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Cornell University Library 1993.THE OLD
BLACK ROCK FERRY.
READ BEFORE THE SOCIETY, DECEMBER 14, 1863.
BY CHARLES D. NORTON.
The Ferry which had its landing-place at the foot of the
highway now called.Fort street, is the oldest institution in
this city; and it is proper that its history should be written, in
part performance of that duty which this Society has assumed,
and owes to the community. From public documents and
the laws of our State, much of it has been collected; more of
it from the testimony of the early settlers on this part of the
Niagara frontier; and beyond the point to which their own
recollection extends, they have furnished me with facts, which
they gathered from men who, at a much earlier period, found
their way to the Niagara river.
The Old Ferry was, it is believed, a crossing-place at a
period as early as the Revolutionary war; but whatever esti-
mate may be placed upon the authority cited for this statement,
the evidence of its existence in 1796 is clear and incontrovert-
ible. By this passage many of the early settlers of Canada
journeyed to their western homes; and over it the first emi-
grants into Michigan were carried, on their pilgrimage to found
a new State. That part of our city formerly known as the vil-
* Died, April 12th, 1867.92
THE OLD FERRY
lage of Black Rock, is on historic ground; and the most excit-
ing events which are on record, concerning our earlier days,
transpired there. At the risk of a digression from my subject,
let me refer to a few of them in a brief manner, more as a hint
to others for their collection and preservation, than for the
purpose of detailed narrative.
On the high hill or bluff, which overlooked the ferry, old
Fort Adams, or Battery Swift, was situated. There is now, in
the office of the Niagara Street Railroad Company, a box of
balls, bullets and other implements of war, which were found
in the soil by those digging for the foundation of the depot
building. The Maryland Gazette, of December 22d, 1763, con-
tains an account of a battle between a detachment of English
soldiers, who were moving from Fort Schlosser toward Detroit,
and a body of Indians, whom they encountered at the foot of
Lake Erie. The skeletons of Indians (arranged in the form of
a circle, with their feet toward the center, and placed against
a large iron kettle, their heads resting on hatchets, and form-
ing the circumference of the circle), found by Col. Bird while
preparing the ground for his present residence,* show that
this was the burial place of Indians killed in battle; and afford
presumptive evidence that this was the scene of the engagement.
A skirmish between the American and British troops oc-
curred at the junction of Niagara and Sixth streets, which re-
sulted in the death of Colonel Bishop, who commanded the
enemy’s party; and the same foray came near depriving us of
the services of General Porter, who barely escaped capture as
the enemy passed up the road to attack Fort Adams. They
marched toward the residence of the General, which was upon
the site occupied by the old Thayer tavern, where the Rev. Mr.
Robie now resides,f and would have taken him prisoner had
not his housekeeper, discovering the advance guard, aroused him
from sleep, and enabled him to hasten, half-clad, into the woods.
*Col. William A. Bird died, August 19th, 1878.
tOn Niagara St., near Auburn.A T THE BLACK ROCK.
93
Below this place, at the mouth of the Scoijoiquoides creek,
a part of Commodore Perry’s fleet was fitted out under the
superintendence of Henry Eckford, afterwards renowned at
home and abroad as a naval constructor; and near by, upon
the bank, the battle of Black Rock was fought, at about the
same period of time.
While I am thus indulging in a ramble away from my sub-
ject, the opportunity shall be improved of submitting to this
Society the task of discovering the true orthography of the
name of this stream; whether it is Scoijoiquoides, Scajaquada,
Scajaquadies, Conjocketty, Conjegitors, Unnekugua or Unne-
kuguddies creek; for I have found the name written in these
various ways.
It must not be forgotten that in Breckenridge street, near
the old brick church, General Scott planted his cannon to
cover the British armed vessels which were in the stream, pre-
pared to attack the miniature but historical steamboat Caro-
line on her passage up the river during the so-called Patriot
war.
It will thus be seen that the ground at the old ferry, and in
its immediate vicinity, is replete with historical interest.
But I now return to my immediate subject, the history of
The Old Ferry.
Captain James Sloan, a resident of Black Rock, who is well
known as a man of great intelligence and integrity, and who has
contributed largely to our local history in articles scattered
through the columns*of the city journals, came to the ferry in
the year 1810. The ground now occupied by the Niagara Street
Railroad buildings, was-or had been an Indian field; for it was
cleared and leveled, and on the south and east was bounded
by a dense forest.
This venerable gentleman, who recollects with accuracy and
relates with precision his early adventures in the West, full of
stirring incident and exploit, speaks with enthusiasm of the
view which opened to his sight, when he for the first time stood94
THE OLD FERR Y
upon this old field. The majestic Niagara, with an unbroken
expanse, bore its affluent flood to the cataract, between banks
covered with the primeval forest, indented with the scattered
huts of the settlers on the Canada shore; and gave to view, on
its tolerant bosom, the wooded islands which, in a bygone age,
. it had torn away from the protecting embrace of the main land.
Under Fort Erie the British fleet, commanded by Commodore
Barclay, was anchored; while a few batteaux were moving slug-
gishly up the stream, laden with salt. These constituted the
commercial marine of the river, the principal business of which
was the transportation of this commodity from Porter & Barton’s
dock, at old Fort Schlosser, to their warehouse at Black Rock,
or their wharf under the lee of Bird Island, to be conveyed
thence to Erie, then the principal commercial port on our lake.
There are but few persons now living who know anything of
the lake and river commerce from the year 1805 to the com-
mencement of the last war with England. It consisted mainly
in the transportation of salt between the places and over the
route I have mentioned, to be conveyed to Pittsburg.
Four or five vessels were engaged in this business on the river,
each carrying from one hundred and twenty-five to one hun-
dred and fifty barrels of salt, owned by Porter, Barton & Co.;
their proprietors residing at Black Rock and Syracuse. When
the wind was blowing down the lake, the vessels running from
Black Rock to Erie were frequently wind-bound at the former
place for a long time; and then and there would grow an accu-
mulation of five or six thousand barrels* of salt, which were
piled in tiers upon the shore of the river, under the bank, and
remained stored in this way until they could be carried to Erie.
“The Black Rock” was the great salt exchange; and the wit-
nesses upon whose statements I narrate these facts say that it
was not a rare occurrence for the Rock to be covered with
traders from Pittsburg, captains of vessels and boatmen, who
met there to talk about business and interchange views. The
Black Rock was a sort of commercial center for the salt mer-A T THE BLACK ROCK.
95
chants in those early days; and the old tavern was quite as dis-
tinguished along the frontier as the Fifth Avenue and St. Nich-
olas are in our time.
Two roads led to the ferry from the main Batavia road.
The old Indian trail or path, which was the traveled way for
the Indians going between the Genesee and Grand rivers, di-
verged at what was then known as the Four Mile creek, and
pursuing the present route of Bouck street, came upon the river
bank at what is now Fort street. The other road, called the
Guide Board Road, from the old cross-board at Main street
pointing out its direction, crossed Main street, and followed
York street to St. Joseph’s College; thence south-westerly into
Niagara street. It will be noticed that St. Joseph’s College
forms an angle with North street, and does not front upon it.
The cause of this is seen at once in the former route of the
Guide Board Road, which ran directly in front of the building
and joined the present Niagara street, at the residence of F.
C. Hill, long known as the old Callender place.* Niagara
street had been surveyed, and the trees to some extent cleared
off; but for the most part it was an impassable swamp, dis-
agreeable to travel. It was rendered comfortable, in a very
slight degree, at a later period, by a corduroy road, which old
residents will recollect. The traveled road to Buffalo was by
way of the ferry, under the bluff, to the lake shore, and then
along the broad, hard and level beach to the Terrace. Four or
five years ago there lived at Wind Mill Point, in Canada, a
very aged man by the name of Silas Carter. He had been a
soldier in the American army during the Revolution, and while
it was encamped at Morristown, he was in some capacity
attached to the immediate family of Washington. When he
died, his age was an hundred years; and though he married at
seventy-five years of age, he left behind him three children of
the marriage, who are now living and have families. He was
* Niagara street, near the Reservoir.96
THE OLD FERE Y
well known to Captain Sloan, who vouches for his intelligence
and veracity. Carter told him that there was a crossing-place
at the Old Ferry when he came into the country before the
Revolutionary war closed; and that it was the only such place
above the Falls. He spoke of it as a ferry, though no legally
established ferry existed there until a later date. In 1796, it was
well known as a ferry or crossing-place. In 1800, Augustus
Porter, then of Canandaigua, had a contract with the govern-
ment for carrying the mail to Fort Niagara, and he says that
his route was from Canandaigua over the road to the ferry, and
then down the Canada shore to Fort Niagara. Gen. Timothy
A. Hopkins, late of Williamsville, in this county, once said
that he raised the first wheat grown on the Holland Purchase,
in a field ten miles east of Clarence; and that he carried that
wheat in a wagon, drawn by three yoke of oxen, over the ferry
at Black Rock, to Street’s Mills at the Falls; and complained
of the charge for ferriage, which was twenty shillings each way.
Dr. Dwight, once President of Yale College, mentions the ferry,
and says, in his “Journey Through the State of New York,”
that his party crossed it without inconvenience, though with
much fatigue to the boatmen. A writer in the Port Folio, a
literary periodical published in New York in 1810, in his ac-
count of a “Ride to Niagara,” says that he came to Miller’s
Ferry, along the bank of the lake; and notices the old route by
way of Bouck street as “a short way to the ferry, if there be
no object in going to Buffalo.” The narrative proceeds:
“ The stone which bounds the river line is a mass of black chert. I ar-
rived about twelve o’clock, m. ; the ice was so thick in the River Niagara,
that it was impossible to cross until three o’clock, p. m. There were three
wagons of emigrants waiting to cross to the British side, from Schoharie, in
New York state, and Buffaloe, in Northumberland county, Pennsylvania.
They were chiefly Germans. They expected about two hundred acres of
land to cost them fifty dollars. I understand the British Government sell it
at forty dollars per two hundred acres. The crossing here is three-quarters
of a mile wide; half a dollar for man and horse. They catch abundance of
fish with a seine. The family were dining on pickerel and salmon trout,
each four and a half pounds weight.”A T THE BLACK ROCK.
97
This will be sufficient to show the importance of the ferry,
and the large extent of the business done there early in this
century. In fact, the business at the ferry, and the peculiar
advantages of the vicinage, as a * site for a village or town,
alarmed Joseph Ellicott; for in 1802, he wrote to Paul Busti,
general agent of the Holland Land Purchase, saying:
“The State, at the last Legislature, had passed an act, providing for the
purchase of the Indian possessory right to these lands, the southern part of
which reached New Amsterdam;”
adding:
“ There is a situation on the lands equal to or better than that of New
Amsterdam for a town; so that if the State offers the land for sale this sum-
mer, before New Amsterdam gets into operation, much of time will be lost
to the future prosperity of the place.”
“New Amsterdam” was then the name of the Buffalo Creek
settlement; and the southern extremity of the Indian lands, of
which he speaks, was a point in the late south village of Black
Rock, which, it will be remembered, once comprehended all
that part of the old city situated between the State Reservation
line and the Niagara river; tKis line meeting the river at the
foot of Genesee street.
The landing-place on the Canada side of the river was always
at the present site; and the earliest name I can find among the
ferrymen is that of Gilmore. He was a man of good family,
who had fled from Pennsylvania into Canada, to escape pun-
ishment for some political riot or fight in which he had become
involved. Captain Sloan knew him sixty years ago, when he
lived on the Monongahela river, and says that he was a highly
respectable man, and amassed property in Canada, owning a
farm at Waterloo; but that his houses and barns were burned
during the war, and he himself returned to Pennsylvania.
Windnecker (or Windecker) was ferryman for a time, and
then Hardison, whose widow perhaps some of you may know;
an aged woman, who resides at Fort Erie. The ferry afterwards
passed into the hands of Mr. Warren and Colonel Kirby; the98
THE OLD FERR Y
latter of whom was a notorious character on the frontier during
the war, and up to the time of his death made it his business,
to protect His Brittannic Majesty’s rights, and see to it that
they were not trenched upon by the democrats over the river.
We come now to the landing upon our side. Here one Con.
O’Niel was the ferryman at a very early day, living by “the
black rock,” in a hut, which was at once his ferry house, and
home. In the year 1800, there was a tolerable road over the site
of the present Fort street, leading to the river margin over a flat
or plateau of land about two hundred feet in width. Upon the
northern extremity of this plateau there was a black rock, in shape
an irregular triangle, projecting into the river; having a breadth
of about one hundred feet at the north end, and extending south-
ward and along the river for a distance of three hundred feet,
gradually inclining to the south-east, until it was lost in the
sand. The rock was four or five feet high, and at its southern
extremity it was square, so that an eddy was formed there into
which the ferry boat could be brought, and where it would be
beyond the influence of the current. From this rock, teams
could be driven into the boat, over a connecting lip or bridge.
The natural harbor, thus formed, was almost perfect, and could
not have been made, by the appliances of art, a more complete
dock or landing-place for a boat. In fact, no other part of our
river or shore above the Falls afforded such facility for a cross-
ing-place. The river was narrow at this point, and the landing
safe. These facts create a presumption in favor of the state-
ment that it was the old and common point for crossing the
river.
This rock was a well-known spot, and had long been a fish-
ing-ground for the Indians. It is said that the herring came
to the rock in such numbers, that a barrel full of them was
thrown on it with three casts of a large net. Near the rock,
and south of it, upon the river margin, was a plain or field which
was used by the Indians when they held their sports or practiced
their games; while the wooded height above afforded to themAT THE BLACK ROCK.
99
a kitchen and dormitory. In a few years, quite a hamlet grew
up around the black rock; but it was not until the year 1810 or
1811, that any buildings were erected on the site of the present
village. When Mr. Lester Brace first visited the rock, in 1807,
there were no buildings in the vicinity, except the Porter, Bar-
ton & Co. warehouse, which has before been spoken of as being
at the foot of Breckenridge street; a house which Nathaniel
Sill had built on Auburn street, and a log hut on the site of
Albany street. The place was then called “the Black Rock
Ferry;” and it is consistent with the facts stated, to suppose
that it was so called from the rock, of which some description
has been given. This was not only a conspicuous mark, but
a well-established business point on the river, at which the
crossing-place or ferry had been for many years; and doubtless
gave its name to the ferry and to the hamlet which afterwards
sprung up at that place, not a trace of which now exists.*
In 1802, the Legislature passed an act which provided for the
negotiation of a treaty with the Seneca Indians, the object of
which was the extinguishment of the Indian title to the Mile
Strip Reservation on the Niagara river. This act recognizes
the existence of a ferry at this place; for it provides that the
treaty to be negotiated should not prejudice the right of The
People of the State of New York to the ferry across the Niagara
river. To this act Mr. Ellicott refers in his letter to Mr. Busti,
in which he expresses some apprehension that the future town
would be located at Black Rock. The language of the act
implies by fair construction an existing and prescriptive right,
vested in The People of the State of New York, to a ferry at Black
Rock; and to have created that right, twenty years previous-
continued existence would have been necessary. If this right
was thus recognized by the State, it will sustain Carter’s state-
ment that the ferry existed during the Revolutionary war.
By the treaty of 1802, made with the Indians under this act,,
* See Addenda, pp. 110-112.3 00
THE OLD FERR V
their right to use this crossing place at Black Rock is fully
protected, and the tract of land bordering on the river, one mile
wide, running from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario, is ceded to the
State. The first statutory provision affecting the ferry, author-
ized the commissioners of the land office to lease it, with
one hundred acres of land, on such terms as they might
deem proper, for the period of eight years; reserving the right
of the Indians in accordance with the treaty. This statute
does not refer to the one hundred acres now known as the
ferry lot, on the south side of which the present ferry is estab-
lished. This tract is north of the old ferry a quarter of a mile
or more, and was conveyed in 1815 to Gen. Peter B. Porter, to
whom it was offered as a gift; but he refused to accept the title
without making compensation to the State. I have noticed for
some time past that the stone monument which denotes the
south line of the ferry lot upon the easterly side of Niagara
street, has been misplaced and lies upon the street. It could
now without difficulty be restored, and a survey I suppose
would be necessary; but it should be done at once to save
future trouble in establishing the course of that line. In 1806
the ferry was leased or directed to be leased to Alexander
Rea, but I cannot find that he ever availed himself of his priv-
ilege; for Major Frederick Miller appears to have taken posses-
sion of the ferry in that year, and to have retained it until 1812.
During the interval the business of the ferry was steadily grow-
ing, for there was an emigration to Canada that increased up
to the commencement of the war. The rivalry between the
proprietors of the Holland Purchase, or rather their agents,
and the agents of the Canadian government, was vigorously con-
ducted; and the representations of the latter to the prejudice
of the Holland Purchase, succeeded in turning considerable
emigration across the river. In 1812, Mr. Orange Brace be-
came the lessee of the ferry; but that was an exceedingly dull
year. Very little business was done on the frontier after war
was declared.A T THE BLACK ROCK.
IOI
I have said before that Mr. Lester Brace visited the ferry in
1807. It will be unnecessary to say more of him than that he
was the son of Orange Brace, one of the hardy and resolute
men who came to Western New York from New England in
1790; and to show that the father was a man eminently fitted
to be a pioneer of civilization in the West, it will be sufficient
to say that in December, 1790, he returned to Connecticut
on foot, with Judge Augustus Porter, and traveled a portion
of the journey on snow shoes. Mr. Lester Brace left Bennington
in what is now Wyoming county, with an ox team and wagon,
accompanied by some neighbors, to visit the frontier on busi-
ness; and crossing the Indian Reservation his party were over-
taken in the woods by a severe snow storm which drove them
under their wagon for shelter, and compelled them to remain
there all night. Pursuing their journey, they reached Landon’s
tavern, now the Mansion House, and turning into Commercial
street they traveled by way of the creek and the lake beach,
down to Major Miller’s tavern at the old ferry. It was filled
with sailors and river boatmen who were holding high revel
when Mr. Brace arrived; and the landlord, unable to keep
them in order by gentle means, was administering such rude
justice as the occasion demanded, and the manners of front-
iersmen amply justified and required. In the general melee
Mr. Brace’s friends fled, seeking other quarters; but he sought
the top of a whisky barrel in one corner of the room, on which
he remained until morning.
At this time there was at the ferry a house and tavern,
with some other buildings, making a promising settlement.
There were no other houses at Black Rock except a hut near
the brook at Albany street; the Porter, Barton & Co. ware-
house, and the residence of Nathaniel Sill. Of this brook I
shall be glad to preserve recollection. It was a pretty stream,
coming from the forest; and it meandered between wooded banks
to Niagara street, where it rushed over a broken ledge of rocks
in a miniature fall, and poured its crystal water into the un-102
THE OLD FERRY
grateful Niagara. A few years ago this laughing stream was
turned into a sewer, and now mingles its turbid and muddy
waters with the Erie canal.
Major Miller’s lease for an unexpired term of ten years was
transferred to Orange Dean and Holden Allen; the latter of
whom raised a family of stalwart boys, who became sailors and
lake captains. Capt. Levi Allen, of this city, with two of his
brothers, are survivors of this family.
Doubtless, there are many facts which have escaped my
observation that would have rendered this history more inter-
esting. The men who lived upon the frontier at that time
possessed many admirable qualities. They were bold, accus-
tomed to danger, self-reliant, fertile in resources and full of
that rude energy which clears up the forests, lays the founda-
tion of towns and makes way for a more refined civilization
which, if it has more of the graces of life, has less real energy
and practical sense. It is certainly desirable that sketches of
these men should be preserved; for the early history of New
York is to be found in the narratives of the enterprise, the
thrift, the industry and the personal sacrifices of the early
pioneers.
In 1812, the State resumed charge of the old ferry, and by
an act of that year directed the leasing of it by the Commis-
sioners of the Land Office, reserving the Indian rights as pro-
vided by the treaty. I dismiss the Indians‘with the remark
that this right of free ferriage was always reserved to them in
all the leases, and I have found no statute which deprives them
of their ancient privileges.
The war-cloud began to lower over the border, and the front-
iersmen heard the sound of approaching conflict. The busi-
ness at the old ferry up to this time had been steadily increasing;
but it entirely ceased at the commencement of actual hostili-
ties. There had been considerable emigration into Canada,
as I have had occasion to remark. The large four-horse
wagons with their singular loads had been accustomed visitorsAT THE BLACK ROCK.
103
at the ferry. There had been frequent crossing to deal at
Douglas’ store at Fort Erie; at which place the settlers bought
their glass and nails. On the whole, the ferrymen at the Black
Rock had been greatly benefited, and were rejoicing in grow-
ing profits.
A store or grocery had been established, and there were
other shops at the Rock; and among others who had found
their way to the place was Mr. E. D. Efner,* to whom you will
need no introduction. General Sylvester Mathews, a well-
known man here twenty-five years ago, and Loren Hodge and
his father resided once at the old ferry.
Fifty years have passed, and the mutability of earthly things
receives a forcible illustration in the changes at this place.
The canal has obliterated the famous black rock; the railroad
runs over the site of the old ferry house and tavern; and the
pier cuts in twain the river which had unfolded its regal ampli-
tude between the opposing shores. Squaw Island, once heavily
wooded and full of game, now denuded of its forest glories,
spreads upon the river a patch of unsightly meadow swamp
land; Bird Island has quite gone out of sight; old Fort Erie
is a mouldering ruin; and the only improvement upon the scene
is the flourishing commercial city to whose history this contri-
bution is made.
This paper shall be closed before the^time is entirely ex-
hausted, by recounting the further history of the old ferry from
the memoranda of Mr. Lester Brace.
In 1813, to use an expression then prevalent, the “ lines were
opened,” that is, it had become safe for Americans to venture
upon business along the river; and Mr. Brace and Mr. St. John,
who is represented in this city by numerous descendants,
thought that something could be done with the ferry. They
bought Hardison’s boats and resumed the ‘business of carriers
between Canada and the Black Rock. The renewed business
* Mr. Efner died, July 4th, 1873.io4
THE OLD TERR V
was inaugurated by a sad catastrophe, which awakened the
sympathy of the settlers both at Buffalo and the Rock. On
the sixth of June, 1813, the morning being clear and coldr
with the ice running in the river, Mr. Brace, with Mr. St. John,,
to whom the management of the boat was intrusted as the more
skillful navigator, started from the Rock to cross the river. The
boat was a scow, of about ten tons burthen, propelled by sweeps
handled by two or four men, and steered with another long
sweep at the stern. The route was to cross the stream’directly,
as nearly as it could be done, and to drop down to the wharf
which was at the present ferry landing. Sometimes this was
difficult to accomplish, particularly when ice was running in
the river; and tl\e ferrymen were carried down to a point near or
opposite to Squaw Island, and then they were obliged to cross
and pole up the river to the Black Rock, a laborious and very-
wearisome task. Two or three of Commodore Perry’s vessels
which had been fitted out by Henry Eckford at the mouth of
the Scoijoiquoides creek, had made an attempt to get up the
Niagara into the lake to join the squadron, but had been
obliged to»cast anchor in the very path of the ferry boat. The
ferryman had been advised that it would be a venturesome busi-
ness to attempt to go above the vessels in order to reach the Can-
ada landing; but Mr. St. John, relying on his skill as a boatman,
and his knowledge of the river, said that he could accomplish
it without collision. He had not overrated his knowledge or
his skill, but an unforseen danger presented itself which was
discovered too late to be avoided. The ferry boat would have
cleared the foremost vessel, but it was driven upon the cable
which held her at anchor, and the play of the cable as it rose
and f$ll with the motion of the vessel upset the ferry boat and
turned the whole party into the river. The boats of the ship
nearest them had gone to Buffalo creek, and the party, which
consisted of Mr. Brace and Mr. St. John and his son, four sol-
diers and four other passengers, one of them having a horse
with him, were in imminent danger of drowning. Mr. St,A T THE BLACK ROCK.
io5
John went down, but rose again and spoke encouraging words-
to Mr. Brace, putting his hand on his shoulder at the same
time; but suddenly sank, and did not rise again. His son, a
fine, athletic young man, had nearly reached shallow water when
he disappeared; and Mr. Brace grasped a board which floated
near him, by means of which his life was saved.
There was another incident which is worthy of preservation.
One day there came to the ferry a number of villagers from
Buffalo who desired to cross to Canada. Doctor Josiah Trow-
bridge and Mr. Bemis were of the company. It was a cold
December day, and Mr. Brace was averse to crossing; for he
was unwell, and there had been rumors which, if true, rendered
a visit to the other side somewhat hazardous. Dr. Trowbridge
was quite urgent, however, for his business on the Canada
shore was impelled by the same motive which induced Leander
to swim the Hellespont. Mr. Brace saw the white flag flying
on the Canada side, and after some hesitation, consented to
allow his brother-in-law, Arden Merrill, to take his place in
the boat, and ferry the travelers to the other shore. As the
ferry boat approached the Canada landing, two or three sleighs
filled with men were observed to be approaching from below;
but the matter excited neither alarm nor suspicion. The pas-
sengers had hardly landed, when they were seized as prisoners,
with the exception of Dr. Trowbridge and Mr. Pomeroy, who
escaped to the woods. The British party then fired into the
boat, already out in the river. Merrill was killed; his body,
stripped of boots and watch, was afterward recovered under a
flag of truce. One of the passengers was never afterward heard
of; another was taken prisoner, and subsequently released at
Halifax. Dr. Trowbridge and his companions found their way
to Baxter’s, six miles above the ferry, and there seized upon a
boat against the remonstrance of the proprietor, who was not dis-
posed to aid their escape, and got safely back to Buffalo Creek.
This was a most unprovoked and unjustifiable outrage; not
the only one perpetrated by the enemy during that war. Theio6
THE OLD FERRY
people on the ferry boat had trusted to the white flag flying at
the ferry landing; and even if they had come over without that
protection, they were unarmed, and might have been made
prisoners without loss of life.
The ferry was then discontinued, and the boats sunk at the
mouth of the Scoijoiquoides creek; from which they were taken
by the British in one of their marauding excursions, and carried
over to Canada. They were retaken by our army and used
for government purposes. Mr. Brace found them in posses-
sion of Major Barton, United States Quartermaster; who re-
fused to deliver them to him upon the ground that they had
Been captured from the enemy and were the property of the
government. Mr. Brace, not caring to dispute the Quarter-
master’s law, paid one hundred dollars to get them again, and
in 1815, on the declaration of peace, opened his tavern, resumed
his ferry, and continued there until 1821.
- That he had been prospered in his business appears from
the net income of his tavern and ferry in 1813, which was
three thousand dollars. For a number of years it continued
to yield a handsome revenue; larger upon an average than has
since been derived from it.
Among the persons who boarded with Mr. Brace, at the old
ferry, was Captain James Rough, a Scotchman by birth, and a
sailor by profession. He was one of the earliest navigators of
the western lakes, and had been in the employ of John Jacob
Astor when he had a fur trading house at Mackinac. He died
at Black Rock at an advanced age, and is buried in the old
Guide Board Road cemetery.* His friend, Major Donald
Fraser, placed at the head of his grave a small willow, which has
since grown to be a large tree, and the inscription on his tomb
closes with the lines of Burns:
With such as he, where’er he be,
May I be saved or damned.f
* See Buffalo Cemeteries, ante, p. 55.
1' See Ibid) p. 57, for the full inscription.A T THE BLACK ROCK.
107
In 1821, the ferry was transferred to Asa Stannard, the father
of a race of sons, some of whom became identified with our lake
marine, and were well known to the dock merchants of an early
day. The present Member of Assembly, from the first district,
Walter W. Stannard, is a son of Asa Stannard.
In 1822 or 1824, the old-ferry ceased to have legal existence.
The act authorizing the lease to Stannard provided, that if the
ferry was “ injured by the construction of the Great Western
Canal,” Stannard should^be compensated for improvements, but
not for loss of profits. The same act gave Stannard an exten-
sion of th$ lease, if he would build a horse-boat for the purpose
of ferriage. But Mr. Stannard did not build the boat which
the Legislature had contemplated. H$ continued to use the
scow, ro^ved by four men with two oars, and to cross at the old
place, until the construction of the Erie Canal rendered it
necessary to remove the ferry to another point. So, in 1824,
the old ferry, which had for so long a time been a place of
•such importance, and which had already assumed the appear-
ance of a village, was deserted. The great rock, the landmark
which had become known to all the settlers on this part of the
Holland Purchase, and to all travelers on the river, was blown
up; the old road was neglected, and became impassable; the
houses gradually fell into ruin; and to-day there is nothing on
the spot to indicate its former existence.
The ferry was removed to a point of land at the foot of what
is now Ferry street, on the south line of the ferry lot; and in
1826, Donald Fraser and Lester Brace became its lessees; but
the rapid march of invention and improvement rendered it
necessary that the old scow ferry boat should give way to a
more rapid method of propulsion, and Brace and Fraser were
bound to put upon the river, within one year, a steam or horse-
boat.
If it were within the scope of my subject, it would be a
pleasant duty to give some reminiscences of Donald Fraser.
He had witnessed different vicissitudes of fortune, and hadio8
THE OLD TERR Y
survived them all, without losing that exuberant good nature
which was a remarkable quality in his character. From his*
early youth he was a courageous and gallant soldier. He had
been aid to General Pike at the siege and conquest of Little
York (now Toronto), and was with him when he fell, on that
memorable occasion; and at the sortie of Fort Erie, as aid
to General Porter, when his gallantry and soldierly conduct
received the most flattering notice in the despatches of the
General to the Commander-in-chief. JVlajor Fraser was after*
ward on the staff of General Brown; subsequently he served
at Fort Niagara; and at a later period he acted as secretary to
General Porter, while he was engaged as the United States
Commissioner in surveying and establishing the northern boun-
dary between the United States and Canada, under the treaty
of Ghent. He was a Scotchman, a member of a celebrated
clan, and full of genial and generous feeling toward all man-
kind. His ferry house and store was a museum of curiosities.
At the door, the public was informed that “folks are married
here;” and the place was filled with articles, the most of which
were unsaleable, presenting, withal, a ludicrous yet remarka-
ble collection of odd things. In the strictest sense of the word,
it was a curiosity shop. The resident of thirty years ago will
recollect his sleigh-rides in a bark canoe, mounted on runners,
with a stuffed deer standing at the prow, and ten or twelve
men, habited in Indian costume, paddling furiously as they
dashed through the streets at the full speed of four horses
ridden by four impromptu savages. After the death of Captain
Rough, Fraser disguised himself, and calling upon the promi-
nent citizens of the village, represented that he was the sole
heir of the deceased, just arrived from Scotland. So successful
was the disguise, in every respect, and his claims were appar-
ently so well founded and sustained, that no question was made
about his taking possession of the estate, which was consider-
able; and he went around among his friends and acquaintances,
the acknowledged heir of Captain Rough, and the recognizedA T THE BLACK ROCK.
109
owner of his late estate. A paper might be filled with reminis-
cences of this singular man, but space can be allowed here
only to say, that after his removal from Black Rock, he was in
the army as Quartermaster; and died a few years ago, an officer
at the New York Custom House.
Messrs. Brace and Fraser placed the horse-boat on the river;
Mr. Brace making the journey to Albany to ascertain what
were the merits of the novel invention which the Legislature
required the ferry lessees to adopt; and he brought back the
machinery for his boat. It was nothing more than a wheel up-
on a horizontal plane, propelling the boat by means of cogs
playing into the main shaft; four horses treading the wheel,
being the propelling power. It was a great invention for those
times, and was the second boat of the kind ever used in this
country.
In 1840, James Haggart became the lessee of the ferry, and
the successor of Brace and Fraser, and placed a steam ferry
boat on the river, in accordance with the provisions of an act
of the Legislature, granting to him the right to maintain a ferry.
Judge Bull, of Black Rock, became a part owner of the ferry,
and now owns the land on the American shore opposite the
ferry landing. The rent was two hundred dollars per year,
payable to the common school fund of Black Rock; and in
1853, the State granted to the City of Buffalo exclusive power
over all ferries within its limits, with the right to license and
regulate the same.
An apology is due to you for this paper, upon a subject so
dry and uninteresting; but as the history of our city will neces-
sarily require some mention of “The Old Ferry,” it is not be-
yond the province of the Historical Society to gather and pre-
serve the fragments contained in this attempt to trace its origin
and history.ADDENDA.
I. COMMUNICATED TO THE SOCIETY, BY HON. GEORGE R. BABCOCK.*
Buffalo, Friday, February 13th, 1863.
Hon. M. Fillmore,
President, &c.
Dear Sir:—A severe cold prevents me from attending the Historical Society Club to-
night. I enclose the draft of some notes upon the origin of the name of Black Rock, which,
if you deem proper, may be read to the Club, with a view to provoke discussion. My ex-
amination of the subject has not been thorough, for the want of leisure and books. I have
looked into but few authors, and Doctor Dwight is the only one that has furnished much
support to the theory which I broached at Mr. Norton’s two weeks ago. There are other
authorities, however, which 1 hope to be able to cite hereafter.
I am, with esteem, your obedient servant,
George R. Babcock.
P. S.—Upon another point, allow me to call your attention to the fact, that m the act of
our Legislature, passed March 19th, 1802, for holding a treaty with the Senecas, Buffalo
creek is called “ Buffaloes creek.”+ This, to me, is new.	B.
Many years since, the idea was suggested to me, by reading a journal of
an early French explorer of the lakes, that Bird Island, at the head of the
Niagara, was called Black Rock, and gave this name to the adjoining shore.
Subsequent reading elicited facts that favored this theory, but I have pre-
served no notes of them; and since the subject was before the Historical
Society Club, the little attention that I have been able to give to it has failed
to reveal the original authority for the idea. According to my recollection
of the narrative, the craft of the writer was driven by stress of weather to a
shelter, at the foot of the lake, behind a black rock, of small extent and slight
elevation, which afforded protection from the waves. It occurred to me that
he had anchored under the lee of Bird Island, which at that period, and
within the recollection of many of our citizens, was a bare, black rock, suffi-
ciently above the water to afford shelter for vessels in the deep channel be-
tween it and the American shore; and that this “black rock,” being the
only harbor at this end of the lake, and, therefore, an object of interest to
the early voyagers, gave name to the locality, rather than the bare rock upon
the main shore, nearly a mile below. The latter was an object of interest
to the Indian as a place for fishing, and, subsequently, to the white settlers,
as the ferrying-place; but to the traders and voyagers, who for more than
one hundred years followed the Griffin’s track, the black rock upon the
main land was of no importance whatever. It seemed to me not improba-
ble, therefore, that the island bore the name of the Black Rock among the
whites, prior to the formation of settlements upon the main land; and that
afterwards the name was transferred to the rock, which was known among
the Indians as the “fishing rock,” and to the whites as the “ferry rock,”
* Died, September 22d, 1876.
t See Papers on the Name of Buffalo, ante, pp. 17-42.ADDENDA.
ill
or ferrying-place. The question is not important, and I confess that the
evidence to sustain this theory is not conclusive. President Dwight, in the
fourth volume of his travels, records a visit to this place which he made in
1804. Speaking of the Mile Strip along the Niagara river, he says:
“Within the Reservation is included the ground opposite to Black Rock.”—p. 55.
Referring to the mouth of Buffalo creek, he says:
“ The river Niagara begins two miles further north, at, or rather just below, Black Rock.
Here the first perceptible current commences. At Black Rock, a town which is a mile
square is laid out by order of the State into house lots. The lots are to be disposed of at
public sale in December of this year, upon terms with which I am unacquainted. Should
they be equitable, the trade which 1 mentioned will soon center here. Between this rock
and the shore is the only secure harbor on the American, and a much better than any on
the British side of the lake, within a great distance.”—/. 57.
Speaking of harbors on Lake Erie, he says:
“ On the southern side I know of but three; Black Rock, Presque Isle and Sandusky
Bay.”
Bird Island will answer the various conditions required by these extracts,
and no point on the main land will meet them. It would be absurd to speak
of any point upon the Mile Strip as “ opposite to Black Rock,” and yet lo-
cate Black Rock on the Mile Strip. It will not do to say that the Niagara
river begins “just below Black Rock,” and that here the “ first perceptible
current commences,” and yet locate Black Rock at the old ferry site. The
town of Black Rock, it is true, is laid out on the main land, “opposite to
Black Rock;” and the trade spoken of is expected to center there, because
of the “ secure harbor *	*	* between this rock and the shore.”
Black Rock is one of the three harbors on the southern side of the lake,
known to the President. In this connection, it may not be amiss to ‘refer
to Geddes’ report of a survey for a canal between Lakes Erie and Ontario,
made in 1809. He speaks of the “exceedingly safe and excellent harbor
formed by Bird Island and the reef;” and of the “ upper and lower store-
houses at Black Rock;” the former of which, a stone building sixty-four by
forty-four feet, built in 1808, he distinctly locates on the north-east corner
of Bird Island. He further says:
“ There is no place on the main shore where a wharf can be built, so that a vessel can
lay her side to and load.”
This would seem to fix the “harbor” of Black Rock at the island. It is,
undoubtedly, true, that since the first settlement of the shores of the river
by the whites, the name of Black Rock has been uniformly applied to the
main land and not to the island.
2. COMMUNICATED TO THE SOCIETY, BY COL. WM. A. BIRD, APRIL 3, 1863.
“Black Rock,” I assume, took its name from the ferrying-place, and I
offer the following reasons and concurring circumstances for this belief.I 12
ADDENDA.
The ferry at this place seems to have been used from the very earliest settle-
ment of the country, and it was the only place to cross the Niagara river
above the Falls. The landing on the United States shore was at the base of
the broad surface of a black, corniferous limestone rock, extending along the
shore some two or three hundred feet, and having a width of from fifty to
eighty feet—its lower end extending from the shore, nearly at right angles,
some three or four feet above the water; making an eddy below, and a con-
venient place for ferry boats to load and unload. This rock was a celebrated
fishing place, where it was not unusual to find forty or fifty Indians at a time,
fishing. The point was known as the lower reef or rapids, the upper reef
•being opposite to where Fort Porter now is.
This ferry was occupied and run by persons on the Canada shore previous,
to 1804; after which time it was leased by this State for several years; and
in all the leases it was provided that the Indians should pass free, as had
been agreed in the treaty with them.
Mr. Van Rensselaer, long in the Engineer and Surveyor’s office, Albany,
and who is more familiar with the papers and records in that office than any
other person there, writes to me as follows:
“ On the original map of the lands laid out along the Niagara river, made by Joseph An-
nin in 1803, there is vacant ground on the river, say five hundred and forty acres; marked
thereon, was a ‘ house ’ and a ‘ rock ’ on the shore, and written in black ink, in small letters,
1 Black Rock,’ indicating, to my mind, that there was a rock at that place.
“ I have examined the proposed plan for a village at Black Rock, directed by the Legis-
lature, by the act passed April nth, 1804, and now in the Surveyor General’s office. At
the foot of Hampshire street, on the shore of the lake, is written in small figures, ‘ Black
Rock.’ I find no indications, except what is designated on the map in the public offices,
and nothing on the minutes of the land office.”
I have looked into Spafford’s and Gordon’s Gazetteers, and I find nothing
in relation to the origin of the name; but have found the following in French’s
Gazetteer, published in i860 :
“ Black Rock receives its name from the color of the rock which crops out at the ferry
landing.”
Doctor Cooper, a very intelligent and scientific traveler, in his journal of
a visit to Niagara, in 1809, goes from Landon’s, in Buffalo, “three miles to
Miller’s ferry, along the banks of Lake Erie.” He says:
“ The ride along the Niagara is beautiful; the country, well settled. In fact, it may be
regarded as a continued village from the ferry, opposite Black Rock, for thirty-three or
.thirty-four miles, down to Newark.”
We know that in all new settlements, towns and villages get a name from
some trifle which marks the locality; as the “big tree,” “cold spring,”
“horse-heads,” “ cross-roads,” &c.; so it is reasonable to believe,—indeed,
the conviction is almost irresistible,—that the village of Black Rock derived
its name from the black rock at the ferrying-place.