Terry’s introduction.
The ‘doings’ of the Lessees, those 21 or 23 men who “administered” to the canals from June of 1861 into December of 1878 has always been a bit nebulous. And just where was the demarcation line between the duties of the State Board of Public Works and the Lessees? They both had Board Members and they both had Resident Engineers. These next two columns on the Saga at Sandyville will do nothing to clear things up. You will see, perhaps, that even those ‘on the scene’ were absolutely confused.
In the meantime, now that Spring is here, it is time to get out along the canal routes and find those artifacts and structures that you always felt, “the next time I get out in the field I’ll find it”. Lock 29 on the western division of the S. & B., is featured in the next two columns. That site I’ve found, and lost and found, and, . . .but you get the idea.
SAGA AT SANDYVILLE
James Kelly of Cuyahoga County, had been a prolific contractor on the Sandy & Beaver Canal on all three of its divisions. Then, after the collapse of the Cold Run Reservoir embankment in early 1852, he was hired by the canal company for the unenviable job of “trouble-shooter,” to pay off the ever increasing number of creditors with the ever decreasing amount of incoming funds.
By mid-1853, it had become obvious that no miracle concerning the Sandy & Beaver Canal Company was forthcoming. All the surplus real-estate with any value had already been sold. All that remained was the canal right-away itself and a few unencumbered water rights. Kelly had done what he could by spreading the smaller and smaller amounts of cash that canal tolls brought in from time to time to squelch the screams of the more voracious creditors.
Kelly had probably taken on, and completed, more contracts in building the canal than anyone else. More than half of his payments had been in “company bonds.” Kelly, in his current position was well aware that the canal company was going under and decided that if he wanted anything from the collapse he had better get it quickly.
Therefore, in early 1853, James Kelly initiated a law suit against the Sandy & Beaver Canal Company for his back wages. An avalanche of claims followed and the Sandy & Beaver Canal Company declared bankruptcy on June 28, 1853. On March 6, 1854, at a master commissioner’s sale in New Lisbon, that portion of the Sandy & Beaver Canal within the State of Ohio was divided into 82 Parcels and auctioned off.
As payment for his suit against the company, Kelly asked for, and was awarded, parcels 80, 81 and 82 of the Sandy & Beaver Canal. This line ran from two rods above lock 29 in Sandyville to the junction with the Ohio & Erie Canal in Bolivar, which was approximately six miles in lenght. The deed for this land and water-rights was transferred to Kelly on March 7, 1856.
Sandyville had prospered during its brief encounter with the active Sandy & Beaver Canal. The grist mill at the southern edge of town powered by the canal was a receiver and shipper on the canal, as were several coal mines that had sprung up in the area. A group of local citizens set about to get their link to the outside world reattached. A man by the name of William Nelson appears to have been the spokesman for the group. Shortly after Kelly had received his deed, or perhaps even before, Nelson had contacted the State’s Board of Public Works to ascertain if they had any interest in obtaining that six miles of the S & B as a “feeder” to the Ohio Canal. Their only stipulation was that the State maintain the waterway so it could carry traffic into and out of Sandyville. Kelly sold his S. & B. canal lands and water-rights to the group from Sandyville for $5,000 on August 2, 1856.
The Board of Public Works had the waterway examined and surveyed. They reported that the wooden aqueduct across the Tuscarawas River leading to the junction with the Ohio Canal at Bolivar, and the lock at the head of the long slackwater pool below Sandyville, were both in poor condition. In addition, the canal banks had been cut in several places by local residents wishing to regain access to their lands cut off by the canal. After some deliberation, the Board agreed to take over the canal if the banks were first repaired. On December 29, 1856, for the sum of $1.00, the western-most six miles of the Sandy & Beaver Canal became a feeder to and part of the Ohio & Erie Canal.
The final description of the portion of the S & B that became part of the State’s canal system, however, only included that portion from below Lock 29 in Sandyville to Bolivar. That was a small shortening of a bit over 2 rods, but it placed the Sandyville terminus approximately a quarter of a mile below the warehouses in the village. Either that discrepancy went unnoticed or the actual foreshortening didn’t seem that important at the time.
There was some business on that portion of the canal after the turnover. The Public Works report for 1859 stated that up until August of that year the Sandy & Beaver feeder had carried 33,000 bushels of wheat, 41,000 feet of lumber, and 3,213 tons of coal out of the village and 278 barrels of salt, lime and fish and 91,400 feet of lumber into it. The shortened boating season was the result of a collapse of a portion of the wooden aqueduct at Bolivar. A statement from a boatman’s diary in 1863 indicates that at least one trip was made into Sandyville that year.
So Sandyville was connected to the outside world via the Sandy & Beaver Feeder. BUT, in 1868 the following resolution was offered in the Ohio State Congress, . . . . .
“H.R. No. 111: Whereas the citizens of Sandyville and vicinity petitioned the Ohio Legislature authorizing the State of Ohio to adopt, as part of the public works, that portion of the Sandy & Beaver Canal which lies between Bolivar and Sandyville as a navigable feeder to the Ohio Canal; and whereas an Act was passed the 9th. Of April, 1856, adopting it on condition that the owners of said canal should put that part of the canal in good repair, and whereas, in pursuance of the inducement held out by such Legislative Act, and the construction put on it by the people of Sandyville and vicinity, they, for the purpose of having communication with the Ohio Canal, expended $7,000 in buying the right of way, paying (wages?) and putting said feeder in good repair; and whereas, afterwards the Board of Public Works, in their resolution of acceptance, only accepted that portion of the canal between Bolivar and the lock at the head of the slackwater pool, and so construed the law so as not to include the said lock and, whereas, by reason of such constriction the work is entirely valueless to the people of Sandyville and vicinity, as they have no connection with the Ohio Canal and derive no benefit from the expenditure of said money, therefore, “Resolved” – That the committee on Public Works be and is hereby Instructed to inquire into the justice and validity of said claim, and report to the House by Bill or otherwise”.
Such a Bill was rendered by the House during the 1869/70 Session to repair Sandyville Lock just above the Sandy & Beaver feeder and make it passable for canal boats. The Bill also authorized an amount of ‘up to’ $3,000 for the repair of the lock.
The group of Sandyville citizens that had bought that canal section from Kelly and handed it over to the State 14 years before, legally, still owned that section containing the lock that the State had not accepted. The canal above the lock belonged to owners of the Sandyille grist mill. They should have been a part of the current group agitating to repair the lock. Subsequent events, however, proved that wasn’t true. So what came next is an extremely convoluted, though interesting, story – and the subject of a future column.
i Maretta College, Special Collection, transcribed by George S. Hackett, December 05, 2003.