1798
March
The survey of the Holland Land Company's new territory is begun by Joseph Ellicott and his crew (including his brother Benjamin, Amzi Atwater, George Burgess, Ebenezer Carey, George Eggleston, Augustus Porter, Warnham Shepard, John Smedley, Richard M. Stoddard and John Thompson.) They will clear a path four rods wide from the Pennsylvania border to Lake Ontario - the Transit Line.
Mar 9
The Schuyler County town of Catharine, including the inlet of Seneca Lake, is formed from the Chemung County town of Newtown (later Elmira), New York. ** The Onondaga County Town of Fabius is formed from the Town of Pompey.
Mar 30
New state regulations go into effect for those producing salt in the Onondaga Lake region, regulating leases, rents, production levels, quantities, and packaging. They call for the establishment of a village at Salt Point at the eastern end of the lake.
Apr 2
The New York Assembly, bribed by Theophile Cazenove of the Holland Land Company, passes the Alien Land Holding Act, permitting foreigners to own land in the state. From Cazenove the State Attorney receives $3,000, Thomas Morris $1,000 and Aaron Burr $5,500.
Apr 5
The Niagara Canal Company is organized, for the purpose of connecting Great Lakes Ontario and Erie. Nothing is ever done.
Apr 6
The State Legislature calls for the surveying of a mile-long reservation along the Niagara River to be set aside for the Alleghany Indians.
May
French cartographers Haudeceour de Jaumeville and Alexandre Autrechy, sent by Theophile Cazenove from Philadelphia, join Joseph Ellicott's surveying party. ** John Beddoe, his wife Catherine, and his cousin David Morse arrive in New York City from England, set out for the Finger Lakes region.
May 10
Surveyor Joseph Ellicott receives his official instructions from Theophile Cazenove.
June
The Beddoes and Morse arrive at Keuka Lake to settle.
Jun 14
Benjamin Ellicott is sworn in as surveyor for the Holland Purchase.
July
Eli Granger sells the schooner Jemima to Augustus Porter of Lewiston. ** Surveyor Seth Pease joins Joseph Ellicott's team.
Jul 30
Asa Willey Gifford, an early settler of the Genesee Valley, is born in Bennington, Vermont, to Gideon and Betsy Willey Gifford.
October
French emigre the Count de Colbert Maulevrier, touring western New York with a large party of men and women, stops at Canawaugus then Ganson's Settlement (Le Roy) where they are entertained.
Oct 6
Colbert Maulevrier, traveling on horseback from Canandaigua by way of Perinton, arrives at Allan's Mills. He meets the Fishes, finds two families on their way to York (today's Toronto) waiting for schooner to take them across Lake Ontario.
Oct 7
Josiah Fish shows Colbert Maulevrier the falls of the Genesee, who afterwards travels up the river and stays overnight at the farm of Peter Shaeffer near Scottsville.
Nov 5
Joseph Ellicott instructs Pease on surveying the Niagara River.
Nov 6
Ellicott instructs Pease on laying out New York's reserved lands along the Niagara and making a map of the lands, and calculating the contents of the water in Chautauqua Lake for Robert Morris.
Dec 12
New York land proprietors' representative James Rees writes to Holland Land Company surveyor Seth Pease, requesting a corrected traverse survey of the Genesee River affecting his clients, who had purchased land from Robert Morris, including properties for Watson-Craigie & Greenleaf, Andrew Craigie, Samuel Ogden, Garrett Cotringer, Alexander Hamilton, Samuel Sterett, Thomas Morris, Jones and Smith, and LeRoy, Bayard and McEvers (the Triangle Tract).
Dec 26
Land agent James Rees writes to Seth Pease requesting corrections to the eastern boundary line.
State
Eli Granger lays the keel for the 30-ton Jemima at the mouth of the Genesee River, the first schooner built in the U. S. ** The first printing press in Cayuga County. ** Ephraim Webster is elected Justice of the Peace and Supervisor of the town of Onondaga. ** Joseph Ellicott is hired to perform a survey of the Holland Land Company purchase, aided by his brother Benjamin and a 130-man crew. ** The approximate year pioneer William Johnston marries a Seneca Indian and is given two square miles of land at the mouth of Buffalo Creek. He is the first title holder of the Holland Land Company. He erects a sawmill and four other buildings. ** Martha Hultz, aged 4, is brought to the Hector area from Enfield, Connecticut, by her parents. ** Philadelphia businessman James Brisbane opens a storehouse in Stafford. ** Connewango pioneer James Battles is born in Vermont. ** Elisha Alvord, Ebenezer Butler, Asa Danforth, Thomas Hart, Daniel Keeler, Hezekiah Olcott and Jedediah Sanger organize the Federal Company to manufacture salt on the shores of Lake Onondaga. ** Indians in the Mile Strip along the Niagara River grant Horatio Jones and Jasper Parrish two square miles of land north of Scajaquada Creek, near the northern city limit of today's Buffalo. ** General Timothy Hopkins settles at the future site of Alden. ** Tobias Newcomb builds a windmill at Williamsburgh, at a cost of $20. ** Vincent Matthews becomes the first politician from the Steuben County area to be elected to the state senate. Charles Williamson is elected a representative. ** The state legislature declares Keuka, Lamoka, and Waneta lakes; the Canisteo and Conhocton rivers; as well as Mead and Mud Creeks, to be public highways. ** Using lottery revenues, the state launches a road-building period with a bridge over the Conhocton River at Cameron Street in Bath as well as a road from there to Hornell. ** Circulation of Lucius Carey's Geneva Gazette and Genesee Advertiser, now published in Canandaigua, is reportedly close to 1,000. ** Williamson has spent $7,700 on Ontario County roads to date. His Description of the Genesee Country is published in Albany. ** Geneva's Presbyterian church is established. ** James and Robert Cravarth, John Gillett, and Elijah Mason settle the future Cortland County town of Preble. ** Henry Everts settles the Scriba area of Oswego County. ** Batavia has three recorded inhabitants - Joseph Ellicott and his brother Benjamin, and James Brisbane. ** Freegift Patchin settles in the town of Blenheim and builds a mill on West Kill. ** Quakers in southwestern New York begin teaching the Senecas the use of the plow and animal husbandry. ** The Western Inland Lock Navigation Company pays its first dividend - 3%. The directors report the cost of transportation between Albany and Geneva has dropped from $100 per ton to $32, and the cost to Niagara Falls from Albany to be cut in half. ** The legislature votes to extend the Main Genesee Road from the Genesee River to the western end of the state. ** Amherst Humphrey is elected Pathmaster of his road district in Lima. ** 1795 English immigrant Thomas Billinghurst arrives in Northfield (later Pittsford).
Bath
The First Baptist Church is organized.
Rochesterville
The wife of Josiah Fish dies at Allan's Mills. Their daughter Sophia marries Frederic Hosmer.
(c) 2010 David Minor / Eagles Byte
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