IRON and STEAM on the Delaware & Raritan Canal
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STORY NO.136 SEPTEMBER 2020 EDITION IRON AND STEAM on the Delaware & Raritan Canal In 1830 both the Delaware & Raritan Canal, promoted by Robert Stockton of Princeton, and the Camden & Amboy Railroad, pro- moted by the Stevens family of Hoboken, received charters on the same day to build along the same route across the waist of New Jersey. Rather than compete, they formed the Joint Companies and agreed to share both risks and profits. When existing shipping lines were slow to use the D&R Canal, both parties built boats and orga- nized their own shipping companies. Both had an interest in early steamboat technology and used their experience to make the D&R an important and profitable addition to the coastal trade network. uilt wider and deeper then However, negotiating a canal under the Morris Canal, the D&R sail was not practical and transship- Bcould accommodate boats in- ping goods to and from mule-driven volved in the coastal trade. Although canal boats was an equally bad idea. By the mid-1800s, the piers along New York’s transporting anthracite coal might The Joint Companies partners un- South Street, on the East River, served foreign become profitable in the future, the derstood that they could realize large trade from ocean-going ships, coastal trading coastal trade was already a well-es- profits if they could make steam- schooners, and canal boats from a myriad of tablished economic engine. An inland boating on the canal practical. Over inland waterways. water transportation route between the next few years, the newspapers In 1842 an unidentified newspa- New York and Philadelphia, rather kept track as, Stockton and the Ste- per reported that Hogg & Delama- than the potentially stormy sea pas- vens built boats, and created a web ter, of the Phenix Foundry of New sage, would be a useful connection. companies to operate them. York City built for the Delaware & (Continued on page 2) In the 1840s, shipping companies decorated their waybills with engravings of the their new, iron-hulled, propeller-driven coastal steamers. IRON AND STEAM on the Delaware & Raritan Canal Boston New Haven New York Coastal Trade Route Philadelphia Delaware & Rariran Canal 1836 Baltimore Washington Chesapeake & Delaware Canal 1829 The coastal shipping route hugged the shoreline taking advantage of any Norfolk inland passage. The D&R Canal was a good alternative to the rough outside passage. (Continued from page 1) gine with 18” by 24” stroke of piston Raritan Canal Company four iron- that drove two Ericsson screw pro- hulled, propeller-driven, steam-pow- pellers 5’ 10” inch in diameter. These ered, canal boats. Built from a design were the first twin-screw steam ves- furnished by John Ericsson, each sels in the country. The vessels were measured 96’ long, 24’ beam, and 7’ also provided with sails to be used depth in the hold. They were named, when circumstances were favorable. Anthracite, Black Diamond, Vulcan, Their hulls were built with heavy and Ironsides. Each was fitted with a iron frames and sheathed with iron 20-horsepower grasshopper-type en- plates, mostly of American manu- Ericsson’s Propeller hen Swedish-born inventor vessels that Stockton had built for use John Ericsson’s design for a on the D&R Canal. screw propeller steamboat was During the American Civil War, Wrejected by the British Admiralty, Erics- Ericsson submitted a unique design son built the Robert F. Stockton named for an ironclad warship to counter the for American naval officer and D&R Confederate States plans to build one John Ericsson Canal promoter Robert F. Stockton of of their own. His ship, Princeton, New Jersey. The Stockton was the famed Monitor, suc- the first iron-screw steamship to cross cessfully fought with it the Atlantic, although mostly under sail. counterpart the Virgin- In 1839 Ericsson moved to the United ia in a Battle in Hamp- States where he used his skills in partner- ton Roads. ship with Stockton’s political connec- His design went on tions to design and build the sloop USS to be used throughout Princeton, the US Navy’s first screw- the Civil War and his propelled warship. The ship saw action concept of an armored during the War with Mexico. He went revolving turret contin- on to design iron-hulled, steam-powered ues to be used today. n A drawing of one of Ericsson’s propeller designs. 2 Waybills of Companies that Shipped via the D&R Canal THE MIssING Philadelphia Steam Propeller Company New York to Philadelphia via the D&R Canal CARRIAGE HOUSE May 2, 1856 hen Nathan A. Smith Swiftsure Transportation Line married in 1860, he Steam Tow Boat Company New York to Philadelphia via the D&R Canal Wmoved into a comfort- May 27, 1843 able house next the recently Iron Steam Boat Line completed Waterloo Method- Hartford to Philadelphia via the D&R Canal ist Church. Each of his three Shipped in the Ironsides – November 25, 1843 brothers also built or renovated Waybills on the left homes for themselves commen- surate with their status as afflu- facture. The iron hulls were pro- ent country gentlemen. In addi- tected from oxidation with red lead tion, each built a carriage house and oil. These vessels remained in to hold the equipment required service until 1850; when their bot- Historic view of the Nathan A. Smith tom plates were found to be badly for rural transportation of the day. carriage house before renovation. corroded, they were sheathed with In the 1960s, interior designers Percy Leach and his partner Louis Gua- wood planks. landi began acquiring properties at Waterloo. They renovated many of the On July 1, 1842 the newspa- buildings and used their professional skills to decorate the interiors. They per The Princeton Whig reported also restored three of the four carriage houses as venues for historic craft that the Black Diamond, and Vul- demonstrations. The Waterloo Foundation for the Arts was established and can, owned by Captain Stockton, the Village became a tourist attraction. Today those three carriage houses passed through the canal on their survive in good condition but the fourth is missing. way to Philadelphia carrying coal Prior to selling the Waterloo Village property to the State of New Jer- in regular service between Phila- sey, the Nathan Smith carriage house had been moved across Waterloo delphia and New York. Later in Road. Mr. Leach restored the the month the New York Tribune building, added two wings reported that a steamboat line had and turned it into an elabo- been established between Hartford rate home for himself. When and Philadelphia and that the Iron- Percy Leach passed away, sides, the first ship of that line, had the house was sold and is arrived in Hartford from Philadel- now owned by a restaurateur phia in only 56 hours. from New York City. It is In 1831, the owners of the Joint now private property. n Companies formed the New Bruns- wick Steamboat & Canal Transpor- tation Co., later to be known as the An exterior view of the Percy Leach home. Napoleon Company. Robert Stock- ton and the Stevens family held the (Continued on page 7) Nathan A, Smith Carriage House Waterloo Meth- Smith’s Canal odist Store Church In this early 1900s photo of Waterloo, taken from the Morris County side of the Muscon- etcong River, we can plainly see the Nathan A, Smith carriage against the fields that once This photo of the Martha Stevens of Philadelphia stretched up the Allamuchy Mountain shows that steamers changed very little from those depicted in 1840s waybill engravings. 3 The Morris Canal’s Move into Jersey City & the New York Connection By John Prieto he Morris Canal’s venture into of the first distinction, throughout the Jersey City was a series of fits Union.” The association’s president Tand starts that lasted some nine was, of course, Clinton; one of its vice years. Excavation of the canal itself had presidents was Cadwallader Colden. begun in 1825 but it was in 1827 that Colden’s rise in New York also in- the focus of its eastern terminus was cluded stints as District Attorney and suddenly on Jersey City. as a director (along with Clinton) of Cadwallader D. Colden had become the Bank of Savings of New York in president of the Morris Canal and 1816. Colden dealt with many promi- Banking Company late in 1826. Cold- nent New Yorkers in his career, but it en, a New Yorker, was a distinguished was Clinton who held Colden close politician, having served as mayor of and involved him in many official du- New York City, in the New York state ties. It was Clinton who appointed assembly and senate, and as a U.S. rep- Colden mayor in 1818. resentative. Colden was also a politi- As the idea of constructing the cal partner with New York Governor Morris Canal took root, the decision DeWitt Clinton, who championed the of where to put the canal’s eastern Cadwallader D. Colden Erie Canal. It was Clinton’s aim to terminus became a subject of lengthy promote “internal improvements” not debate. The original canal charter of had a bank office in New York City only for the state of New York, but 1824 called for it to end at the Passaic and most of the canal company’s direc- also for the nation. River in Newark, but allowed that the tors were from New York. Clinton had ordered an 1818 publi- route could be “altered.” The charter To provide some context, it is rel- cation that promoted canals. His desire also called for stock subscriptions to be evant to discuss the activities in Jersey for internal improvements was chan- advertised in New York City and for City in the years leading up to the ca- neled through a New York association the canal company’s banking office to nal’s opening.