OHIO STATEWIDE FILES - Know your Ohio: Ohio Canals (Part 1)
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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by
Darlene E. Kelley
http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00026.html#0006374
August 22, 2001
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Historical Collections of Ohio
The Kelley Family Collections
Newspaper article, Plains Dealer
compiled by S.J. Kelley-- 1925
And Then They Went West
by Darlene E. Kelley  1998
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Ohio Canals -- Part 1
Its beginnings, its influence, its heart.

Although short lived, the canal era in Ohio brought prosperity to Ohio
and a new appreciation of what man could accomplish. Over 996 miles of
canals, 460 locks and dozens of Aqua ducts and bridges were built by
hand during the twenty years of the Canals construction.

During the 1800's, Ohio built canals that connected Lake Erie and the
Ohio River. This system created new markets for Ohio's goods, reduced
the cost of shipping goods from the East, increased the number of people
moving into the State, and encouraged the building of new towns. It
brought a new prosperity to Ohio, bringing with it a creation of work
for these numerous new towns.

In the early 1820's, construction of the Erie Canal in New York was
almost finished. In 1822, the Ohio legislature created a commission to
plan a canal system. This would connect Ohio, by way of Lake Erie, with
the Erie Canal in New York State and with the Eastern Markets. It also
would connect Ohio with New Orleans by way of the Ohio River and the
Mississippi River.

Before the canals were built the only way to ship quantities of goods
from New York City to New Orleans was by ocean. With the new canals,
boats could carry people and goods by inland water. Alfred Kelley was
Ohio's Canal Commissioner from 1823 to 1835. He was responsible for
Ohio's early success with canals. He supervised the construction of its
Northern division as acting canal commissioner and actually worked in
the field with his workers. 

The canal was a minimum of 40' wde at the water line, 26' at the bottom,
and 4' deep, dug by laborers using picks, shovels, and wheelbarrows,
with oxen to drag heavy trees and stones. When construction began in
1825, wages were 
$ 5 per month, plus temporary housing, board, and daily rations of
whiskey.
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From the Rochester ( N.Y. ) Telegraph.

CANAL BOAT SONG
Author unknown,

Full free o'er the water our bonny boat glides,
Nor wait we for fair winds, nor stay we for tides;
Through fair fields and meadows---Thro' country and town.
All gaily and gladly, our course we hold on.

From the lake to the river -- from river to lake, 
Full freighted or light, we still leave a wake;
From the west bearing all that a rich country yields, 
To the labor which makes the morn glad in the fields.

Retuning again from the river's bright breast,
Bear the products of climes far off, to the west--
And add to the backwoodsman's comfort and ease,
All that commerce can give by its spoils of the seas.

Our " Ditch " is the pride and the strength of the state,
Its wealth gives it power, and its glory gives weight--
While the greenwoods shall echo our bugles shrill swell,
All come from New York, and its Erie Canal.

Then free o'er the waters our bonny boat glide, 
Nor wait thou for fair wind, nor stay thou for tide, 
Thro' fair fields and meadows--thro' country and town,
All gaily and gladly our course we hold down.
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Early History--

The Ohio Canal system was an essential part of Ohio history. It was of
great significance in the econimic growth of what had been until this
time a relatively undeveloped, under populated region of the United
States. Ohio played a significant role in the expansion of America and
the dispersement of people from the east to the west, the north to the
south of this magnificant country.

Ohio's canal building years from 1825 to 1848 were of great importance
to the growth of the States economy pior to the Civil War. Approximately
800 to 1,000 miles of canal were built by state and private enterprise.
George Washington was one of the first to see the potential in an
interior transportation system; and as early as 1787. Thomas Jefferson
had suggested a canal system between Lake Erie and the Ohio river,
between the Cuyahoga River on Lake Erie and the Big Beaver Creek on the
Ohio River to connect the Mississippi with the St Lawrence and the
Atlantic. His notion of Ohio geography and topography was not very
accurate but his idea was sound and eventially canals would be built
over the general route he proposed. However, Congress was not favorable
to the suggestion until 1823. Ethan Allen Brown, proposed in 1818 a
canal system between Lake Erie and the Ohio to facilitate trade in
Ohio's agricultural surpluses.Surveys made in the early 1820's by
Engineer James Geddes led to a report to the General Assembly on January
4, 1823. It was not an easy task to survey the state as it was mostly
undeveloped or unexplored wilderness. The proposed routes were:
1.  The Mahoning and Grand Rivers.
2.  The Cuyahoga and Tuscarawas Rivers.
3.  The Black and Killbuck Rivers.
4.  The Maumee and Great Miami Rivers.
5.  The Scioto and Sandusky Rivers.

In 1822 a canal act was passed by the Ohio General Assembly, against
strong opposition. In order to get the act passed, friends of the canals
and the public schools traded votes  The act authorized the employment
of an engineer to survey possible routes and to estimate the cost. A
seven man Canal Commission was appointed. Evential approval was given on
their recommendation that canal navigation was the safest, easiest, and
cheapest mode of transportation. They estimated the cost of the project
to be $2.5 million and that Ohio would get  $600,000 per year in Canal
toll revenue. Final estimates for the two canal systems ( the Ohio and
Erie and the Miami & Erie ) would be $ 6 million. Final costs for the
system were closer to the $ 16 million for the construction an $25
million in interest on the loans. It would almost bankrupt the State. It
was decided that the State would fund the project for the benefit of the
people rather than by private interests. The railroad system was still
in its infancy and considered untried. New Yorks Erie Canal had proved
the reliability of a canal system. The bill authorizing the constuction
of the Ohio and Erie and the Miami Canals was passed on February 4,
1825, and also created the Canal Fund Commision to finance the project
through the selling of bonds.

By January 8, 1825 the Canal Commissioners were ready to suggest that
the best route would be the Scioto 
Licking, Tuscarawas and Cuyahoga Rivers, a total of 322 miles of an
estimated cost of $ 2,301,709. a second route was also proposed, the
Maimi and Maumee Rivers, a total of 290 miles at an approximate cost of
$2,929,957. Commissioners recommended the first for immediate completion
from Cincinnati 50 miles north to Dayton.

Both economic, political and geographic reasons determined the route. An
early proposal was to run the canal diagonally across the state from
North East to South West, however, it was topographically impractical
and therefore abandoned. Canals could not possibly be built to serve
every section of the state. The branch canals that developed in the wake
and enthusiasm for the main line canals helped bring economic
development and access to these other areas. Not everyone was happy with
the location of the main canals and eventually in 1830 the Assembly
finally approved the completion and extension of the Miami Canal from
Dayton to the Auglaise River at Defiance, 127 miles at an approximate
cost of $2,055,421.

The Ohio & Erie canal was officially begun and dedicated in a ceremony
at the Licking Summet on July 4,1825. Just four months later the first
boat made its way from Lake Erie to New York via the Erie Canal and the
Hudson River. Ohio was to be the last stage in the chain between the
Eastern Seaboard and the West.
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to be continued in part 2--