Benjamin Franklin High School - Key Yearbook (Rochester, NY)

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 3 n r p ui o r ft Early ihuhrster The settlers to this region laced many difti cutties and hardships. P.vcn after IK17 when ROfbcstcrvtJlc was intotpor cd •» a village the site of the present city was .1 virtual wilderness mlubitccl by wild animals and Indians. The un- cjithl) howls ol pack of wolves pierced the night air; rattlesnakes infested the water holes and die banks of the river were actually alive with tbctn far mote dangerous than the purr of the wild pussy or die hug of the aHcctionate bear were the swamplands and ntoscjuitoo dull caused fever and ague to the hearty ildvCOlUftfV With this setting m inuul, we cannot l e too critical ol dial brutal character, Phcncier Alien, who became known to both Indian and settler as Indian' Allen. Curiously, to vay the least, our fnend Hbcnezvr was neither Indian nor half breed. In 17K J Messrs. Phelps and Gorham ptc scored Allen with j tr.ut ol ont hundred acres upon condition lhat he construe! a saw mill and a grist-mill So we have a cruel, savage. Indian trader as our first settler tirst miller, and first misfortune In the spring oJ 1797, Jomh I oh, win) had been living with Ins family in die Allen shanty during the previous winter, hull» a log house on the one hundred acre ti.ut not far from Indian Allens mill. On February 24. IMQO, Jolin fish was bom to Jom.iIi and Zeruuh Pish, the hrit white . Iidd born within the present limits of the uty ol Rochester More than a wore ot years passed alter the building of Alien's mill In lore settlement in oi around Rexhester w is begun with my measure ol permanence Numerous character , some of rattier iUiuIh!ul worth, passed through this virgin land Many remarked about die Genesee River with its attractive shore-land or of the turbulent falls m all llicir regal splendor Some ol (Ikk travelers may have thought ol die commercial advantages offered by the inland like Ontario with its up river harbor possibilities; few1, it any, could en- vision a uty of some twelve thousand population developing lit this wilderness within two Jccadcs. In the autumn of IfcOO. three men ot remark- able vision left their homes in Hagerstown. Maryland, lor a visit to the Genesee country Colonel Rochester, the aiknowledgcd leader ol the three, was attended by a solitary slave Maior Carroll and Colonel Piiahugh both had estab- lished plantations in Maryland and were cotisid e-red with eminence not only in their own respei- tivc communities bur also throughout the numer ous states where tlicy were associated with publu ah airs Natliamcl Rmhestcr bought large tr.uls ot land in Livingstone ounty and Imped to movt Ins wife and ten ilnldieii to this pioneer region, and away from the pleasant town in Maryland where be believed the uri|ust institution of ski scry would exert too much influence on the lives of his children Undoubtedly lain! spa illation m duccd Colonel Rochester and hi» two colleagues to buy the one hundred acre tract. At all events, tins purchase in IHilJ marks the real beginning ot any interest in the opportunities afforded by this wild, pre-Rochester region In IMIO. the Colnl (a title he received tor distinguished service in the Revolutionary War) and im family left then home in Hagerstown lot Oatmillc. At this tune fcno» Stone and his brother Isaac were owners of the only frame dwellings m Rochester Enos was lommivuoncd as Nathaniel Rochester s local land agent A plat ot the future village was sent by the Colonel to Stone in IHI I with complete uidructions as to law tin- land was to l»c sold. 5 ►

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r:fcvw w iiwvjp vvt,w rfev 1 rvv Ssta»» $s? «vv$tev i.w 3V Sb tratirin Vow £ tW) let tiers, u h mvisioned our present city, in have received numerable heritages, They u ho sundered to this aboriginal ngron had. through then ability In discern the undr of then ruccessmt, started the community enterpfist Upon ns unceasing growth. Then courage, foresight, and in- tegrity an- rt fleeted w ever) phase of civic organization. li t. th, el a «i of I one ’ 14, accept their inspiring challenge as an honm, and therefore dedicate this issue of The Key to tlxjti early pioneers on this out hundredth anniversary of the founding of ton at). -C i tor

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 Hie first Main Street bridge over the Genesee River was completed in 1812 it the joint expense ol Ontario anti Genesee counties. It linked the ro.td running between Lewiston and Buffalo and proved to be on influential mean» ol auouflging settler» to the vicinity ol Rochester. Isaac Stone was busily engageJ erecting a tavern and a saw- mill on the east side ol the river when Hamlet Scrantorn and his family arrived on the last day ol Aprd. 1812. In the Spring of 1813 our first postmaster, Abelard Reynolds, arrived with his family, coining from Pittsfield Massachusetts, Fifteen years later the Reynolds Arcade, built on one ol Reynold'» lots was considered the largest and most expensive building in the United States west of Albany anJ the finest in the United States outside ol New York ( ity Elisha Johnson, Colonel C alet» Hop km . Evefard Pcclc, Charles Hartford, Jchiel Barnard, the Elys,” and the 'Browns ' are some of the “early arrivals who hcIpcJ to mold a pleasant village from the Mud Hole which welcomed them on their aruval. Most ol these men of the- ca rly days were enter prising, resolute, staunch—the majorny were ol New England jnccstry Trouble with England lud flared into the War ol 1812 and the dirficulties imposed by war prevented any considerable improvement until about 1816 Citizens of RovhcstemUc were pre pared to take up arms against the foe at the first news from the harbor chat The British arc com mg! No invasion actually occurred, however, the British .squadron under Sir James Yeo caused quite- a disturbance when it anchored at the mouth of the Genesee. The only actual sufferer from this invasion was the poor mute who was captured on the road between Charlotte and Roch- ester He- w.iN suspected of being a British spy, and was tortured cruelly before the real rc-ivon for Ins silence was discovered. If is interesting 10 note- that in the early period of its existence Rocliotervillr hail many formid- able risah contesting for supremacy. One of the most enterprising of Kochcstcfvilie's rival colonics was Carthage a lull a mile below the lower falls centering around the prevent site of Norton and St Paul Streets Caleb Lyon began the settle mint ol Carthage m 1816. In 1818 a flour mill was erected there by Elisha U Strong Stores and dwelling-, were soon built under the ditatum of Mr Strong and all possible methods were pul into effect for booming Carl luge The comple- tion of (he f artiuge Bridge in 181V wjls one of the greatest engineering teats ol the day In Switzerland alone, wav i single span bridge to be found which could even compart with the mas- sive structure with which devout Caithagiiiuns hoped to impress home seekers 1 he bridge gained much notoriety as an ciigincciing wonder Unfortunately, after outliving iu builder guar antec to Iasi a ycat and a day by only a lew weeks, it collapsed into the rivet gorge on Miy 22. 182U. Happily no loss ol life resulted with this catastrophe, but the one tiling which could make Cartlugc had tailed. There were other settlements in the competi- tion Tryontown at the head ol Irondequon Bay. Dublin between Carthage and RochasterviIle- on the cast sliorc of the met; Frankfort with its lively four corners at State and Court (Brown) Street •. motjfu ttttk ment sprang on at Hanford s Landing; ami still another, fav tic Town, up the river at the Rapids.' In 1822. while European Greece wax struggling for independence a new town hi Monroe county took on the njroc ol Greece to show its sympathy for the i4u.se of freedom in rhai country. The first census, tah en m Roi Lest i red It- in 1815, showed a total population ol 351; in 1812 there were only 15 people listed as residents in Rochester. Between 1815 and 1818, Rochester- ville nude a phenomenal growth so that by the census report ol the latter year the populatum wiv listed at 1,0-tV». The growth of the three year period (181VIX18) trebled the population ol Rochc-stcmUc' In 1818, Colonel Rochester and his family moved twin their home at Dansvillc to Re lies ter. Although Colonel Rotnester tame from an aristocratic Virginian family he led a simple lift- portrayed with democratic feeling His intense regard lor the common l.dxuuig class, as shown by numerous .social »nd economic reforms ol the day, together with his paticftce, dttcrmination, and political sagacity made turn the acknowledged leader and guide ol the embryonic village Shortly he built a brick rcsidcOCc at tin north- east comer of Spring and Washington Street where fIk: Bevicr Memorial Building now stands He continued to live here until his death in |Ksl Needle» to say. a man ot the- integrity ot Colonel Rochester, who forgot personal gam in his eager ness to improve existing conditions, wis beloved by Ins fellow villagers and respected by all with whom he contacted. « ►