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MAP #: 271F5

CARTOGRAPHER : FISHER, W. THOMAS

DATE: 1771

SHORT TITLE : [UNTITLED MAP SHOWING PROPOSED CHESAPEAKE-DELAWARE CANAL ROUTES]

REMAINING TITLE & ID : "J. SMITHERS SCULP." (BELOW SCALE AT LEFT). "PLATE VII, FIG. I." (AT UPPER RIGHT). THERE IS NO NEAT LINE. FIG. 2 ON THE SAME PLATE AT THE LEFT IS A PERSPECTIVE DRAWING OF A MACHINE FOR CUTTING FILES, WHICH IS UNRELATED TO THE MAP. PROPOSED NEW ROADS FROM THE SUSQUEHANNA TO PHILADELPHIA AND READING ARE SHOWN BY DOTTED LINES AND FIVE POSSIBLE ROUTES FOR THE CHESAPEAKE-DELAWARE CANAL ARE INDICATED BY BLACK LINES. LONGITUDE AND LATITUDE (NOT SHOWN).


DATE OF PUBLICATION : S1771
PLACE OF PUBLICATION : PHILADELPHIA
PUBLISHER : AMERICAN PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY
LANGUAGE(S) : EN
SIZE (HEIGHT X WIDTH) : 32.0 X 42.0 CM. (APPROX.)
SIZE - OTHER DATA : ? X ? CM. OM
SCALE - (RF) 1: : 490,000
SCALE - OTHER DATA : 1" = 7 3/4 MILES
LIB. OF CONGRESS # : -
Md. HALL OF RECORDS # 1 : G1399-669 (ST.1)
# 2 : G1399-198 (ST.3)
HFC ACQ. PRIORITY : 62
HUNTINGFIELD ACQ. # 1 : A023-GEP (ST.3)
REGION CATEGORY : DETAILED MAP COVERING SOME PORTION OF MD/CHESAPEAKE (2)
SPECIAL CATEGORY(IES) :
# SHEETS TO MAP : 1
MAP ORIENTATION : N IS AT THE TOP OF THE MAP.
RELIEF SHOWN ? : NO
HYDROGRAPHIC DATA : NONE
CARTOUCHE : NONE (1)
BORDER : NONE (1)
PRIME MERIDIAN(S) : NONE
SEE ALSO MAP #s : 272F5, 289F5.
BEST INFO SOURCE : RALPH GRAY'S ARTICLE IS BEST ON HISTORY. W&B IS BEST ON STATES.
DESCRIPTION : THIS MAP ACCOMPANIED AN ABRIDGEMENT OF A REPORT OF A GROUP ESTABLISHED APRIL 7, 1769 TO EXPLORE THE VARIOUS CANAL ROUTES TO CONNECT THE CHESAPEAKE & DELAWARE WATERWAYS AND THE ROAD ROUTES FROM PHILADELPHIA TO THE SUSQUEHANNA. THE ABRIDGEMENT IS AN ARTICLE ENTITLED "AN ABSTRACT OF SUNDRY PAPERS", WHICH APPEARED IN THE TRANSACTIONS OF THE AMERICAN PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY, I, PHILADELPHIA, 1771, BEGINNING ON PAGE 293. THE MAP PRECEDED THE ARTICLE. THE COMMITTEE WAS FORMED LARGELY BECAUSE OF THE WORK OF JOSHUA GILPIN, MILLER, OF MILLINGTON, MD. THE STUDY WAS BACKED PRIMARILY BY PHILADELPHIA MERCHANTS WHO WERE AFRAID OF LOSING THE LUCRATIVE TRADE FROM THE SUSQUEHANNA RIVER AND CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA TO BALTIMORE BECAUSE OF THE GREATER EASE OF DEALING WITH THAT PORT, WITH NO DIRECT CONNECTION WITH PHILA. BY WATER OR LAND FOR TRADE. MATTHEW CARKSON AND THOMAS FISHER WERE PRIMARILY RESPONSIBLE FOR ABRIDGING AND PRINTING THE COMMITTEE'S REPORT AND MAP. J. SMITHERS ENGRAVED THE MAP PLATE.

DURING 1769 AND 1770, NUMEROUS ROUTES WERE EXAMINED. THE MAP, DONE BY W. THOMAS FISHER, WAS BASED ON A SERIES OF WATER COLOR MAPS BY GILPIN AND A MANUSCRIPT MAP PRESENTED TO THE AMERICAN PHILOSOPHICAL SOC. BY FISHER, WHICH WAS ORDERED TO BE ENGRAVED AND PRINTED ON NOVEMBER 2, 1770. GILPIN'S WATERCOLOR MAPS ARE PRINTED IN THE APPENDIX OF GILPIN'S MEMOIR ON THE CHESAPEAKE AND DELAWARE CANAL. A MAP SIMILAR TO THE ONE DESCRIBED WAS PREPARED BY GILPIN AND LABELED "A MAP DRAWN FOR THE AMERICAN PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY SHEWING THE COURSES OF THE SEVERAL CANALS BETWEEN THE CHESAPEAKE AND DELAWARE..." AND WAS PRINTED IN BRIDENBAUGH'S REBELS AND GENTLEMEN FACING P. 343 OVER THE TITLE "THE GENESIS OF INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS".

NOTHING WAS DONE ON THE CANAL UNTIL 1804 AND WORK WAS SUSPENDED SHORTLY THEREAFTER UNTIL APRIL 15, 1824 BECAUSE OF LACK OF FUNDS. THE CANAL WAS FINALLY OPENED TO TRAFFIC IN JUNE, 1829. IT HAD THREE LOCKS. THE CANAL WAS NOT A FINANCIAL SUCCESS, ALTHOUGH IT HAS SERVED A USEFUL PURPOSE OVER THE YEARS. IN ADDITION IT OPENED THE WAY FOR A PERIOD OF INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS IN THE COUNTRY. THE CANAL WAS PURCHASED BY THE U.S, GOVERNMENT IN 1919 AND MADE INTO A SEA LEVEL CANAL.

THE ORIGINAL CANAL, 13 5/8 MILES LONG WITH 3 LOCKS, COST $165,000 PER MILE, MAKING IT AT THE TIME THE MOST EXPENSIVE WATERWAY IN THE COUNTRY BY A WIDE MARGIN. THE CANAL WAS SUBSEQUENTLY WIDENED AND DEEPENED CONSIDERABLY.

DATA IS FROM RALPH GRAY'S STUDIES IN DELAWARE HISTORY MAGAZINE AND FROM WHEAT & BRUN.

EDITION & STATE INFO : THREE STATES OF THE MAP ARE KNOWN IN A SINGLE EDITION.

STATE 1-(1771)- A REPRODUCTION OF THIS STATE IS ON PAGE 217 OF THE DELAWARE HISTORY MAGAZINE DATED MARCH, 1959, VOL III, NO. 3, OF THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF DELAWARE. THIS IS THE MAP DESCRIBED HEREIN.

STATE 2-(1772)- THIS IS THE SAME MAP WITH NO CHANGES, WHICH WAS PRINTED AS A SEPARATE AND ISSUED AS A BROADSIDE WITH A PAGE HEADED: REMARKS., AND DATED AT THE BOTTOM RIGHT: PHILADELPHIA, JANUARY 20, 1772. THE DRAWING OF THE FILE CUTTING MACHINE IS USUALLY TRIMMED OFF THE BROADSIDE PRINTING. COPIES ARE IN THE AMERICAN PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY IN PHILADELPHIA AND THE LIBRARY COMPANY OF PHILADELPHIA. SEE MAP # 272F5

STATE 3-(1789)- "TURKEY PT." IS ADDED NEAR THE MOUTH OF THE "ELKE RIVER". A PREVIOUSLY UNNAMED ISLAND NEAR THE HEAD OF THE CHESAPEAKE BAY IS LABELED PURSUSEY ISL.". THE DATE AT THE BOTTOM HAS BEEN REMOVED. THIS STATE WAS PUBLISHED IN THE AMERICAN PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY TRANSACTIONS, 2ND ED. CORRECTED, I (1789), OPP. 367 BY AIKEN & SON, PHILADELPHIA. COPIES ARE IN THE AMERICAN PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY, THE WM. CLEMENTS LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AND THE HFC COLLECTION. SEE MAP # 289F5.

DATA IS PRIMARILY FROM WHEAT & BRUN.

HFC OWNERSHIP DATA : THE HUNTINGFIELD COLLECTION HAS A GOOD CLEAN BLACK AND WHITE COPY OF STATE 3, WITH AN HFC ACQ. # OF A023-GEF AND A MDHR # OF G1399-198. HFC ALSO HAS A GOOD 8 X 10" PHOTOGRAPH OF A COPY OF STATE 1 OWNED BY FRED GOLDSMITH OF CLARKSVILLE, MD. WITH A MDHR # OF G1399-669.

BIBLIGRAPHICAL REFS. : GRAY, RALPH D., THE EARLY HISTORY OF THE CHESAPEAKE AND DELAWARE CANAL, PART I, DELAWARE HISTORY, HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF DELAWARE, VOL. VIII, NO. 3, PP. 207-264; PART II, VOL VII, NO. 4, PP. 354-397; PART III, VOL. IX, NO. 1, PP. 66-98; WHEAT & BRUN #300,301,305, PP. 66-67; AMERICAN PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY, TRANSACTIONS, I (1771), FOLLOWING 292; AMERICAN PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY EARLY PROCEEDINGS FROM 1744 TO 1838; STAUFFER, DAVID M., AMERICAN ENGRAVERS, 2, P. 492; ANONYMOUS BROADSIDE, TO THE PUBLIC, PHILADELPHIA, JAN 15, 1772; BRIDENBAUGH, CARL AND JESSICA, REBELS AND GENTLEMEN: PHILADELPHIA IN THE AGE OF FRANKLIN, NEW YORK, 1942; GILPIN, JOSHUA, A MEMOIR ON THE RISE, PROGRESS AND PRESENT STATE OF THE CHESAPEAKE & DELAWARE CANAL, ACCOMPANIED WITH ORIGINAL DOCUMENTS AND MAPS, WILMINGTON, DEL., 1821; PHILLIPS, MAPS, P. 394; HERLIHY, P., EVOLUTION OF DELAWARE CARTOGRAPHY, FIG. 16, PP. 184-185.

June 10, 1988


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