Accidents on the Chenango Canal


Broome Republican, Binghamton
Thursday, May 15, 1841

    The Coroner of Onondaga village, P. Bassett, Esq.,was called upon to hold an inquest on the body of Miss Polly  Mitchell, aged about 25 years, of Madison County, who was found dead in her berth on board the Canal boat Rodney, which arrived in this village very early on Saturday morning. It appeared from the evidence that  Miss Mitchell came on board of said boat in the capacity of cook on Thursday last, and appeared in usual health as far as Capt. Lands or passengers had observed, and had retired to her berth (which was a most miserable one in size, location, dampness, mold, etc.) on Saturday evening about 9 o'clock and was discovered
next morning in her bed a corpse. The verdict of the Jury was that she came  to her death by suffocation or the unknown visitation of Providence.
                                         _______


                         Chenango Canal near Bouckville, circa 1908
                                        ______

Broome Republican, Binghamton
Thursday,  June 3,1841

     Melancholy Accident- A hand on board the Canal boat Martin Van Buren of Frankfort ran ahead of the boat about daylight on Wednesday morning last near New Hartford on the Chenango Canal to prepare a lock; on arrival of the boat at the lock the man was missing. His hat was discovered floating in the lock and immediately search was made and his body was found at the bottom of the lock The vital spark had fled. His name was Clark Bliven of McDonough, Chenango Co, aged 2l years. He was an enterprising and industrious young man of good habits. Hamilton Palladium
Chenango American, Greene
Thursday,  June 18, 1863

    Drowned. - William Ward, aged 5 years, 3 months and 8 days, son of Hiram S., and Sarah Pierce, was drowned in the canal at the foot of the first lock south of this village, on the 11th inst. The shock of the boat, Shady Side, upon which he was standing, as it entered the lock, probably caused him to fall into the canal where he was not found until too late to save his life. His parents reside in Vestal, Broome county, whither they returned with the body.
    This little boy was unusually promising and intelligent, and had been a faithful attendant at Sabbath School during the past two years. A short time previous to this fatal accident, he stood by his mother’s side, looking toward the sky, when he remarked with earnestness that he would soon have wings and fly up there. His childish fancy was too truly and quickly verified. - Greene American

Chenango Union
Wed., July 22, 1868

    Runaway. - The horses attached to the packet boat Lillie went on the rampage again, on Saturday evening last. When near the Main Street canal bridge, they snapped the tow-line in a twinkling, and ran up the tow-path at a 2:40 saint, or faster - George still retained his seat.
    Leaving the line of the canal at the East Street bridge, they went down East Street, up Silver Street, and finally brought up at the Mitchell Street bridge. Running away is the favorite pastime of that team, and George allows that he has “played out” as their driver - that their cheerful antics are too frequent for his personal comfort.
Chenango American
Thursday, October 23, 1873

    As the old canal boat “F.L.T.” was proceeding on her voyage up the canal on Saturday last, loaded with lumber, she capsized, during a heavy squall - from the cook - and tried to stand on her ear, but brought up by coming in contact with the bottom of the canal. Every soul on board perished - except three. We have conversed with Capt. Delamater, one of the survivors, and his description of the hardship s encountered by those who were saved, is heart-warming in the extreme.

    When the old boat gave her last flop, and committed herself to the bosom of the enraged deep, the scene was too for the stoutest hear, and Capt. Delamater gave one deafening yell of agony and plunged upon the tow-path, and dug for town. We understand that the stove pipe washed ashore on Sunday, but thus far no bodies have been recovered.
Binghamton Times
 November 6, 1874

                                      A Sad Case of Drowning
                                                 ___

    About half past three o’clock last Wednesday afternoon a little son of Mr. J.T. Loomis, who resides about a mile north of the village of Brisben, Chenango county, was drowned in the Chenango Canal, near his home, under peculiarly distressing circumstances. Mr. Loomis was engaged at the time in operating his cider mill, which is situated on the berme bank of the canal, and the little fellow, who was about three and a half years of age, was playing about the premises.
    He was seen by his mother about three o’clock, playing in the yard near the house, and by the hired man a few minutes afterwards. A few moments later the canal boat Ellen Carman, in charge of a man named Smith and crew passed by, and the body of the little unfortunate was seen by them floating upon the water. Instead of rescuing it or calling for help the men in charge of the boat said nothing about what they had seen until some minutes afterward, while the boat was passing the lock. 
    The announcement was then made in a careless, casual manner, as though no importance was attached to it. The alarm was given and search made, and soon the remains were founds several rods distant from the point at which the child must have fallen into the water. When taken out life was entirely extinct, although every effort was made to resuscitate the child. It is thought that at the time the boatmen saw the body, it could not have been in the water more than five or six minutes, but before they told of it fifteen or twenty minutes had elapsed.
    The grief of the parents at the sudden loss of their darling little one cannot be expressed in words, and when it was believed that he might have been saved if the men on the boat had rescued him or even given the alarm when he was first discovered, their feelings knew no bounds. The strange an unnatural conduct of the boatmen has caused great indignation in the minds of all who have become acquainted with the facts, and created a corresponding degree of sympathy for the bereaved parents. The boat Ellen Carman left this city on Monday last loaded with coal.
    The man Smith who had charge of the boat, resides in Oriskany Falls. The names of the other men could not be ascertained, but whoever they may be they will doubtless be troubled throughout their entire lives by the reflection of their misconduct on this occasion.

                                                ______

                   




         

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

History of the Chenango Canal in Binghamton

Image
Portion of 1855 map of Binghamton showing Chenango Canal near entrance to the Chenango River. Note canal boat basin, dry dock and boat yard off Susquehanna street. From: Binghamton Its Settlement, Growth and Development 1800-1900  William S. Lawyer, Editor. Century Memorial Publishing Company, 1900 (P. 272)  The Chenango canal was authorized by an act of the legislature, February 23, 1833. The work of construction was begun the same year and was finished in 1837, at a total cost of $1,737,703. From Utica, the northern terminus, to the summit of the greatest elevation on its line, a series of seventy-six locks gave a rise of 706 feet; thence the canal descended 303 feet by thirty-eight locks to the southern terminus at the junction of the Susquehanna and Chenango rivers in Binghamton.     The feed supply was obtained from the elevated water bodies of southern Madison county, and were Madison brook, Woodman’s pond, Leland’s pond, Bradley’s brook, Hat...
Read more

Chenango Canal in the Oriskany Valley

Image
     Model of a Chenango canal boat displayed at Hamilton Public Library made by Lee Brown Coye. Note the sweeps on the sides to enhance navigation.                               It is so easy to whisk up the Oriskany Valley these days in a motor car that you probably don’t think of the place as ever having been isolated. But back in the 1820s, when the main stream of Erie Canal commerce was passing it by, the hinterland folks began to get a persecution complex.     Obviously what was needed was a canal for everybody. And particularly a North-South canal connecting the Erie with Binghamton, the Susquehanna, and the Pennsylvania coal country.    So up and down the Oriskany and the Chenango, folks organized themselves into a mass “pressure group.” They hired their own engineers to make surveys. They sent out promotion “literature” to everyone of any importance. ...
Read more

Old Chenango Canal at Utica

Image
By the time this photo was taken the Chenango Canal had been abandoned. The scene is north of Court Street in Utica and the New York & Oswego Midland Railroads is on the left. This 1855 map shows how the Chenango Canal intersected the Erie Canal in   Utica, including four sets of locks.     ___________ Syracuse Standard August 21, 1854     Utica, July 30. - Boy Drowned. - A boy about nine years old, son of Joseph Marshall, of West Utica, was drowned yesterday while bathing in the Chenango Canal near third lock. It was his first and last attempt at swimming. _____________ Syracuse Standard Friday, May 23, 1856     Rape Case at Utica. - The Utica Telegraph gives an account of a brutal rape case recently committed near the city by three young men on a girl 12 years of age. The case somewhat resembles the one committed in this city last year.     It seems that a girl, in company with another girl ag...
Read more