Judah Colt (July 1, 1761 – October 11, 1832) was an early pioneer of Erie County.

Early Life

Colt was born on July 1, 1761, in Lyme,

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capita ...

. After the death of his father, Colt decided to move west in 1789 and in

Albany, New York Albany ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of New York, also the seat and largest city of Albany County. Albany is on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River, and about north of New York C ...

, joined

Oliver Phelps Oliver Phelps (October 21, 1749February 21, 1809) was early in life a tavern keeper in Granville, Massachusetts. During the Revolution he was Deputy Commissary of the Continental Army and served until the end of the war. After the war ended, h ...

heading for the Genesee Lands. There he purchased land in Canadarque, later known as

Canandaigua Canandaigua (; ''Utaʼnaráhkhwaʼ'' in Tuscarora) is a city in Ontario County, New York, United States. Its population was 10,545 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Ontario County; some administrative offices are at the county compl ...

, from Phelps. In Canandaigua, Colt worked as a surveyor, merchant, and farmer and commonly returned to Lyme, Connecticut during the winter. He was appointed sheriff of Ontario County in 1790. In 1795 he traveled with

Augustus Porter Augustus S. Porter (January 18, 1769 – June 10, 1849) was an American businessman, judge, farmer, and politician who served as an Assemblyman for the state of New York. Early life Augustus Porter was born in Salisbury, Litchfield County, Conne ...

to Presque Isle and purchased land from the Pennsylvania Population Company in Erie County, Pennsylvania. In 1796, he attempted to buy thousands of acres of land from the Pennsylvania Population Company, but they declined, hiring him instead to replace Thomas Rees, Jr. as their agent.

Colt's Station

Colt established Colt's Station in 1797 in present-day Greenfield. That same year he built the "earliest road after the American occupation" in Erie County (after Old French Road) as a supply route from

Lake Erie Lake Erie ( "eerie") is the fourth largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also h ...

. Soon goods that were traveling by ship from

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from Sou ...

, to Erie were being transported overland to his settlement. He extended the road in early 1798 to French Creek, where he established a

boat landing A boat is a watercraft of a large range of types and sizes, but generally smaller than a ship, which is distinguished by its larger size, shape, cargo or passenger capacity, or its ability to carry boats. Small boats are typically found on inl ...

. He continued the road to the forks of the creek at Wattsburg later that same year. Colt's wife joined him at Colt's Station in May 1798. In the absence of a minister, Colt conducted the first

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

service in the county on July 2, 1797.

City life

Colt realized that prosperity would be found near the lake, so he left Colt's Station for Erie in 1804. He joined the

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

church in Erie that formed in September 1815, attending worship services in the old court house and soon becoming an elder. He built a frame building on Sassafras Street, known locally as the "yellow meeting house", which became the first regular place of worship in Erie. Colt was elected a member of the

American Antiquarian Society The American Antiquarian Society (AAS), located in Worcester, Massachusetts, is both a learned society and a national research library of pre-twentieth-century American history and culture. Founded in 1812, it is the oldest historical society i ...

in July 1815.American Antiquarian Society Members Directory
/ref> He served three terms as

Burgess __NOTOC__ Burgess may refer to: People and fictional characters * Burgess (surname), a list of people and fictional characters * Burgess (given name), a list of people Places * Burgess, Michigan, an unincorporated community * Burgess, Missouri, U ...

in Erie (1813, 1820-1821). Colt died in Erie on October 11, 1832, and is buried in the

Erie Cemetery Erie Cemetery is a historic rural cemetery located in Erie, Pennsylvania. It is situated on of land bordered on the east by Chestnut Street, the west by Cherry Street, the north by 19th Street, and the south by 26th Street. History The ceme ...

References

* ''Nelson's Biographical Dictionary And Historical Reference Book of Erie County, Pennsylvania, Vol. I''. Erie: S. B. Nelson, 1896. Reprinted by Erie County Historical Society (Salem, WV: Don Mills Inc, 1987), pp. 110, 120, 138, 313, 437.

External links

Judah Colt, Historical Markers, Explore PA History

200th Anniversary of the Presbytery of Lake Erie quotes Colt journal in 1801

Turner, Orasmus. Pioneer History of the Holland Purchase of Western New York (Buffalo: Jewett, Thompson and Co, 1849), p. 372
{{DEFAULTSORT:Colt, Judah 1761 births 1832 deaths People from Lyme, Connecticut People from Erie, Pennsylvania Members of the American Antiquarian Society