For several years he
had been cultivating an acquaintance with the Indians, residing in their
midst, attending their councils, and making himself generally agreeable;
and by means of his own personal influence with the chiefs, and unwearied
exertions he gained their permission to hold a council, which assembled at
Big Tree, the present site of Genesee, in August, 1797.
This had already become the residence of the white man. James and William
Wadsworth, from Durham, Conn., had emigrated hither as early as the year
1790. Under their auspices a new settlement had been commenced. On rising
ground which commanded a fine view of the flats, stood their large block
house. The same site has still its attractions, for what at a later day,
was the old Wadsworth mansion.
The coming of the Wadsworths into this region, which was still in
possession of the Indians, and their prominence in its subsequent history,
would seem to justify a more extended notice.
In the spring of 1790, James Wadsworth, then a young man of twenty-two,
was debating with himself the question of his future calling in life. He
had graduated at Yale College in the fall of '87:--had spent the winter of
'87 and '88, at Montreal, Canada, teaching school. He had no thought of
teaching as his life-work, and what would he do next? was his earnest
inquiry. Some one suggested that he should study medicine; but this did
not suit him. As he had received a liberal education, it was further
intimated that he should lead a professional life and become a lawyer, or
a minister.
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