LE ROY PENNYSAVER & NEWS - OCTOBER 2, 2022 by Lynne Belluscio The story of wheat in the Genesee country is very interesting and includes the stories of “Indian Allen”, Jacob and Herman LeRoy, the Erie Canal, A. Jones, Hessian soldiers, Queen Victoria, the Town of Wheatland, Ford Bell, Aaron Burr, and LeRoy’s barn quilt trail. According to Carl Schmidt’s book on the history of the Town of Wheatland, when the earliest settlers arrived west of the Genesee River, they ran into “Indian Allen.” Allen had struck up a deal after the Revolution to acquire land on the west side of the Genesee River. But he had to build a mill so that people had a place to grind corn and wheat. He owned about 475 acres of land which included 300 acres that the Indians had “given” him. He had 60 acres of land under cultivation, which included 20 acres of wheat. In the spring of 1790, he moved to the falls of the Genesee River where he had built a rude sawmill and had started a grist mill. He had sold his land in Wheatland near Scottsville for $2.50 an acre. In 1797, Aaron Burr and his daughter Theodisia and her husband, Governor Allston of South Carolina, were on their way to Niagara Falls. He had heard of the Falls of the Genesee and headed north to see them. Darkness overcame the party, and they had to stop and stay with the Schaffers in Scottsville. Meanwhile in LeRoy, Stoddard and Platt built a small grist mill next to the “State Road” on the west side of the Oatka Creek. (At that time, the creek was called Allen’s Creek, named after Indian Allen.) Stoddard and Platt had only one “run” of stone and it was probably made of local stone. When Jacob LeRoy arrived in town in 1822, he quickly built and enlarged the old mill. It is believed that he had three run of stone and probably imported French burr stone.One of those stones rests behind LeRoy House and hopefully will be moved to the historic marker on Mill Street. One of the most important jobs at the time, was to “dress” the stones. If the stones were not dressed or sharpened, the grain was smushed rather than ground. The flour ground in this fashion spoiled and became rancid. Growing wheat in these early years was very laborious. The wheat was a soft summer wheat and was broadcast on the ground. Unlike corn that could be hoed by hand, it was difficult to keep weeds from growing with the wheat. Once it was ready to be harvested, it was cut with a short handled sycle – back-breaking work. The wheat would be gathered into shocks and then moved into the barn. When the wheat was ready to be threshed, it was spread on the floor of the barn and beaten with a flail.This separated the grain from the straw. The straw would be raked and set aside for bedding for the animals. The grain would be shoveled into a grain winnowing basket or tray. A man would grip both handles, and then toss the grain into the air and the breeze would blow off the chaff. This work was done in an “English” barn, with large doors built in opposite ends. One of these types of barns was located on Conlon Road and had a large barn quilt on the north end. This past year, a wind gust blew the barn over, and the barn quilt, “Nonesuch” will be relocated adjacent to the old barn. Soft summer wheat does not have a high gluten content, and does not make great bread, however, that was what was available. A variety known as Genesee Redchaff was grown in the Genesee Valley in 1796. It was a bald wheat, with no long “whiskers” on the top. It remained a long-time favorite. The Genesee area became well known for its wheat and flour. Once the Erie Canal opened, Rochester became the “Flower City” and the huge mills built next to the waterfalls in Rochester dominated the landscape. Jacob LeRoy shipped barrels of flour north to Brockport on the Canal. He owned a warehouse on the canal to store the flour during the winter when the canal was closed. Jacob agreed to take wheat in exchange for payment on land. But disaster loomed with a disease known as Hessian Fly. The disease attacked the stalks of the wheat and soon production began to fail. It was believed that the disease had come into the United States during the Revolutionary War on straw bedding carried by the German soldiers. By 1837, Hessian Fly was prevalent and it caused economic doom. In 1837, the United States suffered the worst economic downfall in its history. The economic status of the LeRoy family in New York City plummeted. It is believed that this is one of the reasons why Jacob and his family returned to New York City, never to return to Le Roy again. Jacob’s father retired, and the business never recovered. But the rest of the story will be continued next week. . . Wheat
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