Potomac Company collection, 1785-1822 (majority within 1785-1795)

Summary

Creator:

Potomac Company

Abstract:

This collection contains 7 items pertaining to the Potomac Company's administrative affairs in the late 18th century and to its efforts to create canals along unnavigable portions of the Potomac River.

Extent:

7 items

Language:

English

Authors:

Collection processed and finding aid created by Meg Hixon, June 2013

Background

Scope and Content:

This collection (7 items) contains correspondence and documents related to the work of the Potomac Company in the 1780s and 1790s, particularly regarding its administrative affairs.

James Rumsey's 3-page letter of September 6, 1785, describes the difficulties he encountered while working on the river, such as an insufficient number of tools and trouble paying laborers. In his letter of April 15, 1786, Abel Westfall proposed furnishing rations for the company's workmen. Other items are an order for the company's financiers to provide funds (March 2, 1786), William Weston's letter to Potomac Company president John Fitzgerald, providing notice that he had been authorized by the Schuylkill and Susquehanna Canal's managers to work for the Potomac Company (February 9, 1795), and documents from the company treasurer, authorizing John Fitzgerald to vote, or another man to vote on his behalf, at meetings (July 21, 1789, and July 1795). A partial letter from Isaac Briggs to Governor Thomas M. Randolph discusses a method of using cones to create map projections and mentions a projection by "Hamstead" (June 14, 1822).

Biographical / Historical:

After the conclusion of the Revolutionary War, George Washington and other politicians in Virginia and Maryland believed that the Potomac River could become an important artery for trade into the western frontier. The Potomac Company was founded in 1785 to build canals and do other work on and along the river to improve its navigability. George Washington was the company's first president, and James Rumsey was appointed to oversee the work. In July 1822, the Potomac Company became part of the newly formed Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Company.

Acquisition Information:

2001. M-4139 .

Processing information:

Cataloging funded by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC). This collection has been processed according to minimal processing procedures and may be revised, expanded, or updated in the future.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged chronologically.

Rules or Conventions:

Finding aid prepared using Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS)

Related

Additional Descriptive Data:

Related Materials

Letter From the Governor and Council of Maryland, Transmitting a Report of the Commissioners Appointed to Survey the River Potomac. Washington: Printed by Gales & Seaton., 1823.

Pickell, John. A New Chapter in the Early Life of Washington, in Connection with the Narrative History of the Potomac Company. New York: D. Appleton & Co., 1856.

Bibliography

Pickell, John. A New Chapter in the Early Life of Washington, in Connection with the Narrative History of the Potomac Company. New York: D. Appleton & Co., 1856.

Subjects

Click on terms below to find any related finding aids on this site.

Subjects:

Canal construction workers.
Cartography.

Formats:

Business announcements.
Letters (correspondence)
Records (documents)

Names:

Briggs, Isaac, 1763-1825.
Nelson, William.
Rumsey, James, 1743?-1792.
Westfall, Abel.

Places:

Patowmack Canal (Va.)
Potomac River.