USA > Connecticut > Hartford County > Farmington > An historical address delivered at the opening of the village library of Farmington, Conn., September 30th, 1890 > Part 15
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21
-
5
through Farmington, Southington, and Cheshire, arrives at New Haven at 5 o'clock P. M. in time for the steam- boat. . The above line of Post-Coaches are new and in modern style, horses selected with great care and are first-rate, drivers that are experienced, careful and steady."
The broad Connecticut furnished ample means of communication for the river towns, and in the year 1822, of which we are writing, any restless spirits who were unwilling to waste time in beating against head winds could leave Hartford for Saybrook on the steamboat Experiment, Captain Haskell, on Tuesday and Friday, and return the following days.
Such were the means of intercommunication in the year 1822 when 260 miles of the Erie Canal were an ac- complished fact and boats were to run when the season opened. Why should not this state have a canal also ? So thought the public-spirited men of New Haven who, not content with rivaling Hartford in their foreign com- merce, wished also a water communication with the inte- rior towns. On the 29th of January, 1822, a meeting of citizens from seventeen towns on the proposed line of the canal was held at Farmington with the Hon. Timo- thy Pitkin as moderator, and a committee was appointed to procure a survey and raise one thousand dollars to pay for the same. In May, 1822, The Farmington Canal Company was chartered. The canal was to run from the tide waters of the harbor of New Haven through Farm- ington to Southwick, Massachusetts, and a branch along the Farmington River through New Hartford to the north line of Colebrook. The branch, though the subject of much after controversy, was never built. Of the six charter commissioners, Gen. George Cowles was the member from this town, and here they held their first meeting on the Sth of July, 1822. Subscription books
6
were opened July 15th and the stockholders held their first meeting on the 31st and chose twenty-one directors, of whom Solomon Cowles and Samuel Deming were two. In the latter part of the year 1823 a survey was made, and the estimated cost of the work was $420,698.88. From a map of the canal printed in 1828, giving dis- tances and the heights and position of the locks, it ap- pears that this canal was only a small part of a grand project. It was to connect at the state line with the Hampshire and Hampden Canal to be constructed in Massachusetts, and that in turn was to be continued northward along the west bank of the Connecticut River, crossing it at Brattleborough into New Hampshire, and then, sometimes in New Hampshire and sometimes in Vermont, it was to reach Lake Memphremagog through which connection was possible with the St. Lawrence River in Canada. A grand scheme to rival the Erie Canal in importance. Subscriptions came in slowly. The river towns laughed at the project which was to rival their broad river, and writers in the Connecticut Cour- ant who must have their joke at the expense of the rival capital like others since their day, commended the wis- dom of the New Haven people who were about to divert the waters of the Connecticut from flowing past Hartford and turn them upon the mud flats in which their own shipping was usually stuck fast. At length by a brilliant bit of financiering the money was raised. The Mechan- ics Bank of New Haven was chartered on condition of its subscribing for $200,000 of the stock of the Canal Com- pany. The plan of requiring a bonus from a newly char- tered bank for some worthy object having been previ- ously introduced with the Phoenix Bank of Hartford and continued in the case of the Connecticut River Banking Company and others. In. July, 1825, we learn from the New Haven Register that "on Monday the 4th instant
7
the ceremony of commencing the excavation of the Farmington Canal took place at Salmon Brook village in Granby. The day was remarkably pleasant and the exer- cises were appropriate and interesting. There were from two to three thousand people present on the occa- sion, and among them several gentlemen of distinction from Massachusetts. The barge fitted up by Capt. Geo. Rowland of New Haven, drawn by four horses, in which he and several gentlemen of our city (New Haven) em- barked for Southwick, gave an additional interest to the occasion, and the sight of it was highly gratifying to all present, the plan was well designed and happily exe- cuted, and reflects great credit on the gentlemen who conceived the project. The services of the day were commenced with prayer by the Rev. Mr. McLean. The Declaration of Independence was read by the Hon. Tim- othy Pitkin, and an able oration was delivered by Bur- rage Beach, Esq., after which a procession was formed under the command of Gen. George Cowles, which moved to the north line of the state in the following order, viz. :
The Simsbury Artillery.
Capt. Rowland's boat drawn by six horses, [the reporter has judiciously increased the number since we started] in which were seated the Governor of the State; the President of the Canal Company ; the orator of the day, the Hon. Jonathan H. Lyman of Northamp- ton; the Commissioners and the Engineer ; together with several of the Clergy.
The Directors and Stockholders of the Canal Com- pany.
Citizens from this State and Massachusetts.
The procession, composed of gentlemen in carriages, wagons, and on horseback, was two miles in length.
---
8
Previous to commencing the excavation, Gov. Wolcott delivered the following address :
Fellow Citizens and Friends : - We are assembled on this anniversary of our National Independence to per- form an interesting ceremony. The time, the circum- stances, and the object of our meeting are calculated to awaken reflections and to suggest thoughts peculiarly impressive. The noble enterprise of uniting the Valley of the Connecticut with the city of New Haven by a navigable canal is this day to be commenced. To me has been assigned the high honor of first applying the hand of labor to a work which is itself magnificent. though, as I believe, but the first of a series of like operations which are to combine the resources of an ex- tensive and flourishing country. On concluding the address, the governor began the ceremony of dig. ging, in which he was assisted by the President of the Canal Company. After the performance of this cere- mony, the Hon. Mr. Lyman addressed the assembly. After the ceremonies were concluded a numerous com- pany partook of a dinner provided for the occasion."
We used to hear that much of this glorification oc- curred on the Sabbath day, and that that was the cause the canal never prospered. The Fourth of July, however. that year fell on Monday, and Deacon Hooker, a strict observer of the Puritan Sabbath, and one who took part in the celebration, writes, "On Saturday a boat on wheels drawn by four horses arrived in town from New Haven this afternoon containing old Mr. Hillhouse, the superin- tendent of the canal, and eight or ten other persons. it was covered with a white awning and curtains decorated with two flags. On its stern was painted . Farmington Canal,' and on each side 'For Southwick & Memphreina- gog.' On Monday," the deacon writes, " At 5 o'clock this morning, I rode with brother Martin Cowles in a chaise
9
to Granby village where a large concourse of people assembled to celebrate American Independence and to perform and witness the ceremonies of breaking ground for the Farmington Canal. Gov. Wolcott read an address and performed the ceremony of breaking ground by digging a small hole with a spade. Mr. Lyman, of Northampton, made an address on horseback, and, after a few other ceremonies, the multitude returned to Granby, and about three hundred dined together on the village green under a bowery. Returned home and arrived about ten in the evening." And so the canal was begun. The governor said so, and the deacon testified to a small hole in the ground. The great concourse of people after much oratory and drinking of toasts had gone home, and it is to be hoped that all the valiant warriors who marched that day under General George got safely home again.
A little more than two years pass and the little hole in the ground reached from Southwick Ponds to the waters of Long Island Sound. Water was let into it in Cheshire and a correspondent of the Connecticut Courant writes: "On Saturday, November 24th, the Cheshire summit being so far completed as to be navigable, three boats and a cannon were provided, and at 3 o'clock, on the firing of a signal gun, the Petticoat Flag was hoisted on board the Fayette, and the boats started from the north end of section 63. On passing the summit three cheers were given and one gun fired. On its safe return three cheers were given and a Federal Salute of 244 guns fired. The ceremony closed by a plentiful refreshment to every one who had worked on the canal."
Winter was now fast approaching and little more was done on the canal that year. Deacon Hooker gives us an account of maritime affairs in Farmington at the opening
2
IO
of navigation the next season. "Friday, June 20th, 1828. Very fine weather. A multitude of people collected this afternoon to witness the launching and sailing of the first canal boat that has been seen at Farmington. Everything was conducted well. Bell ringing, cannon firing, and music from the Phoenix Band were accompaniments. About two hundred gentlemen and ladies, who were pre- viously invited and furnished with tickets, sailed to and over the aqueduct and back again. The boat was drawn at first by four, and afterwards by three, large gray horses handsomely decked, and rode by as many black boys dressed in white. Crackers and cheese, lemonade, wine, etc., were furnished to the guests, and the musicians per- formed very finely on the passage. The boat was named James Hillhouse with three cheers while passing the aqueduct." The Courant states that " the boat was owned by Messrs. Cowles and Dickinson, and was launched at Pitkin's Basin, and that other boats were finished and floated ready for immediate use as soon as the water in sufficient depth shall have reached New . Haven harbor, it being now at navigable depth from the head of the feeder on Farmington River to Taylor's tavern near New Haven." We have the following account of the first letting the water into the Farmington Feeder in a letter of Commander Edward Hooker of the U. S. Navy.
" When the canal was finished the feeder dam near Unionville was built, the feeder prepared, and the water was let into the canal there on a certain day- speeches. flags, rum, sandwiches, big day, etc., etc. Father (that is Deacon Hooker) and Mr. William Whitman went out there together, and little Will Whitman and I went with them. A sort of gate was built to let the water through. and it was supposed there would be such a rush that the opening was very narrow. When the speakers had made
II
themselves hoarse, the people yelled and the big gun had brayed, - the Unionville gun, - Sam Dick will remem- ber that old iron gun, for he and Lute Cowles were in- strumental once in getting it loaded, one Fourth of July, with a cartridge filled with oats instead of powder, and so shut up its noise all the rest of the day. When the gun brayed, the gate was knocked away and the first water came into the canal. The opening was so small that at first all the water soaked into the sand. Axes soon in- creased the flow, and it began to move along, not very fast, and Will Whitman and I ran down into the canal bed and ran along just ahead of the water. Our fathers, no doubt, kept along the bank ready to fish us out if we got caught by the water ; but we didn't get caught, and we ran quite a distance keeping just ahead of the water. Soon, however, the axes increased the opening and Will and I had to get out of the way of the rushing tide, the first water in the old Farmington canal.
" Sam Dickinson's father was captain of the boat. She was named for James Hillhouse of New Haven, the pres- ident of the company, and I well remember many jour- neyings on board of her to and from New Haven, for then everybody traveled by boat and the stages were nowhere. . Of all the boats that ever battled with the raging tide of the old canal, not one had so wide and famous a reputation for passenger comforts and prompt movements as the staunch old James Hillhouse and her genial captain. Not one had so nicely fitted-up cabins as the gentlemen's cabin aft and the ladies' cabin forward as she had, and not one captain on the surging seas of the canal had such a ringing, convincing voice, when he shouted ' Bridge ! Bridge !' as Captain Dickinson ; and above all things else. not one of them set so good a table, and yet some of those old canalers could (or their cooks could) make savory dishes out of Cape Cod turkey
12
and eloquent beans and juicy pork. Long live the mem- ory of the old James Hillhouse and her jolly Captain Dickinson."
The part of the canal through which Commander Hooker saw the first water run was known as the feeder. It took water from a dam across the Farmington river a little below Unionville, and delivered it into the main canal just above the aqueduct, supplying the place of un- avoidable leakage from Northampton to Farmington. A considerable source of water was from the numerous brooks which emptied into the canal, and, lest the supply should, during a protracted storm, be in excess, a con- trivance called the waste-gates was built on the line of Poke Brook. Hither, after every storm, Mr. Leonard Winship might have been seen hastening to raise the gates. In consideration for his services he was allowed to build a turning shop on the north bank of the brook adjoining the tow-path, and use the surplus water to turn his wheels. On one memorable occasion the water sup- ply was so much in excess of his needs as to carry off his big overshot wheel well nigh to the river and threaten the whole establishment. I remember sceing the wheel standing under an apple tree where it had lodged all one summer. It was finally got back into place before the canal came to an inglorious end.
The year 1828 was now pretty much spent, and as yet the principal business of the canal had been to carry ex- cursion parties short distances with much oratory. music. and good cheer, a free advertisement of the great things which were to be. Here is a specimen card published in the Connecticut Courant returning the thanks of the good people of Simsbury for one of these pleasant occasions :
"The undersigned, a committee in behalf of nearly two hundred ladies and gentlemen who were gratuitously furnished with passage and entertainment on board the
13
new and elegant packet-boat Weatogue, built and owned by our enterprising citizen, John O. Pettibone, Esq., which made an excursion from Simsbury to the aqueduct across the Farmington river, at Farmington, on Thursday afternoon the 23d of October, present the thanks of the party to the proprietor for his politeness and liberality manifested upon the occasion, and to Capt. Ennis for his accommodating and gentlemanly conduct, likewise to the citizens of Northington for the cheerful greeting and cor- dial reception of the boat and party in that village. This with Mr. Gridley's handsome boat, the American Eagle, of Farmington, which passed us on an excursion of pleas- ure northward, being the two first boats which have nav- igated this part of the line, afforded a scene no less inter- esting from its novelty than gratifying to our citizens, as an event furnishing evidence .of the completion of the canal."
Let us now return to the narrative of Deacon Hooker : " Monday, November 10th, 1828. This morning the canal boat James Hillhouse, with Dickinson as Captain, Newell lieutenant, Captain Goodrich, an old sea captain, at the helm, Curtis bugler, etc., etc., and several passengers. started for New Haven, and is the first boat from Farm- ington that has undertaken to go through, the canal be- ing now open for navigation, but the water not having yet risen high enough to render the practicability of the undertaking perfectly certain, but the proprietors (my neighbor Dickinson and Col. Gad Cowles) are ambitious to have their boat enjoy the honor of making the first passage. Pleasant but rather cold. Edward and I rode to the South Basin in it. Wednesday, November 12th. A notable day at Farmington and to be remembered as the first time of canal boats arriving in our village from other towns. About noon the canal boat Enterprise, built at Ithaca, N. Y., and loaded with sixty thousand shingles
14
from Seneca Lake, arrived. In about half an hour after- ward the Weatogue, a handsome packet boat, arrived from Simsbury with a company of ladies and gentlemen on their way to New Haven, and after stopping an hour de- parted on their way. The Farmington band of music accompanied them a few miles out. It was drawn by three horses. About 4 o'clock, P.M., the elegant packet boat, New England, arrived from New Haven with pas- sengers and one hundred barrels of salt on board. The Farmington band, having met the boat, returned in her to the village with animating music. Our village bell could not ring, having broken its tongue ringing for joy at the arrival of the other boat at noon, but there was some scattering firing of muskets. Between 9 and 10 in the evening the sound of the bugle and the firing of their swivel denoted the arrival of Dickinson's boat, which demonstrated the practicability of navigating our canal. especially by her return, although in going down there was barely enough water to float the boat between Farm- ington and Southington. . Friday, November 28th. damp and uncomfortable day. Rode to Northington to attend an adjourned town meeting. A number of people went down thither in a canal boat as far as R. F. Haw- ley's and then walked about a mile to the place of meet- ing."
This was the first instance of our citizens attending town meeting by canal-boat. The meeting had reference to the division of the town which was soon afterward happily consummated to the lasting peace and happiness of all parties concerned, as must always be the case when diverse local interests clash. Nor were town meetings the only gatherings attended by canal-boat. Before a church was erected in Plainville, worshipers came thence by boat to the old meeting-house at the center, beguiling the way with psalm singing and other pious recreations.
15
One of these old-time worshipers once told me that the small boys were wont to fish for shiners from the stern of the boat, their elders conniving at this mild form of going-a-fishing-on-Sunday. So ended navigation for the year 1828. The constantly thickening ice impeded the passage of boats and the water was let out to await the return of spring and the opening of business. The merchants began to advertise in the newspapers in big type. "Canal Navigation. Port of Farmington. Just arrived and for sale," etc., etc. Houses and farms were advertised as highly desirable, only such and such dis- tances from the canal. The administrator on the estate of Seth Lewis recommends his tavern as being only fifty rods from the canal. A new hotel, now a principal part of Miss Porter's schoolhouse, of dimensions commen- surate with the coming prosperity, arose and was fondly deemed the most magnificent structure of all the region rcund. A young man, writing home an account of his travels through the principal towns of New England in 1832 could find no higher praise for the architectural wonders he saw than that they surpassed even the Union Hotel of Farmington. The canal boat owners also advertised that during the ensuing season, as soon as the canal is navigable, the American Eagle, Capt. John Matthews, will leave Farmington on Monday, and the De Witt Clinton, Capt. E. O. Gridley, on Thursday, of each week, and returning, leave New Haven on each succeed- ing Thursday and Monday. And now while the elegant packet-boats and other craft are frozen in the ice, and Captain Dickinson is turning his attention to house building, and the owners of all this fine property are looking anxiously for some returns on their investment, let us consider a little the financial situation of the canal company from its published statements. They tell us that in 1826 the stock of the Farmington Canal Company
-
16
was united with that of the Hampshire and Hampden Company of Massachusetts. In 1827 the funds from the stock subscription were exhausted. In 1828 the company labored under great embarrassment from the want of funds, and suffered from freshets and from the work of malicious individuals. In 1829 the canal was opened to Westfield and the financial embarrassments of the com- pany were relieved by the subscription of one hundred thousand dollars to its stock by the city of New Haven. For the next seven years considerable business was done which had a perceptible effect upon the prosperity of New Haven and other places on the line of the canal. In 1835 the canal was finished to the Connecticut River, the first boat passing through on the 21st of August of that year. The company did not own the boats which passed through its canal, but allowed any one to use it on paying toll. Such was the custom of the early railroads as well as canals until trains became numerous and the confusion of separate management intolerable. The tolls were only sufficient to pay the ordinary expenses of the company, while its heavy debt and very extensive damages to the canal in 1836 made it necessary that some measure of relief should be found. The plan finally adopted was the formation of a new company, the New Haven and Northampton Company. As the plan involved the entire relinquishment of all the stock of the Farmington Canal Company, it may be proper here to mention the amount of it. It was as follows :
Mechanics Bank, New Haven, 2,000 shares
City of New Haven,
1,000
Citizens of New Haven,
1,229
" New York City,
924
.. " Farmington,
125
" Cheshire,
74
" Simsbury, .
46
" Other towns, .
16
5.414
17
Farmington also subscribed 76 shares in the stock of the Hampshire and Hampden Canal Company. The New Haven and Northampton Company was organized June 22, 1836. The stock in the two old companies was surrendered. the creditors subscribed their debts, and there was a cash subscription of net capital, $120, 184.92. And now a rival appeared to whom all ordinary canals have had to give way, more formidable than the Connect- icut River itself. On the 3d of December, 1838, the Hartford and New Haven railroad was opened from New Haven to Meriden, the time over the eighteen miles being fifty-seven minutes. The subsequent history of the canal is briefly reported thus.
IS41. This year, for the first time, a business commu- nication was opened through the canal between New York city and the upper part of Massachusetts, Vermont, and New Hampshire. Many tons of merchandise were transported upon the canal for those regions. In August of this year the story of the canal connects itself with an interesting episode in the history of the village. The Amistad captives, just set free by the United States Supreme Court, were living here until their return to Africa the following year. While swimming in Pitkin's Basin, Foone, one of their number, was drowned, although an expert swimmer. He had left a wife, parents, and sisters in Africa, and just before his death exclaimed, "Foone die and see his mother." It was probably a case of suicide. A decent monument in the cemetery near by records the incident.
1842. The canal was operated throughout the whole business season of eight months, and the business was extended by the establishment of a line of boats to run from Northampton to Brattleboro, Vermont.
1843. Canal damaged $20,000 by floods and the whole fall trade lost. Repairs finished November 6th.
3
18
1844. The canal was navigable its entire length throughout the whole season without a single day's in- terruption.
1845. Navigation interrupted from the middle of July to the last of September by an unprecedented drought. October 7th, a breach in the embankment oc- curred at Ten-Mile Run, costing $7,000, the work of design.
1846. A large majority of the stock held in New York by parties who were unwilling to make any further ad- vances. Charter obtained for a railroad.
1848. Railroad opened to Plainville, January 18th. Navigation was not suspended till the railroad was ready to take the place of the canal.
I distinctly remember one of the breaks in the canal which interrupted business. It occurred a little north of the gristmill just as a boat loaded with coal was passing. The boat was swept down into the river, and the coal scattered over the river bottom as far north as the Whirl- pool. Probably some future savant, a hundred years hence, will find traces of this coal and triumphantly argue that sometime the Farmington river was navigable by steamboats which dropped the coal overboard. I re- member also seeing the first train of cars come into Plain- ville. It was in January, and my impression is that we skated down on the canal, a not unusual excursion for the boys on a Saturday afternoon. Skating was not then the performance of sundry fancy figures on a square rod of ice, but a swift race mile after mile to Plainville or the Aqueduct, or even to Avon, and he who could outstrip his companions with the greatest ease and the most graceful motion was the best skater. But we knew that the canal was doomed, and that this was probably our last winter's expedition of any considerable length. The farmers the next summer dug outlets for the little water that re-
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.