This query is really strange to me, it's almost like I was the one writing this, but I
didn't. You see, I too have
been looking at this same census for 1850!!!
I also looked at the 1850 Federal Index, and the County Index. Then last night, curiosity
killed the cat in me,
and I just had to break this all down, just to find out what all this meant also. Altho
my reasons were probably
quite different than yours. I was looking for the CLARK surname, I found a few Irish
Clark's on these Canal
teams.
After doing research on these Townships in Daviess Co., I learned that all those Canal
Builders were located
in the city of Washington, Washington Twp. The canal on the otherhand was being built in
the little town of
Maysville, just west of Washington. Really at this time Washington wasn't as big of
town as Maysville was
during this era. Washington was starting to grow, by the early 1900's, and phased out
the little town of
Maysville, because of the RR's.
Maysville was a boom-town because of the canal, and was once very properous, but that soon
ended because
the canal waterways to northern OH was never completed, and the RR was giving them so much
competition,
that Maysville, soon lost their canal.
I believe if I have understood things right on this 1850 census, that where these canal
builders lived were with
boarding houses from the way it looked. Many large homes sprang up in Washington, which
was nice for
these laborors.
The canal did have an effect on economy at that time. Maysville, is where my grandmothers
family has been
for now 9 generations, and where I still live, and where we have raised our children, and
hopefully our grandchildren one day.
Maysville, at one time had a barber shop, a boarding house/hotel, grocery, cemetery,
streets, roads, and
a warehouse for the canal, where my brother now lives, which has been converted into a
home, and has been
a family home for two generations now, and grist mills(several)
If any of you would like more information on Maysville, or the canal, please feel free to
contact me, and I will
get as much information as possible.
There are still places, from Evansville(Vanderburgh Co.,) thru Gibson Co., Pike Co.,
Daviess Co., all the
way up into OH, where you can see where the canal had been in operation.
Sincerely,
Melanie Wayman
R2 Box 154
Washington, IN 47501
812-254-8996
nwayman(a)rtccom.net
medrolet(a)msn.com wrote:
This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list.
Classification: Query
Message Board URL:
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Message Board Post:
This is mainly a questions for a local history buff but curiosity is killing me. As I
was searching the 1850 Census for Daviess County, I found several pages (esp. in
Washington, Veale, Bogard, Barr twps.) where the head of household's occupation was
listed as canal builder or contractor on canal and there would be a list of several men,
mainly Irish, but some others. It looks like these were camps or boarding houses or
something. Anyway, from the map, I don't see any likely canal and I am very curious
about this building project and its impact on local history and did these laborer settle
in Daviess or more on?
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