THE OHIO CANALS: PUBLIC ENTERPRISE
ON THE FRONTIER
By CHESTER E. FINN
On July 4, 1825, the little town of
Newark, Ohio, celebrated
the grandest and most glorious fourth of
its history. The notables
of the State and of other States were
congregated there, and a
momentous event in the history of Ohio
was about to take place.
After suitable celebrations in the town,
the group adjourned to
Licking Summit, escorted by brilliantly
uniformed troops of
militia, and followed by the crowd
assembled there for the oc-
casion.
Having arrived at Licking Summit, the
troops drew up at
attention, the bands played, and that sine
qua non of all Inde-
pendence Day celebrations was indulged
in, speech-making.
Thomas Ewing made the speech of the day,
and he was followed
by Governor DeWitt Clinton of New York,
who lavishly praised
the undertaking they were about to
inaugurate.1 Governor Clin-
ton and Governor Jeremiah Morrow of Ohio
then took spades in
hand, and dug the first spadefuls of
earth for the Ohio and Erie
Canal. Accounts differ as to which
governor dug the first spade-
ful, but the best eye-witness account of
the ceremony says that
they dug simultaneously.2 There
were "wild huzzas" for Gover-
nor Clinton, and it is reported that his
emotions so overcame him
that he wept.3
Among the toasts offered that day at
Licking Summit was
one, "Henry Clay--the early
advocate for the recognition of
South American Independence, and the
firm and eloquent sup-
1 John Herman, Commencement of the
Ohio Canal at the Licking Summit, printed
by John Herman, 1825, reproduced in Ohio
Archaeological and Historical Society Pub-
lications, XXXIV (1926), 67.
2 Ibid., 69.
3 Caleb Atwater, A History of the
State of Ohio, Natural and Civil (2d Edition,
Cincinnati, 1838), 267. Mr.
Atwater is prone to sentimentalize history, as shown by
his proud statement on page 270,
"During all the time, while Mr. Clinton was in this
state, from the first moment he touched
our soil, at Cleveland, until he left the State,
neither he nor his aides ever paid a
single cent for whatever they needed."
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