The Delaware Canal (22 page)

Water in the now idle Delaware Division Canal mirrors the beauty of surrounding trees and foliage. It is a natural aviary for birds and fowl, a home to several species of wildlife and a place where people go to find a quiet peace from a hectic world.
Author's collection
.

In 1931, when the LC&N turned most of the Delaware Division Canal over to the people of Pennsylvania, poet Catherine Curran Smith published a verse in celebration in the
Intelligencer
. In part it read:

Its scenes of rural splendor

Are portrayed by artists' touch;

Its winter landscapes immortalized

By the mighty Redfield's brush
.

It served mankind a century

But now its days are spent

We must preserve its beauty

And leave nothing to repent
.

Oh, old canal, flow serenely on,

And may beauty grace your way,

Throughout the coming centuries,

As she does at the present day!
⁷³

From channel of industry to Pennsylvania treasure, the Delaware Division Canal, once congested with hinge boats, mules and scrappy canallers, now bestows a quiet peace and life-affirming splendor upon all who are drawn to it.

Notes

Chapter 1. Magic Canals: Past and Future

1
.  Needham and Ronan,
Shorter Science and Civilisation
, 5.

2
.  Find Articles, “The first contour transport canal—history of Chinese science,”
UNESCO Courier
,
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1310/is_1988_Oct/ai_6955900
.

3
.  Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, s.v. “Emperor Yang of Sui,”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emperor_Yang_of _Sui_China
(accessed January 24, 2008).

4
.  Dale R. Lightfoot, “Syrian Qanat Romani,”
http://www.waterhistory.org/histories/syria
(accessed January 25, 2008).

5
.  Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, s.v. “Foss Dyke,”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foss_Dyke
(accessed January 24, 2008).

6
.  France in the United Kingdom, “Economics: Seine-Nord Europe canal: a new partnership with Europe,”
www.ambafrance-uk.org/Economics-Seine-Nord-Europe-canal.html
(accessed January 30, 2008).

7
.  “About Canals,”
999Canals
,
http://www.999canals.com
(accessed January 29, 2008).

8
.  Shank,
Amazing Pennsylvania Canals
, 10.

Chapter 2. From the Bowels of the Earth

9
.  Knies,
Coal on the Lehigh
, 4.

10
. Ibid.

11
. Karson,
Black Rock
, 2–3.

12
. 
Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia
, s.v. “Anthracite,”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthracite
(accessed February 22, 2008).

13
. Knies,
Coal on the Lehigh
, 7.

14
. Hansell,
Josiah White
, 22.

15
. Ibid., 29.

16
. Ibid., 35.

17
. Knies,
Coal on the Lehigh
, 37.

18
. Hansell,
Josiah White
, 49.

19
. Yoder,
Delaware Canal Journal
, 128.

20
. Hansell,
Josiah White
, 79.

21
. Ibid.

22
. Richardson,
Memoir of Josiah White
, 108.

23
. Hansell,
Josiah White
, 142.

24
. Ibid., 146.

25
. Stories from Pennsylvania History, “King Coal: Mining Bituminous,”
PennsylvaniaHistory.com
,
http://www.explorepahistory.com/story.php?storyId=30
(accessed February 7, 2008).

26
. History Matters, “No Rest for the Weary: Children in the Coal Mines,”
http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5571
(accessed February 7, 2008).

27
. Bartoletti,
Growing Up in Coal Country
, 27.

28
. 
Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia
, s.v. “Molly Maguires,”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molly_Maguires
(accessed February 5, 2008).

29
. “Molly Maguires,”
Everything2
,
http://everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=1215887
.

30
. Karson,
Black Rock
, 57.

Chapter 3. Josiah White's Waterways

31
. Lebegern,
Episodes in Bucks County
, 83.

32
. Knies,
Coal on the Lehigh
, 66.

33
. Hansell,
Josiah White
, 88.

34
. Ibid., 89.

35
. Zimmerman,
Pennsylvania's Delaware Division Canal
, 18.

Chapter 4. Locks and Their Keepers

36
. 
Collection of Papers
, 347.

37
. Shank,
Amazing Pennsylvania Canals
, 113.

38
. Baker,
Old Bucks County
, 16.

39
. Gene Szostak, “Delaware Canal Brought a Growing Business to Bristol,”
Bristol Pilot
, September 17, 1998.

Chapter 5. Beside the Busy Canal

40
. Baker,
Old Bucks County
, 15.

41
. 
Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia
, s.v. “Devil's Half Acre,”
http:/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/the_devil's_half_acre,_Pennsylvania
(accessed March 21, 2008).

42
. Green,
History of Bristol Borough
, 347.

43
. Rivinus,
Lumberville
, 3.

44
. Lee,
Tales the Boatmen Told
, 25.

Chapter 6. Snappers and Stiff Boats

45
. Early River and Harbor Works, “Navigation Above Tide Water,” United States Army Corps of Engineers,
www.usace.army.mil/publications/misc/un16/c-11.pdf
, 74.

46
. Ibid., 1,201.

47
. Davis,
History of Bucks County
, 1,202.

48
. R. Francis Rapp, “Lehigh and Delaware Division Canal Notes,”
Collection of Papers
, 601.

49
. Ibid., 600.

50
. Ibid., 603.

Chapter 7. The Mules

51
. Henry and Dennis,
Album of Horses
, 99.

52
. Ibid., 101.

53
. Bartoletti,
Growing Up in Coal Country
, 41.

54
. Ibid., 44.

55
. Yoder,
Delaware Canal Journal
, 179.

56
. Ibid., 181.

Chapter 8. The Canallers

57
. Project for Active Teaching of American History in Region 4, Summer Seminar, “Facts About Immigration,”
www.path.coe.uh.edu/seminar2002/week2/immigrant_facts.html
(accessed January 17, 2008).

58
. Bartholomew and Metz,
Delaware and Lehigh Canals
, 125.

59
. John T. Humphrey, “Life in Mid-Eighteenth Century Pennsylvania,”
About.com
: Genealogy,
http://genealogy.about.com/library/authors/uchumphreyb.htm
(accessed February 23, 2008).

60
. Davis,
History of Bucks County
, 898.

61
. Rapp, “Canal Notes,”
Collection of Papers
, 604.

62
. Landreth,
War Times
, 6.

63
. Henry R. Darling, “Canal People and Towpath Mules Hauled Coal 108 Miles to Big City,”
The Bulletin
, n.d.

64
. Pearl R. Nye, “The Old Skipper,” The Library of Congress, American Memory,
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/nye/index.html
(accessed March 2, 2008).

65
. Yoder,
Delaware Canal Journal
, 144.

66
. Ibid., 192.

67
. Ibid., 170.

Chapter 9. Human Cargo

68
. Zimmerman,
Pennsylvania's Delaware Division Canal
, 38.

Chapter 11. Beautiful Impressions

69
. “Fern I. Coppedge The Philadelphia Ten,” James A. Michener Art Museum,
http://www.michenermuseum.org/bucksartists/artist.php?artist=62&page=214
(accessed March 14, 2008).

Chapter 12. National Historic Landmark

70
. Wartenberg and Luiso,
Delaware Canal
, 24.

71
. Zimmerman,
Pennsylvania's Delaware Division Canal
, 126.

72
. Ibid., 127.

73
. Ibid.

Bibliography and Resources

Baker, Troy.
Old Bucks County: The Historic Delaware Valley
. Vol. I, Issue III. 1992.

Bartholomew, Ann, and Lance Metz, comp. and res.
Delaware and Lehigh Canals: A Pictorial History of the Delaware and Lehigh Canals
. Second edition. Easton, PA: Canal History and Technology Press, 2005.

Bartoletti, Susan Campbell.
Growing Up in Coal Country
. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1996.

Battle, J.H., ed.
History of Bucks County Pennsylvania
. Chicago: A. Warner and Co., 1887.

Coan, Peter Morton.
Ellis Island Interviews: In Their Own Words
. New York: Checkmark Books, 1997.

A Collection of Papers Read Before the Bucks County Historical Society
. Vol. IV. Riegelsville, PA: Frackenthal Publication Fund, 1917.

Crumin, Timothy. “Fuel for the Fires: Charcoal Making in the Nineteenth Century.” Connor Prairie Home.
www.connerprairie.org/historyonline/fuel.html
.

Davis, W.W.H.
The History of Bucks County Pennsylvania: From the Discovery of the Delaware to the Present Time
. Doylestown, PA: Democrat Book and Job Office Print, 1876.

Duess, Marie Murphy.
Colonial Inns and Taverns of Bucks County: How Pubs, Taprooms and Hostelries Made Revolutionary History
. Charleston, SC: The History Press, 2007.

Fall, Thomas.
Canalboat to Freedom
. Cuddebackville, NY: Neversink Valley Area Museum, 1966. Reprint, Foundation, Inc., 2008.

Green, Doran.
History of Bristol Borough in the County of Bucks, State of Pennsylvania
. Camden, NJ: C.S. Magrath, 1911.

Hansell, Norris.
Josiah White: Quaker Entrepreneur
. Easton, PA: Canal History and Technology Press, 1992.

Henry, Marguerite, and Wesley Dennis.
Album of Horses
. New York: Aladdin Books, 1993.

Karson, George Gershon.
Black Rock: Mining Folklore of the Pennsylvania Dutch
. New York: Arno Press, 1979.

Knies, Michael.
Coal on the Lehigh: 1790 to 1827
, Easton, PA: Canal History and Technology Press, 2001.

Landreth, Burnet.
War Times in Bristol: 1861–1865
. Bloomsdale House, n.d.

Lebegern, George F., Jr.
Episodes in Bucks County History: A Bicentennial Tribute 1776–1976
. Bucks County Historical Tourist Commission, n.d.

Lee, James.
Tales the Boatmen Told
. Exton, PA: Canal Press Incorporated, 1977.

McClellan, Robert J.
The Delaware Canal: A Picture Story
. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1967.

Needham, Joseph, and Colin A. Ronan.
The Shorter Science and Civilisation of China
. England: Cambridge University Press, 1978.

Parton, W. Julian.
The Death of a Great Company: Reflections on the Decline and Fall of the Lehigh Coal & Navigation Company
. Easton, PA: Canal History and Technology Press, 1986.

Richardson, Richard.
Memoir of Josiah White
. Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott and Co., 1873.

Rivinus, Willis M.
Lumberville: 300 Year Heritage
. Privately printed, 2006.

Shank, William H., PE.
The Amazing Pennsylvania Canals
. 150
^th
edition. York, PA: American Canal and Transportation Center, 1981.

Wartenberg, Steve, and Gian Luiso.
The Delaware Canal: Its Life, Its Legacy
. New Hope, PA: Friends of the Delaware Canal, 2000.

Yoder, C.P.
Delaware Canal Journal: A Definitive History of the Canal and the River Valley Through Which it Flows
. Bethlehem, PA: Canal Press Incorporated, 1972.

Zimmerman, Albright G.
Pennsylvania's Delaware Division Canal: Sixty Miles of Euphoria and Frustration
. Easton, PA: Canal History and Technology Press, 2002.

Resources

Friends of the Delaware Canal. New Hope, PA.
www.fodc.org
.

Gratz Gallery and Conservation Studio. New Hope, PA.
www.gratzgallery.com
.

Historic Langhorne Association. Langhorne, PA.
www.hla.buckscom.net
.

Margaret R. Grundy Memorial Library. Bristol, PA.
www.buckslib.org/Bristol
.

National Canal Museum. Easton, PA.
www.canals.org
.

New Hope Historical Society. New Hope, PA.
www.newhopehistoricalsociety.org
.