hill country observerThe independent newspaper of eastern New York, southwestern Vermont and the Berkshires

 

News August 2022

 

In heyday of canal shipping, a race against ice

Maury Thompson

 

It was a risky venture, but Albert Stewart, “the potato and apple king of Washington County,” dispatched one last shipment from Fort Edward on Thanksgiving Day of 1888, despite the icy waters of the Champlain and Erie canals.


Barges had been stalled at various points along the canals for days, and some potatoes awaiting shipment from the Glens Falls area had frozen, making them worthless.


Just two days earlier, workers for The Morgan Lumber Co. of South Glens Falls unloaded lumber from three of the company’s boats that had been ready for dispatch on the Feeder Canal, which connected Glens Falls with the state canal system. The company had given up on making future shipments until spring.


Stewart, the potato and apple buyer from Argyle who later became known as the “Duke of Argyle,” had already shipped more than 20,000 barrels of product that fall, bound for New York City and other markets.


Robert Cuthard and Oscar Barrells were just finishing up about seven weeks of work packing apples for Stewart, The People’s Journal of Greenwich reported on Nov. 22.


The push to complete one last shipment wasn’t just Stewart’s own financial interest but also that of Washington County farmers.


“Mr. Stewart has made a good market for the Washington County farmers, and they urged him to load and they would see his boats through if it took a hundred teams and mules to do it,” The Morning Star of Glens Falls reported on Dec. 1.


Five days earlier, it had appeared that no more shipments would be dispatched.
“No more boats will be loaded at this point unless the thermometer shows a decided upward trend,” The Morning Star reported on Nov. 24.


In the early morning hours before that day’s publishing deadline, temperatures at Glens Falls measured from 2 to 6 degrees, and the night before, the temperature was 6 at T.Z. Adams store at South Glens Falls.


“Several boats bound for Glens Falls were caught up in the freeze up on the Champlain Canal, where the ice along some of the levels was so thick that the ice-breaker was brought in to use in order to allow navigation to proceed,” the Star reported. “Other boats were nearly all day making their way from Fort Edward to Glens Falls.”


On Nov. 27, the Star reported that nine boats of Finch, Pruyn & Co. were frozen in place at Fort Miller and that several of Morgan & Co.’s boats on their way to the Atlantic were delayed en route.


But temperatures moderated, bringing Stewart hope. By Thanksgiving, the Champlain Canal was free of ice between Whitehall and Schuylerville, and the ice breaker was in the process of clearing the 16-mile level stretch south of there.


The reprieve did not last long.
“The canals of the state will close tonight at midnight,” The Morning Star reported on Dec. 3. “It is believed that both the Erie and Champlain canals will be cleared of boats before that time.”
Canal men who had completed the season began arriving home for their annual respites, or perhaps to work on a massive Feeder Canal improvement project, employing a couple of hundred construction workers, that would commence soon.


“Glens Falls boatmen whose crafts happened to be on tidewater or down the canal when navigation closed are arriving daily in ones, and in twos, and in larger squads to pass the winter at their homes. … A Glens Falls boatman informed a Star representative last evening that the season had been far from profitable,” the paper reported Dec. 4 under the headline “Last Echoes From The Canal.”
The New York Times reported on Nov. 30 that canal boat profits were down because of new competition from railroads.


James Singelton had two boats of coal that did not reach the Atlantic in time.
“He disposed of his cargoes to a dealer at Mechanicville,” The Morning Star reported on Dec. 4.
It is not clear if Stewart’s last load of potatoes and apples made it to the Atlantic on time, but there were no Morning Star reports that it did not make it.

 

Maury Thompson was a reporter for The Post-Star of Glens Falls for 21 years before retiring in 2017. He now is a freelance writer focusing on the history of politics, labor and media in the region.