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Histories
of Western New York
|
April -2004 ARTICLE FEATURE: |
1822
|
Beginnings
- The Village of Buffalo - 1801 to 1832
The
City of Buffalo - 1832 to 1840
by J. Henry Priebe Jr.
The great steamers of the era included the Vandalia, the
Great Western, the Western World, the United States,
the Plymouth, the Queen of the West, the Empire
and the Hendrik Hudson. These were but a handful of the great
lake steamers. ...Within 10 years the railroads would woo passengers
away from the canal and lake boats in numbers great enough to start
the decline of water borne passenger traffic through Buffalo.
The
City of Buffalo - 1840 to 1850
by J. Henry Priebe Jr.
In 1840 Buffalo was a city of over 18,000 souls. Erie County residents
numbered over 62,000. The brief slowdown in population growth due to
the epidemics and economic slump of the 30's was over. As trade through
the port city of Buffalo swelled so did the population.
| NEW!!
The Complete History of the Mayors of Buffalo, N.Y. "Through the Mayor's Eyes" by Michael Rizzo This giant and very detailed work profiles every mayor this city ever had. A much needed work that has added to the wealth of history to be found here. The author, Michael Rizzo has allowed us to post this document in full text to help us all develop a greater awareness of Western New York's Heritage. "Through the Mayor's Eyes" is valuable to historians, teachers, and history buffs alike. Names long forgotten are brought back for to us to learn about. We can learn of the challenges this city has faced and overcome, all at the touch of a fingertip. --Who was Buffalo's greatest mayor? -Write us and tell us what you think! |
Buffalo's
Cemeteries
The First Burial Place in Buffalo-Its First Occupant-Capt. William Johnston's
Burial-The Old Franklin Square Burying Ground-Who Established It-Its
First Tenant-Other Prominent Interment...
THE
EARLY HISTORY of
the BUFFALO FIRE DEPARTMENT
(to 1884)*
The
Fire Department of Buffalo is older than the city itself; its conception
dates back to the very early history of the village.
WAR
YEARS AND RECOVERY and the Buffalo Guard
The
struggle for the preservation of the Union in 1861-5 determined largely
the currents of public thought in local as well as national affairs,
not only while it was going on, but for many years afterward. ... more>>
UHF
History in Buffalo -The Race for Second
The
novelty of television still was mighty fresh as Buffalo viewers luxuriated
in the summer of 1953. For the preceding 5 years, TV in Western New
York has been simply WBEN-TV (Channel 4). A splendid array of inventive
local programming, as well as top network offerings from CBS, NBC. ABC
and DuMount ...more>>
Buffalo's
East Side and the Livestock Trade
The history of the Buffalo Stockyards is a part of the progress and
development of the livestock industry in the United States and Canada.
The then New York Central and Hudson River Railroad with its subsidiaries,
the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern and the Big Four Railroads served
America’s most rapidly developing agricultural territory. Full
Text excerpt of Chapters I & II from the upcoming book about the
History of Buffalo's East Side.
By
Fred Jablonski
BUFFALO BREWERY HISTORY & Photo's
A History of Brewing in Buffalo 1789-2001 by Stephen Powell Copyright © 1996-2001 all rights reserved
Buffalo's
Forgotten Champions
By Jeff Miller The Story of Buffalo’s First Professional
Football Team. "...Upstate New York enjoyed a surge in the popularity
of semi-pro football in the late 1910s, with two viable teams playing
in the post-World War I era: the Rochester Jeffersons and the Buffalo
Prospects. The Queen City had had semipro teams since the early 1900s..."A
Full Text excerpt of Chapters I & II from the upcoming book about
the History of Buffalo Football Before the Bills.
Brewing
in Buffalo
-Rushing The Growler
A History of Brewing in Buffalo 1789-2001 A Full Text excerpt of
the book: Chapters I. III, and Appendix B
by
Stephen Powell
THE
RAILWAY ERA in Buffalo
"...Buffalo had a track which was dignified by the name of railroad
as early as 1834, and two years prior to that, two railway companies
had succeeded in obtaining a charter with Buffalo as part of their respective
corporate names. The two companies were incorporated on the same day,
April 14, 1832, one becoming the Buffalo and Erie Railroad Company."
THE
HISTORY OF BUFFALO'S WATERWAYS AND CANAL CONSTRUCTION
"Whereas it is thought of great use to the British interest to have
a settlement upon the nearest part of the Lake Erie near the falls of
Niagara you are to endeavor to purchase in his Majesty's name of the
Sinnekes...
The
Lake City Our Central Terminal History Site
A massive archive of Buffalo railroad history materials. Part of
the larger railfan.net site which is
possibly the largest site of its kind in the world with over 100,000
images!!!. Created and hosted by the Guys at Bluemoon.net
WILLIAM
WELLS BROWN IN BUFFALO
In January, 1834,
William Wells Brown, a mulatto youth about nineteen years of age, escaped
from slavery in Missouri and settled in Cleveland, Ohio. There he began
working, educating himself, and reading antislavery newspapers. ...
more>>
WNY.org
Possibly the first history website in Western New York's first! Lots
of Western New York History essays and images.
Area History...
Organized by era
ERA: To 1800
THE
FIRST BIRTH AT BUFFALO
The Ezekiel Lane whose birth date was in 1786 cannot have been the man
of that name who accompanied Martin Middaugh from Lewiston to Buffalo,
there to settle, for all records show that that Ezekiel Lane was the
more>>
THE
FIRST BUFFALO LANDOWNER
"...in 1786, when there was only one other house besides his
father's, and that belonged to a Negro, who kept a little shop to trade
with the Seneca Indians." more>>
Joseph
Hodges Alias"Black Joe" Buffalo's First Settler?
Hodges Tavern was (arguably) the first of tens of thousands of taverns,
bars, and saloons to be built in Buffalo Hodges was quite possibly the
first permanent non-Indian settler in what is now Buffalo around 1789.
More>>
Buffalo
in 1795
"We at length arrived at the post on Lake Erie, which is a small
collection of four or five houses, built about a quarter of a mile from
the lake." more>>
BUFFALO
IN 1797
"...Ten thousand dollars, which was the sum Morris paid to the
Indians for relinquishment of title, could buy much liquor; and the
Indians had hitherto had little use for money for aught else."More>>
BUFFALO
IN 1798
"...There was a two-storied hewed log house, owned by Capt.
Johnston, about where Exchange Street now is, from six to eight rods
west of Main Street, where a tavern was kept by John Palmer. This was
the first tavern in Buffalo." More>>
BUFFALO
IN 1799 -Settlement Spreads
"...We set out towards the Falls. About another mile brought
us to the head of the rapid, and a short way further we came to a mill
Mr. Birch has lately built; it appears to me a very elegant piece of
workmanship, and is to be both a grist and saw mill."
More>>
THE
HOLLAND LAND PURCHASE, 1792 Buffalo, NY
"... Brothers: As you are once more assembled in council for
the purpose of doing honor to yourselves and justice to your country,
we, your brothers, the sachems, chiefs, and warriors of the Seneca Nation,
request you to open your ears and give attention to our voice and wishes."
More>>
BUFFALO
and the PHELPS GORHAM PURCHASE
"When the bargain was concluded Phelps asked for a present of
a lot west of the Genesee upon which he could place a mill to grind
corn for the Indians comprising some 200,000 acres. When the Indians
learned that an acre would have been sufficient for mill purposes their
amazement was indescribable." More>>
WHITE
SETTLEMENT AND BLACK JOE -BUFFALO, N.Y
"...Almost as soon as the earliest white man-possibly preceding
him-the irrepressible African made his advent in our country; for in
1792 we find 'Black Joe,' alias Joseph Hodge, established as an Indian
trader on Cattaraugus Creek, and from the way in which he is mentioned,
we infer that he had already been there a considerable time." More>>
ERA: 1801-50
Path: [buffalonian.com][history][articles][1801-50]
The
Burning of Buffalo
"...Mother was standing in the door and Mr. Seth Grosvenor came along
with a white flag on a walking-stick. He said if he could only gather
citizens enough to assist him, he could drive the enemy back; as he
had sent the contents of that gun among them with the effect of mowing
them down."More>>
The
Location of Anomie
by Dr. E.H. Powell. The Location of Anomie: a culture case study of
urbanization: Buffalo, NY, 1810-1910. Powell asserts: "The city embodies
the profound contradictions of our time...More>>
1837
-THE CASE OF BENJ. RATHBUN THE STORY OF A FAMOUS BUILDER OF BUFFALO
It
is generally known in Buffalo that my business transactions have been
of an immense amount and various in their character. Extensively engaged
in the building business in all its various branches, the improving
of real estate, merchandising on a corresponding scale, dealing in lands,
manufacturing railroad cars ...foil extent, having no opportunity of
getting at the facts.
... Continued here
THE
CANADIAN REBELLION OF 1837
"one American woman was casting bullets in her own home "from
a mould that ran sixty at a time." Forty soldiers were reported
to be marching the streets of Rochester with drum and fife; and "seven-eighths
of the people at Buffalo" were for the Patriots."
More>>
THE
BURNING OF THE CAROLINE -1837
On December 29th an event occurred which almost involved the United
States in war with Britain. Traffic was increasing between Navy Island
and the American shore
THE
CHOLERA EPIDEMIC of 1832
" ...The death carts would patrol the streets, and when there
would seem an indication of a death in a house, the driver would shout:
'Bring out your dead!" more>>
TALKING
ABOLITION. . . IN 1843: FREDERICK DOUGLASS SPEAKS IN BUFFALO'S FRONT
PARK
By Elwin H. Powell -2001
"... through Jonson we re-experience subjective world of an abolitionist
in a daily struggle to dismantle the institution of slavery.
Drunk
for a Penny Dead Drunk for Two
“...Even our fledgling democracy was corrupted by Alcohol. The
very sanctity of the right to vote was violated by drink. When election
time came around, votes were often bought with liquor.”
More>>
Editor
Jailed (03.24)
By Dr. Elwin H. Powell. Nichols printed what others only whispered...
Everyone knew a clique of leading businessmen had conspired to defraud
Benjamin Rathbun. Like his contemporary P.T. Barnum, Nichols was jailed
for liable. "June 18, 1839: It was about twelve o'clock, when an officer
of the court escorted me from the court to the jail..." more
>>
Shoot-out
at High Noon
(03.03)
One thing that has not changed much over the years is drinking and violence.
"Aside from games of One O'Cat, people just got drunk at the bar inside."
More>>
ERA: 1851-1900
Path: [buffalonian.com][history][articles][1851-1900]
THE
EXECUTION OF JOHN GAFFNEY AT BUFFALO, NY 1873
After a long meal and a sleepless night, Gaffney had a breakfast of
poached eggs, toast and coffee. His wife and the children came to visit,
with other relatives and bartender Sweeney. And then it.... More>>
1899
TICKET SCALPERS ARRESTED
In the late 1800’s many Vaudevillian type variety shows appeared
in and around the Eastern seaboard. One of the major stops was Buffalo,
NY, a rising industrial metropolis.... More>>
CANAL
STREET IN '57 [1857]
Cronk saw the original Kitty O'Neil, a beautiful young girl with
a lithe body, dance on a 12-inch pedestal an acrobatic routine
for 1 hour and 20 minutes, in the nude. .... More>>
A
CAPTAINS TAIL
On Oct. 13, 1894, the Buffalo Express sent a reporter to get
an account from a Great Lakes captain of his schooner's battle with
a storm. The reporter got much more than that; he got an account of
the Canal District ...More>>
ERA: 1901-50
Path: [buffalonian.com][history][articles][1901-50]
Buffalo,
NY the Birthplace of Air-Conditioning
Who would have thought that 100 years ago this week, air conditioning
as it is known today was invented in Buffalo,NY. After graduating from
Cornell University, Willis Haviland Carrier a native of Angola, NY found
a job at the Buffalo Forge Company in Buffalo, NY.
Africans,
Darkies
and Negroes:Black Faces at the Pan American Exposition of 1901, Buffalo,
New York
Originally compiled and organized for the Paris Exhibition of 1900,
the Negro Exhibit and its history make an intriguing story. W.E.B.
DuBois, one of the...
Memmingers
Saloon Trashed
"...Memminger did not know what to make of the proceeding. He
felt he was being given more than was his due, but he did not have the
presence of mind to remonstrate, until with one fell swoop the three
men had wiped every decanter and glass off the side-board, and on to
the floor..." more>>
1908
- The Rise of "FINGY" CONNERS
The
Democratic State Boss of New York, who "looks like a prize-fighter
and talks like a tough" -Dock scrapper, freight contractor, millionaire.
The record of how he split the scalp of a Pole laborer, and jumped from
cowhide boots through brogans to spats -Bruised but victorious. WILLIAM
J. CONNERS ...more>>
Class
War in Buffalo, 1910-1920
William
J. Donovan (a.k.a. "Wild Bill") Takes on Buffalo and Loses
Probably
one of the more notable events in Buffalo History were when then District
Attorney William J. Donovan executed a couple of raids in Buffalo on
prominent Buffalonians during Prohibition. Both of these events backfired
and made him so reviled in Western New York that it eventually cost
Donovan the Race for New York State Governor in 1939, where he lost
in Western New York by a wide margin.
What
did he do to make people hate him so much? He touched the untouchables
and conducted raids on two exclusive speakeasies and in a separate case
charged the Mayor of Buffalo with trafficking liquor (bootlegging).
...more>>
THE
KKK IN BUFFALO, NY
The
Following is a very rare 1924 list of an alleged list of the full Ku
Klux Klan Membership roster for
Buffalo, NY and surrounding towns. This list was posted in Buffalo's
City Hall by Mayor F.X. Schwab and generated quite a stir. See it
for yourself: ...more>>
1924
Mayor Schwab in his New Year's message to the City Council introduced
the program he advocated as follows:
Having in mind the aim to make the year 1924 a period of accomplishment
for the Council and a year of service to the taxpayers of Buffalo, I
take the liberty of calling ...more>>
1945 -WHEN THE CITY SHOOK Startled Buffalonians, when they felt their beds shaking and saw pictures dancing on their walls last September 4 [1945], wondered if the city was being rocket-bombed. One thousand telephone calls flooded police and fire headquarters, but the switchboard operators there were as bewildered as anyone. Even the FBI was . . .more>>
Illegal
Holiday Cheer
"...The establishments raided last night and the amount of intoxicating
liquors alleged to have been seized were as follows: Place run by Michael
M. Schwarziner at No. 644 Jefferson street. Seven bottles of whisky,
six bottles of wine and four jugs of whisky were said to have been found."
More>>
ERA: 1951-now
Path: [buffalonian.com][history][articles][1951-now]
Behind
the Scenes of Buffalo's 165th Birthday
Buffalo was born in a tavern. The very idea for establishing Buffalo
as village was conceived in a tavern over strong drink. Did you know
that our school system was established during a meeting in a tavern?
more>>
The
1960s Antiwar Movement in Buffalo
"... Nov. 10, 1969. Saturday
night heard Abbie Hoffman in the Fillmore Room. Marvelous. Overflow
audience ‑ 2,000... March 5, 1970. For nine days the conflict
has been escalating toward chaos. On Feb. 24 Blacks and white radicals
stopped a basketball game, literally ran on to the court ..." more>>
1967
Riots in Buffalo, N.Y.
Prelininary Report on the Disturbances in Buffalo June 26 -July
1. 1967. In 1967, riots that rocked the East side of Buffalo from June
26th through July 1st of that year, virtually shutting down the city.
In one night (June 28th) of Violence over 40 people were hurt, 14 with
gunshot wounds. ...more>>
THE
GREAT SNOW STORM OF 2001 -Buffalo, N.Y.
In 24 hours, 35.4 inches of snow fell from 6 a.m. Thursday December
27th, 2001 to 6 a.m. Friday December 28th, 2001. That amount ranks as
a 2nd place finish for the greatest snows dropped in any one day on
Buffalo. 82.3 inches of snow fell in a period of one week (from Monday
December 24th, 2001 to Friday December 28th, 2001)... more>>
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