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The Erie Canal in New York allowed boats from New York City on the Hudson River to reach rural upstate New York and Lake Erie. Eventually the Great Lakes were also connected to the Ohio River and Mississippi River systems by other canals. As canals developed in America settlers were attracted to nearby communities because the canals provided access to markets. They could sell their products at distant markets, and buy products made far away. If an ancestor settled near a canal, you may be able to trace back to a place of origin on a connecting waterway.

Historical Background

The construction of the Erie Canal began in 1817. As more Irish laborers arrived the pace of construction picked up and overcame significant barriers. For example, during summer construction in a marsh, 1,000 workers died of swamp fever, so survivors were moved to another part of the canal until winter when it was safer to work in the frozen marsh. Sections of the canal opened as follows:

1819 Rome to Utica

1820 Utica to Syracuse

1823 Brockport to Albany (Champlain Canal connecting the Hudson River to Lake Champlain was completed at the same time)

1824 Lockport locks

1825 Onondago Ridge finishing the entire canal.

The Erie Canal contributed to the wealth and importance of New York City, Buffalo, and New York State. It increased trade throughout the nation by opening eastern and overseas markets to Midwestern farm products and enabling migration to the West. New ethnic Irish communities formed in towns along the canal, as Irish immigrants were a large portion of labor force involved in its construction.

The Erie Canal website and the Family History Library Catalog have more information about the history of the Erie Canal.

Settlers and Records

Because so many immigrants traveled on the canal, many genealogists would like to find copies of canal passenger lists. Unfortunately, apart from the years 1827-1829, canal boat operators were not required to record or report passenger names to the New York State government. Those 1827-1829 passenger lists survive today in the New York State Archives.

Prior to the building of the Erie Canal the settlers in upstate New York were often from New England, especially Vermont. Once the Canal was finished, setters along the canal and farther west into Ohio would have reached the Erie Canal from New York City, or from along the Hudson River in New York, or from Vermont via the Champlain Canal. Most of the men who labored to build the Erie Canal were from Ireland and many of them settled near it.

Sources 4.	Scroll down, and in the Summary box, type a summary that describes the changes you made to your article, such as "Posted the practice exercise." 5.	(Optional) Click the This is a minor edit box. 6.	(Optional) Click the Watch this page box to be notified of revisions to the article. 7.	Click the Save page button.

Editing an Article—Formatting Headings Note: In this section, you will use the editing toolbar. 1.	In the article you just saved, click the Edit This Page button. 2.	Find the heading Historical Background, and place the cursor anywhere in the heading. 3.	In the editing toolbar, click the Format drop-down menu, and select Heading 3. Notice the heading is now bold and in a larger font. 4.	Find the second heading, Settlers and Records, and place the cursor anywhere in the heading. 5.	Click the Format drop-down menu, and select Heading 3. 6.	Follow the same steps to format the third heading, Sources. Editing an Article—Formatting Text Note: In this section, you will use the editing toolbar. 1.	In the first sentence under the Historical Background heading, highlight 1817. 2.	In the editing toolbar, click the Bold button. 3.	In the Historical Background section, highlight the list of years and the text. 4.	In the editing toolbar, click the Bullet List button. Note: You can also click the Italics button or the Numbered List button to format text.

Editing an Article—Categorizing Note: In this section you will use the wikitext. 1.	In the editing toolbar, click the Wikitext button. 2.	Scroll down to the end of the text, and press Enter to add a new line. 3.	Type Note: You categorized this article in the Sandbox category because it is your user sandbox. 4.	In the Summary box, type a summary that describes the changes you made to your article, such as "Added the sandbox category." 5.	(Optional) Click the This is a minor edit box. 6.	(Optional) Click the Watch this page box to be notified of revisions to the article. 7.	Click the Save page button.