Basse-a-Loin 
THE WHITE HOUSE, ONCE THE HOME OF LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR PATTERSON OF NEW YORK 
ot the countiy, it was a part of La Salle’s plan to 
have Chautauqua Lake, its outlet Chadakoin river, 
the Allegheny and Ohio, form a part of a great sys¬ 
tem of commerce and to this end was built the road 
over which was transferred for many years, the trade 
of the northern colonies with the Indian nations and 
shipments were made to and from old Basse-a-Loin, 
which the general government had considered of 
sufficient importance to make a port of entry. 
\^ery extensive operations were carried on in this 
locality by the Holland Land Company, which, in 
reality, was no company at all—only a name without 
a corporation; it was simply a title given to a number 
of wealthy merchants in Amsterdam who, as aliens, 
were legally incapable of holding or conveying land 
within the State, but who had the privilege of pur¬ 
chasing through a citizen; by reason of this, one, 
Robert Morris, was enabled to purchase for the 
foreign gentlemen several lots amounting in all to 
three million six hundred thousand acres of New 
York’s best land, and after the alien act of 1798, the 
property was turned over to the rightful owners. 
The land which the company then sold the settler for 
two or three dollars is now worth from eighty to five 
thousand dollars per acre, and in certain localities is 
of much greater value. Within a mile or so of our 
rendezvous there still stands an old land office, 
apparently as good as new; it was managed by the 
Honorable William H. Seward as agent of the com¬ 
pany, in which he also held an interest; here he con¬ 
ducted affairs, until the business of the company was 
closed, to the entire satisfaction of the settlers and all 
others. This office was the principal one of the com¬ 
pany and here were made all conveyances for this 
part of the country. Just opposite is the White 
House, as it has always been called, which was built 
for the representative of the Holland Company, and 
was one time the residence of Lieutenant Governor 
Patterson of New York. The building is in a fine 
state of preservation; its graceful pillars, large 
windows and ample dimensions suggest a degree of 
comfort and stability not commonly found in a 
modern dwelling. 
A short tramp to southward we find another 
53 
