Building the Canal, 1824 - 1825

In 1824, a portion of the western section remained to be finished before the canal could be navigated from Lake Erie to the Hudson River.   The section from Brockport to Lockport was completed sufficiently to admit water, of which the Irondequoit and Oak Orchard Creeks contributed the supply.   The embankments were porous and the creeks low, but the canal was navigable from Brockport to the foot of the ridge.   The excavations at this place had not yet been completed, but the combined locks at the brow of this ridge were nearing completion.   The canal commissioners announced this flight of locks as being "of the first magnitude on the line, and one of the greatest of the kind in the world. The superior style in which it is executed – its situation at the brow of a perpendicular precipice of about seventy-six feet, overlooking a capacious natural basin, with banks on each side of an altitude of more than one hundred feet, connected with the deep rock excavation, renders it one of the most interesting points on the Erie canal."   As told previously, Nathan S. Roberts was the designer and builder of these locks.   So important were they considered that the attention of all the engineers was called to them.   Although Mr. Roberts attained considerable prominence in his subsequent engineering career, he said that the proudest moment of his life was when his plan for these locks was adopted. ^Whitford

In order to accurately ascertain the amount of freight with which the boats navigating the canals were loaded, so as to insure the collection of the full amount of tolls, two hydrostatic locks were built, one at Utica and the other at Syracuse.   They were found to be useful, their utility becoming more and more apparent with the increase of business.   Previously all articles had to be separately weighed unless the collectors and boatmen could agree in estimating the weight, and this system caused much vexation and led to deception and fraud.   As examples of the ingenuity developed before the day of large scales, they are interesting and deserve a brief description. The canal commissioners thus reported concerning them:

"These hydrostatic locks are constructed with a chamber sufficiently large to receive any boat used on the canals.   The chamber is on the same level with the canal, and is filled from it by a paddle gate which is fixed in a large gate.   On a level below the chamber is a receptacle, into which, by a gate, the chamber can be emptied, and from this through another gate, the water can be discharged. . . .   When it is designed to ascertain the weight of a loaded boat, the chamber is first filled . . . the boat is moved from the canal into the chamber, and the gates closed behind it.   The depth of the water in the chamber is then carefully ascertained . . . and the cubic contents of the water, with the boat floating in it, is at once obtained from a table constructed for the purpose . . .   The water is then drawn off into the receptacle, and the boat settles down upon timbers, so arranged as to yield to its shape, by which it is supported, without being strained or injured.   The quantity of water drawn from the lock is then ascertained . . .   It is a principle in hydrostatics, that every body which floats in water, displaces a volume of this fluid, precisely equal in weight to the floating body.   It appears from the above, that the water, with the loaded boat floating in it, contained . . cubic feet, and that the same water, drawn off and measured separately, contained . . . cubic feet, which subtracted from the preceding, will give . . . cubic feet of water displaced by the loaded boat. . . .   This is to be reduced to tons, and the weight of the empty boat previously ascertained in the same manner, is to be deducted, and the remainder will be the weight of the cargo.   After an empty boat has been once weighed she is numbered, and her weight is registered at the several hydrostatic locks." ^Whitford

In 1824, the amount of tolls collected was $294,546.62.   In their report for that year, the commissioners predicted future tolls.   They estimated that the Erie canal alone would give an annual revenue of a million dollars at the end of 10 years from its completion, and that within 50 years the income would amount to more than 9 millions.   These speculations indicate the optimism of public sentiment, and disclose one of the causes that, within the next few years, led to that wild desire for canals throughout all parts of the state, which has been aptly termed the "canal mania." ^Whitford

On the last day of the legislative session of 1824, there occurred an incident which will ever remain a blot upon the page of early canal history: the removal of De Witt Clinton from the board of canal commissioners.   For 14 years he had been giving unsalaried service as canal commissioner, acting as president of the board for the last 8 of these years, and then, without warning and for no reason but to accomplish his political downfall, he was ejected from the office by the Legislature of the State which he had served as Governor for 6 years.   To be sure, Clinton had probably been accorded more than his due credit for the two canals, Erie and Champlain, and for many details that should properly be attributed to others, such as, the engineers, the acting canal commissioners and other advocates of the project, so it may be well to glance at that phase of the subject for a moment.   There is no evidence to show that he had taken as much interest in the canals as some of the other commissioners up to the fall of 1815, when he wrote the "New York Memorial." During the next winter he was present through the greater part of the legislative session, ostensibly to advance canal legislation, but, when called upon, he was unable to furnish the canal committee with necessary information regarding the contemplated routes, and he departed, leaving the canal measure to its fate, when the prospect for favorable action was very doubtful.   In the next year, Clinton successfully adopted the canals as an issue on which to wage his contest for the gubernatorial chair.   Again, Clinton’s writings, especially the pamphlet entitled The Canal Policy, show a deplorable tendency to belittle the work of others, to appropriate to himself the greater share of credit for the whole undertaking, even to the point of misrepresenting facts and to make to appear as a party measure an enterprise that, during its early history, was remarkably free from party limitations.   However, notwithstanding all these facts, to Clinton is due the honor of being the chief advocate of canals during the period of construction.   His name was associated with their success throughout the civilized world and his would have been the disgrace if they had failed.   He had borne the brunt of ridicule and abuse before success was assured.   Then, just before the final consummation of this world-famed achievement, this insult of being ignominiously ejected from office was placed upon him, for no reason but because his favorite project had succeeded too well. ^Whitford

DeWitt Clinton was supposed to have Presidential aspirations, and his great popularity incited his enemies in the State Senate in 1824 to introduce a resolution for his removal as a canal commissioner, evidently believing that such a course would obstruct his further advancement in the esteem of the people.   After a lengthy debate, the resolution was adopted by a vote of 21 to 3 and was immediately sent to the Assembly for concurrence, as the Legislature upon this day was to adjourn sine die.   In the hurry and bustle incident to adjournment the resolution was rushed through, the vote being 64 to 34.   One historian thus describes the scene: "When the announcement was made, gentlemen engaged in packing up their papers paused and stared at each other, as if wondering if they had heard aright.   Henry Cunningham was in the act of putting on his overcoat, and without a moment for reflection threw it over his arm and turned to the speaker with flashing eyes and face glowing with indignation . . . For what good and honorable purpose has this resolution been sent here for concurrence at the very last moment of the session? . . Sir, I challenge inquiry.   We have spent rising of three months in legislation, and not one word has been dropped intimating a desire or intention to expel that honorable gentleman from the board of canal commissioners!   What nefarious and secret design, I ask, is to be effected at the expense of the honor and integrity of this legislature?"   Mr. Clinton took the matter philosophically, as his persecutors could find no official act of his that would cast dishonor upon his name.   He simply invited the most rigid scrutiny into his official conduct.   Indignation meetings were held throughout the state, at which the Legislators, who were responsible for his removal, were denounced most bitterly.   In New York City there was intense feeling and on April 20, ten thousand persons assembled in City Hall park for the purpose of denouncing the Legislature and expressing their thanks to Mr. Clinton for his long, able and gratuitous services in the prosecution of the New York canals.   When this meeting was opened, the speaker said:   "Who stood forth as the triumphant advocate of the Great Western Canal? . . . Who placed in jeopardy his hold on public confidence and respect? . . . Who, after he became the chief magistrate of this state, identified his administration with this work, and risked its duration on the success of the project?   Who aided in obtaining loans for its advancement? . . . Who for nearly ten years had presided over the board of canal commissioners?   Who had waded through streams and torrents of ridicule, calumny and insult in the prosecution of this canal?   Who, throughout the American union, and who, on the other side of the ocean, was connected as a leading and efficient personage in this splendid work?   Need any man stand here and pause like Brutus among the Romans, for a reply?   De Witt Clinton is the man!   Every tongue utters his name; every heart bears testimony to his services."   As a rebuke for Mr. Clinton’s removal as canal commissioner, he was again nominated for Governor in 1824 and re-elected by nearly 17,000 majority (large for that time).   Public sentiment was overwhelmingly in favor of Mr. Clinton’s party, and nearly every man who had contributed to the injury inflicted upon him was swept out of office. ^Whitford

The Legislature had another important subject before it, in 1824, relative to the attempt made by the United States Government to exact tonnage duties on boats navigating the State canals, under the act of Congress of February 18, 1793, and to require such boats to be enrolled and licensed under the United States.   The subject aroused much opposition in the Legislature, which received its first notice of the intent of the Government through a letter from Joseph Anderson, Comptroller of the United State Treasury.   In April, the matter was discussed by the House of Representatives under a proposed amendment to have canal boats exempted from such claim or exaction, but Mr. Newton from the ommittee on commerce rendered a report which was adverse to amending the law "so as to admit boats to navigate the canals without enrollment or license, or payment of tonnage duties," and the House concurred in the report.   The State Legislature characterized the acts of the United States officials in attempting to impose this tax upon the trade of the canals as unwarranted and unjustifiable, and it passed a resolution requesting the New York State Representatives in Congress "to use their utmost endeavors, to prevent any such oppressive and impolitic exaction for tonnage duties, on boats navigating the canals, from being carried into effect."   General Tallmadge, who introduced the resolution in the Assembly, made an eloquent speech which was responsible for the unanimous adoption by that body of the resolution.   During his remarks he said:   "The proposition which I maintain is, that whatever may be the language, or however extensive the terms and expressions of the act of 1793, yet, that it cannot be construed to extend to, or include within its operations the canals of this state, and cannot justify the exaction of a tonnage duty upon boats within those canals. . . . This construction and restriction of the words of the act of 1793, derives great force from the recollection, that so far from the words of the act being intended to apply to canal navigation, our canals have been made long since the date of the act, and under the scoff and hiss of that general government, which laughed at the folly of our undertaking; but which now comes to search into internal concerns, and demand of us tribute for our commercial enterprise. Massachusetts has her Middlesex Canal, but we have not heard of a tonnage duty there – Virginia has long had her James River Canal, and yet the letter of the comptroller, nor the report of Mr. Newton, do not tell us that tonnage duty has been for years past collected there.   Carolina has a canal through the Dismal Swamp, yet it does not appear any requisition has been made upon it for tonnage duty – while New York has not even yet completed her great work, the justice and policy of a tonnage duty is already discovered, and the act of 1793 is found to be intended for our canals to be made in 1824, and under the power to regulate commerce with foreign nations and among the several states, collectors are now in the interior chasing after boats for forfeiture and confiscation.   Under such a state of facts, the report of Mr. Newton is made and adopted by congress."   Governor Clinton, in his message of 1825, alluded to the subject, saying: "I cannot pass over, in silence, the attempt which has been recently made, to bring the boats navigating our canals, within the operation of the statutes for regulating the coasting trade of the United States, by requiring from such boats enrollment and license, and the payment of tonnage duties.   The canals are the property of the state, are within the jurisdiction of the state, have been constructed by the state, and can be destroyed by the state.   They have been made at its expense, after the general government had refused all participation and assistance.   It cannot well be perceived how the regulation of commerce with ‘foreign nations, and among the several states, or with the Indian tribes,’ can authorize an interference with vessels prosecuting an inland trade, through artificial channels.   The coasting trade is entirely distinct from a trade through our canals, which no state in the union, nor the general government itself, has a right to enjoy, without our consent.   The consequences of such assumptions would be, if carried into effect, to annihilate our revenue arising from tolls, to produce the most oppressive measures, to destroy the whole system of internal improvements, and to prostrate the authority of the state governments."   These protests were effective, for the Federal Government abandoned its attempt to enforce the proposed enrollment and collection of tonnage duties. ^Whitford

At the legislative session in 1825 an act was passed directing the canal commissioners to "construct a canal from the point where the Erie canal now intersects the Niagara river opposite Squaw Island along the margin of the river, to a point where the canal from Buffalo now enters the said river near Bird Island, so as to continue and complete the Erie canal to Lake Erie at the mouth of Buffalo creek, distinct from, and independent of, the basin at Black Rock, if in the opinion of the said commissioners such canal may be necessary, either from the accumulation of sand or ice in the said basin, or from any just apprehension that the works of the same may not secure a permanent supply of water for the Erie canal, or if for any other reason the said canal in their opinion may be necessary".   The act also directed the commissioners to "lay out the said canal along the margin of the said Black Rock basin, as speedily as may be," if they deemed that such a canal was necessary.   The work between Black Rock and Tonawanda Creek was completed on June 1, when 4 feet of water was admitted, permitting navigation from the portage at the ridge to Black Rock.   This was extended to Buffalo in August.   In order to save the expense of pumping, work was suspended for some time upon a portion of the ridge while a drain could be prepared through the unfinished part, as the line had been inundated.   This caused considerable delay and the canal was not completed until October 26. ^Whitford

In the autumn of 1825, as the canal was nearing completion, the common council of the City of New York, at the instigation of many prominent citizens, made arrangements to celebrate the event with public demonstrations of joy, as a work so great and so beneficial to the State deserved.   This celebration was participated in by nearly all of the cities and villages along the line of the waterway from Buffalo to New York.   The 26th of October had been appointed as the date of the celebration, as the canal commissioners had determined that the canal would be ready for navigation on that day.   The arrangements provided for fitting demonstrations to be held throughout the state on that day, and also for the starting from Lake Erie of a fleet of boats which was to traverse the whole length of the canal to Albany and then to proceed down the Hudson to New York and on to Sandy Hook, where the ceremony of uniting the waters brought from Lake Erie with those of the Atlantic was to occur.   Early on the morning of the appointed day the village of Buffalo was thronged with people gathered to see the departure of the first boat.   At nine o’clock a procession of the various societies of mechanics was formed at the Court House, and proceeded to the head of the canal.   Here the Governor of the State, the Lieutenant Governor, a committee from the New York common council, and the committees from Buffalo and various other villages embarked on the boat "Seneca Chief," which was elegantly fitted for the occasion, and carried among its articles of freight two kegs of Lake Erie water.   The "Seneca Chief" headed a flotilla consisting of the boats "Chief," "Superior," "Commodore Perry," and "Buffalo," which was joined by other boats during the journey to the east: the "Niagara," at Black Rock, and the "Young Lion of the West" at Lockport.   Another boat called "Noah’s Ark," carried a cargo of "products of the West," which included a bear, two eagles, two fawns, several fish, and two Indian boys.   At 10 o’clock, as the fleet entered the canal, this event of the embarkation of the first boat from the lakes to the ocean was heralded throughout the length of the state by the firing of cannon stationed at suitable intervals, each of which caught up the message in turn and passed it to its neighbor.   Thus was sounded a grand salute, from a battery 500 miles long, such as the world had never heard before, announcing an event which was equally new in the world’s history.   The message was carried from Buffalo to New York in 1 hour and 30 minutes and then returned again to Buffalo.   The cannon used at Lockport were those with which Perry conquered upon Lake Erie and the gunner was a lieutenant of Napoleon’s army. ^Whitford

In the journey down the Hudson River, the canal boats were taken in tow by steamboats and joined by several more, so that quite a formidable fleet was presented.   No stops were made, and a day and a night were consumed in the passage to New York.   From the villages on the banks, salutes were fired by day and fireworks exhibited by night.   On the morning of the 4th of November, the passengers awoke opposite New York "to greet the beautiful dawn of a day long to be remembered in the annals of our state and country."   For the final ceremony of uniting the waters of Lake Erie with those of the ocean, the fleet was joined by many superbly decorated boats, forming a naval pageant, which, according to the narrator of the occasion, exceeded in beauty and magnificence any fète which the world had ever witnessed.   Arrived off Sandy Hook, the fleet formed a circle and "His Excellency Governor Clinton then proceeded to perform the eremony of commingling the waters of the Lakes with the Ocean, by pouring a keg of Lake Erie water into the Atlantic; upon which he delivered the following address:   "This solemnity, at this place, on the first arrival of vessels from Lake Erie, is intended to indicate and commemorate the navigable communication, which has been accomplished between our Mediterranean Seas [Great Lakes] and the Atlantic Ocean, in about 8 years, to the extent of more than 425 miles, by the wisdom, public spirit, and energy of the people of the State of New York; and may the God of the Heavens and of the Earth smile most propitiously on this work, and render it subservient to the best interests of the human race."   To complete the ceremony, and to typify the commerce of New York with all nations, Dr. Samuel L. Mitchell then poured into the ocean bottles of water from various rivers of the world: the Ganges and Indus of Asia; the Nile and Gambia of Africa; the Thames, Seine, Rhine, Elbe, and Danube of Europe; the Orinoco, La Plata and Amazon of South America; and the Mississippi and Columbia of North America.   When the visitors from the West returned home with their boats, they carried with them water from the ocean in a keg, on which were inscribed the legends: "Neptune’s return to Pan", "New York, 4th Nov. 1825", and "Water of the Atlantic."   Arrived at Buffalo, the celebration was concluded by pouring these waters from the ocean into Lake Erie. ^Whitford

In commemoration of the completion of the canal, medals of white metal were struck and sent to the invited guests at the celebration, to the committees from cities and villages along the canal, to colleges, historical societies and to many others.   Silver medals were sent to Federal, State and Army officers and other distinguished citizens. Gold medals were sent to the family of George Washington, to the 3 surviving signers of the Declaration of Independence, to La Fayette, the last surviving Major General of the Army of the Revolution, to the senior officer then living of the Navy of the Revolution, to the President and ex-Presidents of the United States, and to the family of Robert Fulton.   Thomas Jefferson’s reply, upon receiving this medal, is worthy of notice in comparison with the doubts he expressed at the beginning of the canal.   His letter was written on June 8, 1826, less than a month before the day when he and John Adams, two of the three surviving signers of the Declaration of Independence, died on the 50th anniversary of the adoption of that historic document. He said:   "This great work will immortalize the present authorities of New York, will bless their descendants with wealth and prosperity, and prove to mankind the superior wisdom of employing the resources of industry in works of improvement."   It will be remembered that Madison had objected to giving National aid at the beginning of the enterprise.   In his reply acknowledging the receipt of the medal he said:   "As a monument of public spirit conducted by enlightened Councils, as an example to other States worthy of emulating enterprize, and as itself a precious contribution to the happy result to our country of facilitated communications and inter-mingled interests, bringing nearer and binding faster the multiplying parts of the expanding whole, the Canal which unites the great Western lakes with the Atlantic ocean, is an achievement of which the State of New York may at all times be proud, and which well merited the homage so aptly paid to it by her great commercial Metropolis."   James Monroe said, "The accomplishment of the great work, undertaken by the State of New York, by which the western lakes are united with the Atlantic ocean, through the Hudson river, forms a very important epoch in the history of our great republic.   By facilitating the intercourse and promoting the prosperity and welfare of the whole, it will bind us more closely together, and thereby give a new and powerful support, to our free and most excellent system of government."   John Quincy Adams said that it was "an event among those most worthy of commemoration, in the progress of human Affairs – an Event equally creditable to the enterprize and Perseverance of the People of New York; and by the accomplishment of which, in honouring themselves they have reflected honour upon the age and country to which they belong." ^Whitford