Early
Livingston
County
History
·
Livingston
County
is not a section that has been ravaged with the wars and
events which are the incidents that go to make up what is called
"history." Instead of being the ground over which armies have
marched, and for which they fought, it has rather always been the home of those
who tilled and loved the soil, and with one great exception, been left in
peaceful possession. Before ever the eyes of the white man looked upon this
fertile land the Seneca had made it his granary, and the seat of the largest of
his villages. He had attained some height in civilization, and acquired a few
of its arts. Much of the land had been brought under cultivation, the forest
had been cleared over quite large areas. He grew his corn and grain, melons and
vegetables, his apple and other fruit trees were wonders in the sight of the
whites as later these were disclosed to them. The Seneca was the Keeper of the
Western Gate in the confederacy known as the Iroquois, the living barriers
against the enemies from the wide west reaches of
America
. The first mention of them
by Europeans is that in the "Jesuit Relations" under the date of
1644-45, but Jacques Cartier knew of them a hundred years and more prior to
this.
The one great exception to the
peace of this region came as a consequence of the Senecas taking sides in a quarrel which was not their own. When the Colonies were
struggling to be rid of the yoke of the Mother Country, the Senecas joined forces with the British, as did several other tribes. The result of this
interference was the destruction of the homes and the laying waste of the
Indian cornfields and orchard. In 1779 General Sullivan was sent by Congress to
march to the head of the Indian country, burning as he went all the towns and
possessions of the Iroquois, so that they might be completely removed from the
struggle between two white peoples. Chenussio (Geneseo), the great town of the Seneca, was the end and aim
of the march, and it was at this place, and in other parts of
Livingston
County
that the climax of Sullivan's devastating expedition was reached. After wiping
out forty Indian villages, burning more than 160,000 bushels of corn, and
chopping down untold hundreds of fruit trees, he ended the power of the
Iroquois forever. He did more than this, for his expedition discovered and
disclosed the exceeding beauty and richness of the country, particularly that
now enclosed in
Livingston
County
, leading to its
very early settlement after the Revolution.
The Indians received rather shabby
treatment by their allies after their defeat by the Colonies, for there was no
provision in the treaty of the Revolution which protected the Iroquois. They
received rather better treatment by the victors, and in September, 1797, the
tribes were gathered at Geneseo and a treaty was signed
whereby the Indians transferred their lands to the State except certain
selected spots which they reserved for their own use. Previous to this time
there were few settlers in the county, although a few had located in the years
following 1790. The most prominent of these pioneers was James and William
Wadsworth, from
Durham
,
Connecticut
, who located at Geneseo, June 10, 1790. They became large land holders
later, and because of their liberal policy in the selling of this land greatly
helped the settlement of the district. Most of the first settlements were at Geneseo, and near the sites of the old Seneca towns, and
were made by folk from
New England
. Just a
little later
York
, Avon and
Caledonia
were founded by colonies of Scotch.
Livingston
County
was formed
from Genesee February 23, 1821, to which were added in 1846 and 1856 parts of
Allegany
County
. It is located in the central
part of the western half of the State, being bounded on the north by
Monroe
; on the east by Steuben and
Ontario
;
on the south by Allegany and Steuben counties; and on the west by Allegany,
Genesee and
Wyoming
counties. The
Genesee
River
flows ,through the
district; there are several beautiful lakes, Hemlock and Conesus, being the
most noted (Conesus was called by the Indians "Ganeasost,"
meaning where the "heavens rest upon the earth"). There are many
streams which furnished water power to the pioneers, and some of these when
canalized were the means of transportation in the early days. The whole county
is an upland, with hills that in a few places reach an elevation of 2,000 feet;
but the slopes are gentle, the terrain rolling rather than hilly, and the vast
majority of its 380,665 acres are arable.
Livingston
is almost exclusively an agricultural county, one of the
foremost of the State. Its soil is almost universally good, being covered
originally with a dense forest in which the hardwoods and deciduous trees were
numerous. The river flats, while subject to over-flow, are broad and very
fertile. Three-quarters of the area is the best of grain land, and it was by
its wheat that this part of
New York
became known. Changes took place even as early as 1825, which took some of the
profit out of wheat growing, and insects and disease brought about a shift to
spring wheat. In these later years wheat has come back as a crop, mostly of the
spring variety. The Indian showed the way in the matter of fruit growing, but
it was many years before the settlers followed the example and planted trees
that made this a banner fruit section.
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