The Erie Canal

"Sixty years ago and more, my grandfather used to tell his grandchildren of the digging of the Erie Canal. He had a hand in it, working for his father who was one of the original canal contractors and built several sections of "Clinton's ditch" near Rochester, New York. Many times I have regretted that I made no notes of what the old gentleman told us. After this lapse of years, I cannot claim that my memory of his stories is exact in detail. But the passages in this book, descriptive of the methods of construction and early operation in the canal, as Grandfather Adams gave us his word-of-mouth history, are, I believe, a faithful picture of that great enterprise."