Spalding family.

The Spalding, Evans and Ellicott families were prominent in the early history of western New York. Their rise coincided with a decision by the directors of the Holland Land Company to sell all lands in the so-called Holland Purchase, a vast tract between Lake Ontario and the Pennsylvania border. Pressure on the American frontier forced this decision upon Dutch investors, no less than European turmoil around 1800, when "Empires were daily swinging from their moorings" ( Batavia Times, September 15, 1826). At the turn of the century, therefore, the Holland Land Company contracted with Americans to dispose of the land.

The first resident company agent was Joseph Ellicott who had served the Holland Land Company as a surveyor in Pennsylvania and New York. He was succeeded by Jacob S. Otto, who died in office in 1826. Ellicott's nephew, David E. Evans, held the post for the next ten years, and during this time he managed to parcel out more land than his two predecessors combined. Peter J. VanHall served briefly in 1837, but at this juncture the Holland Land Company's control over the remnant of the Purchase was disrupted by world depression, proprietary mismanagement, and armed debtors converging on the land office.

In the process of developing the Holland Purchase Joseph Ellicott founded Buffalo and Batavia. He also encouraged the construction of turnpikes and canals across western New York through his political influence and an offer of 100,000 acres to the Erie Canal Commission. At the end of his life of prosperity, power and bachelorhood, Ellicott divided his wealth among several brothers and sisters, three of whom had married into the Evans family.

David E. Evans, son of Rachel Ellicott and Lewis Evans, succeeded Joseph Ellicott in the management of the family fortune. He lost much of it in the panic of 1837, however. His son, Ellicott, pursued an academic career after attending Harvard. Ellicott Evans became a professor of law and political economy at Hamilton College, where he remained until the early 1880's.

The Ellicott and Evans families were united to the Spaldings of Lockport, New York, when Charles Evans, another son of David E. Evans, married Alice Jane Spalding. Her father, Lyman A. Spalding, was a significant member of the Lockport community after its foundation. By marrying Amy Pound in 1824 he combined two prominent Quaker families owning valuable property along the Erie Canal.

From the guide to the Spalding Family Papers, 1796-1901, (Special Collections Research Center, Syracuse University Libraries)