Canal History, Reservoirs, Chengo River & More

The Canal is really an interesting and important part of Eaton’s history.  In reality though...only a small part of it is in Eaton…but that small part was probably the most important part of it, as it is through Eaton that all the water for the main section of the canal flowed to fill it.  

The waters of the Leland Ponds, Woodman Pond, Lebanon Reservoir (once know as Kingsley Brook Reservoir), Hatch’s Lake, Bradley Brook and Eatonbrook Reservoir met there.  Yes even Lebanon Reservoir's runoff makes a turn and runs north to join the canal at that spot near Pecksport.  

If you stop at the bridge on 46 going to Hamilton and look back over the fishing section of the canal just off Wendover Road and glance east you can see where all the waters enter.

When originally surveyed by James Geddes it was decided that near this spot all the manmade reservoirs could be built above it and their waters could flow toward the Erie Canal on one side and south toward Pennsylvania on the other.  Today all the remains to mark the spot is a sign for NYS fishing.

In the earliest days of settlement, it was a special fishing spot for the Native Tribes who set up their summer camps at the flat spot up and down the ponds and near the Chenango.  Joseph Morse lived on that side of the hill before moving to Eaton Village at the turn of the century, his house foundation is at the foot of Hamilton Hill Road on the right... and family letters mention the children playing together.

The other interesting thing about the area was the ingenuity of Josiah Peck and his son Alonzo who dug out an area that would allow more than one canal boat to unload at the same time.  Alonzo who also ran the Chenango Canal Boat Lines, erected a large warehouse at what would become known as Pecksport... to allowed an overflow of goods to be stored from either the northern or southern routes.

Today there is nothing to mark the spot historically as the signs and historic markers one by one have disappeared.  This is a sad actually, as the vanished history was an important part of the canal which bought a number of new towns and new families to our area.. not to forget the coal to heat the homes with in this cold part of New York State..

The canal also served as the supply route to take goods out of the area.  Some of the regions largest businesses laid to the west in Eaton... the famous Morse distillery of Eaton, the factory of Wood, Taber & Morse Steam Engine Works, as well as the mills of West Eaton.

Too much history of our area has been lost to time... but the ponds of Col. Leland still provide a gathering spot for fisherman and vacationers who enjoy the waters charm much like the Native Americans did... since this area was summer quarters for many of them.

Chenango Canal and James Geddes

     On October 26, 1825, at the “Wedding of the Waters”, America’s first civil engineers became legend.  The NYS Historical Marker on the site of the house of James Geddes in the Town of Camillus, on busy Genesee Street near the Fairmount Shopping Center, cannot possibly tell the whole story of New York’s Canal system.  One of the most remarkable facts regarding the building of the New York State Canal system in the early years of the 1800’s was that there was no civil engineer in America at the time.

     The man offered the job of civil engineer of the proposed Erie Canal was William Weston of England.  He declined!  That left 4 men, three of whom were judges with limited surveying skill who had learned the craft of surveying in order to settle boundary disputes in court to do the job.  To this motley threesome was added Nathan Roberts, a teacher and mathematician. Some of these men, however, managed not only to learn their trade with hands on training alone.

     Geddes, who was an early entrepreneur in salt in the Syracuse area and a Court of Common Pleas judge by 1818,  moved from Pennsylvania to what became known at Geddesesburgh or Geddesville in 1794, Geddes who was appointed the Surveyor General of New York State, was given the job of finding the routes for the proposed Erie Canal, the lateral Chenango Canal and others.  Geddes was actually instrumental in getting the NYS Legislature to form a canal commission in 1810.

     Geddes limited knowledge of engineering and surveying but obviously good political connections landed him the job as one of the engineers (1816) to supervise in the construction of the proposed Erie Canal.  In 1825, after a bill was passed authorizing the surveying of lateral canal possibilities.  Geddes was sent to the proposed Chenango Valley canal route.  His survey proposed a route of 90 miles with 1,500 feet of lockage at a cost of $715,474.  The proposal of a Chenango Valley canal was voted down in successive years including after a 1827 survey by Nathan Roberts and a report put together by Forman.  The conclusion was there was not enough water. It was not until 1833 that the Act for the Construction of the Chenango Canal became law.

     Today, as then, the Erie Canal and the Chenango Canal’s remnants, stand as a marvel of early engineering in America and the feat of building them a testament to the early spirit of the workers many of them immigrants, who worked through inclement weather and unopened forests to build what was the most important commerce routes of the day.  There is no doubt that the Erie Canal was the single most important factor that made New York the Empire State and that the “Great Chenango Canal” certainly allowed for the villages and businesses along its way to spring up even though it proved to be a financial failure.

Hops, Fall is coming, Eaton & hops history!

 As they say.. everything old is new again...and that goes for the history of an area and its products. As I was getting ready to pick my hops plants I decided to blog on Hops....so here it is!

“In 1808 James D. Coolidge planted the first hops field in Madison County. By 1859 NY supplied 87 percent of hops grown in the U.S.”  

That is an unbelievable statement but it is true. Madison County grew hops and the crop was a bumper crop that made many of the farmers in the area, but it also destroyed some.

The Hop commodities market was actually moved to Waterville where hops were bought and sold with the fluctuating hops market.  Many an Eaton Farm grew hops and held hops to get the best value at market. They also welcomed the pickers in season because in town the money flowed from outside to in.

Many a farm put families up during the “season” and stories of fun and friendships made abound… a more simple time.  My own mother recalled taking the canal to Madison County where her family would pick hops.  She as a small child remembered hiding under her mother’s skirt on the trip.

The hop fields of Samuel Coolidge ran between Madison and Eaton near the Summit level of the Chenango Canal.  The field crops were called by some locals, as filled with “the Devil’s weed”… because of Hops addition to beer to make it bitter or to add flavor and aroma.

Hops would later disappear from the hills of Eaton and Madison County because of blight and because of white or blue powdery mold.  Another problem “Temperance” played a large part.

Another facet of hop production were the numerous attempts to patent labor saving devices.  A few out of Eaton and the area are pictured in the back of the book.

One was a “HOP-PICKER’S BOX” designed by Frederick A Fargo of Pine Woods, New York it was Patent No. 949,915 dated November 22, 1881. (Fargo Corners in Eaton today).  He states that: “My invention consist of a hop-picker’s measure or box having such construction that it may be easily taken apart for stowing away in small spaces and for transportation, and easily set up for use.”

Another interesting invention out of Morrisville is a Vine Trellis.  The Trellis was submitted by Andrew S. Hart and is Patent number 495,673, dated April 18, 1893. Hart says: “The object of this invention is to provide a trellis for training chiefly hop-vines, and which shall be permanently erect on the ground to afford ready access to the uppermost parts of the vines.”

The time of hops passed and became a time of cows and corn that have in recent time given back land to the cultivation of Hops in Eaton and in Madison County.  It is interesting to note that at Fargo Corners today you can see a new “hop field” located on today's  Mosher Farm.

Summer, Lebanon Reservoir History & the Old Town of Eaton Museum

Well the Goddess of Summer has graced us with another wonderful summer week.  My own week has been busy trying to catch up with all the work I have neglected, however, I thought I would take the time to send a little more history your way.  

This history is on another of the many ponds and lakes that dot our beautiful Southern Madison County area, Lebanon Reservoir.  I am still a bit under the weather so will get back to you local blog readers with a date for our evening speaking event to benefit the Old Town of Eaton Museum.  I have decided to come out of retirement and speak for a meeting of the Friends of the Old Town of Eaton Museum to raise local awareness of its rich history and its very historic past. Date to follow.

Though located in today’s Town of Lebanon, the water that flowed from this reservoir made its way via feeders to Eaton’s Leland Pond and Woodman Pond areas, where it was distributed to the canal.

This Reservoir has had two names, an old one that is very historic and a new one that is known by everyone. Kingsleybrook Reservoir is one such place. Today, we know this body of water surrounded by camps and homes as a sparkling gem, where fishing, swimming, boating and camping is enjoyed, as Lebanon Reservoir. Its original name and one still used on some maps however, is Kingsleybrook Reservoir.

Kingsley Brook, a fast-flowing stream, provides the water to this reservoir, a reservoir that once fed the Chenango Canal. The reservoir was added after the initial start of the proposed canal to insure that there would be enough water to run the canal during dry times. The dam was contracted in the fall of 1835, and scheduled to be completed by November of the following year.

During the process, it was decided to raise the proposed height by 15 feet, it was noted that this would only take a small additional part of land, but would increase the capacity of the reservoir by 80 percent. The addition of the height was never accomplished.

After a horrible freshet occurred in April of 1843, the dam was breached and was severely damaged, estimates for the repair came to over $8,000 ( a pittance in our time). The canal engineers and commissioners felt that this dam and reservoir could be dispensed with, and consequently did not repair it.

By 1864, more water was needed to insure navigation on the canal because of leaking canal walls and decapitated locks, plus the addition of a proposed extension, so work was begun to rebuild the Kingsleybrook Reservoir. This time, the dam was raised the additional number of feet (15) and the dam was completed in 1867. The additional number of feet increased the capacity of the reservoir by over 100 percent. When the Chenango Canal no longer needed its water it became labels Lebanon Reservoir!

Heres a video..