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Batavia, New York

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Batavia, New York

Batavia is a city in and the county seat of Genesee County, New York, United States. It is located near the center of the county, surrounded by the Town of Batavia, which is a separate municipality. Batavia's population, as of the 2020 census, was 15,600. It is considered to be part of the Rochester–Batavia–Seneca Falls combined statistical area. Its name comes from the Batavian Republic (1795–1806), a republican government of the Netherlands and home of the investors of the Holland Land Company. In 2006, a national magazine, Site Selection, ranked Batavia third among the nation's micropolitans, based on economic development. The New York State Thruway (Interstate 90) passes north of the city. Genesee County Airport (GVQ) is also north of the city.

The city hosts the Batavia Muckdogs baseball team, of the Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League, at Dwyer Stadium, (299 Bank Street). The Muckdogs, formerly, were an affiliate of the Miami Marlins; in 2008, they won the New York Penn League Championship.

The current City of Batavia was an early settlement in what is today called Genesee Country, the farthest western region of New York State, comprising the Genesee Valley and westward to the Niagara River, Lake Erie, and the Pennsylvania line. The tract purchased in western New York (the Holland Purchase) was a 3,250,000 acre (13,150 km2) portion of the Phelps and Gorham Purchase that lay west of the Genesee River. It was purchased in December 1792, February 1793, and July 1793 from Robert Morris, a prominent Revolutionary banker, by the Holland Land Company, a consortium of Dutch bankers.

The village of Batavia was founded in 1802 by resident Land Agent Joseph Ellicott, under the authorization of Paul Busti of the Holland Land Company. Batavia, New York, was named by Busti in honor of the Batavian Republic (1795–1806), a republican government of the Netherlands and home of the investors of the Holland Land Company, itself derived from Batavia, a historic and geographic region dating to Roman times.

One of the provisions of the sale was that Morris needed to settle the Indian title to the land, so he arranged for his son, Thomas Morris, to negotiate with the Iroquois at Geneseo, New York, in 1797. About 3,000 Iroquois, mostly Senecas, arrived for the negotiation. Seneca chief and orator Red Jacket was adamantly against the sale, but his influence was thwarted by freely-distributed liquor and trinkets given to the women. He acquiesced and signed the Treaty of Big Tree, in which the tribe sold their rights to the land (except for a small portion) for $100,000. Mary Jemison, known as The White Woman of the Genesee, who was captured in a raid and ended up marrying her Seneca captor, was an able negotiator for the tribe and helped win them more favorable terms.

The land was then surveyed under the supervision of Joseph Ellicott, a monumental task and the biggest land survey ever attempted to that time. As an agent for the company, Ellicott, established a land office in Batavia in 1802. The entire purchase was named Genesee County in 1802, with Batavia as the county seat. The company sold off the purchase until 1846, when the company was dissolved. The phrase "doing a land office business," which denotes prosperity, dates from this era. The office is a museum today, designated a National Historic Landmark. Ellicott lived in Batavia for many years although he thought Buffalo would certainly grow to be larger. Batavia has a major street named after him (Ellicott Street) as well as a minor one (Ellicott Avenue), and a large monument in the heart of the city. Batavia was incorporated as a village in 1823.

The present counties of western New York were all laid-out from the original Genesee County; the modern Genesee County is but one of many. However, the entire area, as a region, is still referred to as Genesee Country. Thus, Batavia was the core from which the rest of western New York was opened for settlement and development.

A scandal erupted in Batavia in 1826, when William Morgan was offended by the local Masonic Lodge (Western Star Chapter R. A. M. No. 33 of Le Roy, New York), and threatened to expose the lodge's secrets. He was arrested on a minor charge, then released when his charge was paid, into the company of several men, with whom he went, apparently unwillingly. It was developed later that the men were Masons, and they carried him to Fort Niagara, where he was held captive and then disappeared. Although the Masons claimed he was only bribed to cease publication and leave the area forever, public sentiment was that he was murdered. No conviction was ever obtained. His captors were only charged and convicted with his abduction.

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