My family settled in East/West Bloomfield about the same time and they still
live there. Yes, you are right. East Bloomfield, now called Bloomfield, is
too far from Albany, but it is close to Rochester - the flour city, so
wheat, corn, and other grains were the big crops. The county seat,
Canandaigua, is only about 12 miles away and it was a booming place. The
farmers and merchants traveled a route that is now Rts 5&20, now known as
the Cherry Valley Turnpike.

More importantly, East Bloomfield was five miles from the capital of the
Iroquois nation, Ganandogan. There is a living museum there with markers and
walking tours. The Iroquois grew an enormous stock of corn to feed the
nation in the fields between Ganandogan and Bloomfield - perhaps this is
some of the land your relative acquired?  Bloomfield is also (less) known
for a variety of apple, but the name escapes me at the moment. The town has
a very active historical society and local museum. I know of a good book
that describes the whole area since its founding. I'll get back to you with
the title and the variety of the apple. Marla


Marla A. Bennett, Ph.D.
SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry
Office of Instruction and Graduate Studies
ESF Honors Program
227 Bray Hall
Syracuse, NY 13210
(315) 470-6599
FAX (315) 470-6978

                -----Original Message-----
                From:   Ian McGiver [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
                Sent:   Monday, March 13, 2000 9:57 PM
                To:     [log in to unmask]
                Subject:        Bloomfield, Ontario Cty Markets Circa
1789-90

                I have a question regarding the markets that would have been
available to
                a cluster of New Englanders who in about 1789 settled the
area that is now
                present-day East Bloomfield in Ontario County (NY).

                Does any one know where they would have sold/traded their
first crops?
                And What were those first crops Wheat? Potash? Livestock?

                I ask this question because I am tracking the members of a
single family
                who settled in several parts of the New York backcountry all
at the same
                moment (1789). The other members of the family stayed much
closer to
                Albany, and so they would have had relatively easy access to
markets
                for their goods (which appear to have been wheat and
potash). The
                brother who went to East Bloomfield got hold of very good
land--but it
                would appear (to me at any rate) that he had far overstepped
the limits of
                the Albany market. Where else might they have traded? were
their any
                particular crops/products that were particular to that
locale?

                thanks for suggestions

                Ian McGiver