WESTERN / CENTRAL New York timeline / 1750-1754

1750
February
A party of French and Indians, including Ottawa chief Pontiac, capture five English traders led by John Patton, agent to George Croghan, en route to Pickawillany, Ohio. With the exception of trader Edgar Bangen who escapes during the night, the prisoners are taken by the French to Fort Niagara.

May 10
English-Iroquois go-between William Johnson writes to New York governor George Clinton, to complain of the French governor, the Marquis de la Joinquière, who is offering rewards for the heads of traders George Croghan and Hugh Lowry.

Jun 18
De la Joinquière receives a letter from Clinton protesting the French presence at the Niagara River portage and demanding its removal.

State
Oswego's garrison threatens to disband over a lack of pay. ** Moravian missionaries arrive in the future Skaneateles area.


1751
Jun 15
Abbé François Piquet leaves northern New York's Fort Présentation (Oswegatchie) for Toronto, from there heading for the western end of Lake Ontario, seeking Indian converts.

Jun 27
Piquet arrives at Niagara.

Jul 6
Piquet leaves Niagara to return to Fort Présentation.

Jul 12
Piquet visits the falls of the Genesee River.

Jul 14
Piquet reaches Sodus Bay. He will recommend building a fort at the spot.

Jul 21
Piquet writes from Fort Présentation to French governor the Marquis de la Jonquière in Montréal, describing his recent mission to the Iroquois.

State
Swedish scientist Peter Kalm's Travels into North America is translated into English, bringing a new interest in Niagara Falls. ** Indian agent Sir William Johnson buys land surrounding Onondaga Lake from the local tribe for $15,000.


1752
Jan 1
Great Britain and the colonies officially adopt the Gregorian calendar, making January and February the beginning months of the year, rather than the final months.

Feb 21
Businessman Nathaniel Rochester is born in Westmoreland County, Virginia.

Apr 8
Diplomat and New York State landowner William Bingham is born to William and Mary Stamper Bingham in Philadelphia.

State
Seneca chief Otetiena (Red Jacket) is born in the Cayuga village of Canoga.

New Hampshire
Syracuse co-founder Ephraim Webster is born in Hampstead.


1753
October
George Clinton is replaced as Royal Governor of New York, by Sir Danvers Osborne.


The French build a wagon road across the southern tier, along the future path of Route 17. ** The maximum amount of land permitted in an individual's grant is reduced from 2000 acres to 1000.


1754

October
The marquis du Duquesne meets in Québec with an Iroquois delegation from Onondaga, come to repair relations with the French.

State
Future governor Lewis Morgan is born to Francis York Morgan and his wife Elizabeth Annesly Morgan. ** The Seneca Indians abandon the Townley-Read settlement, southwest of the future Geneva.

Pennsylvania
Surveyor Andrew Ellicott, brother of land agent Joseph Ellicott, is born to a Quaker family in Bucks County.


© 2009 David Minor / Eagles Byte