Cemetery Hopping
There are no horse races today down at the fairgrounds by the
Genesee. And there is no dance this week on the second floor of
Murphy's Tavern. Up the hillside along Jay Street, the millstones
and condensers of Charles Scholl's gristmill and distillery will
go untended. The front door of Alexander McDonald's store won't
swing open at the hand of a customer. Diagonally across the square
from Murphy's, the tap room of the Starr Tavern is silent. Silence
rules the church, the school, the blacksmith shop. The cemetery
300 paces up the hillside is deserted, except for a small work
crew repairing a gravestone. On the other side of Abel Road a
herd of dairy cattle quietly graze.
The cows and the work crew are real. The rest exists solely in
old archives and ledgers. The only recent evidence found on the
site is a few cut nails, brass buttons, horseshoes, shards of
glass. Even the square on Williams Street has vanished. Where
it once stood, automobiles swoosh through on Route 36, headed
toward and away from Geneseo, three miles to the north. Here stood
Williamsburgh, New York. Once.
About thirty miles to the North in another, much larger cemetery,
Rochester's Mount Hope, rests the mortal remains of one of the
city's founders, Nathaniel Rochester himself. But back here in
Williamsburgh, his two co-founders, Major Charles Carroll and
Colonel William Fitzhugh rest in their quiet plots. One man brought
Rochester, Carroll and Fitzhugh to the Genesee Valley. Williamsburgh
owed its existence to one man. The New York State towns and cities
of Sodus, Geneva, Bath, Caledonia and Lyons also owed their presence
to one man. Charles Williamson. He rests beneath the waves of
the Atlantic.
A Feather in His Cap
It was in 1781 that Captain Charles Williamson, dissatisfied veteran
of Britain's Twenty-Fifth Regiment, first crossed the Atlantic,
with letters of introduction to Lord Cornwallis in his luggage.
He received a warm welcome, not from Cornwallis, but from the
U. S. vessel Marquis of Salem; the former captain found himself
a prisoner of war for the duration. Being a gentleman and a non-combatant,
having sold his army commission, he was sent not to an American
prison, but to the much more pleasant confines of the Ebenezer
Newell home in Roxbury, Massachusetts. When he returned to Britain
at war's end, he was not alone. Accompanying him was the new Mrs.
Williamson, the former Abigail Newell. The new bridegroom had
found a wife and a homeland. He would return.
On January 9th, 1792, when Charles Williamson stepped out of a
Philadelphia courtroom into the brisk winter air, he was a new
American citizen and about to become a landowner, proprietor of
one of the largest pieces of property in the world, totaling close
to 1,000,000 acres. (The two roles are not unrelated.) He had
not been idle in the intervening nine years. Williamson's father
Alexander served as a factor for the Earl of Hopetoun. Today we'd
call the position a foreman or overseer. As a Robertson, his mother
had many family connections including Sir William Pulteney and
future Cabinet member Henry Dundas, Lord Melville. Charles and
Abigail were soon settled on a Hopetoun estate at Balgray. He
entered into politics and agricultural experimentation. And he
was bored; too much energy in too small a space. He set off for
London, seeking government service, through his family connections.
He was soon off on a journey, first to Marseilles, then to the
Balkans, where he gathered information on Russia and Turkey. Returning
to London he waited in vain for further government employment,
finally returning to Balgray, where he continued with his agricultural
pursuits and won the local Clackmannanshire election. And the
energy began building up again.
It was a legal restriction back in the former American colonies
that provided the outlet. Aliens could not own property in the
U. S. The Federalists, wishing to strengthen ties with the Mother
Country, were striving for repeal of the laws, but Thomas Jefferson's
republican adherents, distrusting the British, were adamantly
opposed. So when Williamson's relative Sir William Pulteney, reputedly
the wealthiest man in Britain, decided to invest in American real
estate, he had to create a loophole. There was only one way. Someone
in his employ must become a
U. S. citizen, settle on the new lands, assume ownership and run
the enterprise. By the time he had purchased a million acres in
western New York State, he and his associates had been casting
about for such an employee. When Williamson came under consideration
he had much to recommend him. Family connections counted heavily,
even in the New World. He was familiar with government circles,
knew the world outside of Scotland and London, grew up in a family
that was familiar with the problems of running property, had worked
with the most advanced farming techniques and was bursting with
ideas. And, he was willing to live in foreign lands. (Abigail
of course would be happy to return to her own country).
Details were worked out and the contract was signed in London
on April 26th, 1791. Plans moved swiftly ahead. Williamson, Sir
William, and the other two principals, former governor of Bombay
William Hornby and promoter Patrick Colquhoun, bustled about London,
laying the groundwork. The Pulteney lands were isolated from the
population centers of New York, Baltimore and Philadelphia. It
would be necessary to build roads before a critical number of
settlers could be induced to purchase the new lands; roads for
entry and roads for getting agricultural products back out of
the frontier. Colquhoun engaged a German nobleman, the Baron De
Damar to provide the muscle power by way of the residents of his
duchy. De Damar turned the whole project over to his assistant,
Wilhelm von Moll de Berczy. Unplanned consequences would arise
from this arrangement.
Are We There, Yet?
Getting settlers to the new lands was a problem to be solved once
the new Agent was in place. Getting him there was difficult enough.
A ship, the bark Robinson, was hired to move the Captain, Abigail
and recent additions, Christy, Alexander and baby Anny, to their
new home. It arrived at Annan, on Scotland's Solway Firth, on
the first of July. It took a week to get everything, including
furniture, clothing, frontier supplies and 100 guns, stowed away
and the family on board. Because of insurance considerations (even
then) gunpowder was not part of the cargo. Then there was a wait
of four days for favorable wind conditions. Which arose and then
quickly deteriorated. It was August 4th before the Robinson could
make enough headway to make it out of Solway Firth, only for the
crew to then discover a leak. The problem worsened and on the
7th the ship was forced to lay over for repairs on the Isle of
Man. It was an extremely stormy Atlantic Ocean that finally greeted
the Williamsons. The voyage dragged out. Supplies began running
low. The children became sickly and listless, and tempers probably
began mimicking the tumult around them. When the ship finally
arrived at the Virginia Capes near Norfolk, Williamson decided
they had all had enough. Rather than continuing on to his destination
at Philadelphia, he had the ship anchor where it was and he moved
his family ashore. The ocean span that the Concorde crosses in
a few hours today had taken 17 weeks. Virginia must have looked
like paradise.
The family moved up to Baltimore that winter. By Christmas Williamson
had been to Philadelphia and begun networking with businessmen,
speculators and family connections. And then, on the ninth day
of the new year - citizen Williamson. The job awaited.
There are particular qualities necessary to become good in sales.
Among them are high levels of energy, vast enthusiasm about the
product, imagination, and the ability to track multiple simultaneous
activities. The new citizen had these qualities in abundance and
an almost blank canvas to paint on. At this time there were only
900 whites scattered across the state to the west of Seneca Lake.
Tiny pockets of settlers, most from New England, barely maintained
toeholds is the future Geneva, Pittsford, Canandaigua, Bloomfield,
Hector and Honeoye Falls. Jemima Wilkinson, The Public Universal
Friend had founded a religious community at New Jerusalem, partway
down Seneca Lake from Geneva. One lonely tavern at Lewiston was
all that represented civilization over on the Niagara frontier.
This nearly blank canvas represented fertile opportunities to
the Pulteney agent and he lost no time in making the most of them.
1792 was to be very busy. Williamson seemed to be everywhere at
once; a familiar, dashing (in both senses) sight all over York
state; a tall, slender figure usually dressed in lace cuffs, knee
breeches, buckled shoes, and a powdered wig, and displaying the
manners of a courtier. He was an accomplished horseman and duelist,
although I've found no evidence for the latter claim. It may have
stemmed from his days in the military.
In January, even as he was becoming a citizen, two of his new
aides, Charles Cameron and John Johnstone, fellow Scots, were
headed out of Baltimore for the region around Carlisle, Pennsylvania,
with a wagon train loaded with the raw materials of frontier empire.
Williamson met with Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton
before leaving Philadelphia. He also met with British Ambassador
Hammond and Captain Charles Stevenson, a representative of Canadian
Lieutenant Governor John Graves Simcoe, to discuss the international
implications of his plans for the Pulteney properties. This was
vital. It was important to maintain cordial relations with Britain
and at the same time avoid throwing a scare into the skittish
and prickly neighbors to the north of Lake Ontario. Then it was
off to central New York for a brief inspection. Then back to Philadelphia
to call on Robert Morris, and vice president John Adams' son-in-law
William S. Smith. On April 11th Williamson officially took title
to the Pulteney lands. In spite of a murky business outlook he
began planning a series of innovations and improvements concerning
markets, harbors, roads and the mails. In June he moved his family
up to Baltimore, so as to have them closer to the New York projects.
Leaving Abigail and the children there he plunged up into New
York again, exploring the area around Big Tree (today's Geneseo)
and settling on a spot three miles to the south of the small settlement
for his wilderness capital, which he decided to name Williamsburgh,
not for himself but for his employer Sir William.
In August he lit out for the state capital in Albany. While passing
to the south of Keuka Lake he was ambushed by an unrecognized
and unsuspected enemy, the common mosquito. The pioneers of the
area were well acquainted with the result - Genesee Fever. A malaria-like
disease, it seemed to strike blindly, making the victim feel weak
and depressed for weeks at a time. Then it would clear as mysteriously
as it had arrived, only to return again the following Spring.
And each Spring after that. There was no remedy; you just had
to suffer through it and try to forget that it would come again.
It struck while he was near today's village of Savona and he was
taken in by the John Dolson family of Mud Creek until he had recuperated
enough to continue his journey.
While their chief attempted to be in three or four places simultaneously
Cameron and Johnstone moved the supplies up to Williamsburgh and
hired impoverished locals to begin building their headquarters.
Johnstone built a barn at Williamsburgh and then moved a house
being built nearby for Williamson next to the barn. The British
upper classes liked their creature comforts and the Captain was
no exception; the house was noted for having a luxurious feature
- a brick chimney. It would be known as the Hermitage Farm. Nathaniel
Fowler arrived and invested $275 in building the Starr Tavern.
The carpenters began clamoring for pay and their employer returned
from Albany before things got out of control, to pay the overdue
wages. Like a young executive suddenly on an expense account,
Williamson spent unstintingly on all of his schemes. It had not
yet become axiomatic that you had to spend money to make money,
but he instinctively understood the concept. An infrastructure
for a village requires continuous financial nourishment and many
Williamson account books reside in area archives and libraries
today, detailing these expenditures. Horses and livestock continued
arriving throughout the Summer and Fall. As did the bills.
The winter of 1792-1793, like other winters, was a time to review
accomplishments and plan for the coming year. Wiliamsburgh was
growing. Fifty-two lots had been sold and Hermitage Farm now consisted
of the house and barn, as well as a storehouse and a stable (with
eight residents), the whole flanked by a peach orchard and supporting
60 cows, 100 each of oxen and swine. The most valuable commodity
was the settler, with skills and talents necessary to a frontier
economy. Most of them would have few tangible assets and Williamson
knew they would have to be subsidized for a number of years before
he could expect a return on his investment. So fresh capital would
also be required. And the Pulteney Association would not be the
sole player in the game. In the coming year Robert Morris would
complete the sale of 3,600,000 acres of land west of the Genesee
t$êile Cazenove, agent for the Holland Land Company, a new
consortium of Amsterdam banking houses. New York capitalist Herman
Le Roy and his associates William Bayard and John McEvers would
purchase 85,000 acres of land from Morris to be known as the Triangle
Tract. It was time for another of Williamson's talents to come
to the fore; that of the promoter. And our man was equal to the
task.
P. T. Barnum, Watch and Learn
Williamson knew that if he wanted to attract large amounts of
capital he'd have to create the impression that buyers would receive
good value for their investment. Wealth attracts wealth, prosperity
attracts prosperity. Williamsburgh and Geneva would be key sites
in the effort but Captain Williamson inherently felt that nothing
succeeds like excess. If two population centers were good, double
the number would be even better. Maybe more. He'd come across
one place he found particularly attractive, the wide, flat valley
floor of the Conhocton River. He decided to build a city here
that would appeal to the upscale crowd, a wilderness estate fit
for a country gentlemen, providing every luxury persons of refinement
and taste could desire, a frontier utopia. He would name it for
Sir William's daughter Henrietta, the Countess of Bath. She would
later lend her first name to a town south of Rochester.
Other locations appealed as well. Williamson had visions of a
great trade route stretching to the north and across Lake Ontario,
linking the forests of Canada to the incipient granaries and mills
of an Anglo-New York. He chose a site to be named Sodus as the
main south shore port. West of Bath he planned another outpost,
one day to be named by others as Corning. Still another site,
at the juncture of Ganargwa Creek and Canandaigua Outlet, reminded
him of the confluence of Europe's Rhone and Saone rivers, and
he decided to name a settlement there Lyons, after its French
counterpart. The Agent was designing central New York. He dreamed,
and the sheer number of his dreams insured that many would indeed
come true. But others would not, and the next few years would
see settlements rise while others fell. Many obstacles awaited.
Canada did not share his vision. Rivals such as the Holland Land
Company and the Triangle Tract to the west and Judge William Cooper's
to the southeast would compete for settlers. The tribes of the
Iroquois were now regretting the loss of their lands to the white
speculators. And civil strife approached from the south.
To be continued...
At this point I would like to thank the following people for
their aid in the writing of this article. John Topham, for the
extended loan of the Cowan book. Wayne Mahood, for arranging a
visit to Williamsburgh. And especially Groveland Historian Lawrence
R. Turner for guiding our small party through the cemetery. He
also heads up the work crew restoring the graveyard. Larry provided
valuable insight into the Williamson-Berczy blow-up. More of that
next time.
If you're interested in happenings at the other end of the
state, this Newsday site
could keep you occupied for hours. From the terminal moraine that
gave birth to the island to the most recent adventures of the
Long Island Rail Road's dashing commuter, this site presents dozens
of articles from the newspaper's correspondents.
One bit of advice. The main page is loaded with graphics and can
often take quite a while to load. If once you've reached it, you
decide to spend several visits on one particular section, click
on it. After you reach the list of articles there, bookmark the
section, rather than the main page. It loads much faster.
We'll look at events happening in Europe in 1792, as Williamson
is beginning to populate the Finger Lakes region.
Jan 11
Thomas Jefferson's report on Spanish negotiations is submitted
to the U. S. Senate.
Jan 12
Thomas Pinckney is named as the first U. S. Minister to Great
Britain.
Jan 15
Jefferson decides to retire at the end of President Washington's
first term.
Feb 7
Domenico Cimarosa's opera The Secret Marriage premieres at Vienna's
Burgtheater.
Feb 23
English painter Sir Joshua Reynolds dies.
Mar 3
Scottish architect Robert Adam dies.
Mar 5
British ambassador George Hammond presents Britain's position
on peace treaty terms to Washington.
Mar 10
The U. S. House of Representatives adopts resolutions in regard
to the new constitution in France.
Mar 29
King Gustav III of Sweden is assassinated at a masquerade. His
death is the inspiration for Verdi's A Masked Ball .
Apr 20
France, in need of a war to stimulate her collapsed economy, declares
one on Austria.
Apr 29
Three French columns invade the Austrian Netherlands, panic under
fire, and retreat.
May
France declares war on Sardinia.
July
Louis XVI names Charles Xavier Joseph d'Abancourt as his minister
of war.
Jul 18
U. S. naval hero John Paul Jones dies in Paris.
Jul 30
La Marseillaise is first sung, in Paris.
August
The French launch a drive against the Austrians in Dutch territory.
Aug 4
Catholic churchman Edward Irving is born in Annan, Scotland.
Aug 10
D'Abancourt organizes the defense of the Tuileries. Refusing the
command by the Legislative Assembly to send away the The Cent
Suisse (French Royal Household Guards), he is arrested for treason
to the nation and sent to Orleans for trial. The Guards, are murdered
by revolutionary mobs as the monarchy is overthrown. At the end
of the month the Assembly orders that the prisoners at Orleans
be transferred to Paris escorted by Claude Fournier.
Sep 2
Paris mobs lead by Maillard begin massacring political prisoners
housed in the Abbaye Prison and other jails. Former French foreign
minister Armand-Marc, Comte de Montmorin-Saint-Hérem is
among the victims.
Sep 5
The Abbaye killings stop after 164 prisoners have been killed.
Sep 6
Other Parisian killings stop.
Sep 8
Abancourt and other prisoners are murdered by a mob at Versailles.
Fournier is unjustly charged with complicity.
Sep 15
France declares war against Sardinia.
Sep 20
Frederick of Brunswick, invading France, clashes with 36,000 raw
recruits at Valmy, declares the French position as impregnable,
and retreats.
Sep 22
This date is declared year 1 of France's revolutionary calendar.
The royal family is imprisoned and all royal and ecclesiastical
property is expropriated. The National Convention declares France
to be a republic.
Sep 27
Illustrator George Cruikshank is born in London.
Nov 6
The French commander Dumouriez defeats the Austrians at Jemappes,
Belgium.
Nov 19
The National Convention declares its intention to aid other subjected
peoples.
Dec 10
The French war government turns its functions over to the Committee
of Public Safety and General Security.
Dec 26
Mathematician Charles Babbage is born in Totnes, Devonshire, England.