Life Along the C & O Canal

1. Life Along the C & O Canal Adapted From Western Maryland’s Historical Library, WHILBR

2. TAKING A TURN AT THE TILLER Three people were needed to run a boat, with one person at the tiller, one on the towpath walking with the mules, and one doing the many other things necessary on the boat such as preparing meals and caring for the mules before and after their six-hour “tricks” on the towpath. When families ran a boat it was usually children who walked with the mules and often women who handled the tiller. Control of the tiller did require some strength and bodyweight, especially if there were strong winds or when the boat was in one of the two river slackwater sections.

3. Boat families would often take advantage of the time between trips to visit each other’s boats and spend time together. This boat must have been on its way back from unloading its freight since it is sitting so high in the water.

4. It almost looks cruel to modern eyes to have small children chained to the deck of a boat, but for boating families this was for safety. Accidents involving children, especially falling into the canal, were common and this simple precaution probably saved many children from drowning. The mother is performing one of the many chores delegated to women on the canal. She would have used canal water for washing and spring water found along the banks of the canal for cooking for the family.

6. Children would sometimes swim in the canal and dive into it from canal boats or other adjacent high points although it was only six feet deep at its deepest. Although in the oral histories there are comments about the clear water in the canal, it is likely that it was polluted to varying degrees at all times. This picture was taken when the boat was tied up and the mules taken out to feed on the tow path from their portable feeding troughs.

7. A woman waits on a boat as supplies are loaded while the boat is still at the highest level in the lock. Stores and warehouses such as this one at lock 49 were common along the canal and served as a place for boatmen to stock up on supplies for the week long journey down the canal. Various supplies were sold to the boatmen such as hay, grain, black powder, canned goods and other sundry items.

8. The man holding the mules has been identified as Jacob Mose. MrMose from Sharpsburg was a Private in the Potomac Home Brigade during the Civil War. He was 84 when he died in 1922. According to Carolyn Amsley, his great grand-daughter, his children are next to the boat, Rama Blanche, Harry and George. The boat is in Lock 39, near Sharpsburg. The crew are at the front of the boat, but the passengers are unknown.