In the summer of 1833 Jonathan Pearson, of the Class of 1835, traveled by canal boat to Niagara and returned home. As a salesman of subscriptions for a Bible, he did not fare well. But he was a great success as an observer. His account of the trip stands even today as a vivid first-person account of canal travel and development that occurred with the opening of the great inland waterway. Here are excerpts from his journal.
Schenectady [Wednesday] July 24, 1833
… Before night-down we had passed thro' the quiet valley of the river which passes down betwixt the mountain barriers so plainly seen from Schenectady. The rain ceased, and the flying clouds and chilly breeze told us that the night would ensure us a pleasant sleep as far as the temperature affected us. But when we came to stow twenty-four of us into a little room 10 x 15, two or three deep, my hopes of sleep was but small, for the air was as hot as an oven. Some were groaning and scolding, some were snoring like a steamboat, while my companion and I rolled and tumbled, puffed and sweat as tho' in a high fever ….
Grand Erie Canal
Thursday July 25, 1833
[F]or miles the beautiful Mohawk meanders thro' a delightful country which may vie in fertility with any in the world; the distant hills clothed with the rich wheat gradually sloped till they were lost in the levels of the broad alluvial “flats” where grass, corn and in fact every kind of vegetation flourish in the greatest luxuriance. Oh who could live in such a country without enjoying these blessings with gladness and joy. Our company is sufficiently pleasant, the scenery sufficient[ly] variagated [sic], the weather sufficiently comfortable to make time pass agreeably. I have often heard that riding on the canal is the most unpleasant way of conveyence [sic] and that the country is uninteresting and de[void?] of change but I never was more agreeably disappointed, for I must say that it is thus far one of the most pleasurable jaunts of my life ….
Montezuma
Sunday July 28, 1833
This has been a very tiresome day to me, for we have had nothing to do except to go and hear two Christian fellows talk in a school house two and a half hours on a stretch without any intermission till I was bored to death with the repetition. Strange as it may seem, there is no meeting house or minister in this town. The inhabitants appear to be more like heathen than otherwise.
Savannah
Friday August 2, 1833
This town is very new and has hardly any good inhabitant[s] in it. They like rum and riot better than the bible. I have walked over twenty miles exclusive of calls which are no easy job considering that I have to go into the fields, over fences a great ways to find the men.
Sunday August 4, 1833
Could not attend any church today and felt not much better, very weak. I think I had better give over my agency business, for I really believe it will not permit me to enjoy health since the labour and exposure is too great. My appetite is pretty poor.
Grand Canal
Monday August 5, 1833
… About nine we were under way altho' not till after a great deal of pushing and hauling among the other boats of which a good no. had by this time collected together. The men were hallowing and swearing, the boats jumping and thumping against one another, each one being desirous of getting into the lock as soon as possible, and all very unaccommodating. They seem to delight in injuring each other in every way possible even without any benefit to themselves. For the whole it was a continual noise, sometimes going thro locks, sometimes running afoul other boats, running to and fro across the deck, blowing the bugles, halloing to the driver and every kind of possible noise. I dont believe I slept five minutes together thro' the night
Tuesday August 6, 1833
… Long before we arrived at Rochester we could see the lofty steeples of her churches piercing the dark thunder cloud that was gathering over the north. About one we entered the town which looked to me like a city filled with business and wealth. One would hardly suppose he was entering a village four or five hundred m[iles] from the sea when he saw such a flourishing place ….
Wednesday August 7, 1833
On the whole I like Rochester very well. It has now become permanent or rather is a little increasing in the no. of inhabitants and improvements. A few years ago it decreased. The place was overstocked with every kind of mechanic; men's expectations were too great with respect to the importance of the village. In fact, this is true [of] many little villages along on the canal; when first it came thro' them, the hopes of those who owned property there was so high that they immediately began to build and branch out largely but soon, in many cases to their sorrow, found they were too fast ….
Thursday August 8, 1833
…From Lockport to Pendletown, a distance of seven miles, the canal is made by excavating to the depth of from 30 to 50 ft., the deepest part of which excavation for nearly three miles is thro' a solid rock of limestone. As one passes along in this deep cavern and sees the immense piles of decaying lime stone on either side, which have been thrown out by machinery, and the rough perpendicular walls pierced in every part with drill-holes used for blasting the rock, he is astonished at the perseverence, labor, and expense which it cost. A great many poor Irishmen lost their lives either from carelessness in blasting or from the breaking of the cranes by which the stones and rubbish were hoisted up and turned away ….
Niagara Falls
Friday August 9, 1833
…After passing over a short bridge to Bath Island where is situated the toll gatherers house, the visitor generally sits half an hour to see and buy if he wishes some of the minerals, cones, Indian curiosities, stuffed birds etc. which the keeper of the islands has gathered into a little museum. It is quite satisfactory [to] see the numerous pretty and wonderful things which he finds to get the visitor's money ….
But I have not yet touched upon a description of the Falls yet, for how can I, feeble man with mere pen and ink aided by intellect, imitate the furious dashing of waters, their hollow roar as they are lost in the depths, the dense hissing cloud which hangs above on the beautiful tints of a continual rainbow! I shall not attempt to do justice to the subject but take a few notes which may serve to aid my memory hereafter ….
As I stood on a jetting [jutting?] rock hanging over the very brink of the gulph enveloped in thick mist which whirled upwards and in every direction by the agitated waters below and viewed, amidst the deafening roar of the cataract, the sublime scene, I was lost in wonder and admiration ….
Buffalo
Saturday August 10, 1833
… It was one o'clock when I came into Buffalo, which promises to [be] the greatest city in the western country …. A few years ago there were only twenty sloops and schooners on the lake and one steamboat. Now 150 schooners and brigs of the largest class and 15 steamboats, some ones of which arrive at Buffalo and Detroit every day and depart also. It is astonishing to see how many emigrants are pouring into Michigan and Ohio, from Ireland and Scotland, Switzerland and Germany. In fact, people from every part are flocking to this supposed land [of] promise …. This evening I was walking the dock when a load arrived too late to go out in a steamboat. The poor dirty beings knew not where to go or turn themselves; some were flying this way and that, the children were squaling [sic] and women were crying, being insulted by the unfeeling boatmen. They are a very economical, industrious people and make good citizens ….
Grand Erie Canal
Sunday August 11, 1833
…On the Canal there is no Sabbath. I must say that I never witnessed so much immorality and vice, profanity and drinking in the same length of time before in my life. I dont know of one but what swears awfully, especially when irritated or offended by some other boatman. Betwixt boat and boat there is the least possible accommodation; everyone tries to discommode the other and cause him all the trouble and injury he can. Canal men are not half so bad, I am told, as they were formerly but how they can be twice as dissolute I know not unless they were devils incarnate. As a whole they are a coarse and untaught set of vagabonds whose chief delight is to carouse and fight.
Friday August 16, 1833
… Again I found myself snugly stowed into a line boat amidst every kind of character for my companions, a situation which altho' not extremely enviable is not an unprofitable one to the studier of mankind as they are in their every condition of life. Sitting aloof I often found it pleasant to contemplate the different individuals congregated in little squads here and there and read them as far as my limited knowledge would permit, or sometimes would join myself and attempt to draw forth those secret springs which activate every man to the pursuit of his favorite purpose. Night soon closed over the events of this day and sleep over their sweet remembrance.
Saturday August 17, 1833
… While the unwieldy raft was approaching to enter, the boat sliped [sic] nimbly by and was half her length in the lock when she became completely wedged fast by the timber raft which entirely prevented her from going in or out. Each gang positively refused to move a hair, vociferating in the most tremendous manner at each other and hurling voll[ey]s of such oaths as even the Devil himself would be ashamed of had he been present (and why may I doubt this?). The whole vocabulary of the language of Hell was ex[h]austed, the most perfect pandamonium [sic] was created and, had their courage been equal to their mighty pretensions, every soul of them would have been pummeled [sic] to death ….
Our company is composed of the usual canal boat medley, some gentlemen and some rascalls [sic], some plain unaffected and others deceitfully disembling [sic]. I have laughed till my sides ached while observing a certain “Old Dick Marston,” who is a real coarse economical farmer traveling with some other friends of the like stamp to visit his people in Vermont from whence he came years since. His simple questions and rustic remarks upon passing objects, his wonderstruck gaze and roughness of manners, combined with a good share of Yankee inquisitiveness and tenacity, caused general amusement among the passengers.
Grand Erie Canal
Sunday August 18, 1833
…Utica is a new place comparatively and numbers many elegant buildings within its limits …. The crowds of people whom I saw scattering from the churches was a pleasant contrast to the disagreeable stir of business upon the canal dock. The Bethel flag, too, I saw waving as if beckoning to the idle, wicked men who stand for hours around those haunts of vice and disipation [sic], the groceries ….
Schenectady
Monday August 19, 1833
When I awoke this morning I found myself at Spraker's Basin. Here we changed horses and went on with renewed speed. I cannot but pity these noble animals which are so abused by unfeeling men; their period of existence is but short and that one of continued abuse. The sun was just setting when I came within sight of old Union whose white walls shone with uncommon brightness and, altho' I have been absent only four weeks, awakened lively feelings of pleasure and gratitude ….
