Misplaced Pages

#797202

112-734: When construction began in 1804 on the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal , which would connect the Delaware River to the Chesapeake Bay , merchants and other businessmen of New Castle, Delaware , perceived a threat to their interests and proposed a railroad to connect their own city to the bay. The New-Castle and Frenchtown Turnpike Company was chartered in Delaware on January 24, 1809, and in Maryland on January 6, 1810. It opened in 1815 and 1816, providing

224-577: A planter from Barbados , in London. In 1763, he was appointed as the last royal governor of New Jersey. A Loyalist to the king, William Franklin saw his relations with father Benjamin eventually break down over their differences about the American Revolutionary War , as Benjamin Franklin could never accept William's position. Deposed in 1776 by the revolutionary government of New Jersey, William

336-540: A turnpike from New Castle in a west-southwest direction to Old Frenchtown Wharf, Maryland, on Chesapeake Bay. The easternmost section of the road, east of Clark's Corner (under 3 miles), was built in 1812 by the New Castle Turnpike Company , chartered January 30, 1811. In 1828, the Maryland General Assembly authorized the company to replace the turnpike with a railroad and change its name to

448-624: A Freemason for the rest of his life. At age 17 in 1723, Franklin proposed to 15-year-old Deborah Read while a boarder in the Read home. At that time, Deborah's mother was wary of allowing her young daughter to marry Franklin, who was on his way to London at Governor Keith's request, and also because of his financial instability. Her own husband had recently died, and she declined Franklin's request to marry her daughter. Franklin travelled to London, and after he failed to communicate as expected with Deborah and her family, they interpreted his long silence as

560-585: A breaking of his promises. At the urging of her mother, Deborah married a potter named John Rogers on August 5, 1725. John soon fled to Barbados with her dowry in order to avoid debts and prosecution. Since Rogers' fate was unknown, bigamy laws prevented Deborah from remarrying. Franklin returned in 1726 and resumed his courtship of Deborah. They established a common-law marriage on September 1, 1730. They took in his recently acknowledged illegitimate young son and raised him in their household. They had two children together. Their son, Francis Folger Franklin ,

672-517: A class for four years, and there would be no religious test for admission. Johnson went on to found King's College (now Columbia University ) in New York City in 1754, while Franklin hired Smith as provost of the College of Philadelphia, which opened in 1755. At its first commencement, on May 17, 1757, seven men graduated; six with a Bachelor of Arts and one with a Master of Arts. It was later merged with

784-695: A major figure in the American Enlightenment and the history of physics . He also charted and named the Gulf Stream current. His numerous important inventions include the lightning rod , bifocals , glass harmonica and the Franklin stove . He founded many civic organizations , including the Library Company , Philadelphia 's first fire department , and the University of Pennsylvania . Franklin earned

896-573: A mapmaker and Prague native who had served as an envoy for the Dutch, observed that two great bodies of water, the Delaware River and Chesapeake Bay, were separated only by a narrow strip of land. Herman proposed that a waterway be built to connect the two. More than a century passed before any action was taken. In 1764, a survey of possible water routes across the Delmarva Peninsula was made. One

1008-434: A navigation channel measuring nearly 14 miles (23 km) long, 10 feet (3 m) deep, 66 feet (20 m) wide at the waterline and 36 feet (11 m) wide along the channel bottom. A covered wooden bridge at Summit , Delaware, spanned the canal across the "Deep Cut", measuring 250 feet (76 m) between abutments. The bridge floor was 90 feet (27 m) above the channel bottom. Three wooden swing bridges also crossed

1120-530: A patriotic stand in the growing crisis with Great Britain. Franklin's Connecticut Gazette (1755–68), however, proved unsuccessful. As the Revolution approached, political strife slowly tore his network apart. In 1730 or 1731, Franklin was initiated into the local Masonic lodge . He became a grand master in 1734, indicating his rapid rise to prominence in Pennsylvania. The same year, he edited and published

1232-485: A postal system. The report of the committee, providing for the appointment of a postmaster general for the 13 American colonies, was considered by the Continental Congress on July 25 and 26. On July 26, 1775, Franklin was appointed postmaster general, the first appointed under the Continental Congress. His apprentice, William Goddard , felt that his ideas were mostly responsible for shaping the postal system and that

SECTION 10

#1732869971798

1344-497: A railroad span owned by the Pennsylvania Railroad . These were replaced during the 1920s by four vertical lift spans and a new railroad bridge. Responsibility for operating, maintaining, and improving the waterway was assigned to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Wilmington District. In the mid-1920s, work began to move the eastern entrance at Delaware City several miles south to Reedy Point , Delaware. All locks (except

1456-643: A scheme for the Academy, Charity School, and College of Philadelphia ; however, the person he had in mind to run the academy, Rev. Richard Peters , refused and Franklin put his ideas away until 1749 when he printed his own pamphlet, Proposals Relating to the Education of Youth in Pensilvania. He was appointed president of the Academy on November 13, 1749; the academy and the charity school opened in 1751. In 1743, he founded

1568-553: A scientist and statesman, he habitually signed his letters with the unpretentious 'B. Franklin, Printer.' In 1732, he published the first German-language newspaper in America – Die Philadelphische Zeitung – although it failed after only one year because four other newly founded German papers quickly dominated the newspaper market. Franklin also printed Moravian religious books in German. He often visited Bethlehem, Pennsylvania , staying at

1680-557: A second steam engine was in use. The two 150 horsepower (110 kW) engines consumed eight tons of coal daily while lifting 170 tons of water per minute into the canal. The waterwheel and steam engines remained in continuous use through the mid‑1920s. Throughout the 19th century, the canal's use continued to change with the New Castle and Frenchtown Turnpike and Rail Road being its only major competitor. Steam power brought larger and deeper-draft vessels that could not pass through

1792-455: A steady flow of traffic. Through state-of-the-art fiber optic and microwave links, dispatchers use closed-circuit television and radio systems to monitor and safely move commercial traffic through the waterway. Navigating oceangoing vessels requires extensive maritime skills, with strong currents or bad weather conditions adding to the risks. A United States Coast Guard certified pilot is required for vessels engaged in foreign trade transiting

1904-457: A subject of conversation around town. Neither James nor the Courant 's readers were aware of the ruse, and James was unhappy with Benjamin when he discovered the popular correspondent was his younger brother. Franklin was an advocate of free speech from an early age. When his brother was jailed for three weeks in 1722 for publishing material unflattering to the governor , young Franklin took over

2016-518: A total of seventeen children with his two wives. He married his first wife, Anne Child, in about 1677 in Ecton and emigrated with her to Boston in 1683; they had three children before emigration and four after. Following her death, Josiah married Abiah Folger on July 9, 1689, in the Old South Meeting House by Reverend Samuel Willard , and had ten children with her. Benjamin, their eighth child,

2128-459: A year before switching to steam locomotives . The chief engineer for the construction of the railroad was John Randel Jr. The Chesapeake & Delaware Canal finally opened in 1829, becoming a major competitor to the railroad. Another railroad company, later called the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad (PW&B), began construction along a nearby route in the mid-1830s. In 1838,

2240-485: Is a 14-mile (22.5 km)-long, 450-foot (137.2 m)-wide and 35-foot (10.7 m)-deep ship canal that connects the Delaware River with the Chesapeake Bay in the states of Delaware and Maryland in the United States. In the mid-17th century, mapmaker Augustine Herman observed that these great bodies of water were separated only by a narrow strip of land. In 1764, a survey of possible water routes across

2352-636: Is evidently a portrait of his rival, Samuel Keimer . Franklin had mixed success in his plan to establish an inter-colonial network of newspapers that would produce a profit for him and disseminate virtue. Over the years he sponsored two dozen printers in Pennsylvania, South Carolina, New York, Connecticut, and even the Caribbean. By 1753, eight of the fifteen English language newspapers in the colonies were published by him or his partners. He began in Charleston, South Carolina , in 1731. After his second editor died,

SECTION 20

#1732869971798

2464-549: Is the present-day Church of St Bartholomew-the-Great in the Smithfield area of London. Following this, he returned to Philadelphia in 1726 with the help of Thomas Denham , a merchant who employed him as a clerk, shopkeeper, and bookkeeper in his business. In 1727, at age 21, Franklin formed the Junto , a group of "like minded aspiring artisans and tradesmen who hoped to improve themselves while they improved their community." The Junto

2576-521: The $ 100 bill and in the names of warships , many towns and counties, educational institutions and corporations , as well as in numerous cultural references and a portrait in the Oval Office . His more than 30,000 letters and documents have been collected in The Papers of Benjamin Franklin . Anne Robert Jacques Turgot said of him: "Eripuit fulmen cœlo, mox sceptra tyrannis" ("He snatched lightning from

2688-728: The American Philosophical Society to help scientific men discuss their discoveries and theories. He began the electrical research that, along with other scientific inquiries, would occupy him for the rest of his life, in between bouts of politics and moneymaking. During King George's War , Franklin raised a militia called the Association for General Defense because the legislators of the city had decided to take no action to defend Philadelphia "either by erecting fortifications or building Ships of War." He raised money to create earthwork defenses and buy artillery. The largest of these

2800-476: The American Revolution . From 1785 to 1788, he served as President of Pennsylvania . At some points in his life, he owned slaves and ran "for sale" ads for slaves in his newspaper, but by the late 1750s, he began arguing against slavery , became an active abolitionist , and promoted the education and integration of African Americans into U.S. society. As a scientist, his studies of electricity made him

2912-685: The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad began operating trains along this route between Baltimore and Philadelphia , bypassing the much smaller and less significant New Castle. On March 15, 1839, the PW&;B bought the NC&;F, using it as an alternate route. The New Castle and Wilmington Rail Road was connected to the New Castle end of the system in 1852, and by 1856 the Delaware Railroad had opened, splitting from

3024-530: The Charles River , Franklin recalled that he was "generally the leader among the boys." Franklin's father wanted him to attend school with the clergy but only had enough money to send him to school for two years. He attended Boston Latin School but did not graduate; he continued his education through voracious reading. Although "his parents talked of the church as a career" for Franklin, his schooling ended when he

3136-672: The College of William & Mary , called a "new-model" plan or style of American college. Franklin solicited, printed in 1752, and promoted an American textbook of moral philosophy by Samuel Johnson, titled Elementa Philosophica , to be taught in the new colleges. In June 1753, Johnson, Franklin, and Smith met in Stratford. They decided the new-model college would focus on the professions, with classes taught in English instead of Latin, have subject matter experts as professors instead of one tutor leading

3248-662: The Delmarva Peninsula was made, but little action followed. The idea was raised again in 1788 by regional business leaders, including famed Philadelphians Benjamin Franklin and Benjamin Rush . Despite the beginnings of a commercial venture in 1802 coincident with Canal Mania in England and Wales, it was not until 1829 until the C&;D Canal Company could, at last, announce the waterway "open for business". Its construction cost of $ 3.5 million (equivalent to $ 89.1 million in 2023) made it one of

3360-586: The Instructor and made it The Pennsylvania Gazette . The Gazette soon became his characteristic organ, which he freely used for satire, for the play of his wit, even for sheer excess of mischief or of fun. From the first, he had a way of adapting his models to his own uses. The series of essays called " The Busy-Body ," which he wrote for Bradford's American Mercury in 1729, followed the general Addisonian form, already modified to suit homelier conditions. The thrifty Patience, in her busy little shop, complaining of

3472-618: The Moravian Sun Inn . In a 1751 pamphlet on demographic growth and its implications for the Thirteen Colonies, he called the Pennsylvania Germans "Palatine Boors" who could never acquire the "Complexion" of Anglo-American settlers and referred to "Blacks and Tawneys" as weakening the social structure of the colonies. Although he apparently reconsidered shortly thereafter, and the phrases were omitted from all later printings of

New Castle and Frenchtown Turnpike and Railroad Company - Misplaced Pages Continue

3584-536: The National Register of Historic Places . The "new" canal opened in May 1927 with great celebration, even as plans were underway for further expansion to accommodate ever larger ships. The Philadelphia District assumed operation of the canal in 1933. Between 1935 and 1938, the channel was again improved, deepened to 27 feet (8.2 m) and widened to 250 feet (76.2 m) at a cost of nearly $ 13 million. The project

3696-614: The New-Castle and French Town Turnpike and Rail Road Company . Similar laws did the same for the two companies in Delaware, renaming the New Castle Turnpike Company to the New Castle Turnpike and Railroad Company . The companies merged on March 31, 1830, to form the New Castle and Frenchtown Turnpike and Rail Road Company – with no dash in New Castle – and the new railroad opened in 1831, using horses for about

3808-514: The United States Congress authorized further expansion of the channel to 450 feet (137.2 m) wide and 35 feet (10.7 m) deep. These improvements, begun in the 1960s, were completed in the mid‑1970s. New bridges to accommodate highway traffic crossing the canal also became necessary as deepening and widening progressed. Two mechanical lift bridges at St. Georges and Chesapeake City were toppled by ship collisions and replaced in

3920-645: The University of the State of Pennsylvania to become the University of Pennsylvania . The college was to become influential in guiding the founding documents of the United States: in the Continental Congress , for example, over one-third of the college-affiliated men who contributed to the Declaration of Independence between September 4, 1774, and July 4, 1776, were affiliated with the college. In 1754, he headed

4032-481: The 1940s with high-level highway spans (the former, the St. Georges Bridge , has largely been bypassed by the new Senator William V. Roth Jr. Bridge , opened in 1995). Two other high-level vehicular traffic bridges, Summit Bridge in 1960 and Reedy Point Bridge in 1968, were constructed as part of the 1954 improvement authorization. In 1966, a new railroad lift bridge (the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal Lift Bridge )

4144-672: The 30-foot (9.1 m) Bethel Bridge Lighthouse is located on Corps property, a short walk from the museum. The original lighthouse was used to warn vessels of locks and bridges in the days before the 1927 canal changes made it sea level. The following are crossings of the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal north to south and vice versa: Notes Sources Further reading Download coordinates as: Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin (January 17, 1706 [ O.S. January 6, 1705]  – April 17, 1790)

4256-526: The British Plantations in America. He used the heraldic badge of the Prince of Wales as the cover illustration. Franklin wrote a letter, " Advice to a Friend on Choosing a Mistress ," dated June 25, 1745, in which he gives advice to a young man about channeling sexual urges. Due to its licentious nature, it was not published in collections of his papers during the 19th century. Federal court rulings from

4368-466: The C&D Canal Museum at Chesapeake City, Maryland, housed in the original canal pumphouse with a waterwheel and pumping engines. The museum illustrates the canal's history and operations. Current operations can be viewed through a television monitor affording visitors up-to-the minute locations on ships traveling through the canal. Admission is free, and the museum is open Monday-Friday year round except for government holidays. A full-sized replica of

4480-579: The Chesapeake & Delaware Canal Company was incorporated, with merchant and banker Joseph Tatnall as president. More surveys followed, and in 1804, construction of the canal began under Benjamin Latrobe . The work included 14  locks to connect the Christina River in Delaware with the Elk River at Welch Point, Maryland, but the project was halted two years later for lack of funds. The canal company

4592-419: The Chesapeake & Delaware Canal. Loss of water in the locks was a problem from early on. As boats passed through at Chesapeake City, the equivalent of a full lock of water was lost to the lower-lying portion of the canal. This loss, compounded by leakage through the canal banks and normal evaporation, made it necessary to devise a means of lifting water into the project's upper part. A steam operated pump

New Castle and Frenchtown Turnpike and Railroad Company - Misplaced Pages Continue

4704-469: The Chesapeake Bay to Baltimore or Annapolis, Maryland . The procedure is reversed for eastbound ships. At Chesapeake City a "changing of the pilots" takes place, while the pilot launch maneuvers alongside a vessel as it continues its journey without stopping. The pilots use the ship's gangway , pilot ladder , or port entrance to climb aboard or leave the vessel. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers operates

4816-495: The Delaware River and Baltimore on Chesapeake Bay, avoiding a course around the Delmarva Peninsula. The canal is a landmark and cultural boundary for the state of Delaware, considered a divide between the urbanized northern portion of the state and the rural southern portion, known locally as "Lower Delaware", and demarcates an unofficial northern limit to the Delmarva Peninsula. In the mid‑17th century, Augustine Herman ,

4928-644: The Loyalist cause, was held in solitary confinement at Litchfield for eight months. When finally released in a prisoner exchange in 1778, he moved to New York City, which was occupied by the British at the time. While in New York City, he became leader of the Board of Associated Loyalists, a quasi-military organization chartered by King George III and headquartered in New York City. They initiated guerrilla forays into New Jersey, southern Connecticut, and New York counties north of

5040-596: The Nature and Necessity of a Paper Currency in 1729, and his printer printed money. He was influential in the more restrained and thus successful monetary experiments in the Middle Colonies, which stopped deflation without causing excessive inflation. In 1766, he made a case for paper money to the British House of Commons . As he matured, Franklin began to concern himself more with public affairs. In 1743, he first devised

5152-530: The New Castle and Frenchtown at Porter , about halfway between the two ends. The Cecil County portion of the track bed had been abandoned by 1848, and the County Commissioners turned it into "a common neighborhood road," the Cecil Whig reported. In 1859, the railroad was abandoned west of Porter; most of the right-of-way is still cleared. On March 28, 1877, the New Castle and Frenchtown was merged into

5264-655: The PW&B, which was part of the PRR system. In 1891, the PW&B sold the old New Castle and Frenchtown, as well as the New Castle and Wilmington line, to the Delaware Railroad. Which was then in turn leased to the PW&B. The east half of the old alignment was acquired by Penn Central in 1968, then Conrail in 1976, and most recently Norfolk Southern (1999), which uses it to reach the Delmarva Peninsula . Notes Bibliography Chesapeake %26 Delaware Canal The Chesapeake & Delaware Canal ( C&D Canal )

5376-805: The Pennsylvania delegation to the Albany Congress . This meeting of several colonies had been requested by the Board of Trade in England to improve relations with the Indians and defense against the French. Franklin proposed a broad Plan of Union for the colonies. While the plan was not adopted, elements of it found their way into the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution . In 1753, Harvard University and Yale awarded him honorary master of arts degrees. In 1756, he

5488-598: The Pennsylvania legislature to establish a hospital. Pennsylvania Hospital was the first hospital in the colonies. In 1752, Franklin organized the Philadelphia Contributionship , the Colonies' first homeowner's insurance company. Between 1750 and 1753, the "educational triumvirate" of Franklin, Samuel Johnson of Stratford, Connecticut , and schoolteacher William Smith built on Franklin's initial scheme and created what Bishop James Madison , president of

5600-420: The appointment should have gone to him, but he graciously conceded it to Franklin, 36 years his senior. Franklin, however, appointed Goddard as Surveyor of the Posts, issued him a signed pass, and directed him to investigate and inspect the various post offices and mail routes as he saw fit. The newly established postal system became the United States Post Office, a system that continues to operate today. From

5712-432: The burning spirits, and Daniel Rees died of his burns two days later." While Franklin did not directly participate in the hazing that led to Rees' death , he knew of the hazing before it turned fatal, and did nothing to stop it. He was criticized for his inaction in The American Weekly Mercury , by his publishing rival Andrew Bradford . Ultimately, "Franklin replied in his own defense in the Gazette. " Franklin remained

SECTION 50

#1732869971798

5824-443: The canal company in 1823 and 1824, providing two senior officers to help determine a canal route. The engineer officers and two civilian engineers recommended a new route with four locks , extending from Newbold's Landing Harbor (now Delaware City), westward to the Back Creek branch of the Elk River in Maryland. Canal construction resumed in April 1824, and within several years some 2,600 men were digging and hauling dirt from

5936-400: The canal would not become a reality for decades. The idea was raised again in 1788 by regional business leaders, including noted Philadelphians Benjamin Franklin and Benjamin Rush . The canal would reduce, by nearly 300 miles (500 km), the water routes between Philadelphia and Baltimore . In 1802, following actions by the legislatures of Maryland , Delaware, and Pennsylvania ,

6048-414: The canal, the Delaware River and Bay, and Chesapeake Bay. Many shipping firms use pilots from the Delaware River and Bay or Maryland pilots' associations. Typically a Delaware River and Bay pilot boards a ship as it passes Lewes , Delaware, entering the Delaware Bay, and guides the vessel up the bay and into the canal to Chesapeake City. A Maryland pilot then takes over and continues the ship's transit into

6160-415: The canal. Along the route across the top of the Delmarva Peninsula, at least six lighthouses warned barges and other vessels passing through the canal when they were approaching bridges and locks. These small wooden lighthouses had had red lanterns mounted atop them. The Ericsson Line of steamboats originated as steamers built for freight only; however, the line converted to passenger boats during 1876 at

6272-444: The canal. Locks to pass vessels through the waterway's various levels were constructed at Delaware City, Delaware and St. Georges , Delaware, and two at Chesapeake City. Each measured 100 feet (30 m) long and 22 feet (6.7 m) wide and was eventually enlarged to 220 feet (67 m) in length and 24 feet (7.3 m) in width. Teams of mules and horses towed freight and passenger barges, schooners and sloops through

6384-460: The canal. Cargoes included practically every useful item of daily life: lumber , grain , farm products, fish, cotton , coal , iron , and whiskey . Packet ships were eventually established to move freight through the waterway. The Ericsson Line operated between Baltimore and Philadelphia, and continued to carry passengers and freight through the canal into the 1940s. The cargo tonnage peaked in 1872 with more than 1.3 million tons transiting

6496-477: The city. When British troops evacuated from New York, William Franklin left with them and sailed to England. He settled in London, never to return to North America. In the preliminary peace talks in 1782 with Britain, "... Benjamin Franklin insisted that loyalists who had borne arms against the United States would be excluded from this plea (that they be given a general pardon). He was undoubtedly thinking of William Franklin." In 1732, Franklin began to publish

6608-459: The colonial post office. When the lands of New France were ceded to the British under the Treaty of Paris in 1763, the British province of Quebec was created among them, and Franklin saw mail service expanded between Montreal , Trois-Rivières , Quebec City, and New York. For the greater part of his appointment, he lived in England (from 1757 to 1762, and again from 1764 to 1774)—about three-quarters of his term. Eventually, his sympathies for

6720-712: The construction of a printing network based on a chain of partnerships from the Carolinas to New England. He thereby invented the first newspaper chain. It was more than a business venture, for like many publishers he believed that the press had a public-service duty. When he established himself in Philadelphia, shortly before 1730, the town boasted two "wretched little" news sheets, Andrew Bradford 's The American Weekly Mercury and Samuel Keimer 's Universal Instructor in all Arts and Sciences, and Pennsylvania Gazette . This instruction in all arts and sciences consisted of weekly extracts from Chambers's Universal Dictionary . Franklin quickly did away with all of this when he took over

6832-423: The direction of Captain Noah F. Ireland. The Ericsson Line operated out of Baltimore's No. 1 Light Street Pier for 75 years, serving passenger and freight demands throughout the waterway with thirty registered steamers. The Ericsson Line's success brought utility and prosperity to the canal and promoted an expansion of trade by means of its growth and connection to the Atlantic Deeper Waterways Association of

SECTION 60

#1732869971798

6944-480: The disease that subsequently killed him. Deborah wrote to him in November 1769, saying she was ill due to "dissatisfied distress" from his prolonged absence, but he did not return until his business was done. Deborah Read Franklin died of a stroke on December 14, 1774, while Franklin was on an extended mission to Great Britain; he returned in 1775. In 1730, 24-year-old Franklin publicly acknowledged his illegitimate son William and raised him in his household. William

7056-463: The ditch. Laborers toiled with pick and shovel at the immense construction task, working for an average daily wage of 75 cents. The swampy marshlands along the canal's planned route proved a great impediment to progress; workers continuously battled slides along the "ditch's" soft slopes. It was 1829 before the C&D Canal Company could, at last, announce the waterway "open for business". Its construction cost of $ 3.5 million made it one of

7168-407: The failure of this mission. At this time, many members of the Pennsylvania Assembly were feuding with William Penn's heirs, who controlled the colony as proprietors. After his return to the colony, Franklin led the "anti-proprietary party" in the struggle against the Penn family and was elected Speaker of the Pennsylvania House in May 1764. His call for a change from proprietary to royal government

7280-428: The first Masonic book in the Americas, a reprint of James Anderson 's Constitutions of the Free-Masons . He was the secretary of St. John's Lodge in Philadelphia from 1735 to 1738. In January 1738, "Franklin appeared as a witness" in a manslaughter trial against two men who killed "a simple-minded apprentice" named Daniel Rees in a fake Masonic initiation gone wrong. One of the men "threw, or accidentally spilled,

7392-442: The following year he became the publisher of The Pennsylvania Gazette , a newspaper in Philadelphia. The Gazette gave Franklin a forum for agitation about a variety of local reforms and initiatives through printed essays and observations. Over time, his commentary, and his adroit cultivation of a positive image as an industrious and intellectual young man, earned him a great deal of social respect. But even after he achieved fame as

7504-402: The issue failed to agree on a plan. In 1906 President Theodore Roosevelt appointed a new commission to report on the feasibility of converting the canal to a "free and open waterway." In 1919 the federal government bought the canal for $ 2.5 million and designated it the "Intra-coastal Waterway Delaware River to Chesapeake Bay, Delaware and Maryland." The purchase included six bridges and

7616-420: The leading city in the colonies, publishing the Pennsylvania Gazette at age 23. He became wealthy publishing this and Poor Richard's Almanack , which he wrote under the pseudonym "Richard Saunders". After 1767, he was associated with the Pennsylvania Chronicle , a newspaper known for its revolutionary sentiments and criticisms of the policies of the British Parliament and the Crown . He pioneered and

7728-491: The mid-1750s to the mid-1770s, Franklin spent much of his time in London. In 1757, he was sent to England by the Pennsylvania Assembly as a colonial agent to protest against the political influence of the Penn family , the proprietors of the colony . He remained there for five years, striving to end the proprietors' prerogative to overturn legislation from the elected Assembly and their exemption from paying taxes on their land. His lack of influential allies in Whitehall led to

7840-456: The mid-to-late 20th century cited the document as a reason for overturning obscenity laws and against censorship. In 1736, Franklin created the Union Fire Company , one of the first volunteer firefighting companies in America. In the same year, he printed a new currency for New Jersey based on innovative anti- counterfeiting techniques he had devised. Throughout his career, he was an advocate for paper money , publishing A Modest Enquiry into

7952-406: The most expensive canal projects of its time. In 1825, due to the efforts of Benjamin Wright , the company fired the canal's chief engineer, John Randel Jr. , who had surveyed its route and built the difficult eastern section. Randel sued the company for breach of contract, and in 1834 a jury returned an award to Randel of $ 226,885.84 (equivalent to $ 6,924,556 in 2023), a tremendous amount for

8064-458: The most expensive canal projects of its time. In the present era, the C&D Canal is owned and operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers , Philadelphia District. The project office in Chesapeake City, Maryland , is also the site of the C&D Canal Museum and Bethel Bridge Lighthouse. The canal saves approximately 300 miles on the route between Wilmington or Philadelphia on

8176-462: The newspaper and had Mrs. Dogood proclaim, quoting Cato's Letters , "Without freedom of thought there can be no such thing as wisdom and no such thing as public liberty without freedom of speech." Franklin left his apprenticeship without his brother's permission, and in so doing became a fugitive. At age 17, Franklin ran away to Philadelphia , seeking a new start in a new city. When he first arrived, he worked in several printing shops there, but he

8288-421: The noted Poor Richard's Almanack (with content both original and borrowed) under the pseudonym Richard Saunders, on which much of his popular reputation is based. He frequently wrote under pseudonyms. The first issue published was for the upcoming year, 1733. He had developed a distinct, signature style that was plain, pragmatic and had a sly, soft but self-deprecating tone with declarative sentences. Although it

8400-597: The office until 1753, when he and publisher William Hunter were named deputy postmasters–general of British North America, the first to hold the office. ( Joint appointments were standard at the time, for political reasons.) He was responsible for the British colonies from Pennsylvania north and east, as far as the island of Newfoundland . A post office for local and outgoing mail had been established in Halifax, Nova Scotia , by local stationer Benjamin Leigh, on April 23, 1754, but service

8512-454: The one at Delaware City) were removed, and the waterway was converted to a sea-level operation at 12 feet (3.7 m) deep and 90 feet (27.4 m) wide. These improvements cost $ 10 million. Two stone jetties at the new eastern entrance were completed in 1926. The sole remaining lock at Delaware City — a stone structure, resting on wooden underpinnings, with a wooden floor — would eventually be preserved and, in 1975, listed on

8624-511: The pamphlet, his views may have played a role in his political defeat in 1764. According to Ralph Frasca, Franklin promoted the printing press as a device to instruct colonial Americans in moral virtue. Frasca argues he saw this as a service to God, because he understood moral virtue in terms of actions, thus, doing good provides a service to God. Despite his own moral lapses, Franklin saw himself as uniquely qualified to instruct Americans in morality. He tried to influence American moral life through

8736-636: The rebel cause in the American Revolution led to his dismissal on January 31, 1774. On July 26, 1775, the Second Continental Congress established the United States Post Office and named Franklin as the first United States postmaster general . He had been a postmaster for decades and was a natural choice for the position. He had just returned from England and was appointed chairman of a Committee of Investigation to establish

8848-412: The restricting locks. By the turn of the 20th century the decline in canal traffic and cost of operation and repairs reduced canal profits. Clearly a larger, wider, and deeper waterway was needed. At the time, however, little thought was given to improving the existing canal. New companies were formed instead, considering at least six new canal routes, but committees and commissions appointed to study

8960-406: The sky and the scepter from tyrants"). Benjamin Franklin's father, Josiah Franklin , was a tallow chandler , soaper , and candlemaker . Josiah Franklin was born at Ecton, Northamptonshire , England, on December 23, 1657, the son of Thomas Franklin, a blacksmith and farmer, and his wife, Jane White. Benjamin's father and all four of his grandparents were born in England. Josiah Franklin had

9072-607: The time of the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia as the demand for travel increased. The Baltimore and Philadelphia Steamship Companies, which operated the Ericsson line, built and furnished ships with seventy to eighty staterooms in addition to the freight facilities. In turn, these ships grew from less than one hundred to more than six hundred tons and greatly increased travel from Baltimore to Philadelphia. The Ericsson Line

9184-485: The time. The canal company's appeals went as high as the United States Supreme Court , which affirmed the award. The company attempted to avoid paying the judgment, but the state legislatures of both Maryland and Delaware passed bills requiring the canal company to pay off its debts within five years. The huge award almost bankrupted the company. The Chesapeake Bay and Delaware River were now connected by

9296-786: The title of "The First American" for his early and indefatigable campaigning for colonial unity . He was the only person to sign the Declaration of Independence, Treaty of Paris , peace with Britain and the Constitution . Foundational in defining the American ethos, Franklin has been called "the most accomplished American of his age and the most influential in inventing the type of society America would become". His life and legacy of scientific and political achievement, and his status as one of America's most influential Founding Fathers, have seen Franklin honored for more than two centuries after his death on

9408-467: The useless visitors who waste her valuable time, is related to the women who address Mr. Spectator. The Busy-Body himself is a true Censor Morum, as Isaac Bickerstaff had been in the Tatler . And a number of the fictitious characters, Ridentius, Eugenius, Cato, and Cretico, represent traditional 18th-century classicism. Even this Franklin could use for contemporary satire, since Cretico, the "sowre Philosopher,"

9520-481: The waterway, one assigned to Reedy Point on the Delaware River and the other stationed at Town Point on the Elk River in Maryland. These patrol boats met incoming ships, checked traffic, did patrols, and sometimes made rescues. But modernization had arrived on Canal as closed circuit televisions, radar, and advanced in radio communications made the work of meeting incoming boats and other tasks obsolete. On Nov. 19, 1968,

9632-404: The whole. This did not suffice, however. Franklin conceived the idea of a subscription library , which would pool the funds of the members to buy books for all to read. This was the birth of the Library Company of Philadelphia , whose charter he composed in 1731. Upon Denham's death, Franklin returned to his former trade. In 1728, he set up a printing house in partnership with Hugh Meredith ;

9744-569: The widow, Elizabeth Timothy , took over and made it a success. She was one of the colonial era's first woman printers. For three decades Franklin maintained a close business relationship with her and her son Peter Timothy , who took over the South Carolina Gazette in 1746. The Gazette was impartial in political debates, while creating the opportunity for public debate, which encouraged others to challenge authority. Timothy avoided blandness and crude bias and, after 1765, increasingly took

9856-700: The work of the patrol boats was retired, and modern, centralized technology took over the tasks. Today's canal is a modern sea-level, electronically controlled commercial waterway, serving as the northern maritime gateway to the Port of Baltimore. Since 1933 the Corps' Philadelphia District has managed canal and highway bridge operations from a two-story white frame building on the canal's southern bank at Chesapeake City, Maryland . Cargo ships, tankers, container-carrying vessels (all up to Seawaymax -classification), barges accompanied by tugboats, and countless recreational boats create

9968-514: Was "the sort of rebel destined to transform colonial America." As clerk of the court , he was arrested on February 10, 1676, and jailed on February 19 for his inability to pay bail. He spent over a year and a half in jail. Franklin was born on Milk Street in Boston , Province of Massachusetts Bay on January 17, 1706, and baptized at the Old South Meeting House in Boston. As a child growing up along

10080-589: Was Josiah Franklin's fifteenth child overall, and his tenth and final son. Benjamin Franklin's mother, Abiah, was born in Nantucket , Massachusetts Bay Colony , on August 15, 1667, to Peter Folger , a miller and schoolteacher, and his wife, Mary Morrell Folger , a former indentured servant . Mary Folger came from a Puritan family that was among the first Pilgrims to flee to Massachusetts for religious freedom , sailing for Boston in 1635 after King Charles I of England had begun persecuting Puritans. Her father Peter

10192-555: Was a discussion group for issues of the day; it subsequently gave rise to many organizations in Philadelphia. The Junto was modeled after English coffeehouses that Franklin knew well and which had become the center of the spread of Enlightenment ideas in Britain. Reading was a great pastime of the Junto, but books were rare and expensive. The members created a library, initially assembled from their own books, after Franklin wrote: A proposition

10304-543: Was a rare political miscalculation, however: Pennsylvanians worried that such a move would endanger their political and religious freedoms. Because of these fears and because of political attacks on his character, Franklin lost his seat in the October 1764 Assembly elections. The anti-proprietary party dispatched him to England again to continue the struggle against the Penn family proprietorship. During this trip, events drastically changed

10416-562: Was active in community affairs and colonial and state politics, as well as national and international affairs. Franklin became a hero in America when, as an agent in London for several colonies, he spearheaded the repeal of the unpopular Stamp Act by the British Parliament. An accomplished diplomat, he was widely admired as the first U.S. ambassador to France and was a major figure in the development of positive Franco–American relations . His efforts proved vital in securing French aid for

10528-588: Was also completed by the Corps and turned over to the Pennsylvania Railroad to carry freight across the canal. The railroad and Summit spans were recognized by the American Institute of Steel Construction as the most beautiful bridges of their types in the years they were completed. After the modern sea-level canal opened in 1927, pilot boats operated by the Army Corps of Engineers worked at each end of

10640-518: Was also expanded to include a federal navigation channel 27 feet (8.2 m) deep and 400 feet (121.9 m) wide for some 26 miles (41.8 km) in the Upper Chesapeake Bay, from the Elk River to Pooles Island . Through the years, as the sizes and tonnages of ships using the canal continued to grow, accidents and one‑way traffic restrictions strained the canal's capacity. Between 1938 and 1950 alone, eight ships collided with bridges. In 1954,

10752-490: Was an American polymath : a leading writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher and political philosopher . Among the most influential intellectuals of his time, Franklin was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States ; a drafter and signer of the Declaration of Independence ; and the first postmaster general . Franklin became a successful newspaper editor and printer in Philadelphia,

10864-547: Was awarded an honorary Master of Arts degree from the College of William & Mary . Later in 1756, Franklin organized the Pennsylvania Militia . He used Tun Tavern as a gathering place to recruit a regiment of soldiers to go into battle against the Native American uprisings that beset the American colonies. Well known as a printer and publisher, Franklin was appointed postmaster of Philadelphia in 1737, holding

10976-429: Was born in October 1732 and died of smallpox in 1736. Their daughter, Sarah "Sally" Franklin , was born in 1743 and eventually married Richard Bache . Deborah's fear of the sea meant that she never accompanied Franklin on any of his extended trips to Europe; another possible reason why they spent much time apart is that he may have blamed her for possibly preventing their son Francis from being inoculated against

11088-445: Was born on February 22, 1730, but his mother's identity is unknown. He was educated in Philadelphia and beginning at about age 30 studied law in London in the early 1760s. William himself fathered an illegitimate son, William Temple Franklin , born on the same day and month: February 22, 1760. The boy's mother was never identified, and he was placed in foster care. In 1762, the elder William Franklin married Elizabeth Downes, daughter of

11200-522: Was irregular. Franklin opened the first post office to offer regular, monthly mail in Halifax on December 9, 1755. Meantime, Hunter became postal administrator in Williamsburg, Virginia , and oversaw areas south of Annapolis, Maryland . Franklin reorganized the service's accounting system and improved speed of delivery between Philadelphia, New York, and Boston. By 1761, efficiencies led to the first profits for

11312-440: Was made by me that since our books were often referr'd to in our disquisitions upon the inquiries, it might be convenient for us to have them altogether where we met, that upon occasion they might be consulted; and by thus clubbing our books to a common library, we should, while we lik'd to keep them together, have each of us the advantage of using the books of all the other members, which would be nearly as beneficial as if each owned

11424-427: Was named after its first ship, Ericsson, which was named after John Ericsson who developed the screw propeller that was installed on the vessel specifically designed for the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal. Ericsson was built at Reanie & Neafie's shipyard in Philadelphia by Anthony Groves, Jr. The ship, finished in 1843, was 78 feet (24 m) in length and weighed eighty tons. It began operations in 1844 under

11536-611: Was no secret that he was the author, his Richard Saunders character repeatedly denied it. "Poor Richard's Proverbs," adages from this almanac, such as "A penny saved is twopence dear" (often misquoted as "A penny saved is a penny earned") and "Fish and visitors stink in three days," remain common quotations in the modern world. Wisdom in folk society meant the ability to provide an apt adage for any occasion, and his readers became well prepared. He sold about ten thousand copies per year—it became an institution. In 1741, Franklin began publishing The General Magazine and Historical Chronicle for all

11648-419: Was not satisfied by the immediate prospects in any of these jobs. After a few months, while working in one printing house, Pennsylvania governor Sir William Keith convinced him to go to London, ostensibly to acquire the equipment necessary for establishing another newspaper in Philadelphia. Discovering that Keith's promises of backing a newspaper were empty, he worked as a typesetter in a printer's shop in what

11760-667: Was placed under house arrest at his home in Perth Amboy for six months. After the Declaration of Independence , he was formally taken into custody by order of the Provincial Congress of New Jersey , an entity which he refused to recognize, regarding it as an "illegal assembly." He was incarcerated in Connecticut for two years, in Wallingford and Middletown , and, after being caught surreptitiously engaging Americans into supporting

11872-540: Was proposed by Thomas Gilpin, Sr., a Quaker from Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , who, along with other members of the American Philosophical Society , sought a waterway to shorten the shipping distance from the Chesapeake Bay to Philadelphia . He proposed a canal across the Delmarva Peninsula to connect the Chester River at present-day Millington, Maryland , to the Delaware River . He even bought 39 acres (16 ha) of land, largely in and around Millington, but

11984-465: Was purchased in 1837 to raise water from Back Creek, and in 1852 a steam engine and large waterwheel were installed at the pumphouse in Chesapeake City. Measuring 39 feet (12 m) in diameter and 10 feet (3 m) wide, the iron and wood waterwheel had 12 troughs which filled with water as it turned; the water then spilled over the hub into the raceway and into the uppermost canal level. By 1854

12096-518: Was reorganized in 1822, and new surveys determined that more than $ 2 million in capital was needed to resume construction. Eventually, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania purchased $ 100,000 in stock, the State of Maryland , $ 50,000; and Delaware, $ 25,000. The federal government invested $ 450,000, with the remainder subscribed by the public. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers played a vital yet unofficial role for

12208-521: Was selected as a councilman; in June 1749, he became a justice of the peace for Philadelphia; and in 1751, he was elected to the Pennsylvania Assembly. On August 10, 1753, he was appointed deputy postmaster-general of British North America . His service in domestic politics included reforming the postal system, with mail sent out every week. In 1751, Franklin and Thomas Bond obtained a charter from

12320-460: Was ten. He worked for his father for a time, and at 12 he became an apprentice to his brother James, a printer, who taught him the printing trade. When Benjamin was 15, James founded The New-England Courant , which was the third newspaper founded in Boston. When denied the chance to write a letter to the paper for publication, Franklin adopted the pseudonym of " Silence Dogood ," a middle-aged widow. Mrs. Dogood's letters were published and became

12432-510: Was the "Association Battery" or "Grand Battery" of 50 guns. In 1747, Franklin (already a very wealthy man) retired from printing and went into other businesses. He formed a partnership with his foreman, David Hall , which provided Franklin with half of the shop's profits for 18 years. This lucrative business arrangement provided leisure time for study, and in a few years he had made many new discoveries. Franklin became involved in Philadelphia politics and rapidly progressed. In October 1748, he

12544-466: Was the first president of the Academy and College of Philadelphia , which opened in 1751 and later became the University of Pennsylvania. He organized and was the first secretary of the American Philosophical Society and was elected its president in 1769. He was appointed deputy postmaster-general for the British colonies in 1753, which enabled him to set up the first national communications network. He

#797202