USA > Connecticut > New Haven County > Hamden > The history of Hamden, Connecticut, 1786-1959 > Part 13
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Photo by Carl J. Jensen
Whitney Armory and Covered Bridge in 1825
Gift of Arnold G. Dana
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Lake Memphremagog to connect with the St. Law- rence River in Canada.
Representatives of seventeen towns conferred on Jan- uary 28, 1822, at Farmington to plan the canal. The city of New Haven held a special meeting in the Old State House, on April I (some say that the April Fool's date was appropriate). Their decision was,
Whereas it has been represented to this meeting that an application will be made to the next General Assem- bly for the establishment of a canal from the tide- water in New Haven to the north line of this state, at Southwick through the town of Farmington, and also through New Hartford to Berkshire County; this meet- ing taking into consideration the subject matter of said application and believing that the establishment of the proposed canal will be highly honorable to the state and greatly beneficial to a large proportion of our citi- zens, therefor voted that this meeting do consent that said canal may be established.
A Cheshire town meeting voted its consent in precisely the same words.
Hamden held a special meeting on April I, "warned on account of the canal from New Haven to Farming- ton," but it was "voted to adjourn without day," show- ing nothing of the feeling of townspeople either for or against it, whether there was hot debate or utter indif- ference. More interest might have been shown, had it been realized how much Hamden was to be benefited by the canal.
The New Haven "Canalers," who were so competi- tive with Hartford "Riverites," laid their plans for securing legislative approval with great shrewdness, saying little until the even year when the General As- sembly met in New Haven, where, in the spirit of a ball team which feels an advantage in playing on its
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home field, they felt that their scheme had a better chance for success than it would have had in Hartford. The charter which they obtained permitted them to construct the waterway through Farmington to South- wick, with a branch up the Farmington River valley through New Hartford to the Massachusetts border at Colebrook, looking toward a future connection with the Erie Canal. Right was given for acquiring land, mills, basins, harbors, and sidecuts.
Landholders and especially mill owners along the route were not pleased with being compelled to sell to the company on demand, although some farmers showed their confidence in the project by accepting stock in the company instead of money. The preliminary survey for the route was made in 1823, and among those who did this work were George Beckwith of al- manac fame and Eli Whitney Blake of Hamden, later famous for the invention of the stone crusher. Blake used in his surveys an instrument prepared by his uncle, Eli Whitney. When the survey report was submitted by Judge Benjamin Wright, chief engineer of the Erie Canal, the closing paragraph expressed this lofty en- couragement :
Permit me, gentlemen, to express a strong desire to see this first project of the kind in Connecticut carried into effect, and be but the incipient step to works of internal improvement that will be a lasting monument of the enterprise and intelligence of a high-minded people.
Hopes for a long waterway were high when the state legislatures of Massachusetts, Vermont, and New Hampshire granted rights of way to the Canadian bor- der, where still another group was prepared to continue it to the St. Lawrence River. Massachusetts granted a charter to the Hampshire and Hampden Company, by
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which the Farmington route was to be extended through Southwick to the Connecticut River above Northamp- ton. But the canal never reached beyond Northampton, and the New Hartford branch was never built.
The finished canal, eighty miles long, passed from New Haven through Hamden, Cheshire, Southington, Farmington, Simsbury, and Granby in Connecticut, and Southwick, Westfield, Southampton, and Easthampton in Massachusetts. In New Haven it followed the pres- ent course of the Northampton railroad, and in Hamden it ran alongside Dixwell Avenue, swinging away from it at Evergreen Avenue, crossing School Street and emerging just above it to follow along the general line of the Cheshire Road, bearing westward in upper Mount Carmel to run beside the present railroad track in Brooksvale. Just above the Mount Carmel Congre- gational Church the wide lawn was cut off from the Bellamy tavern, destroying much of its attractiveness; and the Miller homestead, the Alfred Dickerman house, and the Mckeon house were moved from the path of the canal to positions across the street.
Among Hamden property owners whose land was sold to the Canal Company were Russell Pierpont, George Atwater, Roswell Todd, Anna Mansfield, Jason Dickerman, Orrin Todd, Jesse Goodyear, and Roder- ick Kimberly.
There were twenty-eight locks in Connecticut and thirty-two in Massachusetts. A north-bound boat was lifted 310 feet and lowered 213 feet, so that at the upper end it was 97 feet above the New Haven Harbor level.
Subscription books for the Canal Company stock were opened in July, 1823, but investors showed little inter- est until the General Assembly passed a bill forever
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exempting it from taxation. More money had to be raised, and the directors preferred incorporating a bank to having a lottery. So the Mechanics Bank of New Haven was incorporated with a capital of $ 500,000, the obligation of taking $ 100,000 worth of stock in the Canal Company, and up to $200,000 more if it should be necessary. Although the city of Farmington and New York financiers invested appreciable amounts in the project, New Haven subscribed most heavily. Of the $2,000,000 which the canal cost, only about one fourth was raised in Massachusetts.
The business methods pursued by the Canal Com- pany augured ill for their success. Most of the con- tractors were totally inexperienced and ignorant of the requirements for a project of such magnitude. They were paid largely in non-negotiable canal stock, so that only contractors with means could finish the work.
The specifications for the canal bed called for a bot- tom width of 20 feet, a width at water surface of about 36 feet, a 4-foot depth of water, and a towing path not more than 5 feet above the water level, nor the oppo- site bank not over 2 feet. In the canal cuts a shelf 10 feet wide was made for the towing path. It was utterly necessary in the upkeep of the canal to keep the banks intact, to provide enough water, and to carry off excess water after floods or heavy rains.
Much water was lost through operation of the locks, evaporation, and seepage through the soil, especially in Hamden Plains. Then, too, it was not possible to take as much water from Congamond Pond as had been anticipated. Every brook and stream which could be led into the canal was diverted to it, and at the same time spillways and waste gates had to be provided against seasonal overflows.
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The canal was taken over low brooks by stone arch culverts; the ruins of some of these can still be seen and there are others in good preservation. The most preten- tious aqueduct, 30 feet above the Farmington River, consisted of seven spans, each 40 feet in length, with three of the piers still standing. Here the canal was carried in a wooden trough about 12 feet wide and 6 feet deep by a truss alongside, and with a towing path on one or both sides of the trough.
Charles Rufus Harte, in studying the ruins of the Farmington aqueduct in recent years, removed his shoes and stockings and slung them about his neck while he forded the river. In midstream the shoes fell into the water and quickly swirled away, leaving to Mr. Harte the necessity of fashioning a foot protection out of an abandoned tire tube which he found on the bank! Thus shod, he made his way home by way of Hartford to New Haven.
An elaborate ceremony at Granby marked the day that work on the canal began, on July 4, 1825. Nearly three thousand people were present, including notables from Connecticut and Massachusetts. The good old custom was here observed of beginning an auspicious occasion with prayer. Honorable Timothy Pitkin read the Declaration of Independence and an "able ora- tion" was delivered, followed by a procession two miles long, with wagons, carriages, and men on horseback, led by the Simsbury Artillery Band, from Granby to the Massachusetts line, where Governor Oliver Wol- cott of Connecticut delivered the address. In turning the first sod, Governor Wolcott broke the spade, but this ill omen in no way dismayed the optimistic pro- moters. After an address by Burrage Beach, Esq., and the return trip, three hundred invited guests ate dinner
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on Granby Green, under what Deacon Hooker of Farm- ington called in his diary a "bouerie." By far the most interesting equipage in the parade was that of Captain George Rowland of New Haven. He had fitted up a barge drawn by four horses, in which were seated under a white awning the Governor, the president of the Canal Company, the orator of the day, the commissioners, the engineer, and several clergymen. On the stern of the boat were painted the words "Farmington Canal," and on each side, "For Southwick and Memphremagog."
A small hole was dug out by others who followed the Governor's example, presumably with a fresh spade, thus beginning the arduous and back-breaking task of digging the Farmington Canal. Every inch was scooped out with pick and shovel, with horses and oxen hauling away the rocks and soil, which were used for fills and embankments.
The first installment payment on the stock ($12.50) was called for in May, 1825, and this, added to the $2 a share which subscribers already had been asked to pay, was readily forthcoming. But when so soon as August another $12.50 was called for, considerable difficulty was experienced in collecting it. On account of the shortage of money, the work was skimped on the fills and embankments, which later broke through again and again, causing great expense; and damage to abut- ting property was not always paid for, thus making enemies of property owners who were sometimes ac- cused of doing the canal malicious harm. Other install- ments were called for thick and fast, all for $10, be- ginning in February, 1826, and continuing through June, August, September, November, and December. In 1826 the Company's stock was united with that of the Massachusetts company.
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In an 1827 town meeting, Hamden voted to make Joel Ford the agent of the town, along with the select- men, in
requesting the Farmington Canal Corporation to locate and put in immediate repair the public highways in said town which have been taken in consequence of said Canal, and also to make convenient bridges for public travel; and if said corporation refuse and neglect to locate and put in good repair said roads and bridges as aforesaid, said agent and selectmen be directed to pro- ceed as they think proper to bring any suit against said corporation and them oblige to make such roads and bridges as they are required by law.
It would appear that as a town, as well as in the case of some property owners along the canal, Hamden thus early was irritated by the Company's laxities.
New York's Governor DeWitt Clinton, whose en- thusiastic promotion of the Erie Canal had caused it to be called "Clinton's Ditch," came to Connecticut and was royally received all along the route as he viewed. the canal from end to end. The Mechanics Bank paid its last part, and the ninth installment on the stock had been called for. The canal had progressed from the northern end down to Simsbury. Work on the southern end had been moving slowly, and an item in the New Haven Register on February 19, 1828, read:
Toward noon it was announced that the Canal was full of water, and at three in the afternoon a boat was put afloat and was lifted up all the locks in town; pass- ing through the whole length of the Canal to the basin of Mr. Hillhouse, and returning to the last level. The crowd who witnessed the first exhibition was immense, and filled the town with joy; the bells rang, cannon fired, etc.
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The Register reported again on September 20, 1828: The Farmington Canal is navigable from this city to the feeder at Eight Mile River in Southington above Barris Mills. Three boats have passed up this week with lumber for the Presbyterian church building in Southington, and with various articles of merchandise. One boat has returned laden with wood and country produce. Contractors have engaged to effect a com- plete repair in one month to the damage done to the Canal at Farmington by the late freshet. As several days of the contract have already expired, confident hopes are entertained that water will be let into the Canal again, and boats pass up to Farmington by the latter part of October.
A printed notice was issued by the directors of the Canal Company that
The water in all the levels above Hillhouse Basin be left at the height of the upper side of the arm of the great gate, next above the paddle gate at the bottom of the lock, and the lock tenders be instructed to govern their levels accordingly, and not suffer the water in the Canal to rise above that line. That the Collectors be instructed to inform the captains of the boats navigat- ing the Canal, that in no event will a greater depth of water than that above specified, be let onto the Canal. Attest, Wm. Boardman, Sec'y.
On Thanksgiving Day, November 29, 1828, an ex- cursion embarked on the canal from Hillhouse basin in the Hillhouse woods (between Whitney Avenue and Temple Street in New Haven) to the Red Tavern, three miles out in Hamden Plains, where Justus Cooper had been since before 1797. The fare for adults was 377/2c., and 121/2c. for children. "Plenty of fun" was promised in the advertisements.
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The so-called Cheshire summit level was near enough completion to be navigable, and in a grand celebration the present West Cheshire was christened "Beachport," with a bottle of pink liquid dropped into the water from the chimney top of Richard Beach's store on the canal bank. Three boats and a cannon were provided and at three o'clock, upon the firing of the signal gun, a red flannel petticoat was hoisted as a flag aboard the Fayette, and the boat started from the north end of Section 63. As it passed the summit, three cheers were given and a Federal salute of twenty-four guns was fired. The ceremony was closed by the serving of plentiful refresh- ments to all the local men who had worked on the canal. The red petticoat was an unexplained mystery, except that Cheshire ladies were reported indignant about it.
In June, when water was let into the level below Cheshire, so much of it was absorbed by the sandy soil of Hamden Plains that Captain George Rowland and a volunteer group of "young gentlemen" from New Haven puddled the area with clay to stop the leakage.
Of the activities at Farmington attendant upon the launching of their first boat, Deacon Hooker's diary said:
Farmington, Friday, June 20, 1828. Very fine weath- er. 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, cannonfiring, and music from the Phoenix Band were accompaniments. About 200 ladies and gentlemen who were previously invited and furnished with tickets, sailed to and over the aque- duct and back again.
The boat was first drawn by four, and afterward by three large gray horses, handsomely decked, and ridden by as many black boys dressed in white. Crack-
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ers, cheese and lemonade, wine, etc., were furnished to the guests, and the musicians performed very finely on the passage. The boat was named James Hillhouse with three cheers while passing the aqueduct.
Long after the James Hillhouse had ceased to ply its colorful way between Connecticut ports, it was thus described by one who had known it well:
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 move- ments 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 for- ward 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 Dick- enson; and above all things else, not one of them set so good a table; and yet some of those old canalers could make savory dishes out of Cape Cod turkey and eloquent beans and juicy pork. Long live the memory of the old James Hillhouse and her jolly Captain Dick- enson! [From Julius Gay.]
When the feeder dam near Unionville was finished, a celebration marked the moment of letting water into the feeder. There were speeches, flags, rum, and sand- wiches. When the speakers had exhausted their oratory and the people had cheered until they were tired, the gun boomed the signal for knocking away the restrain- ing water gate, and the first water flowed from there into the canal.
The first excursion boat was the New England, ply- ing between New Haven and Southington, fare 50C: This boat, launched on April 5, 1828, was considered one of the best boats of the day. Its berths swung on
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hinges so that they could be raised out of the way in the daytime. It was built by Captain George Rowland who had been so conspicuous in the ceremonies at Granby, and during its construction someone predicted that the vessel would be too large for the canal locks. The cap- tain was highly indignant, saying that the locks were 74 feet from bumping post to recess gates and 12 feet wide, so that obviously there was ample room for the craft, which measured 74 feet in length and in width I I feet and 41/2 inches! The fact that the boat was used seems to prove that the captain was right!
Plans for a July Fourth trip by the New England and the DeWitt Clinton from New Haven to Farming- ton were spoiled by a break at Southington. Again in September, a freshet caused much general damage, and for the second time the great Salmon Brook arch bridge at Granby was carried away. But after these discourag- ing events came happier ones. In October, the toll gates were set up; the Weatogue made an excursion from the town of that name to Farmington, and the American Eagle went from Farmington to Simsbury. In Novem- ber the James Hillhouse, with a few passengers, made a voyage from Farmington to New Haven. Two days later the Enterprise, built at Ithaca, New York, arrived at noon at Farmington, loaded with sixty thousand shingles from Seneca Lake; a half-hour later, a one- hour stop was made there by the Weatogue, a hand- some packet drawn by three horses and loaded with pleasure seekers traveling from Simsbury to New Ha- ven. The excursionists inspired the Farmington Band to accompany them a few miles out, rendering spirited music for their entertainment. At four o'clock on the very same day, the splendid New England docked from
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New Haven with passengers and one hundred barrels of salt, along with the returning Farmington Band picked up en route and still playing vigorously. The village bell could not be rung in welcome, having broken its tongue with its loud acclaim of the arrival of other boats. Some muskets were fired instead. Between nine and ten o'clock that evening, the James Hillhouse, bravely sounding her bugle, returned from her trip to New Haven, safe and sound.
A golden glow of satisfaction that the canal was an apparent tangible success colored the minds of all who were interested in it, although the chief accomplish- ments thus far had been oratory and cheers and short excursions with free music and entertainment. Passen- ger travel was not as great as had been expected, but enough exchange of farm products, including wood and cider brandy going down to New Haven, in return for sugar, salt, molasses, flour, and coffee coming back to the inland towns, had been effected to encourage the belief that a rosy and prosperous future loomed ahead.
A canal boat carried Southington people to town meetings; and before there was a church in Plainville, churchgoers came up to Farmington by this means, often spending the time on the journey in psalm singing, while the children, perhaps without the notice of their parents, fished for shiners from the stern. Shipments of copper ore were made by way of the canal from the Granby mine to New Haven. This mine held one of the most ancient charters granted by the colonies; it bore the date 1709.
Newspaper advertisements carried such headings as, "Canal Navigation. Port of Farmington." Real estate was listed for sale, with nearness to the canal as one of the assets. A hotel, later used for a part of Miss Por-
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ter's School, was built in Farmington, and it was lauded as a fine hostelry for the accommodation of the many travelers expected on the canal.
Cheshire was consistently friendly to the canal throughout its existence. Richard Beach's warehouse projected out over it, so that boats could load and un- load their cargoes within the building. Beachport was as busy as any other port along the way in the flourish- ing days, for until the building of the Naugatuck Rail- road, all of the Naugatuck Valley products were brought over the hills to Beachport for shipment. The DeWitt Clinton once advertised a Fourth of July ex- cursion from the New Haven market "for Beachport on Saturday morning at six o'clock, and return at sunset. Passage to and from, 50 cents. Passengers to find them- selves, except with cold water; that can be had at the Bar." In other words, they brought along their own liquid refreshments.
The waters of the canal could be used by the public for small boats, rafts, or log-floating, with payment for the privilege at the toll-houses along the banks. But the towpaths could not be used, except by animals tow- ing the canal boats.
Anxieties of the canal's promoters rose at this point. There were many breaks and overflows along the banks, and sometimes the banks were deliberately cut, with consequent great expense. The loss of Simeon Bald- win's guidance, after his resignation as chairman of the Canal Commission, was keenly felt. Equally unpleas- ant was the news of the completion of a canal on the Connecticut River at Windsor Locks, bypassing the dangerous Enfield Falls, and making river traffic to northern ports a definite challenge to the canal's busi- ness.
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Early in 1829 the city of New Haven subscribed for another $100,000 of stock (par value $100), the un- happy chief result being an increase in city taxes of 70 mills on the dollar. Not even that sum could relieve the Canal Company's embarrassment, so James Hill- house made an appeal to the Federal Government for a grant, pleading the canal's benefits to the nation; but Congress turned a deaf ear, perhaps having already lis- tened to the Riverites' opinion.
James Hillhouse was the man above all others to lead in the canal project. He had spent his life in pub- lic service. In his youth he led the Governor's Foot Guard in the defense of New Haven during the British invasion of July, 1779. Later he served in the Connec- ticut General Assembly, the House of Representatives in Washington, and the United States Senate, besides acting for fifty years as Treasurer of Yale College. He resigned from the Senate to devote fifteen years of hard work to saving the Connecticut School Fund from bank- ruptcy. Dr. Leonard Bacon's sermon at Mr. Hill- house's death in 1832 shows the sentiment of that day about the canal:
He resigned his office as Commissioner of School Funds in 1825, as his fellow-citizens were urgently calling him in his old age to the conduct of a new and still more arduous enterprise. A great work of internal improvement, opening a new channel for commerce, was to be constructed by the contributions of individ- uals, voluntarily associating for the purpose; and to none but him could they look to be the leader of the work. At the age of three-score years and ten, he em- barked in the construction of the Farmington and Hampshire Canal with all the enthusiasm and hardy vigor of his prime, and for six years he sustained the charge through every disappointment and difficulty. That work will be hereafter accomplished. The
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men are now living who will live to see it a great and busy thoroughfare. Then the last great labor of him who, for more than half a century was the unwearied servant of his fellowcitizens, will be acknowledged with gratitude.
Another tribute to Mr. Hillhouse was in these words:
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