Through The Mayor's Eyes
The Only Complete History of the Mayor's of Buffalo, New York
Compiled by Michael Rizzo

Samuel Wilkeson

1836-37

HISTORY

                Many of the stories written about Samuel Wilkeson  begin with, or have in their title, the words "Urbem Condidit ". These are the words en scribed onto his tombstone, and although this may give a fair description of what Mr. Wilkeson stood for, there was much about the man that you cannot perceive in a few short pages. "He was a natural leader of men and would have filled with credit and honor the most exalted stations of government and authority."

                  Samuel Wilkeson  was born in Carlisle, Pennsylvania on June 1, 1781 of immigrant parents from Northern Ireland. Around 1784 the family moved to Washington County, near Pittsburgh, to live on land the government granted his father John, for service during the Revolutionary War Here his early education was confined to a few months' winter schooling in a log school-house.

                Around 1802 he married Jane Oram, who's father served under George Washington 's army during the revolution. They moved to Mahoning, Ohio, near Youngstown. Here Samuel took his ax, "cut down the forest," built a farm and a grist mill, which was the first in the area. After several years of farming he grew bored, and moved to Pittsburgh to begin shipping salt from the Onondaga salt mines to the Ohio valley for General James O'Hara. Salt was an important part of the pioneers lives and this proved to be a lucrative business.

                Sometime between 1807 and 1810 he moved his family to Portland, NY, near Westfield in Chautauqua County. During this time he engaged in shipbuilding but continued the salt trade. In 1812, during one salt trip, he was stopped by General William Henry Harrison who was commanding the American troops during the War of 1812 Wilkeson was asked to build a fleet of ships, similar to the one he was using, for the Army. It is assumed that the ships were built in a short time, and used in the invasion of Canada. Wilkeson apparently joined the Chautauqua militia and headed to Buffalo  to help defend the village.

                Even though the battle at Buffalo  was lost and the city destroyed by the British, Samuel Wilkeson  was attracted to it. When he returned home he "loaded an open boat with his wife, four children, and the lumber to build a house" and headed to start anew in Buffalo Almost immediately he opened a general store on Niagara Street near Main. In 1815 he opened a meat market.

                Peace was declared in 1814, and in 1815 many of the troops disbanded and stayed on in Buffalo Social and civic conditions became "unsettled to a degree that threatened the total disruption of law and order." It was at this time that Wilkeson was selected by the people to become the village's first Justice of the peace. Up to this time he "probably never opened a law book," yet he proved his court "would yield to nothing but absolute integrity in every department of the public peace and morality."

                Wilkeson was chosen as a village trustee, serving the years of 1816, 1817, and 1819-1821. 

                Judge Wilkeson acquired partners for many of his business ventures and in 1816 or 1817 was "part owner or complete owner...of the Experiment and Aurora" lake transport vessels.

                The Erie Canal  had begun to cross New York and the fight for the western end of it had begun. Black Rock  and Buffalo  both wanted to be the terminus. An act was passed by the State Legislature on April 10, 1818 authorizing a survey to be done of Buffalo  Creek The first Buffalo  Harbor Company  was born. Among it's members were Ebenezer Johnson , future mayor Ebenezer Walden , Charles Townsend , George Coit, and Oliver Forward One year later, on April 17, 1819, a loan of $12,000 was approved to these "gentlemen and their associates" for a term of twelve years. The catch was that it was "to be secured on bond and mortgage to double that amount and applied to the construction of the harbor which the State had reserved the right to take when completed."

                The year of 1819 was a period of financial depression and many of the associates of the Harbor Company were affected. Buffalo  was in peril of losing the loan and the canal terminus. Samuel Wilkeson  "had declined being on the original company," since the formation of the company came as his wife Jane was dying. But, after meeting his second wife, Sarah St. John, his spirits lifted, and he offered his assistance to the company.

                During the winter of 1820, Charles Townsend , Oliver Forward , and Wilkeson each gave his "several bond and mortgage for $8,000" to secure the state loan. "An experienced harbor builder was accordingly employed" and in early spring 1820, work began. It did not take long to realize that this man was not experienced in working on a project where the finances were so limited.

                No one could be found with the experience of managing such a project. The other members of the Harbor Company were not experienced enough. Wilkeson, though lacking in the knowledge to build a harbor, was persuaded by the other members to take command of the project. With much already invested in it, he agreed. The first day he had the boarding house and sleeping room completed. Wilkeson took personal charge of all aspects of the project: "clerical work, supervision of the laborers and checking of supplies." He measured every load of stone, since the workmen would throw some overboard instead of hauling it from the barge to shore.

                The building of Buffalo  Harbor was a tremendous task. It was perilous work, and included "its partial destruction at various times." At one point when the laborers threatened to walk off the job, the three men who backed the project with their fortunes "took off their coats and hats, waded waist deep into muddy Buffalo  Creek , and threw up temporary bulkheads. Watching them, the workmen relented and resumed construction."

                "A raise of two dollars a month in the salary of the men was the antidote offered for rainy weather." The men then worked rain or shine. After 221 days, the Sabbath off, through the "constancy and courage with which their repeated disasters were at last overcome," the harbor was completed; the first work of its kind ever constructed on the Great Lakes.

                In the summer of 1820, a commission studying the possibilities for the western terminus of the Erie Canal  was "busily investigating the data." DeWitt Clinton , Ebenezer Johnson , Wilkeson, and several others were involved in this process. Wilkeson successfully argued that Buffalo  should be the terminus for the canal with their harbor in full construction.

                In February, 1821 Wilkeson was appointed First Judge of the Court of Common Pleas. He held this position until 1824. On April 2, 1821 all the land south from the center of Tonawanda Creek became Erie County, leaving the rest as Niagara County. Buffalo  was now the seat of Erie, as it had been in Niagara.

                In the early 1820's he went into partnership with Ebenezer Johnson  "for shipping and real estate development." Wilkeson purchased much of his property before the real estate boom hit the city in the 1830's. He "was there first, and got out before the slower thinkers." In 1823 he purchased a sizable tract of land on which now sits City Hall This is where he built his house, which until 1915 was occupied by descendants of him. Also, in 1823, in connection with others, he purchased a sizable tract of land near the mouth of Tonawanda Creek. He "built a general store there and laid out the first real estate subdivision in that area."

                In 1822 he was elected to the New York Assembly and in 1824 was elected to the state Senate. During his campaign he was called by his opponent, Colonel Robert Fleming, the  "most greedy monopolist in the western part of the state." It was not understood by this man what Samuel Wilkeson  did for Buffalo All of the "lucrative monopolies" certainly helped him, but they also aided the city's expansion. Two of these included toll bridges across Buffalo  Creek  and Tonawanda creek. For each he had charters guaranteed for 20 years.

                During 1824 Wilkeson was appointed Postmaster of Millport, which was questioned by some parties.

                The Erie Canal  was finally connected to Buffalo  Harbor in 1825. A special boat was built for the maiden voyage from Lake Erie  to the Atlantic Ocean. The morning of October 26, 1825 a committee boarded the boat for the historic journey. Included were Governor Clinton and Wilkeson. A festive ceremony was had immediately following the trip, and the entire town of Buffalo  attended.  

                In 1826 he was elected a directorate of the Bank of Niagara in Buffalo

                He never relented in his bid to make Buffalo  a superior town. He also realized that by having the Erie Canal  terminate in Buffalo  did not guarantee trade to the village. Here is where his vision really shines through. Mr. Wilkeson began many businesses that could utilize the canal and bring trade to the area. He continued his lake shipping, but found that by manufacturing goods here he could attract much more. In 1828 he purchased the Arcole Iron Furnace in Madison, Ohio. This was done more for Buffalo  than for Madison. He "arranged for the heavy stoves to be made at the Arcole Furnace" in Ohio and shipped to Buffalo  to be mounted in the Beals, Mayhew plant he co-owned with said gentlemen. In 1829 the first steam boiler was built in Buffalo  by a man working for "Wilkeson, Beals & Company." In 1845 a furnace that was built by Wilkeson and Company was the first in the United States which "successfully smeltered iron with raw bituminous coal." 

                In 1830 he dissolved his shipping interests with James Barton to concentrate on his growing manufacturing interests. He had foundries or factories in several areas of the city, including on Ohio Street, Perry Street, and South Park     

                His many business endeavors included: "merchant, warehouseman, vessel owner and lake forwarder." He invested in silk plantations in Florida as another way he hoped could benefit Buffalo , going so far as sending his daughter and son-in-law Mortimer Johnson , nephew of Ebenezer, to speed the work up. He constantly was looking for ways to utilize the port he created. He was concerned when several out-of-town manufacturers were reluctant to move their facilities to Buffalo This prompted him to "work hard for the construction of an expanded penitentiary" and to regulate the "prostitutes in the area." 

LIFE AS A MAYOR

                In 1836 Samuel Wilkeson  was elected mayor of Buffalo One of his main concerns was  "enforcing the laws and strengthening the city's police  force." The police  department became a "terror to evildoers." He "never shrunk from the exposure of any corruption  in high or low places, whatever danger might be incurred, or whatever hostilities aroused."

                Mayor Wilkeson did encounter one of the worst bouts of depression to ever hit the city. In 1836 the nation went speculation crazy. There is no definite answer as to what started it, but many suffered from it. As everyone knows there are many people who would like to get rich without the pain and struggles that usually accompany it. In 1836 it was no different. "Banks sprang up" everywhere.

                Hosts of desperate speculators, who by the 'hocus pocus' best known to skilled financiers,               could manage to galvanize such monetary institutions into legal existence, with capital            stock all paid in promissory notes...enabled them to operate on a grand scale.

                A real estate boon wound its way through the young city. People everywhere were feeling exceptionally wealthy and real estate was being bought quite frequently. Prices were driven up way beyond their worth. Even ordinary men felt the chance to become wealthy. In July 1836 President Johnson required that a "specie" alone could be used in payment. This caused the great roof of credit to collapse, leaving thousands penniless. In nine days it was over.

                The town collapsed. "Fortunes disappeared in a night, mortgages were foreclosed on every hand." Property which sold for "$30 or $50 a foot, would not bring that much per acre." Banks failed everywhere, and paper money was worthless.

                This entire episode unfolded during the end of 1836 and the gloom and desparity continued until the end of his term. The man who did so much for the city could do nothing to stop this backlash.  

                But the speculation days were also good for the city. There was now 52 miles of pavement in the city, and "the sewage system was well inaugurated on some of the prominent streets." "Innumerable stores, warehouses and mammoth hotels" were erected; canals were dug, railroads built, "ships and steamboats put afloat."

PERSONAL LIFE

                After Mr. Wilkeson left office, he did some business traveling. The year of 1837 shows him in St. Augustine, GA. His sons were running most of his businesses in Buffalo , and he was not needed as often. Although he was a very sarcastic, stern man, it is easy to see in his letters to his sons that he was also a very loving man. He constantly sent letters to them, only receiving an occasional reply. He would scold them for not replying, but would always send a letter again the following week.

                Around the time of his election as mayor, he interested himself in America's slavery problems. The American Colonization Society  was an organization that wanted to "remove free colored men with their own consent...to a country where all their energies could be called into action and have full scope." Millard Fillmore  was another advocate of colonization. Wilkeson felt that if the slaves were immediately emancipated "the union of the states would be broken, the Negroes in the south would be exterminated by the whites, and an armed struggle for the control of the Federal government would ensue between the North and South." As history shows, these were some of the events that led to the Civil War

                The American Colonization Society  wanted to colonize the blacks in Liberia  on the west coast of Africa. Wilkeson was invited to become General Agent of the society in 1838, and accepted. He moved to their headquarters in Washington, D.C., and for two years tried to get the society out of financial trouble. He edited their newspaper, "African Repository", "governed the colony of Liberia , instituted commerce with it from...ports in Baltimore and Philadelphia, and shipped large numbers of the colonists to the new republic."

                Wilkeson was not very religious until the 1830's. He was an elder in the Presbyterian church and was "excellent in counsel and prompt in his performance of the duties." He was married three times, each wife passing away. His first, Jane Oram, was the mother of his seven children. He then married Sarah St. John and after her death, Mary Peters.

                 On July 7, 1848 he died at the age of 67 on his way to visit his daughter who was now living in Tellico Plains, Tennessee. It is believed her husband Mortimer was working for Ebenezer and Elisa Johnson at their iron ore mine. He was alone and dying among strangers when he said, "Where matters it where one dies?" His body was brought back to Buffalo  and remains in Forest Lawn Cemetery

                Samuel Wilkeson  alone is probably one of several greatest men to ever live in Buffalo It was more than an honor for this city to have a man who "in former ages...might have led armies to victory...founded a dynasty" as mayor.