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Document 43 –

Letter from William Gooding to David Leavitt Concerning Canal Expenditures and the Severe Winter

February 5, 1856

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Transcription No. 128                         Lockport Feb. 5_1856~ D. Leavitt Esq.     Treasr. I. & M. Canal                        Dear Sir,                                     I have this day drawn upon you for $3,000 in favor of I. H. Burch & co._I have al- -ready overdrawn my account there several hundred dollars and am compelled to check for $1,300 more to day. The balance will be required during the month.      About the last of this month or first of next the pay- -ments to Stone & Boomer on account of the Aux Sable and Little Vermillion Aqueducts will be pretty heavy and I shall have to draw upon you again.        The present prospect is that the navigation of our Canal and the Lakes, (the Canal will not pay much until the Lakes are clear of ice) will open later than usual. We have never had so severe a winter as the present in Illinois since its first settlement or at least for the last 25 years. The ice in the rivers is from 2 ft. to 2½ ft. thick and the ground is frozen in many places full 3 feet deep. Of course it will take a good while to thaw out.                            Truly Yours                                             Wm Gooding

The canal had been closed to navigation on December 12, 1855. This annual event occurred when ice became so prevalent along the line that boats no longer could pass. It was not until April 8, 1856 that the ice had sufficiently melted so that traffic could resume. For nearly four months the canal virtually was useless to shippers. The Chicago and Rock Island Railroad on the other hand operated continually over this period (see document 42 explanation). Increasingly Illinois was becoming an industrialized state which could ill afford to shut down for a third of the year in order to hunker down for the winter (see document 39 explanation).

Over that harsh season contractors Stone and Boomer refurbished the Aux Sable and Little Vermillion River aqueduct feeders. Having fulfilled their contracts, they were paid $11,033 on March 31.

What happened to the I and M in the wintertime?

Why was this a major limitation for canals, especially those in northern climates?

Which other contemporary means of transportation had no such limitation?

Why would the canal not pay much until the lakes were clear?

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