Jan 15
James D. Bemis arrives in Canandaigua to open a bookstore.
Feb 6
Pennsylvania-born diplomat and New York State landowner William
Bingham dies in Bath, England, at the age of 51.
Feb 8
Brooklyn mayor Martin Kalbfleisch is born in Vlissingen, Netherlands.
Feb 25
A Republican congressional caucus nominates Thomas Jefferson and
New York governor George Clinton for president and vice-president.
Feb 29
Federal authorization is granted for a lighthouse on Lake Ontario
at the mouth of the Niagara River. It will be the first on the
Great Lakes.
Mar 23
Alexander Hamilton splits with the New York Evening Post,
of which he is a backer, over politics.
Mar 24
New York annexes part of Cayuga County to Ontario County.
April
St. Louis fur trader Charles Gratiot forwards a note for £1,000
to John Jacob Astor to secure debentures for goods sent across
the Mississippi. He suggests Astor looks into shipping furs from
St. Louis to Europe via New Orleans. ** New Jersey farmer Samuel
Bryant, his wife and young sons James and Jacob, having come through
the Delaware Water Gap by sleigh and oxen, take to a Durham boat
in Ledyard, and travel on to the Lyons area.
Apr 9
Colonie becomes a village.
May
Rioting prisoners at New York State's Newgate Prison in lower
Manhattan lock guards in the facility's north wing and set it
on fire. A prisoner releases the guards but the wing is destroyed
at a cost of $25,000. ** John Jacob Astor becomes full owner of
the China trader Severn.
June
Aaron Burr transfers the remainder of his Trinity Church property
to John Jacob Astor.
Jul 11
Aaron Burr shoots Hamilton in a duel in Weehawken, New Jersey.
Jul 12
Alexander Hamilton dies of his wounds, in New York City.
August
New York City hires workers to flush the streets with well water
three times a week. Private well owners are required to clean
the gutters and sidewalks in front of their houses twice a day.
September
The Manhattan Water Company agrees to pay New York City close
to $5,000 for damage to pavements, a case that's been in the courts
since July 1801.
October
James D. Bemis sells his bookstore to Myron Holley and becomes
a joint proprietor of Canandaigua's Western Repository and
Genesee Advertiser, paying $700. He soon becomes sole proprietor.
Oct 1
Geneseo landowner James Wadsworth marries Naomi Wolcott.
Nov 1
Newspaper editor Frederick Follett is born in Gorham.
Nov 20
New York City's New-York Historical Society is formed by John
Pintard and others.
Dec 5
Jefferson is reelected President. The Vice-President (George Clinton)
is elected separately for the first time.
City
The Federalists run Rufus King for vice-president. ** John Church,
whose pistols were used in the Burr-Hamilton duel, is dropped
from the board of the Manhattan Water Company, as is John Coles.
** William Thompson sells off the Hardenbrook family land, including
the Tea Water Pump. ** Fire destroys over $2,000,000 worth of
property in the Wall Street area. 15 other fires occur in the
city this year. The Common Council appoints a committee to study
ways of providing the city with water for use in emergencies.
State
James Kent becomes chief justice. ** Seneca County is formed out
of Onondaga County. The county seat is established at Ovid; the
Seneca County Court House at Waterloo is built. ** Adam Hoops
chooses the name Olean for his new settlement, corrupting oleum,
the Latin word for oil. ** Philip Church builds a home in Angelica,
which he calls The White House. ** Federalists in New York and
New England propose setting up a northern confederacy. ** John
Stevens crosses the Hudson River from Hoboken, New Jersey, to
New York City in a boat fitted with a steam engine. ** Eleanor
Brisbane, sister of Batavia postmaster James Brisbane, arrives
there along with her friend Mary Lucy Stevens to settle. Mary
paints the post office's first sign. She will marry James Brisbane.
** Lewis Morgan is elected governor. ** Irish poet Thomas Moore
travels to the Buffalo area, stopping overnight in Batavia. He
will write the poem Lines Written at the Cohos, or Falls of
the Mohawk River , inspired by his trip. ** Twice weekly mail
service begins between Utica and Canandaigua. ** The Reverend
David Higgins establishes the first church at Aurelius. ** William
McKinstry opens a distillery on Penfield's Irondequoit Creek.
** Whitingham, Vermont, farmer John Young and his family, including
four-year-old Brigham and eight siblings, move to Chenango County.
** Vermonters Josiah Jackman and Gideon and John Walker arrive
in the Canadice Lake area, build farms and return home for the
winter. ** The state legislature declares Mead and Mud Creeks
to be public highways, over the veto of Governor Clinton. ** The
town of Chautauqua is founded. ** Farmer William Markham returns
to Rush and builds the Elm Place mansion. ** The legislature does
away with the freehold suffrage requirement for male voters. **
Joseph and Andrew Ellicott complete their survey for New Amsterdam
(Buffalo), the plan influenced largely by their work with Pierre
L'Enfant on the Washington, D. C. survey. ** A stone jail is erected
at Catskill. ** The state overrides New York City's charter, assuming
the right to establish franchise qualifications in all state cities
and towns. ** Blenheim miller Freegift Patchin is appointed a
General of the Militia, and represents Schoharie County in the
state assembly for the next two years. ** The first settlers arrive
in the Genesee (later Wyoming) County Town of Genesee Falls, above
Portageville. ** James and William Wadsworth begin building a
large house in Geneseo. William travels to Albany to sell their
wheat, because of higher prices there. ** Educator Timothy Dwight
travels across the state. ** The approximate date Connecticut
Tory William Peters, avoiding his patriot neighbors, arrives in
the Triangle Tract and builds a cabin in the northern part of
the future Town of Bergen. ** While surveying a road for landowner
James D. LeRay de Chaumont, surveyor Cadwallader Child, comes
upon Alexandria Bay, proposes it as a lumber port. ** Judge William
Cooper builds a house at Main and River streets in Cooperstown
for his daughter Ann when she marries druggist George Pomeroy.
Albany
The Society for the Promotion of Agriculture, Arts and Manufactures
expires, along with it's charter. It's revived and incorporated
this same year as the Society for the Promotion of Useful Arts.
** The city offers the state a lot on the Public Square and payment
of some expenses for a capital building, in return for sharing
its use. ** Webster and Skinner publish Volume III of Laws
N. Y.
Canandaigua
A building is erected for the Canandaigua Academy on land at Fort
Hill and Main streets, donated by Phelps and Gorham. ** A Quaker
meeting house is built at Allan Padgham Road and County Road 8
to replace one destroyed by fire.
Rochester
The approximate date Josiah Fish abandons the Indian Allen millsite
on the Genesee, now owner by Nathaniel Rochester and his partners.
** Colonel Isaac Castle founds Castle Town at the rapids of the
Genesee River.
Steuben County
The county compiles its first list of citizens eligible for jury
duty and fixes compensation at $1.50 for a full day; 75¢
for a half day. ** The Board of Supervisors fixes compensation
rates for elections inspectors at $1.50 per day. The inspector
who delivers the ballots to the sheriff for certification receives
$4.00. ** The first appropriation, of $500, is made for improving
local navigable waters. ** The Board sets compensation for assessors
at $1.25 a day. ** The sheriff is appointed custodian of the court
house. $25 is authorized for the purchase of a jail house stove.
** The board of supervisors of Painted Post approve an application
for a new road, with compensation provided to landowners David
Trowbridge ($39.00) and Charles Wolcott ($16.50). Howard Buell
is hired as surveyor with future pay set at a dollar a day for
the him and 75 cents day for his chain bearer.
Art
John Vanderlyn's The Death of Jane McCrea .
Vermont
New York Central Railroad tycoon Dean Richmond is born in Barnard
(Woodstock).
© 2005 David Minor / Eagles Byte