USA > New York > Pioneer history of the Holland Purchase of western New York : embracing some account of the ancient remains > Part 64
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De Witt Clinton, to whom is attributed a pamphlet written under the name of Tacitus, on the subject of the canals, speaks of Mr. Hawley in the following terms :-
" The first hint on this subject, which I have seen in print, was suggested by Jesse Hawley, Esq. of Ontario county-a gentleman of an ingenious and reflecting mind. On the 27th of October, 1807, he commenced a series of essays on internal navigation,
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under the signature of Hercules, in the Ontario Messenger, printed at Canandaigua, which extended to fourteen numbers."
Mr. Watson, whose impartiality and eandor on this subject should not be questioned, awards to Jesse Hawley full and merited praise and eredit for the early part he took in this great and diffi- cult enterprise. Mr. Watson, in his " History of the Rise and Progress of the Western Canals," written in 1819, speaks as follows of Mr. Hawley :-
"I have not been able to trace any measure, publie or private, tending towards this great enterprise, till the 27th of October, 1807, when an anonymous publication, under the signature of Hercules, appeared in the Genesce Messenger, which is attributed to Jesse Hawley, Esq. now collector of the port of Rochester. These invaluable essays continued through a course of fourteen weekly numbers, to the 2d of March, 1808. They are evidently original, and display deep research-views vastly extended- indeed, they may be pronounced prophetie in striking out, as will be seen by a comparison with the annexed map, nearly the track of the northern route of the canal, which has been since adopted, at least to the Seneca river. His point of commencement was Buffalo; thence to the outlet of the Tonnewanda creek, to be erossed by an aqueduet; thence easterly crossing the Genesee river by another aqueduct, above the Falls; thence running near Mud creek; thence near the outlet of the Cayuga lake; and termi- nating about Utica ;- a distance of two hundred miles,-which he estimated would cost five millions of dollars. And then improving the bed of the Mohawk, with occasional canals to Schenectady; and ultimately into the Hudson river."
The resolutions introduced by Joshua Forman in the House of Assembly, February 4th, 1808, are the first legislative action ever had on the subject. Judge Forman claims that the idea of a direet canal was original with him, whoever else might have thought of it before, and that he did not derive it either from Gouverneur Morris or Jesse Hawley. In a letter to David Hosack, which is published in his appendix to the Memoir of De Witt Clinton, Judge Forman says :- "I never claimed that I first thought of such a plan, nor is that the issue; but I do elaim to have been the first man who, having conceived the idea, appreciated its importance, set about carrying it into effect, and by the happy expedient of turning the eyes of the Legislature to the general government for its accomplishment, induced them to take the first
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steps in a project too gigantic for them to have looked at for a moment as an object to be accomplished by the means of the state."
On the 21st of February, a joint resolution was offered by Mr. Gould of the Senate, in which the Assembly concurred, directing the Surveyor General to have made the survey contemplated in Mr. Forman's resolution, and appropriating six hundred dollars for that purpose. This survey was made by James Geddes, who in January, 1809, made a report favorable to the enterprise, as entirely practicable and within the means of the state.
In 1810, Jonas Platt, at the suggestion of Thomas Eddy, who was an early, active, and efficient friend of the enterprise, offered a joint resolution in the Senate, which was concurred in by the Assembly on the 12th of March, appointing Gouverneur Morris, Stephen Van Rensselaer, De Witt Clinton, Simeon De Witt, Wm. North, Thomas Eddy, and Peter B. Porter, to explore the whole route for inland navigation from the Hudson river to lakes Ontario and Erie.
About this time, several memorials were presented to the Legis- lature, " representing that Canada was attracting the greatest portion of our internal commerce, in consequence of the facilities which were afforded by water communications to transport com- modities to her markets." De Witt Clinton, who was then a member of the Senate, and about this time warmly associated himself with this movement, strongly advocated Mr. Platt's reso- lution, and became a zealous and able champion of the measure.
The commissioners made the exploration, and submitted the results of their labors in the form of a report, drawn by Mr. Mor- ris, to the Legislature, in the winter of 1811. In the same year, a bill was introduced into the Senate by De Witt Clinton, then Lieut. Governor, providing for the appointment of two commissioners to solicit the aid of the General Government in constructing this great work. De Witt Clinton and Gouverneur Morris were appointed the commissioners. They went to Washington and presented the subject to the President, the Secretaries of the Departments, and prominent and influential members of Congress, but they failed to secure either aid or encouragement. Having been refused help by the General Government, in March, 1812, the commissioners made a report to the Legislature, in which they stated that "sound policy imperatively demanded that the canal should be made by the state of New York alone, as soon as cir-
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cumstances would permit; that it would be a want of wisdom not to employ for public advantage those means which Providence had placed so completely in their power;" that it would be "a testi- mony to the genius, the learning, the industry, and intelligence of the present age."
In June, 1812, the Legislature passed a law authorizing the com- missioners to borrow five millions of dollars in Europe, on the credit of the state of New York, for the construction of the canal. But the United States soon after becoming involved in war with Great Britain, this law, in 1814, was repealed, and nothing more was done in relation to the canal, until the restoration of peace.
After peace between the United States and Great Britain had been restored, the subject of inland navigation was again revived and engaged public attention. Thomas Eddy, James Platt, and De Witt Clinton, promoted the calling of a public meeting in the city of New York, which was large and enthusiastic, attended by the most prominent and influential citizens. Resolutions were passed in favor of the construction of the canal, and a committee, consisting of De Witt Clinton, Thomas Eddy, Cadwallader D. Colden, and John Swartout, were appointed to prepare a memorial to be presented to the Legislature. A memorial, written by Mr. Clinton, was prepared, widely circulated throughout the state, and produced a most decided and beneficial influence. The advantages and the necessity of a canal were forcibly demonstrated, and it had the effect to produce a strong impression upon the public mind. This meeting was followed by a succession of meetings on the sub- ject, held in different cities and villages in various parts of the State, all in favor of the project. Petitions were forwarded to the capital which were laid before the Legislature. The newspapers of the day were soon filled with communications, written by distinguished men, showing the great need there was of such a channel of com- munication, and the wealth and honor it would confer on the State and people that provided it. The public mind being thus informed, awakened, and prepared, it would not do for the representatives of the people either to oppose their wishes or refuse their requests. Gov. Tompkins, in his message to the Legislature in 1816, presented the subject for their consideration, and alluded to the propriety of making appropriations for that purpose. This portion of the mes- sage was referred, by a concurrent resolution, to a joint committee of both Houses. On the 21st of February, Mr. Clinton's memorial
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was presented, and soon after another memorial from the mayor, aldermen, and commonalty of the city of New York. On the 8th March the canal commissioners presented their Report, recom- mending the adoption of such preliminary measures as might be necessary for the accomplishment of this important object. On the 21st of March, Col. Rutzen Van Rensselear, chairman of the joint committee on Canals, presented his report, urging the im- mediate commencement of the Erie and Champlain Canals, and brought in a bill providing for these works. On the 5th of April, the house resolved itself into a committee of the whole, and took up the bill. The consideration of the bill was resumed from time to time, in committee of the whole. Animated and interesting debates took place. Various amendments were proposed, which were favored or opposed, as the friends or enemies of the Canal supposed they would aid or retard the enterprise. During the sitting, on the 13th, a proposition was made to put a local tax on lands lying within twenty-five miles, along the sides of the canals. After some other amendments and modifications, it finally passed the Assembly by a vote of 83 to 16.
On the 16th, the Senate took the bill as it came from the house. Mr. Van Buren moved to strike out those parts which authorized the commencement of the work, and moved an amendment, directing the commissioners to make further estimates and surveys. This amendment was adopted. When the consideration of the bill was again resumed, a motion was made to reject it, but it was lost. The number of the Canal Commissioners was reduced to five, viz., Stephen Van Rensselaer, De Witt Clinton, Samuel Young, Joseph Ellicott and Myron Holley. In this form, it passed the Senate.
It was sent back to the Assembly, for concurrence in the amendments. The house refusing to concur, it went back to the Senate. The Senate refused to recede. It was the last day of the session-time and business pressed -the friends of the canal thought it was better to have the bill as it was, than none, and succeeded in inducing the House to recede and concur in the bill as it came from the Senate. It accordingly become a law. By this law, the Canal Commisioners were generally empowered to make surveys, estimates of expense, and to ascertain the practicability of making loans upon the credit of the State.
In November, 1816, an extra session of the Legislature was held for the purpose of appointing Presidential electors. The Governor
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sent a message, in which he alluded to the subject of the contem- plated canals, in such a manner and connection, that gave evidence of no very friendly feelings for them, if it did not indieate settled hostility to them. January 14th, 1817, the Legislature again met, but the Governor made no communication. On the 17th of February, the report of the Canal Commissioners respecting the Erie Canal was presented, and that on the Champlain Canal, on the 19th. These reports were written in the ablest manner- they contained a large amount of interesting and valuable informa- tion on every subject relating to the Canals, clearly showing "the physical facility of this great internal communication, and that a little attention to the resources of the state, would demonstrate its financial practicability." The first of these reports was referred to a joint committee of both houses.
Without attempting to trace minutely the history of the bill, with all the different amendments that were offered and rejected, it will be sufficient to state, that on the 10th of April, 1817, it passed the house of Assembly, by a vote of 64 for, and 26 against it.
On the 12th of the same month, it was taken up by the Senate: A long and able discussion took place. Several amendments to it were made by the Senate, in some of which the Assembly concurred, and from others the Senate receded. And, on the 15th day of April, 1817, it became a law. Col. Young and Myron Holley, were the acting commissioners on the middle section of the Canal, which it was determined should be first commenced. Ground was first broken near Rome on the 4th of July, 1817. A large concourse of citizens assembled with the commissioners and engineers. An address on behalf of the citizens was made by the Hon. Joshua Hathaway, at the conclusion of which he handed a spade to the commissioners. On receiving it, Col. Young replied to the speech and eloquently portrayed the vast magnitude of the enterprise, and the vast benefits that would be realized by its consummation. Inspired, as it would now seem, with the gift of prophesy, he said: "It will diffuse the benefits of internal navigation over a surface of vast extent, blest with a salubrious climate and luxuriant soil, embracing a tract of country capable of sustaining more human beings than were ever accommodated by any work of the kind. By this highway, unborn millions will easily transport their surplus production to the shores of the Atlantic, procure their supplies, and hold a useful and profitable intercourse with all the maritime
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nations of the earth. The expense and the labor of this great undertaking bear no proportion to its utility. Nature has kindly afforded every facility ;- we have all the moral and physical means within our reach and control. Let us then proceed to the work, animated by a prospect of its speedy accomplishment, and cheered by the anticipated benedictions of a grateful posterity."
Col. Young then handed the spade to Judge Richardson, the first contractor on the work, who broke ground for the construction of the Erie Canal, amid the roar of cannon, and the enthusiastic cheers of a large assemblage of citizens.
In 1819, the middle section of the canal was completed. On the 23d of October in that year it was navigated from Utica to Rome. Parts of the eastern and western sections of the Erie canal were so far completed that boats passed from the cast side of the Genesee river in Rochester, as far east as Little Falls, in 1821. The east- ern section was completed and boats entered the Hudson on the 8th day of October, 1823. The whole work was completed from the Hudson to lake Erie, and opened for navigation on the 26th of Oc- tober, 1825.
The discussion of the relative merits of those who projected and were foremost in aiding the consummation of the great work is a hackneyed theme, and for the most part has been an unprofitable one. Dr. Hosack, in his memoirs of De Witt Clinton, arranges the names of the projectors, or those who made suggestions, in refer- ence to internal improvements in this state, and those who earliest and most prominently participated in forwarding the construction of the Erie canal, chronologically, as follows :-
C. Colden,
1724
E. Watson,
1791
T. Eddy,
1810
G. Morris,
1777
P. Schuyler,
1792
J. Platt, 1810
G. Washington, 1787
G. Clinton,
1729
S. Van Rensselaer, 1810
C. Colles,
1784
J. Hawley,
1807
C. D. Colden, 1818
J. Smith,
1786
J. Forman,
1808
DE WITT CLINTON.
The biographer and friend of Mr. Clinton, it will be observed, attaches no date to his identity with our works of internal improve- ment, but makes his the base of his pyramid of names. It has never been assumed that Mr. Clinton was a projector of the Erie canal, but it has passed into an adage, is a fact that may now be written down in history as conceded, and no longer to be questioned, that he was the Father of our canal system. Whatever others may have done before him in the way of suggestion, projection, or
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HISTORY OF THE
incipient movements, it was he, who, more than others, by an early and zealous espousal of the project of the Erie canal, at a period when a strong opposition was arrayed against it-in a dark and unpromising hour - threw the whole weight of his extraordinary talents and influence in favor of the measure, and by continued and unremitted labor in its behalf, taking the lead in winning for it pop- ular favor and legislative co-operation, insured its commencement and prosecution up to a period when the great enterprize began to take care of itself. Such is the feeble but truthful tribute of history to the memory of a great Public Benefactor; a more enduring tribute will soon evince the gratitude of a state he so much aided in its rapid and unparalleled advances to the high position it now occupies.
We, of Western New York, have some reason to complain of omissions in Mr. Hosack's list. Cotemporary with the names he enumerates, as belonging to the canal period of 1810, he should have included the names of Peter B. Porter and Joseph Ellicott. The former was one of the primitive board of Canal Commissioners, and in Congress, an able and zealous advocate for a system of inter- nal improvements by the general government, which would have included aid to this state, in prosecuting its works. The latter was the early correspondent of Mr. Clinton, in reference to the canal, gave efficient aid to the project, by his sound practical judgement, and intimate topographical knowledge of the country, and was a member of the board of Canal Commissioners, as early as 1816.
And in these, the local annals of the Holland Purchase, and incidentally, of Western New York, the claims of Jesse Hawley may well be re-asserted, and insisted upon, as the plain and undeni- able deduction from cotemporary history. He was the projector of the Erie canal. By this the author would be understood to mean that the essays he wrote and published in the Ontario Mes- senger, in 1807 and '8, contained the first proposition that contem- plated such a work of internal improvement as the Erie canal now is; that all the projects that preceded his, had reference to works of another character, contemplated improvements of existing inter- nal navigation of the state, and the use of lake Ontario, as a west- ern extension; works far inferior in magnitude to the one he projected; such as would have come far short of accomplishing the mighty results we have witnessed; especially, in, reference to its influences upon the prosperity of the western portion of the state.
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The story may be made a brief one-the main points are conce- ded in citations that have already been made.
Jesse Hawley was a native of Newfield, (now Bridgeport,) Conn .; was born in 1773. He was engaged in the mercantile business at Geneva, Ontario county, as early as 1805, in which business he was unfortunate. He spent the winter of 1806 and '7 in Pittsburgh. He published his first essay on the subject of the Erie canal, in the Pittsburgh "Commonwealth" of Jan. 14, 1807. He returned to Ontario county in the same year, and during the summer, re-published his first essay in the Ontario Messenger, and followed it up with a series of essays which were continued at intervals, up to March, 1808. These essays contain the first suggestions, ever made for connecting the Hudson river with lake Erie, by a continuous overland water communication. They were written with much ability, and no one can read them now, without a feeling of surprise, excited by their boldness of design, at a period so primitive in reference to internal improvements; their vast fore- sight, in anticipating so much that has become reality. On a slip of paper, in the author's possession, is the following reminiscence, in the handwriting of this prominent public benefactor :- "I first conceived the idea of the over land route of the canal, from Buffalo to Utica, in Col. Wilhelmus Mynderse's office, at Seneca Falls, in 1805." In his mercantile operations at Geneva, during that year, he purchased wheat which he had floured at Col. Mynderse's mill, and shipped to Schenectady and Albany. Upon the occasion alluded to, he was engaged in superintending the shipping of flour, and while in the office of Col. Mynderse, the subject of a better navigation came up. Mr. Hawley, stepping to a map of the state, drew his finger over the country from Utica to lake Erie, and said :- "There is the head of water." This may be regarded as the first intimation having reference to such a work as the Erie canal.
The efforts of Mr. Hawley in behalf of internal improvements, did not end with his early essays. He continued up to the period of his death to devote a large portion of his time in that behalf. He aided the project of canal enlargement, materially in its early stages; and subsequently, when that measure was threatened with suspen- sion, or reduction, he brought before the Legislature a mass of useful statistical information, facts and figures, well calculated to aid in a right understanding of the subject. In this as in other instances,
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it was his fate to see another profit by his suggestions and indefati- gable labors. The Senator, to whom he entrusted his manuscripts, incorporated them in a report of which he claimed the paternity, using the thunder as if he was the Jove that made it.
That his public services, his carly and continual devotion to the cause of internal improvements, have never been sufficiently appre- ciated, will be generally conceded. That he entertained a deep sense of this neglect, and that it weighed heavily upon a sensitive mind-is well known to those who enjoyed his intimacy; and is it to be wondered at, that one who had so eminently contributed to public prosperity, should have manifested a laudable ambition to receive at the hands of that public some suitable recognition of the debt of gratitude, that was due to him?
Mr. Hawley was a resident of Lockport, Niagara county, at the period of his death-Jan. 1842. He was spending an evening at the house of a friend in the adjoining town of Cambria, when he was suddenly attacked with hemorrhage of the lungs, and expired in a few minutes.
The remains of one so conspicuously identified with the history of the Erie canal, occupy a spot of elevated ground in the rural Cold Spring cemetery, near Lockport, overlooking the great work he projected. Now that justice has been done to the memory of De Witt Clinton, by provisions for a suitable monument, next to his services, are there any that better deserve a similar public acknow- ledgment, than those of Jesse Hawley?
Resuming the brief sketch of the progress of the canal westward, we can only allude to the prominent events. In 1816 the route of the canal west of Genesee river had not been determined. In that year, Mr. Ellicott employed Mr. Peacock to explore a route from Buffalo to the site of the present village of Pendleton, and thence eastwardly, south of the Mountain Ridge, to the Genesee river. The summit of this route, proved to be 75 feet above lake Erie, which of course prevented its adoption. At the same time, James Geddes surveyed a route from Pendleton northwardly to the Moun- tain Ridge; and thence eastwardly to the Genesee river. This route was afterwards, in the main, adopted, the principal variation being at Lockport. The attention of the commissioners being engrossed with the middle section, nothing farther was done west of the Genesee river, until near the close of 1819, and then no more than the adoption of Mr. Geddes' northern route. In 1820, David
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Thomas was appointed principal engineer west of the Genesee river. In that year he carefully examined Geddes' line from Rochester to Pendleton, and made examinations of the Tonawanda creek. He varied the line from Pendleton to Lockport, from the survey of Mr. Geddes which had proposed descending the Mountain Ridge, in the gorge, a mile and a quarter west of the present locks; a variation which has been fully approved by time, and upon the score of practical utility; and another important and judicious variation east of the Oak Orchard creek. David Thomas' survey and report was adopted in the spring of 1821, and the rock sections at Lockport, immediately put under contract. During the summer, the principal engineer, revised the line from Rochester westward, and extended it up the Niagara river to Buffalo. The whole was put under con- tract before the close of 1821, and prosecuted with a vigor that public anxiety and expectation demanded, as the great work approached nearer and nearer to a consummation.
A detached history of the western section of the canal, would involve a long and bitter controversy, touching its termination at the foot of lake Erie-a rivalship between Buffalo and Black Rock, if indeed, even then it could not well be dispensed with. Ere the record of that controversy, which should be made now had lost its freshness, PROGRESS, the vastly increasing commercial operations at the foot of lake Erie, will have so far outstripped the sectional views of the men of that period, that even the land marks of their controversy will be obliterated.
Never in any age or country, has a public work, of any kind, been carried on by agents more faithful and persevering, than were the men who had charge of the construction of the Erie Canal from the Genesee river, to lake Erie; and this local designation is not made for the sake of any invidous comparison with other portions of the great work. The earliest commissioner identified with construction, was Myron Holley; so eminently able and faithful were his services that the recollection and acknowledgment of them, outlive and pal- liate the mixed offence of fault and misfortune, with which they were destined to close. His successor was William C. Bouck. Who, at the west, who had cognizance of those times and their local events, does not remember how faithful and indefatigable, he was in the discharge of his duties? Or, almost imagine that they can see him now as they saw him in those primitive canal times, traversing the forest on horseback and on foot, from the log shanties of one
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