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History of Rochester, New York:
Following The American Revolution, Western New York Was Opened Up For Development As Soon As New York And Massachusetts Compromised And Settled Their Competing Claims For The Area In December 1786 By The Treaty Of Hartford. The Compromise Was That, While New York Would Have Sovereignty Over The Land, Massachusetts Would Have Pre-emptive Rights To Obtain Title From The Indians.
After A Great Deal Of Machinations By Various Speculators, On April 1, 1788, The Entire Massachusetts Pre-emptive Right Over All Western New York Lands -- Comprising Some 6,000,000 Acres (24,000 Kmē) -- Was Sold To Oliver Phelps And Nathaniel Gorham, Both Of Massachusetts. The Sales Price Was $1,000,000, Payable In Three Equal Annual Installments Of Certain Massachusetts Securities Then Worth About 20 Cents On The Dollar. The Right Sold Applied To All Land West Of A Line Running From The Mouth Of Sodus Bay On Lake Ontario, Due South Through Seneca Lake, To The 82nd Milestone On The Pennsylvania Border Near Big Flats (the "Pre-emption Line"), And All The Way To The Niagara River And Lake Erie (the "Phelps And Gorham Purchase"). In Order To Obtain Title To Such Land, Phelps And Gorham Would Have To Extinguish All Indian Titles.
Phelps And Gorham Wasted No Time In Securing A Portion Of Their Purchase. On July 8, 1788, By The Treaty Of Buffalo Creek, They Extinguished Indian Title To All Land From The Pre-emption Line West To The Genesee River, As Well As To A Tract Of Land West Of The Genesee Running South From Lake Ontario Approximately 24 Miles (39 Km) And Extending West From The River Approximately 12 Miles (19 Km), With This Western Boundary Paralleling The Course Of The Genesee ("The Mill Yard Tract"). For This Extinction Of Title, Phelps And Gorham Paid The Indians $5,000, Plus A $500 Annuity. The Area To Which Title Was Extinguished Comprised Some 2,250,000 Acres (9,100 Kmē), Or About One-third Of The Total.
(The Pre-emptive Rights To Remaining Lands Of The Phelps And Gorham Purchase West Of The Genesee River, Comprising Some 3,750,000 Acres (15,000 Kmē), Eventually Reverted Back To Massachusetts Due To A Failure To Extinguish Indian Titles As Well As A Default In The 1790 Payment. Massachusetts Then Re-sold Those Rights To Robert Morris In 1791 For $333,333,33. In 1792 And 1793, Morris Then Sold Most Of The Lands West Of The Genesee To The Holland Land Company, But He Did Not Extinguish Indian Title To The Land Until The Treaty Of Big Tree (Geneseo) In September, 1797. Morris Reserved For Himself About 500,000 Acres (2,000 Kmē) In A 12 Mile (19 Km) Wide Strip Along The East Side Of The Holland Purchase, From The Pennsylvania Border To Lake Ontario, Known As The Morris Reserve. At The North End Of The Morris Reserve, A 87,000 Acre (350 Kmē) Triangular Shaped Tract (the "The Triangle Tract") Was Sold By Morris To Herman Leroy, William Bayard And John McEvers, While A 100,000 Tract Due West Of The Triangle Tract Was Sold To The State Of Connecticut. Other Phelps And Gorham Lands East Of The Genesee River That Had Not Already Been Sold Were Also Acquired By Robert Morris In 1791, Who Re-sold Them To The The Pulteney Association, Which Was A Syndicate Of British Investors.)
Shortly After Concluding The Treaty Of Buffalo Creek, Phelps And Gorham Gave A 100 Acre (0.4 Kmē) Lot Within The Mill Yard Tract At The Upper Falls Of The Genesee To Ebenezer "Indian" Allen, On Condition He Build A Grist Mill And Sawmill There By Summer 1789 (the "100 Acre Tract"). In Exchange For The 100 Acre Tract, Allen Built The Agreed-upon Mills At The West End Of The Upper Falls Of The Genesee. But The Location Was So Deep In The Wilderness That There Were Only 14 Men In The Area To Assist In The Mill's Construction. The Area Was A Dense Forest And Swamp, And Infested With Rattlesnakes And Mosquitoes That Spread 'Swamp Fever' Or What We Now Call Malaria.
With No Settlers, And No Demand For Mills, Indian Allen Sold The 100 Acre Tract And Mills In March, 1792 To Benjamin Barton, Sr. Of New Jersey For $1,250. Barton Almost Immediately Sold The Property To Samuel Ogden, As Agent For Robert Morris. Ogden, In Turn, Sold The Property In 1794 To Charles Williamson As Agent For The Pulteney Association. On November 8, 1803, The Pulteney Association Sold The 100 Acre Tract For $1,750, On A Five-year Land Contract, To Col. Nathaniel Rochester(1752-1831), Maj. Charles Carroll, And Col. William Fitzhugh, All Of Hagerstown, Maryland.
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