I’ve talked about it for a while, but I’ve finally started up a podcast called Niagara History and Poetry, in which I discuss the history of Niagara Falls through the poetry that has been written about it.
The first episode is an introduction to the podcast, the second is about bears at the falls, and the third is about Captain Matthew Webb, who attempted to swim the rapids & whirlpool.
On the hill beside the river
Stands a building dear to me,
By its threshold one bright morning
There I first saw Harriet C.
Then that house was new and cheerful,
Now its walls are sad to see.
Years have passed and it’s decaying—
Where is charming Harriet C.?
When we watched the mighty cataract
She would closer cling to me,
And our hearts nigh ceased their throbbing—
Then I loved sweet Harriet C.
Time passed on and we were parted,
It softened much our childish glee
And I’ve never, never since then
Seen my lovely Harriet C.
But I’m standing by the schoolhouse
Where her form I first did see,
And my heart is sadly asking—
Where is gentle Harriet C.?
Source: Zavitz, Sherman. Niagara Falls: Historical Notes. St. Catharines, Looking Back Press, 2008. First published in the Niagara Falls Review as part of the Historical Notes series.
The historical note about the school is reproduced below with the permission of Sherman Zavitz.
The View Down Clifton Hill, Niagara Falls, March 28, 2003. Photo by Janice Leak Note sign for the Comfort Inn, partially visible on the right. This was the site of the original Clifton Schoolhouse more than a century earlier. Image courtesy of Niagara Falls Public Library
The Schoolhouse on Clifton Hill: Who Was Harriet C?
A school on Clifton Hill? While such a building would certainly seem out of place there now, in fact a one-room schoolhouse once stood on this thoroughfare, long before it became the now famous Street of Fun.
A roughcast structure, it was built around 1835 and was located on the south side of the street where the Comfort Inn Fallsway is now located. In 1848, after all the property on the south side of the hill was purchased by local entrepreneur Samuel Zimmerman, the building was moved to the other side of the street.
The school served the area along the Niagara River from Dufferin Islands (as they are now called) to the Whirlpool. This included the little community of Clifton, which at that time was centered around the Clifton Hill, Victoria Avenue area. Clifton was established in 1832 by Capt. Ogden Creighton, a British half-pay officer.
The following year, a hotel was built at the foot of Clifton Hill where Oakes Garden Theatre presently stands. As happened with the hill, the hotel took its name from the community in which it was located. The Clifton House became Niagara’s most renowned 19th century hotel.
Some of the teachers at this early school included William Pointer, Miss Tobias and a Mr. Williams. Around 1849, the teacher was Mr. McMullen, who also had a side job. The owner of a hansom carriage, every time an excursion party arrived at the nearby Falls, he would rush out of the school and become a tour guide, leaving his niece to take over his teaching duties.
The last teacher at this school was Marsena Biggar, who was there from 1851 to 1853. During the fall of 1851, Marsena might very well have taken his pupils down the road to the Clifton House to hear the famous singer Jenny Lind. Known as the Swedish Nightingale, she was a guest at the hotel for a number of weeks that autumn and would occasionally present a concert from its balcony.
The little schoolhouse on Clifton Hill closed at the end of 1853. The school section had been divided into two and new stone schoolhouses had been built. One of these was just to the north along Victoria Avenue, near Bender Hill. Open for only three years, it was replaced in 1857 by Simcoe Street School. The other was on Buchanan Avenue (now Fallsview Boulevard) where the Hilton Hotel now stands. It was used until the opening of Falls View School in 1910.
In February of 1857, an interesting letter appeared in a Buffalo newspaper. It was from an anonymous gentleman (he signed his name “Traveller”) in Lockport, New York, who told how several years earlier he had paid a visit to the old Clifton Hill schoolhouse. He had been a pupil there in its early years and wandering around the closed building naturally brought back many memories, including those of an infatuation he had had with another pupil he identifies only as Harriet C.
Moved by the nostalgic experience and lamenting his lost love, he wrote a poem, which was published along with the letter.
Entitled “Lines to Harriet,” [above] are a few of the verses.
Just who was Harriet C.? While we can’t be absolutely certain, it was likely Harriet Crysler, who was born here in 1831. The Crysler family home stood where the Victoria Avenue Library is now. Harriet died in 1903.
Laura Secord stamp issued by Canada Post, September 8, 1992
On the sacred scroll of glory
Let us blazon forth the story
Of a brave Canadian woman, with the fervid pen of fame,
So that all the world may read it,
So that every heart may heed it,
And rehearse it through the ages to the honor of her name.
In the far-off days of battle,
When the muskets’ rapid rattle
Far re-echoed through the forest, Laura Secord sped along
Deep into the woodland mazy,
Over pathways wild and hazy,
With a firm and fearless footstep and a courage staunch and strong.
She had heard the host preparing,
And at once with dauntless daring
Hurried off to give the warning of the fast-advancing foe ;
And she flitted like a shadow
Far away o’er fen and meadow,
Where the wolf was in the wildwood, and the lynx was lying low.
From within the wild recesses
Of the tangled wildernesses
Sounds mysterious pursued her ‘long the winding forest way,
And she heard the gutt’ral growling
Of the bears, that, near her prowling,
Crushed their course through coverts gloomy with their cubs in noisy play.
Far and near the hideous whooping
Of the painted Indians, trooping
For the foray, pealed upon her with a weird, unearthly sound,
While great snakes went gliding past her
As she sped on fast and faster,
And disaster on disaster seemed to threaten all around.
Thus for twenty miles she travelled
Over pathways rough and ravelled,
Braving danger for her country like the fabled ones of yore.
Till she reached her destination,
And forewarned the threatened station
Of the wave that was advancing to engulf it deep in gore.
Just in time the welcome warning
Came unto the men, that, scorning
To retire before the foemen, rallied ready for the fray,
And they gave such gallant greeting,
That the foe was soon retreating
Back in wild dismay and terror on that glorious battle-day.
Few returned to tell the story
Of the conflict sharp and gory
That was won with brilliant glory by that brave Canadian band,
For the host of prisoners captured
Far outnumbered the enraptured
Little group of gallant soldiers fighting for their native land.
Braver acts are not recorded
In historic treasures hoarded,
Than the march of Laura Secord through the forest long ago,
And no nobler deed of daring
Than the cool and crafty snaring
By the band at Beaver Dam of all that well-appointed foe.
But we know if war should ever
Rage again o’er field or river,
And the hordes of the invader should appear within our land,
Far and wide the trumpets pealing
Would awake the same old feeling,
And again would deeds of daring sparkle out on every hand.
Source: Charles Edwin Jakeway. The Lion and the Lilies: A Tale of the Conquest and Other Poems. Toronto: William Briggs, 1897
Sam Patch Jumping at Niagara Falls From The Wonderful Leaps of Sam Patch, c1870
Next, to Niagara thousands flock,
To see him jump from Table Rock,
Into these waters, thunder-hurled,
The seventh wonder of the world.
Folks swarmed on bank and giddy ledge,
On dangerous precipice’s edge,
Nay, really, it has been said,
They stood one on the other’s head,
To get a view when gallant Sam,
Came cool (and modest as a clam),
Pausing upon the trembling verge
To list to what might prove his dirge!
The sun was red, the cliffs aglow,
And foaming white the gulf below,
As Sammy turned his fearless eye
From crowded earth to brilliant sky,
And boldly took the fearful leap
Down, down, into the seething deep!
Each breath was held, each eye was strained—
Huzzah! at last the bank he’s gained!
A shake, a gasp, his breath to catch—
“Now! who will laugh at Samuel Patch?”
‘T was there Sam made his greatest dive—
Feet—full one hundred and sixty-five!
Source: The Wonderful Leaps of Sam Patch. Rochester, NY: Len Rosenberg, Rochester Collection. Reproduction of a book originally published by Len Rosenberg in the 1870s.
Platform built at the base of Goat Island for Sam Patch’s Jump in 1829. From Official Guide Niagara Falls, River. Electric, Historic, Geologic, Hydraulic by Peter A. Porter with illustrations by Charles D Arnold published 1901. Image courtesy of Niagara Falls Public Library
Sam Patch did not jump from Table Rock as mentioned in the poem and as shown in the illustration. in 1829 he constructed a 120 foot high platform at the base of Goat Island and jumped from there, as depicted in the illustration.
Tonight (May 18) at 7pm I’ll be doing the online presentation “The Niagara Way of Death: Depictions of Death & Near Death in the Poetry of Niagara Falls” at the Niagara Poetry Guild meeting. Please join us through the link at Meetup
Death is a pervasive topic in the poetry written about Niagara Falls. In the poetry of the 19th century, the Falls themselves were seen as a metaphor for death – the approach to death, the brink between life & death, the fall into purgatory, the ascension to heaven & the covenant between the human and the divine. See how the poetry of previous times as well as today reflect those metaphors, and how the 18 categories of death at Niagara Falls is treated in the poetry of the last 250 years.
Originally presented at the Lundy’s Lane Historical Society, Andrew Porteus will be sharing with us “The Niagara Way of Death: Depictions of Death and Near-Death Experiences at Niagara Falls” a 45 minute slide presentation.
