Production Note
Cornell University Library produced this
volume to replace the irreparably
deteriorated original. It was scanned using
Xerox software and equipment at 600 dots per
inch resolution and compressed prior to
storage using CCITT Group 4 compression. The
digital data were used to create Cornell's
replacement volume on paper that meets the
ANSI Standard Z39.48-1984. The production of
this volume was supported in part by the New
York State Program for the Conservation and
Preservation of Library Research Materials
and the Xerox Corporation. Digital file
copyright by Cornell University Library
1994.gtortwll ^nimcrsitn gprmg
BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME
FROM THE
SAGE EN DO WMENT	e
THE GIFT OF
ficnrg % Sage
1891 -
5474HON. JAMES O. PUTNAM,
Died April 24, 1903,
See Appendix BPUBLICATIONS
OF THE
BUFFALO
Historical Society
VOLUME VI
EDITED BY
FRANK H.SEVERANCE
SECRETARY OF THE SOCIETY
BUFFALO, NEW YORK:
PUBLISHED BY THE
BUFFALO HISTORICAL SOCIETY
1903PRESS
UNION AND TIMES
BUFFALOOFFICERS OF THE
BUFFALO HISTORICAL SOCIETY
1903
President .	.............ANDREW LANGDON.
Vice-President............GEORGE ALFRED STRINGER.
Secretary.................FRANK H. SEVERANCE.
Treasurer.................CHARLES J. NORTH.
BOARD OF MANAGERS.
Lewis J. Bennett,
Albert H. Briggs, M. D.,
Robert W. Day,*
Joseph P. Dudley,
Charles W. Goodyear,
Henry W. Hill,
Henry R. Howland,t
Andrew Langdon,
J. N. Larned,
Ogden P. Letchworth,
J. J. McWilliams,
George B. Mathews,
Charles J. North,
G. Barrett Rich,
Henry A. Richmond,
Frank H. Severance,
George Alfred Stringer,
James Sweeney,
William C. Warren,
Charles R. Wilson.
The Mayor of Buffalo, the Corporation Counsel, the Comptroller,
Superintendent of Education, President of the Board of Park Com-
missioners, and President of the Common Council, are also ex-officio
members of the Board of Managers of the Buffalo Historical Society.
* Succeeds George W. Townsend, died Oct. 24, 1902.
t Succeeds Hon. Wilson S. Bissell, died Oct. 6, 1903-
'T'HE day of the great Ho-de-noh-sau-nee is now far
■*- spent. The last rays of the setting sun have cast
their light upon the gaudy feathers of their head-dresses,
upon their bright necklaces and their buckskin suits.
The ancient music is hushed; the tam-tams and the
rattles are no more heard. The laughter of the children
does not ring through the silent forest; the voices of the
wild animals do not resound. The howl of the wolf, the
hoot of the owl, the croaking of the frog in the swamp
and the tree-toad among the leaves, the call of the squirrel—all these
native voices that the Indian so well loved, all are still, they are part
of the silent past.
No more is there a Keeper of the Wampum, for the Confederacy
of the Great League is broken; the council fires are kindled no more;
the runners have delivered their last message. The only traces of
them left are what Mother Earth revealeth.
Here, at the Western Door, and on the banks of the Sken-dyuh-
gwa-dih, the people of the Great League gave up their worldly cus-
toms to join their now spiritual forefathers. It is to their memory—
to the memory of the Ho-de-noh-sau-nee—that the tablet is en-V!	FORE-WORD.
graved above the entrance to the grand hall of the Buffalo Historical
Society:
NEH-KO, GAH-GIS-DAH-YEN-DUK.
OTHER COUNCIL FIRES WERE HERE BEFORE OURS.
Few and scattered are the remnants of the once-powerful con-
federacy; fewer still they who know of its customs. “A few more
suns, and my people will only live in history.” This saying of one of
our great chieftains is now fulfilled.
Ha-non'-da-a'-suh,
(“Keeper of the Hill,” whose English
name is Moses Shongo.)PREFACE
IN OFFERING to jts members and the public Volume
Six in its Publication Series the Buffalo Historical
Society believes that in interest and value it will be
found fully equal to the preceding volumes. The Society
was fortunate in securing for publication the group of pa-
pers by Mr. Henry R. Howland. (Pp. 17-161.) Drawn in
large part from unpublished sources', dealing with men and
episodes of first importance in the history of our region, and
written in an exceptionally attractive style, these studies
form a notable addition to the annals of the field which it is
the function of the Buffalo Historical Society to explore.
Closely related to a part of Mr. Howland’s contributions,
are the group of missionary narratives and journals which
follow. Some of these are printed from manuscripts which
have long been in the possession of the Society. The jour-
nals of the Rev. Thompson S. Harris are a recent acquisition,
the gift of the Rev. Lewis M. Lawrence, late of Iroquois,
N. Y.; they were secured for the Society archives through
the good offices of Mr. Henry R. Howland. While it is un-
likely that the subject of early Protestant missions to the
Indians or the white settlers in Western New York is ex-Vlll
PREFACE.
haustively covered by this group of papers, it is believed that
nowhere else has been brought together so much material
bearing on the subject.
The “Life of Horatio Jones/’ by Mr. George H. Harris,
which follows the narratives of early missions, is sufficiently
commented on in the Introduction which precedes! it (pp.
383-384). While it is deeply to be regretted that Mr. Harris
was not spared to complete the work on the lines which he
had planned, its high value, even in its present shape, as a
contribution to Western New York history will be obvious to
every student of the subject. Some unused material relating
to Horatio Jones, and even more relating to his close friend,
Jasper Parrish, remains in the hands of the Society, and may
be utilized in a future volume. The editor hereby makes
grateful acknowledgment, for assistance received, from Mrs.
George H. Harris, now of Anaconda, Mont.; Mrs. Sarah E.
Gunn, Leavenworth, Kass.; the Rev. E. W. Sears, Moscow,
N. Y.; Mr. Lockwood R. Doty and Mr. J. D. Lewis of
Geneseo. With the latter he visited Sweet Briar, Horatio
Jones’s old homestead, and other places associated with him
in the Genesee Valley.
The Bibliography of the Niagara Region, begun in Vol.
V., with a list of publications relating to the Upper Canada
Rebellion, is continued in the present volume with a com-
pilation of titles of books and pamphlets printed in Buffalo
prior to 1850.
This volume, like its predecessor in the series, is sent free
to life and resident members of the Society. From the
abundance of valuable manuscript material in the possessionPREFACE.
IX
of the Society it is hoped that another volume, equal to the
present in size and superior to it in some other respects, soon
may be issued. The Society, however, has no guaranteed
publication fund; and the extent of its publishing enterprises
depends in good measure on revenues which in considerable
degree rest on the public interest in its work. Happily, the
outlook, not merely as regards its Publications, but in other
endeavors to make the Buffalo Historical Society an institu-
tion useful to the public, was never brighter than at present.CONTENTS
PAGE
Officers of the Society.............................. iii
An Inscription.........................Moses Shongo v
Preface................................................ vii
From Lake Erie to Morocco..............George V. Brown i
Historical Papers by Henry R. Howland:
I.	Navy Island, and the First Successors to the
Griffon......................................  17
II.	The Niagara Portage and its First Attempted
Settlement under British Rule............. 35
III.	A British Privateer in the American Revolution	47
IV.	Robert Hamilton, the Founder of Queenston	.	.	73
V.	The Old Caneadea Council House and its last
Council Fire.................................  97	,
VI.	The Seneca Mission at Buffalo Creek......... 125
Narratives of Early Mission Work on the Niagara Frontier
and Buffalo Creek:
I. The Quakers among the Senecas.................
Frank H. Severance 165
II. Jacob Lindley's Journal, 1797 . . ............ 169
III.	Rev. David Bacon's Visits to Buffalo, in 1800
and 1801....................................  183
IV.	Letters of Rev. Elkanah Holmes from Fort Niag-
ara in 1800.................................  187
V. Visit of Rev. Lemuel Covell to Western New
York and Canada, 1803........................ 207xii
CONTENTS.
PAGE
VI.	Visit of Gerard T. Hopkins, 1804............ .	217
VII.	Visit of Rev. Joseph Avery, 1805........... 223
VIII.	Visit of Rev. Roswell Burrows, 1806........ 231
IX.	A Teacher Among the Senecas:	Narrative of
Rev. Jabez Backus Hyde, 1811-1820 ......	239
X.	Narrative of Esther Rutgers Low, 1819-1820 ...	275
k XL Journals of Rev. Thompson S. Harris, Missionary
to the Senecas, 1821-1828  .............. 281
XII.	Register of the Seneca Mission Church, 1823-1848	379
The Life of Horatio Jones...........George H. Harris
Introduction................................ 383
I.	The Capture...........,.................... .	387
II.	The March........................................397
III.	The Gauntlet...................................  4°7
IV.	The Adoption—Life Among the Senecas...... 415
V.	The Meeting with Jasper Parrish.......... 421
VI.	Flight and Return—An Encounter ................  428
VII.	Horatio's Trip for the Trader............ 436
VIII.	Van Campen's Capture and Escape.......... 440
IX.	Pigeons and Prisoners—Van Campen Again . .	.	449
X.	Expeditions—The Witch of the Tonawanda .	.	459
XI.	Horatio a Chief—Sarah Whitmore's Captivity	.	464
XII.	The Home in the Wilderness.....................  471
XIII.	The Buffalo Creek Council of July, 1788 ...	.	474
XIV.	A New Home—With Proctor in 1791.......... 483
XV.	Treaties and Councils—The Jones and Parrish
Tracts in Buffalo............................  493
XVI.	Illustrative Anecdotes—Death of Horatio Jones	504
Sarah Whitmore's Captivity..........Mrs. S. E. Gunn 515
Ancestry and Descendants of Horatio Jones .......	521
’ The Story of Jasper Parrish ..... From his own notes,
compiled by his son, Stephen Parrish, and others 527
Personal Recollections of Captains Jones and Parrish . .
Hon. Orlando Allen	539CONTENTS.
xiii
APPENDICES.
PAGE
Bibliography, Buffalo Imprints before 1850............ 547
Buffalo Historical Society Proceedings—
Dedication of Building...........................  607
Annual Meeting, 1903  .......................... 616
George S. Hazard Memorial......................... 626
Wilson S. Bissell Memorial.......................  627
James O. Putnam Memorial Meeting.................. 627
List of Members, Buffalo Historical Society .......... 639
Index . ................................................ 647
ILLUSTRATIONS.
Portrait, George Starr Hazard.................
Portrait, Hon. James O. Putnam.................
Portrait, Robert Hamilton......................
The Old Caneadea Council House.................
Portrait, Solomon O’Bail.......................
The Seneca Mission House, South Buffalo .
Portrait, Rev. Asher Wright....................
Portrait, Mrs. Asher Wright .........
Portrait, Rev. John Ogilvie, D. D..............
The Talk with the Indians at Buffalo Creek;
1793 ..........................................
. . Frontispiece
Faces page 1
73
97
115
125
145
161
165
u
497GEORGE STARR HAZARD,
President Buffalo Historical Society, 1890 and 1892. Died Aug. 7, 1903
Sle Appendix B.FROM LAKE ERIE TO MOROCCO.
THE DIPLOMATIC CONTROVERSY OCCASIONED BY
THE VISIT OF A VESSEL FROM THE GREAT
LAKES, WITH A BUFFALO CAPTAIN, TO
MEDITERRANEAN PORTS IN 1859.
BY GEORGE V. BROWN,
^ ••
Former United States Consul at Tangier.
In the year 1859, the schooner Republican, owned by J.
W. Sprague & Co. of Huron, Ohio, and commanded by
Capt. Coville,* now a resident of Buffalo,t and living at Cold
Spring, cleared from the port of Huron with a cargo of
staves, and after passing through the Welland Canal into
Lake Ontario, the River St. Lawrence, thence into the ocean,
sped across the broad Atlantic and anchored in the beautiful
and picturesque bay of Cadiz.
Shortly after casting anchor the health boat, a lateen
manned by 12 sailors and containing three officers, paid a
visit to the Republican. The officers were protected from
the rays of the sun by a canopy which extended more than
one-third the length of the craft, and, as they neared the
vessel, the principal demanded,, in broken English, the papers
and letters of the American skipper. These were accord-
ingly handed over the ship’s side to one of the crew of the
*Capt. Stephen Coville; died at Huntsburgh, O., October i, 1866, aged 46
years.
fin 1863. when this paper was written.2
FROM LAKE ERIE TO MOROCCO.
lateen who received them with a pair of tongs, and then,
with the utmost composure, dipped up a bucket of salt
water, into which the ship's papers were thrown. After un-
dergoing for a few moments this pickling process, they were
taken out and handed to the junior officer, who passed them
to the principal. By him they were carefully examined, so
carefully that they were discovered to be informal, and be-
ing handed back to Capt. Coville, that gentleman was in-
formed that the Republican could not be admitted to pratique
and must leave the port.
In vain did Capt. Coville assure the sanitary officer that
he and his crew were in the enjoyment of perfect health;
that he had sailed from a healthy port, and by the blessing
of God they had experienced no sickness on board; that his
voyage had been a long one, and that if ordered away from
Cadiz—the market for his cargo—he knew not where to go
or how to better his condition.
The huge mustachios and enormous spectacles, which
were all that could be recognized of the power under the
canopy, remained inexorable, and with a polite salutation,
which a Spanish gentleman never omits, and a regret that
he could be of no further service to El Senor Capitan Ameri-
cano, the lateen, with its precious freight, gracefully moved
off toward the quaint old city, a short quarter of a mile in
the distance, leaving our poor countryman from Buffalo,
some 4,000 miles from home, with a fair prospect of being
obliged to return to America with no other benefit than the
knowledge derived from an experience of the stringent sani-
tary regulations of Spain, and the gratification, not enjoyed
by all our lake captains, it is true, of having it in his power
hereafter to say that he had made a sea-voyage and seen
Cadiz, and in the language of Byron, to describe it as
“A pretty town, I recollect it well.,,
Within sight of the lofty domes, of the beautiful edifices,
with their walls of purest white and balconies and verandas
of the brightest green, adorned with flowering shrubs of the
deepest and richest verdure, the fragrance of which seemed
to impregnate the very air itself; of brilliant uniforms.FROM LAKE ERIE TO MOROCCO.
a
bristling bayonets and frowning battlements, with now and
then a dashing cavalier curveting his graceful Andalusian
steed and bowing low to passers-by; and within hearing of
the rumbling of wheels, the cracking of whips, the martial
calls of the bugle, and the sweet-toned bells of the Cathedral
and other churches, the skipper of the Republican, as he
turned to catch a last view of that orb, his faithful guide
o’er the vast waste of water, then sinking in the west, felt
all that desolation of heart and foreboding of the future,
which are invariably experienced by the friendless and
homeless of a great and bustling metropolis.
From the American Consul, Capt. Coville could obtain no
consolation. The Consul said, and said truly, that Capt.
Coville’s owners ought to have known better than to have
sent him out to Europe, and particularly to Spain, without
the necessary papers, and that under the circumstances, it
was out of his power to aid him.
Not knowing what to do, Capt. Coville remained at
anchor until the third day, when he was notified that his de-
parture must no longer be delayed.
“Where am I to go?” said the poor man to the officer
who communicated to him this order. “I am a stranger to
the customs, language and people of this part of the world,
and I am anxious to do everything in my power to extricate
myself from a dilemma in which an unforseen omission has
placed me. Do advise me, I pray you.”
“Well,” said the sanitary officer, who was no less a per-
sonage than the President of the Board of Health of Cadiz,
and whose sympathies, as the sequel will show, were really,
and to my own surprise when I learned it, enlisted in behalf
of the American, “Be governed by my advice. Proceed,
without delay, to Tangier, Morocco. Your Consul there is
one of the Sanitary Board of that empire. Endeavor
to procure an interview with him; he may possibly
extricate you so that you can return here and discharge your
cargo. I know of no other mode. V ay a con Dios”* And
again was the usual salutation made, and again, as before,.
did the boat gracefully glide off toward the town.
*“God be with you.”4
FROM LAKE ERIE TO MOROCCO.
Capt. Coville thanked the officer for his kindness, and
after returning his salutation, gave orders for immediately
getting under way for the “Land of the Moor.”
Whilst on his way to the port of Tangier, Capt. Coville is
battling with the currents and chop seas of the Straits of
Gibraltar, which are notunlike those in the English Channel,
permit me to give you an extract from a despatch of our
Consul at Cadiz, and also an extract from one of my own
despatches to the Department of State:
“The quarantine regulations, although subject to the Cen-
tral Board at Madrid, ‘La Suprema Junta da Sanidad/ are,
at most, entirely under the control of the Local Board of
Cadiz, who, by their arbitrary measures, greatly inconveni-
ence and embarrass navigation, causing very frequently un-
necessary detentions, and the incurring of heavy expenses,
ordering vessels off to lazarettos—as only a quarantine of
observation can be performed here—in the face of clean bills
of health, upon mere reports, without any official information
to warrant such extraordinary measures. Vessels clearing
from ports having no quarantine communication with Cadiz
are either ordered off or subjected to great annoyance and
expense.”
Although somewhat irrelative, I deem it my duty to
record the following: An important provision, which is to be
found in no other commercial law of the world, exists in the
Spanish Commercial Code. It is often criticized, although
good reasons are alleged in its favor. It provides that
foreign vessels anchored in Spanish ports shall not be de-
tained for debts which have not been contracted within the
Spanish dominions, and for the benefit of the said vessel;
therefore a bottomry bond, signed by a master of an Ameri-
can or other foreign vessel going to a Spanish port, can only
be enforced upon the freight she may have earned, and in no
case against the vessel herself.
The following is an extract from my own despatch: “The
quarantine regulations of the empire of Morocco are framed
and carried into execution by the Consular corps, who are
invested by the Sultan with all the attributes of a regularly
constituted Board of Health, each Consul, in alphabeticalFROM LAKE ERIE TO MOROCCO.
5
order, assuming the powers and performing the duties of
President of the Month. In order that commercial relations
between the ports of Morocco, Cadiz and Gibraltar may not
be interrupted, the decisions of the Health Board of the latter
ports, when applicable to Morocco, are invariably adopted at
Tangier.”
I shall now have to digress a little in order to make plain
the main point in this sketch. In the year 1856, the U. S. *
sloop-of-war Jamestown, the flagship of the African squad-
ron, shortly after her arrival out to the coast of Africa,
unfortunately touched at Madeira, where the cholera was
prevailing, and was thus, in consequence of having a foul
bill of health, debarred from entering Teneriffe or any of the
ports of the Canary Islands, or, in fact, any other port in that
part of the hemisphere. On that station, particularly, where
it was so necessary, in consequence of the pestiferous miasma
of the low lands lying along the coast, to keep off, after sun-
set, three miles from the shore, and even to have the prin-
cipal portion of the labor performed by the natives, instead
of by the seamen; and where, for the preservation of life, it
was found so necessary occasionally to run over to some
healthy port, this state of things was a subject of great con-
sternation. Long did the officers of the ship ponder over it,
but the dread prospect of being compelled to remain tabooed,
until relieved at the expiration of their term of service on
the station, still presented itself.
Some months subsequent to their visit to Madeira, and
when all suggestions and plans to enable them to see their
way out of the difficulty had failed, a young lieutenant who
happened, some years previously, to touch at Tangier in the
U. S. Steamer Mississippi, remarked to his brother officers
of the wardroom, that he believed the U. S. Consul at Tan-
gier, on the Mediterranean station, was a member of the
Sanitary Board of the empire of Morocco; that if the
Jamestown ran up to Tangier he was of opinion the Consul
could in some measure help them out of their dilemma. This
suggestion not only met the approval of Capt. Bell, but of the
Commodore, and the Jamestown was soon afterward on her
way to Tangier. On her arrival at that port, the Commo-FROM LAKE ERIE TO MOROCCO.
dore declined holding communication with the sanitary offi-
cer farther than to say that he had merely touched at Tangier
for the purpose of communicating with the American Consul.
He asked the sanitary officer to be kind enough to say to the
Consul that for particular reasons, he begged him to do him
the favor to dispense with the usual courtesy enjoined on
commanders of men-of-war, of sending a boat on shore to
invite the Consul on board, and that, in order to communicate
to him personally some important intelligence, he hoped to
have the pleasure of receiving a visit from him.
On receipt of this verbal message, I hastened to comply
with the wishes of the Commodore, and on entering his
cabin, the foul bill of health was exhibited to me. It so hap-
pened that I was then President of the Month, and the
Jamestown being a man-of-war, I had a right, in accordance
with the custom pursued by other members of the corps, to
give her a clean bill of health, as American Consul, vise it as
President of the Sanitary Board, and that without going
through the form of submitting the matter to my colleagues.
But this was not all. To enter a Spanish port, it was neces-
sary to have the visa of the Spanish Charge d’Affaires at-
tached to the bill of health. With Don Carlos de Espana, the
Spanish Charge, I was on very intimate terms. I felt pretty
sure I could depend on him. Therefore, when I was asked by
the Commodore whether it was possible for me to aid him, I
replied I thought it was. Capt. Bell, now in command of the
Pacific Squadron, and Dr. Clymer, son-in-law of Admiral
Shubrick, and the oldest surgeon in the Navy, were called
into the cabin, and the good news announced to them. This
soon reached the wardroom, then the forecastle, when the
men, as I afterwards learned from Capt. Bell, asked permis-
sion to give three hearty cheers. The cheers were being
given as I descended from the Commodore’s cabin to the
wardroom, and when I left the ship a salute of thirteen guns
was given instead of eleven, as is customary in a harbor of
the Barbary powers. In short, a clean bill of health was
made out, the Board of Health visa attached, and I carried it
to my Spanish colleague, told him exactly how I was situ-
ated, and how much I depended on his aid.FROM LAKE ERIE TO MOROCCO.
7
Without a word he took from me the document, and
adding his visa and official seal, he said, as he returned it:
“Senor mio, there is much to object to in the quarantine
regulations of Spain and Italy. We are here to give aid to
our countrymen, as well as for other objects, and I deem it a
privilege to aid a colleague either in forwarding the interests
of commerce or in assisting men like your countrymen of the
Jamestown, who at the peril of their lives are endeavoring to
check an abominable traffic/’
This was the feeling that then, and with one single excep-
tion since, pervaded the Consular Corps of Tangier. They
were a little body of Christians in a semi-barbarous country,
who, socially or officially, seemed more like a band of
brothers than of men representing different nations; and
they had only to be approached in a proper spirit to> be in-
duced to interest themselves in any reasonable object desired
to be accomplished.
I relate the foregoing by way of preparation for what is
to follow in reference to the American schooner Republican,
and which will be found in striking contrast with the cour-
tesy evinced toward the Jamestown; my friend Senor Don
Carlos de Espana, a partisan of Espartero, having, in the
meantime, been superseded by Senor Don Juan Blanco del
Valle, a partisan of O’Donnell,* and a deputy of the Cortes
from Algeciras, a town in Spain directly opposite Gibraltar.
On ascending, one morning, to the terrace of the consul-
ate, which commanded a view of the bay of Tangier, I per-
ceived, to my surprise, an American merchantman, lying at
anchor in the most dangerous part of the bay, her position
being so hazardous that I well knew that at low water she
must inevitably be dashed to pieces on the rocks. At the
same time I perceived the sanitary boat near her, and I won-
dered why the sanitary officer did not direct her to safe
^Leopold O’Donnell, count of Lucena, duke of Tetuan, Spanish general
and statesman, who in his earlier years had championed the fortunes of the
queen-mother, Marie Christine. At the period of Mr. Brown’s sketch, O’Donnell
was at the height of his picturesque political career, having formed, the year
before (1858), a new Cabinet for Spain, in which he was both President of the
Council and Minister of War. When Spain declared war against Morocco, Oct. 22,
1859, O’Donnell became commander in chief of the army, winning glory and a
new title, “Duke of Tetuan,” from the campaign. Pie died in 1867.8
FROM LAKE ERIE TO MOROCCO.
anchorage. It would soon be ebb-tide, and I became very
uneasy. It appeared to me the sanitary officer was trifling
with time in order to render destruction to the vessel certain.
I became so uneasy that I did what is never done for a mer-
chant vessel, and only on the arrival of a man-of-war; I
raised the American flag. This had the desired effect. The
sanitary boat hastened to the shore, and the sanitary officer
made his appearance at the consulate.
“What is the matter ?” I asked.
“I do not know,” he replied. “I cannot exactly under-
stand the captain, but I believe he is in trouble about a Span-
ish visa to his bill of health. I have given him pratique, sub-
ject to your and the President’s orders, but directed him not
to come on shore under an hour.”
“Why did you not pilot the vessel to a safe anchorage ?” I
demanded. “You know very well she must go to pieces
within an hour if she remains in her present position. Go
out to her, without delay, pilot the vessel to safe anchorage
ground, tell the captain I will examine his papers and do
what I can for him, and you shall be compensated for your
trouble.”
The sanitary officer departed, and I returned to the ter-
race, still uneasy for the safety of the vessel. There I re-
mained looking out on the bay, but no sanitary boat appeared
on the way to the apparently doomed vessel. I waited so
long, that making up my mind there was foul play going on,
I started on a run to the beach, where I found the sanitary
officer and his crew, not taking a siesta, it is true, but seated
with their backs against the Custom House, smoking cigar-
ettes, and listening with evident attention and pleasure, to
one of the itinerant Arabian storytellers who gain a liveli-
hood by wandering through the country recounting many of
the wonderful stories which are to be found in the “Arabian
Nights,” of caliphs, viziers, enchantment and much that in
our schoolboy days possessed for us such fascination and
interest.
It is, perhaps, superfluous to say that the sanitary officer
and his crew were not permitted, on that occasion, to hear
the conclusion of the wonderful tale which had so interestedFROM LAKE ERIE TO MOROCCO.
them. The tide was running out and we were soon along-
side of the Republican. Knowing there was no time to lose,
I took the responsibility of boarding the vessel and directing
the captain where to safely anchor her.
This being attended to, Capt. Coville opened his case. It
was no worse than I anticipated, and inasmuch as the sani-
tary officer of Cadiz had kindly advised him to run over to
Tangier, I thought perhaps he had added to his kindness by
writing favorably to Don Juan Blanco del Valle, the Spanish
Charge d’Affaires. But this was not so. Don Juan and the
sanitary officer of Cadiz were not friends, and Don Juan, who
had lately been appointed to Tangier, had repelled our ad-
vances with all the hauteur of a Spanish hidalgo, so that
not one of the chiefs of the corps was on intimate terms with
him. This was unfortunate, for being avoided by all the
corps, with the exception of a French attache, also lately
arrived, and who, in the absence of his chief, was left in tem-
porary charge of the French mission, Don Juan became
soured and determined to have his revenge. The arrival of
the Republican, with informal papers, afforded him the op-
portunity.
On my return to the town I found that Senor Blanco had
addressed a letter to the President of the Month, denying
the right of the Republican to obtain pratique, and insisting
on her being ordered off. The contents of this letter were
communicated in a circular to the Consular Corps. I en-
deavored to conciliate my Spanish colleague as did the Presi-
dent of the Month, by informing him that the Spanish visa
required by the laws of Spain before entering a Spanish port
was not necessary on entering a Moorish port; that with
the exception of said visa, which could not be obtained either
at Huron or at Montreal in consequence of no Spanish con-
suls residing at either of those ports, the Republican’s papers
were all in order; that through the kindness of the Belgian
Consul I was permitted to give an extract from a letter
received that day from the President of the Board of Health
of Cadiz, which corroborated all that had been already said,
and which, in addition, expressed a hope that the Board of
Health of Morocco, and the Spanish Charge in particular,10	FROM LAKE ERIE TO MOROCCO.
would facilitate the poor American to get his papers in such
a shape as would enable him to return to Cadiz and dis-
charge his cargo.
All efforts at conciliation were unavailing. Blanco had
the power to annoy, and he was not magnanimous enough to
forego it.
The Neapolitan, Swedish and Belgian consuls were kind
enough to call on him in order to explain what had been the
usage at Tangier, and to appeal to his sympathies in behalf
of the master of a vessel so far from his own country, and
whose cargo had been shipped for a Spanish market. These
gentlemen met with no success. Blanco persisted in his de-
mand, and also for the dismissal of the sanitary officer. The
Board decided against his demands, and he sent in his resig-
nation as a member of that body. Pending the acceptance of
his resignation, he called on the President of the Board, Mr.
Reade (a son of the late Gen. Sir Thomas Reade, second in
command at the Island of St. Helena when Napoleon was a
prisoner there), and expressed his profound regret at the
course he had pursued towards the Republican. He said he
was satisfied the papers of the Republican entitled her to
pratique; that he had been led into error through a letter
received from Cadiz; that by his resignation as a member
of the Board he had placed himself in a false position, not
only with the Board itself, but with his own Government;
that he had to express his gratification for the courtesy ex-
tended toward him, and that if a little path (“un caminito”)
could be opened for him, he would most cheerfully withdraw
his resignation. The President then called on me, and said:
“Mr. Brown, we have carried our point—our courtesy,
which Blanco referred to, has floored the Don. He admits
his folly, he will of course grant his visa, and it devolves on
you to open the way for his return.”
I cheerfully consented to do it. I expressed in the circu-
lar the pain I had experienced at the announcement that we
were to lose the valuable counsels of our honored colleague
of Spain, and the regret that the arrival of a vessel from my
own country should have been the cause; that I trusted he
would be induced to reconsider his resolution and reflect thatFROM LAKE ERIE TO MOROCCO.
11
in his resignation not only would the Board be deprived of
the aid and assistance of an important member, but that the
Government of Her Catholic Majesty would learn with re-
gret that Spanish influence in the sanitary regulations of the
empire of Morocco, a near neighbor, had been materially
weakened1 by the resignation referred to of the diplomatic
agent of Spain.
This was all gammon, of course, for Don Juan had but
lately arrived; had had no experience, and was. far more
likely to.obstruct, than assist us in regulating the sanitary
affairs of the empire. But I wanted his visa, and my col-
leagues wanted it quite as much as I did, for I had always
cheerfully aided them in extricating from similar difficulties
the vessels of their countrymen, and this was the first occa-.
sion they had been afforded to reciprocate. They therefore
followed me in the circular, in the same eulogistic strain, and
the Swedish Consul issued invitations for a soiree that eve-
ning, at his consulate, in order to bring us all together and
smooth over the little asperities that had been occasioned by
this the first interruption, for a number of years, to our usual
harmony. Blanco did not attend.
Judge of our surprise, on reading in the circular, the fol-
lowing day, a lengthy and pompous effusion from Blanco, to
the effect, that the urgent solicitations of his honored col-
leagues to withdraw the resignation he had felt it his duty to
tender, placed him in a very painful position; on the one
side was his duty, a duty which nothing could prevent him
from performing; on the other the urgent solicitation of his
associates not to withdraw from them his counsels in the
regulation of the sanitary affairs of Morocco ; that he had
given the subject the most serious reflection, and he had de-
cided to accede to the wishes of his colleagues; and withdraw
his resignation, which he now did, insisting at the same time
that the American schooner Republican be ordered out of the
bay—a courtesy which, he said, was due to the Government
of Spain, whose authorities had decided not to admit her ;
and a severe reprimand to be administered to the sanitary
officer.
A very disagreeable controversy, the only one in which I12
FROM LAKE ERIE TO MOROCCO.
participated during my long residence in Morocco, then en-
sued. I recapitulated the verbal statements of Blanco at his
interview with the President of the Month. I said that an
imposition on the Board had been practiced by some one, and
I called on the President for an explanation. He replied by
repeating the conversation at the personal interview, thus
showing up Blanco to be a consummate humbug. Others
participated in the controversy. Blanco lost temper, hazard-
ed a menace, which being met in a proper spirit, he retired
from the field humbled and discomfited, and was ever after-
ward known under the soubriquet of “The Valiente ”
Failing to obtain the Spanish visa, the Republican sailed
for Vigo, a port 1,000 miles distant from Tangier, and I for-
warded a complaint with a copy of the correspondence, to
Mr. Preston, our Minister at Madrid. Wishing to get rid of
Blanco, the British Charge, Sir John Drummond Hay, who
returned from abroad during the controversy, enclosed to
Mr. Buchanan, the British Minister at Madrid, a copy of the
correspondence about the Republican, expressing at the same
time a hope that he would cooperate with Mr. Preston in
bringing the affair to the notice of the Spanish Government.
This was done. Mr. Preston and Mr. Buchanan pro-
ceeded together to the Foreign Office, and in the interview
with Calderon de la Barca, the Spanish Minister of Foreign
Affairs, that gentleman expressed his annoyance at the dis-
courteous and captious proceedings of Blanco, promised to
give the subject prompt attention and lost no time in
doing so.
It so happens that I have in my possession, the original
despatch received from Mr. Preston after that interview, and
after his addressing Marshal O’Donnell on the subject.
During the war between Spain and Morocco, the foreign rep-,
resentatives were all obliged to escape to Gibraltar. My per-
sonal effects and the papers of the Government were all
hastily placed on board a lateen, which ran on a sunken
anchor in the bay of Gibraltar, filled and went down before
the property could be got off. The papers and effects were
subsequently recovered, but in such a confused state, thatFROM LAKE ERIE TO MOROCCO.
13
private and official papers were found huddled together.
Thus it came into my hands.*
In conclusion, I have to add that Senor Don Juan Blanco
was subsequently withdrawn from Tangier, and satisfactory
explanations tendered to Mr. Preston, who subsequently ad-
dressed to me a despatch to the effect that if I would forward
to him a statement of the losses incurred by the master of the
Republican, in consequence of the unwarrantable interfer-
ence of the Charge d’Affaires of Spain, in Morocco, he would
recover the amount and transmit the same to his address.
Capt. Coville was then in Cadiz and I addressed him to that
effect, but he replied through Messrs. Bensusen & Co. of
that city, that he had already given me a great deal of
trouble, and that although thankful to me for this additional
evidence of friendship, he declined troubling me any farther.
I reported to Mr. Preston the reply of Capt. Coville, and
thus the affair ended.
The Republican, having to beat all the way, was fourteen
days in making the passage from Tangier to Vigo, the
lazaretto of Spain. By the time she reached Vigo, Mr. Pres-
ton had made his complaint to the Spanish Government, and
orders had been transmitted to Vigo not to detain the Repub-
lican, but to advise the captain to return to Cadiz. On the
third day she therefore sailed for Cadiz, but being absent one
month, the market for staves had in the meantime fallen $25
a thousand, and the cargo had to be disposed of at $95 per
thousand for pipes and $75 per thousand for hogsheads.
The Republican then left Cadiz with a load of salt, was
overtaken by the equinoctial gales, and, after being disabled,
ran 800 miles to Fayal, one of the Azores, where she was de-
tained two months repairing. That brought it so late that
she could not return home via Quebec, and Capt. Coville was
consequently obliged to proceed to New York. Half his salt
having been washed out, he took on at Fayal, at an enormous
freight, 2,000 boxes of oranges, and made between Fayal and
New York, the quickest passage on record.
*The despatch does not appear to have been deposited with the MS. of this
narrative in the keeping of the Buffalo Historical Society; at any rate it has
not been found.14
FROM LAKE ERIE TO MOROCCO.
The Republican then conveyed a general cargo of mer-
chandise to Mobile; returned to New York; sailed again for
Mobile, and was wrecked on the Great Abico, one of the
Bahama Islands, some seventy-five miles from Nassau.
Capt. Colville succeeded, however, in getting out his cargo
which he disposed of at Nassau.
Thus ends my sketch of the diplomatic controversy occa-
sioned by the visit of a gallant little craft from Lake Erie,
with a Buffalo master, to the shores of the Don and the Mus-
sulman, and her subsequent fate.
Note—The foregoing narrative is a portion of an unpublished manuscript
which has been in the possession of the Buffalo Historical Society for forty
years. When it was written, in 1863, considerable attention was being paid to
the development of trans-Atlantic trade in vessels from the Great Lakes. That
portion of Mr. Brown’s paper which we do not publish, discusses at length the
possibilities of this trade, contingent on the condition of the Welland Canal and
St. Lawrence route. For many years American-built vessels had found ready
sale at the principal European ports, and at many a port on the Great Lakes
vessel builders thought they saw prospective profits in sending home-built craft
to Europe, even though there was no return voyage. The Lily of Kingston was
the first vessel that passed down from the lakes to the ocean, bound for a
European port. This was about 1847. She afterwards sailed in the Quebec and
Liverpool trade, but was lost, it is believed, on her third ocean voyage. Prior
to 1857 very few vessels passed down, via the Welland Canal and St. Lawrence,,
bound for Europe. The manuscript under notice gives a list of fifty-nine vessels
which cleared from lake ports for Atlantic and European ports, between 1847
and i860. Most of them sailed to Glasgow, Liverpool and London. In i860
the Messenger cleared from Buffalo, the Pierson from Milan, O., the Massillon
and Valeria from Cleveland and the Scott from St. Joseph, all for European
ports. Several lake-built vessels engaged for a time in trade on the Medit-
teranean and the Danube, and then returned to the lakes. Prior to 1863, Nor-
wegian craft had come into the upper lakes, and returned with outward-bound
cargo; and English railway iron had been unloaded on the Buffalo docks
direct from the ships into which it had been loaded at Liverpool. The lake-
ocean trade did not prove as profitable as some of the ship builders and lumber
dealers had anticipated, and for many years, except in sporadic cases, it prac-
tically ceased to exist.