History of Berks county in Pennsylvania, Part 78

Author: Montgomery, Morton L. (Morton Luther), b. 1846
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: Philadelphia : Everts, Peck & Richards
Number of Pages: 1418

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COLEMAN LINES .- Soon after Coleman had obtained the possession of this stage-line he ex- tended it westwardly, by way of Womelsdort and Lebanon, to Harrisburg, and north wardly, by way of Hamburg, Orwigsburg, Sharp Moun- tain Gap and over the Broad Mountain, to Sun- bury.2 In 1818 the stages ran twice a week from Philadelphia to Sunbury. They left Phila- delphia on Tuesdays and Saturdays at three A.M .; arrived at Reading at five P.M., and lodged at Hamburg on the same days; and on the follow- ing mornings left at three A.M. and arrived at Sunbury on the succeeding days at ten A.M. And

1 The first coach in New England began its trips in 1744. The first stage-line between New York and Philadelphia -then the two most populous cities in the colonies-was established in 1756. The trip was made in three days.

When the Revolution came, most of these public convey- ances ceased to run. And they did not take the road till the return of peace. Many years elapsed before the traffic over the highways became at all considerable.

2 Daniel Lebo ran a line from Reading to Sunbury and return, bi-weekly for a time.

SCHUYL

LANCASTER.

443

INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS.

they ran thrice a week from Philadelphia1 to Harrisburg1-Tuesdays, Thursdays and Satur- days,-leaving Philadelphia at four A.M., lodging at Reading and arriving at Harrisburg the next evening. The same order was observed in re- turning. The length of the respective lines over the turnpikes to the south, west and north was as follows : Reading to Philadelphia, fifty-one miles ; Reading to Harrisburg, fifty-three miles ; Reading to Sunbury, seventy-seven miles.

In 1820 William Coleman died. His widow carried on the stage-lines till May 21, 1821, when the sons, John and Nicholas, purchased and conducted them. They then advertised the following schedule :

"Leave Philadelphia on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays at 4 A.M .; arrive at Reading at 3 P.M. (a gain of two hours), and lodge at Womelsdorf, proceed- ing next morning to Harrisburg ; and in returning leave Harrisburg on same days at 11 A.M., lodge at Womelsdorf, start next day at 4 A.M., breakfast at Reading and arrive at Philadelphia in the evening. Through fare was $7; to Reading from either place, $3.50. From Philadelphia to Sunbury, leave Phila- delphia on Tuesdays and Saturdays at 4 A.M .; and returning, leave Sunbury Wednesdays and Fridays at 9 A.M. Hamburg was the lodging-place on the way. Fare, $8; way passengers, seven cents a mile.

In 1823 they ran weekly stages to the south- west to Lancaster, over a natural road, in length thirty-two miles, and to the northeast to Easton, over a natural road, in length fifty miles.

In 1825 Colder & Wilson ran the "Mail- Stage" between Reading and Harrisburg three times a week, leaving Sundays, Wednesdays and Fridays at five A.M., and arriving at Harrisburg at five P.M .; and on return leaving Harrisburg on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays at five A.M. and arriving at five P.M. The passenger fare was 50 cents to Womelsdorf; $1 to Lebanon and $2 to Harrisburg.

STAGE COMBINATION .- In 1826 a combina- tion was made between the Colemans, Jacob Peters and Colder & Co. to run a daily line of stages between Philadelphia and Harrisburg via Reading. The arrangement began June 27, 1826. The stages left Philadelphia daily, ex-

cept Monday, at four A.M., dined at Reading, lodged at Lebanon, and proceeded to Harrisburg next morning. Returning, they left Harrisburg daily, except Tuesday, in afternoon, lodged at Lebanon, took breakfast at Reading next morn- ing and arrived in Philadelphia at eight P.M. Through fare, $6; to Reading, $3.

From the beginning till 1826 the stage-coach in use was called a " steamboat," an uncovered wagon capable of holding twenty passengers. It was manufactured at Lancaster by Sleighmaker & Co. Then a sharp competition arose in this business between three lines ; first, the "Old Line," or Coleman's, which conveyed the mails ; second, Reeside & Platt's ; and third, Miltimore & Mintzer's.2 This was in 1827.3 A new and improved stage-coach was introduced as a con- sequence, called the "Troy Coach." It held eleven passengers with room for five and more on top.

In 1830 the competition was full of life. The rates were reduced one-half. But the " Old Line" forced the others to withdraw. Its mail contracts were a great support and enabled it to bear the pressure. It carried a hundred horses always on hand to supply the lines with motive- power under any emergency.

DECLINE OF STAGES .- The stage business continued active and profitable in the several directions from Reading till the introduction of the railways, when it was discontinned. The stage-coach could not compete with the railroad train, or horse-power with steam-power. And in this respect, as in others, the fittest and strongest survived. The discontinuance on the several lines was as follows : From Philadel- phia, 1838 ; from Pottsville, 1842 ; from Har- risburg, 1858 ; from Allentown, 1859.

A daily line of stages on the road to Lancas- ter was begun on June 15, 1848, and this con- tinued in successful operation till the construc- tion of the Columbia Railroad, in 1864.

Stages still run in different directions from

1 Left Philadelphia, at Swan Tavern, on Race Strect, be- tween Third and Fourth ; and left Harrisburg at Buehler's Tavern.

2 This firm was composed of John N. Miltimore and George M. Keim, of Reading ; John F. Smith, of Philadel- phia ; and William Mintzer, of Fottstown.

& Soon afterward John Coleman died, and Nicholas, his brother, obtained and continued sole control of the stage business till shortly before his death, in 1857.

444

HISTORY OF BERKS COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

Reading and carry passengers, merchandise and mail. The lines extend to (1) Bernville and Millersburg, (2) Adamstown, .(3) Friedensburg and Pikeville, (4) Oley Pike to Pleasantville and Shanesville.

A line of mail-stages was conducted for a time by Conrad Stauch from Womelsdorf via Rehrersburg and Millersburg to Pine Grove, leaving Womelsdorf three times a week, Mon- days, Thursdays and Saturdays, and returning from Pine Grove Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Through fare was $1.25.

CANALS.

The great internal improvements in this country were projected in Pennsylvania. The enterprise of her early citizens directed the first public attention to the establishment of canals and turnpikes for convenient transportation. In 1690 William Penn suggested the idea of connecting the Susquehanna and Schuylkill by means of a canal, but it was not acted upon. Seventy years afterward this idea was again considered, and then a survey was made by David Rittenhouse and others. A course was marked out for a canal between these two rivers ; but nearly seventy years more elapsed before the great scheme was realized and put into practical and successful operation.

UNION CANAL .- In 1791 the Legislature of Pennsylvania passed an act incorporating the Schuylkill and Susquehanna Navigation Com- pany for the purpose of connecting the two rivers by a canal, and facilitating traffic thereby from the one to the other ; and in 1792 another company was chartered, under the name of the Delaware and Schuylkill Canal Company, for the purpose of extending a canal from the eastern terminus of the canal mentioned at Reading, along the Schuylkill to the Delaware at Philadelphia. These canals were to be part of a great scheme conceived by an association of enterprising individuals in order to promote internal improvements, whereby Philadelphia and Pittsburgh were to be connected by water communication. But these creatures of the law would appear to have received little life from the Legislature and their projectors, because

they accomplished nothing in the nature of a practical improvement.

On April 2, 1811, the Legislature passed an act to incorporate " The Union Canal Company of Pennsylvania." The name was chosen be- canse the new corporation was really a union of the old Schuylkill and Susquehanna and the Delaware and Schuylkill Canal Companies. The preamble recited that those corporations had made strenuous efforts to carry out the ob- jects of their charters, but had failed. They were, therefore, dissolved, and a new company was formed by the stockholders of the old cor- porations, whose relative rights were adjusted in a new distribution of the capital. The man- agers went to work with hope, but not with vigor. They had trouble because their capital was insufficient, and were waiting the slow pro- fits which came through the grants of lottery privileges. Seventeen years had gone by before the canal was finished. It was announced on the 1st of January, 1828, that the work was com- pleted, but it was nearly three months afterward before it was used. The first canal-boat that went west was the "Fair Trader," Captain Smith, which left Philadelphia on the 20th of March of that year, by way of the Schuylkill Navigation to Reading, and thence by the Union Canal to Middletown, arriving at the latter place on the 23d. The event was duly cele- brated at Middletown. There were seventeen Union Canal boats in service in July, 1828, and over two hundred were in operation before the end of that year.

The length of the canal is 792 miles, with 91 locks, 8 basins, 93 bridges, 16 dams and 17 aqueducts. From the summit (four miles east of Lebanon) to the mouth of Tulpehocken Creek the distance is 37 miles. This section of the canal is 26 feet wide at bottom, and 36 feet at water surface ; depth of water, 4 feet, and width of towing path, 10 feet. The number of locks required to overcome the fall of 310 feet is 52. The locks are faced with dressed sand- stone ; chambers 8} feet wide and 75 feet long ; and lifts vary from 5 to 8 feet. About 1855 the locks were enlarged to correspond with the locks of the Pennsylvania Canal-first from Pine Grove westwardly to Middletown, and after-

445

INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS.

ward from the Swatara eastwardly to Read- ing.

The success of this canal was dependent upon the construction of a similar canal along the Schuylkill, in order to encourage traffic from Susquehanna to Philadelphia by way of Reading. A company had been chartered in 1815 for this purpose, which then began the improvement desired, and finished it in 1825.

In 1830 the canal was extended along the western bank of the Schuylkill, three miles be- low Reading, to the "Little Dam," having its outlet in the " Big Dam," abont a thousand feet below. But this portion was washed so badly by the freshet of 1850 that it was rendered use- less, and connection was altogether made with the Schuylkill Canal at a lock near the Harris- burg Bridge.1

In order to form an idea of the extent and growth of the business over this canal, soon after it was completed, the following statistics are presented :

For the week ending May 27, 1831, eighty boats passed Reading going down, forty-five being loaded with lumber and coal, and the others with flour, whiskey, castings, etc .; and sixty passed going up, seventeen of which were loaded with merchandise.

For the week ending June 14, 1835, one hundred and twenty five loaded boats passed down, and one hundred and twelve loaded boats passed up.

Some years afterward the tonnage aud tolls were as follows,-

Tons.

Tolls rec'd.

1847

139,256

$91,356

1848

153,222

95,953

1849

148,332

86,800

Lottery Privileges .- The amount of money raised in the course of the prosecution of the canal work between the Schuylkill and Susque- hanna Rivers was enormous, not so much from the actual cost of the improvements as in the wasteful way in which the money was raised, and the amount taken from the community which did no good to the enterprise. The capital of

the two companies, which were afterward united, was believed to be insufficient for the execution of the work, and the Legislature, in order, as it was supposed, to assist them, granted them power to raise money "by way of lottery." The whole amount specified in the grant was $400,- 000, of which the Schuylkill and Susquehanna Company was to have two-thirds, and the Dela- ware and Schuylkill Canal Company one-third. This act was passed April 17, 1795, and under it the companies began, shortly afterward, to exercise the privilege of issuing lottery tickets. This power was exercised for fifteen years, with small profit. Till 1810 the companies had realized about $60,000 from the lottery, a sum wholly insufficient for their purposes. They complained that their affairs had " fallen into disorder and embarrassment ; that they were covered with reproach and ridicule," and that the public confidence was impaired in their ef- forts. This led to the union of the two corpo- rations in 1811. In the act, the lottery grant privileges were renewed ; and, as the company had not made much by their own management, they were empowered to sell or assign their lottery rights to any persons whom they might select. The company leased out the lottery privileges to various lessees or managers. Under this arrangement and in the course of years the lotteries became very successful. The managers took in large amounts of money, but the Canal Company did not have much added to their funds: A report made to the Legislature states that the lottery managers made many millions, while the Union Canal Company got but $269,- 210.40. There was high dispute about the busi- ness, great scandal and much bad blood.

The act of Assembly for the suppression of lotteries in Pennsylvania on and after the 1st of March, 1833, declared that the lottery rights of the company were exhausted, and prohibited the sale of lottery tickets of any kind after Dec. 31st of that year. But, as a compensation for the privileges which were taken away from the company, the Governor was authorized to sub- scribe for 1000 shares of the stock on behalf of the State of Pennsylvania. The lotteries of the Union Canal Company were drawn at stated periods from the gallery of the stairs in the

1 At this point the company had constructed, about 1828, a dam called "Union Dam" (commonly known as the Lotz's Dam), for the purpose of forming a connection with the Schuylkill Canal; and this was the only connection till 1855, when the canal was extended to a point opposite "Jackson's Lock," at the foot of Sixth Street, where con- nection was afterward made.

446

HISTORY OF BERKS COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

tower of the State-House, which led to the up- per chambers. After the Arcade was finished, in 1827, they were drawn from the gallery in front of the second-story offices, in the east avenne. Hundreds of persons attended these drawings.

The canal was supposed to be the only possi- ble means of conveyance, except by the com- mon road, long after all the companies con- nected with the navigation of the Schuylkill were chartered. The Columbia Railroad, under the management of the State, began to be a rival of the Union Canal in bringing produce and passengers from the Susquehanna as soon as it was finished. The movement for its estab- lishment commenced in 1826, when a company was incorporated to build a railroad from Lan- caster and Columbia to Philadelphia. The plan not proving successful, in 1828 the State of Pennsylvania authorized a survey, and followed it up in after-years by appropriations, under which the work was carried on. The road was finished to Lancaster in April, 1834, and opened through to Columbia in the summer of 1835. Just as soon as this means of transportation was finished the Union Canal Company lost a large share of its business and prospects. The rail- road offered a shorter route and quicker method of communication between the Susquehanna, Schuylkill and Delaware Rivers. The opening of the Lebanon Valley Railroad, from Reading, to Harrisburg, in 1857, through the same sec- tion of territory, proved the final and crushing blow to the Union Canal Company. From that time onward it began to decline more and more. It has not been in full operation for some years ; in fact, the traffic upon it declined soon after its enlargement, owing to the com- petition referred to and the disuse of the Penu- sylvania canals.

SCHUYLKILL CANAL-Incorporation of Com- pany .- The Schuylkill Canal Navigation was incorporated on March 8, 1815, for the purpose of transporting coal, lumber, merchandise, pro- dnce, etc., by a system of canals and slackwater navigation, which was to be afforded by appro- priating the water of the Schuylkill River from Mill Creek, in Schuylkill County, to Philadel- phia. The transportation of articles was then

carried on over the Centre turnpike to Reading, and the Perkiomen and Germantown turnpikes to Philadelphia. Certain commissioners were named in the act, among them being the fol- lowing prominent and enterprising men from Berks County : Lewis Reese, John S. Hiester, John Wiley; James May, Jacob K. Boyer, Jolm Brower, Matthew Brooke, Robert Scott, Abra- ham Bailey, Abraham Wolf.

These commissioners were directed to open subscription books at various places in May, 1815. The par value of a share of stock was fixed at fifty dollars, and twenty-five hundred shares were to be subscribed at Reading-one- fourth of the total shares.

The first board of directors was elected at Norristown on October 5, 1815. It included two members from Berks County-Lewis Reese, of Reading, and John Wiley, of Maiden-creek. Samuel Baird, of Pottsgrove (now Pottstown), was also a member, having soon after removed to Reading and practiced law. The construc- tion of the canal was begun in 1817.

Construction of Road .- In 1822 the presi- dent of the company, Cadwallader Evans, re- ported that " thic canal was completed from John Potts', at the mines, to within one-half a mile of Hamburg, below the Blue Mountain, and sixteen miles from Reading. This included the tunnel at the mountain. The remaining por- tion of the upper section, north of Reading, was not finished. The lower section, from the Lan- caster Schuylkill bridge (at Philadelphia) to Reading, was finished." He also reported that boats1 had carried during the year (1821) over the completed portion of the canal, from the coal-mines to the vicinity of Hamburg, large quantities of coal, which were deposited there and sold out by the ton to the country people from the neighborhood and for many miles dis- tant. No tolls were required from the boats during the fall of 1821. The unfinished por- tion of the canal was reported to have been completed during the year 1822 ; and this was

] The boats were diminutive, being only eighteen tons' capacity at the opening of the canal ; afterwards, in 1828, increased to twenty-three tons; and, further, the size and tonnage of boats was increased until 1815, when the capacity was sixty tons.

447

INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS.

the first completed navigation enterprise in the country.

The total length from Mt. Carbon to Phila- delphia was one hundred and five miles (sixty- two miles of canal and forty-three miles of pools in river), was a fall of five hundred and eighty- eight feet ; including one hundred and twenty locks (eighty-one above Reading and thirty-nine below), twenty-eight dams, seventeen arched stone aqueducts and a tunnel four hundred and fifty feet long, cut through solid rock.1 The total cost was one million eight hundred thousand dollars.

In 1827-28 the canal was extended to Mill Creek, making the total length 108.23 miles ; and, by an enlargement in 1846, the number of locks was reduced to seventy-one, with a total fall of about six hundred and twenty feet. The size of the locks was eighteen by one hundred and ten feet ; width of canal, sixty feet; depth of water of six feet. The capacity of boats was one hundred and eighty tons.

Its Completion Celebrated .- From a "local " in the Berks and Schuylkill Journal, on July 10, 1824, it would appear that the water was not turned into the canal till the beginning of July, 1824. This event .was anticipated ; and the management accordingly selected an "anni-

1 This was situate above Port Clinton. Some years after- ward the tunnel was removed by a thorough cutting away the material to the surface above. This tunnel was re- markable as being the first one executed in the United States. It was completed in 1818. It was excavated by George Duncan, a Scotch engineer. He also constructed a portion of the canal south of Leesport, which has since been known as the " Duncan Canal." In 1834 he also per- formed the work in a re-construction of the canal from Felix's Dam southwardly to Reading, which theretofore extended along but a short distance from the river, in one level, to Washington Street, and thence through Reading to near present outlet. This portion had been constructed over cavernous limestone, which was subject to sink-boles. The loss of water was frequent, causing the passing boats to become grounded unexpectedly ; and a great portion of this sinking water, strange to say, did not empty into the river near by, but passed underneath the river, and found an outlet in the fields on the opposite side. This was par- ticularly the case near Leiss' Bridge. At one time, to overcome this difficulty, the company had lined the canal thence to Reading with planks. This re-construction con- sisted of dams and pools for slack-water navigation to Kis- singer's Dam, at mouth of Tulpehocken Creek.

versary day " for the purpose of celebrating it as such an event deserved to be celebrated. This was on July 5, 1824. For several days pre- viously the water had run into this new highway to prepare the way for the celebration. On the day fixed, at seven o'clock in the morning, amid the booming of cannon and the applause of many spectators, three boats moved down the canal from Reading. And then there was wit- nessed the first triumph in a class of internal improvements which had been recommended by the good and noble and far-seeing Penn over one hundred and thirty years before.

The three boats which were used upon this occasion were the "Thomas Oaks," "Stephen Girard " and the " De Witt Clinton."

The first boat was named after the civil en- gineer under whose supervision the canal had beeu principally constructed. It was occupied by General Joseph Hiester (ex-Governor of Pennsylvania), managers and engineers of the canal company and specially invited guests of the management; the second was occupied by young gentlemen and ladies of Reading; and the third by business men. A fourth boat fol- lowed-being loaded with agricultural imple- ments. Upon entering Lewis' Dam, beyond Poplar Neck, the boats were anchored and Charles Evans, Esq., delivered an appropriate address. Immediately afterward a public an- nouncement was made that the section of canal for twenty-two miles below Lewis' Dam should be called the " Girard Canal," as a deserved tribute to the enterprise and liberality of Stephen Girard. The boats then proceeded down the canal to Laurel Hill. There they were wel- comed by a great number of ladies and gentle- men from Pottstown and vicinity, estimated at five hundred. Their arrival was announced by a discharge of cannon and a military salute from the Union Guards of Pottstown. Patriotic toasts were offered at an impromptu meeting. The " Thomas Oaks" then returned to Reading -having been drawn by one horse at the rate of nearly six miles an hour withont much effort The "Girard " and " Clinton " proceeded ten miles farther down the canal and returned to Reading about dusk. Three weeks afterward (26th of July) the " Girard " made her first voy-

448

HISTORY OF BERKS COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

age to Philadelphia. This packet was occasion- ally used for pleasure trips.

Cost and Traffic .- The cost of transporta- tion (by land) from Reading to Philadelphia was forty cents a hundred-weight; by canal it was reduced to twelve and a half cents. The toll on coal from Mt. Carbon to Philadelphia was, in 1825, six cents a bushel or one dollar and sixty-eight cents a ton.

Horses or mules were not used for towing boats previons to 1826. The boats were first towed through the canals by men at the end of long tow-lines. Two men drew a boat after them by pressing their shoulders or breasts against a stick fastened crosswise to the end of the tow-line. With such locomotion, a trip from Mount Carbon to Philadelphia and back generally required six weeks. At this time there were no tow-paths along the pools of the navigation ; hence the necessity for nian-power.

The following statistics are presented to show the great traffic over the canal during the first five years after its completion -articles selected from reports :

Passed down Canal.

1826.

1827.

1828.

1829,

1830.

Barrels of flour.

21,245

31,436

66,835

1 5,023

1 7,799

Tons of coal.

16,767

31,630

47,284

79,973

89,984

Tons of iron-ore

2,541

1,472

1,674

556

602

Tons of iron .

1,533

1,853

958

1,125

Tons of whiskey.

420

483

1.152

868

1,146

Total tons descending.

25,561

53,782

84 133

112,704

136 531

Total tons ascending.

6,843

11,719

21,329

21,800

44,254

'Total tolls received.

$43,108 $58,149 $87,171

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History of Berks county in Pennsylvania, Part 78

Author: Montgomery, Morton L. (Morton Luther), b. 1846 Publication date: 1886 Publisher: Philadelphia : Everts, Peck & Richards Number of Pages: 1418

Author: Montgomery, Morton L. (Morton Luther), b. 1846
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: Philadelphia : Everts, Peck & Richards
Number of Pages: 1418