Who was Sam Patch?

Did you know that Rochester, NY, was once the scene of a thrilling yet tragic event that captivated the nation? In 1829, the legendary daredevil Sam Patch made his infamous leap over the Genesee Falls. This audacious feat, performed on a fateful Friday the 13th, not only cemented Rochester's place on the national stage but also sparked a surprising spiritual revival.

As the city mourned Patch's tragic demise, a wave of religious fervor swept through the community. Prominent figures like Joel Parker and Joshua Bizzle used this moment to inspire residents to embrace a more pious lifestyle. The impact of Patch's leap extended far beyond the Genesee Falls, serving as a catalyst for spiritual renewal and social reform in Rochester and beyond.

But the event destined to serve as a climax to the sometimes reckless pageantry of the Boomtown was Sam Patches. Patch had earned a reputation for daring feats in the East both in New England and New Jersey and his spreading fame as a contract jumper prompted and invitation to demonstrate his skill at Niagara and the fall of 1829. After two successful jumps there was one from a perch one hundred feet above the water, Sam could not hesitate over the Genesee indeed. He successfully performed a jump from a rocky ledge at the brink of the main Falls early in November and the plaudits of a small crowd and hurts him to announce a last jump for the season a week later over the same falls. Sam’s iconic remark that some things can be done as well as others was picked up and passed along as a fit motto by his admirers as preparations for a gala occasion advanced a platform erected on browns Island overlooking the falls increased the height above water to 120 ft. And on Friday November 13th a great throng gathered from the town and the country round lining the natural amphitheater of the gorge to see the widely advertised spectacle. Whether or not Sam had relaxed his self-control at a tavern before hand the bold jumper apparently lost his customary pois. In The descent with arms whirling he struck the water with a great splash and failed to reappear on its swirling eddies. Rochester gained wide Fame from Sam's last jump and Patch became the subject of much doggerel verse winning a place in the folklore of the young republic but it was chastened and thoughtful populace that quietly dispersed from The falls that day.

 McKelvey, Blake F. Rochester the Water Power City, 1812 through 1854. Rochester, NY: Rochester Historical Society, 1961. p. 148.

Curiously enough it was the full heartedly leap of Sam patch which touched off the emotional powder keg and Rochester.News of the spread of revivals in the East and of the refreshing shower at Lima up the valley had broad joy to local zealots and together with the powerful preaching of Joel Parker had stirred enthusiasm for Bible distribution temperance and Sabbath reform. Annual concerts of prayer were held in the court house square, yet mirthful activities retained their hold in Rochester until the Sunday following patches fatal leap. When elder Josiah Bissel admonished the members of the third Presbyterian Sunday school for taking part in the tragedy an awful feeling descended upon his hearers as he warned that all who by there attendance had encouraged the jumper would be held accountable at the last judgment with the misfortunes besetting the Masonic brethren for their thoughtless participation and secret and evil associations, fresh in the mind, dire punishments where to be expected for this new offence. It did not require an active imagination to connect the unaccountable languor in Rochester’s economic affairs with divine displeasure.

McKelvey, Blake F. Rochester the Water Power City, 1812 through 1854. Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press, 1945. p. 188.

You can take this book out for your own review at the Monroe County Central Library, down town Rochester, NY on St. Paul ST.