USA > New York > Monroe County > Rochester > Settlement in the West : sketches of Rochester with incidental notices of western New-York > Part 21
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48
" Rochester, 18th December, 1837. " HENRY O'REILLY, EsQ.
"DEAR SIR-Your inquiries relative to the facts con- nected with the commencement of the construction of the Erie Canal west of the Seneca River I will now proceed to answer.
" From the beginning of our great system of canal im- provements, a strong party existed in the state who fa- voured the project of passing from the middle section to Lake Erie by way of Oswego and a lateral cut around the Falls of Niagara. This party offered no strenuous resist- ance to the opening of the canal from the Rome Summit to Montezuma ; but, after that portion of the line was contracted for and nearly finished, exerted itself with ingenuity and perseverance to accomplish its object. Its views required that the canal commissioners should be restrained by the Legislature from making contracts for work on the line west of the middle section. It was in the winter of 1820 that the
220
SKETCHES OF ROCHESTER, ETC.
crisis arrived between the party in question and the friends of the inland route.
" At a late day of the session of the Legislature of the preceding winter authority had been given to the commis- sioners to extend their operations over the entire lines not previously surveyed and let out, of both the Erie and Cham- plain Canals, under a limited but liberal appropriation. 'This extension of authority had been earnestly opposed, but not very vigorously ; because full concert of action had not been secured between the opponents of the whole canal policy and the friends of the Oswego route ; and because it was deemed impracticable by the public for the commis- sioners, during the season next after it was granted, to do much more than complete the middle section and make some preliminary surveys on the other sections.
" At this time Mr. Seymour and myself were acting com- missioners on the Erie Canal. Early in the season we di- rected Engineer White to enter upon the surveys between the Seneca and Genesee Rivers. The facts previously un- derstood, with the knowledge soon acquired by Mr. White, left no room for doubt or hesitation as to the general location of the line between Montezuma and Rochester; and this latter place was perceived to be a necessary point on the line.
" Under these circumstances, and with a special reference to the approaching crisis in legislative action, in July I di- rected Mr. White to proceed to Rochester and ascertain carefully where the Genesee could best be crossed, and thence to lay out the line easterly as far as he could, mark- ing its dimensions by stakes, and dividing it into suitable sections for actual contract. To these directions he indus- triously conformed.
" In October, 1819, the canal commissioners held a meet- ing at Utica. Well aware of the progress of Mr. White, I moved the board at that meeting to pass a resolution that all the line east from Rochester, located and prepared, should be, as soon as practicable, let out to contractors and put in the course of actual construction. This motion was resisted by Mr. Seymour, but was adopted by the votes of Messrs. Clinton, Van Rensselaer, and myself-Mr. Young not being present.
" Under this resolution about twenty-six miles of canal, from Rochester to near Palmyra, were let out previous'y to the meeting of the Legislature, and a large amount of money justly earned upon them.
221
PROGRESS OF IMPROVEMENT.
" In January, 1820, the Legislature met. It soon ap- peared that the friends of the Oswego route were determined to prosecute their views with increased zeal and pertinacity. Both in the Legislature and out of it they were numerous and active. An intelligent canal committee was raised in the Assembly, with Geo. Huntington, of Oneida county, for its chairman ; and to them were referred the canal interests for that branch of the Legislature.
" The doubters and opposers of the canal policy had early proposed to levy a local tax, from the vicinity of the line adopted, to assist in defraying the cost of the works. A resolution in favour of this proposition was introduced, and referred to the committee. But the great measure of the friends of the Oswego route was a resolution introduced to confine all canal expenditures to the eastern section of the Erie Canal and the Champlain Canal, till they should both be completed. This resolution was also referred to the canal committee.
" The adoption of this last resolution by the Legislature, it was plain, would constitute an essential modification of the state policy. The subscriber was thoroughly persuaded that such a modification would be vitally mischievous, and la- boured with much zeal to avert it. The committee requested the views of the canal commissioners on the two resolutions. In answer to this request, a letter was drawn up by me, with great labour of inquiry and anxious consideration, and sub- mitted to the board. A majority of the board approved it, signed it, and sent it to the committee-Messrs. Young and Seymour withheld their sanction from it. The committee reported so far in favour of the views presented in the letter as to advise against interfering with the plans of the com- missioners. Their report was opposed with much warmth and persistency, but prevailed, and the Legislature upheld the policy, which led to the speedy completion of the canals, and has already issued so happily for the interests and honour of the state. With much respect,
" Your ob't. servant, " MYRON HOLLEY."
The incertitude which prevailed even at this period re- specting the location of the canal route between Genesee River and Lake Erie may be inferred from the language of the commissioners in their report of 1820 :-
19*
222
SKETCHES OF ROCHESTER, ETC.
" Valentine Gill, Esq., has been employed as an engineer, with the necessary assistants, to explore the country, in ref- erence to the best establishment of the canal line from Gan- net's Millpond in Palmyra, with which the old level was connected, westerly to the Genesee River, at a point about twelve miles south of Rochester, and thence westerly to Buf- falo Creek. The easterly part of Mr. Gill's line has been rejected in favour of the more northerly route ; but he thinks that a line from Rochester may be run southwesterly so as to intersect with his line west of the Genesee River, and from the point of intersection be carried through the counties of Genesee and Niagara to a junction with the waters of Lake Erie, south of Buffalo. The great objection to a southern route through the Holland Purchase is the fear of a deficiency of water to supply it, as such route must necessarily be car- ried far above the level of Lake Erie. Mr. Gill's summit level is about ninety-four feet above Lake Erie; but he is of opinion that it may be extended more than forty miles, so as to embrace the waters of Wescoy, of Allen's, of Tonne- wanta, of Ellicott's, and of Little Buffalo Creeks, which, he thinks, in the driest season would furnish a copious supply. In a country so new, and of which a great part is still cov- ered by standing timber, the interests of the canal require that great precaution should be taken in the definitive estab- lishment of the canal line. It will be proper that other ex- aminations should be prosecuted throughout the country west of the Genesee River previous to a final decision of the route."
But the commissioners soon after decided in favour of the northern route between the Genesee and Lake Erie-the uncertainty as to the sufficiency of water on the summit level counterbalancing the advantages offered by the Tonnewanta Valley-while the cutting through the mountain ridge at Lockport, expensive as was the task, found an offset in the advantage of being able to supply water through that route from the lake as far eastward as the Cayuga Marshes. This was the course originally suggested by Jesse Hawley.
The middle section, from Utica to Seneca River (which was very prudently commenced first, as the facility of con- struction thereupon encouraged the people to undertake the more difficult sections east and west), was rendered navigable in October, 1819. Operations on the other two sections were commenced simultaneously, as stated in the preceding
223
PROGRESS OF IMPROVEMENT.
letter of Myron Holley. In 1819-20, forty-three miles of the western section, chiefly east of the Genesee, and twenty-six miles of the eastern section were let to contractors. Early in 1821 the remainder of the eastern and the principal por- tion of the western (from the Genesee to the Tonnewanta) were put under contract. Parts of the western and eastern sections were so far completed in 1821 as to permit the pas- sage of boats from the east side of the Genesee in Rochester as far eastward as Little Falls on the Mohawk. In No- vember, 1823, boats from Rochester entered the basin at Albany, along with the first boats that passed through the Champlain Canal, then just completed.
The western section from Buffalo to Montezuma is 158 miles long, having 21 locks and 106 feet fall ; the middle, from Montezuma to Utica, is 96 miles long, with 11 locks, and 95 feet rise and fall ; the eastern, from Utica to Albany, is 110 miles long, with 84 locks and 417 feet fall. The level of the junction of the Erie and Champlain Canals near Albany is 44 feet above tide-the Schenectady level, 226- the Utica level, 425-Montezuma level, 370-Rochester, 506-Lockport level, 565.
Such was the speed with which the canals were con- structed, notwithstanding all the difficulties necessarily en- countered, that, within eight years and four months from the commencement made on the middle section at Rome on the 4th of July, 1817, the whole line from Buffalo to Albany was navigated by the flotilla that left Lake Erie to participate in the festivities which were closed with the " Grand Canal Celebration" at New-York on the 4th of November, 1824. Governor Clinton, the canal commissioners, and other well- known individuals, proceeded with the fleet on this interest- ing occasion ; and demonstrations along the whole route (especially at Rochester, Lockport, Palmyra, Lyons, Syra- cuse, and Utica) testified the enthusiastic feelings which pervaded the people on beholding the happy consummation of works which very many who saw the commencement expected not to see completed within their lifetime. A committee, of which Jesse Hawley was chairman, repre- sented the people of Rochester at the incipient festivities in Buffalo, where a spirited celebration occurred as the flo- tilla of boats commenced the triumphal voyage for the har- bour of New-York and the waters of the Atlantic. On that occasion Mr. Hawley delivered an address, " brief and pe-
224
SKETCHES OF ROCHESTER, ETC.
culiarly appropriate," says Colonel Stone, " in behalf of the citizens of Rochester." He said he was deputed " to min- gle and reciprocate their mutual congratulations with the citizens of Buffalo on this grand epoch." 'The canal, as a matter of state pride, was spoken of with much felicity-" A work that will constitute the lever of industry, population, and wealth to our republic-a pattern for our sister states to imitate-an exhibition to the world of the moral force of a free and enlightened people." At the conclusion of his re- marks, Mr. Hawley rendered tribute to the " projectors who devised, the statesmen who assumed the responsibility of the undertaking at the hazard of their reputation, the legislators who granted the supplies, the commissioners who planned, the engineers who laid out, and the men who executed this magnificent work." An appropriate reply was made by Oliver Forward on behalf of the citizens of Buffalo.
An account of the scene presented at Rochester as the flotilla passed eastward is thus given in the narrative of the canal celebration, prepared by Colonel Stone at the request of the New-York corporation :
" At ROCHESTER, too, a rich and beautiful town, which, disdaining, as it were, the intermediate grade of a village, has sprung from a hamlet to the full-grown size, wealth, and importance of a city, the interesting period was celebrated in a manner equally creditable to the country and occasion. There was considerable rain at Rochester on the day of the celebration ; yet such was the enthusiasm of the people, that at two o'clock eight handsome uniform companies were in arms, and an immense concourse of people had assem- bled. The companies were formed in line upon the canal, and on the approach of the procession of boats from the West commenced firing a feu de joie, which was continued until they arrived at the Aqueduct,* where the boat called the ' Young Lion of the West' was stationed to 'protect the entrance.' 'The Pioneer boat was hailed from the Young Lion, and the following dialogue ensued :
* " After descending the celebrated locks at Lockport, the canal takes an easterly direction, about one to three miles south of the Allu- vial Way, or Ridge Road, with the descent of a half inch in each mile to the Genesee River at Rochester-sixty-three miles ; in this distance it passes over several aqueducts and deep ravines, and arriving at the Genesee, crosses over that river in a stone aqueduct of nine arches, each of fifty feet span, and two other arches and aqueducts of forty feet cach, one on each side of the river, over the Mill Canals."
225
PROGRESS OF IMPROVEMENT.
" Question. Who comes there ?
" Answer. Your brothers from the West on the waters of the great lakes.
" Q. By what means have they been diverted so far from their natural course ?
" A. By the channel of the Grand Erie Canal.
" Q. By whose authority, and by whom, was a work of such magnitude accomplished ?
" A. By the authority and by the enterprise of the patri- otic people of the State of New-York.
" Here the ' Young Lion' gave way, and 'the brethren from the West' were permitted to enter Child's basin at the end of the aqueduct. The Rochester and Canandai- gua Committees of Congratulation then took their places under an arch surmounted by an eagle, and the Seneca Chief, having the committees on board, being moored, General Vincent Matthews and the Hon. John C. Spencer ascended the deck and offered to the governor the congratulations of the citizens of their respective villages, to which an animated and cordial reply was given. The gentlemen from the West then disembarked, and a procession was formed, which re- paired to the Presbyterian Church, where an appropriate prayer was made by the Rev. Mr. Penney and an address pronounced by TIMOTHY CHILDS, Esq. The address of Mr. Childs was an able and eloquent performance, clothed with ' words that breathe and thoughts that burn.' It was lis- tened to with almost breathless silence, and greeted at its close with three rounds of animated applause. After the address, the company repaired to Christopher's Mansion House, partook of a good dinner, and drunk a set of excel- lent toasts. General MATTHEWS presided, assisted by JES- SE HAWLEY and JONATHAN CHILD, Esqrs. At half past seven, the time fixed for the departure of the guests, the company reluctantly rose from a board where the most gen- erous sentiments were given and received with unsurpassed enthusiasm, and the governor and the several committees were escorted to the basin, and embarked amid the congrat- ulations of their fellow-citizens. The celebration was con- cluded with a grand ball and a general illumination ; and nothing occurred to mar the pleasure of the day. The fol- lowing gentlemen embarked in the 'Young Lion of the West' as a Committee for New-York, viz. : Elisha B. Strong, Levi Ward, A. V. T. Leavett, Wm. B, Rochester,
226
SKETCHES OF ROCHESTER, ETC.
M. Hulbert, A. Reynolds, A. Strong, R. Beach, E. Johnson, and E. S. Beach, Esquires."
Having devoted considerable space to the "projectors, statesmen, and legislators" who aided in the great enterprise, we cannot pass without naming the " commissioners who planned and the engineers who laid out" the magnificent work. The acting commissioners during the construction of the Erie and Champlain Canals were Myron Holley, Samuel Young, Henry Seymour, Truman Hart, and William C. Bouck. Mr. Hart had been appointed to fill the vacancy occasioned by the resignation of Joseph Ellicott in 1818 ; and Mr. Seymour was afterward appointed in lieu of Mr. Hart. Mr. Bouck was substituted for De Witt Clinton, when the latter (through an error which may furnish useful lessons to the politician) was removed from the station of commis- sioner. Col. Young had charge of the Champlain Canal. The three sections into which the Erie Canal was divided were assigned to different commissioners. De Witt Clinton and Stephen Van Rensselaer were not what is termed " acting" commissioners, though they rendered much service gratuitously. The acting commissioners, who were steadily employed in the business, and who performed considerable service properly belonging to engineers, were allowed $2000 per annum.
The engineers on the Erie Canal were Benj. Wright, J. Geddes, Canvass White, David Thomas, Nathan S. Roberts, David S. Bates, Chas. C. Broadhead, Valentine Gill, and Isaac Briggs. Mr. Roberts, Mr. Bates, and Mr. Gill are now residents of Rochester. On the Champlain Canal, Lewis Garin was engineer for a short time, but Wil- liam Jerome took charge in that capacity in 1820. The state may well pride itself on the practical talent exhibited by this corps of engineers, almost self-taught in canalling. The perfection of their work is the highest eulogy on their scientific character.
The report of the canal board in 1826 stated that the whole expense of constructing the Erie and Champlain Ca- nals, including interest upon loans, was $10,731,594. The anticipation expressed that the amount of the then outstand- ing debt (about seven and three quarter millions, payable in 1837 and 1845) could be fully discharged in ten years from that date, has been happily realized, as sufficient funds for the purpose were accumulated in 1836, notwithstanding the
227
PROGRESS OF IMPROVEMENT.
reduction of tolls and salt duties, and the unexpected heavi- ness of the charges for repairs.
The effects of cheapening transportation are signally il- lustrated in the history of the Erie Canal, and form strong arguments in furtherance of the ENLARGEMENT OF THAT CA- NAL-the increased volume of water being calculated to per- mit the passage of boats with double or treble the present tonnage, without materially increasing the cost of traction or management in those vessels. The canal commissioners, in their reports to the Legislature, have calculated that a reduction of at least fifty per cent. in the rate of transporta- tion would immediately follow the enlargement. The ex- amples cited by the commissioners in sustenance of the pol- icy of reducing tolls to the lowest practicable point are worthy of particular attention in connexion with the history of our internal improvements :
" A reduction in the rates of toll might be desirable from its beneficial influence upon trade," say the commissioners, " even though the revenues of the state should be diminished by the operation. The revenue from tolls is a minor inter- est when compared with the twenty millions in value of pro- ducts coming to market, the sale of 20 or 30 millions of merchandise, and the benefit derived from the transportation of this property upon the river, the canals, and the lakes. Notwithstanding the great reduction in the rates of toll here- tofore made, the aggregate amount of revenue from the ca- nals, for three years since the reduction commenced, ex- ceeds the amount received for three years at the old rates by more than a million of dollars." The amount of tolls on the Erie and Champlain Canals for 1830-31-32, at the old rates, formed a total of $3,185,469. In 1833-34-35, at the reduced rates, the product of toll on those canals was $4,209,604.
" The beneficial effects on revenue as well as trade of cheapening transportation may be illustrated by a few ex- amples. Previous to 1827, the toll on tobacco prevented its transportation through the Erie Canal ; in that year the toll was reduced to the constitutional minimum. For 1828, there are no tables showing the quantity of tobacco coming to market from the west; but in 1829 there came to tide water 32 tons-in 1830, 62 tons-in 1831, 222 tons-in 1832, 386 tons-in 1833, 535 tons-in 1834, 1009 tons- and in 1835, 1750 tons.
228
SKETCHES OF ROCHESTER, ETC.
"In 1829, the toll on copperas was reduced to the con- stitutional minimum, on a representation that the quantity produced in Vermont, which had previously been carried to Boston by land, would by such reduction be transported to New-York through the Champlain Canal. During the first season after the reduction, 110 tons of copperas were cleared at Whitehall, and this quantity has increased from year to year, until, in 1835, the quantity cleared was 693 tons ..
" In 1829, on a petition from the millers of Rochester, the toll on bran and ship stuff was reduced 50 per cent. ; the result of which has been that the season after the reduction was made, 590 tons came to tide water, and during 1835, 3592 tons.were transported on the canals, being worth in market $86,348.
" In the spring of 1833, the Ohio Canal was opened from Cleveland to the Ohio River, and in the anticipation of this event the canal board made a general reduction in the rates of toll equal to an average of 20 per cent. on all commodities. And in the summer of 1833 a meeting was held between a committee of the Ohio Canal commissioners and our canal board, at which it was agreed to reduce the tolls on merchan- dise on the New-York and Ohio Canals 25 per cent., the reduction to take effect in 1834. This arrangement was carried into effect by both parties. The reduction on the New-York canals in the two years referred to, on all arti- cles coming from or going to the Western states, was equal to 352 per cent. These reductions were made with a view of enabling our merchants to send their goods through the New-York and Ohio Canals into the valleys of the Ohio and Mississippi ; a region from which they had been excluded through the route of the Erie Canal previous to the opening of the Ohio Canal. The tables now presented, exhibiting the quantity of merchandise sent to other states, show the success which has attended these efforts. Of the goods sent to Ohio, large quantities reach Cincinnati, Louisville, and other points on the Ohio River, and limited quantities are sent to Missouri, Tennessee, and Alabama.
" During the last three years goods have been sent by the route of the Erie Canal to Huntsville, in the state of Ala- bama. The distance from the City of New-York to Hunts- ville is as follows, viz. : r
From New-York to Albany, on the river, 150 miles
Albany to Buffalo, by canal, ยท
363
229
PROGRESS OF IMPROVEMENT.
From Buffalo to Cleveland, by lake, . 200 miles
66 Cleveland to Portsmouth, by canal, 309
Portsmouth to Cincinnati, by Ohio River, 113
Cincinnati to mouth of Tennessee
River, 500
" Up Tennessee River to Florence, 300
" Florence to Huntsville, by land, 75
2010 miles
" Of this distance 672 miles are canal navigation, on which the transportation can be essentially cheapened ; 1. By a reduction of tolls ; and, 2. By enlarging and improving the canals. The improvement of the Erie Canal, it is esti- mated, will diminish the cost of transportation on it 50 per cent. ; and it is quite probable that a reduction of 50 per cent. in the rates of toll would produce such an increase of business as not essentially to diminish the revenues of the canals."
The reduction of charges which would accompany the in- creased facilities for transportation afforded by an enlarge- ment of the Erie Canal-a reduction equal to at least fifty per cent .- coupled with the further reduction of toll here suggested by the commissioners, would render the Erie Ca- nal emphatically " the great highway" between the Atlantic and the interior seas, bidding defiance to all competition in the general transportation of freight between the east and the west.
The movements of the canal commissioners in 1835, in favour of enlargement and double locks, were followed by a law authorizing the work to be prosecuted with the surplus revenue of the canals, after discharging all encumbrances for repairs, &c. Sixty feet topwater width and a depth of six feet were the dimensions first proposed for the enlarged trunk ; but the urgent recommendations of some meetings in the west found a ready response in the decision of the com- missioners for increasing those dimensions to seventy feet in one way and seven feet in the other. Nowhere has the policy of this measure been more cordially sustained than in Rochester. The people of that city expressed their convic- tions that an enlargement to even eighty feet in width and eight feet in depth would be nowise impolitic, for the pur- pose of showing the canal board that they were prepared to
20
230
SKETCHES OF ROCHESTER, ETC.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.