Buffalo in the 1840s was dynamic and full of contradictions. As the university prepares to celebrate its sesquicentennial, UB Today offers glimpses of the boom times and "chaotic turbulence" that preceded -and accompanied -the university's founding.

A CITY IN FULL SWING

White-washed rail gates creaked on their hinges. Newly painted signs glistened on cordwainers' and publishers' stoops. Young boys march proudly down the clay road, the bottoms of their white duck trousers turned brown. They pass the Broadwheel Tavern, where a colorful band of Fantastics perform melodramas to a diverse crowd. The delicate scent of pigs' feet and tripe tickles their noses, as carcasses are sleighed about in hopes of business for the Park Coffee House or the Virginia Inn. Carts, drays, wagons and coaches bustle to and from the boat landings in the harbor. The city's center is in full swing.

'TRUSTWORTHY' FIGURES

In the Main Street law offices of Fillmore, Hall, and Haven, Millard Fillmore-future U.S. president and UB chancellor-and his associates could be seen bustling from desk to desk, their black frock-coats swaying briskly. Each one cut a dignified and trustworthy figure. An erect bearing carried well a dress that was "costly in habit, but not expressed in fancy." Rich blue or lavender cassimere trousers complemented the dark coat, while a vest of embossed silk or velvet fit snugly over a pleated shirt front. A single bar pin often held in place a satin or bombazine stock. It stood plain and stiff with its starched white collar hugging the chin.

A COMMERCIAL EXPLOSION

No resident could deny the increasing success of business due to work on the Erie Canal. Completed in 1825, this waterway had become Buffalo's chief source of prosperity. Factories, foundries, mechanic shops, taverns and dwellings were being constructed along the creek and harbor. Sixty-four commissioned steamboats traveled the upper lakes, and hundreds more only passed through the canal. The commercial boom was especially apparent in the Buffalo grain industry where 100,000 bushels of wheat could be exchanged in a single day. Joseph Dart's invention of the grain elevator in 1842 propelled Buffalo toward world prominence as a flour-milling center.

CONFLICTS AND TENSIONS

The city's ethnic make-up changed dramatically during this period; by the 1840s, the Germans were the city's largest foreign-born group. They lived in the fifth, sixth and seventh wards in self-imposed isolation.

Meanwhile, 6,300 Irish struggled for residence in Buffalo's south side. In narrow, overcrowded and wind-swept streets, the men sought employment as dock workers and ship-cleaners. Women ventured into town as nannies and servants. The Irish experience in Buffalo had been defined throughout by poor working and housing conditions. On any given day, many were found at the creek on strike or marching with Buffalo's first two labor unions. Often fights broke out over jobs and housing.

ANTI-SLAVERY ACTIVISM

Amid the clash of immigrant cultures lived a small but significant African-American population. Approximately 700 African-Americans lived in the predominantly German area of the city, where they maintained two churches and an elementary school.

Many were skilled laborers, holding positions comparable to those of their neighbors, working as barbers, butchers, chandlers and shoemakers. In fact, some of the city's most prominent residents were among this group. James Whitmore and D. Paul Brown were important African-American writers, the former as an Abolitionist poet, the latter with his plays of southern life. William Wells Brown, the first prominent African-American novelist, lived in Buffalo at this time. A leading member of the Anti-Slavery Society, Brown helped to establish Buffalo as an important stop on the Underground Railroad.

DAILY DIVERSIONS

With financial success, Buffalo was able to close shop for the snowbound months of the year. During this time, recreation and leisure were pursued without hesitation by those able to afford it. Sleigh rides became a pleasant diversion; these vehicles were often carved into elegant swans or elephants for trips to Niagara Falls. Dances and balls were held at all the "respectable" mansions. The Fireman and Military Balls even allowed young couples to do the "Monnie Musk" or "The Sicilian." Dancers broke from the latest polka only to sip a vogue port or sherry. There were tea parties in the drawing rooms, while all waited for the truly open houses of New Year's Day. Excursions were often made to Fort Erie and the Sulfur Springs. Or, one was entertained at the Eagle Street Theatre, where an all-evening variety show was a guaranteed hit. Some homes offered exquisite cuisine that left visitors yearning for a return trip. It has been rumored that two Main Street dilettantes, Brown and Buckland, recently held a party at which was served, upon the meat table alone, mutton, lamb, veal, cutlets, sweet bread, steer, pike, perch, mullet, suckers, bass, trout and Albany beef.

THE RISE OF BUFFALO STATESMEN

Most of Buffalo's statesmen had risen from meager circumstances into this comfortable class. Having no formal education or inheritance upon which to base their practices, their industrious attitudes quickly set a social standard of "talent, quickness of perception, and social ambition to succeed."

Their efforts helped boost Buffalo's reputation as one of the country's economic and democratic leaders. Often, their fluent and eloquent speech was called upon to address public wrongs and arouse patriotic sensibilities. Lawyer Nathan Hall, for example, stirred up enthusiasm to make Buffalo the state's first community to establish free tax-supported elementary schools. Elbridge G. Spaulding, an extremely successful financier, devoted most of his life to the enlargement and improvement of the canal. Orasmus H. Marshall, a quiet, scholarly man, provided the city with historical accounts of its Iroquois neighbors and early settlers. In 1862, his work helped found the Buffalo Historical Society. He also served as UB's second chancellor.

THE BIRTH OF A UNIVERSITY

But perhaps their greatest and most enduring mark of achievement was the establishment of Buffalo's first university.

The efforts of Nathan Hall and Millard Fillmore convinced State Legislators to grant an original charter on May 11, 1846, thereby enacting the university as a joint-stock corporation. Lawyers and physicians contributed, without hope of gain, to the university's establishment. As shareholders, they formed a university council of 16 members and invited along the city's mayor and one representative from each proposed faculty.

In the true spirit of their time, Buffalo's statesmen worked to ensure the city's continued integrity and honor among the country's leaders. They took full advantage of the spirit of change that was sweeping the country. Perhaps Oliver G. Steele, the city's first superintendent of schools, most clearly described the chaotic turbulence and rush under which UB was founded:

The city was full of activity and vigor. Fortunes glistened in the eyes of the eager multitude. Who cared for mental cultivation in comparison with mental arithmetic? Who gave attention to science and art, when its only profitable element was that of mapping out city lots? There was, however, a dormant feeling of uneasiness at the absence of all associated effort to dispense knowledge to the general public. Not that there was any lack of intelligence among our citizens, but they were all young men in the flush of new business, with their faculties absorbed in a struggle for position.

ED COMENTALE is a Ph.D. candidate in the UB English Department.

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