keeping up the works. The actual sale, however, did not take place till 1908.

Annual production reached its highest point in 1862, with 9,000,000 bushels.

The salt deposits supplied the basis for the manufacture of soda-ash, and at the village of Solvay, adjoining Syracuse on the west, is one of the largest factories for this purpose in the world. Besides soda-ash it produces bicarbonate of soda, caustic soda and crystals, the total output being about 1,000 tons daily. Syracuse ranks among the leading cities of the state in the number and variety of its manufactures. There are 760 establishments employing 25,000 workers, with an annual output of the value of about $75,000,000. The manufacture of typewriters is an important industry (annual production $10,000,000). Other products include automobiles and accessories, tool steel, candles, farm implements, clothing, chinaware, cement, chemicals and mining machinery.

348 M. PALMYRA, Pop. 2,480. (Train 51 pa.s.ses 3:38p; No. 3, 4:57p; No.

41, 9:30p; No. 25, 9:56p; No. 19, 1:42a. Eastbound No. 6 pa.s.ses 1:25a; No. 26, 2:17a; No. 16, 6:46a; No. 22, 9:14a.)

The town of Palmyra is intimately connected with the early history of the Mormons or "Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints." Joseph Smith (1805-1844), the founder, lived a few miles south of Palmyra at the village of Manchester near which, in the "hill of c.u.morah," he said he found the plates of gold upon which was inscribed the book of Mormon.

Smith had the book printed in 1830 in Palmyra.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Joseph Smith Preaching

(_From an old Mormon print_)

Joseph Smith (1805-1877) early began to gather his proselytes about him, and even succeeded in interesting a few bewildered Indians, but the new sect had great difficulties, aggravated, it is said, by the licentiousness of the founder. Persecuted in N.Y.

State, Smith sought to found his New Jerusalem in Ohio, where, however, the natives objected with such definiteness to his way of salvation that he and one of his followers were tarred and feathered in Hiram, O. Missouri was chosen as the next place of refuge, but here, too, Smith's profligacy aroused the hostility of the Missourians, which was increased by propaganda among the Mormons for a "war of extermination against the Gentiles." In Illinois, whither many of the "Saints" now removed, Smith had a revelation approving polygamy, which pleased him very much, but which roused opposition among his followers as well as his persecutors. In 1844 he and his brother Hyrum were arrested on a charge of treason in the town of Nauvoo which they had founded and imprisoned at Carthage. On the night of June 27, a mob, with the collusion of the militia guard, broke into the jail and shot the two men dead. In the meantime there had arisen a leader of considerable genius, Brigham Young (1801-1877), who probably saved the sect from dissolution, and led them to Salt Lake City in 1844.]

Joseph Smith was born at Sharon, Vt., Dec. 23, 1805, from which place in 1815 his parents removed to N.Y. State, settling first near Palmyra and later at Manchester. Both his parents and grandparents were superst.i.tious, neurotic, seers of visions, and believers in miraculous cures, heavenly voices and direct revelation. The boy's father was a digger for hidden treasure, and used a divining rod to find the proper place to dig wells. He taught his son crystal gazing and the use of the "peepstone" to discover hidden treasure. Young Joseph was good-natured and lazy.

Early in life he began to have visions which were accompanied by epileptic "seizures." One night in 1823, according to his story, the angel Moroni appeared to him three times, and told him that the Bible of the western continent, the supplement to the New Testament, was buried on a hill called c.u.morah, now commonly known as Mormon Hill. It was not until 1827, however, that he discovered this new Bible. Smith's story was that on the 22nd of September of that year, he dug up on the hill near Manchester a stone box in which was a volume 6 inches thick made of thin gold plates, 8 inches by 8 inches, fastened together by three gold rings. The plates were covered with small writing in characters of the "reformed Egyptian tongue." With the golden book Smith claimed he found a breastplate of gold and a pair of supernatural spectacles, consisting of two crystals set in a silver bow, by the aid of which he could read the mystic characters. Being himself unable to read or write fluently, Smith dictated a translation of the book from behind a screen. Soon afterwards, according to Smith, the plates were taken away by the angel Moroni.

370 M. ROCHESTER, Pop. 295,750. (Train 51 pa.s.ses 4:05p; No. 3, 5:25p; No. 41, 9:56p; No. 25, 10:23p; No. 19, 2:11p. Eastbound: No. 6 pa.s.ses 12:59a; No. 26, 1:51a; No. 16, 6:18a; No. 22, 8:47a.)

Rochester is built around the Falls of the Genesee River, about 7 M.

above the place where the river empties into Lake Ontario.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Rochester in 1812

Settlers from New England made a clearing at the site of Rochester about 1810, but growth was slow until the railroad--now the New York Central--was built connecting it with Albany and Buffalo.]

The Genesee River rises in Pennsylvania and flows nearly 200 miles in a northerly direction through western New York. Within a distance of 7 M. between Rochester and Lake Ontario the river has a fall of 263 ft. The princ.i.p.al falls consist of three cataracts, 96, 26 and 83 ft., respectively. The banks of the first fall, which is in the heart of the city, rise to a height of 200 ft.

above the river. The river, in fact, cuts through the center of the city in a deep gorge, the banks of which vary in height from 50 to 200 ft. The Genesee Valley south of Rochester is a very fertile and beautiful stretch of country where the river flows between meadows that rise gradually to high hills. The appearance of the country here, with its immense pasture-land dotted with oak and elm, is distinctly English. Besides being exceedingly productive both for crops and pasturage, the Genesee Valley is famous as riding country, although the hunting interest has of late somewhat waned. But foxes are still found, and the flats along the river give wonderful opportunities for the chase.

The modern city, however, has spread north until it now embraces the large village of Charlotte on the western side of the mouth of the river. The region about Rochester was visited about 1650 by Jesuit missionaries who worked among the Seneca Indians in the neighborhood, and in 1687 the Marquis de Denonville fought a battle with the Iroquois near the Falls.

The Senecas were members of the League of the Iroquois and eventually became one of the most important tribes of that league. Their territory lay between the Seneca Lake and the Genesee River and they were the official guardians of the league's western frontier. At the height of their power they extended their range to the country west of Lake Erie and south along the Alleghany River to Pennsylvania They fought on the English side in the War of Independence. About 2,800 are now on reservations in New York State.

Jacques Rene de Bresay, marquis of Denonville, succeeded La Barre, who succeeded Frontenac, as governor of Canada in 1689. La Barre, an inefficient leader against the insurgent Iroquois, held the administration for only one year. Denonville was of great courage and ability, but in his campaign against the Indians treated them so cruelly that they were angered, not intimidated.

The terrible ma.s.sacre of the French by the Iroquois at Lachine, Quebec, in 1689, must be regarded as one of the results of his expedition. In 1687 he built Fort Denonville, which was abandoned during the following year when an epidemic wiped out its garrison.

Although by 1710 the French had established a post on Irondequoit Bay not far from the mouth of the Genesee, it was not until Ebenezer Allan (called "Indian Allan") built a small saw and grist mill near the falls that a settlement began to grow up. In 1802 three Maryland proprietors, Charles Carroll, William Fitzhugh and Nathaniel Rochester acquired a large tract of land which included the site of the present city.

Rochester, from whom the city took its name, established a settlement, largely of New Englanders, at the falls in 1810-12, but growth was slow, as it was not at that time on the direct road between Albany and Buffalo, and the region was malarial.

Nathaniel Rochester (1752-1831) was a native of Virginia. He had been a manufacturer of Hagerstown, Md., and after settling in Rochester in 1818 was elected to the N.Y. a.s.sembly (1822).

The completion of the Rochester and Lockport section of the Erie Ca.n.a.l gave Rochester the impetus which made it a city, and the building of the railroad a few years later placed it on the direct route between the Hudson and Lake Erie.

The course of the old Erie Ca.n.a.l lay through the heart of the city. It crossed the Genesee River by means of an aqueduct of seven arches, 850 ft. long, with a channel 45 ft. wide. The aqueduct cost $600,000. The new barge ca.n.a.l pa.s.ses through the city about three miles south of the old ca.n.a.l, and has a harbor in connection with the Genesee River, which is dammed for that purpose.

Rochester, between 1828 and 1830, was the centre of the anti-Masonic movement and here Thurlow Weed published his _Anti-Masonic Enquirer_.

The Anti-Masonic party arose after the disappearance in 1826 of William Morgan (1776-1826), a Freemason of Batavia, N.Y., who had become dissatisfied with the order and had planned to publish its secrets. When his purpose became known, Morgan was subjected to frequent annoyances, and finally in September, 1826, he was seized and conveyed by stealth to Ft. Niagara, where he disappeared. His ultimate fate was never known, though it was believed at the time that he had been murdered. The event created great excitement, and furnished the occasion for the formation of a new party in N.Y. This new party was in fact a rehabilitation of the Adams wing of the Democratic-Republican party, a feeble organization, into which shrewd political leaders breathed new life by utilizing the Anti-Masonic feeling. The party spread into other middle states and into New England; in 1827 the N.Y.

leaders tried, unsuccessfully, to persuade Henry Clay, though a Mason, to renounce the order and become the party's candidate for president. In 1831 the Anti-Masons nominated William Wirt of Maryland, and in the election they secured the seven electoral votes of Vermont. In the following year the organization grew moribund, most of its members joining the Whigs. Its last act in national politics was to nominate William Henry Harrison for president in Nov. 1838.

Subsequently, Rochester became the centre of the Abolitionist movement in New York State and for many years before the Civil War it was a busy station on the "Underground railroad," by which fugitive slaves were a.s.sisted in escaping to Canada. The fervor of the movement gave prominence to Frederick Dougla.s.s (1817-1895), the mulatto orator and editor, who established a newspaper in Rochester in 1847, and to whom a monument has been erected near the approach of the New York Central Station. The city was a gathering place for suffragists from the time when Susan B. Anthony settled here in 1846.

Susan Brownell Anthony (1820-1906), born at Adams, Ma.s.s., was the daughter of Quaker parents. Her family moved to N.Y. State where, from the time she was 17 until she was 32, she taught school. She took a prominent part in the Anti-slavery and Temperance movements in New York, and after 1854 devoted herself almost exclusively to the agitation for women's rights. She was vice-president-at-large of the National Women's Suffragist a.s.sociation from 1869-1892, when she became president. She was arrested and fined $100 (which she never paid) for casting a vote at the presidential election in 1872. She contended that the 14th Amendment ent.i.tled her to vote, and when she told the court she would not pay her fine, the judge simply let her go. The case created much comment.

In Rochester also lived the famous Fox Sisters, Margaret (1836-1893) and Katharine, whose spiritualistic "demonstrations" became known in 1850 as the "Rochester Rappings." The city has been a centre for American spiritualists ever since.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Kate Fox (_From a daguerreotype_)