Jesse Hawley, Canal Advocate
Hello, everyone, and welcome back to Canal Stories, a series brought to you by the Canal Corridor Association celebrating the Illinois and Michigan Canal and the communities that were shaped by its legacy. The Illinois and Michigan Canal had been a vision of many individuals throughout history, but who were some of the earliest canal boosters? Brought to you by Wayne Duerkes, PhD.
Jesse Hawley—our second canal hero—is an unusual name in the annals of the Illinois and Michigan Canal, in fact, outside his native New York State, Hawley is not much more than a historical footnote in U.S. history. But Hawley’s boosterism on canal construction is nothing less than crucial in the early days of internal improvements. Born on May 11, 1773, in Bridgeport, Connecticut, Hawley had an unextraordinary upbringing. It was not until, as an adult, his relocation to central New York, that he began to shine. He became a prominent flour merchant in Geneva, New York, located at the northern tip of Seneca Lake, one of the state’s famous Finger Lakes. This series of lakes ran north and south in central New York State west of the Appalachia Mountains in the heart of the state’s rich farmland.
With a sharp acumen for his trade, coupled with his advantageous location, Hawley built his business to be a regional leader in wheat and flour. All the wheat he consolidated was shipped 25 miles east to Seneca Falls. From there, product not sold locally had to be shipped to New York City. All this shipping was via wagons and it was exorbitantly expensive. Hawley needed to find a way to reduce this shipping cost and as early as 1805, he became a strong advocate for the federal government to invest in canal building. Hawley’s vision inspired Dewitt Clinton, Governor of New York, to tackle canal building with the Erie Canal. The story of the Erie Canal is complex and exciting all in one, but what does this have to do with the I&M Canal?
Hawley became enamored with potential of canals as a national transportation system. In so doing, he became a prolific writer in support of the canal cause. In a famous set of essays entitled “Observations on Canals,” Hawley sought to inform the public and the government as to how a canal system would increase commerce and connect the distant commercial sites of the nation. His first article was published in the Commonwealth out of Pittsburg on January 14, 1807, followed by an additional thirteen parts in the Genessee Messenger beginning in October 1807 until April 1808. He published them under the name “Hercules,” as the practice of using a pseudonym was common in the era. The Messenger was published under that name from 1806 to 1810 in Canandaigua, New York just west of Geneva, so his essays were some of the first on canal building to the public. The paper had a large circulation for the time and it reached readers beyond central New York.
In Essay #10, he recorded, “Another important improvement could be affected by tapping Lake Michigan and throwing a canal into the Plein [Des Plaines] river, the west branch of the Illinois, thence down that river into the Mississippi 1180 miles from its mouth.” Despite some ignorance as to the exact topography, Hawley wrote about the potential of connecting Lake Michigan to the Mississippi River by canal before the War of 1812. He goes on in the essay as to describe an all-water route from New York to New Orleans through the heart of the frontier by seeking to “render the route of transportation from Buffalo to the Mississippi, by the Illinois...” The lynchpins to Hawley’s vision included what would become the Erie Canal and the Illinois & Michigan Canal.
We are all aware of the famous suggestion of Louis Joliet concerning a canal through mud lake connecting the Illinois and the Michigan, but he could not perceive an economic passage in the same scope as Hawley. We do not know if Hawley was ever aware of Joliet’s recommendation, but Hawley knew topography and business. These traits incubated a sense of initiative within him to inform those in power to pursue the golden age of canal building in the country. Hawley lived until 1842, so he was able to witness the construction of the Erie Canal that offered reduced shipping costs as he had always dreamt. He also survived long enough to see the beginning of construction on the I&M Canal, which opened 40 years after he put the proposition to paper. Does the reader know of any documentation of discussions of the I&M Canal between 1673 and 1808?
That concludes today’s Canal Story. Thank you so much for joining us as we continue our journey through the history of the Illinois & Michigan Canal. If you have enjoyed this episode, pass it along to your family and friends, be sure to leave us a like or drop us a comment, and we will see you again very soon.