USA > New York > Jefferson County > A history of Jefferson County in the state of New York, from the earliest period to the present time > Part 38
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On the 22d of April, 1834, an act was passed, authorizing the survey of a canal, from below the High Falls to the Erie Canal, with a navigable feeder, and an improvement of the river to Carth- age. Having ascertained the feasibility of this route, on the 19th of April, 1836, an act was passed, providing for the construction of the Black River Canal, and Erie Canal Feeder, of which the river was to be a part. Work was soon after commenced, and more or less, except during the " suspension," prosecuted since, till at present we almost realize this long expected, and long deferred communication with the great markets; which, from being anticipated by rail roads, will possess much less im-
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Black River Canal.
portance than was formerly attached to it. Still, for the lumber and mineral products of a portion of the county, it will afford a valuable exit, and will contribute to the public welfare.
Many interesting topographical details have been obtained in the course of these surveys, which possess permanent interest. The following is a concise description of the canals, as given in the report of the state engineer and surveyor for 1851 (p. 77):
" This canal diverges from the Erie Canal, at the village of Rome, Oneida County, following up the valley of the Mohawk River and its tributary, the Lansing Kill, to the summit level, a distance of twenty-three miles; thence crossing the dividing ridge between the Mohawk and Black Rivers, about two miles, to the village of Boonville; thence descends into the valley of the Black River, and at the distance of ten and one-third miles it enters said river below the High Falls, in the county of Lewis; thence it follows the river, by slack water navigation, a distance of forty-two and one-half miles, to the village of Car- thage, in the county of Jefferson, making the whole length of the canal and river about seventy-eight miles.
A navigable feeder, of ten miles in length, is constructed from the Black River, entering the canal at the village of Boonville, which is designed for a feeder to the Black River Canal, and also for the Erie Canal. Add to the canal, river and feeder, two miles of navigation on the reservoir above the State Dam, making in all ninety miles of navigation, when the whole work is finished.
From Rome to Boonville, a distance of twenty-five miles, there are seventy locks, overcoming an elevation of six hundred and ninety-three feet, which are distributed as follows: Five single locks of eight feet lift, three of nine feet, forty-six of ten feet, four of eleven feet, one of twelve feet, two combinations of three each of ten feet, and one combination of five locks, each ten feet lift. There are also located, on this part of the canal, four aqueducts, eight culverts, seven waste-weirs, seventeen road bridges, eighteen farm bridges, one dam and bulk-head, eighteen lock houses built, and three to build, and a feeder and guard-lock at Delta, yet to be built.
From Boonville to the High Falls, a distance of ten and one- third miles, there are located thirty-nine locks, with a descent of three hundred and eighty-six feet, the lifts of which are as fol- lows: Four single locks of nine feet lift, ten of ten feet, one of ten and one-half feet, one of eleven and one-half feet, one of twelve feet; one combination of four locks, each nine feet; two combinations of four, each ten feet; one combination of three, each ten feet; one combination of three, with two of ten feet and one of four feet; one combination of two, of eleven feet, and one combination of two, of twelve feet.
ยท
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Black River Canal.
There are, also, one aqueduct, seven culverts, one waste-weir, six road bridges, sixteen farm bridges, two change bridges, and one dam, located on this part of the canal, and when brought into use, eleven lock houses will be required.
On the Black River Feeder, from Boonville, to and including the reservoir on the Black River, a distance of twelve miles, there are located, one guard-lock, three culverts, three waste- weirs, ten road bridges, two farm bridges, one tow-path bridge, one dam, one lock house, and six stop-gates. On the Black River, between High Falls and Carthage, a distance of forty-two and one-half miles, are located, one dam at Carthage, and two draw bridges, one at Illingworths, and the other at Beach's Landing.
On the whole line of canal, feeder and river, there will be one hundred and nine locks, five aqueducts, eleven waste-weirs, eighteen culverts, thirty-three road bridges, thirty-six farm bridges, three change and tow-path bridges, two guard-locks, one dam and bulk-head, three dams, thirty-three lock houses, six stop-gates, two draw bridges, and the Delta feeder."
At the time when the work was suspended, in 1842, the sec- tion work south of Boonville was mostly done, except on five sections; forty-seven locks were mostly finished, except framing and hanging gates, and a large amount of other work was more or less completed; but during the five years that the labor was suspended, a great part of the timber was so injured as to be- come almost useless. North of Boonville, about six miles of section work had been let, of which two were completed, and the others well advanced. Two locks were nearly finished, and the feeder had been about half done. Two culverts were built upon it, and the materials in part delivered for the guard-lock and dam. The value of materials on hand, at that time, was $60,383.86, of which $20,000 worth were made available, and the remainder was a loss to the state.
In 1851, the canal had been brought into use as far as Port Leyden, and such is the forwardness of the remainder, that its completion to Carthage appears not distant. During the dry season of 1849, all the water at the head of the feeder was used, and still there was a deficiency of 7000 cubic feet per minute. This led to a plan for ensuring a supply by constructing dams at the outlets of some of the lakes above this point which receive the drainage of many thousand acres.
The descent of Black River from the High Falls to Carthage is 94 feet in low water, and 23 feet in high water; as at such times the rise at the former place is 22 feet, and at Carthage but eight feet. The quantity of water passing the falls at its lowest stage is about 30,000 cubic feet per minute, and is not
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Black River Canal.
materially increased until it receives the Otter and Independence Creeks. Among the several plans that were proposed to im- prove the channel, that of constructing a dam and lock near In- dependence Creek, is said to have been decided upon. A dam is also to be built at the village of Carthage above the present dam, where the river is about 700 feet wide, and from three to four feet deep in low water, with a rock bottom.
In 1837, the project of extending the Black River Canal from Carthage to Ogdensburgh, or some point on the St. Lawrence, began to be discussed; and in the fall of 1838 meetings were held at Watertown, Evans' Mills, Theresa, and other places. Petitions, memorials, and statistics, were forwarded to the legis- lature, and on the 2d of May, 1839, a bill was passed author- izing a survey of the several routes proposed. This labor was entrusted to Edward H. Brodhead, who, in the summer of 1839, surveyed a route from Carthage to Clayton, from Carthage to Sackets Harbor, from Carthage to Ox Bow, and thence, by im- proving the Oswegatchie, to Ogdensburgh, and another branch of this route to Gouverneur, and thence near the river to Ogdens- burgh. By these surveys, Carthage was found to be 480 feet above the lake. These surveys created a lively interest through- out the central and northern parts of the county, and a conven- tion from St. Lawrence and a part of Jefferson Counties met at Gouverneur on the 27th of June, 1839, at which, a series of reso- lutions was passed, reasserting the claims of northern New York upon a share of the state patronage, and the wants of this sec- tion for a cheap and direct access to market. The report of Mr. Brodhead, with an accompanying map, was submitted to the legislature in 1840,* and provision was made for the selection of one of the routes surveyed, by three disinterested men from the 1st, 2d and 3d, or 8th, senate districts; but a change of policy in relation to the minor public works, which also suspended the larger, put an end to the discussion by postponing it indefinitely. The experience at present had in relation to railways renders it probable that the subject of a canal beyond Carthage will never be revived.
On the 12th of April, 1848, the Black River Steam Boat Com- pany was chartered for fifteen years, with a capital of $25,000, to build one or more boats to navigate the river, subject to such tolls as might be imposed. The persons named in the act were Amos Buck, Harrison Blodget, Hiram McCollom, Dean S. How- ard, Lyman R. Lyon, Alburn Foster, Alfred Lathrop, Walter Nimocks, Eli West, Charles Dayan, James Smith, Wm. F. Strong,
* Assembly Documents, 1840, No. 233.
23
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Navigation of the Lakes.
Elijah Horr and Reuben Rice. A subscription was circulated, but nothing was accomplished by this company.
By an act of April 15, 1816, the Oswegatchie was declared a highway, from its mouth to Streeter's Mills, the present village of Wegatchie. On the 5th of April, 1853, Indian River was declared a public highway for floating logs in Antwerp, Phila- delphia, Le Ray, and Theresa, and the usual penalties were imposed for obstructing the channel.
From the earliest period of our existence as a state, the St. Lawrence was regarded as a natural outlet for the great chain of inland lakes, for which it served, in a great measure, as the channel of trade, until the construction of the Erie Canal. Both the French and the English had built vessels on this lake, while the supremacy of its waters was with them. A small but thriving commerce had arisen before the war, and during that period a formidable naval force sprung into existence, that was opposed by a similar one, fitted out at Kingston; and the hostile fleets upon Lake Ontario, at the close of the war, were increasing in number of sail, and amount of force, with a rapidity that has had few parallels in naval annals.
At the conclusion of peace, these fleets were gradually broken up, or converted to commercial purposes, and, almost immediately after, the application of steam to navigation, which had already assumed importance on the Hudson and other waters, began to be applied to the lakes.
The subject having been examined in the summer and fall of 1815, articles of agreement were drawn up, dated January 2, 1816, between Harriet Fulton, and Wm. Cutting, of New York, executors of Robert Fulton, and Robert R. Livingston, and Edward P. Livingston, of Clermont, owners of the right and privilege of steam boat navigation in the state, by special act of the legislature, on the one part; and Charles Smyth, Joseph C. Yates, Thomas C. Duane, and David Boyd, on the other part, by which the latter acquired the sole right to navigate boats and vessels (steam ships and vessels of war excepted) by steam, on all or any of the waters of Lake Ontario, within the state of New York, and the full and entire, and exclusive right, of employing in the navigation of the same waters such inventions and im- provements, in the navigation of boats by steam or fire, to which the grantors, or any of them, had or hereafter might have right or title by patent, &c.
It was provided and stipulated, that but one boat should be employed at a time on any route to be established on the said waters, by virtue of this contract, without the consent in writing of the grantors, and until the net proceeds of the said one boat should exceed twenty per cent per annum. One boat was to be
349
Steam Navigation on Lake Ontario.
built within two years. The grantees paid ten dollars on the execution of the agreement, and covenanted to pay, annually, on the first of January (deducting $1,500 from the gross receipts of each year, and the current expenses of running the boat), one half of all moneys received above twelve per cent on the investment. The $1,500 was to be withdrawn, annually, until it should amount to $12,000, which was to constitute a sinking fund for rebuilding the boat. Should the grantees acquire from the British government any privileges for the navigation of the lake, they were to be shared equally by the contracting parties, and these privileges were not transferable. Application was to be made for the incorporation of an association, to be styled the Ontario Steam Boat Company, with a capital of $200,000.
On the 6th of February, 1816, a petition from Charles Smyth, David Boyd, Eri Lusher, Abraham Van Santvoord, John J. De Graff, and their associates, was presented, in which the essential facts, above stated, were given, and an act of incorporation solicited. A bill was prepared and passed the house, by a vote of 76 to 40, but did not become a law, in consequence of the early adjournment of the legislature. On the 16th of August, of the same year, Eri Lusher, and Charles Smyth, became, by assign- ment of De Graff and Boyd, partners in the enterprise, and a boat was commenced at Sackets Harbor, the same summer, after the model of the Sea Horse, then running on the Sound near New York. She was 110 feet long, 24 feet wide, and eight feet deep,
D JONTARIO
First Steam Boat on the Great Lakes, 1816.
measuring 237 tons. The boilers are said to have been seventeen feet long and three and a half feet in diameter, with a cross head engine, and cylinder of twenty inches diameter, and three feet stroke; wheels eleven feet four inches across, and capacity of en- gine, twenty-one horse power.
The following application for an act of incorporation, is
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Steam Navigation on Lake Ontario.
without date, but was drawn up in December, 1816, for the ses- sion of the legislature next ensuing.
" To the Honorable the Legislature of the State of New York:
The petition of Charles Smyth, of the city of Albany, and Eri Lusher, of the city of Schenectady, who, together with Major Ge- neral Jacob Brown, are the proprietors of the exclusive right to the navigation of the American waters of Lake Ontario by steam or fire, most humbly showeth:
That your petitioners, with M. T. Woolsey, Samuel F. Hooker, Hunter Crane, and Elisha Camp, Esquires, have lately constructed a steam boat at Sackets Harbor; that they are desirous of ob- taining an act of incorporation for a company, under the style of the Lake Ontario Steam Boat Company, with a capital of two hundred thousand dollars, and power to establish branches at Lewiston, Genesee River, Oswego, Sackets Harbor, Cape Vin- cent and Ogdensburgh; that whatever reasons may be urged against steam boats in other parts of the country, on Lake Onta- rio, they can not fail of producing the best effects, as instead of injuring the villages on its banks, they will materially tend to promote their increase and prosperity; that the cost of a boat so far exceeds the means which mercantile men, generally, can now command, that your petitioners are unable to build any further, and for obvious reasons, they can not induce large capitalists to embark with them without an act of incorporation; that the English in the province of Upper Canada have constructed a ' steam boat of seven hundred tons burthen, avowedly for the purpose of engrossing the business of both sides of the lake; that independent of the wealth of the individuals composing that association, the provincial government has promised them every encouragement, and has actually passed an order in council, impos- ing a duty of two dollars and fifty cents per ton on all American vessels above one hundred tons burthen, by which means the steam boat of your petitioners, exceeding two hundred tons, is effectually excluded from the Canadian waters, while the Eng- lish boat may freely navigate ours, in which nosuch tonnage duty exists.
It is well known to your petitioners and to every man acquaint- ed with the commerce of the lakes, that an establishment of this nature will be of very great benefit to the inhabitants of the western country. The delays which now occur in the transport- ation of property destined for Detroit and the settlements on Lake Erie, would be, in a great measure, removed, and with them the objections frequently made by merchants from that quarter to extensive purchases in Albany and New York.
The navy department of the United States, apparently influ-
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Steam Navigation on Lake Ontario.
enced by an opinion of the great utility of steam boats on Lake Ontario, generously directed a sufficiency of timber from the na- val depot to be delivered to the agent of one of your petitioners, upon his paying therefor a reasonable sum of money. The boat is now built, and if the experiment succeed, it is the intention of your petitioners to grant privileges to as many associations on the American shore as apply for a right. They therefore hum- bly entreat that your honorable body will be pleased to grant them the charter prayed for, or, if that should be deemed improper, such an act of incorporation as will enable them to dispense the advantages of steam navigation to their fellow citizens from Lewiston to Ogdensburgh.
And as in duty bound,
Your petitioners will ever pray. (Signed) CHARLES SMYTH. ERI LUSHER.
This application did not succeed. Early in 1817, the steamer Ontario was completed and performed her first trip, being every where greeted with the most lively demonstrations of joy. Bon- fires, illuminations, and mutual congratulations of friends, bespoke the satisfaction with which this achievement was regarded, and the event was hailed as a new era in the commerce of the lakes. Weekly trips from Ogdensburgh to Lewiston were first attempted, but on the first of July, 1817, the owners advertised, that finding the trip of about 600 miles, too extensive to be performed within that time, it would be altered to ten days. The fare through was fixed at $15. Capt. Francis Mallaby, U. S. N., was her first master. The Ontario continued to run, seldom exceeding five miles an hour, until 1832, when she was broken up at Oswego.
The monopoly of steam navigation on the waters of the state, granted by repeated acts of the legislature to Robert R. Liv- ingston and Robert Fulton, gave rise to much litigation; and, in in a suit of Ogden against Gibbons, commenced in the Court of Chancery, "September 27, 1819, it was decided in favor of the grant .*
An appeal was made to the Court of Errors,t and the case was finally decided in the Supreme Court of the United States,t in February, 1824, that the act was " repugnant to the clause of the Constitution of the United States, which authorises Congress to regulate commerce, so far as the said acts pro- hibit vessels, licensed according to the laws of the United States, for carrying on the coasting trade, from navigating the said waters by means of fire or steam."
* Johnson's Chancery Reports, iv, 148. t Cowen's Reports, iii, 713. # Wheaton's Reports, ix, 1.
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Steam Boats .- Wreck of the Martha Ogden.
The Ontario was the first steamer built on a water subject to a swell, and determined the interesting problem that steam boats were adapted to the navigation of open seas, as well as sheltered rivers. The Frontenac was built soon after, at Kingston, and the next season the first steamer appeared on Lake Erie.
The Martha Ogden was built in 1819, at Sackets Harbor, and continued in use until lost in 1832, under the following circum- stances: The boat (William Vaughan, master ) had left Oswego on the afternoon of November 12, when she encountered a gale, and being unable to regain the port, started for Sackets Harbor; but a leak having sprung, the fires were put out, and her sails were raised. The wind, which in the afternoon had been S. W., veered to W. N. W., then N. W., and lastly N., which prevented her from doubling Stony Point. Both anchors were thrown out in eight and a half fathoms, which held from 4 till 11 P. M., when they successively parted, and she soon after struck and bilged in ten feet of water. There were on board six hands, and
twenty-two passengers. With much peril, a man at length reached the shore, eight rods from the boat, rallied the inhabit- ants, built fires, and in the morning a line was passed to the shore, and the whole company on board were safely drawn ashore in a three-bushel basket, rigged upon a line, with a Dutch harness. Captain Vaughan was the last one to leave the wreck, which went to pieces during the day. She was owned by S. & L. Denison, of Sackets Harbor, and proved a total loss. This wreck occurred at Nutting's Bay, on the coast of Henderson.
The Sophia, Robbins, Black Hawk ( afterward the Dolphin), Brownville (afterwards the William Avery), Charles Carroll, ( afterwards the America), and Paul Pry, were steamers on the lake and river, built at an early period, and previous to 1834.
On the 28th of January, 1831, an act was passed constituting Joseph Denison and his associates a corporate body, under the name of the Ontario and St. Lawrence Steam Boat Company, with a capital of $100,000, and limited in duration to May 1st, 1850. The owners of the Ontario and Martha Ogden, hereto- fore employed in navigating the lake and river, were entitled to the amount of the appraised value of those boats. The affairs of the company were to be managed by fifteen directors, of whom the first were to be Joseph Denison, Edward Bronson, Gerrit Smith, Elias Trowbridge, Theopilus S. Morgan, Richard L. De Zeng, Horatio N. Walton, Josiah T. Marshall, John T. Trowbridge, Frederick Bushnell, Elisha Camp, Jacob Arnold, William Baron,* John C. Bush, and Samuel Denison. The stock- holders were jointly and severally liable for the debts contracted
* "Baron," in the act; probably William Bacon.
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Steam Navigation on Lake Ontario.
by the corporation, and persons having demands against the company might sue any stockholder or director for the recovery of the same. The place of business of the company was to be fixed at Oswego, and its transactions limited solely to the navi- gation of the Ontario and River St. Lawrence. This company built at Ogdensburgh the steamer United States, which for size and amount of accommodation, far surpassed any boat that had been previously run by Americans on this water. She was launched in November, 1831, and came out on her first trip July 1st, 1832, under the command of Elias Trowbridge. Her dimensions were as follows: length, 142 feet; width, 26 feet beam, and 55 feet over all; depth of hold 10 feet; engines, low pressure, with a 40 inch cylinder and 8 feet stroke. Cost, $56,000. She con- tinued running on the through line, from Ogdensburgh to Lew- iston, till 1838, when, having become obnoxious to the Canadians from the use made of her at the affair at the Wind-mill, near Prescott, she was run upon the lake only afterwards, until 1843, when she was broken up at Oswego, and her engines transferred to the Rochester.
The following boats have since been built on this lake: Oswego, at that place, 1833, 286 tons. After running six years her engines were transferred to the St. Lawrence.
Jack Downing, built at Carthage in 1834, by. Paul Boynton, and drawn on wheels to Sackets Harbor-very small. After- wards a ferry boat.
Oneida, of 227 tons, built at Oswego in 1836; A. Smith first master; owned by Henry Fitzhugh of Oswego, E. B. Allen and G. N. Seymour of Ogdensburgh. In 1845 fitted up as a sail ves- sel, and lost at Lake Erie.
Telegraph, 196 tons, built at Dexter, in 1836; owned by parties at Utica, Watertown and Sackets Harbor; afterwards changed to a sail vessel, and burnt on Lake St. Clair.
Express, built at Pultneyville, in 1839-H. N. Throop, first master and part owner. Laid up in 1850.
St. Lawrence, 402 tons, enrolled at Oswego, in 1839; rebuilt in 1844, and increased to 434 tons; cost $50,000. Laid up at Clayton, in 1850. Length 180 feet, beam 23 feet, hold 11 feet.
George Clinton and President, small boats, built at Oswego, about 1842.
John Marshall, a small steamer wrecked in a storm off the mouth of Sandy Creek, October 18, 1844. Several other boats, of minor class, have at various times run upon the lake and St. Lawrence River.
The corporation that built the steamer United States, never attempted any other boat. About 1842, a stock company, styled the Ontario Steam and Canal Boat Company, was formed at
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Steam Navigation on Lake Ontario.
Oswego, and in that year built the Lady of the Lake, of 423 tons, which was used on the through line until 1852, when she was chartered as a ferry, from Cape Vincent to Kingston, in connection with the rail road. She was the first American boat on this water, with state-rooms on the upper deck.
The Rochester was built at Oswego, by the same company, in 1843, of 354 tons, and run on the through line till 1848, since which she has run from Lewiston to Hamilton.
The Niagara, of 433 tons, built at French Creek, by the St. Lawrence Steam Boat Company, which had been formed soon after that at Oswego. This boat is still in use in the American Mail Line; has a length of 182 feet; beam, 27} feet; total breadth, 47 feet; depth of hold, 73 feet. The engine was built at the Archimedes Works, in New York, and has a cylinder 40 inches in diameter, with 11 feet stroke; wheels, 30 feet in diameter.
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