﻿726 
  NEW 
  YORK 
  STATE 
  MUSEUM 
  

  

  auspicies 
  of 
  the 
  State 
  itself 
  in 
  1817/ 
  in 
  which 
  year 
  a 
  commission 
  

   was 
  appointed 
  to 
  purchase 
  the 
  rights 
  of 
  the 
  Western 
  Inland 
  

   Lock 
  Navigation 
  Company 
  for 
  the 
  State. 
  This 
  commission 
  re- 
  

   ported 
  June 
  24, 
  1820, 
  awarding 
  to 
  the 
  company 
  the 
  sum 
  of 
  $151,- 
  

   000, 
  which 
  was 
  to 
  be 
  appropriated 
  among 
  the 
  stockholders 
  of 
  

   said 
  company, 
  as 
  follows 
  : 
  

  

  To 
  the 
  individual 
  stockholders, 
  proprietors 
  of 
  stock 
  amounting 
  

   to 
  |140,000, 
  the 
  sum 
  of 
  f 
  91,616 
  ; 
  and 
  for 
  the 
  use 
  of 
  the 
  people 
  of 
  

   this 
  State, 
  proprietors 
  of 
  stock 
  amounting 
  to 
  $92,000, 
  the 
  sum 
  of 
  

   $60,204.80. 
  

  

  This 
  report 
  of 
  the 
  commissioners 
  was 
  confirmed 
  by 
  the 
  

   Supreme 
  Court 
  August 
  11, 
  1820. 
  The 
  Western 
  Inland 
  Lock 
  

   Navigation 
  Company 
  then 
  became 
  the 
  property 
  of 
  the 
  State, 
  and 
  

   in 
  1821 
  the 
  State 
  collected 
  the 
  sum 
  of 
  $450.56 
  for 
  tolls 
  charged 
  

   from 
  Rome 
  to 
  the 
  lower 
  lock 
  at 
  Little 
  Falls 
  on 
  account 
  of 
  trans- 
  

   portation 
  over 
  the 
  route 
  formerly 
  controlled 
  by 
  the 
  Western 
  

   Inland 
  Lock 
  Navigation 
  Company. 
  

  

  Chapter 
  144 
  of 
  the 
  laws 
  of 
  1813 
  incorporated 
  the 
  Seneca 
  Lock 
  

   Navigation 
  Company 
  for 
  the 
  purpose 
  of 
  constructing 
  a 
  canal 
  

   from 
  Cayuga 
  lake 
  to 
  Seneca 
  lake. 
  The 
  rights 
  of 
  this 
  company 
  

   were 
  purchased 
  by 
  the 
  State, 
  pursuant 
  to 
  chapter 
  271 
  of 
  the 
  

   laws 
  of 
  1825. 
  The 
  two 
  companies, 
  the 
  Western 
  Inland 
  Lock 
  Navi- 
  

   gation 
  Company 
  and 
  the 
  Seneca 
  Lock 
  Navigation 
  Company, 
  may 
  

   be 
  considered 
  the 
  forerunners 
  of 
  the 
  Erie 
  canal. 
  

  

  About 
  $100,000 
  was 
  expended 
  by 
  the 
  Northern 
  Inland 
  Lock 
  

   Navigation 
  Comlpany 
  on 
  locks 
  around 
  the 
  falls 
  at 
  Cohoes 
  and 
  

   for 
  their 
  improvement, 
  all 
  of 
  which 
  proved 
  a 
  total 
  loss, 
  the 
  rights 
  

   of 
  the 
  company 
  being 
  finally 
  transferred 
  to 
  the 
  State 
  before 
  

   navigation 
  from 
  the 
  Hudson 
  river 
  to 
  Lake 
  Champlain 
  was 
  actually 
  

   opened. 
  

  

  The 
  amount 
  expended 
  by 
  the 
  Western 
  Inland 
  Lock 
  Navigation 
  

   Company 
  up 
  to 
  December, 
  1804, 
  was 
  $367,743, 
  which 
  was 
  in- 
  

   creased 
  to 
  $480,000 
  in 
  1813, 
  and 
  to 
  a 
  total 
  of 
  $560,000 
  before 
  the 
  

   works 
  were 
  finally 
  transferred 
  to 
  the 
  State. 
  The 
  mistake 
  of 
  first 
  

  

  2 
  The 
  full 
  authority 
  for 
  the 
  coustruction 
  of 
  the 
  Erie 
  and 
  Champlain 
  canals 
  

   may 
  be 
  found 
  in 
  two 
  acts, 
  the 
  hrst 
  being 
  chapter 
  237 
  of 
  the 
  laws 
  of 
  1816, 
  

   passed 
  April 
  17, 
  1810; 
  the 
  second 
  being 
  chapter 
  262 
  of 
  the 
  laws 
  of 
  1817, 
  

   passed 
  April 
  15, 
  1817. 
  There 
  is 
  more 
  or 
  less 
  confusion 
  of 
  these 
  two 
  dates 
  

   in 
  early 
  canal 
  literature. 
  

  

  