America: a four years' residence in the United States and Canada, etc

Front matter

AMERICA : A FOUR YEARS' RESIDENCE IN THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA; GIVING A FULL AND FAIR DESCRIPTION OF THE COUNTRY, AS IT REALLY IS, WITH THE J&wvxts, Ciistmns, fc (Cjwrattrr us tjjt 3ajialiitimts ; ANECDOTES OP PERSONS AND INSTITUTIONS, PRICES OF LAND AND PRODUCE, STATE OP AGRICULTURE AND MANUFACTURES. BY WILLIAM BROWN, A LEEDS CLOTHIER. "I guess that old Coon is wide awake." Yankee Farlter. " Nothing extenuate, nor set down aught in malice." SHASISPKfiE. . LEEDS PRINTED FOR THE AUTHOR BY KEMPLAY AND BOLLAND, 19, COMMERCIAL-STREET. 1849.

Introduction

. TO THE READER. Having been called upon, in many towns and villages in Yorkshire, to recite my personal narrative of America and the Americans, a call which I have always complied with, my friends now have paid me the compliment of asking me to publish an account of my four years' residence in that country, and, at their suggestion, I have written out, from not* taken at the time, and from memory, the following pages. This book contains a true and faithful account of my peregrinations in North America, and an account of all I saw and heard which I thought worth remembering. I have, in general, given the true names of the parties spoken of, and it has been my aim that I should " nothing extenuate, nor set down aught in malice." It will give my countrymen, who are now thinking about emigrating to that continent, a fair specimen of what they may expect when they arrive there ; what prospects are held out to them by both countries, the United States and Canada ; with a fair specimen also of the peculiar characteristics of the great bulk of the inhabitants.

I have also attempted a description of some remarkable scenes; but, as I have no pretensions whatever to any literary excellence, I am afraid that, in such descriptions, I have miserably failed ; for I have a very perfect con viction of the truth of that celebrated apophthegm, that there is but one step from the sublime to the ridiculous. But I trust to an indulgent public to forgive me if ever I have overstepped that critical bound. My avocations in life have never given me the leisure to cultivate the muses : I was set to work, as soon as I was able to use my fingers,

INTRODUCTION.

. IV in picking wool, or plying the burling irons. I then went through all the grades in the manufacturing and finishing of cloth, and what I have learned has been picked up in the highways and byeways of life, among the different nations among whom it has been my lot to have had a temporary home. Unlike many of our modern travellers in America, such as Buckingham, Marryatt, or Dickens, my whole experience has been among the middle classes of society — farmers, mechanics, and merchants ; there was no veil thrown over their characters ; I saw them, as it were, in their daily occupation ; for whether they were at my house, or I was at theirs, they never looked upon me as a stranger. My occupation of tavern-keeper gave me more facilities for observation than any other occupation could have done.

Moreover, from my residence of two years in the city of Cleveland, and two years in the city of Toronto, my impressions had time to mature, and become fixed, not like those of a transient traveller, who, perhaps, in many places, would scarcely stop twenty four hours, nor have a longer acquaintance with many characters he describes ; but travels through the country at railway speed, in perhaps two months, in the best part of the year, and among a clique of friends ; and then takes upon himself to write a description of the country. At all events, I have taken time before I have penned aught down ; and though I may not escape criticism and contradiction in some of the conclusions I have come to, yet I give them as a candid man can only give them — and that is, as he really found and believed them. Gentle reader, I remain, as iu duty bound, Yours truly, W. B. Leeds, January, 1849.

Chapter I. The Voyage

Commencement of Voyage — First Impressions delusive — Death of an Infant — Fear of the Ship being set on Fire hy the carelessness of the Irish Emigrants — Republican Exclusiveness — First sight of Land — New Jersey- — Sandy Hook — 1 he Narrows — Bay of New Yrork — Long Island — Staten Island — Fortifications — American mode of steering steamers — Noble aspect of the city of New York — Landing — Revulsion of feelings — New York " Runners," or shore touters ; their unprepossessing characteristics — Cautions to Passengers — A New York Lodging House — Crowded quarters, and more guests than bargained for. In the month of August, 1 84 — , myself and family took our passage in the 2nd cabin of the ship Oxford, Capt. Rathbone, from Liverpool to New York. We were much pleased with the Captain on shore, and especially so with Mr. Gates, the mate ; but we soon found, after our baggage was on board, and before we had left the harbour, that first impressions are not always the most correct ; for in the sequel, the Captain never spoke a single word to any of us during the voyage, except to my wife, who had taken charge of a sick child whioh its mother had cruelly neglected for so long a time that it was too late to save its life ; for in spite of all the efforts my wife and a gentleman passenger (Mr. Peabody), and the Captain (to give him his due) made, the child died a day or two before we entered the Bay of New York, and was carried on shore on Staten Island to be buried there.

This was the only death which occurred during our passage, which I consider remarkable, as we had about 300 Irish on board huddled together in the steerage. We had a very fair passage of 28 days, and should have felt pretty comfortable, if it had not been for the fear of the ship being set on fire by the thoughtless Irish, some of whom would, through the whole night, stick a candle against the side of the ship, or against the berths, as they played at cards and smoked tobacco ; and if there should be any appearance of the ship's officers, the lighted candle or the pipe was thrust under the bedstraw, or into any place at hand, and everything was kept quiet till the officer's back was turned. I do really believe that, if there had not been one or two steady Englishmen among the wild Irish, the ship would have been set on fire, and perhaps hundreds of lives sacrificed.

I do not wish to insinuate that it would have been maliciously fired, but thoughtlessly done by some of them, in the same way as cotton warehouses are set on fire in Liverpool. n ■2 THE VOYAGE. The first inquiry every morning, after leaving Cape Clear, was, When shall we reach the Banks of Newfoundland 1 and after that was accomplished, When shall we get a pilot from Sandy Hook 1 But as for the incidents of the passage, it is superfluous to men tion the dreary routine of life by a landsman in a voyage across the Atlantic, the monotony of which can only be compared to a solitary confinement on shore, especially after the first day or two, when you have learned the history of all your fellow-pas sengers, and have sounded the depths of their conversational powers. A person who has read a great deal of American Repub lican manners from the lying publications issued within these last dozen years, will be much struck by the aristocratic bearing of the captain and the cabin passengers, especially if they are of American birth; in fact, these parties think it most derogatory to ever speak a word to any one below a cabin-passenger, or even respond to a well-meant " Good morning" from him.

However, to a man well-trained in this world, it will be no sort of annoyance after the first rebuff, but will be more of an amusement ; setting him to study the character and pretensions of these sorry specimens of American aristocracy and exclusiveness. The first land we saw, on a bright Sunday morning, was the well-wooded shores of the State of New Jersey, a few miles to the South of the Hook. We had been beating on and off the whole night, and had thrown up rockets and blue-lights for a pilot; but in consequence of the thick fog we did not get one before eight o'clock in the morning. On reaching the Hook, called Sandy Hook, you could not expect to see anything cheering, as its name testifies to its barrenness; but still to a landsman, confined to his dark abode for a month in an over-crowded ship, it gives an indescribable pleasure.

On reaching The Narrows, by which the Bay of New York is divided into two, the country begins to improve, and every tack the ship makes discloses new beauties; the low wooded shores of Long Island are on your right hand, and the picturesque hills of Staten Island on your left. The comfortable looking houses painted as white as driven snow, with green Venetian blinds, and verandahs in front, have a most pleasing effect upon the eye. The fields, also, standing with crops of the stately Indian corn, the gardens, the churohes, the hospital, and public offices also give a perfect finish in the land side; while towards the city, or the Empire City, as the New Yorkers proudly call it, you have the broad expanse of the lake-like bay, studded with many islands, some fortified, from which, as you near them you may see protruding the grisly cannon's nose, with which the Yankees believe and boast most vociferously that they could settle the hash of all Johnny Bull's shipping very speedily, even if commanded THE VOYAGE. by the fighting Napier himself.

The innumerable craft in the bay, with their bleached white sails — the ponderous lookinc steamers, with the walking engines and large pulpits high on the decks, where the steersman stands to guide the ship — a better arrangement than being at the after end of the vessel, where you cannot see whither you are driving, for by ropes and pulleys the man can manage the vessel himself without the bawling and shouting you hear on the arrival or departure of an English steamer; — the varieties of strange objects you see in sailing up to New York almost bewilder the mind of a stranger : to look around him and see on his right the castellated islands of the bay; on his left, the noble river Hudson; and fair in front the splendid looking city of New York, the steeples of numerous churches, which are glittering in the sun like gold and silver; while not a cloud of smoke issues from or around any of the high towers.

Indeed, from the appearance, you would think that not a single pipe of tobacco was being smoked in the whole city. The wharves extending on both sides as far as the eye can reach, and the forests of masts lying along them, are a sight which can only be exceeded in London and Liverpool. The weary traveller, coming for the first time to this sumptuous looking city, thinks that really, if a paradise exists in this sublunary world, it is here to be found; he is in a perfect ecstasy of delight at his prospects. The vessel he is in approaches the wharves, and a helping-hand catches the rope, and the vessel is safe moored. Then all these illusions vanish at once, and the sad reality strikes you with the more force from the contrast. A gang of 300 or 400 ruffians, calling themselves runners, jump on board, begin, very much in the style of plunderers or pirates, seizing hold of the passengers' baggage, and endeavouring to persuade them to go to some inn or lodging-house which they represent, and where each avers accommodation can be had at such and such prices; another comes and states that the person who has just left you is the greatest scoundrel living, and that you will certainly be robbed and perhaps have your throat cut, if you entrust yourself and baggage into his hands.

Then the swearing and fighting of these runners, the shouts of the passengers, the crying of the women and children, make as great a confusion as ever was heard at Babel. I certainly heard more swearing and more horrid oaths before I had been four hours in that city than I had before heard in the whole course of my life. The appearance of these men is the most disgusting possible; they are without coats, without cravats, with shirt necks flying open, a large roll of tobacco in each cheek, the juice from which exuding down the corners of their mouths adds to the uusightli ness of their cadaverous aspect. They principally seem of a 13 THE VOYAGE. mongrel breed, half Indian and half Irish. Their physiognomy has some resemblance to that of the English gypsies. These men live partly by alluring travellers to the lodging-houses and grog shops, and receive a York shilling, or G A per head, and make up the remainder of their living by stealing trunks from passengers, which they call playing at Trunk loo.

It is a disgrace to the police of the city to allow passengers to be pillaged and robbed by such a race; but there has been no effectual stop put to their depredations, although every vessel with passengers suffers by them. In some instances, passengers who have been robbed will bring some of them up before the authorities; but as the landlords back them up, and any one for half a dollar will swear black is white for another, they very generally get off by these means. There is also the difficulty of strangers identifying one out of a thousand, whose appearance and resemblance to each other are so remarkable. The steerage passengers by our vessel lost about twenty-seven trunks by these gentry, and some of these trunks contained all the money they had in the world; and the losers were forced to sell what odd things they had left for subsistence till they could get some employment.

When passengers are going West they will find plenty of runners, who promise to take them to their des tination : their offices are upon the wharves, and they will book you, and take your money, and give you tickets to any place you wish to go to; but beware that you pay no money beforehand, as in thousands of cases the captains of canal-boats will make you pay over again, saying you have not paid them; and they will seize your trunks till you pay the fare they choose to charge, which you cannot resist, as the evidence which you can bring is perhaps 400 or 500 miles off, and you have no option but to pay the passage over again, or be left without baggage. During the voyage there was a young Scotch lad aboard, who had neither provisions nor bed. We took the young chap into our service, and he boiled water for us and did other jobs, for which we gave him some cushions and blankets to lie upon, and as much meat as he could eat.

A relative of this young man met us in the harbour, and when the boy informed him how we had behaved to him, he returned us his very best thanks, and brought a landlord with him whom he introduced to us as having good accommodation for passengers in South-street; and, as this person seemed a decent Welshman, we agreed to go to his house on the terms proposed. In the hurry and labour which we had in the lifting and carrying of baggage, we were all thoroughly tired, and we enjoyed our tea with a zest which they only can know who have earned it as we had done. Our landlord wished us, as a favour, that we would all sleep in one room, as they had not more accommodation at that time vacant. We agreed to it; but next morning we were in a most woful state; the beds were full of bugs, whieh bit some of us severely.

We had also a legacy of great grey lice; and worse than all, the musquitoes sung all the night, and bit every one of us upon every part which was exposed. That night was indeed a torment, and thousands of times we wished the Scotch boy's uncle was doomed to sleep in thc same beds for a month, as a small punishment for his treachery in recommending us to such a house.

Chapter II. New York To Buffalo

General appearance of the City of New York ; its beauties and its nuisances — the large Inns or " Houses" — Albany and its extortion — Great Steamers on the Hudson ; feeding time on board — Canal Boat to Buffalo — Mohawk River — Erie Canal; Utica, Syracuse, Rome, Montezuma — American Woollen Manufactories — Number of persons employed during Summer in the Erie Canal traftic ; their Winter quarters and resources — Rochester; its flour mills, and water power; its eligibility for English Settlers — quality of the soil and productions — encroachment of the Canadian 'I histle — Gasport; its natural gas works — Lockport — Tonawanda Creek — Remnant of the Aborigines ; their resemblance to Gypsies— Niagara River — Salt works at Syracuse and Montezuma. New York is a most splendid city. Broadway will match with any street I ever saw out of London, and the public buildings are equal to any in the world ; as for instance, the Custom House, Town Hall, Churches, &c. The promenade called the Battery Gardens, and the Park in front of the Town Hall, are great orna ments to the city, and a walk in either of these is a great luxury to thousands in the cool of the evening, seeking health and recreation.

The churches are numerous, and are beautiful struc tures, seemingly well supported. There are, however, some drawbacks to ali these beauties: there are no common sewers, and in hot weather the open streets stink most horribly; in Pearl street, "where merchants most do congregate," there are old flour barrels standing at certain distances for people to empty their slops into; and in many places the street is nearly filled with old packing cases, piled up so that two carriages can scarcely pass. Then all the old straw and shavings which have been used in packing different articles being thrown into a street which is never swept, you may judge the effect of all the effluvia upon your sensitive olfactory organs. This has become so insupportable, that almost every merchant of condition lives out of town; and though the expense of boating or bussing comes to a round sum yearly, yet it is far cheaper, if you value your health, to do so, than to be almost suffocated daily with such nauseous exhalations as abound in the city.

As they have now got a plentiful supply of beautiful water, it is hoped that the authorities will not rest till the town is sewered and cleansed, and made so that a decent family may reside there. The inns, called in general "houses," such as the Washington House, the Franklin House, the Astor House, &c, are all magnificent concerns. Some of these houses can accommodate 500 persons for the night, and dine 1500 or 2000 a day; the charges are very moderate, except for sherry, for whieh in some places they charge three or four dollars per bottle : this is one of the most expensive luxuries whieh the Yorkers indulge in; this wine, and canvas-backed ducks from the Chesapeake, and Tirrapin soup, form the ne plus ultra of an American supper. We left New York,, after a stay of a few days, in one of the large steam boats for Albany, which is situated about 170 miles up the river, the fare for each passenger, baggage included, being one quarter of a dollar.

On our arrival, however, at that place, they surcharged me seven dollars for extra weight, although we had fairly agreed at New York that, one quarter dollar was to clear each passenger and his luggage. This was the first direct robbery we experienced ; there was no help for it, so we paid the money, and, while some of us stood sentry over the baggage, — which was absolutely necessary, as the runners, in addition to all the qualifications of their brethren of New York, had assumed the ferocity of Indian savages, without, however, one particle of their honour, — one of our party went out to find a line-boat to go on the canal to Buffalo; and after plenty of chaffing, we bargained for our passage to that place. The steam-boats plying upon the Hudson are the largest in the world, being 330 feet long, of three decks, or, as from the form of their construction they may be described, three stories high.

There is only one scale of charge for passage, and the meals are spread in an immense saloon, and partaken of by all who choose to pay. The sight of a meal as set out upon one of these boats is worth seeing. I had never beheld so large a company, nor a table set out in so superb a style, in any steamer before, as the first supper I took upon the "Empire" steamer; but this enter tainment was very transient. I should think that after the supper had commenced, not five minutes had elapsed before one half of the guests had " got fed," and were leaving their seats. We, however, were not in so great a hurry, and we stopped till there were none left but ourselves and a few men, " old country" folks and the table was nearly cleared to make ready for another set. ' We soon found out that, when you sit down to a meal in America at a public table, you must proceed to business instanter if you intend to have any dinner, and never open your mouth except to admit your victuals : scarce a word is spoken, every one falls to upon what is before or near him, cuts for himself, asks no one else to join, but goes a-head at once and minds nobody's business but his own.

All sorts of meat, beef, pork, pickles, apple sauce, butter, cheese, potatoes, tomatoes, and pudding, are all on their plates at once; and when they arise from table there is perhaps twice as much left on each plate as each guest has eaten during the meal. No changing of plates take3 place during the meals; all is put on the table at once, and no quarter is given or expected. The passage money we agreed to pay from Albany to Buffalo, on the canal, 3G4 miles, was one cent or a halfpenny per mile, board included. The boats are beautifully fitted up, and are as convenient as is possible in such small vessels; the berths for sleeping are fixed in the cabins, and are like shelves in a library; there is one cabin exclusively used by ladies ; each person has a small berth, and the travelling is at the rate of sixty miles per day.

There are three good meals provided for you, and, by taking walks along the banks at certain times, it is altogether as pleasant travelling as any person not in a hurry could wish. The Erie canal sweeps along the banks of the Mohawk river, which is classic ground for the Dutoh, these regions being first settled by that people. The Mohawk is a very broad channel, but being then after a very droughty summer, there was scarcely any water at all; but, as I was informed, in a few months the banks would be filled, and there would be no appearance of scarcity of water. The Falls of this river are celebrated all over the Continent as being perhaps the noblest in the States; certainly the banks of the river, the rush of the water, the many mills and manufactories about its streams, may give it a preference in some people's eyes; but after one has seen the Genessee Falls and the tremendous Falls of Niagara, all other water-falls in the world sink into insignificance.

Upon the banks of the celebrated Erie canal, many large, populous, and flourishing cities have been built since its opening; — Utica, with about 10,000 or 12,000 souls; Syracuse, Rome, Montezuma, &c, &c, ofa less magnitude, all built upon this canal, and looking so like one another that one description will suffice for all. Tho wharves on the canal are flanked with high and large warehouses, upon many of which are painted in letters as large as a man, " Cash for Wheat." Whether such a commodity would be come-at-able in those places I am not fully informed; but if we may judge from the tattle of passengers, it is not many of the proprietors of these large warehouses that can raise as much money as will pay their postage accounts; and some letters were now lying in the office before us which had been imprisoned in the hands of the postmaster for more than two months, and would be kept there till the money was raised in coin to pay the postage.

There are a few woollen manufactures also, upon and near the canal; at Little Falls there are two, the buildings of which really look very imposing. I entered into both of them, and though the workmen were at their meals away from the factory, yet I saw enough to convince me that the manufacturers of England need have no fear of being eclipsed by the go-a-head Yankees. They have no patience to make cloth in a regular way; they bave no time to clean the wool, or moat; and as for burling the cloth, they never think of it; — " any how" will do, so that it is quickly out of hand; the dyeing the same. Their machinery is also far behind ours in size and construction. In fact, everything aimed at in every one I have been in, both here and elsewhere, was despatch ! despatch ! every other consideration was absorbed in these words.

I have been confirmed in these remarks by many inspections of American manufactories since examined. The Erie canal, extending from Albany to Buffalo, is a magnificent work; it was completed in about eight years; it is 364 miles long; there is ample room for boats passing one another in any part of it, and the depth is about seven feet : the locks are equal to any we have in England, and all double. I asked one of the lock-keepers how many boats they could look in one day, and he replied, that the day before I was there, there had 187 passed through. The boats are of three sorts; the most common are called scows, and are built flat-bottomed ; they have generally a stable on board to hold three or four horses, and take their horses along with them. The line boats come next : these boats belong to different forwarding companies, and have relays of horses at every place they stop at ; they have accommodation for passengers, being all fitted up in a neat and comfortable manner ; the captain of each boat has what profit he can make of his passengers, of which the owners take no account.

The next are boats of a larger build, and can carry about eighty or ninety tons ; they are well built, and secured from being plundered, and trade regularly from one port to another. They belong more to private merchants than to public companies. There are also a few fly boats whioh travel at a greater speed than any of the other. The scows travel about forty miles per day, the line boats and the barges sixty, and the fly boats about eighty. The number of boats in work every year is estimated at 5,000. It takes four men to man each boat, which will amount to 20 000 men; one woman to each will amount to 5,000, and one boy driver, making altogether 30,000 people employed on this canal, and at least 10,000 horses : then there are the lock-keepers, book keepers, warehousemen, and hangers about, whieh help to swell the numbers actually employed for about seven months in the year to about 35,000.

The men employed have, therefore, work for seven months, and the five months remaining are spent by them in boarding-houses. Some of them, however, will get work at chopping wood in winter, and some in threshing and other farm work ; but the great majority do nothing whatever during that time, living upon their summer's wages, upon the proceeds of sundry trunks which travellers occasionally lose sight of, and finish the vacation on the credit system. One great annoyance on this canal is the number of very low bridges you have to go under, when, if you are upon deck, you are obliged to lay your self flat down while you pass through, and many accidents happen to strangers before they understand the shout of the steersman, " Low Bridge." Rochester is a city of the third magnitude, in America; it is situated upon the Erie Canal and the Genessee River, about two miles from its mouth upon Lake Ontario; and here steamers arrive continually from various parts of the Lake, not only from the ports belonging to the Union, but also from Canada.