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Gotts Surname Family History

How did immigrants get to Orleans County?

The Great Lakes and Ohio were fertile, but transportation was a key issue. The Adirondack Hills to the south and the Catskills to the North formed a huge barrier which only had a few places to cross.

It was decided to build the Erie Canal from Buffalo to Albany, which together with the Hudson River going due South to New York, formed a viable waterway. By 1825 the canal was complete, and they took boats from Buffalo to New York in ten days through 270 miles of canal and 150 miles of the Hudson River to New York. This route fuelled the massive change in population in New York State, and assured New York as the financial capital. For more details click here: Wikipedia Samuel and Martha initially went to Somerset, about 10 miles northeast of Lockport.

Samuel and Martha’s family all lived in Niagara County or Orleans County:

• George W 2101 married Annie Webb: their children:
• Mabel E 2106 b 1888, married Herbert J. Gracey
• Wesley J 2107 b 1893, married Julia 2108 Pettis
  
  
• Mary J 2102 b 1857 married Samuel J Plummer

• Frederick W 2103 b 1860 married Florence Ardelia 4600 March nee Fisher;  their children:
•  Mable Lucille 4601 b 1915 married Ralph Oscar Melvin Anderson
• Doris Maxine 4602 b 1917 married Algot Leonard Ellison
  
  
• Frank 2104 b 1864 married Frances A 2112 Singleton. Their son was
•  Frederick Nelson 2113 married Ina Pearl 2115 Estey.

One of their children was Sergeant Howard F Gotts who served in U.S. Army Air Forces and died in World War 2. Click here to read about him

This link to On The Water includes a description from 1839; “we went from New York by steamship to Albany and from there, partly by train, partly by canal boats that were pulled by horses, we finally arrived in Buffalo”  It seems that this was the most common way to get there.