Quiet at Tonawanda, article (Buffalo Express, 1893-06-19).pdf

Quiet at Tonawanda, article (Buffalo Express, 1893-06-19).pdf

QUIET AT TONAWANDA

Buffalo Soldiery Relieve the Two Separate Companies.

PEACEFUL DAY IN CAMP.

It Has Been Christened Camp Haunted, Because of the Old Mansion Which They Occupy—Historic Place.

Yesterday being Sunday, no lumber was unloaded in the Tonawandas. Nevertheless there was considerable stirring, as the Tonawanda and Niagara Falls military companies were withdrawn from guard duty in the lumber district and the battalion of the 65th Regiment from Buffalo took their place.

It was 1.45 o’clock yesterday morning when, preceded by the field music, four companies of the 65th Regiment reached the New-York Central Exchange-street station to take a special train to Tonawanda. The battalion was commanded by Lieut.-Col. Chapin and was made up of Companies A and D of the second battalion and B and F of the first battalion. The little command was officered as follows: Company A, First-Lieut. R. C. Rogers; Second-Lieut. G. W. Windsor; Company B, Capt. H. A. Smith; First-Lieut. G. A. Wilson, Second-Lieut. G. W. Heppleman; Company D, Capt. J. D. Howland, First-Lieut. L. L. Babcock; Company F, Capt. O. E. F. Babcock, First-Lieut. O. J. Becker, Second-Lieut. Arthur Briggs, subalterns detailed from G company. Besides these were the following staff officers: Capt. Clarence Wilson, inspector of rifle practice; Lieut. Harvey W. Putnam, quartermaster; Lieut. H. C. Wadsworth, commissary, and Asst.-Surg. Meyer.

The train pulled out 20 minutes after the arrival of the battalion and half an hour later drew into Tonawanda, where everything was found to be as quiet as possible on a hot June Sunday.

The 42d Separate Company took the same train to the Falls, and at 10.30 guard-mounting of the 65th Regiment men took place.

The 25th Separate Company was relieved as soon as possible. Its members marched to the armory in South Tonawanda and at once became citizens again. Last night they assembled again at the Armory and marched to the First Methodist Church, where they listened to a special sermon. They appeared in full uniform with helmets, and no musicians. Sixty-nine were in line and they made a fine appearance.

The day passed without any excitement or special feature except the change of guard. There were hundreds of visitors to the island, as it was Sunday. Among these were very few union men.

The union lumber-shovers now call on the merchants of both towns once a week to get subscriptions for their support. Most of the merchants give either goods or money to avoid having their stores boycotted by the union for months to come.

Today may see a change in affairs, as an effort will be made to unload the fleet.

WHAT THE SOLDIERS DID.

Their Comfortable Quarters in the White House—Hospital Arrangements—Guard Duty.

The Buffalo train had been switched on to the island track immediately on arrival at Tonawanda and ran across the bridge on Island Street, where it halted in front of Col. Welch’s headquarters in the office of Smith, Fassett & Co. “The Haunted House” or White Mansion, at the head of Tonawanda Island, was assigned to the Buffalo battalion, and in less than 10 minutes from the time the soldier boys reached the place they were settled, and within half an hour they had their bunks made, filled with hay, and ready to occupy.

Camp Haunted, as the home of the battalion is now known, is occupied from the basement to the roof. The ground or basement floor is used for the cooking and storing rooms. There are two large cook stoves in the north rooms and every needed convenience. The wide veranda, which runs clear around the building, was used yesterday for the tables, although Company D supped in its rooms on the second floor. The Sunday bill of fare consisted of coffee, bread, butter, ham with mustard, boiled potatoes, dried beef and cheese. This will probably be the fare during the stay at North Tonawanda, except that fresh meat will be supplied and coffee will be allowed hot twice a day. The commissioned officers take their meals at Hotel Sheldon.

William Coulson is in charge of the hospital corps, with John B. Gorman as his assistant. They have a complete apothecary shop, which cannot be beaten, as they have taken the large china closet which is on the north side of the house and adapted that to their purpose. The hospital is on the south side of the house, in what was the library of the White Mansion. Walter Coogan, C. L. Roesch’s private secretary, serves on the hospital corps with J. B. Gorman, and it is declared that the hospital corps has never been so good before.

The officer of the day yesterday was Capt. Howland of Company D. The officer of the day for today will be Capt. Babcock of Company F. The officer of the guard will be Lieut. Rogers. The guard on duty today is made up as follows: From Company A, 13 men; Company B, 10; Company D, 5; Company F, 6; sergeants, 8; corporals, 6; musicians, 4.

Maj. Parsons drove down by carriage, as did Lieut.-Col. Abell of the 74th Regiment. Lieut.-Col. Abell was accompanied by his daughter and took some excellent photographs of the scene.

Adjt. Hall of the 65th Regiment went to Camp Haunted to see how the boys were situated, and about half of the second battalion of the 65th visited camp during the day for the same purpose. Many of the officers and men of the 74th were also on the lumber-covered island.

Scores of the 65th-regiment boys took advantage of their situation to bathe in Niagara River at the head of the island.

WHERE THE TROOPS ARE.

A Sketch of Tonawanda Island, Which is Celebrated in Both History and Tradition.

Tonawanda Island, now occupied by the troops, is celebrated in history of civilized man and in tradition of the aborigine. Its Indian name is “Ni-ga-waynah-pa-ba,” which means small island. Though it has had a dozen names, the term Little Island is still applied to it, and by that name it is now known. It contains something less than 100 acres. At the head of the island stands the old White mansion, now nearly 60 years old. In this are quartered four companies of the 65th Regiment.

Philip Kenjockety, who died in 1864 aged more than 100 years, was born on this island. From him or from his father John, Scajaquada Creek was named. The first name of the island as known to white man was Carney Island, from James Carney, who with his father Edward settled on the island about 1820. Then the island was known as Tonawanda; after that as Bloodgood Island, from Mr. Bloodgood, who owned it. At his death it descended to his wife, who in 1833 sold it to Stephen White of Salem, Mass., and the late Lewis F. Allen. But soon after Mr. Allen sold his interest to Mr. White.

In 1835 Mr. White began the erection of the mansion now the quarters of the 65th Battalion. The house cost $18,500 and is said to have been finished in a year. He called the place “Beachwater.” The woodwork, which is solid cherry and black walnut, was bought and worked in Boston. The marble mantels, which are still to be seen in the building, were imported from Italy, and it is said this was the first time Italian marble was used in this part of the country. The house was very substantially built. The walls are of brick and two feet thick.

Mr. White’s daughter married, in Boston, Fletcher Webster, the son of Daniel Webster. On their bridal tour they came to White’s Island, as it was now known, and in this house a grand reception was held. Daniel Webster was a frequent visitor in this house, and so also was Gov. Marcy, who, if for nothing else, is remembered for his phrase, “To the victor belongs the spoils.” White lived in this house until 1847, when he moved to New-York, where he died the next year. His widow sold it to the late William Wilkeson, brother of John Wilkeson, who still lives in the family homestead on Niagara Square. It became an elephant on Mr. White’s hands and in 1883 he sold it for $45,000 to Smith & Fassett, the lumber firm. A few years later the transformation of the island into a vast lumber yard began. The drawbridge was built in 1887.

Little Island many years ago—in fact, so many years ago that man cannot tell how long—was a part of the mainland and Tonawanda Creek flowed through it diagonally. While the surface of the island was in its primitive state the old channel of the creek could plainly be seen. On the north of it was high ground occupied by a fertile vineyard. The ice floes coming down the river in the late spring gradually cut off the peninsula and formed an island.

Not more than 25 feet west of the house a third Indian mound stood as recently as four years ago. When the writer measured it in 1888 it was in the form of a large truncated cone about eight feet high and with a base diameter of nearly 80 feet. It is said to have been used by the Indians as a burial ground. It was described by the late E. G. Squier of Buffalo, one of the men from whom Mrs. Frank Leslie, in her long career, had been divorced. In May, 1889, a dozen skeletons were found while excavating the mound. It was the opinion of David F. Day, an authority on such matters, that they had been buried not more than 150 years. In the office of Smith & Fassett, where Col. Welch has his headquarters, are several relics dug from the mound.

Opposite Tonawanda Island, on Grand Island, was the site which Maj. Noah selected for Ararat, a city of refuge for the Jews.

Stephen White was one of the characters of the famous Joseph White murder case, which in its day was as celebrated a case, and as mysterious as well, as is the Borden case of today. On April 7, 1830, Joseph White, a rich retired merchant of Salem, Mass., aged 82, was found murdered in his bed. The circumstances of the affair indicated such coolness and audacity that the citizens of that town were led to fear that the same fate might await them in the night, and for days carpenters were busy nailing up doors and windows. Richard Crowninshield was arrested as the actual assassin and Joseph J. Knapp Jr. and John Francis Knapp as his accomplices. Crowninshield hanged himself in jail and the Knapps were tried and convicted. Daniel Webster’s argument in this case was one of the most brilliant efforts of the statesman’s life. John Francis Knapp tried in vain by letters and otherwise to direct public suspicion toward Stephen White, who was Joseph White’s nephew and legatee, and it was the notoriety growing out of this accusation that led Stephen White to leave his home in Salem, Mass., and live for years on this island.

Ghosts are said to inhabit this house, and if so, the soldier boys probably will find it out.

More than 60 years ago Nathaniel P. Willis, the famous writer of polite literature in his day, wrote a pretty sketch of this retired spot and concluded: “One comes to think that a little money could buy such a paradise for one’s own.”

1893-06-19