Canal Operations; shelby county ohio historical society


The entire canal system, including the Miami and Erie Canal, was operated by workers employed by the state. Five superintending engineers and a number of division superintendents oversaw the operations. Each division had its own complement of toll collectors, locktenders, and common laborers. Laborers maintained the canal bank and locks. Compared to travel by horse over rutted and muddy trails, travel on the canal was relatively enjoyable. The average boat traveled about three to four miles an hour. A team of three mules traveling the tow path pulled the craft along a 90-foot rope. Another team was quartered on board, and the animals were changed about every six hours or when the boat stopped for a lock. Boat owners competed for the passenger and freight business. Each boat was given its own name. When the name was registered with the state, no other boat could use it. Local boats bore names such as 'DeCamp Statler' (shown above), 'Clarion', and 'Lenita.' Passenger boats were usually painted with lively colors. More than 400 boats were traveling up and down the Miami & Erie Canal by 1850. Each boat typically carried a captain and his family, two drivers for the mules, a steersmen, and a bowsman. The owner of the boat automatically assumed the rank of 'captain.' He would usually wear a distinctive hat, such as a stovepipe, or a uniform of some sort. The captain and his family lived in a cabin in the rear of the boat. Canal families spent years on the canal, with children attending school only when the boat tied up in the winter when travel was impossible. The life of the canalers in the summer was a monotonous grind of passing through mile after mile of algae-covered canal waters, spiced from time to time by stops in villages such as Lockington.
	Winter months brought ice skating on the smooth surface of the canal. Charles Ludwig, in his book "Playmates of the Towpath: Memories of the Canal Swimmers Society", recalled that: "Skating at times was too tame, and to liven things up we would cut holes in the ice, blocks of about four feet square and five inches thick, usually four or five blocks. Running across these was called 'playing ticklish.'...I did it once too often, and felt the icy chill of the canal at ten above zero."