Joseph Bennett of Evans and the Growing of New York's Niagara Frontier

From 1814 naval action on Lake Champlain through pioneer life on the Niagara Frontier, from the building of the Erie Canal to the coming of the railroads, from the beginnings of farming in Erie County to the transformation of the county shoreline by vacation cottages and camps--Joseph Bennett witnessed it all. Businessman, builder, farmer, public servant, family man, deacon of his church, canal worker in Lockport, early resident of both Williamsville and Evans, Joseph Bennett, along with the men and women of his time, laid the foundations of modern civilization in western New York State. His journal, spanning virtually an entire century, is filled with details of life in the Buffalo area and beyond: transporation, commerce, farming, shipwreck, murder, birth, death--details of the process, going on through America, of turning wilderness into farms, villages, and cities.

This book, building on Bennett's journal, tells a smooth-flowing and highly readable tale of Bennett's life and times. It is a "must-read" not only for Western New Yorkers, but for anyone looking for an engaging view of life in exuberant nineteenth-century America.