The Tumble – September 2024

July 2024 Issue of The Tumble


Benjamin Hovey

Father of the Indiana Canal Company

By Robert Schmidt

Benjamin Hovey was the great-grandson of Daniel Hovey, who arrived in America about 1635. During the next 100 years, Daniel’s descendants largely settled in Massachusetts and Connecticut. Alvin P. Hovey the 21st Governor of Indiana, was also part of the Daniel Hovey line, but he was not directly related to Benjamin. Benjamin’s father was a cooper (barrel maker) in Bradford, Massachusetts named Daniel III. In 1747, as Daniel III’s family grew and perhaps with more competition, he decided to buy 50 acres of land near Sutton, Massachusetts and become a farmer. This farm was adjacent to the property of Deacon John Haven of the Sutton Anglican church. The Hovey family continued to grow. On March 12, 1758. Benjamin Hovey was born in Sutton, the youngest of the eleven children, some who died when young. Unfortunately, due to the large family and the fact that his father Daniel died when Benjamin was just 14, these circumstances denied him very little formal education.

Daniel III had been in poor health and was 71 years old when he transferred his farm to his son, Moses, which was recorded on September 16, 1772. Daniel III died shortly before or after that date. Benjamin was now forced to earn his way by hiring out to local farmers and running errands for the Sheriff of Worcester County. One of those farmers, Deacon Daniel Haven, lived right next door. Haven was the father of a beautiful daughter, Lydia born in June 8, 1755. She was almost 3 years older than Benjamin.

On December 16, 1773, the patriots of Boston tossed cases of tea from 3 ships into the harbor. In retaliation, the British closed the Boston port, the local courts and the colonial legislature. The rest is history. General Gage brought troops to Boston. On April 19, 1775 the word reached the town of Sutton of the British attack on militia at Lexington and Concord. The patriots ambushed the British troops from behind trees and fences on their return march to Boston. Being over 50 miles west of Boston, Benjamin and his local mulita arrived days later to support the siege of the city. A stalemate developed and after 17 days of service the Sutton militia returned home. It was time to plant the spring crops on their farms.

About the time that the Sutton militia was called into action, Benjamin and Lydia turned their casual friendship into a more intimate relationship. By mid-summer of 1775, the Haven’s learned that their unmarried daughter Lydia was pregnant and that the father was their friendly teenage neighbor Benjamin Hovey. At 17 even Benjamin was probably nervous about the responsibilities of becoming a father. It appears that his mother, Ruth, was supportive and encouraged him to marry the 20 year old Lydia. On October 24, 1775 the couple was officially married. Their daughter Ruth was born weeks later on December 8, 1775.

Meanwhile, General Washington was in Boston and called out 5,000 militia troops from New Hampshire and Massachusetts. On December 9th, one day after his daughter’s birth, Benjamin again marched to the besieged city. This time he was involved with digging the fortifications on Dorchester Heights. There the cannons bought by Henry Knox from Ticonderoga were mounted thus forcing the withdrawal of British troops via ships on March 17, 1776. The American militia soldiers were offered generous bonuses to sign up for a 3-year-term with the Continental Army, but Benjamin decided to stay with his local militia and return to Sutton to be with his new family.

Benjamin received 20 pounds from the will of his father and perhaps Moses gave it to him in 1776, for at that time he purchased a home in Sutton. In 1777 Benjamin was called out again when the militia was called to Rhode Island. On December 7, 1776, six thousand British troops landed at Newport, Rhode Island and threatened to move inland. After 44 days, Benjamin’s militia unit returned to Sutton, as the British seemed satisfied to just block the seaport. Benjamin continued to support his family by working with the Sheriff and working for other farmers. He also did some foraging for the Continental Army, gathering up livestock, hay and grains. Another daughter, Alphena, was born on January 22, 1778. To support the family he purchased a farm in Sutton.

Worcester County

The Revolutionary War moved south from 1779-1881 except for the British occupation of New York City. The Patriot’s victory at Yorktown in October 1881 finally led to the Treaty of Paris on September 9, 1783.

In 1782 Benjamin was appointed a Deputy Sheriff of Worcester County, the largest in the state. Worcester County is bordered by New Hampshire on the north and Connecticut on the south. It stretches across the central portion of Massachusetts. The great distances to be covered on horseback both day and night by Benjamin required much physical endurance. As Benjamin’s family grew to 7 children, the strain of family, travel and entertaining caused him to again join the local militia and also to investigate moving to the New York wilderness. Perhaps he also felt a need to speculate in western land as he had heard others were doing.

In the spring of 1887, Daniel Shays and others led a rebellion protesting the foreclosure actions of the state courts against farmers, many of whom had not been compensated for their service during the Revolution. Benjamin Hovey was a lieutenant in the militia at that time and participated in government actions that were being led by General Benjamin Lincoln to put down the armed conflict. The final showdown came on January 25, 1787 at Springfield, Massachusetts.

Ostego County, New York
Chenango County, New York

About 1789-1790, Benjamin set off for Otsego County, New York to where the Unadilla and Susquehanna Rivers meet. There he purchased a small farm. Soon he was the successful bidder on a contract to build a 20-mile road from Unadilla west to the Chenango River. He hired a crew and began work in the Spring of 1790.

By late fall of 1790, his crew reached the east bank of the Chenango River. Benjamin then acquired 428 acres. Although he now owned the land, upon his arrival he found that the Elijah Blackman and family were squatting on it. Being a generous person, Benjamin offered the Blackmans another location further up the Chenango River. There was a small hill on his property where the Indians had built an enclosure for defense. He called it “Fort Hill” and constructed a small cabin on it. In November 1791 he brought his family west. The name he chose for the town was Oxford after his prior location (Sutton/Oxford) in Massachusetts, which was originally named for the English town of Oxfordshire. He continued road building activities and by 1792 had extended his original road another 14 miles west of the Chenango River.

Benjamin established a business in Oxford and became known as the “Father of the Settlement.” His business activities thrived and he began to get involved with politics. He was elected the first Supervisor of Oxford (mayor). He also served for 10 years as a trustee of the Oxford Academy, an institution of higher learning. His son-in-law Uri Tracy, who married Ruth Hovey in 1793, became the first teacher and principal for many years. His daughter, Alphena, married James Glover, who became Benjamin’s personal secretary. Alfred Hovey, his oldest son, went into the construction business and was a contractor on the famous Erie Canal. A younger son, Otis, became a portrait painter in New York.

Benjamin Hovey was instrumental in having a new county separated from the adjoining counties and established Chenango County on March 15, 1798. By acquiring the land and selling lots in Oxford he became both popular and wealthy. Since his venture west from Massachusetts had proven to be an excellent decision, he began to look west toward the Northwest Territory.

In 1798 Benjamin was elected to the New York assembly. His views were with the Democratic -Republican faction and were definitely Anti-Federalist. He became acquainted with New York’s 1st Governor (1777-1795), George Clinton, who later became Vice President of the United States in the 2nd Jefferson and Madison Administrations from March 1805 – April 1812. This friendship provided him access to Congress. He also served with Aaron Burr, who later became Vice-President in Jefferson’s 1st term. Theodore Burr, Aaron’s cousin, invented the “Burr truss arch” and moved to Oxford in 1792. In 1800 Burr built his first bridge across the Chenango River there.

Later, in 1836, the 97-mile-long Chenango Canal was built to connect the Susquehanna River with the Erie Canal at Utica, New York. This canal ran right through the town of Oxford where a celebration had been held earlier in 1833.

Benjamin Hovey began still another military career in the State of New York. Governor George Clinton established a new militia Battalion on March 3, 1792 and Benjamin Hovey was commissioned a Lieutenant Colonel. This commission led to a problem in April 1801. John Jay was the lame duck Federalist Governor of New Yok, who had followed George Clinton’s five terms. For reasons unknown, Jay ordered all state militia organizations to hold a parade on Monday June 8, 1801. Benjamin either didn’t get the message or refused to follow the Governor’s order. A Court Martial was held and Benjamin was stripped of his title. Benjamin’s friend, now 6th term Governor George Clinton, reviewed the case and reinstated Benjamin in January 1802 with a new title of Brigadier General Fifth Division of Militia, the Chenango County Brigade.

The Ohio River was the pathway to the west. Settlers left Pittsburg by flatboat and headed toward the newly opening Northwest Territory established in 1787. George Rogers Clark had received a grant of land from Virginia 1781 on the north side of Ohio River near the rapids or so called falls. That grant was to be shared with his men for their service in the Revolutionary War. The Ohio River was free and gently flowing until it reached a 26-foot-drop in 2 miles near Louisville, Kentucky, which was established there in 1778. This “Falls of the Ohio” became a barrier to all navigation. Boats heading south could unload, transfer goods by land for 2 miles and then load it onto another boat or try to shoot the rapids. All east bound upriver traffic had to use the portage. The main water route was called the Indian Chute on the Indiana Territory side, but the land portage route was from Louisville to Shippingport on the south side of the river in Kentucky. This proved to be a profitable business and discouraged any canal building by Kentucky.

The Ohio Company established the town of Marietta, Ohio in 1788 just south of Pittsburg on the Ohio River. In 1788 John Symmes formed a syndicate to purchase 1 million acres of land between the Miami and Little Miami Rivers north of Cincinnati. Johnathan Dayton of New Jersey was also part of this syndicate and acquired 250,000 acres just further north. Dayton was also an associate of Aaron Burr. By late 1799 Ohio was approaching statehood so in May 1800, Congress established the Indiana Territory with Vincennes as its headquarters and William Henry Harrison its first Governor.

William H. Harrison’s chief responsibility as Governor of Indiana Territory was to protect squatters and settlers by acquiring land from the Indians. He did not arrive in Vincennes until January 1801. His first treaty action came in June 6, 1803 with the Vincennes Tract. This treaty confirmed that the lands around Vincennes, as negotiated with the Piankeshaws earlier in 1740 with the French, still applied to the new United States. In August 27, 1804 a second treaty obtained title to all of the lands south of Vincennes below the Buffalo Trace to the Clarksville grant. The Treaty of Greenville in 1795 had added eastern lands along the Ohio and finally the Treaty of Grouseland in 1805 enclosed the entire Ohio River region to be within the U.S. territory for settlement.

All of these Indian treaties, early settlements and the physical conditions at the Falls must have been known by Benjamin Hovey. He knew of other canals around rapids and falls such as the 1795 Patowmack Canal in Virginia and also such canals around falls in New England. All of these canals were investment opportunities for speculators. Hovey became acquainted with General James Wilkinson and Aaron Burr when he was in Congress. A meeting of proposed investors for a Falls Canal project was held at Biele’s Tavern in Washington City on January 28, 1803. John Patterson was appointed Chairman and Benjamin’s son-in-law James Glover was Secretary. On April 3, 1803 the United States purchased the Louisiana Territory from France, which placed the Mississippi River and New Orleans into American hands. On March 9, 1804, Hovey resigned his Brigadier General commission and became the Chairman of the Falls Canal project along with James Wilkinson and Aaron Burr. In retrospect this may have been a bad decision for on July 11, 1804, Aaron Burr killed Alexander Hamilton in a duel. This event had a negative impact on the project among the members of Congress. Wilkinson was very familiar with the falls and had traveled that route to New Orleans. Years later it was learned that he was a paid spy of the Spanish government. He had worked with Aaron Burr on plans to filibuster in Spanish territory (Texas). Here the term filibuster is used to mean an unauthorized invasion of another country by a group of mercenaries for private gain.

As these events unfolded, Benjamin Hovey went west in 1804 to determine the best canal route to circumvent the falls. After his view of the grounds he made the following observations: “When I first viewed the rapids of the Ohio, it was my object to open a canal on the Louisville side, but on examination I discovered advantages on the opposite side, that at once decided in favor of it.” Hovey’s intention was to begin the canal with a dam across Cane Creek forcing water into a ravine east of Jeffersonville and extend by digging about 2 miles to just below the falls in Clarksville. He even purchased some land in Jeffersonville to begin the venture.

Hovey realized that this project would require more than private funding so he worked to obtain letters of support to present to Congress. One of the most supportive letters was of course that of General James Wilkinson, who had worked with the Spanish government to open New Orleans for trade. The improvement of Ohio River navigation definitely would impact New Orleans traffic. The petition was presented to Congress on January 17, 1805. It asked for a direct gift of 25,000 acres to the corporation or a preemption (right to purchase) of 100,000 acres. A preemption meant that the investors would have the first right to buy that land. Although Burr was still Vice President and presided over the Senate, he was absent from Washington at that time and Congress appointed Johnathan Dayton of New Jersey, John Brown of Kentucky and John Smith of Ohio to a special committee. Although this group of men looked favorably on the venture, it was tabled. When presented to the full U.S. House of Representatives, the project was totally rejected. The feeling of Congress was that such an internal improvement was the proper subject to be dealt with by the Indiana Territory Legislature.

Hovey wasted no time and drafted a canal charter that was submitted to Governor Harrison and the Indiana Territory legislature. Hovey was smart and added directors like George Rogers Clark and some of Harrison’s relatives to the list of 12. Aaron Burr and his associate at Jeffersonville, David Floyd were also both on that board. The charter was granted on August 24, 1805 for the Indiana Canal Company. General Wilkinson on July 4 had just been appointed by President Jefferson as the Governor of Louisiana Territory, a position Governor Harrison had held earlier for 5 weeks. The charter for the Indiana Canal Company provided for up to 20.000 shares at $50 each ($1 Million). The canal was to be completed by December 1. 1811. Another key added feature was that the corporation could issue promissory notes after it raised $100,000. This allowed the corporation to function as a bank. Burr had tried this same scheme years before by creating a Manhattan Company for a New York water project. In both cases the banks?, never materialized but neither did those two projects.

The Canal Company did raise $120,000 by October 1805, but Hovey, who was serious about a canal, was left high and dry when some of his investors, who had “pledged” money, pulled out their support. No construction work was ever done on this canal project. Indiana would try again in 1817 with the Ohio Falls Company using a lottery. Benjamin Hovey never returned to Oxford, New York but moved up to Lake Erie (NY?) where he died in 1811 at age 53. It appears Benjamin Hovey was a hard working honest man who fell in with the unscrupulous investors.


References:

On the internet:

Ancestry.com Benjamin Hovey
Find-A-Grave Benjamin Hovey, Daniel Hovey

Connell, Karl. “Burr, Clinton and the Falls of General Hovey.” Naples, FL: Fiedili Publishing Inc. , 2013
is available on Amazon. Karl’s wife was a Hovey.

Cox, Isaac J. “The Burr Conspiracy In Indiana.” Indiana Magazine of History, Bloomington, IN: Indiana
University, December 1929.

Fatout, Paul. “Canal Agitation at Ohio Falls.” Indiana Magazine of History, Bloomington, IN: Indiana
University, December 1961.

Hovey, Daniel. “The Hovey Book.” Maysville, MA: The Press of Lewis R. Hovey, 1913. This book is free to read on-line.

“Overcoming Obstacles” The Falls of the Ohio at Louisville, Ft. Wayne, IN: Canal Society of Indiana, This book can be read on the Canal Society of Indiana website: indcanal.org

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Building the Louisville-Portland Canal

By Carolyn Schmidt

A limestone ledge across the Ohio River between Jeffersonville, Indiana and Louisville/Portland, Kentucky created a barrier to boat traffic on the Ohio River. Special boat “pilots” were hired at the falls to take barges through a chute, but this did not work for steamboats.

Photo of a photo in the museum by Bob Schmidt

As early as 1802, the expense and delay of hauling freight around the falls was so serious that several plans were proposed to overcome the obstacle. Both Indiana and Kentucky proposed to build a canal around it. This was to be Indiana’s first canal. Indiana even created its first lottery to build it. However, the canal was eventually built in the Louisville-Portland area on the Kentucky side of the Ohio.

The project was begun in 1825 by the Louisville and Portland Canal Company. Originally the canal was 1.9 miles long, 64 feet wide and had a total lift of 26 feet with a three-flight lock system. The first boat passed through in 1830.

Evansville Daily Journal, Evansville, Indiana (July 16, 1856)

The Louisville Courier says that Capt. Lockhart, the Superintendent of the Portland canal [at Louisville, KY], has advertised for sealed proposals for the contemplated work of improvement, widening it, &c. In the meantime he has a large force at work on a new basin, at the first turn from the head of the canal. The basin is to be 60 feet wide, and 240 feet in length, making a very convenient turnout for boats. It is contemplated to close the canal some time this summer, probably about the last of the present month. Captain Lockhart will give due notice, through the papers, and by telegraph, ten days before the time, which will give boatmen a chance to get either above or below the falls [of the Ohio river] with their boats, as they may desire.

Evansville Daily Journal, Evansville, Indiana (July 19, 1856)

We noticed in our river column the other day, the action of the Cincinnati boatmen in relation to the Louisville [Portland] Canal. A letter from Superintendent Lockhart to Messrs. Irwin & Col, dated July 14th says:

“I have to inform you that the canal at this place [Louisville] will be closed about the last of July, and will remain closed about 60 days. The lock walls will have to be partially rebuilt, the old stone bridge torn down, and a pivot bridge built in its place. We intend to finish two new basins, and to remove all the rough projecting stone on the sides of the canal, so that when navigation is resumed the present canal will be in complete order. I hope to inform you in a few days the exact period when the canal will be closed, so that all parties may be prepared.”

After the proposed improvement, in tearing away the stone bridge, steamers will not be troubled by lowering their chimneys to pass through the canal. When the new locks are completed, each four hundred feet long, we expect to see steamboats from Cincinnati, which will throw in the shade everything built below the Falls. The speedy improvement of this canal is a subject of vital importance to every Western man.

The project was completed and a white marble tablet placed on the wall. It said the masonry commenced September 1862 and was finished November 1865.

Photo by Lynette Kross

A modern sign showing picnickers watching the lock being built was placed in 2000. It contains the
following information:

Photo by Lynette Kross

These stone masonry remains are from a 2-lift lock system begun by the Louisville and Portland Canal Company in 1859 and completed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 1872, here at the Falls of the Ohio. Designed by Theodore Scowden each lock was 350 feet long and 80 feet wide, and each had a lift of 13 feet. They were the first navigation locks ever built and operated by the Corps and could accommodate the largest steamboats. The huge stone blocks were quarried near Cannelton, IN and moved by barge to the Falls. Construction was interrupted by the Civil War, yet the cornerstone was laid in 1862, and in 1865 the white marble tablet was placed to mark this engineering triumph.

Wartime financial conditions prevented the Canal Company from completing the locks and in 1869 President U.S. Grant ordered the Corps to finish them. Under the management of General Godfrey Weitzel, the project was completed in 1872, making these locks the largest in the world for many years. With regular maintenance and periodic modifications, the Corps continued their operation until 1970 when they closed after a century of service to Ohio River commerce.

These remains were preserved in 2000. They were reconstructed as part of the McAlpine Lock Replacement Project.

In 2003 the Louisville and Portland Canal McAlpine Locks and Dam were dedicated as a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark. A plaque placed at the site says: “The original canal and locks constructed at this site in the first half of the 19th century was responsible for permanently changing navigation on the Ohio River. The original locks and their successors improved the transportation of people and goods towards St. Louis, New Orleans and points west and played an important role in the settlement and growth of the nation.”

As barge traffic continued to grow, by the 1990s it was necessary to increase the lock capacity again. In 1996 construction began on a multi-phase project to improve the McAlpine facility. First, a new operations building and an improved wharf area for standby gates were built. The 600 foot lock, along with remains of the lock built in the 1870s were removed. The end result was a canal 500 feet wide and a 110’ by 1200’ lock chamber with a lift of 37 feet.

By 2000 construction began on a second 110’ by 1200’ chamber to facilitate current and future commercial traffic. The Ohio River carried 40% of the commercial water traffic in the continental U.S., according to the U. S. Commerce Department. In 2000, 554.8 million tons of products worth more than $12 billion passed through the canal. Coal, petroleum, grain, chemicals, iron and steel made up most of the tonnage.

Photo by Cynthia Powers

In addition to building the second lock, the old bridges were removed and a high roadway was built over the two locks to resemble a bridge. The bridge is named the Portland-Shippingport Bridge. Also during this period the heavy lift crane, the Henry M Shreve was built. It is often docked at the Louisville Repair Station. The Shreve is able to life the huge lock gates during repair operations.

When the Canal Society of Indiana visited the site in 2004 they saw a coffer dam had been put in so that work could be done to enlarge the old lock. They also saw the approaches to the new bridge being built.

All project features, including a visitor area and overlook were completed in 2009. These improvements were designed to serve navigation needs at the Falls of the Ohio until 2050 and beyond.

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Life Without the Canal

By R. V. Morris

If the state is determined not to fix the aqueduct at Metamora it will fall in the near future. So, the question needs to be asked, “What will life at Metamora be like without the canal?” This is not something that I like to think about, and thinking about it does not mean that I am giving up on the future of the canal. Life without canal boat rides or even a canal would be difficult. My memories of childhood include watching water diverted from the aqueduct plunging into the creek below and searching for fossils in the gravel near that structure. The empty weed chocked bug breeding canal itself would be an eyesore for the community, but people could still see the canal prism like people see canal prisms in other parts of the state.

There need to be rubber raft rentals at Metamora so that guests have something to do when they come to Metamora. A float down the beautiful Whitewater River would be a fun activity on a sunny summer day. They would pass under the shadows of a sycamore or look up and see a bald eagle or heron in flight. It would get families doing something on the river who would come off the river hungry and thirsty. People would have good memories and tell their friends about what they did last weekend.

Next, people need to be able to rent bicycles or scooters at Metamora by the hour. This would give people an opportunity to ride to Laurel, to Brookville, both, or just fool around on the trail for an hour prior to getting back on the train or back to their car. People would see the stone ruins on the canal or watch the ripples in the Whitewater River, or feel the wind blow. Once again this is a great way for people to find family entertainment. As a jumping off place people will purchase food and drinks before and after their adventure.

What about spending the night on the canal? Some railroad lines offer families the opportunity to spend the night in a caboose. They go down the line with the regularly scheduled Saturday trip. After guests visit Metamora their caboose is dropped down track at a siding with a fire ring and a picnic table. The family fishes, watches the sun set, has a camp fire, and spends the night listening to the tree toads and the owls. The next morning, their caboose is coupled back to the regularly scheduled Sunday train ride to the depot.

The C & O Canal has a series of furnished and unfurnished cabins that people rent along the path for
cyclists or hikers to spend the night along the trail. This would be an adventure that would be similar to camping on a caboose. Visitors could spend the night living in a historic structure with an outside fire ring and picnic table. Visitors would be attracted to the fact that this is a place with few lights, no electronics, and limited screen possibilities. This is a place where people talk and listen to each other, have family adventures together, and make memories.

There are lots of ways that Metamora can find its future without the canal as it continues to develop year-round lodging, performance, and dining venues. I hope the canal is around for the next hundred years, but there need to be places that are distinctive where families can have memories without screens dominating every minute of the day. There needs to be a place where it is quiet, where the wind blows, and people have time to fool around, talk to each other and listen to each other. These are important family memories that Metamora can provide to a world that needs to slow down just a little and have fun.

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Woman’s Work

By Samuel Ligget

Most of what is known about the history of canals in the United States is from a male perspective. Not much information can be found about women working on canals. Women were discouraged from doing canal work early on. Many women working on canals were taken advantage of solely because of their gender. With the passing of time women became more and more accepted in many jobs on canals.

During the construction period of a canal, women could be found doing cooking and laundry for canal workers. These women were usually working for a canal contractor in these capacities. Women could be paid less than men because of their secondary status in society. Women would also play a nursing role when cholera or malaria outbreaks occurred in construction camps. Working at or even owning a boarding house while construction on a canal was going on was another acceptable occupation for a woman. Though rare, there were women who passed themselves off as a man and did construction work on a canal until discovered.

Courtesy of the National Canal Museum an affiliate of the D. & L. National Heritage Corridor

Persistent low pay for canal boat captains was a common problem on canals. To save on expenses captains would use family members as help on the boat. Wives and children were cheap labor and thus were put to work. Children were used as mule drivers, deck hands and caretakers for the animals. Wives were used at the tiller steering the canal boat. As a result of this use of the family to help with work on the canal boats, more and more family owned and operated boats came about. Many wives and/or daughters of canal boat owners tended to the bookkeeping of the family business. When a male canal boat owner died, it was not uncommon for his wife to become the boat owner and operator, so the business could be carried on and support the family.

When asked about his wife’s work on the family canal boat, Captain Alpheus Galloway answered, according to the D. and H. Canal Historical Society website, “She used to cook and tend to the things on the boat which had to be done, cleaning &c., steering the boat occasionally to spell us when required, and in watching the boat when we were lying still.”

Courtesy of Brunswick Heritage Museum
A woman was usually at the tiller of canal boat

A Martha Best reported to author C. P. Yoder in his Delaware Canal Journal that while at the tiller of a canal boat and being harassed, “These two in a canoe grabbed my rudder. I said ‘please get off it’s hard for me to steer.’ Well they acted real smart, so I said if you don’t get off you’ll be real sorry… So I went down and got the chamber potty and threw the whole darned thing on them.”

Despite women being able to do the job of a canal boat captain, very few ever became one. According to the website of the C. & O. Canal Trust, “the Evening Star reported five captains were women, two of which were
widows and one whose husband was being held for murder.”

Married men proved to be more reliable than single men for being a locktender. A wife and children could serve as unpaid assistants. Many women were called on to be the locktender when their husbands were gone or incapacitated. During the Civil War it was ordinary practice for the wife and children of a locktender to become the acting locktender while their husband/father was off to war. Because of low pay for locktenders, many of the locktenders would find another local job and let the wife and children operate the locks. Sometimes a locktender’s wife would sell baked goods and produce to canal travelers to help the family’s budget.

In different states and at different times in history, the locktender’s job was a part of the political patronage system. If a new governor was elected, a locktender was to resign and hope the new governor would reappoint him. Two women were appointed as locktenders on the C. & O. Canal after the June 1800 election.

As the canal era ended, women were seen as being capable of doing many of the jobs on the canals. On the Lehigh and Delaware Canal the female locktenders made the same pay as their male counterparts and many of the canal boats paid female workers the same as males. Women had proven themselves as good as men in many, if not all aspects of canal work. Given that in 2022 the average woman’s wages were, according to Forbes, still just 83% of a man’s for the same work, women working on the canal were being treated pretty fairly.

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Canal Notes No. 15: Kiser’s Oxen

By Tom Castaldi

Peter Kiser
B. 1810 – D. 1890
From Pioneers Resting in Historic Lindenwood

In 1843 butcher Peter Kiser, along with other Fort Wayne, Indiana pioneers, prepared for the July 4th grand opening celebration of the Wabash & Erie Canal.

With the canal opening from Toledo, Ohio, on Lake Erie to Lafayette, Indiana, Fort Wayne , the highest geographical point on the line, was chosen as the site of a great celebration. Marching bands, banners, speeches, cannon fire, food and drink combined to make this a day to be remembered.

Peter traveled to Lafayette where he purchased two oxen to be slaughtered and barbecued to feed the thousands expected to be on hand for the event.

He concluded the deal and set about returning to Fort Wayne on the just opened canal, only to find that the oxen refused to board the boat. No amount of coaxing could move the beasts across the bridge plank.

Finally, Kiser restored to driving the oxen on foot. After plodding over 110 miles and taking 11 days to do it, he made the trip back to Fort Wayne. These were interesting days and fascinating people. Peter Kiser could neither read nor write, yet he served two terms in the state legislature and was a mighty force in establishing the public school system in Indiana.

Peter Kiser is but one of the colorful pioneer people whose deeds add to the rich heritage of the Wabash & Erie story. Its route cut across Indiana connecting people, their produce and their products ever since that July 4, 1843, great celebration day.

It had to have been a great day for Kiser. One historian has commented on what a delight it must have been for Kiser to finally reach Fort Wayne and prepare those two oxen for the hungry masses.

Lewis Cass orates at the Grand Canal Celebration held in Fort
Wayne, Indiana on July 4, 1843 for the opening of the Wabash &
Erie Canal from Toledo, Ohio to Lafayette, Indiana.
Drawing courtesy of Canal Celebration in Old Fort Wayne Allen Co. Ft. Wayne Library

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Robbing the Bank

By Neil Sowards, circa 1939

When I was young, my father was pastor of the First Baptist Church of East Liverpool, Ohio. It was the custom that the pastor and his family would be invited to eat Sunday Dinner with a family of the church. At that time the Sunday Dinner was the best meal of the week. It was also a time for the pastor to get to know the families of the church.

I remember the man of the house where we were eating saying he was desperate and would have to rob the bank in order to keep his family warm. The late 1930s were desperate times.

After we went home, I asked my father about what he was planning. My father told me I misunderstood. The man was not talking about a bank where people kept their money but highway banks along the roads around the city. In those days they would cut into the hills to make a notch and shelf for the road. The cutting exposed the layers of rock in the hill. Sometimes it would expose thin layers of coal. These layers were only a couple of inches thick so not commercially mineable.

But desperate people would go out to these cuttings and chisel out coal from these thin seams. Since most people, at that time, cooked and heated with coal, so it was a way to keep their houses warm and be able to cook.

The highway department actively discouraged the practice because if enough coal was taken, the rocks about the coal layers would collapse onto the road because they were no longer supported by the coal.

But desperate men resorted to desperate measures. So many poor houses were kept warm with coal stolen from the road banks. I heard that the highway department filled in the gap where the coal had been with mortar which somewhat supported the rock above and hid the coal so that it would not be a temptation for bank robbers. When the economy got better, the practice stopped. Then coal was delivered by truck and pushed down a chute to the coal room under the front porch.

Also, at that time, railroad cars were filled to their tops with coal. The banging of the cars together caused some coal to fall from the cars. Children would take gunny sacks and pick up these pieces of coal. But this source was much more unreliable.

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The Conwells

James Conwell, born in 1786. was the oldest of the 4 sons of William and Nancy King Conwell
who lived in Lewes, Delaware. Nancy died in 1815. The boys sent their youngest brother, Abram, west to find a new home in 1818. He directed them to the Whitewater Valley.

Abram, after settling in Connersville, became quite a businessman. He established a pork processing business and warehouse along the Whitewater Canal at Conwell’s Lock # 40 and
Pork House Lock # 39 in the city.

James, a Methodist minister and businessman, had just lost his wife, Mary Hughes, in 1817 and, with four small children, he quickly married his 1st cousin Winifred Harris King in 1818 They moved with the 3 girls and a boy to Somerset, Indiana in 1820. Winifred and James went on to have 11 more children born in Laurel, Indiana.

Today we are going to follow the lives of the 4 older children and their families of James Conwell and his first wife Mary.

  1. Their oldest daughter, Elizabeth Ann was just 7 at the time her mother died. She basically grew up in Somerset and in 1830 married Martin Updegraff, who owned property near the future Whitewater canal lock #37 by that name.
  2. The next Conwell child was Jane born in 1811. She married George Shoup, who had moved to Somerset in 1832 and had become quite a businessman and politician. They were married in 1833 when Jane was 22 and he was 23. Their first son Francis Asbury Shoup was named Francis like his uncle, and Asbury for Bishop Asbury in the same Methodist tradition.
  3. Jane’s younger brother, Francis Asbury Conwell, was born in 1812 in Delaware. He followed his father into the ministry. He also became the 1st Postmaster of Laurel.
  4. The youngest daughter of James and Mary was named Mary Hughes Conwell after her mother, who probably died of childbirth complications when Mary was born in 1817. Young Mary was only 19 when she married Henry Dayton Smith in 1836.

George Grove Shoup was born in 1810 near Dayton Ohio. He was a distance relative of General
David Shoup of Battle Ground Indiana, who was the Commandant of the Marine Corps during
the Vietnam War. George’s older brother, Emanuel had moved to Battle Ground, Indiana while
George moved to Somerset in Franklin County.

George became quite active in 1832 in his local community and was involved with the mills and
pork packing there. In May 1833 he married James Conwell’s daughter, Jane. He became
active in local politics and activities to get the Indiana Legislature to approve a canal for the
Whitewater Valley. He served in the legislature from 1841-43. He was a delegate to the 1850
Constitutional Convention in Indianapolis. While there, he teamed up with lawyers James
Rariden and John Neuman. On November 16th they purchased the Central Canal at the auction on
the steps of the courthouse. They in turn in February 1851 sold their interest to George’s brother
-in-law, Francis Asbury Conwell. Through additional sales it ended up as the Indianapolis Water
Company. George Shoup was a hard working and a hard driving man. He died at age 42 in
Laurel on July 7, 1853.

Francis Asbury Shoup

Francis Asbury Shoup was born in 1834, grew up in Laurel and went on to attend Indiana
Asbury University in Greencastle, IN This Methodist college, founded in 1837, was named for

Francis Asbury, who, at age 22, came to the British Colonies in 1771 to spread the gospel of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He died in 1816 at age 71 having had a great influence in America and on the Conwell family.

Francis Shoup, after attending Asbury University and the death of his father George, went on to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, where he graduated in 1855. For the next 3 years he served in the 1st U.S. Artillery in Florida and Charleston South Carolina. He resigned his commission in 1860 and returned to Indianapolis to practice law and was the leader of a Zouave unit there.

Shoupade

His political leanings were to the South. After attending the Secession Convention of 1860 in Charleston, he joined the Confederate States of America and served at Shiloh as the commander of artillery. Serving at Vicksburg and at Atlanta he devised a specialized redoubt called a “shoupade.” He was the Chief of Staff for John Bell Hood at the battle of Franklin, Tennessee in November 1864. In 1868, following the war, he became a Methodist minister. In 1871 he married Esther Elliot, the daughter of Rev. Stephen Elliott Jr., one of the founders of the University of the South, in Sewanee, Tennessee. Rev. Elliott was the Bishop of Georgia for the Methodist Episcopal Church.

Later Francis became a Professor of Math at the University of Mississippi and the University of the South at Sewanee. He died in Columbia, Tennessee in 1896 and was buried at Sewanee. Esther died in 1916 and is buried there as well.

Francis Shoup’s 1st cousin was Elizabeth Conwell Smith. She was the daughter of Francis’ aunt Mary Conwell. Mary married Henry Dayton Smith in 1836 and their 3rd child, Elizabeth, was born in 1842. In 1843, a year later Henry, died at the young age of 38. Mary, remarried in 1847 and died in 1858 when Elizabeth was only 16. The young girl finished schooling at the Laurel Academy. Then in 1862 at age 20 she went to the De Pauw Academy for Women in New Albany, Indiana. She had written poetry since age 16 and through it she met Byron “Forceythe” Willson.

Elizabeth Conwell Smith
Byron “Forecythe” Willson

Elizabeth Conwell Smith
Married
Byron “Forceythe” Willson

Forceythe Willson attended Antioch College in Ohio and Harvard for a few years. After his father died in New Albany, Indiana in 1859 and Forceythe continued to have problems with tuberculosis, in 1861 he decided to return to New Albany. He obtained work on the editorial board of the Louisville Journal, which was a pro-Union paper. After the battle of Shiloh, he met a surgeon named Austin, who had attended the final hours of a Sergeant named Robert Burton. After hearing the story, Forceythe wrote a poem entitled “The Old Sergeant” and published it in 1863 in the Louisville paper. President Lincoln read the poem in that paper and was so impressed that he asked Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes about the author.

Byron Forceythe Willson and Elizabeth Smith were married at the Updegraff home in Laurel in 1863 and moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts. There they associated with James Russel Lowell and Dr.
Holmes. Holmes loved “The Old Sergeant” poem and read it to audiences quite often.

In June of 1864 the Willson’s son, Dolfi, died shortly after birth. Elizabeth who never had good health, died a few months later in October 1864 and was buried in the Conwell Cemetery in Laurel. B. “Forceythe” Willson, who died in New York in February 1867, was also buried in the Conwell Cemetery with his wife and son. Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes came to Laurel to visit their graves shortly after they had died.

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My Trail? Walking the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal

By R. V. Morris

My first encounter with the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal was where it crossed the Appalachian Trial at Harpers Ferry. I had been hiking on the Georgia to Maine trail and found the walk into Harpers Ferry via the old tow path which ran between the Potomac River and the canal to be a pleasant respite from the vertical extremes of the A.T. I was interested in it because it ran directly into downtown Washington, D.C. and all the way to Cumberland, Maryland where the National Road began. It also followed the Potomac River and had an active railroad. Of course, it had the most amazing remnants of canal structures along the path.

Paw Paw Tunnel on the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal

Years later and with more mature friends I started hiking the C & O Canal from Cumberland, Maryland to the Paw Paw Tunnel, and the next year from the tunnel to Hancock, MD. We made a day of it and hiked long miles with the gradual slope toward D.C. Along the way I passed feeder dams, sluice gates, steam pumps, over flows, lift locks, gristmills, lime kilns, aqueducts, culverts, basins, slack water ponds, guard locks, lock houses, a tunnel, distinctive houses from the canal era, the humble barn for wintering mules when the canal was closed, drydocks, and a school house. Because the canal was used longer it had more of the built environment still standing. I was ready for my next trip along the canal that proved that people come to exercise, relax, and enjoy the internal improvements of our ancestors by walking, bicycling, fishing, or canoeing.

The next year the trip was from Hancock to Williamsport, MD, and it was a great education to see how a canal ruin turned into a high-volume multiple use trail. The trail was filled with people, families, Scouts, and friends traveling the towpath point to point for a long or a short trip. The towpath was heavily used by bicycle enthusiasts with just a few of the plodding pedestrians. My friends and I needed signs on our backs saying, “Deaf old men walking shout loudly.” We dodged all the cyclists successfully. The trail provided drive in campgrounds, hiker/bicycle campgrounds accessible only by the trail, and lock keeper houses that were rented for those who wished amenities beyond a pump, privy, fire ring, and picnic table.

Even though I eyed the lock keeper’s house my tent served me well as the fog rose from the Potomac River that cold morning. As I made flap jacks with real butter and maple syrup the bacon and sausage hissed in the cast iron Paw Paw Tunnel on the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal skillet and called my sleepy friends out of their tent for breakfast. The morning was quiet as there was no one else in the campground. There was a trace of frost on the leaves beneath my feet. I knew that when I started walking my hiker’s heat would warm me sufficiently so that I just hiked in a sweater even though it was the first week of November:

The evening before we had gathered around the popping wood in the fire ring trading stories and turning marshmallows into charcoal briquets as the coals burned down and the flames died. Then I made a fast dash to the shelter of a warm sleeping bag. The owls broke the stillness of the night as the moon rose over the horizon making a flashlight redundant. These old friends who gathered on the shore of the Potomac River remembered past adventures, gathered new experience, and plotted new walks by the canal. Like the Canal Society of Indiana, we get together because we have a common history, past, and curiosity. I hope to see you at a Canal Society event to celebrate old friends or to meet new people who want to share your story.

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Wabash & Erie Canal Focus of Archaeology Dig

By Carolyn Schmidt

Students of Dr. Christopher Moore, Anthropology chair from the University of Indianapolis (UIndy), have spent the summer in Carroll County along the route of the Wabash & Erie Canal. Moore grew up in the county and has been taking students there since 2013. On May 21, 2024 it was announced that he had received a $100,000 grant from the Wabash River Heritage Corridor Fund to identify sites eligible for National Register of Historic Places designation. Grant funds are administered by the Department of Natural Resources Division of Historic Preservation & Archaeology (DHPA). This was the largest grant given out of the total $600,000 in royalties that come from oil extracted in southern Indiana along the Wabash river.

The students are taking part in a professional program that provides practical lab and field-based educational experience in preparation for a career as an archaeologist. Each student is required to complete at least two semester long, immersive off-campus field archaeology courses and spend at least 24 hours a week participating in archaeological digs and surveys to work in the field of Cultural Resource Management. They often write articles and technical reports for the Society of Historical Archaeology newsletter.

For the next two years the Wabash & Erie Canal (1840s-50s) and the significant early settlers to the county will be their focus. For eight weeks this summer the students worked on the Historic Delphi Trails. The public was invited to view the digging. They studied the Baum family, where they landed, their early farmstead, their house where the earliest court proceedings for Carroll County were held, and an early store that was in one of their buildings during the 1820s-30s. One of the student’s other was a Baum and her great grandfathers, great-great-grandfather and great-great-great grandfather were born in Delphi.

The grant also included paying students who had already finished their courses. Many of those who graduate manage archaeology at major firms, work for state and federal agencies, and teach at schools and museums.

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June At The I & M Canal

By Carolyn I. Schmidt

Want a relaxing vacation? A week at the Illinois & Michigan Canal in Illinois has much canal history to offer either on a canal boat, hiking or biking the trails to historical sites, or by exploring towns along its route that have great museums, outdoor canal structures, cute boutique and thrift shops, libraries with book sales, visitor centers with locally made items and a variety of restaurants. The added bonus is that the area is now the Illinois & Michigan Canal National Heritage Corridor and has the canalized Illinois River with observation areas near the locks to view the lockage of barges and towboats.

The first week of June 2024 Bob & Carolyn Schmidt and Sue Jesse spent the week taking in much of what the area had to offer. A first stop was at the Lock #16 Café and Visitor Center in LaSalle, Illinois where we purchased tickets to ride the “Volunteer,” a full scale canal boat. Although the I & M Canal only had 15 locks, we were told this center was given its name since today it was the last stop on the canal. It not only provided lots of brochures and maps, a café, restrooms, and a great gift shop with canal books, it had wonderful murals on its walls that told the story of the canal and how the towns along its route developed. Since we had about an hour before our boat ride, Bob took photos of the murals to share with you.

Since the exhibits were so huge, I (Carolyn) have copied the words from the exhibits and put in some of the many pictures taken by Bob.

Dreams, Determination, Expansion:

The Illinois and Michigan Canal Completes a Water Highway Moving the Nation Westward

The operating of the 96-mile Illinois and Michigan Canal ushered in a new era in trade and travel for the nation. In the years before railroads and highways, water was the most efficient way to move people and goods by connecting the waters of the Illinois River with those of
Lake Michigan (hence the name), the canal created an all water route from New York to New Orleans with Chicago as the crucial midpoint.

Since the birth of the new nation, American leaders including President Madison, had recognized the urgent for a network of “internal improvements” to ease the problem of continental
transportation.

Abraham Lincoln trumpeted the wide-ranging effects of the I & M Canal past the borders of Illinois. The future president wrote “Nothing is so local as not to be of some general benefit, the benefits of an improvement are by no means confined to the particular locality of the improvement itself.”

Transversing The Great Lakes

The I & M Canal opened 23 years after the Erie Canal. Following up on the Erie’s success, the I & M was the final link in a chain of waterways that helped fuel the nation’s growth. It is no exaggeration to state that the construction and operation of the I & M Canal in northeastern Illinois tells one of the most significant stories in the transportation history of the United States.

Investing in America

The most massive public works project ever attempted in the young state of Illinois, digging began on the 4th of July in 1836 (The Wabash & Erie Canal digging began on 2nd of February in 1832.) Many hoped the canal could be completed in a few years, but in 1837 the nation suffered its first major Depression, and by 1840
Illinois teetered towards bankruptcy. Work on the canal largely ceased until investors, many from Europe, came up with $1.6 million to jump-start the stalled project in 1845. It took twelve years of on again, off again labor to construct the canal, which finally opened in April of 1848.

Transportation and Commerce
Builds Illinois

During the first five years of operation (1848-1852) the canal had no direct competition from railroads. A booming business in passenger travel developed
bringing people together from all walks of life. Trains soon took the passenger traffic, but the canal continued to prosper with the shipping of heavy bulk goods. The I & M Canal was ultimately replaced with other waterways. The Chicago Sanitary Ship Canal in 1900 and the Illinois Waterway in 1933.

In 1984 President Ronald
Regan signed legislation
authored by Senator Charles Percy and Representative Tom Corcoran creating American’s first national heritage area–
the Illinois & Michigan Canal National Heritage Corridor. The I & M Canal was also designated a National Historic Landmark in 1963 and the State of Illinois created the I & M State Trail in 1973.

Model of a lock gate on the I & M Canal

Economy, Development, Prosperity:

The Illinois & Michigan Canal Develops Northern Illinois

Try to imagine Illinois without Chicago and the surrounding counties. If not for the very idea of the I & M Canal, Illinois as we know it would be very different. In 1818 Illinois became the 21st state, but not before a key change was made to the state’s northern border to keep the planned canal within one state. The change gave Illinois Lake Michigan lakefront. Before the canal the site of Chicago consisted of a lonely military outpost “Fort Dearborn” situated in a swampy region. The prospect of the canal brought people and eastern capital to Chicago and the surrounding region.

Federal and State Collaboration

Much of the good work done by the canal occurred before it ever opened. In 1827 the Federal Government gave State of Illinois
284,000 acres of land along the route of the canal to help finance its construction. (Same years as Indiana’s land grant.) When the I & M Canal Commissioners began selling this land, thousands of people began settling along the line of the canal, spurring the
growth of Illinois. The I & M Canal
Commissioners were responsible for the development of a number of towns along the purposed waterway, including Chicago,
Ottawa, Lockport, Morris, and LaSalle.

Chicago as the Western Frontier

Few today think of Illinois as part of the West, but in 1848 it was routinely as such, and the I & M Canal is a symbol of America’s westward expansion. The opening of the canal signaled the end of the frontier era in Chicago’s history, as the city now became a gateway to the West.

Chicago as a Metropolis

In addition to the opening of the canal, several other watershed moments occurred in Illinois in 1848, including the first telegraph line linking Chicago to the east, the first railroad in Chicago, and the establishment of the Chicago
Board of Trade, prompted in part by the prospects of increase trade due to the canal.

The canal was 96 miles long
stretching from Bridgeport, then
near Chicago, to LaSalle. It was a
minimum of 60 feet wide with
several areas known as wide
waters where it was twice that
width.

While we may think of southern Illinois as flat and featureless there is 140 feet change in
elevation between Lake Michigan and the Illinois River necessitating fifteen locks.

The canal had a minimum depth of 6 feet although in many places it was much deeper. There were also numerous bridges, aqueducts, and feeder canals to supply water.

From the Visitor’s Center we drove a few blocks, crossed the canal and parked near the canal boat. There were bleachers near the boat where we sat for a half hour presentation about why mules were a wise choice to pull canal boats. The mule handlers brought out a mule named Moe. When asked why he was named Moe, we were told that stood for “motion” or “motive power,” provided by the mule to pull the canal boat. He also “mows” the lawn. He roamed the area before us munching on grass while we learned that he had a donkey father and a horse mother. Mules are almost always sterile, can be obstinate, but they have more stamina that a horse and are stronger.

Since this was Sunday of a holiday weekend, the usual mule handlers and crew were on vacation, and their replacements were not wearing canal era garb. However, the boat captain, Nicholas, was dressed for the time period. He did an outstanding job of narrating the hour-long trip on the Volunteer.” After the ride he docked the boat and brought carrots for the children to feed to Moe.

We were sorry to see that the 70-passenger canal boat was in need of paint and repair. We had seen it when if was new, shortly after the National Heritage Corridor was opened. At its age we were glad it was still in operation.

At the dock the canal had duck weed covering parts of it, but it was clear once we left it. Trees have grown along the canal’s banks and Nicholas had to hold up tree branches to avoid hitting us on our heads. He said they need to bring trimmers and cut back these branches, but their staff is small. The boat ride was between Locks 13 & #14. We were able to walk across Lock #14 and look down toward the river to see Lock #15.

We read several markers in the park and saw full size black silhouettes of people who were important to Illinois’ early history. These are found in many of the towns along the canal and include Indians, pioneers, canal men, women, and children. We then went back to the Lock #16 Visitors’ Center for a late lunch. Unfortunately, we were too late to eat there, but we found a great barbeque restaurant nearby.

Later that afternoon we visited Gerry Hulslander, CSI member from Marseilles, at his resident center in Ottawa. Gerry, who was 99 years old in August 2024, was very instrumental in leading or making arrangements for CSI tours of the I & M Canal (1996, 2009 & 2017) and the Hennepin Canal (2012) in Illinois. He reminisced about the canal tours, his late wife (Jean), their involvement with the canal museum in Utica, Jean’s quilt making, his career and his honor flight to Washington, D. C. Although he no longer can attend CSI tours, he is still very interested in the organization.

Outside the resident center was a park with huge old trees that seemed to be alive with high pitched whirring sounds. We learned we were in the midst of the emerging first brood of the 17-year cicada with another brood of 13-year cicadas expected later. These insects would be around through August. This double emergence s a once-in-a-lifetime event that only happens once every 221 years. Even stranger is that these two broods make their homes adjacent to one another, with a narrow overlap in central Illinois (just where we were). The males’ courtship sounds can reach up to 100 decibels and even drown out a jack hammer. There can be as many as 4000 of them in a single tree.

As cars drove past the trees, they excited the cicadas whose buzz became increasingly louder. Then, at the grocery store, the insects actually chased customers. They came zooming in from all directions that was like being caught in a barrage of bullets. One came by our open car window, stopped long enough to peer in, screeched at us and then flew on. They attacked people mowing their lawns and were so loud that people had trouble hearing each other speak. We encountered them often throughout the week, saw hikers batting at them in the air, and found dead ones everywhere on sidewalks, in the grass and in parking lots. They landed on us but didn’t hurt us. We picked up a few to add to my (1954-55) 4-H bug collection. They are smaller than the regular yearly cicadas, sing in the daytime instead of at night, and are black with red eyes and red and yellow-green webbing in their clear wings—actually very pretty.

Monday was spent thrift shopping, playing games, visiting libraries and planning the rest of the week’s activities. Many shops were closed on Monday.

On Tuesday we returned to Ottawa to see the Illinois Waterway Visitor Center overlooking the Starved Rock Lock and Dam. We arrived at this huge modern river lock just as a barge loaded with three huge transformers began to lock through. We quickly took an elevator to the second story observation deck to watch the entire locking process, which totally took about 45 minutes. We were able to talk to the men operating the lock and learned that the barge was coming from Chicago, going down southwest for 231 miles to the Mississippi River, then down the Mississippi to the Ohio River and up the Ohio to Paducah, Kentucky. The barge was pushed through the upper gates by the tugboat Dodson Thornton from Excel Marine. The gates were closed behind it as it was attached to the lock walls and the water was let out of the lower lock gates. We watched the waterline on the lock wall to see how fast the boat was lowered. We could also see the dam on the river.

Built in 1933 the lock is 1,310 feet long and 33 feet wide. It had recently gotten new lock gates. The lower of these gates began opening once the barge reached the level of the Illinois River below. A pod of white pelicans flew over the lock and searched for fish below the dam.

We then went inside the visitor center to see a movie about the Illinois waterway, various stuffed birds and animals found along it, photographs of it being built, and even stepped into a pilot house for a tugboat. Restrooms, a small gift shop and lots of brochures for sites to see were provided.

We then drove a few miles downstream, crossed the river, and went to Starved Rock State Park and had lunch overlooking the lock and dam we had just visited. Since it was just the beginning of the tourist season, it was not very busy. We learned that we had been very lucky to be there at the exact time the barge locked through. They weren’t expecting another lockage for several hours. We learned that any boat can be locked through at no charge, even a canoe.

Wednesday, we went to North Utica to the Starved Rock County Welcome Center’s “Illinois Makers” gift shop, which carried beautiful crafts, foods & wine, etc. all handmade in Illinois on W. Canal Street. The town also had the LaSalle County Historical Society Museum that sits right on the banks of the old I & M Canal. In years past Gerry Hulslander led lantern light tours of the canal and the historical part of town from the museum, which included old grain elevators. Grain was one of the chief commodities carried on the canal. Other canal artifacts and information can be found at the museum extension across the canal. A city block has been blocked off for outdoor dining at several establishments across from the museum.

We also found some exceptional thrift and estate sale shops that carried historical books. Dinner at Hanks Farm, recommended by our resort, was not all that wonderful. However, it was the best that was nearby.

Thursday, we headed northeast to Marseilles, where we found a dry canal bed and old mills. Rapids on the Illinois River provided the power to turn the mill wheels and the canal provided transportation for the grain. We then crossed the river and went to Illini State Park to view the Marseilles Lock and Dam on the Illinois Waterway. Although we had to drive very carefully on a long road beside the river, we finally arrived at the lock. All was quiet. It looked like there wasn’t going to be any locking through for hours. We tired of fighting off the cicadas and returned to Marseilles then followed the canal to Seneca.

At Seneca we stopped at the M. J. Hogan Grain Elevator, the oldest surviving grain elevator along the canal. The canal bed alongside it is dry and filled with weeds. This elevator stored farmers’ grain before it was shipped to Chicago and eastern markets. It was a very busy place with the loading and unloading of corn and wheat. Canal boats also brought in lemons, oranges, sugar, molasses and tobacco and took out coal, limestone, agricultural implements, furniture and lumber.

We left Seneca and tried to find Old State Road that was on our map since it was shown to follow the canal. After several attempts we found it. We were surprised that it was nicely paved and had beautiful homes along it as we came closed to Morris.

Morris, Illinois had Canalport Plaza where eight life-size silhouettes with story panels told the story of early settlers to the area. A block away was Canalport Park, which featured a full size wooden canal boat that is a children’s play area. It was well done but needs the windows of its cabin replaced for visitors to peer inside. Lovely flowers and plants were found at both places. There was another set of steel silhouettes of a mule “Old Nell” and its driver “John Sullivan” that represented the most famous mule on the towpath. Just a block away was an American Legion that had its own restaurant, “The Hideaway.” It was nice and cool inside and the food was great. That afternoon we looked for Locks #9 & #10 of the old I & M. There were no directions to them that we saw. We eventually found them and they were marked. A street crossed over the dry canal bed and we found the sign shown here between these two locks. It read, “No Semi Trucks Beyond This Point. Your GPS is Wrong. No Truck Traffic, No ATVs.” We found it amusing. Canal Lock #10 is at the end of this dry bed in the picture.

Friday was our last day. We wanted to see the Reddick Mansion in Ottawa that was only open Friday-Sunday. This 1858, 22- room, Italianate mansion is possibly the most ornate and expensive private home built before the Civil War. Several rooms had been restored to their previous grandeur of 1875. It faced Washington Square, the site of the first Lincoln-Douglas debate. Its owner, William Reddick, had political ambitions of his own. He was a county sheriff, state senator and founder of the local glass industry. It had beautiful flower gardens, an herb garden, and a carriage house that fill about
one fourth of a city block.

We also saw the statue of Lincoln and Douglas in the park. A huge boulder marks the spot where they stood for three hours in 1858 before an estimated throng of 10,000 to debate on the subject of the introduction of slavery into the western states for the U. S. Senate Race. The park had a beautiful fountain around the statue.

A few blocks away was the collector’s office for the I & M Canal. We could peer into its windows and see old ledgers, barrels, etc. It is the last remaining toll house on the I & M Canal.

We left Illinois to return home on Saturday having learned more about the I&M Canal from Morris to LaSalle and the newer Illinois Waterway, Civil War history and cicada broods. We “shopped til we dropped” and found lots of things we didn’t need.

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W & E Sign Erected on State Road 101

By Bob Schmidt

Cattails, teasel, and other weeds fill the prism of the Wabash & Erie Canal crossed by Indiana 101 north of Woodburn, Indiana. Photo by Dane Emenhiser

In eastern Allen County, on the west side of IN 101 just north of Woodburn, remains a watered portion of the old Wabash & Erie Canal. As part of our CSI signage program this site was identified as a potential location for one of our signs. The canal is located beside Emenhiser Crop Solutions, a family seed business that began in 1949. Emenhiser, a Pioneer Seed dealer, is well known for providing sound advice, superior products, and stellar service to farmers in northeastern Indiana.

Seeking his help, my wife, Carolyn, and I approached the owner, Dane Emenhiser. We asked if he would be willing to erect one of our CSI signs on or near the canal prism at the side of his property.

Emenhiser Crop Solutions
The canal is directly behind the side of the truck seen on the right side of the picture and extends all the way to the left appearing as a tan green line.
Photo by Bob Schmidt

Some of the chief products carried on the W&E canal were grains and that fits very nicely into the Emenhiser business. Dane was very enthusiastic about the proposal and agreed to support our program. In mid-July he installed the sign and provided the attached photo. Thanks to folks like Dane we are able to provide educational markers at key canal locations throughout the state of Indiana.

This sign, along with Whitewater Canal Byway signs, have been funded from memorials given by the family and friends of Roger “Steve” Simerman.

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Damaged Aqueduct Repaired

By Carolyn Schmidt

The aqueduct that carries the Whitewater Canal over Duck Creek in Metamora, Indiana, which is already in grave danger of having its piers washed away, met with another problem. On July 9, 2024 a tree fell upon it during another flooding event. A crew was sent to remove the tree from the side of the aqueduct and repair the hole it had created. They also cleaned up the mud and silt that was washed into it by flood waters. The aqueduct was reopened and canal water flowed through it. Other debris from the fallen tree was then removed.

This is only a temporary fix and does not address the pier problem. The Indiana State Museum and Historic Sites says there are plans to permanently fix the aqueduct next year. Will this be in time to save the structure or be a little to late? We’ve already lost the canal boat.

Duck Creek Aqueduct, built in 1846, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2014. It has been designated a National Historic Landmark since it is the only surviving covered wooden aqueduct in the United States. It is located in the Whitewater Canal Historic District and the Metamora Historic District.

An article from The 765 entitled “Restoration Update: Duck Creek Aqueduct in Metamora Reopens After Recent Damage” was found on Facebook. It had a picture of the inside of the aqueduct and showed water flowing through it.

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An Inconsequential Comment Changes

the Name of a Brigade

By Preston Richardt

In September of 1862 General George B. McClellan was marching the Army of the Potomac north to intercept the Army of Northern Virginian somewhere in Maryland which led to the Battle of Antietam. During the prelude of Antietam at the Battle of South Mountain, Maj. General Joseph Hooker was approached by General George B. McClellan who asked, “What troops are those fighting in the Pike?” Hooker replied, “General Gibbon’s brigade of Western men.” McClellan stated, “They must be made of iron.” Hooker said that the brigade had performed even more superbly at Second Bull Run; to this, McClellan said that the brigade consisted of the “best troops in the world.”

The “Black Hat” Brigade was derived from the units Hardee Hats

The brigade that was being discussed in this conversation was known as the “Black Hat Brigade” but more famously known as the Iron Brigade. The Iron Brigade was formed on August 9, 1861, and officially disbanded on July 12, 1865.  The brigade consisted of the 2nd, 6th, and 7th Wisconsin, the 19th Indiana, the 24th Michigan and Battery B of the 4th U.S. Light Artillery with 7673 soldiers passing through the brigade during its existence.

The Iron Brigade participated in the following engagements:

  • Northern Virginia Campaign
  • Second Battle of Bull Run
  • Battle of South Mountain
  • Battle of Antietam
  • Battle of Fredericksburg
  • Battle of Chancellorsville
  • Battle of Gettysburg
  • Battle of Mine Run
  • Overland Campaign
  • Siege of Petersburg
  • Battle of Appomattox Court House
Tin type of soldiers from the 2nd Wisconsin

The brigade’s first commanding officer was Brigadier General Rufus King, followed by Brigadier General John Gibbon then in November of 1862, just two months after the conversation between Hooker and McClellan, Indiana’s own Brigadier General Solomon Meredith (Cambridge City) took command of the Iron Brigade and was the commander of the Black Hat Brigade up to that first day at Gettysburg. Following Solomon Meredith was Brigadier General Lysander Cutler, Colonel William W. Robinson, Brigadier General Edward S. Bragg, Colonel John A. Kellogg and lastly by Colonel Henry A. Morrow.

Solomon Meredith
Photo By Preston Richardt
Solomon Meredith’s Home in Cambridge City, Wayne County Indiana (April 2024)

At the battle of Gettysburg, the Iron Brigade was the 1st Brigade, of the 1st Division, of the 1st Corp. They marched west of Gettysburg to reinforce Maj. Gen. John Buford’s calvary on the first day and delayed the Confederate progress long enough for additional Union reinforcements to arrive. On the second and third days of the battle the brigade held the Union line on Culp’s Hill.

In the aftermath of the battle, the Iron Brigade suffered the most casualties of any brigade in the Civil War. Of the 1885 effectives at the start of the battle only 732 were fit for battle afterwards. The 24th Michigan suffered 80% casualties while the 2nd Wisconsin suffered 77% making them the second and third highest casualty rate for all battles fought during the Civil War.

After the battle the Iron Brigade demographics changed from being all western regiments with the addition of the 167th Pennsylvania on July 16, 1863. In October of 1864, the 19th Indiana was merged with the 20th Indiana. In November of that same year, the 2nd Wisconsin consolidated with the 6th Wisconsin thus causing both the 19th Indiana & 2nd Wisconsin to cease existing. Even though the Iron Brigade changed in the years following the battle of Gettysburg, remnants of the Brigade continued to fight up to the Confederate surrender at Appomattox Courthouse Virginia.

Of the 7673 soldiers serving in the Iron Brigade’s five core regiments, 1131 (14%) of them were killed or mortally wounded in combat, approximately 500 more died of disease, over 2000 more soldiers were wounded.

In recognition of the sacrifice and courage of the men of the Iron Brigade, seven of its members were awarded the Medal of Honor.


Sources:

Iron Brigade Facts, Commanders, Battles (americanhistorycentral.com)

Iron Brigade – Wikipedia

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