DOWNTOWN HISTORY

Early settlers Gamaliel and Margaret St. John moved to a farm near the Mill Creek spring in Williamsville in 1807. They purchased Lot 53 in the village of Buffalo, now 460-470 Main Street between Court and Mohawk Streets. The St. Johns wanted to open their own tavern and build a new family home for their eleven children. They built a wood frame home in 1810 from wood harvested at their Williamsville farm. In 1812, the youngest son, Cyrus St. John, died of dysentery. Gamaliel and son Elijah were active in the War of 1812 Buffalo militia, as were many village residents. They drowned June 6, 1813, attempting to resupply American troops stationed across the Niagara River, leaving Margaret to raise the surviving children alone.

As the War of 1812 continued into the winter of 1813, New York Militia Brigadier General George McClure had not endeared himself to the villagers in Buffalo. There was no lodging available for soldiers, so they were billeted in almost every home in the village. General McClure failed to control looting in the village by his troops and made needless enemies from draconian management of the American controlled Niagara area of Canada. Far worse, he tempted British retaliation by burning without warning the defenseless Village of Newark (now Niagara-on-the-Lake) on December 10, 1813. After retreating to Buffalo, McClure’s situation became untenable. Without respect and support from the volunteer militia or the inhabitants, he was replaced by Major General Amos Hall on December 26. General McClure took the remaining ammunition and regular troops, leaving Buffalo almost defenseless.

General Amos Hall had to make do with the 2,000 raw militia troops left in Buffalo. On December 29, 1813, a battle erupted in Black Rock between the British and Hall’s militia. The Buffalo militia saw little hope in their advance and began to flee to warn their families. In the early morning on December 30, after hearing fighting throughout the night, people began gathering their possessions and ran for their lives. While British soldiers made their way toward Buffalo down Niagara Street, their Native American allies crossed through the forest and entered the village from the north near Tupper Street. Villagers heading northward were cut off and had to turn around. In a short time, many of the homes were empty except for two on Main Street, the homes of Sarah Lovejoy and of Margaret St. John. These two women lived across from one another on Main Street and both remained when Buffalo was attacked.

As the villagers fled, Margaret’s son-in-law, Asaph Bemis, came to help. Bemis and his wife Aurelia, Margaret’s daughter, filled the wagon with six of the younger St. John children but couldn’t fit the rest. This left Margaret and two daughters behind. Bemis planned to return to bring them to safety. He headed north on Main toward Williamsville but saw the British Native allies, who had crossed through the woods to Main Street, emerge at Tupper. Bemis turned the wagon, heading south past the St. John house once again. He shouted to the frightened women that he would be back soon for the remaining family members. Bemis was unable to make the second trip to rescue Margaret and her daughters. The three women were left in their home fearing for their lives.

Margaret and her two daughters tried to lay low, hoping to be left alone. By this point, much of Buffalo and Black Rock was in ashes and Native Americans allied with the British were plundering the remaining homes. Margaret was peering out the window to see if there was any sign of Asaph Bemis. She caught sight of Sarah Lovejoy across the street, defending her belongings. Mrs. Lovejoy refused to give up, protecting her home with a knife. Margaret watched Sarah Lovejoy’s fight end quickly with a tomahawk to her head. The Native American warrior then set the house on fire. Sarah Lovejoy’s son, Henry, was safe. Sarah told him to run before the invasion, but thought that as a woman not involved with the militia, she would be safe to stay in her home.

Margaret St. John wanted to save Sarah Lovejoy’s body. When the roads were clear, the three St. John women moved her to the street and put out the fire before it grew too big. Margaret and her daughters placed the body back in the house with the hope that there would be a proper burial when the family returned. This did not happen; the next day the house was burned.

Margaret’s worry for her daughters grew after the incident with Sarah Lovejoy. She saw a British officer on the street, who asked why they stayed. Margaret explained they had no choice but to stay in their home or die out in the cold. She begged the officer to prevent danger to her or her family. She pleaded that as a widow with many children to look after, she needed her home to care for her family. The British officer was not sure he could make such a promise. He left telling Margaret he would ask headquarters about her request. On her return, Margaret saw she may have been too late. There were Native American women in her home, searching the trunks packed for their escape. A visitor came to the door, a translator from British headquarters, to tell the Native American women to leave the house alone and to return the St. John possessions.

A few days after the second round of fires, an elderly man rushed into the St. John home while they were preparing breakfast. He came to warn the family that the British and ally warriors were coming back to Buffalo to pillage the rest of the homes and burn them down. One of the daughters and the old man ran toward Mohawk Street in hopes they would survive. Margaret St. John and her other daughter decided to stay behind in house. She ran to her window with a white table cloth, which she began to wave out the window as a sign of surrender. The daughter on the run was caught by a Native American, who painted the girl’s face and then rode away. The daughter returned home to her mother, laughing at her frightening encounter but feeling terrible she left her family behind. She was afraid to take off the face paint in case other warriors came by. She hoped they would see the face paint and leave the family alone. Sometime later, a British officer came by, reassured the family of their safety, and instructed the daughter to wash off the paint because it was not needed.

After New Year’s Day, the villagers began to return. They were met with the view of a destroyed village, with only the St. John home, the stone jail, a barn frame, and Rees Blacksmith Shop still standing. All that remained of the other homes and buildings were chimneys reaching out of stone basements. ​ Having no other option, many spent the rest of the cold winter living in their basements, with only temporary roofs to keep out the weather. The remaining members of the St. John family made their way home, and the family was reunited. The St. John family offered food and clothes to other refugees. Margaret St. John lost the tavern—her family’s livelihood—but still had her home.

Works Cited:

• Fosdick, M. C. (1925). When Buffalo was Young: Some Incidents of Local History Retold for Young People, Buffalo. 
• Society, B. H. (1906). Papers relating to the burning of Buffalo, and to the Niagara frontier prior to and during the war of 1812. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. http://ebooks.library.cornell.edu.gate.lib.buffalo.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=nys;cc=nys;view=toc;subview=short;idno=nys273
• Smith, H. P. (Henry Perry) (1884). History of the City of Buffalo and Erie County, Vol. 2. Niagara University Library. http://cdm16694.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/VVN001/id/134
• Recollections of the "Burning of Buffalo and Events in the History of the Family of Gamaliel and Margaret St. John",By their daughter, Mrs. Jonathan Sidway.  Published in the Buffalo Historical Society Publications, Vol. 16
• WNY Heritage Presents the War of 1812 Volume 2 – 1813: The Border in flames; Reaping the Whirlwind: Fire and Sword on the Niagara, 1813 by Donald E. Graves
• Memorial testimony from Inhabitants residing in the Niagara Frontier to the Senate and House of Representatives, 1817, Library of Congress.