For a "Greater Buffalo," Move Erie County

"Greater Buffalo" A City Beautiful From Lake to the Falls

Assemblyman Quinn's Bill Provides For New County and Municipality Taking in Niagara Falls, the Tonawanda's, and Other Towns Comprised in Territory of More Than 25 Miles--Many Improvements.

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GRAND ISLAND USED FOR INSTITUTIONS

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By HERBERT A. PIERCE by special wire from Courier Staff Correspondent.

Buffalo Courier February 11, 1906

 Charles J. Quinn - NYS Assembly 

Albany, Feb. 1.-- Picture a city with 500,000 inhabitants with a chain of parks and parkways more than 35 miles in length, traced through with a smooth macadam boulevard ending at the world's grandest bit of scenery, Niagara Falls; add to this sketch a municipal power plant capable of supplying light for millions of electric lamps and forcing cars over leagues and leagues of track and there you have portrayed a part of the proposed Greater Buffalo.

  No, this is no city of dreams, to be swept away by waking reality of the milkman's rattling wagon, but a city that has been mapped out in assemblyman Quinn's Greater Buffalo Bill, which is now before the legislature for consideration.This week the measure will come before the assembly Internal Affairs Committee for a hearing. The understanding that it will be reported out and sent back to the assembly for second and final readings, thus being launched on it's way to become law.

SWEEPING CHANGES

  But what a change is outlined for Buffalo in this measure! It means the annexation of all territory upon Lake Erie and the Niagara River, which lies between and including Niagara Falls and Buffalo, also a creation of a new county composed in part of Niagara and Erie Counties which shall be known as the County of Buffalo.

  A great quantity of improvements are are suggested by assemblyman Quinn in connection with this new municipality. Among these is reconstruction of the sewer system, which will make Buffalo's system surpass all others in the country. It is planned to have a sewer 10 or 12 feet wide run from Buffalo proper to Niagara Falls. It is believed this great trunk sewer would keep Niagara River water pure. Moreover, this new sewer, it is expected, will not only pay for itself, and practically all the proposed improvements, but will be a source of revenue to the city as long as it lasts. This revenue will be produced by the power gained from the sewage where it empties into the rapids.

  It is believed that more power will be gained from it  than the canal systems which join the Mohawk River at Cohoes. The power derived at this point supplies many plants, and lights several cities, besides giving impetus to thousands of cars.  Power from Buffalo's sewer may be sold to manufacturers and other power companies at a vast profit to the city, beside supplying all municipal needs.

USE FOR GRAND ISLAND         

Another part of the general plan for the "new city" is placing of the county institutions on Grand Island. This would include the penitentiary and the almshouse. The spot is a secluded one, and would afford one of the most effective retreats that could be imagined. In this way all the county institutions would be placed at one point and practically isolated, a thing that the city has been seeking to do for years.

  The bridges, of which there are two proposed, to be constructed across Grand Island to the mainland, would be owned by the city. This is another item of expense of which the sewer would pay. The proposed park systems and boulevards would, without doubt, equal in natural beauty, those of Vienna and Berlin, as there objective point would be the Falls. At present there is no boulevard running directly between Buffalo and the Falls, and while "roading it" between theses points is obliged to put up with all sorts of discomforts on in-diffferent thoroughfares. The main boulevard is given by initial outline, as 40 feet wide, and equal to any roadway of its kind in the country..

 GREAT WATERFRONT

  By provisions of this bill Buffalo will have a waterfront nearly as long as that of Chicago. The different systems of dockage and ship accommodation which will be brought into play, are too intricate to be vaguely outlined as yet...,however Buffalo will be the fifth city in point of practical waterfront in the country. In assemblyman Quinn's Bill, it is stated that within thirty days after the passage of the measure, the mayor of Buffalo will appoint two persons, and the Mayor of Tonawanda shall appoint one person, as shall the Mayors of N. Tonawanda and Niagara Falls, respectively to act as a commission in creating the new city and county, each to be known as Buffalo. This will practically wipe the old Erie County off the map, although a part of the county, left untouched, will be joined with a part of Niagara County and named Erie.

The Buffalo-Grand Island War of 1819

  All but forgotten today is Buffalo's own "Civil War." It was a time 202 years ago that squatters living on Grand Island set themselves up as a sovereign nation, elected their own governor, issued their own currency and stoutly resisted all efforts to bring them into the Union.  

 Grand Island Around 1825

  The State of New York, by a treaty held with the Seneca Indians at Buffalo, September 12, 1815, purchased Grand and several other small islands in the Niagara River. Immediately after it's purchase by the State, numerous squatters flocked onto Grand Island, and built cabins along it's shores on both sides--on the west or Canadian side mostly--for the purpose of cutting, and working into staves, the valuable white-oak timber which abounded there, for the Montreal and the Quebec markets. From those cities the staves were shipped, mainly, to the British West Indies. The staves were taken from Grand Island in scow-boats to Chippewa, then wagoned around the Falls to Lewiston, and there put on board sail vessels for Montreal and Quebec.

Niagara River, Grand Island - 1820

  At the time the State of New York purchased Grand Island, the territorial titles of the lake and river islands between the united States and Canada were undetermined, and so they remained until the year 1822, when all the islands in the Niagara River, excepting Navy Island, were declared by the boundary commissioners, appointed by the governments of the United States and Great Britain, to belong to the United States, and consequently came under the jurisdiction of the State of New York. Up to the year 1819,  the squatters held undisputed possession of the land, amenable to neither New York or Canadian law; setting up a government of there own, wherein they settled their own disputes, if they had any, but defying the authority of either jurisdiction on the opposite shores.

  On one occasion a sheriff constable, armed with a civil process, crossed to the island to arrest one of the squatters, but the rebels put the officer back in his boat, took away his oars and set him adrift in the Niagara River. He might have been carried over the falls, and floated for some distance, until someone, touched by his distress, put out in another boat and took him over to the American shore.

  In April of 1819, New York State decided it was time to clear out this nest of rebels. That month the legislature passed an act requiring them to leave the island. In case they resisted, the governor was empowered to remove them by force. In the fall, Sheriff James Cronk, of this county(then Niagara County), ordered them to leave. Some obeyed, but over many of the cabins smoke curled as saucily as before. 

  That was the last straw for the exasperated officials. A detachment of militia was called out under Lt. Benjamin Hodge of Buffalo. On December 9, 1819, Lt. Hodge, Lt. Stephen Osborne of Clarence and 30 soldiers, took boats from the "Seeley Tavern," about three miles below Black Rock, on the river shore and crossed, arriving at dusk. Early the next morning the detachment marched to the west side of the Island where most of the squatters lived. Lt. Hodge broke his contingent into three bodies; the vanguard to read a New York State proclamation and help clear the houses where the families were ready to leave, the main force to remove bodily all persons and property remaining, and the rear guard to burn the buildings.

  Boats were ready to carry the squatters either to Canada or the United States. All went to Canada with the exception of "Governor" Pendleton Clark. On December 12, the militia party with Sheriff Cronk, found an old Irishman named Denison, who, with the aid of two sons and some helpers, was busy building houses. He claimed the right to remain and told the Sheriff he had discovered the secret of perpetual motion in which he would give the Sheriff a half interest if he were permitted to remain. The sheriff told him to put his "perpetual motion" to use and leave the island at once.  

  Two more days were devoted to the removal of families. In all, some 150 men woman and children were transported to Canada. The last house visited, and the only one on the Eastern shore, was that of "Governor" Clark. He had already placed his effects in a scow preparing for removal. He went to the American side and not long after bought a tract of land at a point where the Erie Canal was expected to enter Tonawanda Creek. Here in time, a village was built, to which he gave his own first name--Pendleton--and where he was long a respected citizen.

  A portion of these squatters, however, immediately returned; but as they ceased cutting timber, and held themselves amenable to the law, they were not again molested by State authority. They rebuilt their cabins, cultivated their little patches of clearing, and remained peaceable citizens, taking a little timber "on the sly," only; keeping a few cattle and pigs, and eking out a poor, but to them, quite satisfactory subsistence. Among them was "perpetual motion" Denison who for fifteen years clung to his secret and insisted on the value of his "motion" with amusing pertinacity.

Other Grand Island Related Stories:
The Buffalo History Gazette: 'Fix'ing the Volstead Act on Grand Island
The Buffalo History Gazette: Noah's Grand Island, A Refuge For His ...
The Buffalo History Gazette: The Busti Avenue Lighthouse

Noah's Grand Island, A Refuge For His People

"The desired spot in the State of New York to which I hereby invite my beloved people throughout the world, in common with those of every religious denomination, is called Grand Island, and on which I shall lay the foundation of a City of Refuge, to be called ARARAT" -  Mordecai Manuel Noah

"Hear, O' Israel, The Lord is our God-The Lord is One.  ARARAT, a City of Refuge for the Jews, founded by
Mordecai Manuel Noah, in the Month of Tizri, September 1825, and in the 50th year of American Independence"

  If Major Mordecai M. Noah hadn't suffered rebuffs and financial reverses back in 1825, Grand Island today might be the diplomatic headquarters of the new Jewish State of Israel-and it's City of Ararat a prospering metropolis instead of a myth. Major Mordecai Manuel Noah (1785-1851) was a noted American journalist(National Advocate), playwright, diplomat, New York politician, and Jewish advocate. He decided in 1825 to found on Grand Island a city of refuge for all the opposed members of his race scattered about the world. The story actually began five years earlier when on Monday, January 24, 1820, Noah applied to the State of New York to purchase Grand Island. The Bill was reported out of the house favorably for sale to Noah but nothing came of it. His hopes for the Jewish people, his people, though defeated, never remained down.

 Major Mordecai Manuel Noah

  In 1825 Samuel Leggett of New York City, acting in Major Noah's behalf but using his own money, purchased 2,555 acres of island property-one plot at the north end directly opposite mouth of the Erie Canal, which opened that year-and the other in the center. He had gotton and prepared a stone which was to be "the chief of the corner," with proper inscription and of ample dimensions for the occasion. The stone was obtained from the Cleveland sandstone quarries. The inscription, written by Major Noah, in Hebrew and English, inscribed by Seth Chapin of Buffalo is as follows:

"Hear, O' Israel, The Lord is our God-The Lord is One.  ARARAT , a City of Refuge for the Jews, founded by Mordecai Manuel Noah, in the Month of Tizri, September 1825, and in the 50th year of American Independence."

  "It was intended, pursuant to the public notice, to celebrate the event on the island; and a flagstaff was erected for the Grand Standard of Israel, and other arrangements made; but it was discovered that a sufficient number of boats could not be procured in time to convey all those to the island who were desirous of witnessing the ceremony..." So through the friendly offer of the Rector of St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Rev. Addison Searle, the ceremonies were transferred to that building, in Buffalo.
  Festivities opened on September 2nd; "at dawn of day a salute was fired in front of the court house, and from the Terrace facing the lake. At eleven o'clock a parade moved down Main Street from the Court House to St. Paul's with city officials, bands and members of the Masonic order in line." Center of all eyes was Noah himself, a gentleman of forty, proudly erect of carriage, florid of face, keen of eye, sandy-haired who strode just ahead of the rear guard of Royal Arch Masons and Knights Templar. Over his black costume, majestically austere, were thrown rich judicial robes of crimson silk, trimmed with the purity of ermine. From his neck depended a medal of gold glistening from high embossments." The major conducted the ceremony with all the solemnity benefitting the occasion.
   "On arriving at the church door, the troops opened to the right and left and the procession entered the aisles, the band playing the Grand March from Judas Maccabeus... On the communion-table lay the cornerstone. "On the cornerstone lay the silver cups with wine, corn and oil. "The cornerstone, was consecrated during the ceremony in both Hebrew and Episcopal rights.
   Mr. Noah rose and pronounced a discourse, or rather delivered a speech, announcing the re-organization of the Jewish government, and going through a detailed Proclamation of many points of intense interest... "Therefore I, Mordacai Manuel Noah, Citizen of the United States for the City and Kingdom of Tunis, High Sheriff of New York, Counselor at Law, and, by the Grace of God, Governor and Judge of Israel, have issued this proclamation, announcing to the Jews throughout the world, that an asylum is prepared and hereby offered to them, where they can enjoy that peace, comfort, and happiness, which have been denied them through the intolerance and misgovernment of the ages."
  He declared the Jewish nation reestablished under the protection of the laws of the United States, he abolished polygamy among the Jews and he levied a capitalization tax of three Shekels(one dollar) in silver a year upon every Jew throughout the world, to be collected by the treasurers of different congregations, for the purpose of defraying the various expenses of re-organizing the government, of aiding emigrants in the purchase of agricultural implements, providing for their immediate wants and comforts, and assisting families in making their first settlements. The Proclamation continued at length outlining various ukases for the establishment of the Jewish refuge, The City of Ararat.

Eagle Tavern Built in 1825

  Meanwhile hundreds of people lined Niagara's river bank, from Tonawanda down to Buffalo, hoping to catch a glimpse of the colorful ceremonial, which they thought was to be held on Grand Island. Many of them came up in carriages in time to hear the Inaugural speech. After the ceremony, the procession returned to the Lodge, and the Masonic brethren and the Military repaired to the Eagle Tavern and partook of refreshments. The church was filled with ladies, and the whole ceremony was impressive and unique. A grand salute of 24 guns was fired by the Artillery, and the band played a number of patriotic airs.

  The day succeeding the ceremonies,---"the corn and wine and oil." and "Proclamation,"---the newly constituted Judge of Israel issued another address, setting forth the design of the new city, and invoking the aide and countenance of his brethren abroad, in contributing of their substance and influence to it's uprising and population. Thus, with due benediction, ended the ceremonial---the first of it's kind known in this country---of the cornerstone of an anticipated Hebrew, or any other city, being laid on the communion table of a Christian Church!
  The ceremonial, with it's procession, "Masonic and Military," its pomp and magnificence, passed away. Major Noah, a day or two afterwards, departed for his home in New York; The "corner-stone" was taken from the audience chamber of the church, and deposited against it's rear wall, outside; and the great prospective City of Ararat, with it's splendid predictions and promises, vanished, "and, like an insubstantial pageant faded,---left not a rack behind."

Map showing the proposed location of Ararat on the right side of island near river.

   This was in fact the whole affair. The foreign Rabbis denounced Noah and his entire scheme.  He had levied taxes of sundry "shekels" on all Jewish tribes of the world; assumed supreme jurisdiction over their emigration to America, and sought to control their destinies afterwards. But, having no confidence in his plans or financial management, the American Jews, even, repudiated his proceedings; and, after a storm of ridicule heaped upon his presumptuous head, the whole thing died away, and passed among the other thousand-and-one absurdities of other character which had preceded it. Noah, however, with his ever ready wit, and newspaper at hand, replied to all the jeers and flings in good humor, and lost none of the prestige of his character and position, either politically or morally. He was known to be eccentric in many things, and this was put down as the climax of his eccentricities.
  Poor in money, always, he had no influence in financial circles, yet he was a "power" in the State. Some years after his Ararat affair he held the office of judge in one of the criminal city courts of New York, with decided acceptance of the public,---married a wealthy Jewess of high respectability,---reared a family, and died some ten or dozen years ago in New York. (1851)

Post Script: First proposed in 1808, the Erie Canal would connect the Hudson River at Albany, NY., across the land mass, to Buffalo and Lake Erie. From Lake Erie, the Mississippi, the Missouri and other interior rivers offered accessible access to the vastness of the continent. The Canal was highly political, and proved to be highly controversial because of the massive debt and scandals involved in its construction. Officially opening, October 26, 1825, the Canal became an economic boon to New York City. Buffalo, the Canal's Western terminus, prospered mightily.

Mouth of Erie Canal Buffalo NY

   As a newspaper editor of a major American paper, Noah was very aware of the economic possibilities that the Canal could bring. He realized there was a possible link, a possible benefit for his developing idea for a temporary solution to the Jewish problem with Buffalo and the Erie Canal. Opposite Buffalo, in the Niagara River, was a large unpopulated land mass, an island, 17,381 acres about eight miles long six miles wide. Known locally as Grand Island, its ownership had only recently been conceded to New York by the Canadians and the extinguishment of Iroquois land claims.
  Noah recognized the economic possibility of Grand Island and its strategic location in the Niagara River highway of commerce. He also recognized the possibility of populating the Island as a refuge city for the oppressed Jews. On the one hand it was a bold and innovative idea to solve the Jewish problem. On the other hand, if Noah could have managed to gain control of the area, it would have been very good for the country, for the Jews and for himself financially.

Sources used: Buffalo Courier Express 8/26/1952 
Founding of the city Ararat on Grand Island-by Mordecai M. Noah. Read before the society, March 5, 1866. By Hon Lewis F. Allen. (1800-1890)
Print Source - Buffalo, N.Y: Buffalo Historical Society, 1866

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