Missing Markers..Chenango Canal - Reservoirs - Pecksport

Missing Markers that were stolen or destroyed!

As soon as the Erie Canal was finished and the different stops along the canal gained great prosperity and as communities along the way garnered great wealth, the cry for additional lateral canals was heard across the state.  It was proposed that canals running north and south would bring goods, coal, raw material… as well as settlers to the expanding landscape of the State of New York.

One such canal was the Chenango Canal.  The canal was proposed to bring coal to the central area of Chenango and Madison Counties and commerce out to the Erie Canal at Utica.

Some feel the hesitation on the part of the legislature to OK such canals was the realization that the railroad was quickly becoming a better source of travel.  Some of the drawbacks to the canals were that much of the time these canals would freeze over in the winter.  

Finally, after much political pressure and wrangling, the Chenango Canal appeared on the horizon, a canal that would run from the Erie Canal to Pennsylvania… the home of coal.

The survey of the canal was done by two sources – one was James Geddes, one of the original engineers of the Erie.  Geddes laid the canal out and noted that the natural landscape of Eaton at the summit level could be dammed to hold enough water to feed the canal.

The total cost of construction and improvements came to $4,789,470.58.  The unfortunate fact was the collection tolls and superintendence and repairs were $2,081,738.85.  The loss in operating costs ran to $1,337,711.74.  Another factor that hindered its success was that it did not have a number of Weigh locks like the Erie to check load capacity.  

The total revenue derived from the canal was only $744,027.11.  In 1868, the canal had its greatest tonnage of 112,455 tons.

In April of 1863, an extension of fifty miles was authorized.  This was to extend the North Branch Canal to Pennsylvania.  In 1865, the work was started but was never completed, although $1,600,889.19 was expended.

By the 1870s, there was much public sentiment for the discontinuance of many of the state canals.  This was due primarily to three factors: fraud, administration of the canal cost of maintenance, and, of course, the success of the railroads.

So in 1874, a constitutional amendment was authorized permitting the sale or abandonment of all canals operated by the state except the Erie, Champlain, Oswego, Cayuga and Seneca canals.  A law of 1877 authorized the disposal and sale of the Chenango canal and on May 1, 1878, it was discontinued. 

The making of the canal and the importance of the Eaton area, however, created a scenic area that continued to prosper for many years because of the many reservoirs that were established to make the canal a reality. 

Summer, Col. Leland, the Dunbar House and the Leland Pond History!

The week has been hot again and summer is in full swing down here in Eaton... with summer people and boating, kayaking, fishing and reopening summer camps....I had a request to do a piece on Eaton's Leland Ponds and someone is restoring the old Dunbar house which in actuality was the original site of Col. Leland's first home...so as lazy as I am lately about writing, I pulled this from my past writing and put it up for your enjoyment.  If you can please share and help our small rural Southern Madison County area attract new people and in the process help restore awareness to those who have forgotten what a wonderful place they live in.

The heat of this summer has drawn people to small bodies of water to cool off, swim and fish. Since history lurks everywhere some those that have enjoyed fishing at the beautiful Leland Ponds in the Town of Eaton may actually not realize what a special part of history the “ponds” have.

Located equidistant from both Eaton Village and Hamilton, the ponds today are a vibrant part of NYS Fishing areas and are also a very early and important part of the Town of Eaton’s history. A NYS Historic Marker denoting its famous founding family, the family of Joshua Leland, today marks the site but of course, a marker cannot tell the full story.

Born in Massachusetts in 1741, “the Colonel” as he was always referred to, moved to the town of Eaton, then a part of Chenango County and a large tract of land called Hamilton. Leland settled first on English Avenue near today’s Eaton Village, but then moved to the current site of today’s Leland’s Ponds, then called Leland’s Lakes.

The Col. was a Revolutionary War Militia soldier and ventured out with family to find a new home and a fortune. Their removal to Eaton was not without troubles as when the Colonel after clearing land, went back home to get his wife and five children and their wagon got stuck in the mud at the very location they would eventually move to. The Leland’s also arrived so late in the year that they are recorded as spending their first winter in a three side hut with their animals.

An avid astronomer, hotel owner and miller, Leland was a favorite of the many Native Americans who fished the ponds and who regarded the Col. and his wife Waitstil with great esteem. The Leland Family also ran an ashery that made potash and in fact it is how the Col. died. When on a trip to Albany with this much needed commodity, Leland was killed when the barrel of potash they were carry on a wagon rolled off and fell on him as he was ascending a steep hill on the Cherry Valley Turnpike.

Leland is mentioned as Hamilton’s first Supervisor but at that time Eaton was part of Hamilton breaking off in 1795. At that time Leland became and important part of Eaton’s history and he actually owned one seventh of the landmass of Town of Eaton at one time. His heirs continued in their father’s footsteps’ becoming businessmen and the Leland family name is well remembered.

Leland’s Ponds was also the early fisheries of the Oneida Nation, and later was the site of the largest port on the Chenango Canal, Peck’s Port. Today its waters are a vacationers paradise and allow fisherman to revisit the quiet haunts of native fishermen.

For those who like cemeteries, the family cemetery lays 

on Route 12B a short distance from the site of his home. Crow’s Hill, his property that he once gazed at the stars from, is today dotted with wind turbines, proving that Eaton is still a place where “history meets progress!”.