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7th (search for this): chapter 15
f the old canal. Whenever a boat approached a lock, the conductor sounded his horn to secure the prompt attention of the lock-tender; but due regard was paid to the religious sentiment of New England. Travelling in the canal being permitted on Sundays, in consideration of the distance from home at which those persons using it generally are, it may be reasonably expected that they should not disturb those places of public worship near which they pass, nor occasion any noise to interrupt the tranquillity of the day. Therefore, it is established that no Signal-Horn shall be used or blown on Sundays. The tariff varied greatly from year to year. In 1827 the rate from Lowell to Boston was $2.00 the gross ton; but many articles were carried on much lower terms. On account of liability of damage to the banks of the canal, all navigation ceased at dark; hence, at every lock, or series of locks, a tavern was established. These were all owned by the corporation, and were often let to
October 11th (search for this): chapter 15
ized to lay such assessments from time to time as might be required for the construction of the canal. At their first meeting the proprietors intrusted the management of the corporation to a board of thirteen members, who were to choose a president and vice-president from their own number, the entire board subject to annual election. Boston capitalists subscribed freely, and Russell, Gore, Barrell, Craigie, and Brooks appear among the earliest directors. This board organized on the 11th of October by the choice of James Sullivan as president and Colonel Baldwin and John Brooks (afterwards Governor Brooks) as vice-presidents. The first step was to make the necessary surveys between the Charlestown basin and the Merrimac at Chelmsford; but the science of engineering was in its infancy in New England, and it was difficult to find a competent person to undertake the task. At length Samuel Thompson, of Woburn, was engaged to make a preliminary survey; but the directors, not wholly
1790 AD (search for this): chapter 15
ber, fire-wood, and building-stone found their way to the little metropolis. The cost of entertainment at the various country inns, the frequent tolls, and the inevitable wear and tear of teaming enhanced very materially the price of all these articles. The Middlesex canal was the first step towards the solution of the problem of cheap transportation. The plan originated with the Hon. James Sullivan, who was for six years a judge of the Supreme Court of Massachusetts, attorney-general from 1790 to 1807, and governor in 1807 and 1808, dying while holding the latter office. A brief glance at a map of the New England States will bring out in bold relief the full significance of Sullivan's scheme. It will be seen that the Merrimac river, after pursuing a southerly course as far as Middlesex Village, turns abruptly to the northeast. A canal from Charlestown mill-pond to this bend of the river, a distance of 27 1/4 miles, would open a continuous water-route of 80 miles to Concord, N.
June 22nd, 1793 AD (search for this): chapter 15
arrant the completion of the programme; even should communication never be established beyond Concord, the commercial advantages of opening to the market the undeveloped resources of upper New Hampshire would be a sufficient justification. Accordingly, James Sullivan, Loammi Baldwin, Jonathan Porter, Samuel Swan, Benjamin Hall, Willis Hall, Ebenezer Hall, Ebenezer Hall, Jr., and Andrew Hall petitioned the General Court for an act of incorporation. A charter was granted, bearing date of June 22, 1793, incorporating James Sullivan, Esq., and others, by the name of the Proprietors of the Middlesex Canal, and on the same day was signed by His Excellency John Hancock, Governor of the Commonwealth. By this charter the proprietors were authorized to lay such assessments from time to time as might be required for the construction of the canal. At their first meeting the proprietors intrusted the management of the corporation to a board of thirteen members, who were to choose a president
1794 AD (search for this): chapter 15
he wharves and markets upon the harbor through Mill creek, over a section of which Blackstone street now extends. As the enterprise had the confidence of the business community, money for prosecuting the work had been procured with comparative ease. Such representative men as Oliver Wendell, John Adams, of Quincy, Peter C. Brooks, Andrew Craigie, Ebenezer and Dudley Hall, James Sullivan, and John Hancock were stockholders. The stock had steadily advanced from $25 a share in the autumn of 1794 to $473 in 1803, the year the canal was opened, touching $500 in 1804. Then a decline set in, a few dollars at a time, till 1816, when its market value was $300 with few takers, although the canal was in successful operation, and in 1814 the obstructions in the Merrimac had been surmounted, so that canal boats, locking into the river at Chelmsford, and making use of various locks and short canals, had been poled up stream as far as Concord. Firewood and lumber always formed a very conside
August 2nd, 1794 AD (search for this): chapter 15
he science of engineering was in its infancy in New England, and it was difficult to find a competent person to undertake the task. At length Samuel Thompson, of Woburn, was engaged to make a preliminary survey; but the directors, not wholly satisfied with his report, afterwards secured the services of Samuel Weston, an eminent English engineer, then employed in Pennsylvania in the Potomac canals. With good instruments at his command, he did his work well and quickly. His report, made Aug. 2, 1794, was favorable, and it is interesting to compare his figures with those of Mr. Thompson. As calculated by the latter, the ascent from Medford bridge to the Concord river at Billerica was found to be 68 1/2 ft.; the actual difference in level, as found by Weston, was 104 ft. By Thompson's survey there was a further ascent of 16 1/2 ft. to the Merrimac, when, in fact, the water at Billerica bridge is almost 25 ft. above the Merrimac at Chelmsford. Colonel Baldwin, who superintended the
September 10th, 1794 AD (search for this): chapter 15
s figures with those of Mr. Thompson. As calculated by the latter, the ascent from Medford bridge to the Concord river at Billerica was found to be 68 1/2 ft.; the actual difference in level, as found by Weston, was 104 ft. By Thompson's survey there was a further ascent of 16 1/2 ft. to the Merrimac, when, in fact, the water at Billerica bridge is almost 25 ft. above the Merrimac at Chelmsford. Colonel Baldwin, who superintended the construction of the canal, removed the first turf, Sept. 10, 1794. The progress was slow and attended with many embarrassments. The purchase of land from more than one hundred proprietors demanded skilful diplomacy. Most of the lands used for the canal were acquired by voluntary sale, and conveyed in fee simple to the corporation. Sixteen lots were taken under authority of the Court of Sessions; while for thirteen neither deed nor record could be found when the corporation came to an end. Some of the land was never paid for, as the owners refused t
1802 AD (search for this): chapter 15
rd, which was $2 a week, were presumably as much as could be earned in manual labor elsewhere. An order was sent to England for a levelling instrument made by S. & W. Jones, of London, and this was the only instrument used for engineering purposes after the first survey by Weston. Two routes were considered; the rejected route was forty years later selected for the Lowell railroad. The canal, 30 ft. wide, 4 ft. deep, with twenty locks, seven aqueducts, and crossed by fifty bridges, was in 1802 sufficiently completed for the admission of water, and the following year was opened to public navigation from the Merrimac to the Charles. The cost up to this was but little more than the estimate, amounting to about $500,000, of which one-third was land damages. The canal demands more than a cursory notice in the records of the Medford Historical Society. Of the nine petitioners for a charter, seven, including the chairman and clerk of the preliminary meetings, were citizens of Medford
1803 AD (search for this): chapter 15
arkets upon the harbor through Mill creek, over a section of which Blackstone street now extends. As the enterprise had the confidence of the business community, money for prosecuting the work had been procured with comparative ease. Such representative men as Oliver Wendell, John Adams, of Quincy, Peter C. Brooks, Andrew Craigie, Ebenezer and Dudley Hall, James Sullivan, and John Hancock were stockholders. The stock had steadily advanced from $25 a share in the autumn of 1794 to $473 in 1803, the year the canal was opened, touching $500 in 1804. Then a decline set in, a few dollars at a time, till 1816, when its market value was $300 with few takers, although the canal was in successful operation, and in 1814 the obstructions in the Merrimac had been surmounted, so that canal boats, locking into the river at Chelmsford, and making use of various locks and short canals, had been poled up stream as far as Concord. Firewood and lumber always formed a very considerable item in th
1804 AD (search for this): chapter 15
ion of which Blackstone street now extends. As the enterprise had the confidence of the business community, money for prosecuting the work had been procured with comparative ease. Such representative men as Oliver Wendell, John Adams, of Quincy, Peter C. Brooks, Andrew Craigie, Ebenezer and Dudley Hall, James Sullivan, and John Hancock were stockholders. The stock had steadily advanced from $25 a share in the autumn of 1794 to $473 in 1803, the year the canal was opened, touching $500 in 1804. Then a decline set in, a few dollars at a time, till 1816, when its market value was $300 with few takers, although the canal was in successful operation, and in 1814 the obstructions in the Merrimac had been surmounted, so that canal boats, locking into the river at Chelmsford, and making use of various locks and short canals, had been poled up stream as far as Concord. Firewood and lumber always formed a very considerable item in the business of the canal. The navy-yard at Charlestown
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