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Digital file copyright by Cornell University
Library 1994.NOTES OF JOSEPH LANDON
A SURVEYOR WHO REACHED BUFFALO CREEK IN 1796,
AND SETTLED HERE IN 1806.*
In 1796 I was one of the party of surveyors that came on
to survey what was then call'd New Connecticut in Ohio.
In June we came into the Buffalo Creek with our boats and
picked our camp on the bank of the creek just below the
mouth of the Little Buffalo. We remained here some 10 or
12 days. At that time there was old Mr. Medaw [Mid-
daugh] with his son-in-law Mr. Lane and his family; they
lived in a log house a little north of Exchange Street, near
the tannery. A Mr. Skinner kept a little log tavern on the
brow of the hill near where the old stone house stood. A
man by the name of Winnie [Winne] and old black Joe kept
a little whisky shop on the margin of the Little Buffalo Creek
in the rear of the Mansion House. These were all the inhabi-
tants Buffalo contained at that time. It was a wilderness.
In 1806 I moved with my family to Buffalo, and pur-
chased the Mansion House property. A man by the name of
John Crow kept the tavern there. Capt. Samuel Pratt's
house was on the corner of Main and Exchange Streets. He
was a merchant and his store was on Exchange Street near,
adjoining his house. Mr. Louis LeCouteulx lived opposite;
* From the original manuscript, written for the Buffalo Historical Society
about 1863.
361362
JOSEPH LANDON’S REMINISCENCES.
he kept an apothecary shop all in the same house. Sylvanus
Mabee was a merchant; he had his store in Exchange Street.
His dwelling was on the corner of Main and West Seneca
streets. Jack Johnson was a clerk for Mr. Mabee, and lived
on the corner of Exchange and Washington. His father,
Capt. Johnson, lived with him. A man by the name of
Palmer lived in Washington Street near Mr. Johnson.
John Despar [Despard] a baker lived on the corner of
Caryl [Carroll] and Washington streets. David Reese, a
blacksmith, lived on the corner of Washington and Seneca
streets. His shop was on the corner where the old post-office
now stands.* Judge Tupper was the clerk for the contrac-
tors, he lived on the corner of Main and Seneca streets.
Zenas Barker kept a tavern on the corner of Main and the
Terrace. Caleb Gillet kept a small store adjoining Mr. Bar-
ker’s. Capt. Grant kept a store on Main Street; his house
was on the corner of Main and West Seneca streets, where
William Williams’ drug store is. Dr. Cyrenius Chapin lived
on the corner of Main and Swan streets, where S. F. Pratt’s
hardware store now stands. E. Walden had his law-office
on Main between Exchange and Seneca; a man by the name
of Phillips, a blacksmith, lived near Mr. Walden’s on Main
Street between Seneca and Exchange. Joe Wells and a man
by the name of White, common laborers, lived in a log house
at the foot of the hill near Mr. Goodrich’s.
The first schoolmaster’s name was Hiram Hanchett; he
taught school one or two seasons; the school was kept in the
Medaw [Middaugh] house near the cherry orchard. The
first minister’s name was Holmes ;t he was sent by the
Board of Missions to preach to the Indians; he had leave
from the Board of Missions to come to Buffalo; the inhabi-
tants had a meeting to make arrangements for paying this
missionary and they could not agree; they finally proposed
to take a list of those that would pay; they made an estimate
what the expense would be for each Sunday, each one to take
his money rolled up in a bit of paper with his name on the
* Northwest corner, Seneca and Washington streets.
t The allusion is to the Rev. Elkanah Holmes. See Buffalo Historical So-
ciety Publications, Vol. VI., pp. 187-204.JOSEPH LANDON’S REMINISCENCES.
363
paper every Sunday, and so took up a collection in that way,
and strangers that would attend when the plate was handed
about would put in their mite; by doing so they collected the
salary some time before the six months expired for which he
was to stay.
Buffalo belonged to Genesee County at that time. The
people of Buffalo obtained their provisions mostly from
Ontario County. There were two taverns and four stores,
one apothecary shop and one doctor. Erastus Granger was
Collector and Postmaster. The mail was brought through
once a week on horseback from Canandaigua. Zenas Barker
kept the ferry across the Big Buffalo Creek; the landing
was near the mouth of the little creek. The road to Black
Rock was on the margin of the Niagara river.
Joseph Landon.