Ohio History Journal


THE OHIO CANALS: PUBLIC ENTERPRISE

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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