Harry N. Scheiber - Ohio Canal Era: A Case Study of Government and the Economy, 1820-1861

A CASE STUDY OF GOVERNMENT
AND THE ECONOMY, 18201861

A Case Study of Government
and the Economy, 18201861

HARRY N. SCHEIBER

Ohio University Press, Athens, Ohio 45701

ohioswallow.com

1968, 1987, 2012 by Harry N. Scheiber

Foreword 2012 by Lawrence M. Friedman

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Scheiber, Harry N.

Ohio canal era.

With a new foreword by Lawrence M. Friedman

With a new preface by the author

Bibliography: p.

Includes index.

1. CanalsOhioHistory19th century. 2. CanalsGovernment policyOhioHistory19th century. 3. RailroadsOhioHistory19th century. 4. Railroads and stateOhioHistory19th century. 5. OhioEconomic conditions. I. Title.

ISBN 978-0-8214-1979-3 (pbk.)

ISBN 978-0-8214-4403-0 (electronic)

Third printing 2012

Second printing 1987

First printing 1968

Grateful acknowledgment is made to the Harvard University Press for permission to incorporate materials, in of this volume, from George Rogers Taylor and Irene D. Neu, The American Railroad Network, 18611890. (Copyright 1956 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College.)

IN THE COURSE of research for this study, I was the beneficiary of the generosity with which American scholars characteristically respond to requests for aid and counsel. Paul Wallace Gates, who directed my graduate studies at Cornell University, provided me with a critique of my doctoral dissertation on Ohios transport policies, and it became the agenda for a considerable program of additional research. I am grateful to him for his continuing interest, his many incisive suggestions, and his friendly prodding. Others at Cornell to whom I owe a special debt are Curtis P. Nettels and Douglas F. Dowd.

Substantial portions of this study were read in draft form by Peter J. Coleman of the University of Illinois (Chicago), Jere Daniell of Dartmouth College, Miss Miriam Gallaher of the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, and Mrs. Fannia Weingartner, all of whom contributed to what felicity of style may be evident. I have profited greatly, too, from many discussions of the substance of this work with Edward Chase Kirkland, Roger H. Brown, Morton Rothstein, and Herbert G. Gutman. Others who have aided me generously in various ways are James P. Baughman, Allan G. Bogue, Robert W. Fogel, Lawrence Friedman, Carter Goodrich, Eugene Litwak, Stewart Macaulay, Walter R. Marvin, Roger L. Ransom, George Rogers Taylor, Paul P. Van Riper, and Francis P. Weisenburger.

In the course of research in Ohio, I had in addition the benefit of association with James H. Rodabaugh of Miami University, whose insights color many passages of this study. Henry Caren and Bruce Harding, both formerly of the Ohio Historical Society staff, were trenchant critics; they also shared with me their thorough knowledge of the Ohio State Archives. Mrs. Elizabeth Martin, Mrs. Marion Bates, and Mr. Kenneth Duckett of the Ohio Historical Society Library staff all extended genuine hospitality as well as expert aid during my year in residence there. Those who have had occasion to use the other libraries where I worked will readily appreciate my great indebtedness to the staffs of the Western Reserve Historical Society, the Cincinnati Historical Society, Columbia Universitys Special Collections, the Cornell University Regional History Collection, the Ohio State University Library, the Ohio State Library, and the U. S. National Archives. The staff of Baker Library in Dartmouth College, and particularly Miss Virginia Close, have given invaluable assistance as well. Mrs. Robert Wells, Mrs. Agnes Page, and Mrs. Beth Strack provided tireless, cheerful aid in typing.

The funds that supported my research were provided by several scholarly organizations, and I owe thanks to the Social Science Research Council, for a years fellowship; the American Association for State and Local History, for a summer grant; and Resources for the Future, Inc., for a grant to Dartmouth College that financed research on the role of engineers in public-investment decisions, some of which material appears here. During a treasured period of residence as a Fellow of the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, while I also held a fellowship of the American Council of Learned Societies, I was able to reconsider the study and undertake some major revisions. Generous aid by the Centers staff made it possible to do so while I was deeply engaged in other concerns as well; and special thanks are due the director emeritus of the Center, Ralph W. Tyler, and Preston Cutler and Mrs. Jane Kielsmeier. I am grateful also to Dartmouth College for several grants in support of research.

My colleagues in the History Department at Dartmouth have provided an exciting milieu for research and have extended their assistance in many ways. Ian MacKenzie, director of the Ohio University Press, and Mrs. Susan Schulman have also made many contributions to this work.

The editors of Ohio History, The Political Science Quarterly, materials drawn from my articles in those journals. Thanks are due Mrs. Joan Erdman for the index.

Neither funds for research nor even the scholarly communitys extraordinary generosity would have seen this work through to completion, had it not been for the indispensable help and patient forbearance of my wife, Jane Lang Scheiber, and the resourceful (and unique) contributions of Susan and Michael.

H. N. S.

BY LAWRENCE M. FRIEDMAN

CHAPTER

BFC Board of [Canal] Fund Commissioners

BPW Board of Public Works

CC Canal Commission (Board of Canal Commissioners)

CHSCincinnati Historical Society

HPSO Historical and Philosophical Society of Ohio