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NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



George Geddes states that DeWitt was a man of caution, dealing 

 in facts, and had little or nothing of the extraordinary in his 

 nature. Gouverneur Morris was a man of entirely different 

 stamp. He had traveled in Europe and knew the utility of canals, 

 and had long maintained the opinion that ships would ultimately 

 sail from London up the Hudson and across country to Lake Erie. 

 Mr Morris had expressed as early as 1777 his views in regard to 

 internal improvements. At that time he said: "At no distant 

 day, the waters of the great western inland seas will, by the aid 

 of man, break through their barriers and mingle with those of 

 the Hudson.'' 



In 1800 Mr Morris stated : " One-tenth of the expense borne 

 by Britain in the last campaign would enable ships to sail from 

 London, through the Hudson river, to Lake Erie." 



In 1807 Jesse Hawley wrote a series of articles on the subject, 

 claiming that the idea of an artificial channel first originated 

 with him, and in 1820 Elkanah Watson published a book for 

 the same purpose. In 1808 the Legislature directed the Surveyor- 

 General, Simeon DeWitt, to make a survey of an artificial channel 

 from the Great Lakes to the Hudson. This survey was made by 

 James Geddes, who reported on January 20, 1809. In 1810 the 

 Legislature appointed commissioners to prosecute further exam- 

 inations. This commission made its first report in March, 1811. 

 After discussing the route as proposed, from the Hudson river to 

 Lake Ontario, it recommended the inland route to Lake Erie 

 with a direct descent from Lake Erie to the Hudson river. Follow- 

 ing this report a bill was passed by the Legislature reappointing 

 the commissioners of the previous year, with the addition of 

 Robert R. Livingston and Robert Fulton, and extending the 

 powers of the commissioners and adding to the appropriation for 

 it s work. The war of 1812 came on and the canal project was 

 temporarily dropped until 1816, when DeWitt Clinton presented 

 a memorial to the legislature from the City of New York urging 

 action toward the construction of the canal. Finally the art of 

 April 15, 1S17-, was passed creating a permanent Board of Canal 

 Commissioners, 1 which entered at once upon its duties, and pro- 



l The permanent Hoard of Canal Commissioners of 1S17 Included the fol- 

 lowing men: De Witt Clinton, president; Stephen Van Rensselaer, Samuel 

 Young, Joseph Ellicott, and Myron Holley, their appointment having been 

 first authorized by the act of April 17, 1816. 



