The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1878-01-05
Fer The Cecil Wing.
Historical Researches that Quilp Made
rs Bohemian.
CHAPTER Nv.


PEAKE & DELAWARE CANAL.
As long ago as 1850, when Augustine
Herman was Lord of Bohemia Manor, the
construction of a canal to connect the wat
ers of the two bays was contemplated. The
earliest settlers along the Delaware and
Chesapeake bays felt the want of better
method OF transportation than they then
had and no doubt the far seeing and clear
minded Herman was quite as much intiu-
enced by the prospective canal and the
advantages to be derived from it as he was
by the superior quality of the soil when he
made choice of Bohemia Manor and set
tied upon it.
In 1869 some Of the enterprising citizens
of Philadelphia induced the American
Philosophical Society to order survey to
be made with view of constructing
canal across the peninsula, but the revolu
tonary war began before any active steps
were taken towards the construction of the
work. and it was not chartered by the State
of Maryland till 1899. 1t appears from the
charter that Maryland was the first State
to move in the matter, for the charter con-
| tains a proviso that it is to be of no force
F.. till law is passed by the State of Della
ware, authorizing the cutting of the canal
| through that State, and until law is passed
by the State of Pennsylvania, declaring the
river Susquehanna to be highway, etc,
etc. The company were authorized to raise
in CHI Of 5000 oah fnr tho
st1uction of the canal and Tobias Rudolph
and William Alexander in Cecil county, in
connection with two other persons in each
of the Eastern Shore counties, and other
persons in Baltimore, Wilmington and
! Philadelphia were authorized to open the
subscription books and inaugurate the en-
! terprise.
About the year 1901 Benjamin H. La
| trobe, Cornelius Howard and John Thomp-
son surveyed various routes across the pc
ninsula for the proposed canal, and the
directors of the company decided to adopt
| the one between Wech Point and the juno
ton of Back creek and Elk river and run
| ming in northeast direction from there to
| place on the Christiana creek, then called
Mendenhall's Landing, about four miles
west of Wilmington 1t was the intention
of the engineers that located the canal in
! this place to supply the water necessary
! for the purpose of navigating it from the
/ Big Elk and White Clay creeks by means
of feeders constructed for the purpose Of
! carving the waters of these creeks into a
vast reservoir covering a hundred acres Of
| land, from which the water could be taken,
when needed, for the purpose of locking the
various crafts through the canal. About a
hundred Thousand dollars was expended q
| upon the construction of the feeder which;
was intended to carry the waters of Big
| Elk into the proposed reservoir, which was I
| to be located about a mile west of Glas.
| gov, in Delaware. The work was cons
structed under the supervision of Benja :.
min II. Latrobe, a Frenchman, who was
chief engineer. E.
| The canal company was obliged to pur..
| chase the right to use the water of Big Eli
from the Elk Forge Company, whose forgE
was then located where Baldwins factor Z
now stands, near which the feeder was t
start, and also the water rights of all thi3
mills between the forge and the mouth O.
the creek. Due bills or promissory notes
similar to bank notes, were issued for thu
purchase of the water rights, and work wa :
commenced on the feeder in 1902. Som
of the plans of the engineers of that tim
| Saa ,,uifa ON nd 81 aD hon
through the light that the experience G.
seventy five years has thrown upon work. :
of this kind. The canal company only pur, :.
| chased the right from the forge company +.
use the water of the creek, when needed.
for the purpose of supplying the canal, the
forge company reseIving the right to use
the water of the creek during the Winter
months, when it would be impracticable to
navigate it. The water Of the creek was
taken out of the head-race of the forge and
taken across the channel of the creek in an
aqueduct constructed for the purpose. 1t
would seem to have been great deal more
practicable to have taken the water directly
from the east side of the dam and to have
dispensed with the aqueduct, but probably
there were reasons that do not now appear,
that caused the engineer to adopt the plan
he did.
The work upon the feeder seems to have |
been done in superior manner. Several |
of the arches, through which the water of
small streams was to pass underneath it,
are still standing, and quite a large one
intended for a roadway across it is yet
extant. 1t is said that when the late Dan
iel Lord was constructing the factory NOW |
Baldwin s., which is near the arch, being |
in want of stone, he ordered his workmen |
to take the arch down, and that after many
ftuitiess efforts to do SO, they concluded it |
would be easier and cheaper to quarry the |
stone they wanted. This old arch is yet |
standing, aud looks strong and durable |
enough to stand at least a century longer.
We state, as an historical fact, that for
time the water of the Big Elk was admit
t ID into the feeder, and that the stone used |
in the construction of the arches some dis |
lance from the upper end of it were trans |
ported to the places where they were used
upon scows from the quarry near the forge.
Many stone were quarlied and nicely dressed |
for the feeder, which, after it was aban-
doned, remained near the forge and were
used in the construction of the railroad |
bridge across the Big Elk, near Elkton,
which was recently abandoned and covered |
by the embankment, after the construction !
of the new iron bridge in 1876.
There appears to have been much diver
sty of opinion in regard to the proper |
place for the location of the canal. This,
probably, was the reason that the Company
after finishing the feeder to the site of the |
proposed reservoir, near Glasgow, were |
forced to discontinue the work, which they |
did, for want of means, in 1908. The old |
feeder passed within about two miles of
Elkton, and it is stated in history of