USA > Indiana > Franklin County > History of Franklin County, Indiana : her people, industries and institutions > Part 23
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The county has always suffered as a result of the floods which sweep down the White Water valley and the swift-flowing streams which unite with it in the county. The size of White Water is such that it takes at least twenty thousand dollars to construct a bridge and at the time of the flood in 1913
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there were ten bridges across White Water, namely: One each at Laurel, Metamora, Cedar Grove, New Trenton and Fairfield and five at Brookville. The flood carried away four of the bridges at Brookville and also those at
to these large bridges which were washed away, there were scores of smaller bridges which had to be replaced. Not only were tens of thousands of dollars' worth of bridges destroyed, but the highways in hundreds of places were practically ruined.
COST OF ROAD MAINTENANCE.
The following statistics are taken from the annual report of Francis
R. Harder, superintendent of repair and maintenance of free gravel or turnpike roads of Franklin county for the year 1914:
RECEIPTS.
Balance on hand January 1, 1914. Amount appropriated
Automobile tax
Total receipts
District No. I
District No. 2
District No. 3
District No. 4
District No. 5
District No. 6
District No. 7
District No. 8
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1
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Total expenditures
Balance on hand
3,101.36
12,137,50 $ 2,360.47
3,265.26
$17,763.23
$ 1,384.71
1,945.06
1,916.74 1,847.57
1,909.61
1,910.61
1,976.82
1,770.75
$14,661.87
EXPENDITURES.
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1
1
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1
1
1
1
1
1
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Cedar Grove, New Trenton and Metamora. It also washed away the ap-
proaches at Laurel and at Whitcomb bridge near Brookville. In addition
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FRANKLIN COUNTY, INDIANA.
The expenditures were made for the following purposes :
Day labor
$3,182.25
Teams and drivers 5,125.22
Tools and machinery
276.28
Materials and supplies
1
I
1
1
1
1
1
1 3,195.67
Superintendent's salary
662.40
Salary of assistant superintendents I
1
1
I 1
2,220.05
The number of assistant superintendents is 8.
The number of miles of free gravel roads in the county is 1781/2, as follows : Gravel road, 130; stone or macadam, 481/2.
The average cost of maintenance per mile for the year 1914 was $82.13. There are 4.6 miles of new road under construction, and it is estimated that 3.27 miles will be constructed in 1915.
The rate levied for pike road repairs is 15 cents on the $100 valuation.
RIVER TRANSPORTATION.
Owing to the fact that the roads leading from Franklin county to the Ohio river were in such poor condition in the early history of the county, the enterprising merchants early conceived the idea of utilizing the White Water river as a means of getting their produce to market. They would save what could be transported by water safely until the spring freshets and then construct as large rafts as the river could accommodate. On these rude rafts would be stored barrels of pork, whiskey, flour, furs, etc. Frequently the produce was taken direct from Brookville to New Orleans without mak- ing a change. The raft, which was always constructed out of as good timber as could be obtained, was sold for lumber after the cargo was disposed of. Flat-boating continued intermittently until the canal was opened in 1839.
As early as 1822 a large amount of produce was flat-boated down the White Water from Brookville. A bill of lading, now in the hands of Harry M. Stoops, gives an interesting insight into this phase of the early history of Franklin county. The bill of lading is given in its entirety, including its bad spelling, punctuation, etc. :
"Lawrenceburgh, Inda, 28th Dec. 1822.
"Shiped in Good order and well Conditioned on board the Strong Boat Brookville-Masters & Owners John Jacobs Sundry Barrels of Pork Whiskey and Flour, more particularly described as Follows viz :
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FRANKLIN COUNTY, INDIANA.
18 Barrels of Whiskey ea about 33 1-3 Galls.
20 do Flour ea 196 lbs.
24 do £ Prime Pork ea 200 lbs.
26 do Misc do ea 200 lbs.
27 do Hams do ea 200 lbs.
3 do Lard· ea 240 lbs.
I -720 lbs.
2 half do do ea 120 lbs.
1 240 lbs.
II kegs do ea 60 lbs.
1 660 1bs.
4 Barrels do ea 240 lbs.
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1
Total 2,580 lbs.
Rec'd of N. D. Gallion on Board of my Boat as above Stated all the Several Barrels and Kegs in good order and condition each containing about as above Stated. All of which I am to freight for said. Gallion to New orleans at the rate of one dollar per barrel and charge him a very Small Commission for selling the Same on its arrival at market.
We promise to comply to the above Errors
Excepted
Jacobs & Noble."
This bill of lading gives a good idea of the nature and quantity of the cargoes which were floated out of Brookville. There was a chair factory located near the Catholic church and its proprietor shipped a big load of his chairs south every spring. Most of the shipments, however, were pork, flour and whiskey. Very little produce was shipped up the river, most of it being hauled overland from Cincinnati or Lawrenceburg up until the time the canal was opened.
TIIE WHITE WATER CANAL.
The rapidly increasing settlement of the White Water valley and the remarkable fertility of the soil caused an increasing demand for a market for the products of the farms and as early as 1822 or 1823 a convention of of delegates from Randolph, Wayne, Union, Fayette, Franklin and Dear- born counties, Indiana, assembled at Harrison, Ohio, to consider the prac- ticability of constructing a canal down the valley. The prime mover was Augustus Jocelyn, a minister of the gospel, who edited and published the Western Agriculturist at Brookville and through his paper worked up quite an interest in behalf of the improvement of the valley. Shortly after the
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-960 1bs.
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FRANKLIN COUNTY, INDIANA.
convention was held, Colonel Shriver, of the United States army, began a survey for a canal and got as far down the valley as Garrison's creek, where the survey was brought to a sudden close by the death of the Colonel. The suspension was of short duration, for Colonel Standbury, United States civil engineer, soon completed it.
Nothing seems to have been done until February, 1834, when the Leg- islature directed the canal commissioners to employ competent engineers and "early the ensuing summer survey to locate a canal from a point at or near the mouth of Nettle creek, in Wayne county, to Lawrenceburg, In- diana." Accordingly, William Goodwin was employed as engineer-in-chief and Jesse L. Williams, assistant engineer. During its construction and existence there were employed as assistant engineers Simpson Talbot, Elisha Long, John H. Farquhar, Martin Crowell, Henry C. Moore, Stephen D. Wright, -- Dewey and John Shank. The canal was first located on the west side of the river as far as Laurel, where it crossed to the east and continued down to the gravel bank just above Brookville, where it recrossed to the west bank and proceeded on to Lawrenceburg, but was afterwards located on the east bank, from Laurel to its terminus.
Strange as it may seem, this great and badly-needed improvement was bitterly opposed by some and every possible obstruction thrown in the way of the enterprise, the opposition being led by Charles Hutchen, a Ken- tuckian, who resided for many years in Brookville and during his residence edited a newspaper.
THE BLUE CREEK CANAL.
A meeting was called to assemble at the court house in Brookville at two o'clock P. M., December 25, 1834, to consider the propriety of con- structing a canal from the forks of Blue creek to its mouth. It was pro- posed to connect with the White Water canal near the mouth of the creek, and it was thought that Congress would donate contiguous land. The call closes with the following postscript: "While we are borrowing money to build the White Water canal, let's borrow a little more to build the Blue Creek." This was done by the opponents of the White Water, as the proposed canal would only have been three or four miles in length. On January 6, 1835, the engineer reported the survey completed.
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FRANKLIN COUNTY, INDIANA.
THE BEGINNING OF THE WHITE WATER CANAL.
The length of the canal was seventy-six miles, with a fall of four hun- dred and ninety-one feet from its head at Nettle creek (Wayne county, near Cambridge City) to its terminus at Lawrenceburg, requiring fifty-six locks and seven dams, the latter varying in height from two to eight feet. The estimated cost per mile was $14,908, or $1,142,126 for the entire canal. In June of that year Gen. Amaziah Morgan, of Rush county, was appointed a commissioner to receive stone, timber or the conveyance of land to the canal to aid in constructing it. It would give an outlet for Franklin, Rush, Fayette, Henry, Randolph and Hancock counties, as well as a large part of Wayne, Union, Decatur and Delaware-a district aggregating 3,150 square miles. Produce could be transported by this means at an average cost of $3.56 per ton, as against $10, the present cost. This would amount to $221,000 an- nually for the entire section. The water power would turn 318 pairs of mill stones and on its banks could be placed scores of saw-mills as well as cotton and woolen-mills. There is small wonder that the people of this county were anxious to see the canal built and gave the enterprise every possible support.
Owing to the hills in southern Indiana it was deemed best to cross the line at Harrison and locate about eight miles of the canal in Hamilton county, Ohio, recrossing into Indiana and continuing to Lawrenceburg. As it was necessary to have the consent of Ohio to construct the portion running through her territory, the Legislature of Indiana authorized the governor to obtain Ohio's permission, and Governor Noble appointed O. H. Smith a commissioner, who proceeded to Columbus, Ohio, and on January 30, 1835, presented Indiana's request. This was bitterly opposed and the petition refused on the grounds that it was against Ohio's interest to grant it, as the White Water canal would run parallel to the Miami at a distance of from twenty to fifty miles from it, and that the product of Wayne, Union and part of Fayette and Franklin counties, Indiana, were taken to Hamilton and shipped to Cincinnati on the Miami canal, and if Ohio granted the request she would lose that tonnage. The refusal only served to put Indiana on her mettle, and the Buckeyes soon learned that when "the Hoosiers will they will, and that's the end on't," for the Legislature immediately instructed the board of internal improvements, should Ohio persist in her refusal, to con- struct a railroad on the Indiana side of the state line from Harrison to Lawrenceburg. This, with the influence of Cincinnati, whose people quickly
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realized what the result would be to them if the commerce of the valley went to Lawrenceburg, hastily changed the mind of Ohio's Legislature and the petition was granted. One enthusiastic advocate of the White Water canal, in the Liberty Hall and Cincinnati Gasette of September 8, 1836, earnestly and persistently urged Cincinnati to borrow half a million dollars to aid in constructing the canal and Miami railroad. Early in January, 1836, the champions of the White Water canal in the Indiana Legislature, Enoch Mc- Carty in the Senate and Caleb Smith and Mark Crum in the House, had the pleasing satisfaction of seeing their labors crowned with success by the passing of the internal improvement bill.
GALA DAY IN BROOKVILLE.
Tuesday, January 9, 1836, was a gala day in Brookville, for on that day the news that the internal improvement bill had passed both houses of the Legislature was received, and in the evening the event was celebrated with speaking by prominent men. All buildings, public and private, were illum- inated and long rows of lights placed on the fences along Meirs street. A large procession was formed under the command of Col. B. S. Noble and Captain Dodd, and, amid the ringing of bells, beating of drums and roaring of cannons, marched through the streets to the inspiring strains of a band of music. The demonstrations continued until after midnight, when the citizens retired to their homes, but the cannon boomed till daylight.
On September 13, 1836, the ceremony of "breaking ground" and letting of the contracts for the construction of the canal from Brookville to Law- renceburg was celebrated at Brookville by a. great barbecue and every ex- pression of rejoicing possible. The orator of the day was Governor Noah Noble. The other speakers were ex-Governor James B. Ray, David Wallace, Hon. George H. Dunn, of Lawrenceburg, and Dr. Daniel Drake, of Cincinnati. Quite a number of speeches were made and toasts offered, the following being offered by James Finley, editor of the Richmond Palla- dium :
"There is not in the wide world a valley so sweet, As the vale where the branches of the White Water meet :
Oh! the last picayune shall depart from my fob, Ere the east and the west fork relinquish the job."
A pick, shovel and wheelbarrow had been provided for the occasion and at the close of the speaking and reading of the toasts, one of the speakers
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FRANKLIN COUNTY, INDIANA.
seized the pick and loosened the ground for a few feet, another trundled the wheelbarrow to the loosened earth, another took the shovel and filled the wheelbarrow and David Wallace trundled it a short distance and dumped it and "ground was broken" for the White Water canal. On this day, September 13, 1836, contracts were let for the construction of the canal to the following parties : William Carr, Joel Wilcox, Zepheniah Reed, William Rhubottom, Joel Palmer, R. & T. Freeman, Westerfield, Benjamin M. Remy, George Heimer, Moses Kelley, William Marshall, N. Hammond, William M. McCarty, Isaac Van Horn, H. Simonton, William Garrison, Paren & Kyle, Carmichael & Barwick, Gibbons & Williams, Hal- stead & Parker, Naylor, Troxall & Company, D. Banham & Company, Scott & Butt, H. Lasure & Company, Vance, Caldwell & Company, Tyner, Whip- ple & Company and C. and Joseph Meeks. The state pushed the work and in November, 1837, Joel Wilcox, the contractor for building the bridge and dam across the East fork of the White Water below Brookville, completed the latter and water was let in the first mile of the canal. According to the report of the board of internal improvements for that year, there had been employed between Lawrenceburg and Brookville nine of that board, one engineer-in-chief, one secretary, twelve resident engineers, seven senior and eleven junior assistant engineers and twenty-four rodmen. One of the rod- men was the late George W. Julian, for many years a resident of Irvington, and who a few years later took such an active part in national affairs. There were twenty axmen and nine hundred and seventy-five laborers, the latter receiving eighteen dollars per month. So rapidly was the work pushed that on December 20, 1838, Superintendent Long reported that the canal was nearly completed to Brookville.
BRIDGES AND LOCKS.
The White bridge, as it is called, was finished by the contractor in September. 1838, the west side of it being used for the towpath. It is three hundred and ninety-two feet long and cost fourteen thousand dollars. The locks were either named for some prominent person engaged in constructing the canal or for the town where they were located. Beginning at the south- ern end, they were Marshall's, Fox's, Trenton, Berweise's, Rhubottom's, Cedar Grove, Guard Lock at Case's, Wiley's (two), Tyner's, Guard lock below Brookville, Brookville Basin lock, Reed's, Boundary Hill, Yellow Bank, Twin locks, Gordon's, Metamora, Murray's, Ferris's, Jink's, Laurel, Hetrick's, Garrison's creek, Conwell's, Limpus's, Berlin, Nulltown, Upde-
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FRANKLIN COUNTY, INDIANA.
graff's, Harron's, Conwell's, Mill lock, Triple locks, Claypool's, Carmen's, Four-mile, Swamp level, Meton and Lockport (two).
The first boat to reach Brookville from Lawrenceburg was the "Ben Franklin," owned by Long & Westerfield and commanded by Gen. Elisha Long. It arrived June 8, 1839, and was drawn by hand from below town up to its landing. The last boat that landed from Cincinnati to Brookville was "The Favorite," owned and run by Capt. Aaron C. Miller. The first boat completed at the Rochester (Cedar Grove) yard of T. Moore, U. Ken- dall, G. B. Child and S. D. Coffin was a packet called the "Native." With Stephen D. Coffin as master, this boat arrived in Brookville July 3, 1839, and the next day took a merry party of excursionists to Case's dam, three and one-half miles below town. The "Native" made regular trips between Brookville and Lawrenceburg, leaving the former at six-thirty A. M., Mon- days, Wednesdays and Fridays, arriving at the latter place the same evening ; on the return, it left Lawrenceburg at six-thirty A. M. on Tuesdays, Thurs- days and Saturdays, arriving at Brookville on the same day. The fare was one dollar and twenty-five cents and one dollar and fifty cents, the state re- ceiving thirty-seven and a half cents out of each fare.
The established cost of the canal from Hagerstown to Lawrenceburg was $1,567,470, and yet to construct it to Brookville had cost $664,665. The state debt had become so large that it could not pay the interest. On August 18, 1839, it was announced that the state was bankrupt and could do nothing more in the way of building the canal, and the state accordingly sold the canal in 1842 to Henry S. Vallette, a wealthy Cincinnatian, who proceeded to complete it. In November, 1843, the first boat, the "Native," in charge of Captain Crary, reached Laurel at dark with a grand excursion from Brook- ville. During the night the bank bursted and left the merrymakers eight miles above Brookville-and they walked into the town. In June, 1845, the canal reached Connersville. The first boat to arrive at Herron's lock was the "Banner." The following October the canal reached Cambridge City and had cost the company $473,000. In 1846 it was completed to Hagerstown and, according to the report of the auditor of state for 1848, had cost the state $1,920,175.13. In January, 1847, a flood destroyed the aqueduct at Laurel and also the one on this side of Cambridge City, and cut channels around the feeder dams at Case's, Brookville, Laurel, Connersville and Cam- bridge City. The damage ·was estimated to be $90,000, and $70,000 was expended during the summer in repairs. The following November there was another flood that destroyed all that had been done and $80,000 more was expended, leaving $30,000 of repairs undone, and the canal was not
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ready for use until September of 1848. Disaster followed disaster, the cost of maintaining it exceeding the revenue until July 22, 1863, when it was sold at the court house door in Brookville by the United States marshal to H. C. Lord, president of the Indianapolis & Cincinnati Railroad, for $63,000, that being the amount of the judgment. The railroad company had long desired to secure the canal from Harrison to Cincinnati, so it could lay its track through the tunnel and thus gain an entrance to the city and the use of the White Water basin for a depot. This sale, for some reason, was set aside, although the railroad held that portion of the canal and used it as I have stated, but on December 5, 1865, C. C. Binckley, president of the White Water Valley Canal Company, sold it to H. C. Lord, president of the White Water Valley Railroad Company, for $137,348.12.
As early as 1836 Ohio had begun to consider the question of building a branch canal from Harrison to Cincinnati, and in February, 1837, finally decided to build it. It was estimated that the canal would cost between $300,000 and $400,000 and take two years to construct. In May, of the same year, stock in the branch canal was placed on sale at Cincinnati. Ohio took $150,000, Cincinnati $200,000, thus leaving $100,000 unsold. This branch was completed in the spring of 1838. In April of the same year an excursion was run through the newly completed canal and from that time through traffic was maintained between Cincinnati and all points on the White Water canal.
REMINISCENCES OF JOSIAH M'CAFFERTY.
Half way between Brookville and Cedar Grove there lived a few years ago Joseph McCafferty, one of the last captains to operate a boat on the White Water canal. Some years before his death he talked reminiscently con- cerning the days when thousands of tons of produce were hauled up and down the canal. "Well, I know a few things about that old canal," said Captain McCafferty, "for, man and boy, I have been near it all my life. I. used to hide behind trees and throw stones at the Irish laborers who were brought here to dig it. The digging began, I think, in 1836; it was along some time in 1839 that the water was let into it from Lawrenceburg to Brookville, and, if I remember right, it was open to Cincinnati along about 1848. The canal broke in' 1847 and again in 1852, and caused considerable damage, but was built up again and business increased for a while and then began to let down.
"The first boat was the 'Ben Franklin.' She had been running on the
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Miami canal for a number of years, and it was decided to bring her over here. She was dropped down from the Miami canal to the Ohio river and floated to Lawrenceburg and put into the White Water canal. I bought her and changed the name to 'Henry Clay' and there weren't any boats on the canal that could make any better time. · I built a number of boats to sell, and. always got good prices for them. The first boat built at Cedar Grove was called the 'Native,' and when she started on her first trip there was a good deal of excitement all along the canal. The 'Native' was a passenger and freight boat and was fitted up in a manner that was gorgeous for those days. There were two cabins and large state rooms ranged on the side, the same as is now seen on passenger steamers. Stephen Coffin was the builder and captain, and when he started out on a trip he always made a good deal of fuss about it.
"Finally I built a boat called the 'Belle of Indiana,' and there was nothing on the canal that touched her anywhere. The swan line of packets was put on about that time. They did not carry anything but light freight and passengers, and it was expected then they would make a fortune for their owners. But they did not pay, and after a season or two they were withdrawn. I carried passengers on the 'Belle of Indiana' and some of the most famous men of the day used to ride with me, but I did not pay a great deal of attention to them, for, generally I was too busy."
INTENSE RIVALRY BETWEEN BOAT CREWS.
"There used to be some lively times on the canal, no doubt ?"
"Lively isn't the word for it," chuckled the old captain. "There was an intense rivalry between the boats, and the way they used to race was a caution, and when one boat tried to pass another it was about sure to end in a fight.' The crew of a boat was the captain, two steersmen, cook and driver, and sometimes they all got into it. Down near Cleaves, Ohio, one time, two boat crews got into a fight and one of the men was killed-that was the only killing I ever knew of, but I saw a whole lot of of them beat up."
"Ever get into a scrap yourself?"
"Oh, I guess I had my share," and he pulled his tall athletic form up to its height, "but none of them was ever serious. You see, I had one of the fastest boats on the canal, and when I came 'round the bend, the other fellow just took it for granted that I would go by, so he hugged the shore and let me pass.'
"What was the most exciting time you ever had on the canal?"
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"Well, I had a right smart excitement, but the greatest time was when they opened the canal to Cambridge City. We knew for a long time that the canal was to be opened up to that place, but we did not know just when it would be, so we all laid away as much as possible and waited for the word. Several times it was reported the water was coming down, and we would edge up close and get ready for the rush. It was just like the rushes they made down in the Indiana Territory, except we have canal boats instead of horses. At last the word came that the water was in the canal at Cambridge City, and we started.
"There were twenty boats, and every one tried to get by the other, and when we had to make the locks I tell you there was some tall swearing and not a little fighting, but no one was hurt. My boat and all the other packets were crowded with passengers. I had the 'Belle of Indiana' then, and there was such a crowd on the deck that I had to separate them so the steersman could see the bow of the boat. When we got in sight of Milton it seemed as if the whole United States was there. There were two or three cannons fired and the people were shouting and yelling like Indians. John Lemon was captain of the 'Belle of the West,' and I was pushing him mighty hard, for he was in the lead. But the water was not deep enough for a good race and he beat me into Cambridge City ; but I was right behind him.
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