Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-01-02
OLD CANAL HISTORY.
Interesting Facts Concerning the 6ea-
yer and Erie Waterway.
a GREAT WORK OF EARLY DAYS
Legislation and Law Associated With the
Collapse Of the Ditch.
HOW THE SHERIFF DISPOSED OF IT
lconnnsrosDnsor OF THE DrspAroH.

I CORRESPONDENCE OF THE DISPATCHsl
In view of the appointment of commits
sioners to determine the feasibility of q ship
canal between the Ohio river and Lake
Erie. brief history of the old Beaver and
Erie Canal, commencing at the mouth Of
Beaver creek, may not be void of interest.
As an outcome of the great Canal Conve1-
tion, held in Harrisburg in 1926, the State
resolved to improve the waterways of the
Commonwealth. The impulse given by
this convention took shape in the act Of
1926, and under its provisions the State be-
gan the construction of the Pennsylvania
Canal, with a view of extending it to Lake
Erie. Careful surveys of the routes from the
Allegheny and Ohio rivers to Lake Erie,
were made and filed in the proper Office at
Harrisburg, and after great contention be-
tween the partisans of the different routes,
the Canal Commissioners selected the 70 ute
by wsy OF the Beaver and Shenango valleys,
as the most available, and it was known as
the Erie extension of the Pennsylvania
canal.
The first appropriation of 100000 was
L.
was the principal engineer, with NJ. R.
Stealey and joseph Hoops as assistants.
The ground was first broken for the
Canal at New Brighton July 26, 1881.
in the presence of large concourse of peo-
pie. Major Robert Darragh was Marshal of
the day, and was assisted by numerous
staff The honor of throwing out the first
earth was accorded to the Revolutionary
uaIA 49, r6,R,a
1881 to 1843 the State expended on that
portion of the Canal, between the Ohio and
New Castle, the sum of $511 1,671, being
$176 354 more than the estimated cost OF the
twenty-four miles of canal and slackwater.
On that portion extending from Erie south
ward. the sum of So, 180, 567 was expended
by the State. It was a much greater un-
dertaking in that day, considering the fnan-
cial condition of the people, than even a
ship canal, as now contemplated.
IMPORTANT LEGAL DECISIONS.
In 1S43 the Erie Canal Company was in
corporated, and the State turned over to the
company the whole line of the canal on con-
dition that the company finish it in 18
months, and with reservation that if the
company abused or violated its charter the
State might declare the charter void and
resume the property. This reserved right
was, however, relinquished by act of May 8,
1855. The act of 1926, as we'll as the char
ter of the Erie Canal Company, provided
that these canals should remain as public
highways forever.
1t was decided by the Supreme Court, in
the case of the Commonwealth VS.. McColiis-
ter ct al. 2 WattS, 100, that in any land, taken
and used in constructing the public canals,
under the act Of 1926, the Commonwealth
took an estate in fee simple, and this decis-
ion was followed in the case of Haldeman
VS.. the Pennsylvania Railroad ana Craigv vs.
Allegheny City. These decisions, although
directly opposed to decisions in similar cases
in both New Jersey and Ohio, will furnish
the rule and be adhered to in any future
controversies relating to canal property.
Whatever interest the State had in the land
used In constructing the Beaver Canal passed
to the Erie Canal Company under the act of
1843, and the logical effsct of the Penn
sylvania decisions is to carry the title of the
company from shore to shore, in the pools
formed by the canal dams-a result some
what remarkable, but it is so written.
In 1867 the company desired to enlarge
the canal, and by act OF March Is, 1867, was
authorized to do so, and to increase the cap
ital stock s., 500, 900; and by act Of May IL,
1869, power was granted to mortgage the
canal to the extent of $1,000, 900. Nothing
seems to have been done under either of |
these acts. By act of March 81, 1870, the |
company was authorized to sell and transfer |
its canal property and franchise to any rail- |
road corporation within the State, or to con-
struct railroad in the bed of or along the |
towing path, to be called the Lake Erie and |
Railway, and to abandon the |
whole or any portion of the Erie Canal.
SOLD AT sHERIFF's SALE.
Prior to 1870 the only mode of collecting
a debt in Pennsylvania from canal or rail-
road company was by sequestration, in
which proceeding the property of the COM
pany was placed in the hands of sequestra-
tor, who operated it until the debt was paid.
On April z, 1870 the Legislature enacted
that in lieu OF sequestration the plaintiff in
any judgment against a corporation may
have execution by writ of feri facias,
issued from the court in which the judgment
was entered, under which the real, personal
md mixed property. rights and franchises
might be sold. Prior to November %,
1870, judgments had been entered in
Erie county against the Erie Canal
Company, amounting to SIS, ,055. Writs of
ieri facias were issued on those judgments,
Ind the Sheriff sold the entire canal from
William L. Scott for $18,175 AS this sale
vas without waiver of inquisirion, the
ranchise of the canal only passed to the
purchaser. On distribution before an aud
tor, the Attorney General interposed a
lain of $4,000 for tonnage tax, and the
proceeds OF sale were awarded to the State
IN November %, 1870, whether before or
'fter the sale does not appear, other judg-
nents were entered in Erie county, and up
o December 20, 1870 these amounted to
i ,250, 900 against the canal company.
The Erie county judgments were liens
lpon the canal property as an entirety, but
he anomalous effect of the act of 1870, by a
ort of legal disintegration, was to make
hese Hens upon particular portions OF the
anal, in any county In which the judg-
nents might be- entered, aud permitted
ale by piecemeal. In 1871 the Erie judg-
neuts were transferred to Beaver county;
Erits were issued, inquisition waived, and :
he canal property in Beaver county was
old September 2, 1871, to Andrew j. Boyle
Or $165, 900, who, the next day, conveyed I
is interest TO William L. Scott for the
anne consideration. Although the act Of I
$40 provided that a sale under its provisions
iverted all liens, except those by mortgage,
ct the Beaver county judgments against
he canal company, now amounting to
2, ,698, 900, have been religiously kept alive
y amicable scire facias. These judgments,
5 revived, were marked for the use of John !
I. Mccullough, who, perhaps to save any
unpleasant tax question, transferred them
April 1, 1885, to M. L. YORK, OF Washing
IN City. THOMAS HENRY.
NEW BRIGHTON, December %, 1889.