This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1899 edition. Excerpt: ... CHAPTER IV. INDEPENDENT MOVEMENT FOR A CANAL. It would be difficult to say precisely where or when the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal project had its origin. The Board of Public Works of Virginia, soon after its creation by Act of Assembly in 1816, had suggested that a connection might be effected between the waters of the Potomac and those of the Ohio "by a navigable canal." 1 There was no response to this suggestion, but in 1819 the board received an application from the Potomac Company for an examination with a view to decide upon the best policy to be adopted for the future in order to give full effect to the purposes of that company's charter.2 As a result of this appeal, the General Assembly of Virginia passed a resolution, January 8, 1820, requesting the Board of Public Works to inquire into the expediency of directing the principal engineer to examine the waters of the Potomac, above the upper line of the District of Columbia, with a view to ascertain and report upon the most efficient means of im 1 House Report No. 90, 19th Congress, 2d Session, 2. 2 The Potomac Company was chartered by Virginia in 1784; the charter was confirmed by Maryland in 1785, and in the same year George Washington was chosen president. The company at once engaged in a determined and persistent effort to render navigable the channel of the Potomac River. The effort was only partially successful. Only one dividend was ever paid ($3000, in 1811), and by 1819 the company had expended every dollar of its stock, its entire income for thirty-five years, besides creating a debt of $100,000, while the condition of the River channel was still so obstructed that the income from tolls was not sufficient to meet operating expenses. It was under these circumstances that...