USA > Ohio > History of Ohio; the rise and progress of an American state, Volume Three > Part 24
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Second, the year 1820 was the beginning of the most progressive period in her history. Marked as had been her progress up to this date, an era of still greater improvement was in store for Ohio. The agencies of this revival proved to be the canals and the common school system, both of which, by a singular coincidence, can trace their birth to the same General Assembly, and in fact to the same day and hour. Their wonder- ful and far-reaching influence in developing the intellectual and material resources of Ohio, forms one of the most interesting subjects in our civil history. They are worthy of all the details that the historian can bestow upon them, and no student can fully understand why Ohio has become so steadfastly progressive without taking into account, as the most powerful factors, her internal improvements and educational system.
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THE RISE AND PROGRESS
The connection of the Ohio River with Lake Erie was broached very early by Washington and Jefferson, even before the passage of the Ordinance of 1787. The policy of projecting and constructing internal improvements was practically introduced into Ameri- can politics by a Senator from Ohio, Thomas Worth- ington, who, in 1814, became Governor of his State. He was the author of a resolution proposed in 1807, asking the Secretary of the Treasury (Albert Gallatin) to report to the Senate "a plan for the application of such means as are within the power of Congress, to the purposes of opening roads and making canals, together with a statement of undertakings of that nature, which, as objects of public improvement, may require and deserve the aid of the Government."
This power was disputed strenuously by a school of strict constitutional objectors, who claimed that there was no power in the Federal Government to make such projects or expenditures. But the march of improvement could not be stopped, and the ideas of Thomas Worthington entered into and became elements of our National policy. The Government never at any time contemplated the construction of canals in Ohio, but it gave National aid by grants of land, as we shall see hereafter, amounting to vast areas and of great value.
It took time and changed conditions to develop Worthington's ideas into practice. The evolution to this end blossomed forth as the State grew in im- portance and density of settlement. We need but to recall the primitive modes of travel to see that progress in domestic communication was inevitable.
PERRY'S VICTORY From the original painting by William H. Powell in the Capitol at Columbus.
This painting was executed under a contract authorized by a joint resolution of the General Assembly of Ohio, passed, April 17, 1857; April 13, 1865, the General Assem- bly authorized the Governor to purchase the painting for ten thousand dollars.
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THE RISE AND PROGRESS
The connectionYAOTOLV OLAN liver with Lake Erie was brwiallowed HasiliW| vdbanifningsIstinite adt amor Jefferson. .andmulod ts lotigs? ont
even before the passage, of the Ordinance of 1787.
Tot. ghithisq ont sasdoing of Tom9von odt besitodius vld can politics by a Senator from 2 snobbasablons nos Worth- ington, who, in 1814, became Governor of his State. He was the author of a resolution proposed in 1807. asking the Secretary of the Treasury (Albert Gallnin) to report to the Senate "a plan for the application of such means as are within the power of Congress, to the purposes of opening roads and making canals, together with a statement of undertakings of what nature, which, as objects of public improvement may require and deserve the aid of the Governm
This power was disputed strenuously by a s of strict constitutional objectors, who claimed there was no power in the Federal Government make such projects or expenditures. But the march of improvement could not be stopped, and the ideas of Thomas Worthington entered into and becine elements of our National policy. The Governme never at any time contemplated the construction canals in Ohio, but it gave National aid by grant land, z& we shall see hereafter, amounting to vant areas and of great value.
It took time and changed conditions to develop Worthington's ideas into practice. The evolution to this end blossomed forth as the State grew in im- portance and density of settlement. We need hvor to recall the primitive modes of travel to see this progress in domestic communication was inevitable.
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OF AN AMERICAN STATE
The land transportation from Ohio over the moun- cainous nu muddy roads rendered commerce almost impossible. The six-horse covered "mover" wagons, the driver iding the near wheel horse, toiled labo- riously over these miserable roads which were stoned or corduroyed only in the worst places. As a result a large portion of the merchandise was carried on the backs of the patient horses. The arrival and departure of the stage coach which carried passengers and mail were familiar and important events to the villagers in the first part of the century in Ohio.
The necessity for better methods of overland travel brought about the establishment of turnpikes and improved roads. In 1806 such was the difficulty of trans-Alleghany travel that Congress ordered the construction of the National road from Cumberland, Maryland, to Wheeling on the Ohio River, and thence across the State through Columbus to the western boundary. This road was completed to the Ohio line in 1825, and finally completed to the Indiana line. Much of this turnpike was well paved with broken stone and cost a great deal of labor and money.
In 1808 by a treaty made with the Indians, they granted the right of way for a road to be built from the Firelands, the western end of the "Western Reserve," to Perrysburg on the Maumee. In 1823 Congress granted to Ohio considerable territory on each side of the road, provided she would complete the road in four years. The gift was accepted and the condition fulfilled. Other good roads, mainly graded clay roads, were built from Columbus and Cincinnati to various points, and one from Warren
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THE RISE AND PROGRESS
to Lake Erie. But before a general system was devised and undertaken, canals and railroads had demonstrated that they would afford the chief means of inland transportation, and road making ceased.
The extensive system of internal improvements, represented by the canals, was only inaugurated by force of the deplorable situation which the people of that time found themselves confronting. While Ohio's increase of population as evidenced by the fourth census was phenomenal, she remained poor. This was due almost entirely to a failure to secure an adequate market for her surplus farm products, and consequently these products produced almost no revenue.
Few now appreciate the poverty of Ohio during this period. In 1825 the entire revenue of the State from taxation was only $131,733.48. The population was almost wholly rural, with a revenue from the farms correspondingly low. In 1822 wheat was selling at 25 cents a bushel, corn at 1212 cents, oats at 14 cents and potatoes at 1834 cents; pork sold at 2 cents a pound, beef 3 cents, butter 6 cents, wool 50 cents and flax 10 cents; eggs were 4 cents a dozen and chickens 5 cents each. It must also be remembered that nearly all exchange was by barter, and except in house- holds and for family purposes there was practically no manufacturing. Under all these conditions it was apparent that there might be a large population in Ohio, but not progress nor material prosperity. A few wise and far-seeing men realized that the State with its richness of soil, inexhaustible mineral resources and opportunities for manufactures, could never reach
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its proper destiny so long as land was cheap, money scarce and the inhabitants poor.
New York was solving the same problem by building the Erie canal and was meeting with success. The men who espoused a similar improvement for Ohio were among the foremost of that period, but they had little encouragement at first. They had to convince a scattered population of poor landowners that in order to make profitable their undeveloped treasures, a vast and costly system of canals was necessary; that this improvement would burden them with heavy taxes, but that in the end they would be enriched an hundred fold, and that the markets of the East and South would be brought to their doors. This was a great and almost hopeless task, but the men back of this sentiment were really of great courage, ability and foresight, and they had an unbounded confidence in the future of the State that inspired them with an indomitable spirit.
The first steps toward the construction of canals can be traced to Ethan Allen Brown of Cincinnati. In 1806, while he was a judge of the Superior Court, he corresponded with DeWitt Clinton of New York upon canal projects. Clinton was at that time the leading figure of the Board of Canal Commissioners of New York, and an enthusiastic advocate of the Erie Canal. Judge Brown saw the immense im- . portance of connecting the Ohio River with the lakes and urged upon every occasion the consummation of such an enterprise. During the years 1817 and 1818 a healthy sentiment was developed as to the necessity of maturing and acting upon some great system of
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THE RISE AND PROGRESS
Internal Improvements. Throughout these two years the newspapers of the State teemed with essays or the subject; debating societies took it in hand; public speakers impressed the minds of the people with its importance; and every agent and channel calculatec to create a favorable public sentiment was employed
This sentiment was not crystallized into concrete form until Ethan Allen Brown was elected governor in 1818. Here he had the power and influence to bring before the people of his State the great idea o. his life. So enthusiastic and determined was he ir behalf of the proposed canals, that his opponent: designated the entire project as "Brown's Folly.'
In his inaugural address, December 14, 1818, he said: "If we would raise the character of our State by increasing industry and our resources, it seems necessary to improve the internal communications and open a cheaper way to market for the surplus produce of a large portion of our fertile country.'
Again, in his first message to the Legislature, or the 8th of January following his inauguration, he urges that body to action: "You will bear in mind that our productions, which form our only great resource, are generally of that bulky and ponderou! description as to need every easement in conveyance that we can afford. Experience is a faithful monitor and the millions expended for transportation during the late war may teach a useful lesson; another may be learned from the present difference between the price of salt on the lake shore and on the Ohio. have already evinced an anxiety on this subject excited by a strong sense of its vital importance
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OF AN AMERICAN STATE
Roads and canals are veins and arteries to the body politic that diffuse supplies, health, vigor and ani- mation to the whole system; nor is this idea of their extensive and beneficial influences new.
"The evidence in the old world is ample-in the United States sufficient. Massachusetts, Virginia, North and South Carolina, have proved the usefulness of artificial navigation. New York is making progress in a work in grandeur not surpassed by the achieve- ments of art that connect by water the North Sea with the English Channel, the Caspian with the Baltic, or the Mediterranean with the Bay of Biscay.
"Nature strongly invites us to similar enterprise. The aspect of the face of this state announces capa- bilities for the grand object in question, exceeded, I presume, by few regions of the same extent, yet with what exertions practicable, or how far within our means, cannot be ascertained without the assistance of an engineer. I appeal to each individual member who has considered the bill introduced into the Senate for incorporating a company to cut a canal from Lake Erie to the Ohio whether he has not felt a diffi- culty in deciding, from want of information which a skillful survey could have furnished? Unwilling to act in the dark, yet fearful of discouraging a project so grand and magnificent, fraught with an influence upon our relations, commercial and fiscal, almost incalculable. Unconscious, on the one hand, what privileges the company might be justly entitled to as their reward-what other encouragement they might deserve-and what sacrifices, public and private, justifiable, for completing a work so immense, yet
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THE RISE AND PROGRESS
sensible, on the other hand, that the resources at present within your control may be inadequate to the con- struction and formation of great commercial roads and extensive canals; and for the latter purpose dependent in a great degree upon individual enter- prise and private capital.
"Your acquaintance with mankind and with the condition of the country, forbidding the expectation that individuals will embark an immense capital in an arduous undertaking and incur the risk and incident delay before their stock shall become productive; un- less induced by ultimate prospect of great advantages. The report of your engineer would relieve you from such hesitation."
The result of the Governor's recommendations was an act which provided for the appointment of three commissioners to locate a route for a canal; but obstructions were placed in the way of its execution and nothing was accomplished under it. In the Twentieth General Assembly, December 6, 1821, Micajah T. Williams of Cincinnati, one of the Repre- sentatives from Hamilton County, offered a resolution providing for the appointment of a committee of five members to consider and report on so much of the Governor's message as related to the canals. This committee was the active force that initiated the movement fraught with so much importance to Ohio; its members were Micajah T. Williams of Hamilton County, chairman, Thomas Howe of Trumbull, Thomas Worthington of Ross, William H. Moore of Mus- kingum and John Shelby of Logan and Wood. It is an interesting fact to record here, as showing the
NCEPS
STAGNO
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MEDAL
Awarded to Captain Oliver Hazard Perry, by Resolu- tion of the Congress of the United States, January 6, 1814.
Obverse: OLIVERUS H. PERRY, PRINCEPS STAGNO ERIENSE. CLASSIM TOTAM CONTUDIT. (Oliver H. Perry, commander-in-chief, destroyed on Lake Erie an entire fleet.) Bust of Captain Perry, in uniform, facing the right.
Reverse: VIAM INVENIT VITRUS AUT FACIT. (Valor finds or makes a way.) The United States fleet on Lake Erie, carrying fifty-four guns, and commanded by Captain Perry, stands out to meet the British fleet with sixty-three guns, under Captain Barclay. Beneath: INTER CLASS. AMERI. ET BRIT. DIE X. SEP. MDCCCXIII. (Inter classim Americanam et Britannicam, die 10 Septembris, 1813: Between the American and British fleets, Septem- ber 10, 1813.) FURST. F. (Maker).
INVENIT
VIRTUS AUT
VIAM
FACIT
INTER CLASS.AMERI ET BRIT. DIE X.SEP. MDCCCXHL. FURST.Y.
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THE RISE AND PROGNO
sensible, on the other hAddMhat the resources at pr withitloes bud .xusfosseHasvilDenistasdos bebiswÃo the struction, and formation of great commercial ONДАТЬ гЯПОНІЯЧ YAna .H. RUsaVIJO : 9219vdO and , Lesgensvffo) canadinonMAIOT MezAtbe Heattid depetrishonas jiHadsdene bevorteob tido ni-rehabideia .Jdgit adt griost . Miotinu fi Y1194 nistasO to fand (.to9h prise and private capital.
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less induced by ultime fafe avant The report of your engineer would relieve you such hesitation."
The result of the Governor's recommendations an act which provided for the appointment of t commissioners to locate a route for a canal; obstructions were placed in the way of its execut and nothing was accomplished under it. In Twentieth General Assembly, December 6, 18 Micajah T. Williams of Cincinnati, one of the Rej sentatives from Hamilton County, offered a resolul providing for the appointment of a committee of members to consider and report on so much of Governor's message as related to the canals. T committee was the active force that initiated movement fraught with so much importance to Oh its members were Micajah T. Williams of Hamilt County, chairman, Thomas Howe of Trumbull, Thon Worthington of Ross, William H. Moore of Mu kingum and John Shelby of Logan and Wood. is an interesting fact to record here, as showing
RRY. PRINCEPS STAGNO
OLIVERUS H. PERRY.
ERIENSE,
CLASSIM
TOTAM CONTUD
INVENIT
VIRTUS AUT
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INTER CLASS. AMERI. ET BRIT. DIE X.SEP. MDCCCXIII. FURST.F.
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OF AN AMERICAN STATE
harmonious relationship between the friends of the canals and education, that within fifteen minutes after the passage of this resolution, Caleb Atwater, a Representative from Pickaway County offered a resolution which was immediately adopted, providing for a committee on schools and school lands.
The report of the committee on the question of canal navigation between Lake Erie and the Ohio River was made to the House of Representatives, January 3, 1822. It was a powerful and elaborate argument for canals as a promoter of the agricultural, manufacturing and commercial interests of Ohio. With painstaking detail, it gave the advantages of cheap transportation to the farmer and manufacturer, and demonstrated its powerful influence in cementing the bond of union between the states by its far-reaching intercourse and interest. Even the canal as a military factor was considered at length, and its political importance was shown to be great. In short, this report viewed the proposed canal system from every conceivable standpoint. Its practicability, its utility, its expense, its effect, its growth, its influence, all were treated with a pen worthy of the vast subject, and from a decidedly statesmanlike point of view.
The report dwelt upon three particulars: the expense, the profits and the means. It went into a comparison of the cost of the Erie Canal with the Ohio Canal and demonstrated that the latter could be constructed at much less expense. It showed how it would benefit the State by revenue, and the shippers by cheap transportation. The desirable market was that of New York, which was preferred from a mone-
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THE RISE AND PROGRESS
tary standpoint to New Orleans. Flour in Cincinnati was $3.50 a barrel, in New York it was $8.00. A canal, said this report, could ship this flour to New York for $1.70 a barrel, a profit of $2.80. Attention was called to the fact that there were 130,000 barrels of flour inspected at Cincinnati in 1818 and 1819; if this were sold in the New York market it meant $364,000 profit to the Miami country farmers.
Pickaway County was cited as an example of the benefits that farmers would derive from the canal. This county grew 400,000 bushels of wheat a year, which would produce 80,000 barrels of flour. This at ten barrels to the ton would equal 8,000 tons for transportation. If freight and toll on the canal were $3.00 a ton, the transportation charges would be $24,000. If transported by land it would cost at $25.00 a ton, $200,000; thus the difference in favor of the canal would be $176,000 in one county alone on a single product. As it was with this county, the committee argued, it would be with the other counties of the State. The question of markets was then discussed. At that period New Orleans was the principal market for the Ohio farmer. But here he labored under a great disadvantage, for it was likely to be overstocked when he got there, and he was then compelled either to ship his products home again or sell them at a sacrifice that would not pay freight and charges.
As to the financial justification for the construction of the canals, the report stated that the revenues would be sufficient to maintain them. There would be much shipping from Indiana, Kentucky and Western
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OF AN AMERICAN STATE
Pennsylvania through the canal to the New York markets. Summing all things up, the report esti- mated the cost of the canal from the Lake to the River at $2,500,000, and it was believed that the revenues in six years would reimburse the State for the principal and interest expended in construction. This could be done without extra taxation, as it was thought that the General Government would donate sufficient lands from which money would be obtained by sale or loans. In closing, the committee recommended that the Governor be authorized to cause a route to be surveyed and the cost estimated.
Upon the reading of the report, Mr. Williams presented a bill "Authorizing an examination into the practicability of connecting Lake Erie with the Ohio River by a canal." By its terms Benjamin Tappan, Alfred Kelley, Thomas Worthington, Ethan A. Brown, Jeremiah Morrow, Isaac Minor and Ebenezer Buck- ingham, Jr., were constituted a commission to make the necessary examinations and estimates, looking toward the construction of a canal. A sum not exceeding $6,000 was appropriated for the purposes of the act. Thus after six years of agitation, resolu- tions and messages, the first real step was taken looking to the establishment of the canal system of Ohio. This bill became a law January 31, 1822.
And again it is worthy of noting that on the same day and hour the joint resolution providing for the appointment by the Governor of a commission to devise a common school system passed the Senate. The same messenger fron the Senate to the House announced the final passage of both. "Thus," says
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THE RISE AND PROGRESS
Caleb Atwater, author of the school resolution, "it appears that both these measures originated in the House of Representatives on the 6th day of December, and that both became laws on the 3Ist of January thereafter; they originated within fifteen minutes of each other, and they passed into laws simultaneously."
The Examining Commissioners worked industri- ously. For three years examinations and surveys were carried on. They made annual reports as to their progress and work. Money was further appro- priated as needed-$4,000 in 1823 and $6,000 in 1824. In their third annual report, January 8, 1825, they recommended that the canal be constructed at once. In this report they described different routes the canal might take, set forth the manner in which funds might be raised and gave a tabular statement showing the probable sum required each year. On February I, 1825, a supplemental report was made containing a de- tailed statement of the expenses of the Commissioners.
On February 4, 1825, an act entitled "An Act to provide for the Internal Improvement of the State of Ohio by Navigable Canals," and which authorized the Commissioners therein provided for to construct a canal on the Muskingum and Scioto route from the mouth of the Scioto River to Lake Erie, and also a canal on so much of the Maumee and Miami line as lies between Cincinnati and Mad River, at or near Dayton, was enacted and became a law.
Thus committed to the most gigantic work and the greatest expense ever proposed in her history, Ohio at once took steps for practically carrying into effect her legislation.
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OF AN AMERICAN STATE
In every great movement there is developed some man who quickly and rapidly seizes the situation and forces it onward to success. He may not have been the originator, nor even a pioneer of the idea, but he shapes into concrete form the work of those who have gone before, and with his practical mind transforms the idea into a fact. In the era of internal improvement in Ohio, this man was Alfred Kelley. As the head of the Board of Canal Commissioners he has left on the records of his time an indelible impress of his forecast, sagacity and judgment. On the subject of canal construction he was a level-headed optimist and a conservative enthusiast. It was his reports to the Legislature that convinced and induced that body to regard the enterprise as necessary to a complete development of the State, and that the people of Ohio had sufficient credit and means to justify an undertaking of the vast project.
This alone was no easy task. In 1826 the value of all the taxable property in Ohio, both real and personal, was $57,982,640; the estimate of the cost of the canal system as shown in the reports of the Canal Commissioners was $5,715,203, nearly ten per cent. of the total tax valuation. The people of Ohio were at first staggered by these figures. In their enthusiasm they clamored for canals, but when the cold cost was given them they almost weakened in their determination. Nothing but the greatest con- fidence in Alfred Kelley's judgment could have over- come this financial situation. So they gave him the money and the power for his great work. The Legis- lature practically said: "You say you can build
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these canals with so much money; here it is, do it." And it must be written that he practically kept within his estimates; the cost only increased when the original plans were changed.
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