A New Guide For Emigrants To The West Part 14

Ca.n.a.l REVENUES.

The total amount of receipts for tolls, for the year ending on the 31st of October, 1835, was as follows:

OHIO Ca.n.a.l.

Cleaveland, $72,718.72 Newark, $20,487.85 Akron, 6,362.90 Columbus, 4,605.37 Ma.s.sillon, 13,585.78 Circleville, 9,651.44 Dover, 8,096.42 Chillicothe, 12,134.75 Roscoe, 14,555.83 Portsmouth, 23,118.78 ---------- ---------- 115,319.45 $69,998.00 115,319.45 ----------- Total, $185,317.45

MIAMI Ca.n.a.l.

Dayton, 14,016.75 Middleton, 8,747.19 Hamilton, 3,664.88 Cincinnati, 25,803.77 ---------- Total, 52,232.59 ---------- Total tolls received on both ca.n.a.ls, $237,550.04 Deduct contingent expenses on Ohio ca.n.a.l, $5,836.05 Do. on Miami ca.n.a.l, 2,954.68--8,790.73 ------------ $228,759.31

Toll received on Lancaster Lat. Ca.n.a.l, 1,062.56 From water rents and sale of State Lots, 3,700.07 Arrearages paid of Tolls received in October, 1834, 7,835.26 ----------- $242,357.20

POPULATION OF OHIO AT DIFFERENT PERIODS.

In Population. From Increase.

1790, about 3,000 1790 to 1800, 42,365 1800, " 45,365 1800 " 1810, 185,395 1810, " 230,760 1810 " 1820, 350,674 1820, " 581,434 1820 " 1830, 356,469 1830, " 937,903 1830 " 1835, 437,097 1835, _estimated_, 1,375,000

_Rivers._--The streams which flow into the Ohio river, are the Mahoninga branch of the Beaver, Little Beaver, Muskingum, Hockhocking, Scioto, Little Miami, and Great Miami. Those which flow from the northward into lake Erie, are the Maumee, Portage, Sandusky, Huron, Cuyahoga, Grand, and Ashtabula. Hence the State is divided into two unequal inclined planes, the longest of which slopes towards the Ohio, and the shortest towards the lake. The head waters of the Muskingum, Scioto and Miami, interlock with those of the Cuyahoga, Sandusky, and Maumee, so as to render the construction of ca.n.a.ls not only practicable, but comparatively easy. All the large streams are now navigable for boats during the spring season.

_Internal Improvements._--These consist of ca.n.a.ls, rail-roads, turnpike roads, and the National road, now under the supervision of, and owned by, the State. The ca.n.a.lling is managed by a Board of Commissioners. The State ca.n.a.ls were projected about 1823, and, considering the youthful character of the State, its want of funds and other circ.u.mstances, they are, undoubtedly, the greatest works ever executed in America.

The _Ohio and Erie Ca.n.a.l_ connects lake Erie with the Ohio river. It commences at Cleaveland, at the mouth of the Cuyahoga, pa.s.ses along that river and its tributaries, to the summit level, from thence to the waters of the Muskingum, and to the border of Muskingum county; from thence it strikes across the country past Newark, in Licking county, and strikes the Scioto, down the valley of which it proceeds to its mouth, at Portsmouth. The princ.i.p.al places on the ca.n.a.l are Akron, New Portage, Ma.s.sillon, Bolivar, New Philadelphia, Coshocton, Newark, Bloomfield, Circleville, Chillicothe, Piketon, and Portsmouth. It was commenced on the 4th of July, 1825, and completed in 1832; and, together with the Miami ca.n.a.l to Dayton, cost about $5,500,000, and has greatly enriched the State and the people. Private property along its line has risen from five to ten fold.

LENGTH OF OHIO AND ERIE Ca.n.a.l.

Miles.

Main trunk from Cleaveland to Portsmouth, 310 Navigable feeder from main trunk to Columbus, 11 Navigable feeder from main trunk to Granville, 6 Muskingum side cut, from the Muskingum river at Dresden, 3 Navigable feeder from the Tuscarawas river, 3 Navigable feeder from the Walhonding river, 1 --- Total length of Ohio ca.n.a.l and branches, 334

The _Miami Ca.n.a.l_ commences at Cincinnati, and, pa.s.sing through the towns of Reading, Hamilton, Middletown, Franklin, and Miamisburg, terminates at Dayton, 65 miles. It has been navigated from Dayton to the head of Main street, Cincinnati, since the spring of 1829. An extension of the work is now in progress, to be carried along the vallies of St.

Mary's and Au Glaise rivers, and unite with the Wabash and Erie ca.n.a.l, at Defiance; distance from Cincinnati about 190 miles.

An act pa.s.sed the Ohio legislature in 1834, for continuing the Wabash and Erie ca.n.a.l, (now constructing in Indiana, by that State,) from the western boundary of Ohio, to the Maumee bay. Operations have been suspended by the boundary dispute with Michigan.

The _Mahoning and Beaver Ca.n.a.l_ has already been noticed, under the head of Western Pennsylvania. It is proposed to carry it from Akron, on the Portage summit, along the valley of the Mahoning river, to Newcastle, on the Beaver division of the Pennsylvania ca.n.a.l. Distance in Ohio, 77 miles. The work is in progress.

The _Sandy Creek and Little Beaver Ca.n.a.l_ is in progress by a chartered company. It commences near the town of Bolivar, on the Ohio and Erie ca.n.a.l, in Tuscarawas county, and pa.s.ses along near the line of Stark and Carroll counties to the Little Beaver in Columbiana county, and from thence to the Ohio river.

The _Mad River and Sandusky Rail-Road_ will extend from Dayton, on the Miami ca.n.a.l, to Sandusky, through Springfield, Urbanna, Bellefontaine, Upper Sandusky, Tiffin, and down the valley of the Sandusky river to lake Erie. The route is remarkably favorable for locomotive power.

Length 153 miles; estimated cost, $11,000 per mile. The work was commenced in September, 1835.

The _Erie and Ohio Rail-Road_ is intended to be constructed from Ashtabula on the lake, through Warren to Wellsville, on the Ohio river, a distance of 90 miles. Other rail-roads are in contemplation in this State, the most important of which is the _Great Western Rail-Road_, from Boston, by Worcester, Springfield, and Stockbridge, through New York, by Albany, Utica and Buffalo, along the summit ridge, dividing the northern from the southern waters, through Pennsylvania, Ohio, to intersect the Wabash and Erie ca.n.a.l at La Fayette, in Indiana. From thence provision is already made for it to pa.s.s to the eastern boundary of Illinois, from which, a company has been recently chartered to construct it across the State of Illinois by Danville, Shelbyville, Hillsborough, to Alton on the Mississippi. It must be some untoward circ.u.mstance that shall prevent this splendid work from being completed the whole length before 1850.

The project of a rail-road from Cincinnati, to Charleston in South Carolina, has been entered upon with great spirit in the South, and in all the States more directly concerned in the enterprise. It will, undoubtedly, be carried into effect.

The State of Ohio has incorporated a number of turnpike companies, some of which have gone into operation. The first is near the north-eastern corner of the State, from Pierpont, through Monroe and Salem townships to the mouth of Conneant creek, 16 miles long. The second is the Trumbull and Ashtabula turnpike, leading from Warren to Ashtabula, 48 miles. The third is from the town of Wooster, through Medina, to Cleaveland, 51 miles. The fourth is from Columbus to Sandusky, 106 miles, now in the course of construction. Another from Cincinnati, through Lebanon and Columbus, to Wooster, has been commenced on the McAdamized plan, but is not completed. A McAdam turnpike from Cincinnati to Chillicothe is in progress. The National road, constructed by the general government, and transferred to the State, pa.s.ses from Wheeling, through Columbus to the Indiana line.

_Manufactures._--The princ.i.p.al factory for woollen goods is at Steubenville. A number of cotton factories are in the towns along the Ohio river. Furnaces for smelting iron ore are in operation in the counties bordering on the Ohio, near the mouth of the Scioto. Gla.s.s is manufactured in several towns. Considerable salt is made on the Muskingum below Zanesville, on the Scioto, and on Yellow creek above Steubenville. About half a million of bushels were made in the State in 1830.

Cincinnati rivals Pittsburg in the number, variety and extent of its manufacturing operations.

In every town and village through the State, mechanics' shops are established for the manufacture of all articles of ordinary use.

_Cities and Towns._--To enter upon minute descriptions, or even name all these, would much exceed the bounds of this work.

CINCINNATI is the great commercial emporium of the State. It is pleasantly situated on the right or northern bank of the Ohio river, about equidistant from Pittsburg and its mouth, in N. lat. 39 06', and W. lon. from Washington city 7 25'.

Directly fronting the city to the south, and on the opposite side of the Ohio river, are the flourishing manufacturing towns of Newport and Covington, which are separated by the Licking river, of Kentucky, which enters the Ohio directly opposite the Cincinnati landing.

The wharf arrangements are the most convenient, for lading and unlading goods at all stages of the water, to be found on our western rivers. The town site is beautifully situated on the first and second banks of the river--the former of which is above ordinary high water, and the latter gently rises sixty or seventy feet higher, and spreads out into a semicircular plain, surrounded with elevated bluffs.

Cincinnati was founded in 1789, but did not grow rapidly till about 1808. The progressive increase of population will appear from the following table:

1810, 2,320 1826, 16,230 1813, 4,000 1830, 26,515 1819, 10,000 1835, _estimated_, 31,000 1824, 12,016

Add the adjoining towns of Covington and Newport, whose interests are identified, and the aggregate population will equal 35,000; and, in all reasonable probability, in 1850, these towns, with Cincinnati, will number 100,000 active, educated, and enterprising citizens. In 1826, according to the Picture of Cincinnati, by B. Drake, Esq. and E. D.

Mansfield, Esq., the manufacturing industry alone, according to an accurate statistical examination, amounted to 1,800,000 dollars. At that time there were not more than fifteen steam engines employed in manufactures in the city. At the close of 1835, there were more than fifty in successful operation, besides four or five in Newport and Covington. "More than 100 steam engines, about 240 cotton gins, upwards of 20 sugar-mills, and 22 steamboats--many of them of the largest size--have been built or manufactured in Cincinnati, during the year 1835."[10] Hence the productive industry of Cincinnati, Covington and Newport, for 1835, may be estimated at 5,000,000 of dollars. By a laborious investigation, at the close of 1826, by the same writer, the exports of that year were about 1,000,000 of dollars in value. A similar inquiry induced him to place the exports of 1832 at 4,000,000. The estimate for 1835, is 6,000,000.

To enumerate all the public and private edifices deserving notice, would extend this article to too great a length. The court house, four market houses, banks, college, Catholic Athenaeum, two medical colleges, Mechanics' Inst.i.tute, two museums, hospital and Lunatics' Asylum, Woodward high school, ten or twelve large edifices for free schools, hotels, and between twenty-five and thirty houses for public worship, some of which are elegant, deserve notice. The type foundry and printing-press manufactory, is one of the most extensive in the United States. Here is machinery, lately invented, for casting printer's types, exceeding, perhaps, anything in the world. Printing, and the manufacture of books, are extensively carried on in this city. Here are six large bookstores, several binderies, twelve or fifteen printing-offices, from which are issued ten weekly, four triweekly, four daily, four monthly, and one quarterly publications. Two medical publications, of a highly respectable character, are issued. The Western Monthly Magazine is too well known to need special notice here. The Cincinnati Mirror is a respectable literary periodical. The Presbyterians, Baptists, Methodists, Roman Catholics, and, perhaps, other sects, have each their weekly paper, respectable in size and character. During four months, in 1831, there were issued from the Cincinnati press, 86,000 volumes, of which 20,300 were original works. In the same period, the periodical press issued 243,200 printed sheets. The business has increased greatly since that time.

The "_College of Professional Teachers_," is an inst.i.tution formed at the convention of teachers, held in this city, in October, 1832. Its objects are to _unite_ the professional instructers of youth throughout the Western country in the cause in which they are engaged, and to elevate the character of the profession. Their meetings are held on the first Monday in October annually. Lectures are given, discussions held, reports made, and a respectable volume of transactions published annually. There is no doubt that much good will result to the cause of education in the West, from this annual convocation.

_Law School._--An inst.i.tution of this character has been organized, under the management of Hon. J. C. Wright, and other gentlemen of the bar.

Of _Medical Schools_ there are two, at the heads of which are gentlemen of high character and attainments in their profession.

The _Mechanics' Inst.i.tute_ is designed for the diffusion of scientific knowledge among the mechanics and citizens generally, by means of popular lectures and mutual instruction. The _Cincinnati Lyceum_ was formed for the purpose of useful instruction and entertainment, by means of popular lectures and debates. The _Academic Inst.i.tute_ is designed to aid the cause of education, and elevate the profession, amongst the teachers in Cincinnati. Its meetings are monthly. The _Athenaeum_ is an inst.i.tution under the management of Roman Catholic Priests. The college edifice is a splendid and permanent building, of great capacity. The _Woodward High School_ was founded by the late William Woodward. The fund yields an income of about $2000 annually. It is conducted by four professors, and has about one hundred and twenty students. The corporation has established a system of free schools, designed to extend the benefits of primary education to all cla.s.ses, and ten or twelve large edifices have been erected for the purpose. I regret the want of doc.u.ments to give particulars of this liberal and praiseworthy enterprise, which reflects much honor upon the city and its honorable corporation. In 1833, there were twenty public schools for males and females, and two thousand pupils. Many excellent private schools and seminaries, some of deserved celebrity, are sustained by individual enterprise.

COLUMBUS, the political capital of the State, and nearly in the centre of the State, is a beautiful city, on the east bank of the Scioto river. In 1812, it was covered with a dense forest, when it was selected by the legislature for the permanent seat of government. The public buildings are a state house, a court house for the Supreme Court, a building for the public offices, a market house, &c., all of brick. The State penitentiary is here, for which a new substantial building is constructing, and an Asylum for the deaf and dumb, sustained by legislative aid.

Chillicothe, Cleaveland, Zanesville, Steubenville, Circleville and many others, are large and flourishing towns.

_Education._--Charters for eight or ten colleges and collegiate inst.i.tutions have been granted. Congress has granted 92,800 acres of public land to this State, for colleges and academies. One township, (23,040 acres,) and a very valuable one, has been given to the Miami University, at Oxford. Two townships of land, (46,080 acres,) though of inferior quality, have been given to the Ohio University. Academies have been established in most of the princ.i.p.al towns. A common school system has been established by the legislature. Each township has been divided into school districts. Taxes are levied to the amount of three fourths of a mill upon the dollar of taxable property in the State, which, with the interest accruing from the different school funds already noticed, are applied towards the expenses of tuition. Five school examiners are appointed in each county, by the Court of Common Pleas, who are to examine teachers. The governor, in his recent Message, speaks of the common school system as languishing in proportion to other improvements.

_Form of Government._--The legislative authority is vested in a Senate and House of Representatives; both of which, collectively, are styled the General a.s.sembly. The members of both branches are chosen by counties, or by districts composed of counties, according to population.

The representatives are chosen annually; the senators biennially. The General a.s.sembly has the sole power of enacting laws; the signature or a.s.sent of the governor not being necessary in any case whatever. The judiciary system comprises three grades of courts:--the Supreme Court, Courts of Common Pleas, and Justices' Courts. The justices of the peace are chosen triennially, by the people. The executive authority is vested in a governor, who is elected biennially, and must be thirty years of age, and have resided in the State at least four years. He is commander-in-chief of all the militia, and commissions all officers in the State, both civil and military. Each free, white, male citizen of the United States, of twenty-one years of age, and a resident of the State one year preceding an election, is ent.i.tled to a vote in all elections.

The following shows the professions, occupations, and nativity of the members of the legislature of Ohio, during the present winter, (1835-6,) and is about a proportionate estimate for other Western States:--

The members of the Ohio legislature, as to their occupations and professions, are:--farmers, 53; lawyers, 17; merchants, 13; doctors, 5; printers, 3; surveyors, 2; millers, 2; masons, 2; carpenters, 2; painter, 1; watch-maker, 1; blacksmith, 1; house joiner, 1.

Their nativity is as follows:--Ohio, 7; Pennsylvania, 30; Virginia, 22; New England States, 17; Maryland, 8; New York, 7; New Jersey, 4; Kentucky, 3; Delaware, 2; North Carolina, 1; Ireland, 5; England, 1; Germany, 1.

The youngest member in the Senate, is 33 years of age, and the oldest 56. In the House, the youngest 26; oldest 67. Under the Const.i.tution, a senator must be 30; and a member of the House, 26.

_Antiquities._--Much has been said about the antiquities of Ohio,--the fortifications, artificial mounds, and military works, supposed to indicate a race of civilized people, as the possessors of the country, anterior to the Indian nations. At Marietta, Circleville, Paint Creek, and some other places, are, doubtless, antiquities, that exhibited, upon their first discovery, strong marks of a military purpose. I have no doubt, however, that credulity and enthusiasm have greatly exaggerated many appearances in the West, and magnified them into works of vast enterprise and labor. Mounds of earth are found in every country on the globe, of all forms and sizes; and why should they not exist in the western valley? Mr. Flint states that he has seen a horse shoe dug up at the depth of thirty-five feet below the surface, with nails in it, and much eroded by rust. He mentions also a sword, which is _said_ to be preserved as a curiosity, but which he had not seen, found enclosed in the wood of the roots of a tree, which could not have been less than five hundred years old! Those who delight especially in the marvellous, may consult the "Description of the Antiquities discovered in the State of Ohio, and other Western States, by Caleb At.w.a.ter, Esq."