TRANSACTIONS
OF THE
N.Y. STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY
WITH AN
ABSTRACT OF THE PROCEEDINGS
OF THE
COUNTY AGRICULTURAL SOCIETIES
___________
Vol. X.- 1850

ALBANY
Charles Van Benthuysen, Printer To The Legislature,
407 Broadway

1851

MR. DELAFIELD'S SURVEY OF SENECA COUNTY.

Every step taken by the New-York State Agricultural Society indicatesprogress. At no time, and under no circumstances, as far as we are informed,has an association formed for purposes so beneficent and so useful, in so short a time, not only enlisted the confidence of the farming public,but so richly deserved it. Commencing its operations in 1832, and struggling in its embryo state through difficulties and embarrassments that wouldhave wrecked less perservering men, it has, by its tact and adjustments to the wants of a community like ours, slowly but steadily advanced tobe now its favorite institution. And how could it have been otherwise, for its success, as all felt, was to be the signal for the prosperity of the State. It is fortunate that its interests were confided to men whoappreciated the true condition of Agriculture at its formation, and whohave had the talent, indus-try and perseverance that have promoted its advancement.To form some opinion of its improvement under the fostering care of theSociety, compare the rude and imperfect farm implements of 1830, to the modelones of 1850. From the first, you infer how the work was done in their timewith them. - From the latter, how the work can and will be done now. Andlikewise compare the products from the worn out -land at that time to thoseof the same land now, where it has been under the direction of an intelligentagriculturist.

This last remark is strikingly exemplified in the survey of the county of Seneca, by Mr. Delafield, where the historical information upon this point has been most satisfactorily collected. For instance, in 1840, from ten to fourteen bushels of wheat were, upon the average, raised on the acre in that county, and so proportionately of the other grains. In 1850, the average of wheat per acre was twenty bushels, and not considered as at all unusual, and so proportionatelyarc the other grains increased. In our immediate vicinities, which arepeculiarly favorable to make correct observations upon the farming productsof surrounding localities for the last twenty years, this fact of increasedproduction is incontestibly settled. It has for some time
- past often -been a source of remark, not only by ourselves, but by the most intelligent men, that apparently of many kindsof grain, such as oats and buckwheat, and occasionally rye, nearlyas much is now sown as was formerly raised, and of potatoes and corn, twoof our most-profitable crops the quantity raised is at least doubled. It is true more land is put to their culture, but it is likewise true the product per acre, on the average, is very much augmented.  To what cause but this, can we impute the increased price of land peracre, from twenty up in many instances to one hundred

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dollars, for entire farms of one to two hundred acres. Can we impute it to increased population, creating a greater demand for its products? No; for look at the census of 1850, and you will observe that in the older counties in the State, remote from cities,in the last ten years, the population remains nearly stationary. Itwas the imperfect method of farming, and its scanty returns from animpoverished soil, that created a necessity for an organized and systematic effort on the part of the farming community, to promote that interest. The effort was made. A State Society, to foster Agriculture and thekindred arts, together with collateral aids in the formation of similar societies in almost every county in this State, is the fruit ofit. Indeed short review of its general operations may here not be out of place; but we will not go back to describe the dim twilight thatpreceded its birth, hut trace a few steps that have accompanied itsonward progress.

It had its due share of influence in bringing about the Geological Surveyof the State, the knowledge of which was as important to us at the comniencement of our investigations, as is that of the anatomy of thehuman body to the young physician and surgeon, and so too have been the devel-opments of its treasures as Èapplications to aid inour husbandry, as is the knowledge of-the effect of the many appliances used by the faculty for the cure of the diseases of the body. It isriot our business to speak of it here as a work in its present shape themost useful and commodious, but it certainly will be the entering wedge through whichi the resources of our great State will become more generally known, and for the future be better ap-preciated. It has given confidence to our Legislature, in their willingness to contribute for the benefitof their constituents, towards their funds, and thus aid the Society ingiving rewards for successful industry. It imparted that same glow of confidence to a discerning public, and brought into existence the many county agricultural societies that are now nearly co-exten-sive with its borders. It has created that individual competition at our State Fairs, in the exhibition ofthe most profitable and valuable animals, the best of farm implements,of the mechanic and manufacturing arts, of articles of almost every description, that have already been shown, to the delight of the hundreds of thousands that have attended them. It has carried that same sprit of local improvement down to the county fairs, which in many instances, will now almost viein their exhibitions with that of -the great Annual State Fairs, of whichthey were intended to be, as far as practicable, the copies. it has startedinto existence the many agricultural papers that are now issued by thousandsfrom the presses instituted for that purpose, and as an evidence of ouronward progress, those papers from having been a collection of the wisesayings of our grandfathers upon the-rules


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of rural husbandry, as taken from the almanac,now contain essays and dissertations upon the general and isolated subjects of our art, that would do credit to our most learned andaccomplished professors. Our yearly Transactions too, our Legislaturehave caused to be published, and by their dissemination, and thatof our papers, it has diffused a spirit of inquiry at home always attendantupon, and the sure accompaniment of progress. It has scattered thatspirit abroad, as we see our sister states of Delaware, Maryland, Ohio, Michigan, Georgia, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, and possibly others,following our noble example. The citizens of the last state frankly acknowledged the fact that they were following the example set them bythe New-York State Agricultural Society; that she intended to take ourorganization for a model, and invited several of our members to witnesstheir first exhibition.

The excellence and variety of our fairs, too, has been the theme of many a tongue, the subject of many a newspaper paragraph; and its order of business, from the most important to the most trivial, is as promptly and eagerly published in all the newspapersof the land, as the most important event of the times. It is not givingit undue credit to ascribe at least a portion of the influence thathas produced the World’s Fair at London, the present year, to the great and successful example our Society has given, not to America alone,but likewise to Europe. And, not stopping at outward show as the evidencesonly of its progress, it has caused a critical, useful, and most commendatorysurvey of all that appertains to the earthÕs forma-tion, theknowledge of whi.ch can be made subservient to our agriculture, to becommenced under its auspices, and in two of the counties, viz: Washington and Seneca, to be finished; and, in both cases, they are creditablealike to the Society that instituted and to the gentlemen who conductedthem. These surveys will unquestionably be extended, under the same auspices,to the different counties in the State, and will contain a compendium,produced much cheaper, more practical, and far more useful than the moreelaborate and ornate work of the State Geologist

These are a few of the results that have emanated from the existence of our State Society - but we. have not been barren of more substantial fruit. It is farther manifested in our increased production of all that constitutes a nation’s prosperity; and the coming census if it does not in all the coun-ties in the State show that in the last few years we have produced more than formerly, it will at least satisfy the most incredulous, that in those counties where the spirit of improvement has been most rife, the increasedproductions of the soil are most apparent.

These remarks are preliminary to the report ofthe committee who were

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appointed by the executive officers of the Society upon Mr. Delafield's survey of the county of Seneca. The manuscript having been submitted to them, they have given it that careful perusal to which it is certainly entitled. It is an elaborate historical, geographical, geological and agricultural survey of the countyÑits chapters treating, in their subdivisions, on the different subjects that necessarily grow out of the branches of these import-ant general heads. Under the first head, the general history and settlement of the State of New-York is given: The extension of the settlements to the county of Seneca: The history of the native race it found there:

Their connection with the other tribes of Indians, under the general terms of the Iroquois nation: The wars ofthe early settlers with them, and their ultimate expulsion fromthat part of our State, after their signal defeat by General Sullivan: The progress, subsequently, of the settlers: Their alternate success and suffering, until the whole county was finally occupied.
The historical part relates many interesting incidents that occasionally occurred during these unsettled times and border troubles, and brings to light many new facts to the reader, that without these reminiscences would have soon passed into oblivion.While the collection of the incidents related gives interest to thework, yet in our minds it is questionable whe-ther, for a historicalsurvey of the not large county of Seneca, it is desira-ble to enterinto the particulars of a general history of the State, remote from the county of which the sketch is to be given, but only so far as ithas a direct and immediate influence on the locality of the county selected. It is true, the early settlement of the State led slowly on to the settlement of the county of Seneea; but, if we go back to all these contingent and remote events, in distant parts, although it may be in the same State, it gives an unnecessary fulness to a narrative, when treatingof an area of only a few miles square, and which would be better adaptedto the more extended history of the State. We have yet more than fiftycounties to be surveyed. If, in the survey of the historical part, we areto have in each the same elaborateness, it gives too much volume to whatneeds no repetition, and is best disposed of by confining their survey asmuch as possible to the events that have transpired in their immediate borders.For ourselves, however, we do not complain of the course taken by the surveyor. We only speak of it as rendering such a work too voluminous. In all probability, we are to have many more of these surveys, of other counties in the State, when, with the same appropriateness, this example may be followed byothers who are not so competent to give them.

In no part of this survey, however, were we more interested than in the historical record of the events that gave rise to and attended the expedition
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of General Sullivan, in 1799, to chastise the hostile Indians in the western portion of our State, and the narrative describing that campaign has a clearness and fullness not only very desirable, but necessary to a full understanding of it. In these particulars, it is the most satisfactory account of that expedition we have ever seen any where, and we give its author due credit for the care andpains with which he has gathered his materials, and the satisfactorymanner in which he has disposed of them, That portion in which he givesus a view of the State of agriculture among the Indians, and the articlesthey cultivated at that time, is exceedingly interesting, and if specimensof their various productions, as far as practicable, could now be procured and compared with those grown by the white man, it would be the cause of some reflection. We think we did not misunderstand the author where hesays: “ some portions of their orchards are still in existence. yet bearingtheir products.” Could the Society have a sample, at one of our exhibitions,of an Indian apple, grown on a tree probably planted before the groundwas trod by the foot of the white man, it would so far be demonstrativeproof that our natives were not unapprized of the advantages leading tomodern civilization.

Its next division is into political and physical geography. Under these heads the proper subjects are arrangedand treated in a most satisfactory manner. All that can be said,or ought to be said, is done after the most careful examination;indeed, great pains and unwearied industry must have been used to gatherthe facts that throw light on these subjects. But it is in its geological department where, apparently, the most pains have been taken to give a full and perfect sketch of the natural structure of the county. If there is a defect in the want of information imparted to the reader,by the bad arrangement of the different subjects treated of in the Geology of the State, it is that in surveying localities they did not give all the in-formation necessary to a correct understanding of the town orcounty upon which such information was sought. For the different subjectsoccupying near the same ground, you are obliged to grope your way throughseveral volumes and many pages before you ever can find what you seekfor. But in the survey of the county of Seneca you have the different subjects entering into its formation, so clearly and comprehensivelyarranged and elucidated, that it cannot be misunderstood. Throwingaside its theories of the causes of drifts that have operated to makespecial deposits of the different subjects that enter into its peculiarformation, which are certainly plausible, but in their very nature speculativeand uncertain yet the particularity with which its geological survey hasbeen made the care taken to gather facts, and facts only the industry andperseverance which such a collection would require,

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and the collection of the materials thus gathered -entitle the gentlemen who have been engaged in this work to great credit for their intelligence and zeal.

Its agricultural department comes next. This, as most appropriate to the subject of this report, we will not enter into. The work which follows will best satisfy the reader thatno effort has been wanting to make it full and interesting, and asits improvement is the basis upon which rests the usefulness or reputation of this Society, to give it full effect, we had better let the authors speak for themselves. We will not, however, conclude this report ofthe survey of Seneca county without observing that, as it is one of thefruits which have been produced by the formation of the New-York StateAgricultural Society, if we progress no farther in accomplishing the objects of our organization, it will be a lasting monument of the benefits it has conferred by this investigation. It affords, too, a prospectiveview of what this community have to hope from its efforts in future,should those efforts be continued. We trust no reader having undertakento look into this survey, will, on account of its length, be deterredfrom its entire perusal, He will find in it information varied, agreeable, and instructive; and if, in some of its reasoning and relation of events, he may find what was before in part familiar to him, yet there is a clearness and freshness in both these respects, that will leave none but the most pleasant recollections behind them.

J. P. BEEKMAN,
E. P. PRENTICE,
                 Committee.
February, 1851.                            


++++++++++++++++++

A GENERAL VIEW AND AGRICULTURAL SURVEY OF THE
COUNTY OF SENECA.
Taken under the direction of the New-York State Agricultural Society,
BY JOHN DELAFIELD.
[Copy right secured by the Author in the Clerk’s office of the Northern District of New-York,
A. D. 1851.]
"That which hath been is now; and that which is to be, hath already been."
++++++++++++++++++

In accordance with the wishes of the New-York State Agricultural Society, as expressed in a communication from their esteemed Secretary, B. P. Johnson, Esq.; this work was undertaken in April last, and every portion of time not required by the care and practical management of a large farm, has been devoted to a search for correct information, relative to the various objects named in the instructions of the Society.* Every town-lot in the county, surveyed under the authority of the State, has been visited and examined. The rock formation upon which the soils are based, was traced and examined by an accomplished geologist;**  the limits of the various divisions, were carefully and exactly ascertained and defined; and to the same gentleman, acknowledgments are due, for the chemical examination of the rocks and soils of the county, exhibiting the nature and amount of the several mineral elements or matters contained in them; thereby leading to a knowledge of the best modes of improving and cultivating the soil.

To the analysis of the soils of farms, in the various sections of the county, much importance is attributed; and at this early day benefits are confidently looked for by many, whose farms were first analysed.

The analysis of farms in each town, also offers a foundation for comparison at some future period, by which an improved or deteriorated condition of the soil may be ascertained. With this view, a specimen of the soil of each farm subjected to analysis , has been preserved in glass jars, sealed, and the locality labelled distinctly thereon: these, specimens are deposited in the museum of the State Society, and duplicates are subject to the order of the County Society.

In the agricultural division of this work, every avenue has been carefully sought and examined for the assurance of accuracy: abundant facilities have been afforded for frequent comparison of views and facts; they were frankly and freely tendered by
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    *(See Transactions, vol. 7,page 36.    
    **Dr. Thomas Antisell.

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the farmers, and a kind feeling was uniformly manifested to aid in the production of correct and digested material.

As no correct map of the county exists in any of the State or county offices, it became necessary to procure from the Surveyor-General the field notes of the survey order-ed bythe Legislature for the division of this county as part of the military tract. With these notes and the aid of a careful and correct surveyor, a map has been constructed, on which the hills and valleys arc delineated, the elevation of prominent points is noted and every road is carefully laid down.

Notwithstanding the existence of the college at Geneva, no observations appear to have been recorded, by which to establish its true latitude and longitude; the nearest points hitherto supposed to be known or determined are, Canandaigua and Auburn, as reported by the Regents of the University to the Legislature, and from these points near the western and eastern boundaries of the county, its geographical limits are computed, and do not vary probably very far from the truth.t

The historical sketch, serves to show the advance of civilization from the shores. of the Atlantic ocean, until it penetrated into the thick forests of the lake country, it accounts for the decline of the red men, and traces the foot steps of the white men to their possession and settlement of the county.

The drawings of grasses, fossil remains and other illustrations are from the pencil of a farmer's daughter of the county.

To Judge Tremper of Dresden, and to General Joseph G. Swift, of Geneva, many thanks are due for valuable meteorological and general information; and likewise to the several Vice Presidents and other officers and members of the county Agricultural Society, for useful information and facilities afforded while visiting their respective towns; to my brother farmers also, for their kindness and hospitality.

The survey is now submitted, not as a perfect work, yet as containing facts hitherto unknown to farmers generally; and information of a character and importance, which may greatly improve even the best cultivated farms, by the adoption and use of one or more of the methods indicated.

No pretension is made to offer any new principles, for there are none; the effort is, to make known facts and circumstances which have existed, though unknown or unused, for a long series of ages; which when understood and applied must conduce to thecomfort, happiness and welfare of all; to portray correctly thepast and present condition of the county, that the necessity as wellas the means for improvement may be better considered and understood.

J.    DELAFIELD.
December, 1850.
*    Win. T. Gibson, Esq., of Waterloo, Seneca county.

I Measures are now in progress for a series ofcorrect observations.

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HISTORICAL.

CHAPTER I.

The history of Agriculture, as connected with the county of Seneca, has relation to a period too recent, to present, or admit of, an instructive contrast with the Agriculture of older counties in this State, or other portions of the United States.

The advance of civilization since the year 1609, when the foot of the white man made its first imprint upon thesoil of this State, has been so rapid, with influences so powerfuland at this time contributing benefits so extensive to older nationsof the world, that a condensed view of facts connected with the introduction of moral and social relations, and their progress or development in North America, will aid in understanding the present. and promoting the future condition of this county.
The extinction of the race of red men, the early proprietors of the soil, with its proximate cause, has a bearing of interest upon the agricultural history of the land, nor canit be forgotten that, within the agc of many now living, the smokeof the council fires has risen in graceful wreaths, and fervent adoration has been addressed to the Great Spirit, by the warlike Brave, or the eloquent Sachem of the Seneca Nation.

The existing monuments of Indian agriculture indicate a condition of life above the rude and savage state, a state which contending nations have endeavored to darken by fictions in their history, and presenting a field of inquiry appropriate to this survey.

An eager and ardent appetite for mercantile ascendancy, deeply engaged the speculative minds of commercial men in Europe, about the end of the sixteenth, and beginning of the seventeenth centuries. The bold and daring enterprises of Captain John Smith, in Turkey, from whence he returned to England in 1604, and his expedition with Gosnold to Virginia, and the adventures of Champlain in Canada, effectually stimulated and roused the Dutch nation to appease their appetite for wealth, by reaching the treasures of India, through a route at once short, and free from the t errific tempest of the southern ocean, orthe not less dreaded dangers of the Asiatic seas.

It was fortunate for the Dutch that the jealousies and contentions of the British merchants allowed Hendrick Hudson to retire from their service, after two unsuccessful voyages,in 1606. The Dutch East India Company availed themselves of hisexperience, induced him to enter their service, and nndcr their auspices to explore the northern seas for the desired short route to India.


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In the month of April, 1609, Hudson sailed from Holland in the "CRESCENT," or Half-Moon.  Coasting along the inhospitable ice-bound shores of Greenland, and the high, bold coast of Newfoundland, he touched at Cape Cod, and thence steered for the British Colony established in Vir-ginia: changing his course, he then followed the shores of the American continent until the third day of September, when he entered the mouth of the noble river which bears his name.

Hudson ascended the river as far as Albany, indulging a hope of communication with a northern sea or ocean; the shallow waters above Albany destroyed this hope, compelling him to return to the Atlantic. There is an account of the country along the banks of the Hudson, published in Amsterdam, in 1656. The work was compiled by Yanderdonek, one of the first residents on the island now called New-York. Many curious facts are stated, but as most interesting to the present work, he relates that the country was for manymiles covered with grape vines yielding much fruit; so abundant, that at an early date of the colony, wine was made, and became an article of export to holland. Other productions are named by him, but in some instances they must have been introduced from Europe, such as apricots and melons. Indian corn and beans were presented as food to the first Europeans who touched the shores.

The red men, who were the lords of the soil atthe time of the discovery, were known by the general appellationof Iroquois, a nation, or a confederacy, whose power extendedfrom the Atlantic to the Ohio river, and from the St. Lawrenceto the Potomac - a people of indomitable energy, and possessing an imperishable love of liberty. This confederacy was composedof six distinct nations, the most powerful member being the SENECAS,or SENEKES, inhabiting the region south of Lake Ontario, and extendingfrom the western shores of Cayuga lake, into the dense forests ofthe far west, where war-paths conducted them to the hunting grounds of the Hurons and Eries, which tribes they drove beyond the lakes.The Cayugas, Onondagas, Oneidas, and Mohawks, completed the originalconfederacy, to which at a later period, the nation of Tuskaroras was added, making in all six na-tions, a power at whose name allother native tribes and nations trembled.

Our national records afford abundant proof of the energy, courage, and force of character, of the people who occupied western New-York from 1670 to 1840. Their prowess in war is well developed as a national characteristic, in the achievements of Hendric, Brant, Cornplanter, and other war braves; their eloquence, in thespeeches of Logan, Red Jacket, and  other sachems.
When Hudson entered the harbor of New-York, then called Manhattan
        
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by the natives, a Frenchman, bold and daring, joined a war party of Indians from Canada, and penetrated the country of the Iroquois, near to the upper waters of the Hudson. It wasChamplain, the founder of Quebec, who thus as a European, trod forthe first time, the soil of Northern New-York. Elated with the knowledgeprocured during his hazardous expedition, Champlain returned to France,kindling in the breasts of his countrymen ambitious views and highhopes.

In 1615, Champlain again entered the Iroquois country from Canada, as a foe, but, wounded and repulsed, he found safety only on the Canadian banks of the St. Lawrence; while the sachems and warriors of the Mohawk, with their allied nations, rejoiced in successfully protecting their homes and hunting grounds from the grasp of strangers and intruders. The more sagacious policy of the Dutch,gave them a friendly footing on Manhattan island in 1609. The Dutchmerchants were more intent upon traffic and trade with the natives, than the establishment of colonies. Assiduous in their endeavors, theypromoted kindly feelings, and avoided, as far as practicable, allmeans of offence or ill will. A few hovels, therefore, were erected for temporary shelter, during the periods of traffic, until 1614, when a fort was erected, indicating a more sure possession of their discoveries.

In 1615, Albany began to assume the character of a trading post, and with the increase of inhabitants on Manhattan island, an increase of means of protection became indispensable. A block house was erected in 1623, and from this period may be dated the determined establishment of a Dutch colony. Though fourteenyears had elapsed since Hudson landed at New-York, without the erection of permanent edifices for the settled abode of Europeans, yet theirintercourse with the natives exhibited to, and early instructed them in the use of fire-arms-to them the most wonderful weapon of attackand defence, and simultaneously the introduction of ardent liquors,made them acquainted with an insidious foe, far more destructive thanthe musket. All the vices of the white man followed in succession.

If by the term civilization, is meant that development of the human powers which shall produce the greatest amount of human happiness, it will be doubted by many whether the standardof civilization was elevated or depressed among the Indians, by their contact with Europeans, in the beginning of the seventeenth century.

The marked development of intellect in Europe and the United States, within the last century, points to a highly elevated standard, very far above the measure indicated at the period of the discovery. The advance of the natural sciences, the progress of art, and consequent refinement, have been diffused among most nations, but events and causes operating favorably upon

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European civilization, have but recently shed a healthy influence upon the natives of America. Wars of extermination, schemes of territorial aggrandizement, have, until within a few years, demanded every energy of the Indian nations to resist, if not exclude, the white man foe.

When Hudson stood upon the island shore, surrounded by swarthy, sinewy men, the only weapon of offence among the warriors was the war-club, the arrow with head of flint, or hatchet rudely made from stone. Yet a short time had passed away, when the samemen were seen brandishing the knife or dagger with glittering blade,the tomahawk with keen steel edge, and rifle of deadly aim. But Hudsondid not live to witness the results of his discoveries, fraught withdistress and evil to the native--his fate was early sealed, deserving a passing notice.

His daring enterprize, in 1607, is without a parallel, claiming admiration at the hardy resolution of that bold navigator, who, in a small vessel, with a crew of ten men and a boy, sailedfrom London, intending to reach China by a northwest passage. Aftertouching the high latitude of 80° returning in the month of September, unsuccessful, but not disheartened - during a second voyage, landing at Nova Zembla, and returning again disappointed, but nothing daunted, he entered upon his third voyage, during which he discovered and ascended the Hudson river, as has been stated.

Elated with success, excited by dreams of wealth and power for the future, and aided by the commercial spiritof English merchants, Hudson was readily refitted for his fourth voyage. He sailed on the 17th of April, 1610, passed Greenland on the 4th of June, and reached the strait which now bears his name,in latitude 60°, entering the great bay which is also called by his name, and too late in the season to brave the winter storms ofthe Atlantic, he determined to winter in the bay. The vessel was drawninto a creek, and every means used to ward off, or mitigate the seventiesof a winter in that desolate region. Privation and disease pressed heavilyon the spirits of the officers and crew. Their stores fast diminishing,with-out any means of supply, Hudson prepared his vessel for sea, at theopen-ing of spring; leaving the scene of his hardships, he put to sea.For two days they were driven to and fro, by fields of ice, when, in bitternessof soul, he called his men around him, painted to them their true situation,the necessity for implicit obedience, and rigid economy in the use oftheir small store of food, and he divided the last bread equally amongthem, as tears rolled down his bronzed and sea-worn features. When hereached the western end of the straits, murmurs of discontent broke forth from the crew. In a moment of anger, he threatened to set the ringleaders on shore. Irritated and exasperated, the crew entered his cabin at night, tied his arms

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behind him, and, placing him in the ship's boat, with his son and seven of the sick and most infirm men, turned him adrift. They were never heard of, and doubtless perished onthe rocky shores of the bay, or were engulfed in its icy waters.
Afraid to think of treachery so base, stung byconscience, and too late aware of having forfeited all confidencein Him who alone can save, the wretched remnant of the crew wereterrified by every wave. Death, attended by storm and tempest, byfamine and despair, seemed to hover over the frail bark, and strip theseguilty men of all memory, save only of their late dark and dreadful deed.Drifting over the swelling waves, a ruling Providence permitted them toland, in extreme wretebedness, on the English coast, in the month of September,1611, to meet that ignominy which awaits the evil doer and miscreant.

CHAPTER II.

Among leading influences contributing to the introduction and advance-ment of civilization, are events connected with the stormy period between 1603 and 1620. When James the first ascended the British throne, reli-gious feuds were most bitter, and seriously affected the political relations of the realm; the individuals who refused assent to the service and ceremonials of the English church, or who absented themselves for one month from the church,, had been treated as obstinate, wrong-headed non-conformists, and were threatened with expatriation, or execution.

Hope had been indulged that under the government of that monarch, the puritans would find some relief or alleviation from suffering, for it was remembered, that while yet in Scotland, he had not scrupled to declare his affection for puritan doctrines. Vain and deceitful, unmanly and pedantic, no reliance could be placed on his promises or professions, and in 1604, he openly declared that he would make the puritans conform, "harry them out of the land or elswhere," - "only hang them-that's all."  The reformers of the church,were immediately subjected to persecution, they were sorely oppress-ed,often made inmates of prisons, and so grevious had become their distress, that no relief could be devised or safety ensured, unless by expatriation. In 1607, the first attempt was made to reach Holland as a placeof refuge; and again in 1608, Robinson, Brewster and others escapedfrom England under circumstances of sorrow and deep distress. For elevenyears they enjoyed comparative peace at Leyden, and from that place thefame of Robinson as a preacher, and of his associates, as men of zealouspiety and

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truth added many to their numbers, inspired respect and obtained a widely extended public favor.
The voyages of Smith to Virginia, and of Hudson to New Amsterdam, were productive of general excitement in Europe in the seventeenth century, as intense and dazzling, as the wildest visions indulged by the El Dorado of Raleigh, or by the gold hunters of California in the nineteenth century. Men engaged in commerceand trade saw in the dim distance, honors and wealth; kings and princes indulged in dreams of territory and power. The puritans, unused tothe language and manners of the Dutch, turned their thoughts to thenew world as a region yet free from dissolute vice; free from persecution, or at least happy in distance and probable neg-lect: a region where,as they said, they could seek God, "a right way for us, and for ourlittle ones."

After suitable arrangements had been made, they embarked in July, 1620, on board the Mayflower and Speedwell; andon the vessels' deck with beaded knee, Carver, Bradford, Winslow, Brewster, Allerton, Standish, and others, in solemn prayers with their much loved preacher Robinson, implored the mercy and aid of God in their hazardous enterprize.
Many and severe were the trials, tempests and dangers which afflicted them. On the 9th of November, the cry of land roused their drooping spirits and infused new energy into the worn and weary voyager.
Already had the chill blasts of winter placed a whitened mantle upon the rocky summits of the shore; the spray of the ocean freezing as it fell, chilled the men, and stiffened thecordage of their vessels: snow and wind impeded their exertions, whileinflammatory disease added to the miseries of the bleak and barren coast.In search for a place to land, they followed the coast till the 8th ofDecember, when the wild war whoop of the Indians, and a flight of arrowsin their midst, presented a new obstacle to landing. Storms of snow andrain, roaring billows, on a coast unknown, night with impenetrable darkness,bring terrors sufficient to appal the stoutest heart; but trusting, confidingin God, the breaking of the masts, the loss of sails and rudder, andincrease of the furious gale, fail to dishearten inca, thus nerved, andserved to add fresh energy and power equal to the emergency when in a momentof imminent peril, in the midst of rocks and breakers, the frame and timbersof the vessel trembling and groaning with every surge, the vessel was liftedby a billow across a bar, and entering a bay they found themselves shelteredfrom the blast under the projecting banks of the shore.
It was on Monday the 11th of December, 1620, that this first party of Pilgrims landed on Plymouth rock, and that day gave birth to a new people, who planted, nurtured and matured the seed of freedom and liberty in the


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new world. From that day to the present, pure and lofty notions of character are ever associated with every name connected with that gallant band of men, their women and their children. There is a charm or spell which accompanies the contemplation oftheir sufferings, their heroic endurance, their increase in numbers, their treaties with the aborigines, and every event in their history; a witchery so strong as to enchain the mind, and cause a reluctant returnto more formal records.
The establishment of the puritan pilgrims at Plymouth, in 1620, and the Dutch as a colony at the mouth of the Hudsonriver, in 1623, became at an early day, the fruitful parents ofsettlements in the valley of the Connecti-cut. The Plymouth colonyestablished a trading house at Windsor in 1633, and the Dutch in thesame year erected a fort at Hartford. These in-roads upon the territoriesof the natives, excited a hatred deep and strong, enmity ripened into open hostility and frequent attempts were made to destroy or exterminate the intruding foe, but the sabre of Europe, the fatal ball and foreign strategy, were too potent against the war club, the flint-headed arrow and slender lance. The vices of the white man became a far more deadly weapon against the natives, and with allurements leading to excess, the destruction proved greater than could be effected by implements of war.

The French had, at the same time, (1627,) successfully established themselves in Canada, and contended with the English and Dutch for the exclusive enjoyment of the fur trade with the Indians. Thus, from the north, the east, and south, the white men from Europe encroached upon the Indian territory, forming an imposing front, advancing with rapid strides, driving before them tribes andnations ; and, extinguishing their council fires, they opened the door to the vast region now converted into fields of grain and fruits. Thethirst for gain soon transformed the white man into a hunter and trapper,or a dealer in bear and beaver skins. Yet the arts of the old world were accompaniments, causing the wigwam and hovel to give way to more commodious edifices, and the wild game and fruits of the forest, to be displaced by domestic animals and nutritious seed.
The progress of civilization, in this country,gives a painful record of the injustice, suffering, and distress,which overwhelmed the Indian nations’ a people at once brave, andfull of energy and ability. The constant succession of quarrels,between the traders and the natives, from 1630 to 1664, were attendedwith cruelties and murder; and the free use of brandy was a source of bitter-complaint, by the Indians, who, unable to resist the onceindulged appetite, felt its destructive power. Perceiving its effect, the white man applied it more vigorously; and, while they drank the"fire -

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water," they heaped imprecations on the hand which proffered it - and, while maddened by its effects, would fell with the hatchet, or pierce with an arrow, the destroyer of their peace.

These continued broils led to an assault upon the Dutch colony in 1655. At that time New Amsterdam was, as it is now, the resort of strangers and adventurers; at that time, the relics of the reformation, from the various nations of Europe, all found an asylum in the new colony. Then, as now, it was the caravanserai, where all nations met, with no permanently abiding interest, yet each and all contributing to swell the tide of transient population, concentrating wealth upon the favored spot, changing, from hand to hand, as the momentary proprietor shifted his scene of action, and giving place to a more numerous, .and equally energetic band of successors.

The unwise conduct of the Dutch Governor, Kieft, roused the anger of the neighboring tribes, who, in revenge for his cruelties and injustice, murdered the farmer in his field,burned his dwelling, and swept away his children to far distantforests. When quiet was in some degree restored, inter-course wasresumed. The treaty, or council, exhibited the points of character in the contracting powers. Nor could the Dutch feel secure, when a LongIsland sachem, rising haughtily in their midst, upbraided them, saying: "When you first appeared upon our waters, and landed on our shores, youwere without food; you were hungry, and we gave you beans and corn; wefed you with oysters and fish from our rivers; and now, for our recompense,you murder our people."  With such feelings deep rooted in the mind,confidence could not be restored, and though the cruel Kieft perishedmiserably amid the ocean waves, the enormity of his crimes, and hisinjustice, could not be washed away by the briny flood: the passions of the Indians were for a time only suppressed, but not subdued.
The brave and honest Stuyvesant essayed a system of lenity and justice, which, for a few years, gave peace to the colony. But his military exploits against the Swedes, in New-Jersey, with the intent of dislodging them from territory claimed by theDutch, weakened the garrison at New Amsterdam, and induced the surrounding tribes to attack the colony in September, 1655. For nearly seventy years, a union had existed between England and Holland; but, as England became more deeply interested in trade and commerce, her people viewed with .jealousy the successful results richly flowing to the Dutch, from their industry and frugality; qualities which necessarily secured to them the most lucrative branches of commerce, by enabling them to undersell their less careful competitors in every market. Instigated by motives less just than political, and relying upon the superi-ority of their navy, the English sought to obtain by force what was denied
    
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to their skill. Hence, notwithstanding the treaty of alliance, which was renewed with the Dutch in 1662, the English seized the Dutch settlement of New Amsterdam (New-York), and other colonies, and afterward, in 1665, openly declared war against them.
The Dutch possessions in this country having acknowledged the sway of Great Britain, in September, 1664, the British flag floated over the de-fences of Manhattan, which from thenceforth has been called New-York. The surrender of this territory gave to England a full possession of the Atlantic coast, as far south as Carolina: the tenure of the country was not, however, firmly established in New-York until 1674.
It was not long before this date, that the French obtained a footing on the southern shore of Lake Ontario, erecting a fort at Oswego. This encroachment, and the influence exerted by the Jesuit missionaries over the various tribes of Indians, induced the British government to invite a con-ference with the Iroquois confederacy, in the hope of detaching them from the French interest. The French, emboldened by success in traffic, and the happy influence exerted by the missionaries, erected a fort at Niagara, (Unghiawraw, as pronounced by the Indians,) in 1687. From this period, the rival powers of England and France together with political and reli-gious feudsin the colony of New-York, essentially disturbed the welfare of the people. The French, under Count Frontignac, in 1689, penetrated the country as far as Schenectady, destroying the town and murdering the in-habitants. The cruelties inflicted upon the English settlers, roused them to actsof retaliation, and instigated a combined movement by New-York and Massachusetts in an attack on Canada.
The enterprise failed, and on the return of the officers and men, a series of internal factions seriously impeded the healthy growth of the colony. The French continued their efforts against the Iroquois nations, who, unassisted by the English, maintained an equal struggle. Irritated by the mode of Indian warfare, Count Frontignac allowed himself to sanction inhuman outrages and tortures upon his prisoners, outstriping in ingenuity and horror the most fiendish barbarities ever attributed to the warriors of the forest. Two Mohawk prisoners were selected to undergo French torture. Oneof them sacrificed his fame and honor by an ignominious suicide, perpetrated with a knife, furnished doubtless by some ill-advised friend, whilehis com-panion, eager to exhibit his contempt for death, and mastery overpain, reproached the cowardly act of his fellow-captive, demanded the privilege of chaunting his death song. lie narrated how many French he had de-stroyed with his hatchet or knife; the scalps he had taken, and the fame he had gained by such prowess. While thus singing his exploits, fire was ap-

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plied to his feet, his hands were thrust into red hot tubes; his bones were broken, the sinews were twisted with heated bars, his head was scalped, and the wound filled with sand from the heated soil. It seems incredible at this day, that mancould ever put off his attributes so far, or be sunk so low in thescale of humanity, to perform such atrocities.
The peace of Ryswick in 1697, brought a cessation of hostilities, permitting the French and English nations to encourage and extend by more friendly acts, their intercourse and trafficwith the sons of the forest.

CHAPTER III.

The means by which art and civilization were introduced into New-York from Europe, during the period between the discovery by Hudson, in 1609, and the end of the seventeenth century, have been indicated; and it is proper here to glance at the condition of England especially, from whence the chief influx was derived.
Science and literature were in their infancy during the reign of James the First; (1603-1625,) scholastic pursuits took precedence of and retard-ed knowledge. Geometry was scarcely known. Among the products of the earth known as luxuries, and then first introduced, were tea, coffee, and chocolate, (1660,) asparagus, artichokes, and cauliflower were then rare plants. Commerce rapidly increased with the increase of liberty. Manu-factures were encouraged, and the art of dyeing woolen cloth was first brought from Holland. It was stated by Sir Josiah Child, that in 1088, there were on change Òmore men worth ten thousand pounds in 1688, than there were in 1650 worth one thousand; that five hundred pounds with a daughter, was in the latter period deemed a larger portion than two thou-sand in the former; thatgentlewomen, in those early times, thought them-selves well clothed ina serge gown, which a chambermaid would, in 1688, be ashamed to be seenin; and that besides the great increase of rich clothes, plate, jewels,household furniture, and coaches, were in that time, aug-mented a hundredfold.”  Glass was then introduced from Venice by the Duke of Buckingham,and the first turnpike road established; and strange as it must appear tothe free American, it is only 173 years since the law of England for burningheretics was repealed; so thick was the cloud of bigotry and ignorancewhich overspread that nation in the days of the com-monwealth and protectorate.Notwithstanding the storms and tempests of their revolutions, the exactsciences made much progress, and art was em-

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couraged. Such was the condition of England during the first century of New-York.
It is not important to pursue a connected history of this State, further than is useful to exhibit the condition of the aboriginal occupiers of the soil, their mode of life, their gradual dispossession, and the intrusion of a white people.
It has been stated that a member or nation of the Iroquois confederacy, known as the SENECAS, inhabited the region south of Lake Ontario, and west of Cayuga lake. Their oldest traditions established them on the fer-tile- lands between the Seneca and Cayuga lakes, from thence gradually extending their power and control to the Niagara, and along the shores of the Allegany; and it is worthy of remark that the Senecas generally select-ed, with singular discrimination, the most fertile and productive soils for their permanent abodes,an evidence of sagacity, and of agricultural pur-suits. In all past time, the northern race of Indians esteemed themselves a peculiar people, a race far above all other red men, excelling as much in intellect asin strength. When speaking of their tribes, they used the term “ongwe honwe,” as characteristic of, and implying superiority. The Sene-cas appreciated and maintained this superiority, carefully fostered national pride,using every influence to perpetuate it. Not less careful were theyto encourage energy of mind and body, and a devoted love for independence.We find this character of the Senecas strongly portrayed in theirdeclara-tions to the assembled chiefs of the British forces at Albanyin 1684; a council at which an agent from the French settlements of Canadawas also in attendance. Upon that occasion a Mohawk chief, with dignityand grace, presented heaver skins to the English commissioner, and said,“We present these three skins as a token of our gladness that your heartis softened; and these two skins, of our joy that the axe is buried;we are glad that you will bury in the pit what is past. Let the earthbe trodden hard over it; let a strong stream run under the pit, to washthe evil away out of our sight and remembrance, and so that it may neverbe digged up.” The Seneca brave rose, with an eye beaming with the wildenergy of his nation, and on their behalf said, Ò We have not wanderedfrom our paths; when Onondio, the Governor of Canada, threatens us withwar, shall we run away? shall we sit still in our houses? No! our beaverhunters are brave men, and the beaver hunt must be free.”  AnotherSeneca warrior rising in the circle and turning to the French agent, said,“It is well for you, that you have left under ground the hatchet which has so often been stained in the blood of the French. Our children and old men had carried their bows and arrows into the heart of your camp, if our braves had not kept them

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back. Our warriors have not enough of beaver to pay for the many arms we have taken from the French; and our old men are not afraid of war; we are born free; we depend neither upon the English, nor upon the French.Ó Such was the language ofthe Senecas, who were doomed, how-ever, to see their country overrun, and forts erected to keep them in sub-mission. Not long after the council held at Albany, and when the French had established a Ôfort at Niagara, the Senecas advanced to attack it. Coin-manded by Haaskaoun, they were confident of success; actuated by noble impulses, the chief demanded a surrender of the fort and garrison. A par-ley was held, when Haaskaoun, with haughty brow and fieroe glaring eye, declared to the commandantof the fort his views and resolution. ÒI have always loved theFrench,Ó said he, Òand our warriors are here to burn yourfort, your houses, barns, and corn; to weaken you by famine, and then tooverwhelm and destroy you; I am come to tell you that you may escape thismisery, if within four days you yield to our terms; restore our kid-napped chiefs; every spoil taken from the Seneca nation; and demolish the rorts you have erected.Ó Five hundred warriors, carrying the standard of their tribe, the wolf and eagle, on their broad breasts, awaited the signal of llaaskaoun. But the French quniled beneath his frown, submitted to the terms dictated, and fulfilling every item, left the country south ofthe Onta-rio lake, free from French intrusion. Such were the Senecas. Such were the men who once covered and cultivated this county; whose garden grounds, and corn-fields, and apple-orchards are not yet wholly obliterated by the modern plow and harrow. A regret will arise and linger in the mind, that the council fires of such a nation are forever quenched; that the Binoke no longer curls from their domestic hearths; that the Brave and his red race have gone like chaff before the wind.
The traditions of a people who have so recently faded away, are not with-out interest, possessing also a charm of wildness and romance, and from which may be discovered types and allegories full of meaning, curious and instructive to the philanthropist.
A tradition of the Seneca nation, and one heldby most of the Six Nations, is, that in the beginning two worlds existed, one inhabited by man, the other by monsters, living in darknessand deep waters.
In the advance of time, the lower world was fitted and prepared as an abode for the human race. To people it. a female descended from the upper world, and found a resting place on theback of a tortoise; here she gave birth to twins. The one called UssKoss, (Good,) the other TAUTAOKOS, (Bad.) Soon after their birth the mother died, when Usskoss converted his mother's head into the sun, themoon, and stars. By their genial influ
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ences he drove the great monsters to their hiding places in the deep, and checked the ferocity of the lesser monsters.
The tortoise increased rapidly in size, and ultimately formed a great island.*  Usskoss then made the earth, itshills and valleys, its water-courses and lakes, filling them withgame and fish. He finally made a man and woman, naming them OngweeHonwee, or the best of people.
While Usskoss was thus occupied in beneficent works, his brother Tautao-koss was no less industrious in labors tonndo or overthrow the work of Usskoss. He created and increasedmonsters of frightful aspect, venomous serpents, and destructivecreatures: every effort was urgently essayed to overwhelm and destroythe man and the woman. Disturbed and wearied with constant struggles for power, a contest at last took place, in which Tautaokoss fell,and was hurled from the island into utter darkness. The triumph ofUsskoss, allowed him to perfect his intended works, and com-mitting themto the care of the man and woman, he left the earth. This traditionof the creation of the world is held, with slight variations, by mostof the northern nations of the American continent.
Each nation has a tradition touching its own origin at some later period, and the Senecas were firm in the belief that they originated on Nundowaga hill, about fifteen miles west ofSeneca lake, and near the site of the beau-tiful village of Canandaigna. They assert, that they came forth from the hill, and dwelt on it for a time in peace and joy. While yet few in num-bers, a reptile was found by the children, and brought within the embank-ments and trenchesof their town on the hill, it became the fondled associate of the young, who nourished it with tenderness and kindness. It grew rapidly, andfrom its increasing appetite and strength soon required nourish-mentbeyond the powers of children and youth to supply. As yet harm-less and a favorite, the men fed it from day to day with game. Becoming vigorous and strong, it now went forth to seek its own sustenance and free-dom. At times, sporting in the lake, or ranging the forests, it exhibiteda power beyond human control, and a disposition for mischief inconsistentwith the safety of the people. The destruction of game also became a sourceof serious alarm, and induced the people to seek means for the de-struction of the creature, so long the nourished inmate of their town.
At early dawn, on the day appointed for the attack, they descried the monster encircling their hill, its enormous jaws opening as it were in defi-ance, in front of the gateway or passage of their entrenchments.
Undaunted by this formidable foe, arrangementswere made for a vigor-
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*The Indians have ever believed this continentto be an island.

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ous sally; previous to which, some endeavored to escape by climbing the monster's scaly sides; but in all directions they were thwarted and thrown back from his wreathing folds or coils. Urged on by hunger, impatient of restraint, the whole tribe made a vigorous onset, rushing with desperation into his very jaws. None returned that day to their homes; all fell a sacrifice to the monster; all were swallowed by his capacious stomach, save, only one woman andher two children, who effected their escape.
Gorged with his feast, the monster reptile rested for a day and night un-disturbed. In terror, the woman and her children found shelter in the forest. Overcome with sleep, a vision warned her to provide arrows of a peculiar form, for herself andchildren; at the same time, she was insttucted bow to use them witheffect, and where to plant them with fatal conse-quences upon the monster. Carefully complying with the injunction thus received, she fearlessly sought the monster which held his watch around the hill. The charmed arrows sped with unerring aim, penetrating beneath the shining scales, reaching the creature's heart ; in agony, it lashed the steep hill side; breaking down the forests, and plowing deep furrows in the earth. Rolling down the hill slope, it plunged into the lake; wild with dis-tress, and with convulsive throes, it disgorged its human victims near the shores: at length, exhausted by pain, and yielding to the effect of the charmed arrows, the monster gradually descended to the bottom of the lake.  On the shores of the Canandaigua waters, rounded pebbles, of the sizeand -shape of a human skull, are numerous at this day, which the Indiansaffirm are the petrified skulls of the "people of the hill," disgorged bythe mon-ster. The woman and her children removed to the banks of theSeneca lake, and from them originated tha late powerful Seneca nation.
In these rude allegories, it is easy to trace points of unrecorded history, obscured by the mist of time, yet interesting to the antiquarian and philo-sopher.
The condition of Indian art anterior to the arrival of Europeans, was limited by the few wants or demands needful for their mode of life. Ma-chinery or implements for trapping or killing game, implements for the preparation of clothing, and tools fewin number, for the mechanic art, were the most important objects. Architecture was confined to walls of earth or slight frames of wood, covered with layers of bark. Soon after the landing of Hudson, and Champlain, the amulet of shell, and carved pipe of Indian handiwork, gave way to foreign ingenuity in the engraved medalion and the moulded pipe bowl: the personal orna-ments of shell and bone curiously and oftenelaborately wrought, yielded to beads and tinsel trinkets: the coarseclay pottery of their dwellings, was

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rapidly exchanged for the brass, copper, or tin kettle the tempered hatch-et took place of the stone tomahawk; and the axe became a substitute for the stone gouge or chisel used in felling trees. Awls and needles made from animal bones, or from the bones of fish, were no longer favored by the Indian woman; the steelneedle alone would now be used. Like multi-tudes of men in many partsof Europe, the American native adhered with superstitious veneration to charms, amulets, necromancy and witch-craft; these were firmly fixed in their belief, as like errors, in the minds of their white brethren during the dark ages, and held with as much tenacity asdis-graced the early days of the eastern settlements when Salem witch-craftfound ignorance and folly, blind enough for belief, and barbarityso great, as to jeopard life for dreams and visions. It was by an artful,possibly a con-scientious encouragement of superstition, that theDutch and English, ad-vanced the success of their trade and trafficwith the Indians; the power to ward off evil, ascribed to bones andshells, gems, beads and crosses, rendered these baubles of inestimable value to the confiding native, who was ever ready to part with his heaver or bear skin for a relic to propitiate the Great Spirit. These ornaments, with silver bands for the arms and wrists; gor-gets and other objects for adornment, gave activity to the European work-shop; and by degrees, supplanted the waist cloth of skins and fur leggings; cotton and linen fabrics early graced the fine forms of the women, and wool-en cloths protectcd the stout broad frame of the Indian man.

At this day the arts of Indian life (as they existed in 1600), are to be found only in collections made from ancient grave-yards or tombs and mounds; for the Senecas of 1700 had extensively adopted the arts; if not the customs, of Europeans.

The Senecas, and northern Indians generally, held and maintained be-lief in future rewards and punishments, and the immortality of the soul; their notions of morals, conducing to secure reward, are chiefly connected with such requisites as fit men to support life or punish agression, which may be comprised in the qualities of a good hunter and a brave warrior; the absence of these qualifications renders the unhappy delinquent, dis-creditable on earth and punishable in the land of spirits. Good and evil spirits abound in their system of religion; these good spirits are ever in communion with their chief priest, or medicine man, while the evil spirits arechecked or subdued by his charms, his spells and ceremonies.

Hence, it was the interest of the chief priestto inculcate and foster su-perstition, to feed love for the marvelous and mysterious.

The office of chief priest secured for the incumbent the reverence of the peo-ple who received through him the favor of the great spirit, invoked by aid of

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charms and magic spells; in him the people sawthe type of the benign in-fluence and aid of the supreme poweror the great spirit. At an appointed day in every year the priestperformed a sacred service, alike in every habita-tion; at earlydawn every fire was extinguished, every hearth was cold; ashes and cinders were strewn around, discomfort and misery seemed to pre-vail.The venerable man with measured step entered every dwelling, he
solemnly and fervently invoked the great spirit in behalf of each family; striking a light, a new fire was kindled by him on the domestic altar, with a prayer for its continued comfort through the year. The lodge was swept, the feast prepared, and peace, joy and content prevailed. Thus was the bond of allegiance annually renewed, and reverence maintained.

It is not unreasonable to ascribe to Indians of sagacity and vivid thought, an intent to typify by this service, a special influence of the Creator. To them fire was the source of comfort and enjoyment: the sun being to them the great source ofall heat: fire became the symbol of the sun's influences, while itsabsence indicated desolation, want, and death. The ceremony seems to justify this belief. One among many similar stories illustrative of the force of superstition in connection with the foregoing, will sufficiently exhibit the Indian character as existing about the year 1700.

It has been asserted with full credence that aman and his wife with a friend, took shelter for a night in theÒhouse of the deadÓ in Oneida; after the fire was covered,and sleep was heavy on them, a noise was heard as of a person gnawingand eating, starting from the mat or bed, a fire was re-kindled, whenthey discovered that the flesh of one of the dead persons had beenthe feast of a ghost. But the following more circumstantial account is given by a Seneca: "A hunter and his wife were overtaken by darkness and a rushing storm. A dead house offered the only shelter. In the night the wife was alarmed by sounds resembling eating and drinking; the sounds were near and distinct, but nothing could be seen; kindling a fire, shefound the blood of her husband flowing over the ground; he was dead, andpartially devoured by a ghost, or spirit. She fled in consternation, but soon heard the whoop of the ghost behind her. Every exertion was used for escape, but some mysterious agency alone preserved her."

Puerile as these legends undoubtedly are, it must be remembered, they are the Indian superstitions of the seventeenth century, and should not pre-judice the mind in 1850, when studying the habits and manners of these ions of the American forests. Intruth, the contrast is not unfavorable to the latter, when placedside by side with the mythology of northern Europe, or contemplating the extent and horrors of the scenes exhibited near the close of thesixteenth century, when five hundred human beings were burned
    
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as witches, at Geneva, within the short space of three months, and one thousand victims were destroyed in thediocese of Como. In England, the like events were not less discreditable, nor were they finally checked in that country till 1701, by thefirmness and mental vigor of Chief Justice Holt. The last victimsin England were in 1716, when a Mrs. Hicks and her young daughter were hanged, for selling their souls, and raising a storm by pullingoff their stockings and making a lather of soap In this coun-try, thenegative merit may be claimed, that no judicial executions occurred after 1692. Happily, with rare exceptions, the insane fancies of diseased minds, and the artful machinery of malignity, knavery and hypocrisy, have nohold upon the mind of the people of this country; and the history ofsuch dreadful folly is read with regret for the past, and hope for the future.

CHAPTER IV.

The long continued enmity between England and France, which was calmed by the treaty of Ryswick, (1697,) broke forth soon after the death of William III. (1702.) The constant struggles of France and England for power, engendering almost an hereditary hatred in the bosoms of their people toward each other, may be viewed asone potent influence to retard the progress of civilization; without interest, without any common sympa-thy, the discoveries and improvements of either, were carefully denied to its neighbor. This impolitic and suicidal course continued down to the last forty years.

The same destructive and grasping policy marked the progress of the American people, under the government of Great Britain. The un-creasing attempts of the colonial governors to obtain superiority—the rival claims of the two belligerent nations, to the profitable trade in furs—pro-duced violent collisions, and murderous frays, between the Indians and the traders of both nations.

The active, restless spirit of French enterprize, had early won for them the affections of the Seneca nation. The facility with which they entered into and adopted the habits and customs of the Senecas, even their dress, gave them a decided advantage over the more phlegmatic Dutchman or Englishman. The gaudy beads, the useful copper kettle, the polished tomahawk, and ornamented scalping knife, opened an easy road for the French, along the margins of the great lakes, and the shores of the Alle-ghany and Ohio rivers, on the banks of which floated the flag of France.

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The same enterprize planted a French colony atthe mouth of the Missis-sippi. New Orleans opened to them newand broad avenues to Indian traffic, and to the establishment oftrading posts, defended by forts, in connexion with those on theQhio.

Thus hemmed in, or surrounded, the trade of the forests flowing to the St. Lawrence and Mississippi; the colonial governors demanded a with-drawal of the French forces from the Ohio. Pretexts for non-compliance were not wanting, but the delay caused Virginia to present an opposing force to the encroachments of the French upon her borders. Troops were raised, in 1754, and entrusted to the command of Ccl. Washington. With only four hundred men, he traversed the forests and wilderness, until he reached the forks of the Alleghany and Monongahela rivers. At this point, or nearit, the French had erected Fort Du Quesne, being the site where thecity of Pittsburg now stands. Here he encountered a formidable andoverwhelming force, under Dc Villiers, who compelled him to retire, after exhibiting a skill and bravery indicative of the hero, destined to fill so large a page in the history of this country.

This event was followed by the more extensive preparations for driving the French from their posts on the Ohio, under General Braddock, (1755,) who moved on Fort Du Quesne with twelve hundred men. Gen. Braddock had already won laurels elsewhere; he was, unquestionably, a brave man, and versed in the arts of war; yet he unaccountably suffered his progress through the forests to be unguarded, andhe fell into a well planned ambush of the Indians. Concealed behindtrees and rocks, they poured a deadly fire into his ranks; confusion ensued, and a frightful carnage closed the scene, (9th July, 1755.)General Braddock was wounded, carried from the field, and died in a fewhours.

These collisions between the colonies of England and France served to embitter the parent nations, and fierce war raged between them. For four years New-York was the theatre of war, until the campaign of 1759Ñ60, when the fall of Quebecled to the extinguishment of French power in Canada. This heavy loss of colonies, of trade and traffic in America, paved the wayto a restoration of peace, which was concluded in 1763, and signed in Paris.
It has been seen that the introduction of fire-arms among the Indians, with other arts, soon after the discovery produced a most important change, operating to the disadvantage of the white man; the Indians soon became expert in the use of the death dealing musket. The Seneca nation became as unerring in aim with the rifle, as with the tomahawk; though the latter, and the knife were constant appendages, and favorite weapons, when the
    
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foe was within reach. The varying success of the contending foreign rivals, taught the Indians lessons of policy and strategy, if not of mercy. It is painful to be assured that, with all the acts of atrocity so liberally ascribed to the Seneca Indians, and to other nations, the white man too often exceeded them in ferocity and atrocious acts of barbarity.

The knowledge of Europeans, thus imparted to the Indians, and its in-fluences, served to encourage the hope ofmore certain means for the exter-mination of the white man; a hopelong cherished by nearly all the nations west of the Oneidas, andnow tending to a united effort. A wide extended coalition, of westernnations, drove in the distant settlers, and the Indian forces reachedthe borders of the settled counties.

Since the peace of Paris, in 176.3, the colonies had felt great relief from the dread of a savage war, fomented and led on by French intrigue. The jealous feelings of the Indiancould be appeased, for a time, at least, by a trade in trinkets andbaubles, and they could be kept in check along the borders by a showof power.

During this period of relief, the colonies began to unfold and mature those seeds of independence which were planted by the puritans, and had found a congenial soil in all the breadth of the land. Inured to hardships and privationÑpossessing high spiritÑthe people did not hesitate to com-plain of the unequal and unjust burthens imposed on them by the English government, nor to claim a voice in the administration of their own affairs.

The determined endeavor of the crown to imposetaxes on the colonies, and to restrict all commercial intercoursewith the mother country, roused the anger of the people. Quarrelsoften occurred between them and the soldiery, until 1770, whena serious fray took place in State street, Boston. The drums beatto arms—the people collected-th troops fired on the as-semblage, and many lives were lost. The result was, a prudent relinquish-ment, by thegovernment, of many of the burthens recently imposed; an act which confirmed the people in the soundness of their cause, and sanc-tioned them inrigidly maintaining and asserting the principles they had adopted.

The political condition and final overthrow ofthe Seneca nation are so closely interwoven with the events andresults of the struggle for the su-premacy of freedom, that afew of the prominent incidents may be consist-ently related here,as tending to explain the causes leading to their expul-sion, aswell as the rapid introduction of art and science, with the officers and armies sent hither by England and France; the one to resistthe pro-gress of civil liberty, the other to aid in its protection and advancement.
The years 1772-3 were marked by an evil not unknown to the commer--

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cial men of later times, in this country as inEurope-an over-trading or undue application of labor beyond thenatural wants of the people for the object produced, or introduced,and in excess. Such was the condition of England in 1772-3, in regardto Asiatic productions. The British East India company had overloadedtheir extensive warehouses with tea and other products from Chinaand India. As one mode of relief, it was deter-mined to send the surplusto the colonies in America, in direct opposition to the existing andwell known order of exclusion emanating from the people.

The first arrival of this excluded article of luxury, was in November, 1773. Every argument was used, every peaceable effort was urged to induce the parties who represented the property to cause the return of ship and cargo to England; no honorable means were left untried, to avoid the consequences of a landing. It was felt that the day had arrived when the principles so long cherished, must be maintained by a force stronger than argument. Having carefully considered their position, and maturely weighed the issue, the people, by a unanimous vote, determined to prevent the unlading of the ship in the port of Boston. To avoid delay and idle negotiation, the populace crowded to the decks of the vessel, opened her hatches, and threw the contents of every tea chest into the river. Having thus accomplished the object, they retired quietly to their homes, regretting the necessity for the act, but determined to maintain their independence. The same spirit, which from the landing at Plymouth rock, in 1620, had from year to year increased in vigor and energy, now spread through the land, nerving every honest breast to meet firmly and bravely the coming storm. Those who had basked in the sunshine of court favor, and the timid few who feared the power of Britain, adhered to the royal cause; but the mass of men, possessing property, knowledge, and influence, in all the colo-nies, zealously supported the cause ofthe people.

The events of 1775 opening with the battle of Lexington, followed by the battle of Bunker Hill, led the public mind tofull and open discussions of the advantages of unfettered trade,the right to govern and administer their local governments; theright freely to enjoy life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.These rights thus openly and freely discussed, caused a first movementin favor of a formal declaration of independence to be made in congress by a Virginian,* a proposition which found an approving spirit in the whole people, and was formally adopted and declared on the 4th of July, 1776. These events led to the entire emancipation of the people fromforeign rule, and the establishment of this republic.
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*Richard Henry Lee.


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The contest for freedom was marked with scenesof peculiar ferocity, perpetrated by those who adhered to theBritish cause. The Indians, with few exceptions, acecpted the courtedalliance of the English commauders, and under their guidance orsanction committed outrages and enormities of unparalleled magnitude.
Not more than seventy years have passed since the massacres at Wyoming presented a scene of fury and horror so great, that not a vestige of that settlement was left; the Indian tomahawk, with fire, and the tory sword. swept every living thing and habitation from that beautiful valley. In the same year the inmates of CherryValley were roused from their sleep by th( war whoop of the Indians,and English soldiery, dealing death and destrue tion to unarmed men,their wives, and helpless children.
The warrior Brant, with his Mohawks and Senecas, hovered on the bor ders of Albany; and at that comparativelyrecent period it was declared by General Schuyler, that unlesssome exemplary blow should be inflicted on the hostile Indians,Schenectady would shortly become the boundary of the State. The border incursions of the Senecas were carried into Ulster county;Kingston was kept in alarm and attacked; Minisink, near Goshen, and.Pulaski, were burned and laid waste. For many years the bones of the slain lay bleaching on the field, until 1822, when the citizens of Orange county caused them to be colleeted and buried.
The unwearied efforts of the enemy to harrass the people of this State by means of predatory eruptions from Canada, aided by their Indian allies, called for effective relief. Congress felt the necessity, and issued the needful authority. General Washington selected General Sullivan to chastise the Indians, and drive them far from the county borders or settlementsÑto destroy their towns, and remove every means which could facilitate or contribute to their residence in the Seneca country.
To effect this object, an army of five thousand men was raised, of which two thousand, under General James Clinton, ascended the Mohawk river as far as Canajoharie, from whence he transported his batteaux, stores, and material a distance of twenty miles to Otsego lake, he embarked upon its waters, and passing down a branch of the Susquehannah river, formed a junction with the main army under General Sullivan, near the forks of the Tioga. The army then advanced into the Indian country, (August, 1779.) The Senecas had been apprised of the movement, and procured the assistance of the British officers, Colonel Guy Johnson and Colonel John Butler, with other officers and their troops. Brant commanded the Indian forces, and determined to give battle on the banks of the Chemung, at a place then called Newtown, now known as Elmira. Every preparation was made,

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a breastwork about half a mile in length was thrown upÑthe ground was masked by pines of a stunted growth, and many small shrub oaks were stuck in the ground, better to conceal their position; sentinels were posted at short distances, and on every hill. Thus prepared, and trusting to their defences and skill, they waited the approach of the American army.
Near noon on the 29th of August, Major Par, who was with the advanced guard, discovered the works and position of the Indians and English. Halting for a short time for the nearer approach of the main force, arrangements were made for attack. It was led by Generals Hand and Maxwell, in front. For several hQurs the resistance was obstinate and bravely maintained; but the Indians and allies being worsted, fled, and although a large part of their force was saved by crossing the river, many lives were lost in the battle and in eagerness to escape.
General Sullivan advanced his army to the headof Seneca lake, destroying the town of Knawahole, and Catharines Town, (Havanah,) with their extensive gardens, and rich corn-fields. Catharines town, near the margin of Seneca lake, was held in esteem as the residence of Catharine Montour, under whose influence the place had grown into comparative wealth and importance. Catharine Montour was the daughter, (as believed,) of Count Frontignac, one of the French governors of Canada. TIer complexion indicated European blood, and her infancy was nurtured in comforts unusual among Indian tribes. During the Wars which raged for a time between the Senecas and French, Catharine Montour was captured, then about ten years of age, and carried into the country of the Senecas. There she was adopted, and reared, early exhibiting an energy and spirit, admired by and worthy of the haughty nation which now claimed her as their own.
A chief of renown, and distinguished as a Seneca warrior, became the husband of Catharine Montour, as soon asshe reached womanhood. Her beauty and bright spirit lent a charmto her natural grace, which, aided by a strong mind, gave to her awide spread influence. In the wars with the southern tribes in 1730,her husband was slain in battle. Two sons of Catharine Montour were bold and prominent actors on the war paths. One was actively engaged at the Wyoming tragedy; the other in the attack upon Cherry Valley.It has been said that Catharine often joined in the hottest contestsfearless alike of the hatchet or rifle bail, but when it is remembered that this female was received and caressed by the ladies of Philadelphia, that she participated with ease in the refined and luxurious entertainments of the wealthiest citizens, and with a politeness of manner and graceequal to the most polished, it is difficult to credif the ferocity ascribedto her. After the dispersion of the Senecas from this region, Catharine
    
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Montour, with her sons, resided at Niagara, and in that fortress was received and entertained with respect by theBritish officers.
The entire destruction of Catharines town, andflight of its inhabitants, carried terror through every villageto the outlet of the lake. The old men and women were sent rapidlyforward in the hope of the warriors making a stand against the foeat or near the present site of Geneva. The American army pressed forwardbetween the Cayuga and Seneca lakes, driving the Indians before them.here the lands were found to be cultivated, yielding abundant corn;extensive orchards presented fine fruits to the invaders; the apple, pear, and plum were abundant. A regularity in the arrangement of theirhouses, indicated long continued prosperity and enjoyment of property.Many houses were rudely framed, with chimneys, and some few were painted;all, however, were destroyed. Nothing was left to afford succour, orinducement to return so near to the American settlements.

CHAPTER V.

Kendaia was deserted by its inhabitants as soon as the residence of Catharine Montour was destroyed. The Indians of Kendaia had selected a fertile position for their town, andbestowed much labor upon the garden and fields; the orchards wereextensive and productive, and a portion escaping the general destruction, are now in bearing, as mementos of Indian horticulture. So remarkablewas the town for its orchards, that it was often known as Apple town,and even now the name is heard from the lips of the old inhabitants. The day after the destruction of Kcndaia, or Apple town, the Americanarmy reached the high grounds at the foot of the lake, and encamped onthe grounds now known as Rose Hill, Viewficld, Oak-lands, and Aubrey farm. On the opposite shore, where Geneva so beautifully rises from the lake and crowns the hill, the Scnecas had collected in force. On the 7thof September, Gen. Sullivan ordercd his army to advance ; they crossedthe outlet of the lake without opposition, reached and destroyed Kanadaseaga, and moved upon Canandaigua, destroying the settlements between Seneca lake and the Nundowaga hill. At the same time a detachment under Colonel Harper, made a rapid movement along the Seneca river, and destroyed Scawas, (Scanycs.)
From Canandaigua the army advanced to Honeoye,a small town which shared the fate of others. The Indians hadcontinued to fly in dismay, and were disheartened; but the rapidadvance of the American force, with destruction in its train, rousedthem once more to think of defence. In the

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hope of arresting the progress of General Sullivan, the Senecas collected their warriors, the old men, women, and children were sent to a distant place of safety, and hastily prepared an ambush at HendersonÕs Flats, a point between Honeoye creek and Conessus lake. The American advanced guard entered the ambush, when the wild war whoop and terrific yell, with a fierce and deadly attack, compelled the guard to fall back upon the main body of the army. The red men were too eager for the attack, and frustrated their object by too early springing from their concealment. Unwilling to riskan encounter with the main army, the Indians fell back on the Genesee river, leaving their farms and dwellings to inevitable destruction
During the attack near Honcoyc, two Indians, who were employed as guides, acting with the American advanced guard, were captured by the hostile Senecas. Both were of the Oneida tribe, and highly esteemed in the American camp. One of these men had anelder brother in the British service, who had often used cogent arguments to induce the younger to forsake the American cause, and look for favor and higher reward from the British. True to his word, the young Oneida held firm to his promises, and faithfully guided the troops in their advance through the Seneca forests. At Honcoyc battle ground, these brothers met in opposing ranks; the younger brother became the prisoner of the elder brother ; the instant of recognition was a moment of savage excitement; with haughty mein the the elder brother upbraided the prisoner, and threatened death with the war club or tomahawk; he rapidly narratedthe crime committed by leading the white foe to the fields and homesof his fathers and friends, guiding them to the very homes where theirmothers and children were to meet death or be driven to new and unknownhunting grounds. ÒBut though you merit death, and shall die on thisspot, my hands shall not be stained with a brotherÕs blood. Whowill strike ?" A bright hatchet gleamed for an instant in the air, in amoment, the young Oneida ceased to breatheÑto live.
The failure of resistance at Honeoye convincedthe Indians that retreat alone could preserve their lives, theydetermined, therefore to leave their country to the scourge nowsweeping over it. They moved off toward Niagara, leaving bands ofwarriors to watch the enemy and inflict such annoyance as opportunitymight permit.
When the army reached the Genesee valley, all were surprised at the cultivation exhibited, by wide fields of corn , gardens well stocked, their tattle, houses, and other buildings, showing good design, with mechanical skill, and if the languageof General Sullivan may be adopted, their fields were fruitful with Òevery kind of vegetable that could be conceived.Ó

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Beautiful as was the scene in the eyes of the army, a few days changed it to utter desolation ; neither house, nor garden, grain, fruit tree, or vegetable, was left unscathed.
When the warrior chief, Corn-Planter, met General Washington, in 1792, thirteen years after the passage of General Sullivan through this county, well might he be excused for the language which burst from his lips. Kindling with the remembrance of the deep misery endured by his people, he declared that, “even to this day, when the name of the town-destroyer is heard, our women look behind them and turn pale, and our children cling close to the necks of their mothers: our sachems and our warriors are men, who cannot be afraid; but their hearts are grieved with the fears of our women and children.”
General Sullivan did not pursue the Indians beyond the Genesee towns; he returned by the same route he had advanced, and reached the outlet of Seneca lake, in this county, en the 20th of September. Crossing the outlet, he camped again on the high ground of Oakland farm. From this point he detached Colonel Zebulon Butler, with five hundred rifles, to traverse the eastern shore of Cayuga lake, and inflict punishment on the tribes of Caynga, with no less severity than was measured to the Senecas. Colonel Dearborn was also directed to follow the western shore of Cayuga lake, with similar instructions. Other detachments, under Colonels Van Courtland and Dayton, were sentto scour the country around the head waters of the Tioga river, whilethe main army moved south, passing Tioga on the 30th September, and reachingEaston, in Pennsylvania, on the 15th of October, making the distancetraversed to the Genesee Castle, about two hundred and eighty miles. Otherincursions were made, in 1779, into the country of the Onondagas, and alsoalong the Alleghany river, exhibiting to the Indians a power beyond theirmeans to resist or control.
By this movement of the American army, the social and political condition of the Seneca nation was destroyed; and by these means, though necessarily severe, the influence of the English nation was curbed and controled; the murderous warfare of thetomahawk and knife, wielded alike by the Indian and ferocious tory, was arrested.
Such were the events, and their causes, which opened to the admiration of five thousand men, the fertile soil of the rich county of Seneca.
Seventy years ago, the red man gave place to the American citizen nor was it till then, that the foot of the white man trod this soil, except, perhaps, some helpless captive, snatched from a border settlement, or the enduring Jesuit, from France, whosilently and adroitly studied to ingra-

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tiate himself with the natives, adopting their customs, and proffering the comforts and rewards of adhesionto his peculiar and religious views.
Seventy years ago, the timid deer, the otter and the beaver, held peaceful occupation of the soil. The bear and the wolf held unmolested their nightly carousals: the eagle, the swan, and all the feathered songsters of the wood, rejoiced in their ignorance of the rifle, musket, or fowling piece.
The struggles and privations of the people through all the scenes of the revolution, their devotion to their country, their adherence to the principles of freedom, representation,and adjustment of public burthens, did long retard the settlementof this portion of the State.
The remembrance, however, of the pure, placid waters of Seneca lake, he beautiful Caynga, the rich corn fields andabundant fruits, did not fade from the minds of those who had traversedthe country in 1779, under Sullivan. Many who then shouldered themusket or the rifle, and these who wielded the sword of command, wereeager and prompt to return and realize their early visions, as soonas peace with Great Britain released them from the exertions due tothe defence of their country.
Hostilities with the Indians did not terminatewith the declaration of peace, for their friends and allies whotreated for peace and obtained it regardless of Indian rights,their homes and hunting grounds, made no stipulations for theirsafety or security.
On behalf of the United States, humanity and alenient policy toward the natives, was adopted. General Washingtonever expressed a desire to look favorably upon these children ofthe forest, with a hope that the arts of peace might find in them asfervent admiration, as had characterised their nation through so longa period for the pursuit of war.
It was not possible to heal their wounded pride nor overcome the effect of that extraordinary neglect manifested by their allies, the English, until the year 1784, when a treaty wasconcluded between the six nations and the United States, whereby theIndians, acknowledged allegiance to the general government, and cededto the State of New York the lands lying east of Seneca lake.
Moodily they brooded over their losses, and fall from power, while the tide of emigration began to press themfrom their accustomed seats. Encounters, and too often death,were consequences of nearer approach, until the stream of populationreached the banks of the Ohio, in 1780. Then the Indians were rousedto maintain the boundary limits of the whites, which they claimed to be the Ohio river. Sharp and destructive collisions ensued, fomentedby the British officers, in Canada, who unjustly had yet

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retaincd possession of Niagara and other western posts. These difficulties were increased, in 1789, by fraudulent purchases of lands by speculators.
The Senecas, more than any other Indian nationin New-York, felt oppression, and one of their chiefs thus eloquently poured forth their grief, at a council, in 1790: "You told us that we were in your hand, and that, by closing it, you could crush us to nothing; and you demanded from us a great country, as the price of that peace you had offered us-as if our feebleness had destroyed our rights. 'Tis true, our chiefs had felt your power, and were unable to contend against you, and therefore they gave up that country."

Such was the feeling of the Senecas, and the inhabitants of the whole western wilds, when speculation, and the far-reaching minds of the white men, dwclt upon visions of counties, towns,cities and villages, which were to follow in the swelling tide ofemigration from Europe, to cover the land.

Various intricate questions, as to jurisdiction and proprietorship of the soil, had for a time excited uneasiness between the neighboring states of New-York, Pennsylvania, Conneeticut and Massachusetts. Happily, that spirit of compromise and just feeling which has so strongly characterized the people of the United States, led to an adjustment of all these difficulties, (1786.) Pouhtless the difficulty of adjustment had an influence upon the minds of the Indians, who thus witnessed the division of spoils, wrested from them, among wrangling parties.

English patents, for large tracts of land, badbeen issued in so loose a manner as to cause conflicting claims,and as the facts became apparent, they engendered hopes in the minds of bold and unscrupulous individuals, to aggrandize themselves at theexpense of the Indians. In one instance, a company was formed by theresidents of Columbia county, to circumvent a statute, which forbade any purchase from Indians in the State, by bargaining with them for a lease of their territory for nine hundred and ninety-nine years. The position and influence of the persons forming the company concerned in this improper proceeding, caused much anxiety ameng people of correct views. Surprise and apprehension were loudly expressed, and by seasonable representation to the Legislature, (1788,) means were devised to avert the evil.
More just views prevailed from that time, and the pre-emptive rights of Massachusetts to lands east of the Genesee river, passed to Phelps and Gorham; while the remainder of the territory, lying west of the Genesee river, passed, under the same authority, in 1790, to Robert Morris, of Philadeiphia. This last tract reached from the Niagara river, and from Lake Ontario to Pennsylvania, and contained about four millions of acres.

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In 1792, Mr. Morris sold an extensive tract ofterritory to the Holland Land Company, but was not able to inducethe Senecas to relinquish their. title until 1797, when it wasaccomplished by the sagacity and perseverance of Mr. Thomas Morris1who had long lived among the Indians, and was highly esteemed bythem.

A trait of Seneca character was exhibited at the council of 1797. When Mr. Morris, in the course of argument,stated that-"The land could have but little value to them, in itspresent condition, that it was the consciousness of ownership whichalone gave it value in their eyes ;" a Seneca chief replied:
"That  knowledge is every thing to us. Itraises us in our own estimation-it creates in our bosoms a proudfeeling, which elevates us as a nation. Observe the differencebetween the value of a Seneca and an Oneida; we are courted, whilethe Oneidas are considered a degraded people fit only to make brooms and baskets! Why this difference?  It is because the Senecasare known as the proprietors of a broad land, while the Oneidas are cooped in a narrow space.
 
In 1790, Robert Morris purchased from Phelps and Gorham about one million two hundred thousand acres, which were afterward sold and conveyed to Sir William Pulteney. These extensive operations covered the whole Seneca county within the State ofNew-York. The Indians became parties to the transfer, reservingsuch portions, at selected points, as were deemed sufficient for theirnumbers, now reduced to very narrow. limits.

Thus ended the existence of the Seneca nation-thus the extinguishment of the once powerful confederacy of the Six Nations. What a chain of of the Six Nations. What- & chain ofemotions thrill through the wind, when the sorrows of that race areallowed to flow in native eloquence from their lips. "Who is it,"said a noble Seneca, "who is it that causes this river to rise inthe high mountains, and to empty itself into the ocean? Who is itthat causes to blow the loud winds of winter, and that calms them again, in summer? Who is it that rears up the shade of those lofty forests,and blasts them with the quick lightning at his pleasure? The same spirit,who gave you a country on the other side of the waters, gave this landto us, and we will defend it."

But with the white man came civilization, and at the same time the vices peculiar to civilized society.* Distrusting the benefits of civilizatisn, which were exhibited only through the medium of reckless border men, and ever attended by a keen rapacity to obtain their lands, it became to them a scourge, a besom ofdestruction; and when, at. last, the great body of the nation hadgone " to join the spirits of their fathers" - when their
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* Dr. Kirkland.
[Assembly, No. 159.]
25

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leaves and branches were withered and shaken by every breeze, the Seneca Red Jacket feelingly deplored the fate of his people, saying: “We stand a small island in the bosom of thegreat waters—we are encircled—we are encompassed. The evil spirit rides upon the blast, and the waters are dis-. turbed. They rise, they press upon us, and the waves once settled over us, we disappear forever. Who then lives to mourn us ?—None. What marks our extinction ?—Nothing. We are mingled with the common elements.”


CHAPTER VI.

The agricultural condition of the Indian nations has been incidentally alluded to, and evidence given that thecultivation of the earth must have been for ages an employment amongthe natives who occupied the country comprized within the boundsof Seneca county.
Indian corn, the Zea maize of botanists, was found as a common food, when Europeans first landed in New-York. Extensive fields of this grain were cultivated, and the grain preserved, affording a frugal and very nourishing food to the people, whether engagedin the chase or on the war-path.
At an early treaty, the natives taunted the Dutch settlers with ingratitude, reminding them of the hospitality freely extended to them on their landing, and the large supplies of corn and beans furnished to them in their necessities.
Well defined evidences of agricultural industry may be traced even at this day, in their ancient cornfields. At the early settlement of the Oneida nation, about forty miles from this county, there is the appearance of a former cornfield; the hills arc large in circumference, and with some attention to regularity in distances. The field, when visited by Commissioner School-craft, was overgrown by a forest of timber; a black walnut tree had been partly cut through, and broken down, exhibiting the rings or layers of woody fibre by which its age was ascertained to be about two hundred and forty years; this guide, and every indication of the ground, warranted the conclusion, that corn had been planted on that field before the year 1555, which was forty-four years before the discovery by Hudson. An old Oneida Indian stated to Schoolcraft, that “in ancient times the corn hills were madeso large that three clusters of stalks were raised on each hill, and thatthe hill, once prepared, was used year after year, causing them to be keptlarge, and accounting for their distinct continuance to this day.
When Cartier visited Hochelaga, now called Montreal, in 1535,* that town was situated in the midst of extensive corn fields; the houses of the Indians
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*Clinton.


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were large and commodious, “well and cunninglyput together,” he found the natives devoted to husbandry and fishing.
Le Moine, navigated Lake Ontario in 1653, and landing among the Senecas, they gave him “bread made from Indian corn, of a kind to be roasted at the fire.”
Many interesting and amusing inquiries have been diligently pursued as to the indigenous character of Indian corn, an article now become so important for food of man and animalsin both eastern and western hemispheres; but from the facts stated,and the fact that Columbus found this grain when he first visited thewestern world in 1492, and as Indian corn was always found among everynation of this continent when first visited, no room is left for doubtas to its geing an indigenous grain of America.
The potato was undoubtedly known and cultivated from an early age. It was carried to Europe in 1565, by Hawkins, from Santa Fe, but did not attract notice until introduced by Sir Walter Raleigh from Virginia, in 1.586, and was then known by its Indianname of “openawg,” the name by which that tuber is known to this dayby most of the northern tribes of Indians.
Beans were found in this State by the earliestadventurers, though no strong reasons exist to doubt their introductionby the Spaniards or French. The forests yielded a plentiful supply of wild fruits, yet when the Dutch and French introduced the apple, the natives propogated it so extensively that when the colonists penetrated the wilderness, large orchards of fair fruit were met infrequent succession. Thus it is evident that notwithstanding their constant wars, and migratory hunting excursions, husbandry engaged their energies, nor can it be doubted, that if the advantages of civilization could have been presented to them unmixed with error; the labors of thefield and the workshop would have been distinguished by a success, commensurate with the spread of knowledge among them.
The intercourse maintained between the native villages and settlements was active and frequent, as indicated by thewell beaten trails or roads. The trails leading from the headwaters of the Delaware river, through Unadilla, and from the forksof the Susquehannah, at Tioga point, formed a junction near Catharine’sTown, thence passing northward through an Indian plantation called“the Peach Orchard,” it crossed a ravine at Breakneck hollow, touching Mill creek at Shallow ford, thence it passed to another village known as “Appletown,” and trending along and near the western margin of Seneca Lake, it crossed the outlet and reached Canandesaga, now Geneva. The present lake road winding along the bays and inlets of the shore, followed the Indian trail with slight deviations, now passing around the head of a wooded glen, in whose shaded valley, bright waters flowed


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from its springs, over a shaly bed to meet thepure waves of the never freezing-lake, then winding sharply downthe steep-hill. to ascend the not less abrupt and opposite boundary of the valley. The most precipitous of these glens have been rendered easy to pass by dykes thrown direct across them, thereby securing a route nearer to the lake’s margin, and presenting to the traveller a varied scene of hill and dale on the east, with rich pastures and wide fields of grain, and on the west tall rocks of crumbling slate, crowned with stately oaks; or points of land jutting into the lake, offering an unceasing variety of light and shade, attractive and delightful to those who value the ornaments which enrich this lake bordered county.
Lateral trails branched off from the main road, leading to orchards, gar dens, and corn fields, or to the level lands on the Cayuga border.
Objects of regard and sacred care, among the tribes, were the burial places of their fathers; among the many positions selected by the Senecas in this county, is the field of peacein the town of Lodi. To the Indian it was a sacred and secludedspot of earth, on a point of land between “Mill Creek” and a rivuletthat pours its waters into the lake; this point projects into thelake,. ever washed by its gentle waves, affording a retired and unfrequented place for Indian sepulture, where the soul was lulled by the murinuring waters, and allowed to prepare for its journey to the land of spirits. A branch trail led to this spot, but the antiquarian, the philosopher, and the man of idle curiosity have ravaged the numerous graves, and have carried off guns, knives, tomahawks, brass kettles, and various domestic articles which had been deposited in compliance with Indian customs, with the body of the dead but few of the articles thus obtained, had any value, for like the bones of these graves, they were crumbling to dust, but few retaininig their forms after exhumation.
The antiquity of these cemeteries, and of the few arehiteetural relics existing in this county, can be conjectured, only from the vegetable remains which in some instances cover the ruins.
On the lot, No. 29, in the town of Ovid, are the remains of an Indian fortification, covering nearly three anda half acres of ground; the position has a gentle elevation abovethe surrounding country. The farm, on which this work is yet partially discernible, fell under the plow and harrow about fifty years ago; the embankments have given way, and the thrifty owners have reaped many a rich harvest from ground once trod by the war-like and brave Senecas.
The breast-work was, three and a half feet high, with a base five to eight feet wide, surrounded with a ditch four feet wide at top. The area enclosed nearly four acres of groundwhich was covered with heavy timber; oaks of

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large size, with maple and bass wood, reared their lofty heads; several old red oaks full three feet in diameter, stood on the embankment; large trees had fallen into and acrossthe ditch, some resting in a partially decayed condition, others mouldering into dust. No traditions exist as to this work, every trace of which will in a few years cease to be. Other ruins of fortified mounds orelevated points exist in the county, too indistinct for description; every town affords abundant evidence of the long continued residenceof the natives. Implements of war, as well as those for the chase andthe mechanic arts, are yet found when the plow upturns the furrow; butthe rude hatchet of stone, the spear head and arrow of flint, the stone mortar and pestle, give no date for determining any period of Indianhistory.

Remains of Indian Fortification, on Lot 39, Town of Ovid


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CHAPTER VII.

It has been said of the American people, that a peculiar characteristic marks them individually and collectively, a propensity to migrate. The affection for birthplace, for a home surrounded by the charms of youthful joys and early associations, seemsnot to possess a restraining hold. The enjoyment of the fruits of earlyand earnest labor, seems not so great as the pleasure of labor itself,for many are the instances where the comforts of civilized life arerelinquished cheerfully, to enter the forests, and press on to their shady depths, there to convert its wild features into the rich productive farm.
In other countries the motive for emigration is usually to avoid evils7 which fcttcred the conscience, or restrained that freedom and liberty which is the birthright of man. In the wideexpanse of territory, under the laws of the United States, suchevils are unknown; and no similar motive can be found to urge an Americanfrom the home of his youth. The man who for many years lived happilyand content in the older settlements, with every comfort around hishearth and board, where his annual harvcst home exhibited plenty withpeace, and moderate labor, finds the position of his sons very different from his own. The old homestead has acquired a value of fifty fold sincethe forest rang beneath the old man's axe; the products have doubled inquantity since t’he first fruits were given in return for labor. The youngman sees and understands that this mere se of capital, of substantial wealth,is the reward of industry well applied. No myst ry hangs about its skirts,no rules of any abstruse science are necessary to comprehend and appreciate the causes of this large accumulation. A few days journey farther westopens to the son the same inducements which actuated the father, profferingthe same advantages, and the same benefits; he embraces the opening, leaving the home of his childhood, the endearments of a paternal roof for the log hut, and the many though usual hardships of “ "a settler’s “life.
A few years roll on in swift succession, when his sphere of action is increased; moral and intellectual influences had pursued his footsteps; neighbors multiplied in number; villages and towns spring into life; schools and academies rear their fostering heads. A new race is born, and before them falls the dense forest from year to year; the earth is taxed more and more, to yield her bounteous stores, until at length exhausted and impoverished, with no restoration of the elements profusely withdrawn, the crops diminish, and thesons of the proprietor again are tempted, as their fathers were, toseek new lands for cultivation, leaving to the sire the worn soil,

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yielding less annual product, yet increased invalue. In this chain cf causes, as well as in the love of freedom,to enjoy. fully and undisturbed, in any and every place, the fruits of his own industry, may be traced a cause for the peculiar characteristic of migration belonging to the American people, and to this peculiarity may, in a sense, be ascribed the early settlement of the countyof Seneca.
The fertility of its soil was observed and known to many of the officers and men, who traversed its extent under the banners of General Sullivan, and the war path which led thearmy from the beautiful valley of Wyoming, through the gorges andravines hollowed out by the waters of the Susquehannah, also led thesettler to the southern .door of this county.
The town of Lodi, once a part of Ovid, may be called the southern entrance door, through which the early settlersentered. Covert, which is now the southeastern town, and once,like Lodi, a portion of Ovid, was entered by an opening. from Ithaca.Time has spared a few who first entered these avenues; and from themare gathered and now recorded the incidents, which might otherwise have slept forever.
In the year 1789, while the exciting narrations of men who were attached to General Sullivans army, in regard tothe rich soil, the temperate climate, were yet fresh; a party ofhardy men from New Jersey determined to explore and settle on thelands between the Seneca and Caynga lakes. Early in the spring theyreached and crossed the Delaware river; passing the intervening highlands, they descended into the valley of Wyoming on the waters of the Susquehanna. Embarking on its bosoni, they reached Tioga point, now called Athens. As the waters rose from rains, the boats wereenabled to ascend the river to Newtown, (now Elmira.) At this pointthe Indian trail served this hardy band, as it had before done forGen. Sullivan, a good and direct road to the shores and clear waters of Seneca lake.
The adventure of these persons, its wildness and novelty, attracted admiration, and some of the stout men of Pennsylvania joined in the pursuit of a forest home. From the high lands of Ovid, from the summit of Prospect Hill, the county lay spread out in its beauty at their feet. At sunrise’ the sparkling Cayuga on the right, gave life to the woody shores, and the eye embraced its eastern shores to its northern boundary; on the left was the clear, bright Senecalake, its margin studded with dense forests, though here and there “aclearing,” or open space, indicated the abode of the Indian, where his garden and corn ground gave evidence of feelings above the savage man.Along this lake the eye is never tired, and from this hill it ranges towhere Geneva now stands, the intervening bays and points giving lights and shades of surpassing beauty.

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It was from this beautiful and commanding range of hills that the white man threaded his way to such positions as suited his imagination, his convenience, or his agricultural views.
Among the first settlers in the southern part of the county, was Mr. George Faussett, whose heirs now occupythe estate of their sire. Mr. Faussett was originally a residentof Pennsylvania. Leaving his wife and child at home, he reachedthis county early in 1789. Crossing th t portion of Ovid designated on the map as lot No. 88, he felt that he had reached the spot mostdesired, the spot on which his pleasant visions had rested, and towhich his more happy destiny had led him.
In accordance with the easy method of occupying land in those days, and not knowing in whom the legal title was vested, Mr. Faussett erected a log hut, covered with bark, and made other improvements and arrangements for future occupation, he then returned to Pennsylvania, where he remained during the winter of 1789. As soon as the snow and ice had passed away, he again entered upon the Indian trail, accompanied by his family, and after a weary journey, reached their new wilderness home. Industry, with frugality, made that home, which was a log hut, not only prosperous ; it gilded every passing week and month with joy and happiness. As theharvests returned in succession, the crops of grain would cover moreextended fields, and overflowing garners testified the fertility ofthe soil and the fullness of value in the well applied labor of man. WhenMr. Faussett took possession of the soil, it was not known in this regionto whom the land legally belonged. After many endeavors the owner wasdiscovered, and Mr. Fanssett at once became the proprietor of two hundred acres of the ground he had cultivated. In a few years more the same industry and frugality enabled him to add by purchase, anothcr portion of twohundred acres to his farm. In the cultivation of this estate Mr. Faussett lived to an old age, having passed away from the scenes of his happylabors a few years since, aged
83.*    About the same period Mr. James Jackson, traversing the same route from Pennsylvania, settled on lot No. 35, in Ovid. Other settlers arrived, but with Mr. Jackson, remained only a short time and passed away. The venerable Andrew Dunlap, who yet lives encircled in the affections of his children, and children’s children, as well as of his towns-men, entered this county among the earliest residents. He arrived by the southernroute in May, 1789, and took possession of lot No. 8, in the town ofOvid. On this spot Mr. Dunlap has lived and reared his family. Atan early day he purchased the fee of the whole lot, comprising sixhundred acres, and for a period of sixty years has witnessed its increase in value,
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*    The daughter of Mr. Faussett is yet living, and is the first white person born in this county.

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enjoying the reflection that his energy and industry gave the first impulse to the village of Ovid. Mr. Dunlap wasthe first man who turned a furrow with the plow between the lakes.*It occurred in the last week of May, 1789, at which time he plowedhalf an acre of ground, and planted it with potatoes brought byhim from Sehshequin, on the Susquehanna. Among the events incidental to a newly opened country, it should be mentioned that Mr. Dunlap’sbarn served as a court house for several years, the courts being heldalternately at this barn in Ovid, and in the corn house of Comfort Tyler, at Aurora.
At the early perird of 1789—90, the settlers were obliged to visit Elmira, (then Newtown,) to purchase provisions and seed grain, a distance of forty miles through a wilderness, and as no mill had yet been erected between the lakes, they were compelled to cross Seneca lake in canoes or boats, and carry the grist to a mill situated midway between Dresden and Penn Yan. Occasional storms, and the severity of winter often prevented a visit to the mill, neither would the labors of spring or harvest time, admit of relaxation sufficient to leave the farm for this staff of life. Necessity gave life to invention, and the “hominy block” appeared.. This implement, or mill, was either the stump of a tree, or a portion of the body of a tree excavated, similar to an apothecary’s mortar, or a bowl; a pestle also, formed of wood, was suspended over the hominy block, pendent from a horizontal pole, which acting as a spring, and sustaining the weight of the pestle, required but a small force to bruise and grind the corn in the block or mill.
This was one of the many difficulties and resources encountered by Mr. Dunlap and other settlers in 1789. Mr. William Dunlap, who yet lives in the town of Ovid, entered the county with his brother Andrew, and with them came Mr. James Wilson, who, like most of the settlers of that period, amassed sufficient property to allow perfect ease with independence in old age. At the same period Mr. David Wisner settled in Romulus, and Mr. James McKnight in that portion of Romulus now called Varick. The success of the early settlers induced many to look with desire toward this county, and in the spring of 1793, thirty families had become residents of the southern part of the county. At this day it is difficult to conceive the privations and difficulties to which these early inhabitants were subjected. Indian corn, ground to a coarse meal, formed into a paste and boiled, served as food, with an occasional addition of potatoes. Many families subsisted cheerfully on these esculents for weeks. In proper season, venison would grace i c board, and bears’ meat was at times a delicacy. Their cattle would rouse in the woods, or feed through the summer months on the
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* Judge Sackett's address in 1842.

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natural grasses, giving note of their whereabout, by sonorous bell; in winter they would stray in search of food, and not unfrequently be lost.
In 1792, Mr. Silas Halsey of Southampton, on Long Island, embarked in a sloop for the city of New-York, accompanied by a hired man, and a negro servant. Having reached the city, he transferred his baggage to a sloop bound to Albany; crossing a portage from Albany to Schenectady, over the sand hills and plains, to avoid the Cohoes falls on the Mohawk. He purchased a batteaux at Schenectady, and ascended the river, “poling,” paddling and rowing to the place where Rome now stands. Here it was necessary to transport the batteaux on wheels to Wood creek, and again embarking descended the creek, passed through Oneida lake, Oneida and Seneca rivers, into Seneca lake. Skirting its eastern shore, Mr. Halsey reached “Cooley’s,” since known as Goff’s Point, and now as Lodi Landing—making a distance by this route, from his residence, of about five hundred miles. At Little Falls, Rome, Jack’s Rift, Seneca Falls, and Scauys, he was obliged to pass the falls and rapids by carrying his boat and baggage across the portages on wheels.
The season was favorable for exploration, and Mr. Halsey selecting a position on lot No. 37, in Ovid, commenced an improvement;” a small log house was erected, the under brush was cleared off, the stately oaks which for ages had shaded six or seven acres of land were deeply “girdled,” and the surface soil was strewed with wheat. This last operation was performed, without any previous cultivation, and the seed was harrowed in, with the rough wooded toothed barrow of that age; it was customary, however, to pass over the ground with the harrow from four to eight times’ and to cross harrow the fields.
Mr. Halsey, procured a quart of apple seeds from the Indian Orchard, at Cooley’s point, and planted them with care, forming probably the first nursery in this region. Having thusestablished his “ plant,” he prepared to return to his home onLong Island. Embarking in his batteau with his men, he passed theSeneca lake and river, and retraced the same route he traversed to reach this county.
In April, 1793, Mr. Halsey left Southampton with his family. On this occasion, his son, with his wife and children; and his son-in-law, with his family, joined the expedition, numbering in all eighteen persons. Embarking in three vessels they pursued the same route as travelled by Mr. Halsey in May, 1792.
After a laborious passage of six weeks, the party landed in the month of May at Cooley’s point, and soon reached their new home; here again, unfiring industry, frugality, with sound judgment, paved the way to prosperity

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and enjoyment. The neighbors nearest to the residence of Mr. Halsey were James Jackson, one and a half miles west; Elijah Kinne, four miles, north, at the point where the village of Ovid now crowns the beautiful hill; Andrew Dunlap, four miles north north-west; George Faussett, south south-west six miles ; Philip Trernain,south-east fifteen miles, at Goodwin’s point, on Cayuga lake; andDavid Wisner, north-east nine miles at Sheldrake point. All theintervening country was a dense wilderness, a mass of trees, shrubs, brush and weeds, so thick and impervious, that the rays of the summer’s sun could not penetrate at some points, nor could the eye range beyondthe distance of a few yards. This mass of trees and shrubs was occasionally broken by the Indian trail, or the corn fields of the Senecas; these,however, were chiefly on the margins of the lakes, leaving the highergrounds undisturbed except for hunting and trapping.
Judge Silas Halsey, with an enterprise and public spirit which distinguished him through a long and useful life, conceived and executed a plan for erecting a grist mill; it was erected on Lodi creek in the summer of 1.794, by the brothers John, Caspar and George Yost; this mill proved an essential comfort to every family, and a source of economy to all.
Before the erection of this mill, the nearest point where grain could be converted to flour, was the town or village of Rome, and one other near Penn-Yan. This latter mill was erected by the followers of Jemima Wilkinson, who left Connecticut in 1789, and following the track of General Clinton, by way of Otsego and Tioga point, reached Geneva in May, from thence, they cut a road to the outlet of Crooked lake, halting there, they made a permanent settlement and erected a grist mill in 1790.
It was at this mill, near Penn Yan, that the first bag of grain was ground in western New-York, and it was to this mill, that the first white inhabitants of Seneca county camewith their grists for several years, and until Judge Halsey builtthe mill above the falls of Lodi. Mr. Halsey died at the advanced age of ninety years.
From the year 1793 to 1800, the constant influx of settlers presented a demand sufficient to consume all the products of labor; yet so rapid was the return of value for the labor bestowed on the soil, that from the year 1800, an export of the surplus wheat and corn took place; Elmira (then Newtown,? was the shipping port, to which place the products were carried with difficulty over a path or track, which was little better than the Indian trail. When the melting ice and snows had filled the river to its upper banks, arks and floats conveyed the articles to towns and villages on the Susquehannab. The returns yielded a profit of fifty cents per bushel to the producer.
The first public meeting of the town of Ovid was held in 1794, at which


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Judge Halsey presided as Justice of the peace,he was elected Supervisor, and overseers of the highway werechosen, being the first occasion for such officers, as no highwaysexisted by authority before that date, each farmer cut his ownroad as convenience suggested. It forms a strong contrast with theaction of the present day, to notice on the record that six pounds! were voted at this meeting as an appropriation for the support ofthe poor.
About the year 1800, several families had settled in the eastern portion of Ovid, now called Covert. A track had been opened from Ithaca to Goodwin’s point, thence to Trumansburg and across the county to a tavern kept by Peter Smith, two miles east of Lodi; passing Judge Halsey’s it opened into the main trail leading along the banks of Seneca lake to Geneva.
Peter Smith, who resided on this road came from Pennsylvania in 1789, early in April, and located on lot number seven. Mr. Smith died on this lot in 1829. Mr. A. Boarman, arrived in this county in the winter of 1799—1800,    and in the following spring Erastus Woodworth, accompanied by his father, brothers and a sister, traversing the interior of Massachusetts, followed the course of the Mohawk river to Utica, with a team of horses, two yoke of oxen and several cows, they made their way westward through the wilderness and reached a solitary log house, looking drearily overthe position where .now stands the beautiful and busy village of Auburn;continuing their progress, they beheld before them the bright Cayugalake, and at the point where is the village of Levana, they embarked in small boats, landing on the Seneca shore opposite to Himrod’s point, they soon found the desired position for a permanent residence, which was purchased, and with subsequent additions, soon brought content,happiness and wealth sufficient for them and for a long line of worthydescendants. The horses and cattle passed round the head of the lake,entering Covert at Trumansburg. About this time Mr. John Letts arrivedfrom New Jersey, and settled in the southern pan of the county.
From this period the accession of inhabitants was rapid. The men who had early entered upon the soil were generally a hardy, energetic race, being actuated by motives and circumstances very similar, they felt a mutual dependence, and kindest sympathies, the one for the other. By well directed efforts they sustained themselves and each other in the difficult task of opening and subduing the forests, and laying the foundation of future wealth.
It is due to the early settlers of every town in the county, to record the fact, that with their industry andenergy, they brought with them also prin-

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ciples of rectitude, an instinctive perceptionof right and wrong, with a knowledge of moral duties, most important to their success and welfare.
As early as 1793, missionaries found a welcomehome in these wild woodlands, where by judicious advice and wholesome instructions, they early formed centers of morality, from which its benign influences have been extended to every subdivision of thecounty, exerting a present influence to prevent error and vice, andinculcate knowledge and truth.

CHAPTER VIII.

To the present generation it may seem incredible, that in the year 1790, only nine hundred and sixty human beings dwelt between the Seneca lake and Niagra river; that in 1792 not a resident could be found established between the Seneca and Cayuga shores, on the line of travel between the Cayuga ferry and Geneva; that twenty log houses and four frame buildings gave the name of village to the now beautiful Geneva. Such was the condition of this region only sixty years ago. But a few years earlier Horatio Jones rested on the banks of Seneca river, where the spindles and looms of Waterloo now speed through their daily duty. He had been long a captive among the Indians, had learned their language, and adopted in part their habits and customs. It was in 1784 that he remained for a season trading goods for furs. Two young men from Connecticut found their way in 1785, with packs of goods, to Canoga, there trading and trafficking for awhile with the natives. These men were traders, and cannot be ranked amongthe early settlers. The first resident in the northern part of the county of whom there is any record, was James Bennett, a native of Northumberland, in Pennsylvania. Mr. Bennett arrived at the town of Washington, (nowFayette,) in the year 1789, and among his first operations establisheda ferry across the Cayuga lake, a short distance south of the presentbridge. Mr. Bennett died in 1827, leaving behind him a large family anda suflicient property.
When General Sullivan returned with his army from the Genesee Valley, and reached the Seneca lake, he detached one hundred men under Col. Gansevoort, to examine the country eastward of the lake. In this detachment was Lawrence Van Cleef, who, when the detachment encamped at Seneca Falls, looked at the rapids, noticed the fall of water, and surveyed the surrounding landscape covered with stately oaks, with feelings of surprise and delight. While standing on the brink of the rapids, the resolution was formed, that as soonas the sound of the trumpet and drum should


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be stilled by peace, he would settle at this delightful spot. Peace followed, and Mr. Van Cleef, with his family, arrived at the falls early in the summer of 1789. Here he lived a hardy man, too generous to become rich, and died in 1830. When Mr. Van Cleef erected his log cabin at the falls, Mr. John Green established himself on the farm since occupied by Mr. Samuel Lundy, in the town of Waterloo.
The rapids of the Seneca river at Scauys, or Scauas, attracted an industrious population to its vicinity, and a village soon sprang into being. It had advanced so rapidly that the need of a grist mill was much felt. Mr. Samuel Bear determined to erect one of good dimensions, sufficient to supply the wants of all the neighboring country. The brothers Yost were the mill-wrights, whoapplied themselves diligently upon the frame work, that it might becovered early in the season. The posts and girths, the sills and plates,in short every piece was accurately worked, and was ready to be framed, when it was discovered that all the force of the neighborhood wasinadequate to raise the first bent. Mr. Yost was in the constant habit of attending church at Geneva, and while in that place mentioned hisdilemma to the officiating minister, who advised Mr. Yost to have boatsprepared and in readiness at Geneva on the following Sunday. The dayarrived, and after the services were ended, the minister explained the case to his hearers, when a suggestion was made that every willinghand should at once be lent to a work of such necessity to the welfareof all. The proposition was adopted by acclamation, the boats were manned,and before darkness had shnt out the day, the last bent was raised andthe whole frame pinned together. Order, quietness, and propriety prevailed, and the citizens of Ontario returned to their homes, conscious of doing good to their fellow-men, unconscious of error, and trusting that themotive and intention would be viewed with lenity, if not with entireapprobation.
The extreme northern towns, Junius and Tyre, though possessing fertile lands, and a soil more easily cultivated than the heavy clays lying south of Seneca river, were not settled as rapidly as the towns bordering on the direct track of emigration.
Seneca Falls at an early day became a center for industrial occupation; the rapids of the river offering a motive power of great value, ingenuity, talent and industry assembledat this point, and accumulation of capital with consequent resultsare strongly marked, in the array of productive in dustry as set forth in the statistics of the county.
Waterloo is of more recent origin, and for a time was held in check by speculations, which in some degree interfered with the title and perfect con-

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veyance of the soil. This impediment having been removed, the village is now bounding forward, and will take rank among the prosperous and vigorous villages of western New-York;this is evidenced by the increase of population of the town sincethe former census, being a gain of 771; a larger gain than is observedin any other section of the county.
Junius, directly north of Waterloo, became thefavored resting place and home of many prudent, cautious menfrom the east; among them were the family of Southwicks, Carmans,Liskes, Colemans, and others who were early settlers.
The town of Tyre occupies the north-east corner of the county, into which the first settlers entered in 1794; itwas at that time a dense forest, where dwelled the grizly bear, andthe fierce wild Indian, too savage to associate with his tribe, livingalmost as an out-east on the small islands amid the swamps and marshesof Tyre, and on the borders of the river.
The first white man who settled within the limits of Tyre, was Ezekiel Crane, who, with his wife and one or two children, left New Jersey in 1794, and selected the lot No. 48 for their future residence. It has been remarked by Mrs. Crane, that duringthe first twelve months of her residence in Tyre, she never beheldthe face of a white female. In the following year Stephen Crane, (abrother to Ezekiel,) with his wife, her father and mother, named Pegarmo,two sons named Peter and Ezra Degarmo, arrived and settled on the samelots; at the same time Asher Halsey joined the new settlement.
The next settlers were Robert Goold, Thomas Sasson, Lewis Winans, Thomas W. Roosevelt and others.
In 1802, Asa Smith arrived from Vermont, he cleared a piece of ground, sowed it with wheat, erected a comfortable log house and returned to Vermont. In April, 1803, he left the Vermont hills for western New-York. His caravan consisted of himself, his wife, five daughters and one son, the latter is Jason Smith, now of Tyre, and for several years a Vice-President and an active member of thecounty Agricultural Society. They reached their new home in the untrodforest, and found themselves farther advanced in the wilderness than anyother white family, subjected consequently to intrusions from the wanderingIndians; as an old trail passed near the house, they were often affrightedby a savage head peering through the window, or the muzzle of a riflepresented with a request for food or tobacco such was the position of apioneer family in this county in 1803.
Among the Indians who had been permitted to roam freely among the white inhabitants and receive aid and kindness from all, was an elderly Seneca called “old Indian John,” he was tolerated for his age, but not


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esteemed, as his passions were strong and under no subjection; being an experienced hunter, his rifle and knife were worthy of close observation and his skill of imitation. As thefrosts of autumn stripped the forests of their gay attire, men preparedfor the chase, the Indian and white man alike were incited to preparetheir store before the deep snows of winter should drive the game away,or render it more difficult to approach. It was at this season thatold Indian John and Mr. George Phadoc agreed to share in the season’shunt. Well prepared, they erected a bark cabin on the banks of the Blackbrook.
Several days of successful hunting were followed by a sudden change on the part of “old Indian John.” The wellfatted deer passed him unharmed, the wild birds screamed defianceto his ball, his rifle refused to give its sharp, quick report;sullenly he viewed the fall of game laid low by the true aim ofMr. Phadoc, his eye became fierce with rising passion, the idea of necromancy took possession of his brain, jealousy was roused tohatred, and heated to revenge.
It was after an unsuccessful hunt on the part of the Indian, on the 11th of December, that both returned to their cabin for rest ; leaving the game killed by Mr. Phadoc, to be brought in the next morning. The wily Indian was thwarted in every hope of revenge during that night, and disappointment added torture to his maddened brain. On the morning of the 12th December, Mr. Phadocdeparted from the cabin at an early hour to bring in a deer, which had been shot the evening previous; returning to the cabin door and stooping to unburthen himself, a rifle ball passed through the game,slightly wounding his side: he instantly drew his tomahawk, intendingto despatch old John, but a second thought induced him to seize hisrifle and hasten to the white man’s abode for relief. Having reached Mr. Asa Smith’s residence, the family were alarmed, fearing the wellknown rage of the old Indian: in their alarm every tree seemed to shelteror hide a foe, but the Indian did not leave the cabin, he re-loaded hisrifle, and in patience awaited an opportunity to indulge his ferociousdesire for revenge.
Mr. Ezekiel Crane, the earliest settler of Tyre, had successfully opened the forest, and the earth had begun to yield a full recompense to his toils. His wife, who patientlyhad shared the dangers and privations of pioneer life, now rejoiced in comforts and comparative indulgence, which gave to the past adreamy existence, a feeling of almost doubt, whether such scenes andhardship could be endured and life continue. Thus happy in the increase of wealth, Crane determined to increase his real estate, and on the morning of Phadoc’s disaster, accompanied by Ezra Degarmo, they intended to ex-


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amine the country for a few miles west, and select such portions as would probably be productive. Well acquaintedwith Phadoc and old Indian John, and knowing their arrangements fortaking game, Mr. Crane determined to stop at their cabin and procuresuch venison as might be spared. Reaching Black brook, they approached the cabin; Mr. Crane tapped at the door, and in an instant a rifle ball penetrated his left breast and lodged in his left shoulder. He fell apparently dead. Young Degarmo was unable to remove or carryhim off, and fearing that any delay would jeopardize his own life, hehastened to rouse the neighborhood and carry the first tidings of thesad event to the family of Mr. Crane. In the meantime Mr. Crane, thoughmortally wounded, was able to reach the dwelling of Mr. Asa Smith, wherehe lingered for five days, and death released him from great suffering.
Toward evening of the day on which Mr. Crane was shot, the hardy woodsmen assembled, intending to capture theIndian, that he might be punished by the laws of the land, rightlyjudging that punishment thus applied, carried with it a terror fargreater and more abiding in its consequences than ever flows fromhasty illegal acts of individuals. Waiting until darkness might covertheir movements, the cabin was earefully approached under cover of the huge trees of the forest. The old Indian was seen standing at the door; with characteristic sagacity, anticipating an attack, his keeneye, quickly discovered the motion of dark objects in the distance, andhe instantly made the woods ring with the war whoop and shouts of defiance. Impressed with the danger of taking him alive, without the sacrificeof some one or more of the assailing party, it was difficult to restrainthe younger men from shooting him as he stood.
With a knowledge of Indian character, the older men had procured the assistance of three friendly Indians, by whose means the old man was first brought to a parley and finally seized, overpowered, and bound.  He was carried to the dwelling of Mr. Smith, and there met Phadoc. The old man’s rage rose to a pitch of fury at sight of his intended victim. Impotent for harm, a reaction took place, and though he maintained a deadly hatred against Phadoc, he expressed unfeigned sorrow for the death of Mr. Crane. OldIndian John was placed in an apartment constructcd within the eastern abutment of Cayuga bridge. The, severity of the winter made it necessary to send him for safety to the jail at Canandaigua. In 1804 he was tried and convicted of the murder. lie suffered the penalty of the law at Aurora, in Cayuga county, exhibiting in his last moments oneof the superstitious characteristics of the Indian. While on the platform it was observed that a pipe and portion of leaf tobacco were in hisbelt, prepared,
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as he informed the officers present, to smoke the calumet of peace with Mr. Crane, when they should meet in the spirit world.
The execution of this man produced a wholesomeeffect upon the Indians yet lingering in this region. The largestportion removed immediately to the more distant wilderness, whilethe few who remained were passive and became in a degree useful laborers.


No. 150.]    403

GEOGRAPHY.
With the increase of population, advancing with a force unknown on any other portion of the globe, the relations of the country to the early settlements required frequent changes for the ready administration of government, with regard both to public law and policy. About fifty-eight years after the first attempt to establish a colony on the shores of New Amsterdam, it became indispensable to create divisions and subdivisions of territory. Accordingly, on the first day of November, 1683, by a law of the colony, the following ten counties were organized, viz: Suffolk, Queens, Kings, Richmond, New-York, West Chester, Dutchess, Orange, Ulster, and Albany. Each western county embraced the territory of the wilderness to the limits of the State, and was circumscribed from time to time by the erection of new counties, the organization of which served to define the western, northern and southern bounds of the county, from which the new territory was taken, 1772. — The contests of England and France for power at home, and for the trade of this country, retarded for many years the opening and peopling of the forests, the battle fields of the contending European powers seemed for a time to be transfered to the new world, and for near a century restrained the associations of men to the neighborhood of the earlysettled villages and towns. The waters of the Mohawk had long been an easyroute through the wilderness as far as Canajoharie, and tempted hardy, courageousmen to make their homes near its banks. In 1772 it became expedient to extendto these advanced settlers the ready protection of law, and facility forthe enjoyment of every constitutional right. To effect this a new countywas erected, taken from Albany county, then called Tryon county, and afterwardsknown as Montgomery county, This occurred just prior to the revolutionarystruggle, a period which paralyzed for the time the advance of civilizationbeyond existing populous neighborhoods. Within a few years after the achievementof the freedom of the people, emigration once more flowed rapidly overwestern lands. In 1791 the new counties of ilerkimer, Otsego, Tioga andOntario, were taken from Montgomery; in 1798 Oneida and part of Chenangowere also taken from Montgomery; in 1802 0-enesee was set off from Ontario,and subsequently in 1821, Livingston and Monroe, and again in 1823, Yateswas taken from Ontario. From Genesee was taken Allegany in 1806; Cattaraugus,Chautauque, and Niagara in 1808, and Orleans in
1824.

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Other divisions have been made since the year 1824,but the foregoing exhibits the links or chain of organization direet from the waters of the’ Hudson to the Niagara river.
The direct chain of organization of the county of Seneca is from Albany, the original colony, from whence was derived Tryon, or Montgomery, in 1772; thence Herkimer, 1791 ; from Herkimer was derived Onondaga, in.
1794. Cayuga was organized from Onondaga, ‘in 1799,and Seneca was. erected into a county in 1804, taken from Cayuga.The boundaries of the county as ordained by statute, are as follows:* “The county of Seneca shall contain all that part of this State,bounded on the north by the county of Wayne, on the east by the countyof Cayuga, on the south by the county of Tompkins, and on the westby the west shore of the Seneca lake, and from the north end of saidlake, by the pre-emption line as established by law.” A description sovague and defective, without reference to a single determinate point, cannot be well comprehended, or determine the limits of any portionof territory. Difficulties had arisen between New-York and Massachusetts,in relation to the region of country lying west of the Seneca lake, alarge portion of which was claimed by Massachusetts. These diffi-culties were happily adjusted in 1786, by concessions on both sides; New— Yorkretained the jurisdiction, while Massachusetts secured the pre-emptive right to the soil, or the right to the fee of the territory upon giving to the Indians such compensation for removal as would satisfy them.In order to establish the eastern limit of "the right," thus conferred on Massachusetts, it was ordered that a line should be run due north from the eighty-second mile stone, on the north boundary of Pennsylvania to the British posses-sions in Canada. And it is this line which is designated as the western boundary of the northern part of the county of Seneca.It does not appear that any observations have been made to establish thetrue position of this line relatively to any meridian. Yet for the purposes of this survey calcu-lations have been made, based upon observations said to be made at adja-cent points, by which it appears that the pre-emptionline is about one mile east of the meridian of Washington. The geographicallimits of the county may be defined as extending from 42 deg. 33 min.,to 43 deg. 1 min. of north latitude, and from 55 to 76 dog. west of London.The west-ern shores are washed by the clear waters of Seneca lake, a distanceof thirty-nine miles; and the eastern shores by the Cayuga lake, nearlythe same distance.
When the county was organized in the year 1804, by an act passed on
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*Revised Statutes chap. 2, title 1, page 14, vol. 3, second edition.

No. 150.]    405
he 24th of March, its extent and limits comprised (he towns of Ovid, Romulus, Fayette, and Junius. The towns of Ovidand Romulus had been organized as parts of Ontario county, by thegeneral sessions, pursuant to an act passed on the 27th of January,1789. Fayette had been organ-ized as part of Cayuga county, on the4th of March, 1800, and taken from Romulus. It then bore the name ofWashington. This name was changed to Fayette, by an act passed on the6th of April, 1808. Junius was taken from the town of Washington, (Fayette,) and organized by an act passed on the 12th. February 1803.
Since the erection of the county, several towns have been created by a division of the older and larger towns. In (he year 1817, Covert was taken from Ovid, and in 1826 Covert was divided, and the town of Lodi was de-rived from the western portion..
Junius was divided in the year 1829, giving rise tothe towns of Tyre, Waterloo, and Seneca Falls, and again in 1830a northern portion of Romu-lus was organized as the town of Varick.
The county now comprises ten towns; taking them in alphabetical order they are Covert, Fayette, Junius, Lodi, Ovid, Romulus, Seneca Falls, Tyre, Varick, and Waterloo. The whole county covers an area of 197,500 acres. The territory is apportioned to the several towns as follows:



The taxes imposed on this valuation, and on personal property, (which is estimated at $744,924,) annually for county, town, road, and school taxes, forms an aggregate of about $24,000..
To facilitate the administration of justice, it wasfound expedient, in the year 1822, to divide the county into twojury districts, the courts being



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held alternately at the court house in Waterloo and in Ovid. The northern jury district comprizes the towns of Fayette, Waterloo, Seneca Falls, Junius, and Tyre. The number ofgrand jurors in this district is one huddred and seventy-two, ofpetit jurors five hundred and ninety-four.
The Southern district comprises Covert, Lodi, Ovid, Romulus and Yarick, with one hundred and fifty-seven grand jurors, and seven hundred and sixteen petit jurors.
ROADS. - When the Indian trail or foot path led the hardy citizen into this county, and at a period so recent that, the man yet lives who trod those very paths before any road was made; the most valuable products of this region were, furs or peltry,which were transported on the backs of Indian men and women, to pointswhere traders assembled.
Often would the tangled briars and underwood obstruct their progress, or the treacherous swamp and precipitous ravine compel them to traverse an extended circuit. Soon, however, the rich rewards of labor, applied to a soil full of the elements of fertility, taught the cultivator the necessity fer unobstructed, easy and rapid means of communication with the more populous country and active markets of the sea-board.
The face of the county had been surveyed and for the most part laid out in lots of about one mile square, presenting division lines running north and south, and at right angles eastand west ; it was deemed advisable to adopt a system or net work ofroads conforming to the lot lines, as most convenient, uniform anddirect for all useful purposes; accordingly the roads are generallyco-incident with the lines of town lots, presenting parallel avenuesthrough the length and breadth of the county, about one mile asunder.
By this uniform system every branch of industry is encouraged and promoted; economy is a necessary consequence; and the diminished cost of agricultural products, proves generally to be a profit to the farmer.
In the early spring of the year, when the frost leaves the soil, and in the autumn when the rains loosen it, the roads have been at times imnpassable, at other seasons they are firm and smooth, being kept in excellent repair under the existing regulations of the highway laws.
To avoid the delays and consumption of labor when frost and rains affect roads; the construction of a plank flooring has been adopted and has found general favor; private enterprize founded on the belief of emolument and public utility, has entered uponthe formation of plank roads ; several are in progress from the thrivingvillage of Waterloo, extending north into Wayne Co., south and towardOvid, other similar roads branch off from the manufacturing village ofSeneca Falls, and more recently a plank road has been laid along the

No. 150.]    407
shore of Seneca lake from Geneva, across the outlet, passing through Rose Hill it reaches the border of Varick. The beauty, of the lake, the scenery of its shores, its bright transparent waters, its banks clothed with the richest verdure, and studded with edifices replete with comfort; their inmates given to hospitality; these advantages offer to the stranger and visitor one of the mostagreeable rides, and enchanting scenes of which the nation can boast.
The lines of the Albany and Buffalo railroad, and a branch of the Eric canal passing through the northern towns; the navigable lakes bounding either side of the county; the New-York and Erie railroad in direct connection with Seneca lake, the Ithaca and Owego road in communication with the Caynga lake; all present constant and direct communications with New-York and Boston, and every intermediate market on the Atlantic coast, and also with the great northern andwestern lakes and country. There is a remarkable feature, characteristic of Seneca lake, which is of inestimable value to the region round about; this lake maintains a temperature through the winter months, which prevents the accumulation of ice, and affords a permanent, available channel of intercourse with the north and south, and direct communicationbetween New-York and Buffalo, in sixteen to twenty hours.
This peculiarity of temperature is explained in the chapter on springs. The formation of the bottom of the lake is given in the annexed diagram and the depth of water at the points indicated.



It will be perceived that the greatest depth is off Starkey’s point and measures 630 feet below the surface.The surface of its waters is 431 feet above Albany, 447 feet abovethe ocean, and 216 feet above lake Ontario. The greatest depth is183 feet below the surface of the ocean. According to a series of observations, the mean temperature of the lake, near its surface and for twelvemonths was 53 91/100 degree. At the depth of 80 feet it is about
480.    The lowest mean temperature was in the month of February, being then 340, the highest inAugust, when it was 76 degree. Neither shoals nor bars oppose thenavigation of this lake. At is northern extremity the waters haveencroached upon the land, wearing the banks; their farther advance

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is arrested by a sea wall erected by the State, to protect the canal which passes between the lake and the track of the railroad.
Seneca lake is thirty-nine miles in length, and about four miles wide, at its broadest point. The annexed sketch of the lake gives the position of the principal landing places, and the usualtrack of the steamboats is marked by the dotted line—the distance betweeneach landing is as follows:

Geneva to Dresden    14    miles.
Dresden to Baileytown or Ovid Landing    5    do
Baileytown to Lodi Landing    4    do
Lodi to Milo Landing    5    do
Milo to Starkey and Dundee Landing    3    do
Starkey to Big Stream Point    4    do
Big Stream to Hector Falls    8    do
Hector Falls to Jefferson Railroad Station    3    do

The formation of the county does not admit the collection of waters on its surface in sufficient quantities to form rivers. Melting snows and the union of springs have caused waters to run for a season down the slopes of the elevated lands in the southcrn towns, formingprecipices and ravines. The only perpetual stream in the county is theSeneca river—its waters are derived originally from the lake, and flowingin a direction about E. N. E., supply the various manufactories, mills,and machinery, with useful power at Waterloo ; thence it flows on toSeneca Falls, where it is again applied to give force and motion to extensivemachinery; from these falls it rolls on until it mingles with the watersof Cayuga lake, and running north, passes Montezuma; then stretchingthrough the counties of Cayuga and Onondaga its waters join the Oswegoriver, falling into Lake Ontario at Oswego.
Big Creek is an unimportant stream, which receives a portion of the sur-face waters of Romulus, Varick, and Fayette, taking anortherly direction, parallel with the lakes, and about two mileseast of Seneca lake, it falls into Seneca river at the farm of Mr.Jacob Kendig.
A rivulet of some importance and notoriety rises in the eastern part of Fayette, near the village of Canoga. The main supply issues from a pool, fifteen feet in diameter; the water is pure, leaving no sediment or deposit; pursuing its rapid course to Cayuga lake, giving power to several mills for grinding grain and sawing lumber. A curious featureof the pool is the quantity of nitrogen gas which escapes, at times givingto the water the appearance of ebullition. The spring is further noticedin the chapter on springs. This rivulet, and its locality obtains somenotoriety from a tree, not far from its banks, under which the celebrated sachem Red

No. 150.]    409
Jacket was born; a tree which he visited in his old age, with feelings alike honorable to his head and heart.
Lodi Creek is a stream fed from the high lands of the southern bounds, of the county; when swollen with rains or melted snows,it sweeps down its shaly bed, bounding over the rapids until it reaches the farm and mills of Mr. Nicholl H. Wyckoff, where it pours over aprecipice, falling into a basin about one hundred and sixty feet below.The steep and rocky sides of this glen are filled with objects of interestto the man of science, and to all who love a wild, rude scenery, clothedwith verdure, ornamented with flowers of every tint, and checkered withlight and shadow, as the sun-beams force their way through the dense andentangled foliage. Here and there, on the margin of this stream, are gristmills of admirable construc-tion; their solid structure of stone, enoughweather beaten to carry the marks of age, rising from groves of aged trees,might readily bring to mind the feeling of awe mingled with pleasure, which,in youthful days, would invest the lofty banks and frowning rocks with fairies,satyrs, and an elfin race these twilight feelings, once so prevalent., arenearly blotted from the mind, by instruction and education ; they have givenplace to thought, and reason, unceasingly occupied in objects of utilityand the means of subsistence.
Cayuga lake, with its sparkling waters, washes gently the eastern shore of the county. This beautiful sheet of watcr is not so great in volume as Seneca lake, neither is the temperature of the wateras high, which proba-bly arises from a lesser depth of water, and thesupply being derived from sources nearer to the surface of the earth thanthose which spring into the basin of the Seneca lake.
The annexed diagram exhibits the form of the Cayuga basin, in the di-rection of its length, with the depth of the water at the points indicated.



The depth of water off Springport is about twenty-five feet. At one mile south of this point, it is thirty-six feet deep; the water deepens rapidly,  and between Aurora and the opposite western shore, the lead escaping the edge of the rock strata, sinks to a depth. of near three hundred feet; the bluff edges of the rock frequentlylead to error in sounding.


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Off Shcldrake Point, on the Seneca shore, the water is shallow, the point jutting out far into the lake forms a narrow strip of earth of a texture seemingly tenacious or adhesive. Asingular flexibility is attributed to the extreme portions of it,by the inhabitants of the neighborhood, who maintain that it shiftsits position, curving to the northward or southward as the wind prevailsfrom the one or the other direction. The deepest water of this lakeis found near to Myers’ Point, about four miles south of Himrod's Point, and toward the eastern shore. At this place the lead reaches the bottomat a depth of three hundred and ninety-six feet. The basin riscs from thispoint rather abruptly, as will be seen by reference to the diagram. *
The surface of this lake freezes in the winterseason, so far as to impede navigation occasionally. This basin,like that of Seneca lake, is probably supplied with water by therain falling on the surface of the surrounding country, which, passingthrough the seams and fissures of the rocks, rushes into the basinbelow the surface of the lake. No streams of any magnitude flow intothis lake; at Springport, a valuable flow of water gushes from theearth, giving power sufficient for machinery.
Both the Seneca and Cayuga lakes have aboundedwith the much es teemed white fish, weighing from five to tenpounds ; numbers are taken annually to grace the tables of thewealthy and luxurious in the large cities. Trout are abundant; twovarieties of bass fish are esteemed ; and besides these, pike and perch abound, and eels of great size are numerous.
During the summer months the bosom of the Cayuga is studded here and there with the white canvass of sloops and schooners, engaged in transporting commodities from shore to shore, or from one extreme to its opposite. Steamboats of rare excellence divide the waters with their swift keels, hurrying the man of business or of pleasure from the great markets of the sea coast, to the cities and villages of the distant west, or carrying the merchant and trader of the west to the great centers of commerce, into which all nations now pour their fabrics and works of ingenuity and art.
Cayuga lake extends from north to south, aboutthirty-eight and a half miles. The traveller from Ithaca reachesLudlowville, a distance of seven miles, and at two and a half milesfarther north he passes Goodwin’s Point:
Kidder’s Ferry, or Port Kidder, is seventeen and a quarter miles from Ithaca, and two miles south of SheldrakePoint; Aurora, one of the most beautiful villages in the State, istwenty-six miles from Ithaca; Levana is two miles further north, andSpringport is four and a half miles north of Levana. A few miles onwardis the terminus of the Cayuga bridge, a
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 *The soundings of Cayuga lake are taken from Mr. Van Nuxem's Geological Report, and the traditions obtained from residents on its borders. Many persons assert that the depths of the Seneca and Cayuga lakes are far greater than is stated inthis work.

No. 150.]    411
structure of vast importance in the early settlement of the country beyond Caynga. In the year 1790, and until 1798, a ferry existed at this point; it was established by Col. John Harris who relinquished his rights to an association, chartered for the purpose of erecting a bridge. It was completed and opened on the 4th of July, 1800 ; its length was one mile and ten rods, resting upon piles.In five years, decay rendered the bridge insecure, and in 1807 it fellinto the lake. Speculative views interfered with the public good; chancery suits were invoked to protect supposed rights; the charter was forfeited; legislative relief restored all former rights, under due restrictions, and a new bridge was erected in 1812—13, at a cost of $44,000. This structure yielded to the effects of weather, storms and tempests, in 1833, giving place to the bridge now spanning the lake. The existing bridge cost about $16,000, and it is to be regretted that though now in good repair, and deemed secure, yet within the last year or two it has at times been impassable , giving presage of early destruction.
It has been remarked that no streams of any magnitude flow into either the Seneca or Cayuga lakes; yet the discharge from Seneca lake, giving rise to the Seneca river, is so great as to arrest attention, and to suggest frequently the inquiry, whence is this great body of water derived ?
The surface of Crooked lake is 271 feet above the Seneca lake waters. The flow from Crooked lake empties through the outlet near Dresden ; this outlet presents the form or figure shown in the following diagram:



The velocity of the current through this outlet is 132 feet per minute, which is equal to one and a half miles per hour. The quantity of water discharged is 144,065 gallons per minute. The volume of water discharged from Seneca lake into the river is equal to 232,306 gallons per minute.
The difference proving that 88,241 gallons perminute must be contributed by springs.*  The form and dimensions of the outlet of Seneca lake are given in the following diagram:



_____________________________________________
* The waters received into the lake, from the Chemung canal, are not included in the estimates of quantities-supposing them to be balanced by the discharge at Geneva, through the Cayuga and Seneca canal.


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[ASSEMBLY
The span of the bridge over the outlet is eighty-two feet ; the western side is choked with sand, reducing the water course to seventy-two feet.
The percolation of rain through the slaty formation of this region has been considered under the head of springs, and needs no further illustration here, except to add that columns of water are known to rise from the bottom of the lake, with a force sufficient to cause a slight yet perceptible elevation on its placid surface;and when bathers have passed through these ascending columns, the cold has benumbed their limbs, warning them that danger attends a repeated experiment.

Waste Lands.

There is a feature which mars the general beauty of the northeastern town of this county, and its continued existence is strangely inconsistent with the energy and forecast of the farmers of Tyre.
Not less than six thousand acres of land are useless in the town of Tyre. They are worse than useless, for diseaseand decay have their haunts and fastnesses in that unfrequentedplace, dragging their slimy lengths along the miry channels, nndwith unwholesome breath they bid defiance to the boldest pioneer.The adjoining counties of Wayne and Cayuga are alike and equally interested in the removal of this pest, and it needs but a true presentation of the value of the wide area lying waste, to find and apply the remedy.
The soils of the northeastern lots of Tyre are, for many months of the year, overflowed by the waters from the Canandaigua, Seneca, and Caynga lakes, all pressing along the margin of Seneca river, without finding a sufficient outlet for their discharge. For a period unknown, vegetable remains have been collected in strata, now measuring many feet in depth. From year to year this deposit increases, and is generally saturated with water, even in the driest season itoffers a treacherous support to the foot. The soil is black, changingto a brown color when dried by heat. The underlying earthy surface isa marl, rich in carbonate of lime. The moisture which surrounds everyfibre of the vegetable mass, contains an acid, and as the subsoil is calcareous,the acid tends to decompose the iron which is naturally present in marshes or bogs, (sulphate of iron,) and causes the production of sulphate of lime. This is not mentioned as uniformly, but as frequently occurring, and as one of the causes of unusual crops ef corn, where the planterhas previously composted this marsh mud and then applied it as a top-dressing to his corn hills, deriving signal advantage by rapid growth and large products.
Many have indulged the vain hope of reclaimingthese marshes by individual exertion, without a general and thorough drainage. Such attempts

No. 150]    413
are useless, and will ever produce loss to thesanguine farmer. Vegitation cannot be perfectly developed ina soil merely vegetable, and rendered noxious to cultivated plantsby its poisonous acid; the soil must first be altered by the artof man.
The extensive area of waste lands in Tyre, andthe submerged lands adjoining, must at an early day claim attention, and be brought to a condition which shall add wealth and power to the counties in which they lie. There is no reason to doubt the easy accomplishment of this object. The face of the country, the fall and course of Seneca river, indicate the method by which to drain the basin retaining the vast amount of waters; which being done, it willrest with the skill of the farmer to furnish the vegetable soil with suchother elements as will promote and support vigorous life in the varioususeful and profitable farm products. The underlying marls, with theneighboring lime kilns of Fayette and Seneca Falls, with the accustomed industry of the farmers, would in .a few years make the present marshes to yield abundant and remunerating crops.
Thorough drainage must precede any attempt at cultivation, it must be complete, taking off all water from the entire massof vegetable deposit, thereby allowing it to become firm, solid,and ready for the art of the husbandman.
In the town of Varick, nearly eight hundred acres of surface have been permitted to lie waste, and at times throw off the seeds of disease upon the surrounding farms. This swamp or bog is usually known as the “ Cranberry swamp.” The underlying slaterock forms a basin of no great depth, into which a vegetable deposit has fallen and accumulated. This basin sheds its surplus waters, by openings on its eastern margin into the Cayuga lake. Resting upon elevated ground, the town of Varick suffers much from this collection of water, and but for this drawback, Varick would in all respects be equal to the most fertile districts.
There is no apparent impediment to the easy reclamation of this cranberry swamp, the expense of which would be well repaid in a very few years by the ample products of its now useless area.
With the foregoing exceptions, there is no waste land in this county. The increasing value of all well cultivated fields in the vicinity of these swamps, will necessarily draw attention to the subject, and will produce probably a combined action or effort of the several contiguous counties, to reclaim an area of an extent so great, and composed of materials so useful as to present objects for reasonable profit unattended by delay.

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[ASSEMBLY
INDUSTRIAL PURSUITS.

In the United States, freedom and security areenjoyed to an extent unknown in other nations; and it seems asif one element of happiness alone remains incomplete, causing adiversity of condition among the people; it is the degree of plentyin its broad signification, which varies the quantum of enjoymentof individuals.
The condition of man upon this globe does not,however, admit of equal degrees of plenty, and a few remarksupon the distribution of happiness or the possession of plentyamong the various classes may be acceptable and gratifying to the farmer.
Subsistence is derived origin ally and solely from the soil ; all food is produced from the soil. The possessorsof the soil, therefore, control the great and principal elementof happiness; and it is the excess of their production, beyond their wants, which warms into existence other occupations than husbandry, and encourages other talent to be exerted for the production of objects of ingenuity, comfort or luxury, which may be given in exchange for the farmers surplus products.
It is evident that by this arrangement the farmer is excited to increase his products from year to year that he may indulge in more varied comforts or gratify a taste for ornament and luxury, which growing habits soon erect into necessaries oflife those persons who from disinclination or other disability donot or cannot possess a portion of the soil are thus, also called into action, and receive, directly or indirectly from the cultivator ofthe ground, the necessaries of life or means for subsistence, giving for theta what the farmer thinks he stands in need of: or like the merchant, the means for his subsistence may be derived, in the form of compensation for his exertions and labor in the distribution of surplus products.
Thus it is that artificial desires have acted as stimulants to industry and long continued habit has now established a wholesome mutual dependence of all classes upon each other,and the degree of plenty is governed by the greater industry andbetter talent that may he nsed or exerted. The artificial desiresappertaining to this age are strongly illustrated by the fact that, multitudes of men obtain their subsistence by distributing objects whichin thcmselves are useless, or positively injurious, for instance, tobaccois an article unfit for the preservation or continuance of life in anydegree, and has no claim upon man for its use, other than is derived fromfashion, idle indulgence, or a vitiated appetite. Yet this article givesa powerful impetus to

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productive and distributive industry, as appears from the public documents of 1850; in which it is shown thatan amount of tobacco has been exported from the United Statesin the year ending on the 30th of June, valued at more than nine anda half millions of dollars. Multitudes of other articles equallyuseless or non-essential, make up a large portion of trade and commerce, and may be ranked under the same class of stimuli founded chieflyon the habits of the farmer. Here let it be remembered that the farmingpopulation of the United States amount in number to 17,500,000 whilethe remainder of the population divided into many classes and vocations, are in number only 5,500,000.
The inquiring farmer will not fail to observe that though his own indulgence must have been the first active cause for this condition of life, he is now the recipient of the largest share of advantages springing from it. The advance of knowledge brought with it new and refined tastes; new habits were formed as new luxuries were introduced, and these habits have given additional life and vigor to that portion of the community who subsist by employments, which gratify the inclinations, the caprices, the wants real and imaginary,of the producers from the soil.
The farmer must see also, that the greater thedemand is for these ob jects, so much greater will be the demandupon his farm for the supply of subsistence for the class of non-producers, and as a farm will always produce, with due care and attention, more than the proprietor and his family can possibly consume, so, he becomes necessarily richer by the stimulus which induces larger products,and may justly indulge the very gratifying reflection that, though industry is equally excited among all classes of people, yet Agriculture isthe main supporting pillar of the fabric of society.
Agriculture being the direct source of human sustenance, all who are engaged in the distribution of its products, areinstrumental in its promotion, and the whole vast machinery oftrade and commerce has no intrinsic value beyond the accomplishmentof this end.
Though this position as regards trade and commerce is strictly true, yet it must be remembered, that they conferupon the farmer benefits of inestimable value, it is the vast machine and depot, whereby the earthÕs products are transmitted to the consumers, or held in readiness for their use, without the continued labor or care of the farmer; and their values are returned to his door in any form or substance most desirable to him; it is a system of the division of labor, which in all its branches serves to promote the interests of the owner of the soil.
The condition of this county sixty years ago, when the surface was first subjected to imperfect tillage; the increase of inhabitants, the more recent

416    [ASSEMBLY
establishment of villages, the great demand for mechanical improvements followed by the introduction of almost every foreign luxury, strongly illustrate the foregoing positions.
In the year 1789Ñ90, the first seed wasscattered upon the earth of Senaca county; in a few short years,rudely constructed arks were seen floating on the lakes, or downthe waters of the Susquehannah, loaded with the surplus productsof the farmer. During the earlier period every want was supplied fromthe soil; food was derived from the grain and cattle, raiment from thewool of sheep; labor afforded neither time or desire for unnecesary objects.Soon, however, the earth presented to industry a greater amount of productsthan could be consumed or conveniently preserved; then the broadeloths of other nations began to supplant the homespun fabrics; the gown of IndiaÕs cotton with gay color and strange sounding names, displaced the handiwork of the domestic spinning wheel and loom; with these comfortable innovations came also foreign teas and sugars.
When population had increased in New England to an extent, which could not be as cheaply sustained from the rocky soil, as from more fertile land, the people naturally sought other modes of subsistence than the cultivation of an unprofitable farm. Many left their homes to people and cultivate the western lands, while others applied themselves to vie with foreign nations in the manufacture of fabrics useful or tempting to the producing classes; a competion as bold as it has now become successful. In the early struggles ofthe manufacturing interests every avenue was industriously explored for markets, wherein to vend their fabrics; eastern industry and ingenuityagain stimulated the agricultural people, and this county with otherspoured forth their grain and flour, their beeves and sheep, taking inreturn objects of industry, ingenuity and utility.
The impetus thus given was necessarily extended to the mechanic arts, to the greater use of metals and machinery, causing persons thus occupied to assemble and reside in villages, for greater convenience and mutual aid, in many cases selecting the rapids of rivers for the position of a village, that the power ofwater might be economically used. Thus Seneca Falls and Waterloo rearedtheir heads; Canoga and Bearytown, Romulusville and Ovid, Lodi andCovert, Towuseadville and Farmerville, became the busy residences of numbers not connected with the soil as farmers, yet all called intoaction for the aid of the cultivator, by employing their talents and industry, in consumption, distribution, and the production of commodities useful or convenient.
These and similar causes have, in the space ofsixty years, made the wild forests within the bounds of thiscounty to produce about 600,000

No. 150.]    417
bushels of wheat, 350,000 bushels of oats, and300,000 bushels of corn, per annum, with a due proportion ofother agricultural products.
The following pages exhibit the productions ofeach town, in a manner at once simple yet showing at a glancethe comparative condition of each town in regard to every articleof production, also the total or aggregate quantities produced inthe county.
The industrial pursuits are classified alphabetically, and so arranged as to show the capital, number of men, and the value of the commodities produced in each town, and forms an easy contrast of the towns. It may be noticed that the county contains2,349 farms of various dimensions, and that the officers of the UnitedStates, employed to take the census of this county, have visitedonly 1,557 farms; consequently, the number of inhabitants, and quantityof products of this county, are much larger than is stated in the officialreturns.
It is due to the gentlemen engaged in taking the census of this county, to remark, that they were not requiredto visit or record farms, the income of which did not amount toone hundred dollars per annum; neither of industrial pursuits whichdid not yield five hundred dollars annually.
This will explain the discrepancy between the area of the county, as returned by the United States officers, (168,067 acres,) and the area upon which the supervisors of the county adjust the annual taxes, (197,500 acres,) being a difference of about thirty thousand acres.
The omission to report the inhabitants, products, and industrial pursuits covering a space of thirty thousand acres, necessarily presents the county in a less favorable condition than is due to it; yet, the system being uniform throughout the United States, the census will present an important State document, for all purposes of comparison, sufficient for the statesman and legislator.
[Assembly, No. 150.1    27








No. 150.1    423

It will be noticed by the careful rcadcr, thatno return of the industrial occupations pursued in Junius or Tyre, has been made, yet the capital reported as invested appears to be $987,815, and the labor consumed in its conduct and management to be applied by about 1,353 individuals. It appears also from these returns, that the use of this capital with the mate rials, and the labor applied to it, produced in one year various products, the value of which was $1,772,903.
The farmer will find much to interest him in the examination of these statistics, every item of which has an influence on his well doing. Under the head of grist mills it will be seen that two hundred and seventy thousand five hundred dollars areapplied as capital to this branch of industry. These mills are workedby sixty-seven persons ; they grind, collectively, five hundred and seventy-four thousand bushels of grain, and send out as one of theirproducts, one hundred arid forty thousand five hundred and seventy-fivebarrels of flour. In this instance the consumption of wheat grain exceedsthe whole wheat product of the county.
Another branch of industry bearing direct on the product of the farm, is the manufacture of wool. The capitalinvested in the employment is $224,000, giving occupation to threehundred persons, whose labor is chiefly employed in attendanceupon machinery. This capital and labor consumes annually 325,000 pounds of wool, being a quantity more than double of the whole wool product of the county. It is by no means intended to infer from these facts,that the value of the farmers’ wheat and wool are immediately influencedby the mills and factories within the county. They are unimportant intheir effect upon the market value of the raw material, yet their beneficial influences are great, inasmuch as they draw together masses of capital, increase the number of consumers of the articles of sustenance, allof which are derived from the farm; and so long as they are managed withprudence, they are influential in the increase of population and accumulation of capital.
Men who live in villages, possessing intelligence and enterprise, soon discover these springs which act with, force upon capitalists, and when the impetus is given, every action gives birth to a new want or exercise of industry. It must be remembered that these springs of industrial occupations with their influences, belong properly to and arise from the non-producing class of citizens ; the results of their labors do not produce the necessaries of life, or the materials for subsistence. This is peculiarly the occupation of farmers; it is for them to furnish subsistence for mankind, while those engaged in industril pursuits supply the great body of the

424    [ASSEMBLY

people with articles of comfort and luxury, and the enjoyment of high civilization flowing from the well directed application of science and art.


CLIMATE.

Our planet has two envelopes, of which one, which is general—the at. mosphere—is composed of an elastic fluid, and the other the sea, is only locally distributed, surrounding andtherefore modifying the form of the land. These two envelopes ofair and sen constitute a natural whole on which depends the difference of climate on the earth’s surface, according to the relative extension of the aqueous and solid parts, the form and aspect of the land, and the direction and elevation of mountain chains"*
The influence of water upon climate must be great, when it is considered how much of the earth’s surface is covered by it. The area of land to that of water of the whole globe isestimated as ten is to twenty-seven. On this hemisphere the areaof water is much more extensive, and must therefore alter and modifythe climate of every latitude from that of the eastern hemisphere.
The reactions of air, sea and land upon each other must be carefully studied, before all the influences of climate upon vegetation can be comprehended. It is only of late years that observations and facts have been classified so far as to justify conclusions. It is only of late years that the
Proportion of land and water has been ascertained, it being a fixed opinion of the middle ages that the waters of the globe were only a narrow sea, and the term “ ocean stream,”so common at that period, seemed to foster the delusion. He who nearlythree centuries ago “unchained the ocean,” shared in this belief, andto it may probably be attributed the discovery of this hemisphere.
The configuration of this continent tends to alter its climate from that of the old world.. Almost surrounded bywater within the tropics, its temperature is still farther reducedbelow that of corresponding latitudes in Europe and Asia. The massesof ice which annually break up and float south between Labrador andIceland, passing along the eastern shores of the United States, influenceand lower their temperature. And finally the atmospheric current, which in the polar regions descends from above and traverses south along thesurface of the land, becomes chilled and deprived of its watery vapor, untilby reaching the middle states it has attained a due degree of warmth andmoisture. Before it reaches the temperate latitudes, it contributes sensibly to lower the temperature of the land over which it blows. Unrestrainedby mountain chains running from east to
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*Humboldt.

No. 150.]    425
west, this wind has full influence on the northern and eastern states, and would retard vegetation in the Stateof New-York, as it does in Canada, were it not for those greatmasses of water, the great lakes, lose power of equalizing theatmospheric temperatures in all seasons is remarkable.
As they do not freeze to any great extent, they protect the soil in some degree by the formation of clouds, which prevent a too great radiation of heat from the earth’s surface in winter, and too copious evaporation in summer.
As compared with the European quarter of the old world, the Unitcd States is a vast plain, a level country; the portion under cultivation or held for agricultural occupation being two-thirds of its whole surface ; this estimate omits the recentaccession of territory from Mexico. The ranges of the Rocky mountainsand the lesser range of the Alleghany seem to have been upheaved toregulate among other important influences, the excesses of heat and cold, and effects of agitated atmosphere, and it may be, to offer to man, under new forms and during new eras, a resting place and shelter, as he isgradually driven from the polar and mediate regions toward the equatorialbelt, there to find climates not unfriendly, and sufficient for him inhis course of change.
The elevation of a farm, three hundred and fifty feet above the level of the ocean, is equal to a diminution of the average temperature of its soil, to the extent of one degree of the thermometer, with this fact in view it is easy to conceive the effect of elevation upon agricultural success. So likewisethe difference of distance north from the tropical regions diminishes the average temperature in the proportion of one degree of the thermometer for every sixty miles, or for each degree of latitude.
It is well established that the ocean climate is equal and uniform, and exercises a powerful influence in equalizing the temperature of the soil along its borders, at all seasons.
In Seneca county the temperature of the air and soil is influenced by the waters of the lake region, and especially by the waters of Seneca lake, which never freeze. During thewarm months of the year, the rays of the sun are consumed in evaporation of the lakes, while the soil absorbs and retains them, thus equalizing the temperature of the atmosphere especially in this lake bound county.
Wind and rain have an intimate connection withthe temperature of the atmosphere. The winds sweeping from theocean, bring with them an atmosphere loaded with moisture. Thewinds from the lakes are proportionately charged with water. A landbreeze is relatively dry and brings with it the extreme of heat in summer, or of cold in winter.
Hence, the variableness of climate. The talentfostered in the navy and
    
426    [ASSEMBLY
merchant marine of the United States, has established a variety of meteorological data or facts proving these several positions; the records of observin men in the interior of the State, all tend to confirm the general laws of storms of wind and rain, as they have been established within the last thirty years, and their effects upon climate. From data thus obtained it is clear that thesoutherly winds coming from the Atlantic charged with vapour, meeting the cooler air of this temperate region, the humidity is condensed and falls in rain; such almost uniformly is the result of a southerly wind passing over the county of Seneca. Often times the westerly winds come charged with moisture from lake Erie, with like results though not so uniform in action.
Thus it is that rains are modified by winds and have an influence on climate. It is useful also to know the quantity of rain which falls upon this county, for evaporation from theearth’s surface lowers the temperature of the atmosphere, whilewaters resting on the surface or in the soil lower the temperature of the earth and render it the longer unfit for the purposes of vegitation.* The quantity of water which falls from the atmosphere varies exceedingly at different localities, as will appear by the following statement: The annual average fall of rain within the tropics of the old worldis 77 inches; during the same period, within the American tropics itis 115 inches. Near Bombay in Asia, the fall is equal to 25 feet! Thequantity on temperate Europe gives a mean fall of 34 inches. On the UnitedStates a mean fall of 39 inches, and on Seneca county 31 46/100.
It is not necessary to discuss the question asto change of climate, it may be sufficient to state that, abundant proof exists of changes with the several epochs of the world; one manifest proof being, the discovery of the same vegetable type in every part of the coal formation in latitudes where the plant cannot now endure the climate. It has thus been shown that geographical position influences climate. The elevation of the earth or soil, mountains, seas and lakes, strongly characterise particular latitudes.
The importance of atmospheric influences is sostriking that diagrams are presented with this work, exhibitingfamiliarly to the eye the sectional contour of the county of Seneca,with the heights of elevations and extent of plains and valleys. Diagramsare added also, exhibiting the mean temperature of the atmospherefor each day of the years 1849 and 1850, with the hope of attractingmore general attention from the farmer to meteorology, a subject closely connected with his welfare; and the annexed table presents a comparative view of the climate as observed in Seneca county with other and prominent places in the State.
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*See Drainage.


 

428    [ASSEMBLY

The highest temperature of the atmosphere observed in this county for a period of five years, is 90 degrees, andthe lowest 20. These are the liniits of change of temperature,and the mean temperature is 49 49 30/100 degree.  The elevationof Seneca lake is four hundred and forty-seven feet above the ocean,and the mean elevation of the soil of the county is two hundred and fifty feet. No observations have been recorded as to the temperatureof the soil, nor have they been collected in any part of the State,so far as can be ascertained, except those made by Mr. Emmons, in Albany, and published in the Natural History of the State of New-York, at page 232.  These observations were made by placing the bulbof the thermometer seven inches below the surface of the earth, and recordedearly and late in the day.



Until more extensive observations    shall be recorded, no reliable laws in relation to the temperature of the soil can be offered. Sufficient information can be derived from Mr. Emmons’ observations to guide the farmer, in connection withother established facts. Thus it is known that plants will germinate at a temperature between 45 degree and 100 degree. When, therefore, themean temperature of the soil is at or below 459, in the months of Apriland May, it is vain to expect germination, and a waste of labor and seedto hasten its deposit in the earth. Indian corn does not vegetate at alower temperature than 550, which accounts for the occasional disappointment of farmers, by the entire disappearance by decay of the seed.

The month of April in this year (1850,) affords an illustration of these facts. - The mean temperature for the first twenty days of April was only 39 20/100°. For the last ten days of the month it was 53 and for the entire thirty days it was40°. The month of May opened cold, the mean temperature for thefirst ten days being 48 30/100. The earth saturated with water presented a lower temperature to the seed deposited, and being at or below the degree needful for germination, much seed decayed-, and many farmers who planted corn early were compelled to plant a second time, or forego a crop for the season.
It seems manifest therefore, that though everyrequisite for the full de

No. 150.]    429
velopment of plants be abundantly supplied, yet the absence of heat renders all the others inert. The barrenness of the polar and productiveness of the tropical regions, the suspension of vegetable life in winter, its return with the warmth of spring, prove the position. The horticulturist, aware of this truth, brings artificial heat to his aid, and by skill creates an artificial climate, and in a degree produces fruits, which the warmth of the sun yields naturally for the health. and pleasure of man. In this case, however, as in most artificial conditions of life, the forcing system is injurious. Itis not consistent with nature’s laws; health is injured by the absence of repose. The fruit produced is rarely perfect or agreeable. Art triumphs for a few short seasons, when the exhausted plant dies.

Excess of heat has, during some seasons, been injurious to vegetation; for though plants possess the power of resisting heat by the evaporation of moisture, yet when the supply is deficient, as was the case in the summer of 1849, the dry atmosphere burnsthe plant, it contracts, withers and dies.

Excess of cold is also injurious; it has been shown that plants will not germinate in a temperature below 45 degree, yet vitality is not destroyed when seed is exposed to a much lower temperature.  When, however, congelation takes place, expansion ensues, tearing and breaking open the vessels exposing them to the influences of the air, where alone fluids should exist. The juices are made to separate and become unable to perform their proper functions, and too often the rising plant is forcibly separated from its embryo seed, and both perish from cold. The grain fields of this region have occasionally and in former days, exhibited these effects of cold. Happily the system of drainagehas diminished the evil.

The due and proper adaptation of plants to soils and climate, demands more attention than it has generally received; the attempts to introduce various grasses and foreign grains have in many instances proved abortive, from want of a due consideration of the effects of. temperature. Plants may live and grow, seedsmay vegetate in many localities; but to flourish to mature and develop sound fruit or products, a degree of heat within a certain range is essential. Chick-weed will live and bloom in heat and cold, presenting its blossoms every month in the year, but the nettle and thistle yield to the early frosts, nor will they vegetate until the strong rays of the sun call them into life.

Wheat will not germinate in an atmosphere higher than 95°; while Indian corn will endure a heat of 110°, and throw forth a healthy shoot; thus corn will thrive where wheat cannot be grown. These facts call for a careful consideration and adaptation of seeds to the climate; not only in rela-

430    [ASSEMBLY

tion to heat, but also in reference to elevation above the Ocean and distance from the equatorial regions.
Humboldt has forcibly displayed the effects ofvaried climates in describing the ascent of snow-capped mountains.At the base of Teneriffe; dates, plantain, sugar cane, and the noble ban yan flourish as in tropic heats. A little higher, the vine, olive, fig, the orange and the lemon and other fruits and trees of southern Europe, grow in rich profusion; there also wheat and grasses thrive, with the apple, the cherry and the plum. Above this region is a belt of hardy wood, the oaks, the laurel and other evergreens. Next above is the region of firs with juniper, then a tract covered with heath or broom, above which are found the mosses, violets and a few grasses, creeping into the borders of the interminable snows which form the summit cap of the mountain.
The peculiar position of the county of Seneca must necessarily have a controlling influence upon the pursuits ofthe people; washed by lakes on the eastern and western bcftdersfor two-thirds of its entire length, the broad waters of Ontarionot far distant from the northern boundary; it is not without interest for the farmer to be better acquainted with the causes of the increase or diminution of moisture in the atmosphere.
Within a few past years the thermometer has found its way into the dwellings of many farmers, giving a knowledge of the temperature of the atmosphere. More recently, the barometer has been introduced on several farms, indicating the weight or pressure of the air, giving notice of the approaching storm or the continuance of clear skies: the hygrometer which measures the condition of moisture in the atmosphere is less known. Yet it is an implement or instrument from which comfort may be derived, by showing that though no rain falls nor a cloud passes for days, yet there is no cause for apprehension of evil ; for the atmosphere holds an amount of moisture which the leaves of plants are able to appropriate in sufficient quantity to sustain vigorous health.
With these instruments and a knowledge of the principles which govern their action, the farmer would learn to have more confidence in the unlimited goodness which surrounds him, gratitude would overflow, and aspirations would more frequently be poured forth, for the light of knowledge and the consequent increase ofcomfort and joy.
The following diagrams exhibit the daily mean temperature of the atmosphere for the years 1849 and 1850. The arrangement presents at once the condition and contrast of corresponding dates in each year. The observations were made at Oaklands, in the town of Fayette, the elevation being about 480 feet above tide water. These and like observations have been

No. 150.]    431
recorded for a series of years, of which the two last are given as indicative of the temperature at the several seasons. They are given also with a belief that every careful, prudent farmer will derive a benefit from their examination, and find an inducement to seek information in relation to the subject of climate.
The importance of this branch of knowledge hasoccupied the attention of the 11c~ents of the University, whoare now engaged in establishing meteorological stations in differentparts of this State, and it is understood that a station willbe located at Geneva.
The principal object of these stations will bethe ascertainment of the laws of storms, and the special climateof the State as regards temperature, humidity, &c. The benefits to general science will undoubtedly be great, and the agriculturist will assuredly derive a full share of advantage; yet farmers willact wisely if they continue their own observations and record themdaily, for years will probably elapse before any decisive results can be obtained from the stations, or that the observed and recorded factscan be so digested and arranged as to offer any facts practically usefulto the great body of the people.


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[ASSEMBLY




_____________________________________________________________________
NOTE—This table is compiled from the records of Doctor H. P. Sartwell, of Penn Yan.
From this record it appears that the mean temperature for the period of twenty-one years, is 46- 65 degrees, and the average depth of rain for the same time is 27 26 inches.
Penn Yan is about seven hundred and fifty feetabove tide water.

Commencement of the Wheat Harvest in the County of Seneca, from the
year 1822 to 1850.
1822, commenced on 5th July.
1823,    do    8th    do    a wet season.
1824,    do    10th    do
1825,    do    10th    do
1826,    do    11th    do
1827,    do    9th    do    a heavy crop.
1828,    do    16th    do    wheat much injured.
1829,    do    13th    do    a very good crop.
1830,    do 16th do a very heavy crop.
1831, do 12th do injured by the Hessian fly.
1832, do 17th do a good crop.
1833, do 16th do a very large and heavy crop.
1834, do 21st do much injured by rust.
1835, do 24th do much injured by rust.
1836, do 28th do a short crop, plant smotheredby deep snow.
1837, do 22d do much rust.
1838, do 19th do the crop good—much lost by a hail storm.
1839, do 14th do a fair crop.
1840, do 16th do a good crop.
1841, do 17th do a good crop.
1842, do 19th do injured by hail, and a wet season.
1843, do 19th do a great and heavy crop.
1844, do 12th do injured by Hessian fly.
1845, do 14th do a good crop.
1846, do 7th do a good crop.
1847, do 14th do a good crop.
1848, do 6th do a very good crop.
1849, do 14th do injured by wheat fly, and dryseason.
1850, do 16th do an excellent crop.
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[Assembly, No. 150.] 28

434 [ASSEMBLY


GEOLOGY.

In a work which, like the present, is professedly an accumulation of statistics, and a declaration of facts, theoretical considerations might be deemed out of place, and likely, by biasing the mind, to derogate from the value of the statements made. There are, however, so many links of reasoning which bind apparently incongruous facts together, and serve to harmonize them as a whole, and which convert the mere documentary statistics into a methodical relationof cause and effect, rendering the mass of facts simple to comprehend and easy to recollect; that to withhold them would be to detract fromthe unity and completeness of the work.

Under this catagory are included considerations derived from inspections of the rocks distributed over the globe, the regularity of their position, with regard to each other, their textural appearance, their chemical constitution, and the various matters found imbedded within them, presenting such points of analogy, even when brought from the remotest parts of the globe, that the mind is led to the irresistible conclusion, that similar effects must havearisen from similar causes, and becomes curious to inquire what these causes were, and to what amount they have acted. Such information on these topics as have any bearing on the geology and agriculture ofthe county of Seneca, will be presented as clearly and succinctly aspossible, leaving any further knowledge to be derived from the various surveys of the State, or other sources, as the inquirer may desire.
In passing along a district of country, as from the head waters of the Mississippi toward the eastern limit of the State of New-York, the observer may find the surface of the countrya mass of clay, of perhaps in some cases unascertainable depth, in others being so slight a covering to the surface that the rock becomes exposed, and forms the prominent features of the district. It is in a valley or basin of this rock that the clay has rested, and in everyinstance it is possible, by boring, to come down upon the rock.

The kind of rock which may be met with varies considerably; sometimes it is a mass of white or red grains closely cemented together, and known as freestone, or sandstone, sometimes a slate, sometimes a limestone or chalk, or occasionally the harder rocks, known as mica slate, gneiss, or granite. Travelling over the district alluded to, after the thick and heavy clays of

No. 150.]    435
the alluvial valley of the Mississippi is passed a tract of country is reached, overlaid by hills of sand, andridges of gravel, with large blocks of stone covering the groundon every side, the rocks of the country here being to a great degreehidden by the deep accumulation of the soil. On the margin of Wisconsinriver a bed of sandstone is found in situ, as the rock of the district;passing east into Michigan, limestone is found, including coal. Passingthrough west Canada, by the falls into New-York, red sand stone appears, with slate rock, limestone, flag stones,aud gypsum, as far as Ithaca;thence southeast, the country becomes more elevated, aud the sceneryis bolder, rocks of a crystaline and glittering texture abound, includingmica slate and horublende, and finally hills of granite are reached inthe Highlands on the Hudson r:ver. These rocks met with on this line constitute almost all that are found on the globe, and usually occur in the order in which they have been enumerated on this continent; and if it were possible to bore downwards far into the earth, they would all be met within the order mentioned, commencing at the surface as in the view fromthe west, and counting downwards until the granite was reached, which formationmay be looked upon as the basic structure of our globe, on which all otherrocks rest, and from which they are to a great extent derived.

Wherever granite is upon the surface, as a rock bed, there is no other rock below, and whatever rock may be above, it is possible to reach granite by boring downwards, and generally certain to come at it by travelling to the hilly country on either side. It constitutes the great elevations, dipping and risingin alternations, in the basins or hollows of which all other rocks are placed.

This granite rock is composed of three minerals mixed together in unequal proportions, quartz, felspar, and mica; each of these separately form rocks which derive their name from the mineral as quartz rock, mica and clay slate. When hornblende mineralreplaces the mica, the granite is called syenite; other modifications of these minerals produce granite form rocks and minerals.
It is generally admitted that these rocks haveundergone the influence of some heating agency until they werecompletely molten, when cooling slowly the minerals of which theywere composed crystalized in their appropriate forms, and thusthe glassy and hard structure was communicated to the rock. Volcanicupheavals raised the mass of granite, sometimes when it was in a semi-fluidcondition, and more frequently after it was fully solidified, theelevating cause acting with such intensity as to raise this originally lowest placed, or primary rock, to the highest elevation which mountain tops attain to on this globe.

436    [ASSEMBLY
Covered by water as the greater portion of theearth’s surface was, at that early period of the world’s existence,those granitic hills, whose sides were subjected to the action ofwater, wind, solar heat, and frost, gradually became worn away, andthe materials being disintegrated and carried down into the sea,were deposited along the ocean bottom in an even layer or bed. Ifthe deposit had taken place in quiet waters, the minerals would havebeen arranged for the formation of gaciss rock; on the contrary, if anagitating or sifting took place, or the materials were carried very far out, they would have been deposited in different places, according totheir gravity, just as clay is separated from sand by washing, and theresult would have been a formation of mica slate, of finely powdered feldspar rock, or of sandstone. When these beds of soft materials havebeen subjected to intense pressure from above, and long continued actionof heat, and perhaps magnetic agency from below, they are ultim tely convertedinto hard rock, and should they by volcanic movements be slowly raisedfrom the ocean bed, they are presented to the eye as the striped gneiss,a mica slate rock, a clay slate, or a sandstone. Beds of stone, fromtheir proximity to a rock once ignited, and in some degree affected by theinternal temperature, lose their distinguishing character of water formedor stratified rocks, they have undergone a change whereby they arc assimilatedto granite formations, and hence have been called metamorphic. None ofthese rocks are found in this country as a rock in place ; they are metwith on the surface as travelled stones.

Taking a position at the Highlands of the Hudson and looking to the west, the order is found to be, granite orprimary rock, then mica and clay slate rocks; lying west of these,or upon the top of them in position, is a class of rocks, formedby deposition out of salt water, and containing traces of the animaland vegetable life of the period when they were formed, unaltered by any metamorphic action. In physical character they are sand stonerocks, both fine grained and conglomerated; more frequently composed of siliceous and argillaceous matter forming slates and flag stones. Limestone occurs in subordinate quantity with streaks of carbonaceous matter, orsmall isolated masses of coal, mostly anthracite, but never containinga true coal seam.

With these are associated beds of shale, the tints principally grey or brown, olive and green, and even red is here and there found in all parts of the series.

Inclosed among these beds in this country, occur the beds of plaster and salt of this State, The lower beds ofthis series merge gradually into the metamorphic clay slate, andthe upper pass into the old red sand stone.

No. 150.]    437
This class of rocks so largely developed in this State, and so important, are but thinly formed in western Europe, where they were formerly termed Greywaucke rocks, and in latter years, Cambrian, and silurian Systems, from the English localities wherethey are found most abundant.

Such a system of nomenclature is unfortunate, as conveying no information to one ignorant of the locality, andit is a matter of regret to see the analogous rocks of this Statereceive names derived from their locality, which require thus anew name in every State where they may be found to exist.

It is the most recently formed or higher portion of these rocks (the silurian series) that occupy the northernportion of the county of Seneca, and which are sub divided by theauthors of the geological survey of the State of New-York, into theOnondaga salt group, the water lime group, the Seneca  limestone, the Marcellus shale, the Hamilton group and the Genesee black shale;it will be necessary to allude to these more fully hereafter.

After the formation of these rocks, there appears to have been a period of great repose, as far as volcanic action is concerned, over a large portion of the earth’s surface during which, a deep sea with extensive shores prevailed. Then as now, the waves heat the surface and washed the beach, until round pebbles and fine black sand were formed; the wind drove the surge upon the shore, forming the wave and ripple marks, the rains of many ages fell upon the sands and pitted them, and wading birds walked to and fro and left their steps imprinted on the sea retiring bottom: covered up and overwhehned, converted into rock and raised above the water level they have become asand stone, containing all the traces and impressions of life and change which have passed over them. This is the old red sand stone of European writers, the system of a few English writers, and the Portage and Chemung group of the New-York State survey. The groups lie in the immediate southern portion of the county of Seneca, and pass out into the neighboring county of Tompkins and farther south. Upon the top of these rocks and still later formed, are found in successive order, the limestone, containing true coal beds, magnesia limestone, new red sand stone, serpentine and chalk, with the green sand of Jersey. These not occurring in this county do not require further notice.
These last rocks conclude the series which have been termed secondary, and which commenced with the first bed offossiliferous slate.

Beds of hard rock arc found in many parts of Europe, overlying the chalk, and have from their position, receivedthe name of tertiary strata. On this continent no tertiary rocksare found, but they are represented by beds of clay, sand, andgravel, which from the fossils contained within

438    [ASSEMBLY
them, indicate them to have been in the opinion of some, contemporaneous. These, however, as being on the surface, and in many places forming the cultivated soil of the county ofSeneca will be better treated of under that head, and that of thedistribution of post tertiary beds over the county.

These were deposited long anterior to human existence on the globe; and the only change wimich the physical aspect of the county has undergone since, is the silent alteration which the atmosphere, and streams of water effect, in cutting river courses, depositing beds of alluvial clay, and thc formation  of beds of marl.
The hiatus which exists in the upper secondarybeds in western New-York, nothing being found above the old redsand stone, but the beds of drifted sand and gravel of a latetertiary epoch, naturally lends to an inquiry as to the probablecauses which led to the non-deposition of the carboniferous limestone,the coal series, and the upper secondary beds which terminate with the chalk series.

That the entire section of country was immersed under water, the deposition of the drift and of boulders is proof; but the want of even deposition of fine sand and of calcareous corals, show the absence of an archipelagic  ocean since the periodof the New-Yorksystem being deposited.

It has been suggested that an inland sea covered the western surface of this State at that period, and observations made on the elevation of the margins or shores of this ancient lake, would tend to support this view; measurements made on the Ontariolake ridge show that the water stood? at various times, at differentlevels, the highest point of which has been at nine hundred and fifty-sixfeet above the sea, or seven hundred and sixty. two feet above the presentmargin of Lake Ontario. Seven shores have been distinctly traced onthe sides of the ridge, each below the other, until the present shoreis reached. Similar terraces or ancient shores have been traced at thehead of Seneca lake. When the waters stood at the highcst point indicated,the area occupied must have been of immense extent, limited by the Highlandsand the New England range on the cast, the shores of Lake Superior on thenorth, the Alleghanies on the south, and, perhaps, by the region of thehead waters of the Mississippi on the west. The outlet of this vast body of water, was probably by the St. Lawrence. the Connecticut, the Hudson,and possibly by the Susquehanna, each of ampler dimensions than at thisday, and probably being united, to some extent, the valley of the Connecticutformed the chief channel. The deposition of drift which occurred at thisperiod of time, may be traced down that valley, in the large number of bouldersdeposited in its bed, with the fact also, that those reposing on the oppositeshore of Long Island, arc of

No. 150.]    439
Connecticut origin; the supposition may be hazarded that this position was the chief embouchure of the inland waters.
Such a sea flowing toward the southeast, carrying a large amount of drift with a strong current, and subject to the periodical lowering of its level, at long intervals, must have had great effect on the bottom over which it flowed. The deepening of many valleys of western New-York, and especially of the northern part of the county of Seneca, must have been due to this cause. In the vicinity of the Seneca river, the abrasion of the surface of the rocks, and the wearing away of the shale from the underlying Seneca limestone, are evident marks of the existence and force of sueh a body of water. The erosion of the edges of the Moscow shale, and Tully limestone, on the margin of both Cayuga and Seneca lakes, is a further proof.
The lakes on each side of Seneca county must have aided considerably in giving southerly outlets to this sea, by way of the Susquehanna, while the waters stood at a high level.

Both Cayuga and Seneca lakes poured forth their waters until they subsided to a level of about nine hundred and eighty feet, when Cayuga ceased to flow south, because of its lesser depth; Seneca lake, and the valley south of it, continued to discharge till the waters retired, and brought the level of the sea about ninety feet lower, when the communication between the inland waters andthe Susquehanna ceased, and the further drainage was into the Atlantic,by the eastern rivers.
The existence of such an inland ocean would account for the non-existence of the upper beds of secondary rocks, the absence of limestone and coal strata, the deposition and direction of the drift, and the northern origin of boulders.

Onondaga Salt Group—Gypsum Group.

This is the lowest, and most anciently deposited, of the secondary rocks which are found in this county. The group lies upon a bed of limestone, which, on account of its development in extent and fossil character, at Lock-port and Niagra, has received the nanmes of Lockport and Niagara lime-stones; it was previouslytermed geodiferous and bituminous liamestone; and is coeval in deposition with the Wenlock limestone of the upper Silurian rocks of British geologists.

This rock dips south at a gentle angle, and lying upon it, and partaking of the same southerly slope, are the series of beds which contain, as their characteristic ingredient, sulphate of lime, or plaster.

These beds consist of slates, indurated marls,limestones, containing silica to a large amount; and beds inwhich limestone exists, but in amount inferior to the alumina orclay. The majority of the beds contain alumina.

440    [ASSEMBLY
in excess; they weather or crumble rapidly on exposure, and form ashen gray and drab colored soft shales, which give the characteristic appearance of the group.
In the New-York State Survey, this group has been subdivided as follows, commencing from below:

1. A bed of blue and green shales, with occasional bands of red.
2. Green and ash colored marls, with their seams of fibrous gypsum and colorless selenite, and occasional small masses of compact gypsum.
3. Gray and ash colored marls and shales, containing the workable beds of gypsum.

Between the different portions of the deposit there are no well marked lines of division, but each in its entirety is sufficiently well defined.



DIAGRAM FROM THE STATE SURVEY.
(a)    Green and blue shale with red.
(b)    Shaly Limestone with fibrous gypsum
(c)    Lower gypsum hed.
(d)    Shaly limestone with cavities and fine pores between beds of gypsum.
(e)    Upper gypsum hed.
(f) Light gray and drab colored limestone.

This group, which extends across the State in a narrow belt from the south and west of Niagara county to the west border of Montgomery, has perhaps its greatest width where it crosses the county of Seneca, owing to the denudation of the super-imposed rocks on its southern edge. It occupies the whole of the county north of the Seneca river, (except that portion of the town of Waterloo where it is covered up by limestone,) embracing the wholeof the towns of Junius and Tyre ; all but the southwest corner ofSeneca Falls, and that portion of Waterloo north of a line drawn from the village and trending northwest into Ontario county.

There is, however, scarcely any external evidence of its existence, as the uppermost rock of that district except the appearance of springs as at Dublin, (in Junius,) chart ed with sulphates of magnesia and iron, derived from the leakage through the gypseous shales.

The rock can scarcely be said to appear upon the surface, by elevation of the strata, but rather to be exposedly natural or artificial cuttings, as at

No. 150.]    441
Bear Creek, and a few localities where wells have been sunk north of Seneca Falls village, being covered up by alluvial and tertiary deposits to a great depth, varying from fifteen to fifty feet, as is noticed when treating of the soils of Junius and Tyre.
The waters of the Seneca lake, in their passage eastward, have their outlet through the overlying shales and limestone,and have worn their track along this group, exposing its upper beds, which extend on either bank of the village of Seneca Falls, near the fall of the river, extending two and a half miles down the stream.



SECTION OF GYPSUM BED AT Mr. SWABY'S FARM.
    (a)    Gypsum rock.    (h) Clay.    (c) Limestone.    (d) Gypseous marl.

The greatest exposures of the rock are on the north bank, on the farm of Mr. Frederick Swaby, and also on the ground of Mr. Cady. The rock on Mr. Swaby’s farm was extensively worked at one period, and before he purchased the property; but, owing in some degree to the limited size of the beds, but chiefly to the neglect of the parties who worked the quarries, they are not productive. The difficulty seems to have arisen from the omission of separating the rock from the shales artd marly lintestone which surrounds it, any large proportion of which would, by its tendency to fall apart, destroy the property of the cement.

Although the upper layer of gypsum beds are byno means so valuable as the lower, yet from the size of the masses of rock on Mr. Swaby’s farm, where it is exposed by the river, and the capability of getting it free from

442    [ASSEMBLY
the surrounding decomposed bed, there is but little doubt that with ordinary care, a pure plaster could be obtained there. The height of the cutting is about forty feet, and the upper bed of rock, the drab colored limestone is covered by a few feet of soil; it is about six feet thick, in thin courses, broken into fragments, and underlaid by several feet of decomposed clay, shale, and marl, with gypsum crystals and particles scattered through: both the limestone and the shale have cavities on their exposed surface, partly caused by the softer and more soluble port.ions of the rock being washedout, by water filtering through Underneath, and surroundad by thelatter, is the plaster in large masses, lying next each other, though unconnected, deposited where formed, and almost unaltered since deposition, for the lines of stratification pass quite evenly from one mass ofplaster into another, and quite uniformly through the intervening gypseousmarl, thus showing that all were deposited and consolidated at one period.

Some of the masses of plaster exposed are of considerable size: one is estimated to be fifteen feet high, and thirty-five feet broad; the bottom has not been fully exposed by cutting. Thin veins of selenite, in small rhomboidal tables, as well as in silky filaments, occur through these beds. On the south side of the river, and opposite to Mr. Swaby’s quarries, the bluffs of gypsum rock approach the banks, but they have not been exposed, except by cuttings in a few places, and the indications were so poor as not to justify further attempts.

These beds are the same as on the north side, the upper layer being covered deeply by the marly shale.
As the whole of the soil between the river andthe road leading to the Cayuga bridge, is underlaid by this group, some points might be readily selected, where by excavation, notonly good upper beds, but the lower and better beds of gypsum couldbe reached; it is in this angle alone that good beds of plaster canbe expected, in this county, and when opened they will probably beworked economically and profitably.

Farther east the plaster rock makes its appearance on the north side of the river at the railroad bridge, and again on the south side, a short distance from a cut made through the bank by the railroad company for the purpose of filling the low ground at the margin of the lake; this cut has exposed the plaster, which is covered by a great depth of clay, in some places it is probably twenty-five feet in depth. This bed is on the farm of Mr. 0. Tylor, and gives promise o& future value. The present cutting has been made east by north, and exposes the edge of the strata; the beds of shale, of which there are four courses ‘distinctly marked, are slightly curved, with their convexity upward; here, also, the stratification passes

No. 150.]    443
from the rock into shale. Some of the courses of gypsum rock are of considerable thickness, one bed being fourand a half feet, and another two and a half feet thick; as far asnow visible, this promises to be a good opening with many local advantages. The plaster stone is of a deep blue color, very dense and filledwith crystalline plates of selenite; it effervesces strongly with acids.

The limestone which overlies the group at Seneca Falls, is of a hard texture, and interspersed with cavities here and there, which are filled with crystalline incrustations ofcarbonate of lime in mammillary concretions; this deposit of carbonateof lime, concretes the marl and shale below, into forms resembling breccia or conglomerate, and is produced by the trickling of springsthrough strata of limestone and depositing the lime which the waterheld in solution, in these cavities.
Masses of this stalactitial character have been found on the south side of the canal bank, below the village, wherea calcareous spring oozes out from the rock; the deposit from thewater of this spring, is so even, and ribboned as to give the appearanceof agate when broken across, and as it takes a polish the materialcan be wrought into various objects of utility, but more appropriately into ornaments.

These same springs carrying down sulphate of lime into the shale, and depositing it slowly, produces those colored stellar crystaline masses of gypsum found in the marl.

Lying above the limestone before alluded to, is a thin bed of stone, partly silicious, partly alluminous and containing some magnesia; it is blue when first exposed, but afterward changes to a drab or grey color. It is a silico-argilaceous limestone;and from it, in other localities, has been obtained the useful hydraulic lime, or water cement. This rock which appears on the eastern shore of Cayuga lake, and also, at Phelps in Ontario county, does not present in the beds of Seneca county, the same useful properties. These properties vary inasmuch as, one portion contains too much carbonate of lime, and another too much silica, and such is the character of the rock at Seneca Falls.

Every good hydraulic mortar depends for its success upon the formation of silicate of lime. This must be formed by the agency of water, which is partly taken up, thereby forming a hydrated silicate. The only essential constituents there are silica and lime, and water to produce the combination; but few stoneshave that simple constitution; they contain other bases, such asoxides of iron, and man anese, and magnesia, and even clay, (alumina,) which unite with the excess of silica, to form double silicates, which in the case of manganese and magnesia, arc very insoluble, and

444    [ASSEMBLY
therefore render the mortar harder and more durable. It is for this reason it has been deemed necessary that a hydraulic stone cement should contain magnesia. It is possible, if a stone do not contain the exact ingredients, or these not in due proportion, so to amend theircharacter as to produce ulti-mately a good cement; and it is well knownthe best lime cements for fine works, are those which are made artificially.The silica in a cement stone should not exist as ordinary sand, or quartz powder, but in that peculiar state in which it will gelatinize with an acid,that is, just when it has es-caped from its combination with a base.
It may be brought into this condition by calcining it with an alkali, as potash or soda, or with an earth at a bright red heat. When mixed with water the ground stone will then set in a cement.

If a limestone contains clay in a less ratio than ten per cent, it will burn as common lime, and will not cement. If it contains twenty per cent of clay it will slake, but it will also cement. If it contains an amount of clay equal to thirty per cent, it will not slake well, nor heat, but forms an excel-lent cement. If the natural stone contains other bases besides clay, as magnesia and iron, and perhaps manganese, which may be determined by analysis, it is easy, in order to render it a good cement. so to adjust the proportions of these bases, that in affinity they shall represent the thirty per cent of clay. Great care should be exercised in the burning, as many good hydraulic limes are rendered worthless by over-burning, partly owing to the silicates becoming fused by the heat.

The water limestone being like other beds, a deposit from saline waters, it must vary in different localities to some extent, and hence the discord-ance between the economical values of this stone, in this county and the county of Ontario.

The southern border of this limestone being hid under SenecaFalls, it has not been examined. A few courses may be seen south ofthe falls, and at the quarries of Mr. Wuchter and Mr. Chamberlain, inScauas, but the stone is not well marked in its characters. A mill inthe village of Seneca Falls is constructed with this stone, obtained fromthe immediate vicinity. Upon examination the grain is very coarse, andis full of geodal cavities.

Marcellus Shale.

This term has been applied to the mass of fissile fossiliferous blue slate, which overlies the Seneca limestone. It corresponds with the pyriliferous rock of Dr. Eaton, and has hardly a representative in the British rocks formed in the upper secondary period, the deposits which were formed at coeval periods being, in the two continents of very different amounts. These, which in the eastern states amount to several thousand feet in thickness,

No. 150.]    445
do not reach as many hundred feet in western Europe; hence arises the difficulty of finding the representatives of each, or applying a comnion name to both.

This bed of shale may be considered in many respects as resembling the numerous beds of overlying slate, which have received the nameof the Hamilton group; yet as it has been treated separately in theState survey, it may be useful to continue the subdivision in this work.

The characteristics of this bed are, a black, or black and blue slate, easily broken, or weathering into small fragments; under the finger it splits into thin laminae, which when separated, display the hollowof a fossil mollusc shell, to the abundance of which this rook appears toowe its extraordinary fissibility. It is very soft, and may be marked by the finger nail, or crushed under the fingers, and from the excess of alumina, (or clay,) it is decom-posed readily into a tenacious clay. When broken a whitish, dotted frost-ing may be discerned on the freshsurfaces, produced by a decomposition of the iron pyrites in the stone,producing a sulphate of alumina, and a sul-phate of lime, which crystallizeat the spot where produced.
This shale occupies a considerable portion of the county, the extent of which may be seen by a reference to the geological map. Its northern line is the southern limit of the Seneca limestone, stretching across the county from the Cayuga to the Seneca lake. On the shores of the latter it dis-plays its greatest width, occupying the space from lot number 2, in Fayette, on the Seneca river, the whole surface of the town as far as the northern half of lots number 32 and 33, and the middle of lot34; passing south in an easterly direction to Cayuga lake, it passes outon the north limit of the south tier of lots of “the reservation,” thusincluding an area of about twenty-eight miles of the county, and embracing the northern and middle portions of’ Fayette. Much of the northeast of Fayette is covered by this shale, but as it only caps the limestone, which is also exposed, the latter has been treated as the surface rock of that portion of the county.

Abundant, opportunities are offered for examining this slateon the Seneca lake shore, commencing one mile south of the outlet, where it rises from under the water, and attains an elevation of from ten to eighty feet above the water’s edge. On every elevated ridge of land it either appears on the surface, or is found at from one to six feet deep, the plow often turning it up. On the exposed road surfaces, at almost every sinking for wells, and on the side of the water courses, where drift clay has been washed away, it forms the surface rock. Its repeated fractures, and upheaval of the edges, are marked along the face of the town by the ledges of land pointing in a direction N. N. W. and S. S. E., the bluff end being. northeast, and the

446    [ASSEMBLY
gentle slope to the southwest. These ridges are more distinctly marked on the western side of the town ; and there also the whole land is more ele-vated, showing that the local cause which produced these, was more influ-ential on the western edge of the county. What that influence may have been, is noticed when treating of Seneca limestone, and in confirmation of the truth of the view advanced, may be ‘adduced the calculations ofBris-choff, derived from observations, which show that a mass of sandstonefive miles in thickness, heated to 100 degrees, would undergo an elevationof twenty-five feet by mere force of expansion, while a mass of clay rock,(slate or shale,) will, on the contrary, undergo contraction, producingfracture of the mass. Where then expansion of one mass of stone occurs,with fracture of portions at the opposite end, these latter must be inevitablydisplaced from their horizontal position, and produce that undulatingsurface of coun-try which Fayette exhibits.
Though constantly appearing on the surface, the Marcellus shale is not very thick, certainly not equal to the shale - bed in the counties east, the shale thinning off as it passes west. Over the north andmiddle of Fayette it cannot be more in any place than sixty feet, andthat occurs on the Sene-ca lake shore, for it gradually thins off atthe eastward and northward. The limestone quarried near the county poorhouse, and the quarry of Mr. James Rorison, crop out without any covering;while at Mr. A. Rorison's, further west it is twenty-five feet belowthe surface covered by two feet of shale. On lot number twelve, the shaleis eight feet below the surface, and fifty-one feet thick; the limestoneis then reached; and over the whole district, the distance at which thatuseful stone lies, can easily be determined by the simple process of boring,and in some instances can be profitably worked. Carbonate of lime formsa small constituent of this rock, it effervesces  with acid, and yieldsabout four per cent; this proportion varies, in-creasing in some spots to a thin seam or streak of limestone, in other places resulting in theformation of nodules or concretions of limestone deposited from water tricklingthrough the mass of clay before it was fully consoli-dated.
The iron pyrites so abundant in very minute grains through the rock, causes by its decomposition, the breaking up of the mass intofragments, and the liberation of sulphur which passes as sulphuretedhydrogen into the water; The waters of Fayette are but slightly impregnatedwith this gas.

The abundance of vegetable matter is the cause of the deep tint to the shale; its decomposition produces the bitumen which is so diffused through some of the seams as to give them the character of coal, asit

No. 150.]    447
burns in the fire with a strong flame; in some of the nodules cavities exist, which contain bitumen.
The fossil species of this rock are not numerous, though theindividual number is very great. The upper layers contain atrypa andorthis in great abundance. Tentaculites, an occasional goniatite impression,and stropho-mena, but the predominant molluse of this rock is avicula.The forms of shells are well preserved in the rock; they are of the minute and delicate species and imply from their preservation,, as well the finecharacter of the clay in which they are imbedded, as the quiet condition of the deep ocean bottom on which they lived.

From the fissile character and ready decomposition of this shale by the air, it is unfit for any industrial uses. It should not be used where a less argillaceous stone conld be had.

It has gradually rendered the drift soil overlaying it, morestiff and more retentive of water; and there are few places in thetown where it could be considered any improvement to bring it to thesurface.



Seneca Limestone.
This “corniferous limestone” of the State survey is uniform,both in its mineral character and fossil contents, in its entire extent; which is from the Hudson river on the east to the Niagara on the west.

This rock which lies immediately above the gypseous group and bounds its southern margin, in a fine grained compact stone of a deep blue color, showing very fine shining crystaline facets when broken. The upper in-clines to a greyish tint, and from containing alumina passes to an ashy shade. It contains masses of black flint or hornstone imbedded in the strata, and occasionally extended as their streaks or lines separate the beds. This

448
[ASSEMBLY
insertion of flint between the masses, increases, west of the county to such an extent as to thin the limestone, and almost alter its character.

This rock when exposed has “its calcareous matter soon dissolved out, leaving the hornstone in jagged or irregular projecting points,from which it receives the local name of chawed rock.”* In this countythe alteration of the rock does not occur in place.; but small rolledstones out of the drift, are found scattered over the surface to a shortdistance south. In the strata when exposed, the beds are in a few instancesseparated by a talcose shaly clay.

Although its position is that of a band across the western counties, yet in the county of Seneca it occupies no more than an area of sixmiles. About one mile and three-fourths west of Waterloo, it appearsunder the bed of the river, and crosses over to the southern side andis traceable east-ward toward Cayuga lake, where it passes out of thecounty about one and a half miles south of Canoga. Its northern limitis the southern boundary of the gypseous group.

Through a large part of this section, especially in the northeast part of Fayette it is covered by the rock next in succession, the Marcellus shale, but is exposed in several places, owing to the strata being altered from their horizontal position, cracked in several places, and the southern end being depressed. The dip of the rock is slight, and those alterations which have been caused by movements from below, have left few traceson the general surface of the country, which is slighty raised above thelevel of the sur-rounding land and is gently undulating;
The thickness of the bed of shale which covers this limestone varies, but in many places is not more than four feet. On Mr. Hoster’s farm, (lot 37,) it can be reached at from six to eight feet deep; and on the ridge, and many of the undulations within the district named, theshale does not cover it to any greater depth; at other points the rockcomes to the surface, or is covered by a few feet of clay.

The total thickness of the limestone does not exceed thirty feet in this county, and includes five or six beds or strata, varying from nine to eighteen inches thick. In every quarry which has been opened,the same strata are exposed. Thus, the courses in Mr. Chamberlain’s andMr. Wuchter’s quarries are similar to those of Mr. Rorison’s and Mr. McAllis-ter’s, showing that the original horizontal bed has been fissured and exposedin several places, and though occupying so many miles of surface, it isonly twenty-five feet in depth.

Its brittle character, its blue color, and its fine grained and compact
________________________
* State Survey.

No. 150.]    419
structure, tell its history. Similar to the other limestonesof the county, it is not the aggre0ation of remains of innumerable molluscs, corals, and other shelled sea-water animals, but the result of the deposition of a mud, whose basis was a limestone rock originally, and which, being carried with some rapidity, and copiously deposited on a sea bottom of great depth, was so circumstanced that no animal remains could be included in it, except of those which were dead at the time, or could not resist the depositing cur-rent. That it was of great depth may be inferred from the compactness of the stone, and the absence of coral remains. The upper beds are cracked in many places by fissures, and traversed by joints which run in two direc-tions, one east and west, the other northeast and southwest; the general dip of this rock is south by one point west.

This rock has been quarried for building purposes, and for conversion into caustic lime, in several places.
On the Seneca river, near Waterloo, it has been raised by Mr. Enoch Chamberlain.
At Scawas, or South Waterloo, by Mr. H. Wuchter.
On lot No. 15, by Mr. James Rorison.
On lot No. 27, by Mr. McAllister.
Also, on the county poor-house farm, and a few lesser quarries.

At Mr. Chamberlain’s, where the beds are well exposed, the general cha-racter of the rock can be well examined. In this quarry, six beds or strata are exposed, the soil above covering them to a depth varying fromn two to eight feet. The two upper beds are cracked and fissured in several places, down which the water passes, and freezing in winter breaks it in smaller fragments, fit only for the kiln. The fourth, fifth andsixth beds below the surface yield the largest blocks of stone; the thirdbed is the thickest, be-ing about four feet deep; between the third andfourth bed is a seam of shale, from eight to twelve inches thick, which,when exposed to the air, chips and falls to a fine soft powder, of a lightbrown tint; while fresh it is grayish, soft and unctuous; it is a magnesianmineral, and might be classed as a talcose slate. This material might possiblybe made to answer time purposes of French chalk, or fullers’ earth; whenground and well washed, it might be an aid to pottery clays; or, when weathered, it might be the basis of a compost advantageous on loose and sandy ground, as an addition favorable to the wheat plant.

As a material for building, the Seneca limestone affords themost durable and beautiful block of any beds in the county, and wherefree from the flint veins, or horn stones, it can be dressed with greatneatness and facility under the chisel, and form an important item ofindustry in the county.
    [Assembly, No. 150.]    29
   
450    [ASSEMBLY
The faults in these beds of limestone give origin to severalsprings, and streams of water, of which the most remarkable in the districtis that of Canoga. The slips which this rock has made may have been caused either by upheaval, or by the removal of the soft gypsum rock below, allowing the higher strata to fall down. To this latter opinion the geologists of the State survey incline ; yet it is quite as possible to be produced by the pressure caused by the upheaval of rocks at some distance. Thus the un-dulations which caused the bending of the strata in the southern part of the county, may, by their progression through a more brittle mass, have result-ed in the fracture and tilting up on the edge of the Seneca limestone.

The fossils of this rock are few. Vegetable matter gives to the whole mass a tint of blue, which occasionally is so deep in tone as to be almost black. The dark color is due to bituminous matter, and small portions of bituminous coal have occasionally been taken from between the strata of stone. Of the animal remains, the stophomena lineata is the most abundant and cha-racteristic. Cyrtoceras undulatumn, and stophomena undulata, these are delineated in the annexed sketches as also the quarries at Scawas in the town of Fayette.



   
452    [ASSEMBLY

Hamilton Group.

Under this head are included all the beds of rock which underlie the middle portion of the county, commencing about the south tier of lots of the town of Fayette, and extending to the boundary line of Romulus and some parts of Ovid, presenting a convex margin to the north. It hasderived its name from its development in the town of Hamilton, county ofMadison. In the State survey this group has been subdivided into six differentseries, of which five are shales or slate, and one is limestone. In anascending scale from the lowest bed, they have been termed,



The numbers included within parenthesis refer to their position on the geological map.
Lying between the thin bed of Marcellus shale which dips under, and the Tully limnestone which overlays it, and forms a well marked southern boun-dary, as a class of rocks, they are readily recognizable. The subdivisions of this group have been founded partly upon tIme mineral character ofthe beds, which in some of the series differ from each other, and partlyupon the different character of the fossils imbedded in it.

They may be recognized and examined with great facility on the eastern shore of Seneca lake, where, from the constant action of the westerly winds, the shore is kept in a bold state, with the naked rock exposed. In many of the ravines on this shore, and on the western side of Cayuga lake, similar  opportunities are afforded. The Cayugalake shore in this county being less undulating, and less exposed tothe action of agitated water, exhibits these shales to less advantage.

The deep waters which existed during the period of the deposit of the Marcellus shale, was also prevalent during the long period which was neces-sary to deposit beds of such immense thickness as are included in this group. ·From inspection of the beds in several places, the depth of this group cannot be less than six hundred feet. During deposition, the waters were unusually quiet, and disturbed only by a slight current running in a northerly direction.

The fineness of the character of the deposit, the perfect condition of the fossil impressions, and the species which they include, imply these condi-tions.

No. 150.]    453
The first enumerated of these beds, the “Dark slaty fossiliferous shale,” underlies the southern lots of the town of Fayette, and the whole of the town of Varick, except the lots 61, 62., 63, and part of 59 and 82. Its northern boundary is the limit of the Marcellus shale, from which it may be recognized by a separating line of very thin shale, which in many places has crumbled into clay. Underneath this it becomes a slate ofa dark blue or even black tint, which separates into thin laminae; not, however, suffi-ciently large or regular to constitute a flag stone. Like the shale which overlays it, it is almost entirely argillaceous, but in severalplaces carbonate of lime appears and accumulates, producing not only nodulesand concre-tions of this mineral, but also thin streaks of limestone, neversufficient in any of the places examined to constitute a layer of limestone.Small as the quantity of this mineral has been in the rock, it is sufficientto have pro-duced the circumstances favorable for the development of testaceousanimals, where shells are found in these spots.

In the quarry situated on Mr. Lerch’s farm, (lot 31, in Fayette,) this shale can be well seen; some of the layers split well into small flags, but the greater portion break off into shaly fragments, which are highly fossili-ferous, and contain numerous casts of cyathophyllum. On lot 38, a short distance north of Mr. Kidd’s dwelling house, this shale may also be seen with advantage. On the Seneca lake shore, along the same meridian, the dip is very nearly south-southwest. In many places in Fayette, itis deeply covered by a drift clay and soil thirty feet in thickness. Bygradations nearly imperceptible, the last shale merges into a bed, markedsix on the map, termed the “compact calcareous blue shale,” which at onceimplies its composition and structure; it is a slaty, cleavable rock,not so fissile as the two foregoing, upon which it reposes. Like the preceding,it is a clay rock, having an increased per centage of lime, which continuesto augment until the upper beds are reached, where this mineral so prevails as to give the character of a limestone rock, and render it suitable for the purposes of burning. These beds are marked by the presence of thefossil Delthyris.
This bed of thin limestone separates the shale from another bed which lies above it. This, the “Olive shale,” is more fissile than the last named bed, is very calcareous where it is in contact with the limestone layers, but farther up it loses this character, and becomes of a dark olive tint, which is due to the presence of a manganese mineral.
It is much more freely decomposed and weathered than the blue shale above, and, where exposed, it crumbles readily into soil. It is protected from extensive action by the overlying shale, as may be seen in the ravines along either lake shore. Ascending the deep ravine in theeastern shore of

454
[ASSEMBLY
Romulus, on lot 71, this shale is exposed and underlaid by the blue slate. Both beds are here about one hundred and fifty feet thick. The dip of the shale is southwest, at an angle of five degrees. Nearly a mile up this ravine the cascade rolls and pours over the upper bedswhich are protected by the ealcareous beds of the blue shale; these consistof three Barrow courses of stone, which protect the shale from the further erosion of the stream; yet higher up the ravine the blue shale appearsoverlying the limestone seams.

On lot 82, in the town of Romulus, the blue shale may be seen crossing the road, south of the residence of Mr. William Martin; and on lot 98 the olive shale shows itself a few rods south of the creek; on the bed of the latter, the calcareous beds which intervene, may be seen forming the water bed; on lot 100 it crosses the boundary line of Romulus and Ovid, and approaches the Cayuga shore; a few yards south of Mr. Martin’s, this cal-careous bed was excavated by him, and he found it to possess the properties of a good hydraulic lime; at this spot it lies near the surface, and is covered by a compact blue shale; it slopes off veryabrupt, for on another part of the farm the same bed was twenty-one feetdeep.

Along the shore of the Seneca lake these two beds are fully exposed on lot 60 in Varick, and on lots 64, 65 and 66 in Romulus. The olive shale contains nodules of claystone and of limestone imbedded in the mass, of various sizes; they are chiefly rounded and do not resemble any organic form; a large portion of some of them is made up of pyrites, which in-creases their density. Impressions of shells are on their outer surface, and occasionally a shell is found within, around which the deposit took place.

The upper layers of the olive shale lose their fissilility and become compact, retaining the color, but parting with the fossil characteristics which it possessed. Its southern limit is where it passes into a mass of limestone between two and three feet thick.

These upper layers are exposed by the ravines on the west shore of Ro-mulus, and may be seen from the lake on lots 72, 73 and 79, where they are opened by the action of the water. On the Cayuga shore ofOvid, on lot 6, and toward Sheldrake point they may be seen on the margin.The atrypa concentrica is a common fossil of these beds.
A short distance north of Baileytown, this layer of shale isexposed on the lake shore, crosses the county in lots 80 and 81 of Romulus,the north part of 82 and southeast of 77, here it dips under the surfaceand appears again on the Cayuga shore, on lot 23, south of Sheldrakepoint.

From its superior development in Cayuga county at Ludlowville, this bed has received the name of Ludlowville shale.
The thin bed of limestone which forms the termination of this series

455
[ASSEMBLY
of slates has been termed encrinal limestone from the abundance of that fossil, some times the rock appears to be formed of nothing else but the remains of the stalk of this and several varieties of coral.It is of a brown or clay color, and contains other fossils which arenot character-istic. It resists the action of weather and forms the edgesof the cascades in a few of the ravines in the northeastern part of Ovid.

The localities of its exposure on the lake shore, are the same as those of the last described shale. It varies from two and a halfto three feet in thickness in most beds, yet occasionally it does notexceed one foot. It forms a rough building stone and burns well to causticlime. It is probable from the proportion of aluminous clay which itcontains, that the mortar formed would be found durable, and is thereforeworthy the attention of build-ers. In a few places the clay so far predominates as to convert it into a shale rock; the fossils however serve to distinguish it. Being so very thin, and exposed only in upheavals of slate, it cannot be said to occupy any portion of the area of the county.

The “Moscow shales,” as they have been designated by Mr. Hall, from the perfection of the fossils (trilobites) developed in Moscow,Livingston county; lie above the encrinal limestone, and are a bed ofgreat thick-ness; as it is bounded on the south by the Tully limestone,it can be readily recognized it is of a dark blue color, composed of fineparticles and traversed by seams; it contains more lime than the foregoingshales, and on that account, does not in many of its exposures displaya slaty structure.

Where it approaches the Tully limestone it becomes very fossiliferous. It is a soft stone, easily decomposed, and contains iron pyrites disseminated through the mass, as well as collected in small masses of crystals,and con-creted into nodules. The glittering golden color, and the weightof these, have impressed a few with the erroneous belief that they wereores of the precious metals.

The rusting along the edges, owing to the iron becoming oxydised assists in breaking up the slate when acted upon by moisture.

They may be examined along the shores of Seneca lake, commencing a few rods below the new Ovid landing and stretching a mile south towards Goff's point.

Almost every creek or ravine on the western shore of the county in Ovid, displays this shale by exposure of twenty-five to forty feet in depth. In the creek, near the shore and leading from the falls of Lodi to Goff's point, this shale may be seen underlaying the Tully limestone.

Along the Cayuga shore it is exposed from the vicinity of Port Kid-der to the extremity of the county, and in the ravines along the shore. It
   
456    [ASSEMBLY
passes through the county westward under lots 14, 13 and 5, in Ovid, and embraces in extent the southern portion of Romulus, except the middle lots extending a mile and a half north of Ovid, its greatest breadth there is two miles, but on the lake shores it widens out considerably.

This terminates the description of the Hamilton group. The superior rocks being stripped, it occupies a greater extent of surface in this county than at any point westward. Its greatest breadth is about nine miles, ex-tending from near the south part of Fayette, through the entire length of Varick, and a large part of Romulus, to within a mile and a halfnorth of Ovid, and stretching from thence in a curve, a few miles farthersouth along the lakes, where, owing to the force of the great mass of waterswhich once flowed in the direction of Seneca and Cayuga lakes, their shoreshave been indented on each side. The total thickness of these beds has beenesti-mated at one thousand feet, including the Marcellus shale.

The fossils found in this group are not only sufficient to distinguish their position among the secondary rocks, but also to some extent,to separate the subdivisions from each other; siliceous and argillaceousslates as they all are, with here and there a bed of limestone, from theirmineral charac-ter alone, but little could be determined in regard tothem. The organic life of that period is a more characteristic test,and there is here annexed a list of the most important fossils of thisgroup.




No. 150.]    457



1 Atrypa prisca, in the olive and Moscow shale.
2 Atrypa concentrica, in the olive and Marcellus shales.
3 Nucula oblonga, black fossiliferous shale.
4 Delthyris mucronata.
5 Cyathophyllum.
6 Loxonerna nexilis.
7 Orthonata undulata.
S Dipleura Dekayii.

Tully Limestone.
This limestone lies above the Moscow shales, and derives itsname from the village of Tully, in Onondaga. It is the last bed of limestone which is formed by sedimentary action, or by the deposit of a calcareous mud, the other and succeeding limestones being, those formed as the result of organic life. But these existing only in the carboniferous system, which beds do not occur in this State, it becomes important, inasmuch as it is the n-test southern bed of limestone in this State. It is an impure stone, sometimes
   
458    [ASSEMBLY
calcareous, sometimes argillaceous, always compact and fine brained, and of a dark and blackish blue color. The usual thickness, in thiscounty, is eleven feet; the greatest observed thickness, about thirteenfeet.

It is extensively exposed in the county of Seneca, and wherenot appa-rent, is in many places readily within reach, and from itsuniform thickness and characteristic color can always be recognized.It stretches across the county in a semi-circular line, the greatestconvexity of which is one and a half miles north of Ovid, from thenceit may be traced on either side to the lakes.
From the eastern edge of lot 89, in Romulus, it dips southeasterly and reappears on lots 5 and 6, in Ovid, where it crosses the road near Mr. Craven's  farm, and is there one hundred and twenty yards wide, it dips again below the soil, and is lost at Cayuga lake, a little north of Sheldrake point, by the removal of the rocks above the Hamilton group. It rises to the surface again on lot 42, the south boundary of Ovid,where Mr. Moorehouse has a quarry; here it crosses a ravine, where itis exhibited probably in its most distinctive features; it then curvessouth, and is lost under the Gene-see slate, which here overlies it.

On the west side of Ovid, the limestone can be traced on lot43, in Lodi, it may be seen rising out of the Seneca lake, some distancefrom the shore. In the ravine leading to the falls of Lodi, it is morethan fifteen feet above the creek, it ascends gradually, until on the shoreit may be seen as high as sixty feet; it continues northerly for a mile and a quarter in a horizontal line, then descending to the north for half a nile, it reaches the level of the lake. A few rods farther north, it emerges from the lake, and rises to a height of forty feet, where it may be seen ina ravine, on lot 94, of Romulus, whence it traverses under 93 and 84, until it emerges ngain on lot 89, its greatest northerly point or limit. Itsuniformity in appearance and thickness is remarkable on the ravine sections,in each of these locali-ties, there are five courses of stone, of whichthe lowest is the thickest, averaging four and one-half to five feet;the joints are vertical, and far apart, allowing of large blocks to bequarried and removed. From its com-pactness it resists the action of thestreams, and presents a ledge of rock over which the cascades roll. Theslate which underlies this rock, (Mos-cow shale,) is, however, occasionally eaten away, and leaves a large slab of limestone overhanging the chasm; this in time bends, and then breaks off; this effect can be seen on the ravine running in to lot No. 94. The action of the Seneca waters have removed the shale, and consequently causing the fall of large masses of the limestone ; these angular blocks line the coast for many miles, both on the Cayuga as well as the Seneca shores, and they

No. 150.]    459
have often been removed for the purposes of burning, and brought to the head of the lake. The impropriety of removing these masses ofstone has been remarked, as it leads to the further destruction of thebanks, by the inroad of the waters, whereas if these broken masses wereleft to rest on the shore, they would remain a natural and perpetual breakwater.
The curved line which this limestone presents to the north, is due to the effect of erosion before referred to.
After the limestone and superior rocks had been deposited, they were upraised; but the force of the current, which swept onward toward the south, took the channel of both lakes, and swept away the angles of the bed on each side.
The bending of the limestone to the south, and its rising again to form an arc, which may be seen on the Seneca shore, is due to a very different cause.

When this bed, with the accompanying overlying slate, were deposited, the waters were tranquil to a great extent, the bottom was horizontal, or nearly so, on which they were deposited, and the current came from a point south, perhaps a little west, deeper waters existed further east, and the sea bottom gradually became more shallow in Indiana and Illinois. The cur-rent taking the deeper channel, carried the fine materials farther out into the sea, and depositing the very fine clay mud farthest north, they being specifically lighter, then nearer to the source of those muds which contained limestone, then the purer limestones, and lastly the sandy materials, which, being heavier, could be carried the least far.
Taking the south as the point of departure, the deposit tookplace in the following consecutive order:

    1. Genesee slate, (containing sandstone.)
    2. Tully limestone, (siliceous and argillaceous limestone.)
    3. Shales containing lime and sand, (Moscow and olive.)
    4. Shales containing much lime, (blue shale.)
    5. Shales containing little lime, (Marcellus shale.)

In the western states, where the belt was shallower, the deposits were of
course thinner and more sandy.

After final deposition and consolidation of these beds, and perhaps after the deposition of the old red sandstone of the southern counties, (the Portage and Chemung group,) volcanic upheaval and undulations occurred. Of the former action there are no true indications in this county,and the latter can only be inferred from the appearances of this group.The arching of this strata north and south was produced when surroundedby shales. as now, for the slate above and below follow the curve of thelimestone. The
   
460    [ASSEMBLY
curve being only a few miles in extent, shows the subterranean action to have been limited. That the action was not applied immediately to this locality may be inferred from the fact, that there is no injection, or pene-tration of the mass from below, no fissures filled with greenstone or trachytic rocks of a modern age. This holds true of this, though Mr. Vanuxem mentions the appearance of two thin veins of serpentine and limestone mixed, resembling trap rock, found in close connexion with this limestone at Ludlowville; this being the only locality where such has been observed, and that of too small an amount to justify the belief of such action being the cause, almost the only inference left to be adopted, is that this curve is the result of an undulation of the surface, a wave transmitted through the bed of rock, and derived from a distant point south. The motive force below bending the stratum as it passed along, partly perhaps by upheaval, but mostly by its heating power, producing expansion upwards of the overlying mass. Those beds susceptible of the greatest expansion will curve most, while those differently affected by heat, will either not curve, or as in the case of argillaceous beds, dry out, and crack. This has been before alludedto when treating of the shales which underlie this bed. To produce the curvature,a fixed point at the extremity is required. Whether the pres-ence of thegreat mass of waters which overlayed the beds towards the north, coupledwith the cooler beds in that region, would afford the necessary “point d’appui,”is a suggestion thrown out, rather than a reason given.
The lime obtained by burning the Tully limestone is not always white, owing to traces of iron and manganese, which the stone contains, and which stain the stone of a red or olive color, or tint in some places. The lowest and thickest bed is generally very pure. It is capable of being dressed very neatly, and would form a fine building stone, and as the joints are in a vertical direction, there is little lodgment of water in quarrying these stones ; the joints being distant also, allow of large blocks to be raised if care is observed. It does not appear capable of affording the finer slabs and sills, like those obtained from the beds ofSeneca limestone, but it can afford square stones of almost any desired dimensions,and being a compact stone, of good quality, and easily reached, it deservesmore attention and extensive use than it receives- at present.

The fossils of this limestone are not numerous in Seneca county. They are atrypa cuboides, affinis and lentiformis; cryphaeus orthistulhiensis.

No. 150.]    461
Fossils in the Tully Limestone.


Genesee Slate.
This slate is the “ Upper Black Shale,” of the State survey;it occupies a large area of the southern part of the county, including the whole of the town of Ovid and those of Lodi and Covert, except so much of the former as is denuded at its eastern and western margins, andof the two latter
   
462    [ASSEMBLY
where by the cuttings of the ravines, the lower rocks are exposed: it stretches north a short distance into Romulus, and underlies thetown of Ovid, occupying an area of about sixty-five square miles, andnext to the Onondaga group, is the most extensively diffused bed.

It is generally of a deep black color of a slaty structure, passing in a few places into a hard siliceous grey or ashy stone, ringing under the hammer; the surfaces of these last mentioned layers, glitter with the light, owing to fine particles of mica disseminated through the stone.

The beds of dark slate contain very few fossil remains; and although crumbling readily under the effects of weather and moisture, splitting into fragments, yet when placed with their edges outward they withstand the action of the heat remarkably well, being good fire stones and remaining almost unaltered used in a back as fire places for forty years; they have been used in furnaces with equal advantage.

The thickness of this bed of slate varies, but in the average, may be estimated at from one hundred and fifty to two hundred feet.It cannot be less than two hundred feet in the ravine at the falls ofLodi; it occupies the whole of the ravine from Mr. Wykoff’s mill tothe base of the lower falls, below which on passing about a fourth ofa mile, the Tully limestone on which it reposes, may be seen, risingon both the north and- south sides of the stream. This characteristicrock, at once localizes both the position and depth of the slate, andfew if any places in the county gives so good a view of the nature ofthe Genesee slate as this ravine affords.

The ravines on the Cayuga lake at the south of Covert, also display this bed advantageously.
The character of the bed is mostly argillaceous, beds of dark slate, which split irregularly, and black shale, which is fissile. These occupy several feet from the surface and are succeeded by a few layers of sandstone which are from three to eight inches thick, they laminate as slates and have the jointed scams of the shale passing down through the sandstone. Two or three of these beds occur of variable quality andthickness; they constitute the flag-stone of this section of the country.The joints are from twelve to four-teen feet apart, and therefore allowthe flags to be raised of great dimensions.
These joints are vertical like those in the Tully limestone,and are in two directions, one being nearly due east and west, the other, north by east and south by west; this joint often presents a curve, with its concavity to the east; this curving is well displayed in ColonelPratt’s quarries in Covert. These joints are also well seen on lot number14, in Ovid west of Shel-drake point, where this shale is exposed. Threesub-divisions of the rock may be seen, two of them are the joints, andthe third is the true line

No. 150.]    463


of cleavage in the slate. In this quarry the joints run north by west; and the same direction was observed by Mr. Vanuxum at Ludlowville.
A and b are the two series of joints which determine in the sandstone the size of the blocks or flags; c c are the lines of cleavage which are visible on the sides of the ravine, as well as on the floor.

The economical uses of this Genesee slate, are in importancenext to the limestones; the shaly, dark and fossiliferous beds arc oflittle value, as they decay rapidly; but not so when the series of flagstones are reached. These are displayed to most advantage on the eastside of the county, inasmuch as they are horizontal in that locality,and have been less disturbed, and are less covered by shale and drift.On lot No. 11, in Ovid, at Scott’s corners, Mr. Leonard has a quarry,in the lower beds, which are here near the sur-face, and covered by afew feet of shale; these beds are not the true flag stones, but rathera silico-argillaceous limestone. The stones are thin, but dress wellfor building or other purposes. On lot 32, in Ovid, is a similar stone, somewhat mnore siliceous; this stone was formerly called Graywacke slate. There are from three to five courses in a quarry north of the resi-denceof Mr. Isaac Covert; the stones are covered by two beds of slaty shale,and underlaid by black, thin beds of fossiliferous slate. In the fifth bedof this quarry, a fine layer is disclosed, giving a slab equal to twelveinches thick, and fourteen feet long; their surface is marked with vegetableimpressions and shells.
A similar stone is quarried further west, by Mr. Van Loo; inan easterly direction these beds thin off; as the joints are far asunder, large slabs may be raised, with due care, of great excellence.

In the immediate vicinity of Mr. Covert’s house, and in a southerly direction a similar but upper bed has been exposed, with two g6od courses of stone, covered and underlaid by shale; the dip of these beds is southwest.
   
464    [ASSEMBLY
The fossil impressions observed on the stone of Mr. Covert’sbeds are:
    1. Lingula spatulata.
    2. Orbicula Lodiensis.
    3. Lingula concentrica.
    4. Avicula fragilis.
    5. Strophomena.
    6. Terebratula.
    7. Tentaculites.

   Mr. Isaac Covert’s farm, on which is this last described bed, is adjoining (north) of the thriving village of Farmerville, nearto which is a series of beds of sandstone, quarried by Mr. Seneca Mundy.In this series the fossil shells are not so abundant, neither are thevegetable remains. These beds are elevated on their eastern edge, andthe dip is nearly due south. They afford good building stone, and arefull of micaceous grains ; the blocks are raised in size about four anda half by six feet. The beds are covered by a clay five feet in thickness,and are arranged thus: three beds of slate, one bed of shale, a bed ofgood stone, and shale underneath. The stone from this quarry finds aready sale at fifty cents -per perch.
On lot number 86, in the town of Covert, is the extensive quarry of Colonel Pratt. From this quarry is sent forth the largest and finest flag-stones. Stones of unusual size have been raised from its bedsand shipped to Buffalo, Syracuse, and other principal cities. Thesebeds are covered by a stratum of clay at least four feet thick, andanother of shale two feet thick, and are underlaid by blue and oliveshale. These quarries do not exceed three to four feet in depth, butthey can be quarried laterally, as their su-perficial extent and quantityis great. The joints are so far apart as to allow slabs to be raised,measuring twelve feet square and six inches thick. The slabs are an evendeposit of fine sand, and dip to the southwest, at a very slight angle.They are sold from the quarries at six cents per foot dressed, or in theirrough state at fifty cents per load.
Another quarry is opened on lot 74, belonging to Mr. Williamson. The stone is similar in texture to that on lot 86; but is not extensively worked, nor are the blocks as large.

In the beds of black shale the amount of bitumen is very great, giving it the deceptive coaly appearance, which has induced many unacquainted with geology, to believe that workable scams of coal might be found in these shales. The deposit of vegetable matter has not been sufficientto form distinct beds, although it has impregnated the slate so extensively. Under the influence of the pyrites the vegetable matter has passed into the state of bitumen, and this liquid oozes down through the layers and escaping on and with the falling waters, is carried out into the lakes; and as the slope of the beds (S.W.) carries the fluid in that direction, Seneca lake receives the greatest portion of these cozings. There is little doubt-, that as the slate crops out beneath the lake, the bitumen alsoescapes there, and being specifically lighter than water, it rises andfloats on the surface. The


No. 150]
465
nodules of claystone, and those masses which with their angular subdivi-sions, separated by a larger portion of calearcous matter, or earthy sulphates,, arc called septaria, occasionally contain bitumen in an internal cavity.
The presence of iron pyrites in the shale tends to produce aseries of changes in this rock, by its decomposition, interesting toconsider. The pyrites may be estimated as made up of thirty-two partsof sulphur and twenty-eight parts of iron in every sixty parts. The ironrusts when ex-posed to the air, and becomes increased to thirty-six parts.Its increased bulk, and the affinity of the rust, or oxide of iron forwater tends to split the rock and hasten its decomposition. The sulphurnoting on the air becomes  acidified or converted into sulphuricacid, which seizing on the earthy matters of the slate, the alumina, magnesiaand lime, form salts, suiphates of alumina, of magnesia, and of lime. These,when’ formed, crystalize on the surface of the shale, and on its exposededges, and form those white saline effiorescences which are common in thisshale. Common salt also forms a portion of the mass; the presence of vegetable matters hastens these changes, and hence it is, that in this shale, when it abounds in pyrites, alum in native crystals is also abundant.

The middle layers of shale of the Genesec slate, present these condi-tions, and when exposed, exhibit the action as explained, going on rapidly. At the falls of Lodi, it is a characteristic feature; atthe lower cascade, about sixty feet above the waters running from thebottom of the fall, the shales, for ten or twelve feet of thickness,may be traced on each side of the ravine, by the white effiorescenee onthe surface of the rock, and large quan-tities of the native mineral maybe taken from between the laminae. It is a true alum sehist or shale, andfrom its exposure, facility of working, and large extent, might offer areasonable inducement for the manufacture of the artificial salt. The process,as carried out in England, may be explained here, and possibly with advantage,though the detail is not now essential. The process may be divided intofour parts:
1.  The preparation of the shale. 2. The lixiviation of the shale. 3. The separation of foreign matters. 4. The crystalization of alum.
1.  The alum schist is occasionally so bituminous and decomposable, that it is sufficient to expose it in loose heaps, and water its surface, when it falls to a fine powder, and is ready for the second process: more frequently the shale requires to be burned, which is done by brushwood, having a continual, slow heat, and a smothered fire; the slower it is burned, the more alum will be produced.
2.  In the neighborhood of the heaps, flagged or wooden cisterns are built, into which large masses of the mineral are placedbelow, the finest parts arc
    [Assembly, No. 160 ]    30

466    [ASSEMBLY
placed on top, and over which is poured a moderate quantity of water; after laying some time, it dissolves out all the soluble matter of the shale, and is usually then transferred to another cistern, where it acts in a similar way, and so on until the liquid becomes fully saturated with the salts. To ac-complish this, a series of cisterns, placed on terraces, allow the passage of the fluid as desired. The saline liquid is then transferred to a cistern in connection with a furnace, the flame of which playson the surface of the liquid, and evaporates it to the point when it justcommences to crystalize; by this means some of the impurities subside.

3. The above named liquid is then drained into another cistern, and a potash or ammoniacal salt is added, either sulphate of potash or chloride of potassium is used, the former more frequently. This removes nearly all the alum out of the liquor, ‘and it falls as a white powder to the bottom, which is called “alum flour.” As soon as it has settled down, the floating liquor is drawn off, and treated again in the same way, so as to exhaust it. The alum meal requires to be washed once or twicewith a little cold water, to free it from iron, which tints it of a browncolor, the wash liquors are pre-served for future use.

4. The powder is then passed into large leaden pans, where only a little water, is poured over, and a gentle fire lighted below it; when dissolved by a boiling heat, it is run off into conical casks, fiveor six feet high, where it cools and crystalizes on the sides. Afterlying eight or ten days, the casks are opened, the liquor drawn off,and the crystals transferred into the pack-ing vessels for market. Suchis an outline of a manufacture which, for the completion of the various processes mentioned, takes several weeks to accom-plish, and an outlay of capital.

The low price of the article, when ‘manufactured, ought not to enter into consideration; but rather the facilities which the locality gives, and the great consumption of this article ‘in many departments of manufacture; several thousands of tons are annually consumed bywool, silk and cotton dyers.

One of the salts which is separated as an impurity, is sulphate of magnesia  or epsom salts, which thus becomes a bye product of manufacture, and tends to diminish the cost of alum-making.
In England, from sixty to sixty-five tons of shale, will produce one ton
of alum, which, when made, costs.......................$30, 00
The cost of the alum stone, or shale........................16 00
Leaving the cost of the potash, labor, &c., &c......$14 00

Which is considerably above what it would be at the falls ofLodi.

No. 150]    467

                              Fossils from the Slateat the Falls of Lodi
                              1. Neuropteris.   
                              2. Lingula
                              3. Orthis.
                              4. Lingula.
                              5. Lingula spatulata.
                              6. Nucula.

Those marked 3, 4 and,5, are very common in the shale at thefoot of the falls. Fig. 1, is probably a terrestrial fern. When viewedunder the lens, the whole mass of shale appears impregnated with pyrites.

This closes the account of the structure and geological position of the rocks as they exist in the county of Seneca. The extent of surface which they occupy may be seen by examination of the map in which. the beds have been traced with as much accuracy as possible. A sectional view of the order of position of these ‘beds is also given, which may assist the inquirer. The Genesee slate passes into Tompkins county, and is succeeded by the Portage and Chemung rocks, corresponding to the old red sandstone of Eu-ropean writers. Those who require more information concerning the fossils of the period will be well rewarded for their trouble, by consulting Mr. Hall’s volume of Palaeontology, in the State Survey, and Sir R. Murchison’s work, “Silurian Researches,” and his work on Russian Geology. There is, as yet, great difficulty in classifying these rocks, and comparing them with their analogues in Europe. This can only be done successfully by the study of the fossil remains. The comparison of the two may be said to have been sketched, but not filled up, by the State Survey, and those who enter on the field will do so with the assistance of much previous labor, and either by tracing now resemblances, or bringing forward essential differences, con-fer a benefit on science and on the country.
   
468    [ASSEMBLY

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List of fossils common to the rocks of Seneca county.
Gypseous group    Orthoceratite.
    Trilobite.
Seneca limestone......... Strophomena lineata.
Cytherina.
Favosites.
Marcellus shale    Posidonia alata.
    Orbicula
    Orthis.
    Septaria spinulosa.
Ludlowville shale    Atrypa coneentrica.
Blue and olive shales,    Leptaeria.
    Delthyris.
    Calamopora gothlandica.
    Favosites.
    Cyathophyllum
Encrinal limestone    Asaphus, (new species.)
    Avicula reticulata.
    Crinoidal columns.
Moscow shale    Calymene bufo.
    Cryphoeus calliteles.
    Homonolotus.
    Atrypa aflinis, prisca.
    Delthyris.
Tully limestone, (16 feet thick,)    Atrypa affinis.
    Calymene.
    Cryphoeus.
Upper black shale, (150 feet thick,) .... . Lingula.
Orbicula.
Orthis.
Posidonia alata.


SPRINGS.

The general phenomena of springs, and the principles which regulate the percolation of water though beds of clay or rock, are of importance to the agriculturist, and claim his studious attention.
The quantity of water beneath the surface of the soil depends on the

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quantity of rain which falls; but the exact relation betweenthe two, de-pends upon the nature and slope of the rock below, the amount of solar heat, and the level of the surface. The existence of riversis produced by the latter, and the volume of water which they containby the former.

The annual fall of rain is consumed in the following manner:
1.    A portion rolls off the surface, forming a stream.
2.    A portion sinks a few inches into the earth, and is raised and evapo-rated.
3.    A portion is consumed by man and animals.
4.    A portion sinks below the evaporating level into the strata of sand, gravel, clay, or rock.
The last is the only portion to be considered as the cause of springs, and which it may do in several ways.
The water which sinks a few feet into the earth, continues descending until it reaches some bed or bottom which is impervious to water. There it rests, accumulates, and spreads itself laterally along the porous bed, until it reaches the extremity of that bed, when it overflows. Such isthe case, when, upon a surface of rock, or upon a bed of stiff clay, isplaced a bed of gravel or sand. This may be curved with either end upraised.Such a bed acts as a tube, and delivers the water at its lowest level,and only there, unless tapped elsewhere.



If 1 be the bed of rock, 2 the bed of clay, 3 the gravel bed, covered by 4, another bed of clay, the rain which falls at a and along the slope of the hill, will sink through the clay 4, into 3, the gravel bed, where it aceumu-mulates, until the whole layer of gravel and sand is full, and rising to the level at b, it overflows, because the bed is now in the condition of a syphon, and will deliver itself through thelongest leg from the shortest. Upon an examination of the precedingfigure it will be seen how water may escape from a level above that ofthe surrounding country, which water is supplied from some higher levelat a distance.

The syphon acts during a short period, or until the water inthe legs of the syphons arc on the same level, or balance each other,they then cease to flow, until this portion of the leg is again full.If a sinking be made in the e rth at c, water can be obtained at any time,and it will rise to the

470    [ASSEMBLY
surface constantly. In other cases the spring is produced bythe running of water through the thin beds of rock which underlie thesoil. This in the county of Seneca, is a very usual source of springs.



If the above diagram represents a vertical section of a bed of drift clay, (No. 1,) lying against the bluff edge of the shale or slate, (2,) all the rain which falls on the clay passes into the seams ofthe slate, and will be carried downward along the sloping line, untilit is arrested by borings or sinkings as represented at a, b, c. Itis obvious that it is the rain water which falls upon the slope of thehill at 1, that is collected by boring, for all the rain which falls onthe slope 3, rolled down along the surface of the rock.

If this diagram represents the shales of Seneca county, mostof which dip southwest, passing under the lake, it is clear that allwater which falls on the upland, at the edges of the shale, and whichdoes not happen to be drawn off or consumed, must pass into the lake,escaping from the rocky seams, mixing with and increasing the lake waters.

The quantity of water so disposed of must he very great. That a vast portion is thus derived, is certain from two facts. The lake, although a limited sheet of water, is cooler in summer and warmer in winter than the surrounding air. This could scarcely happen in a small lake, unless it were supplied from a source having a steady temperature which would lower the summer and raise the winter temperature of its waters.

The altitude of the uplands in Ovid and Covert is from five to six hun-dred feet above the surface of Seneca lake. The lake bottomopposite these shores is more than six hundred feet below the surfacewaters ; as all the beds of shale dip southwest, they reach the lake ator below the water level. An angle of six, degrees is equal to a fall of544 feet per mile. The highest land in Ovid is about three miles fromthe lake shore. The water which falls upon the hills two miles inward fromthe lake, must be discharged  into the lake at its level, or withina distance of about five hundred feet below the level.

The land on the south of Lodi is considerably higher than Ovid, and will to a farther extent drain itself into the lake at the same points, which are not the deepest part of the lake.

The time which the water requires to pass through these laminae of rock

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and the fact that they pass at depths beyond the heating power of the sun upon the surface, tends to make the water acquire the temperature of the rock through which it passes, which is at these depths the mean tempera-ture of the country, and that is about 48°. This constant temperature of the fresh water passing into the lake has the effect of lowering itssummer warmth, and preventing its freezing in winter.

It is a known fact that springs do exist and rise with forcein the lake, but for the most part they have only been ascertained toexist at the mar-gin. A search for springs at great depths, and a knowledge of the comparative height of the lake waters, with the fall of rain the previous season, will bring conviction to any doubting mind.

The well known spring at Canoga owes its coldness to the course above described. Its waters have travelled down the slope of the Onondaga group southward, until they reached a fissure or fault in the Seneca limestone, up which it rushes to escape on the surface. Coming from a greatdepth, it has the mean temperature of the country.

This most interesting spring is on the farm of Mr. Daniel Greenleaf, in lot 34, of the Cayuga reservation in the town of Fayette, and a short distance west from the hotel, in the pleasant village of Canoga.  The water from this spring and a smaller one in its vicinity, turns themachinery of the Canoga flouring mills, saw mills, and other works andpasses into Cayuga  lake.

The spring bed covers a space, about fourteen feet in diameter, is shallow and covered with loose pebbles; the water which rises with great rapidity, is clear, tasteless, and inodorous and leaves no deposit on the bottom or sides of its basin. The bubbles of gas which rise with velocity and in large quantity are pure nitrogen.

On examination they do not afford any trace of oxygen.  No ready means were applicable for ascertaining the quantity of gas given off, but is incredi-bly great, as the surface presents the appearance of ebullition, and on stirring the bottom with a stick, the supply is so much increased, that a large test bottle may be filled in a few seconds. The temperature of the water in June, was 45°, the air at the same time was 82 °.

These waters as has been stated, escape from a fissure in the Seneca limestone, which is every where brokenby a series of faults produced as Mr. Hall believes it probable by thesoft gypseons rocks below. In the State survey, Mr. Hall alludes tothis spring as the only one in the State found in this geological position; others being near the junction of transition with primitive or metamorphic rocks; and refers to Daubeny's hypothesis, that the production of nitrogen is due to the proximity of melted or highly heat-

472    [ASSEMBLY
ed materials, as a probable proof that the faults have arisen from igneous or subterranean action.

This last position is hardly tenable, as in the immediate proximity, there are no evidences of upheaval, except the bending of the shales and Tully limestone, visible on the banks of the lakes; but as the cause which has produced  the latter, has long since ceased, it can have little connect-ion with the phenomena at Canoga.

It is probable that the hollow and loose character of the gypseous rock, underlying the limestone, has more to do with the productionof the spring and the evolution of the gas than is generally supposed. It is a well known fact, wherever any of these shales are exposedto the air, crystals of sulphate of lime will form, owing to the pyritesof the iron becoming decomposed its sulphur taking oxygen from the airto form the sulphuric acid, and the iron taking oxygen to replace the sulphur;the acid when formed uniting with the lime in the stone and crystalizingas gypsum. The oxygen being taken from the air leaves its other elementnitrogen uncombined and it escapes freely; but if this were carried onin confined positions, as in cavities in the solid rock, the nitrogen couldnot escape except through such fissures as might accidentally exist. Whereverthe rock contains pyrites, there much gypsum will be formed, and it is possible that the large masses of gypsum have been so formed; if so, the quantity of air necessary to supply the needful oxygen must have been great indeed, and the quantity of nitrogen correspondingly great, and sufficient toproduce larger evolu-tions of gas than occurs at Canoga. The water of thespring is possibly supplied by the soakage of the waters on the gypseousground north of Seneca Falls, which passing along the slope of the stratasouthward enters those caverns in the rocks, where remaining for sonicshort time, it acquires the steady temperature of that underground position,approaching very near the mean temperature of the year, which in thislatitude would be about fifty feet below the surface: passing throughthe cavities where these che-mical changes have been going on, it forcesits way through the fissures carrying with it mechanically the free nitrogen,arising from the decomposed atmosphere; the water is placed in the conditionof a fluid in a syphon, the long leg being the sloping stratum, and theshort leg the fissure, hence it is delivered upward with such force. Thewater does not contain more mineral matter than sixteen grains to the pint,which consists of sulphate of lime and chlorides of calcium and sodium.

There are no springs in the county of Seneca, which can be traced to volcanic action. The springs which contain sulphurcttcd hydrogen are those which have traveled through beds of rock containing iron pyrites; this

No, 150.]    473
mineral decomposing without access of air produces oxide of iron and sul-phuretted hydrogen, the latter gas escaping through the water gives it the sulphuretted odor. There are several such springs rising out of the Onon-daga group of rocks, and espeeially from the shale beds. The Genesee slate region is the most productive of such springs.
Almost all the spring water in the town of Tyre is sulphuretted ; other instances are found, in various localities; one exists on the farm of Mr. Van Loo, in lot 54, town of Lodi; another on lot 6, at Seneca Falls - this spring belongs to Mr. Baseum, who is about to erect a neat edifice over it.

Sometimes the oxide of iron becomes converted into sulphate of iron, which then dissolves in the water, and renders it chalybeate.Such is the condition of a spring on lot 69, in Covert, which is alsosulphurctted; and also of a spring near the residence of Mr. DanielYoung, on lot 21, in Tyre. These springs are ferruginous, depositingan ochrey layer along their banks.

The springs which pass over and through the Onondaga group become impregnated with gypsum, and the salts arising from the decomposition of the gypseous shales; such is the spring at Dublin, in the town of Junius, which is not sulphuretted. An analysis of this spring exhibited thefollow-ing result:



This spring is remarkable for being sensibly acid to litmus paper, ana having the power of curdling milk.*
A spring similar to the foregoing exists on lot 42, in Junius, on the farm of Mr. Southwick; the deposit of ochre is considerable,and the taste of the water is bitter.
Springs passing through beds of limestone reek dissolve thismineral, and
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* The acidity of the spring is due to the small quantity of free sulphuric acid, which may be supplied  by the tendency ofthe protoxide of iron to become liberated and peroxodized; I do not believe it to be due to the presence of sulphuric acid n an uncombined state, for such is only found in neighborhoods  of existing active volcanoes,where it is formed; in this place from the tufa being discolored by iron,the acid has evidently been liberated. I am inclined to think that thisis the true explanation of similar acid springs in the Onondaga group, althoughDr. Beck seems inclined to a different opinion -Thomas Antisell.

474    [ASSEMBLY
deposit it again on exposure, forming deposits sometimes hard, resembling stalactites, more frequently in the condition of soft marly powder, or in-crustations (tufa) on pieces of dead vegetable matter;of the former, an example may be seen in the spring which pours out onthe south side of Seneca river, a few rods below the village of Seneca Falls ; the deposit being somewhat ochrey, gives it a ribboned or agate appearance. In the town of Tyre, there arc several such springs, of lesser note.
Of the deposit of lime in the second form, instances are abundant. One of the best is on the farm of Mr. A. Dunlap, Jr., near Ovid, where the tufarous  deposit occurs in the stream, and the whole groundaround is underlaid with a thick coating of marl.
The spring at Mr. Van Loo's, on lot 54, in Lodi, before alluded to, is remarkable for the escape of bubbles of gas at intervals, and preceded by a low gurgling noise; the gass is given off in large quantity; a test glass was filled in three minutes. It burns with a pale flame, and is wholly composed of a light carburetted hydrogen, or the gas of themarshes; it contains no sulphuretted hydrogen; the pools beside the well,on being stirred, give off the gas plentifully, and no doubt it streamsup through the clay, its ap-pearance in the water being accidental, Thisgas arises from the decom-position of the vegetable matter in the shalebelow, one of the results of which is, the formation of marsh gas.

On the lot No. 58, in the town of Lodi, bitumen escapes withthe water out of the shale. This mineral also arises from the vegetablematter or coal in the shale being destroyed. The decay is a process analogous to what heat produces on coal in a gas retort—it separates the coal into an inflammable gas, (carburetted hydrogen,) and an inflammable liquid, (tar.) On the slate it is decomposed into marsh gas, and bitumen, orSeneca oil, as it is sometimes called, from its being gathered off thelake.
There is a spring in Lodi, on lot 54, which is remarkable only for the large volutne of water discharged from it. The basin is about six feet in diameter, and the stream which flows from it would fill abore of seven inches diameter. Its velocity is about three and a half milesper hour, hav-ing a power, from its position, to move much useful machinery. At present it is unoccupied and idle.


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Drift Deposits.

In every part of the northern hemisphere above the latitude of forty degrees, wherever examined, there is a great amount of proofthat a large body of water moved over the face of the lands, then wholyor in great part submerged.
In this state the current flowed rapidly in a south-easterlydirection, and bore along upon its bosom whatever materials it couldtake from the rocks over which it had passed, and deposited them veryfar south of the localities whence they were derived.
Whether this diluvial action was sufficient to excavate the deep channels of the lakes which border this county, and, to produce grooved lines* on the surfaces of the exposed rock, there is not sufficient evidence to say, as far as this county is concerned. In part of the British Isles, the furrows on the rocks are in the same line as the deposition of the drift now alluded to, and may be considered as cotemporaneous in origin and indicating the course of the current.

The materials carried by the waters are of two kinds, viz
1. Boulders or large blocks of stones generally rounded and found ly-ing on and imbedded in the clay.
2. Beds of sand, and clay or of gravel, the fragments are rounded, of various materials, and different degrees of fineness.
The boulder deposit in this county is very abundant in the north, spars in the middle towns, and very deficient in the south. One reason for this may be that such large masses although transported in deep water and therefore with great momentum in travelling along the ocean bottom, must in this country have been brought up an inclined plane, going south their motion would then be impeded by any moderate obstacle ; perhapsanother reason is that those rocks being deposited in the north, the supplywhich might be had by the action of the current on the beds in the middleand south would be trifling, as with the exception of the limestone no other rock would afford them; the shales of the southern towns could not produce a boulder.
In the northern towns these stones arc almost all derived from primary rocks, and arc the only instances of crystalline rocks in the county.

The larger masses are uniformly granite, (chiefly white) as occur in Junius,  where they have been removed from the surface, and meet the plow occasionally.
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*The grooved lines have not been examined in this county, thre are no fresh exposures of rock sufficient to afford examination,and it is desirable in all future openings of quarries that such examinations  should be made.
   
476    [ ASSEMBLY
On Mr. Braden’s farm several blocks of this kind have been raised: one of these was about four feet in diameter ; smaller stones of flesh-colored granite and gneiss have been removed from the central lots of Junius.On lot 29 the larger stones are chiefly granite and sandstone, (red) andthe smaller stones are Graywacke slate. In lot No, 1, on the read side,lies a large boulder N. E. and S. W.

In Tyre, granite boulders of a large size are frequently met with; a few smaller consist of sienite, granite with red felspar, and redsandstone. Cob-ble stones of greenstone porphyry are abundant.

These large masses are almost confined to these towns, for in Waterloo and Seneca Falls, the larger boulders are rare, appearing at the sides of the gravel hills occasionally, but seldom constituting the surfacestone.
In the town of Fayette, although blocks of large dimensions do here and there present themselves, yet it is probable they were included in the mass of gravel and sand. On the lake margins, they have been washed out of the ridges; on the lots south of the Seneca river they are chiefly of gnciss and granite; large blocks of hornblcnde and actymolite are accompa-nied by rolled pebbles of greenstone, sandstone, sienite, and limestone. In the south of the town limestone appears as a drift rock, and continues to increase through the towns of Yarick and Romulus. This appears to be moreespecially true of the eastern side. The primary rocks never wholly disappear:granite is found on almost every lot in Romulus and Ovid, much more sparinglyin Lodi and Covert. In these latter towns, they are pre-sent in smaller masses,as is also, occasional fragments of hornblcnde, greenstone  and actymolite.

In the southern towns the limestone is not so abundant a boulderas in Romulus and. Varick, but is a very common handstone in the gravel hills.

The limestone found as boulders in the middle and south, appear to be similar to the Waterloo stones, and some of the larger masses of the Tully limestone. South of the county this stone has been drifted to agreat dis-tance, having been probably torn up from the bed of the lakesby the force of the currents.

There does not appear to be. any uniformity in the line of deposit of these boulders, nor does the eye trace a given course with any distinctness. In other words they do not imply their being grounded out of ice deposits, or by glacial action. Perhaps, however, the cultivation of the soilby re-moving them, may divest this opinion of any value.

The ridges of gravel and sand, and of clay, appear to have been carried by a similar action, and at the same time as the larger stones where the

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small stones which are to be found in them are, to a great extent, of a simi-lar character, and probably from the same localities.
In the north-west of Junius, these hills are very numerous, set closely together, and have a direction pointing S. SE. In Tyre the same direction prevails, where they are more prevalent in the lots forming the middle and north-west portion of the town; toward the southern portion they spread out and the surface is flattened.

In Seneca Falls they preserve the same direction, both on the north and south side of the river. In the western lots of Waterloo, thedirrecction ap-pears to have inclined more to the eastward: the lotson the river have their ridges well developed, but somewhat spread outand flattened.

In Fayette these hills of sand and gravel lose the isolated and distinct character which in the northern towns were well defined; they are here considerably flattened out, as might be supposed to occur, when the drift, arriving in water somewhat shallower, met with obstructions on the surface of land sloping upward toward the south; the tops of the hills have less slope, and the northerly and southerly direction is less marked, if we except the margins of each lake, where the ridges are quite distinct and formed of gravel and stiff clay, the former being composed to a great ex-tent of limestones. They chiefly accumulate on the bluff edge or the north side of the ridges of shale which overspread this town.

In Varick and Romulus, there are fewer evidences of these hills, yet the drift can be traced along the towns deposited in almost aneven layer, with more quietness and somewhat finer materials.

These had more time and a better opportunity to settle down,and in these towns, and those farther south, beds of gravel disposedevenly along the surface of the shales, and constituting receptaclesor basins for the rain water to sink into, are common: in some places,as the southern side of a small hill, a bed of fine sand will be foundto exist, occasionally the latter is spread horizontally as a layer,beneath a few feet of soil.

In the southern part of Romulus, the sand appears to have been distributed more abundantly on each lake shore, than on the centrallots, and with a few exceptions this is true of the southern towns.

The western lots of Lodi are much more sandy than those in the middle of the town, or adjoining Covert.

The greater abundance of limestone in the pebbles of drift, as well as in the larger boulders in the southern towns, contributes toincrease the amount of that mineral in the soil, giving it as in thesouth of Romulus a marly character.

There is a less uniformity in the character of the drift over a given space

478    ASSEMBLY
in Waterloo and Seneca Falls, than in other towns of this county; thus in Seneca Falls, on lots 73, 84 and 85, fine grey sand is found under almost all the hills. This occurs on Mr. Crowell’s farm in very fine layers, the sand possessing a slight buff tint. It is drawn into Waterloo for building pur-poses and is sold at twenty-five cents per load. On Mr. Austen’s farm in this neighborhood, a finer sand than the above occurs, but the pit is nearly exhausted.

In Waterloo, many of the lots on the north side of Seneca River, appear to be a wet alluvium. The village lot and numbers 97 and 98are of this character: in 78, 89 and 91, the soil is chiefly sand; whilelot 90 is a wet alluvium mixed with muck.
The depth at which these deposits of drift cover the surfacevaries ; accumulating in some places above fifty feet, while in others,tile rock is reached in one to two feet. The northern towns, however,seem to have a much deeper deposit than those in the middle and south.

The following table may be interesting as giving the depths to which wells have been sunk. in the various places indicated. With few exceptions the sinking has been continued until the rock was reached, and the materials through which the boring was carried, are noted



From the foregoing it is evident that the clay and soil which cover the county are mainly derived from the drift deposit, as, with the exception of the Seneca limestone, and tile Marcellus shale, the otherbeds are covered so deeply as to have little influence on the soil. Tileamount and nature of that influence will be mentioned when treating ofsoils.

The hill deposits generally present their greatest slope to south, and their bluff end, or shoulder, to the north. The eastern slope is more abrupt than the western in the majority of cases, from which itis inferred that the

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current which bore them came from the north by one point cast, which is the general line of their direction.

The deposit of drift in the northern towns is especially derived from some locality farther north. In the southern towns, it appearsto be made up, in great degree, of materials derived from the centreand south part of the county itself. The great abundance of limestone gravelmay possibly have been derived from the limestones over which the waterpassed.

Viewing the drift as a deposit from which the soils of the county are chiefly derived, it becomes a consideration of importance; but viewing it simply as a deposit of drift, whether of clay, gravel, or boulders, it is of very small amount in the eyes of those who are acquainted with a well characterized drift region.

In two instances masses of timber have been found as low as thirty-eight feet below the surface, imbedded in the sand and gravel. The wood was apparently white ash, and in good preservation.

The period of the deposit of this drift is very far subsequent to that of the bed of rocks upon which they lie.  A long lapseof time must have intervened sufficient to deposit all the limestone,and coal formations in the adjoining state of Pennsylvania, and tilelater secondary rocks of New-Jersey.

The tertiary beds were then deposited, which are mostly fineclays, such as those of Lake Champlain, and of the Mohawk valley.

Whether these beds may be classed among the latest of the tertiary de-posits, or whether they belong to the post tertiary deposits, or whether they belong to the past tertiary period is doubtful. Some of the British sands and gravel can be referred to the post pliacene period of Sir C. Lyell; but there is little evidence in this region and its clays to justify a like conclusion in regard to them.


This material may only be used for research and personal use.
COPYRIGHT 2002 BY WILLIAM HECHT
Union Springs, NY
13160