On the 31st of July, 1794, the Postmaster-General, Timothy Pickering, advertised in the Albany _Gazette_ for proposals for carrying the mails in this State, as follows: (1.) "From New York by Peekskill, Fishkill, Poughkeepsie, Rhinebeck, Redhook, Clermont, Hudson and Kinderhook to Albany," to leave New York every Monday and Thursday at 4 p. m., and arrive at Albany on Wednesday and Saturday by 7 in the evening. (2.) "From Albany by Schenectady, Johnstown and Canajoharie to Whitestown," to leave Albany every Thursday at 10 a. m., and arrive at Whitestown on Saturday by 6 p. m. (3.) "From Canajoharie through Cherry Valley to the Court House in Cooperstown," to leave every Friday at 4 p. m., and arrive on Saturday by 1 p. m. (4.) "From Whitestown to Canandaigua once in two weeks"; to leave Whitestown every other Monday at 8 a. m., and arrive at Canandaigua the next Thursday by 2 p. m. This advertisement bears date July 8, 1794. It does not state the mode of conveyance required. On the 3d of March, 1797, Congress established a post-road "from Kanandaigua in the State of New York, to Niagara." This route was run through Avon and LeRoy, and probably through Batavia, and thence on the north side of the Tonawanda Creek, and through the present town of Lockport to Niagara. In the "History of Onondaga County" it is stated that a Mr. Langdon first carried the mail through that county on horseback from Whitestown to Genesee in 1797 or 1798[G]; that he distributed papers and unsealed letters by the way before intermediate offices were established; that a Mr. Lucas succeeded Mr. Langdon in transporting the mail, which, in 1800, had become so heavy as to require a wagon to transport it that the first four-horse mail-coach was sent through in 1803; and that in 1804 Jason Parker ran a four-horse mail-coach twice a week from Utica to Canandaigua. From an advertisement at Canandaigua, copied by Turner, it appears that a mail-coach was that year run twice a week between Albany and Canandaigua. It is stated in Turner's "History of Phelps and Gorham's Purchase" (p. 174), that Luther Cole was the first to carry the mail from Whitestown to Canandaigua--on horseback when the roads would allow, but often on foot. The same history states that the mail-route from Canandaigua to Niagara was established "about 1798" (1797) and that the mail was carried through by Jasper Marvin--who sometimes dispensed with mail-bags and carried the mail in his pocket-book--and that he was six days in going and returning. The route, it is stated, was the usual one from Canandaigua to Buffalo and then down the river on the Canada side, to Fort Niagara; but other, and it is believed more reliable authority states, that the mail at this time was carried through Cold Springs, in the present town of Lockport, and did not pass through Buffalo Creek.