On March 30, 1804, Erastus Granger, originally from Suffield, CT-which seems to be the epicenter of a good number of Grangers- entered into the village of New Amsterdam*, in the State of New York, via horseback. He carried with him papers from then President of the United States, Thomas Jefferson, which directed him to create a United States Post Office in that town. He'd also been given the title, Collector of the Port'. Upon his arrival, he found a community of about sixteen huts, three blacksmith shops, two taverns, a drugstore and one jail.

After setting up the Post Office in Buffaloe Creek, he was made the area's first Postmaster on September 3, 1804. In 1807 he was appointed a Judge in Genesee County, which then stretched west from the Genesee River to Lake Erie. Granger held all of his posts until his resignation on May 3, 1818.

By 1806, he'd moved his offices into a wing of the so-called "Ransom" building on North Main Street, built by
Asa Ransom. The original office was destroyed by fire set by the British in 1813. Granger's house and lands, located in the Flint Hill section (of what was to become the City of Buffalo), served as a haven for refugees in the aftermath of this fire and is one of the primary reasons why he is remembered today, aside from his collection of papers presented in this digital forum. His grave is located on land he once owned within the City of Buffalo (Flint Hill) and on the grounds of present-day, Forest Lawn Cemetary.

*note this information was taken from a previous Erastus Granger digitization project and can be found at Erastus Granger

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