When Thomas Jefferson was President
by Lynne Belluscio

JAN. 7, 2002 - The year is 1802. Thomas Jefferson is President of the United States. He had narrowly won the election of 1800 when he and the vice presidential candidate, Aaron Burr, tied in the Electoral College. The vote was turned over to the House of Representatives where the tie was eventually broken, but not before a lot of political controversy. Burr, from New York, became vice president. This was a time of political volatility in New York. Factions in both the Republican Party and the Federalist Party were vying for power and this included DeWitt Clinton, Aaron Burr, George Clinton ñ the Governor of New York, Alexander Hamilton and Morgan Lewis. (DeWitt Clinton was elected to the United States Senate in 1802, but resigned a year later to be appointed Mayor of New York City. He eventually was elected Governor. Morgan also served as Governor. George Clinton and Aaron Burr were bitter enemies and Clinton fought a duel with one of Burrís supporters. Hamilton and Burr became such bitter enemies, that they also engaged in a duel in 1804, which cost Hamilton his life, and Burr his political future.)

In the meantime, land speculation in Western New York had attracted a steady stream of settlers. In 1797, the State Legislature had declared all the land west of the Genesee River, which at that time was in Ontario County, to be known as the Town of Northampton. This township included the Holland Purchase, the Triangle Tract, the Mill Site of the Phelps and Gorham Purchase, the Craigie Tract and several other tracts all bought on speculation that the desire for land would make the investors rich. Joseph Ellicott had surveyed the Holland Purchase in 1798. Richard Stoddard had surveyed the Triangle Tract in 1801.

To facilitate the movement of settlers into the western part of the state, the Cayuga Bridge which crossed the northern end of Cayuga Lake was built in 1800. It was considered an engineering marvel of its time. It was one and one-eighth of a mile long and built of wood and was wide enough for wagons to pass abreast. The bridge cost $150,000 and was financed by a loan from the Manhattan Company of New York City, which had been founded in 1799, by Aaron Burr.

In the meantime, in 1802, the early settlers of Le Roy built a bridge across the Oatka Creek for $250. Roads were built and improved, but settlers still had to use the ferry across the Genesee River at Avon to continue westward. They were also dismayed to learn that they had to travel back to Canandaigua, the county seat of Ontario, to register for their land. On March 30, 1802, with a lot of encouragement and political strategy exerted by Joseph Ellicott, the state legislature created Genesee County. It consisted of all the land west of the Genesee River - the former town of Northampton. The legislature also created four new townships ñ Northampton, Southampton, Leicester and Batavia, the new county seat.

In March 1802, Genesee County was the western frontier. But in April 1802, the U.S. learned that Napoleon of France had acquired the Louisiana Territory from Spain two years earlier. The all important port of New Orleans was now in the hands of the aggressive French. Jefferson began negotiations with the French for the purchase of Louisiana, which was accomplished in 1803. All of a sudden, the western frontier of the United States extended to the Pacific Ocean.

Genesee County would soon become a gateway to the frontier. In 1802, there were 16 states in the Union. (In 1803, Ohio would become the 17th state.) Against this tapestry of political and economic change, Genesee County would emerge during the next two hundred years. In the next couple of weeks, other aspects of Genesee County history will be featured in this column.