Elisha Johnson (1785–1866) was an engineer and early resident of

Rochester, New York Rochester () is a city in the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Monroe County, and the fourth-most populous in the state after New York City, Buffalo, and Yonkers, with a population of 211,328 at the 2020 United States census. Located in W ...

. He served the then village as its fifth

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...

Early life

Elisahe Johnson was born in 1785 in Chautauqua County, New York. He graduated from

Williams College Williams College is a private liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts. It was established as a men's college in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim Williams, a colonist from the Province of Massachusetts Bay who was kill ...

Career

Johnson moved to Rochester in 1817 and purchased of land on the east bank of the

Genesee River The Genesee River is a tributary of Lake Ontario flowing northward through the Twin Tiers of Pennsylvania and New York in the United States. The river provided the original power for the Rochester area's 19th century mills and still provides h ...

from Enos Stone. Johnson built a horse railroad to Carthage by the Lower Falls of the Genesee and was the chief engineer and contractor of the Tonawanda Railroad. Johnson became the mayor of Rochester in 1838 and came up with a plan for the construction of a water works through the village that was rejected by the Common Council. At the end of his term Johnson became an engineer for the

Genesee Valley Canal The Genesee Valley Canal is a former canal that operated in central New York between 1840 and 1878. It ran for a length of 124 miles, passing through 106 locks. Its course was later used by the Genesee Valley Canal Railroad and today comprises po ...

and moved to

Portageville, New York Portageville is a hamlet located in the town of Genesee Falls in Wyoming County, New York, United States. Its name derives from the Native American canoeists who would withdraw their craft from the river to avoid going over three waterfalls in th ...

, where he built the Hornby Lodge. Johnson built the

Tellico River The Tellico River is a river in the Blue Ridge Mountains of western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee. It rises in the westernmost mountains of North Carolina, and then flows through Monroe County, Tennessee, before joining the Little Tennessee ...

Mansion on his

plantation A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. The ...

Tellico Plains, Tennessee Tellico Plains is a town in Monroe County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 859 at the 2000 census and 880 at the 2010 census. History The area along the Tellico River was inhabited for thousands of years by indigenous peoples. The h ...

and, with his brother and former Mayor of Buffalo,

Ebenezer Johnson Ebenezer Johnson (1786–1849) was an American businessman and politician. He served as the first mayor of Buffalo, New York from May 1832 – March 1833 and 1834–1835. Early life Ebenezer Johnson was born in New England on November 7, 1786. ...

, purchased the

Tellico Iron and Manufacturing Company Tellico Plains is a town in Monroe County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 859 at the 2000 census and 880 at the 2010 census. History The area along the Tellico River was inhabited for thousands of years by indigenous peoples. The h ...

. During the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...

Union Army During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union of the collective states. It proved essential to th ...

General William Sherman's soldiers destroyed the Tellico Iron Works, but Sherman acquitted Johnson for his part in supplying the Confederate Army because of Johnson's northern birth and sympathies. Johnson then moved to

Ithaca, New York Ithaca is a city in the Finger Lakes region of New York, United States. Situated on the southern shore of Cayuga Lake, Ithaca is the seat of Tompkins County and the largest community in the Ithaca metropolitan statistical area. It is named ...

Death

Johnson died in 1866 in Ithaca, New York.A History of the Mansion On Tellico River
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References

External links

1785 births 1866 deaths People from Chautauqua County, New York People from Tellico Plains, Tennessee Williams College alumni Mayors of Rochester, New York Engineers from New York (state) Businesspeople from Tennessee 19th-century American politicians 19th-century American businesspeople {{NewYork-mayor-stub