Mormons and the Illinois and Michigan Canal

Mormon Times ^ | 2009-05-28 | By Emily Jensen

[restornu]

While the Erie Canal in New York may be more famous, the Illinois and Michigan Canal (I&M Canal) was just as significant argued Vickie Speek in her presentation "Mormons and the I&M Canal" last Saturday at the Mormon History Conference. And for some 19th century Mormons, this canal was triply significant as it provided economic, transportation and missionary opportunities.

How did the I&M help the Mormons economically? One does not often consider the interim time between leaving Independence/Far West and the settling of Nauvoo. As converts streamed out of Ohio traveling to Missouri in 1838 they encountered those leaving Missouri, due to conflicts occurring there. Speek said that "Members intending to go to Missouri were forced to stop in Illinois communities and find work until the church could reorganize at Commerce, later known as Nauvoo."

And the primary construction project in 1838? The I&M Canal. In 1835 the Illinois Legislature, including Abraham Lincoln, voted to approve this canal, which would complete a waterway from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico. The I&M Canal would be over 60 feet wide, 6 feet deep and run about 96 miles.

And while Speek does not have exact numbers of Mormons who built the canal she recounted how one Mormon family constructed the longest aqueduct of the canal. At 464 feet, this aqueduct was built by David Sanger and his four sons. It was hailed as "engineering marvel." David Sanger's son Lucian is notable in Mormon history as one of the people who helped Joseph Smith escape after being arrested in 1843 in Dixon, Illinois.

How did the I&M Canal help the Mormon missionary effort? In tandem with the transportation aspects of the canal, it aided missionaries get to their destinations. And as Speek explained, "Travel on canals could lead to interesting conversation." Speek cited one example from church history, "While riding a canal boat in Ohio, David Cluff had an encounter with a Mormon missionary that changed his life and religion. The missionary's name was Martin Harris."

So how many Mormons were influenced by the canal? Speek couldn't say for sure, but using LDS and RLDS membership lists and comparing them to cities along the canal corridor, she complied a list of 92 people who were likely affected by the canal either by working on, or supporting the micro-economy it produced. But there was likely more, since in 1844, "Wilford Woodruff visited the Mormon communities along the I&M and reported 133 members, 10 elders, and one teacher."

So what happened to the canal? After being completed in 1848, it was a major transportation port for only about five years until the railroad "effectively ended the day of canal boat for passenger travel." It would continue to be used for commercial shipping for another sixty years, but, as Speek explained, "by 1933, the I&M Canal was abandoned. Portions were filled in and sections were fenced in behind factories and chemical plants."

Yet fifty years later, President Ronald Reagan would sign a bill creating the "I&M National Heritage Corridor." This 100-mile-long corridor now allows passengers to, as Speek concluded "once again travel on the I&M Canal."

[restornu]

CTR

Be of Good Cheer!:)

[Paladin2]

http://www.historicnauvoo.net/site_view.cfm?Loc=demo&SiteID=7

[novemberslady]

Thanks for the ping (:

[DelphiUser]

Wow! Thanks for the link, for some reason, I had never clued that Browning was a Mormon enterprise...

http://www.historicnauvoo.net/site_view.cfm?Loc=demo&SiteID=7

Ya learn something everyday, ifn ya keep yer eyes open.

[Paladin2]

Yeah, I was very surprised to learn that earlier this year. I’m now going to have to make a stop in Navoo next time I’m headed through those parts.

[Paladin2]

Nauvoo.