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OCT. 2 ISSUE ANSWERS: Elizabeth Clark of Romeo in 1834 traveled across the Atlantic from England and along the Erie Canal. Many Romeo immigrants traveled from upstate New York to Detroit and Romeo in the 19th century. In 1800 there were four “roads” crossing the Allegany Mountains. The Braddock Road, the Cumberland Road, Nemacolin’s Path and the Wilderness Road all headed as far north as southern Ohio. The best alternative was Lake Erie or through Upper Canada (modern-day Ontario). The Baileys and Finch families couldn’t reply on the Erie Canal because it wasn’t finished westward until 1825. So they went by boat, ox cart or wagon. The Clark family was in luck. They used the Erie Canal. The canal was 363 miles long and four feet deep. To pass the higher elevation from the Hudson River to Lake Erie there was a rise of over 500 feet. Locks were constructed on the Erie Canal to raise and lower the boats. Aqueducts enabled the boats to pass over rivers and streams. Motivation was supplied by mule power. A mule can carry about 250 pounds on land but can pull a barge weighing 60,000 pounds on water. The mule would walk along a towpath next to the canal and pull the boat with a rope attached to the boat. A driver walked with the mule giving commands to the beast. At night the mule would be stabled on the boat. There were two types of crafts. A packet boat carried passengers and a freight took care of the chickens, boxes and other types of commerce. A trip from Albany to Buffalo took about five days unless you were Mrs. Clark who gave birth to her daughter Sally on her trip in 1834. That sure stopped the Clark family’s progress for a while. Once an immigrant reached Buffalo, the immigrant had to decide whether to go across land in Upper Canada (Ontario) or sail across Lake Erie in a boat. The steam powered Walk-In-The-Water boat was wreaked in 1822 so that meant taking a sail powered boat to Detroit. The trip across the lake was chosen by the Clark family in 1834. The Finch family, in 1823, decided to use the land route through Canada. The Finches had to cross the river from Buffalo to Fort Erie, Ontario. This is where Lake Erie heads north on the Niagara River towards Niagara Falls then to Lake Ontario. To cross the river the Finch family would take a ferry powered by horses as shown in the above photo. The local Clinton-Kalamazoo Canal running from Mount Clemens towards Kalamazoo was a failure and ended near Yates Cider Mill. This was not useful to immigrants. Transportation to a new home was very challenging and sometime dangerous. But they had the will and strength and courage and they made Romeo their new home. Richard Beringer, Romeo Historical Society Curator

OCT. 2 ISSUE ANSWERS: Elizabeth Clark of Romeo in 1834 traveled across the Atlantic from England and along the Erie Canal. Many Romeo immigrants traveled from upstate New York to Detroit and Romeo in the 19th century. In 1800 there were four “roads” crossing the Allegany Mountains. The Braddock Road, the Cumberland Road, Nemacolin’s Path and the Wilderness Road all headed as far north as southern Ohio. The best alternative was Lake Erie or through Upper Canada (modern-day Ontario). The Baileys and Finch families couldn’t reply on the Erie Canal because it wasn’t finished westward until 1825. So they went by boat, ox cart or wagon. The Clark family was in luck. They used the Erie Canal. The canal was 363 miles long and four feet deep. To pass the higher elevation from the Hudson River to Lake Erie there was a rise of over 500 feet. Locks were constructed on the Erie Canal to raise and lower the boats. Aqueducts enabled the boats to pass over rivers and streams. Motivation was supplied by mule power. A mule can carry about 250 pounds on land but can pull a barge weighing 60,000 pounds on water. The mule would walk along a towpath next to the canal and pull the boat with a rope attached to the boat. A driver walked with the mule giving commands to the beast. At night the mule would be stabled on the boat. There were two types of crafts. A packet boat carried passengers and a freight took care of the chickens, boxes and other types of commerce. A trip from Albany to Buffalo took about five days unless you were Mrs. Clark who gave birth to her daughter Sally on her trip in 1834. That sure stopped the Clark family’s progress for a while. Once an immigrant reached Buffalo, the immigrant had to decide whether to go across land in Upper Canada (Ontario) or sail across Lake Erie in a boat. The steam powered Walk-In-The-Water boat was wreaked in 1822 so that meant taking a sail powered boat to Detroit. The trip across the lake was chosen by the Clark family in 1834. The Finch family, in 1823, decided to use the land route through Canada. The Finches had to cross the river from Buffalo to Fort Erie, Ontario. This is where Lake Erie heads north on the Niagara River towards Niagara Falls then to Lake Ontario. To cross the river the Finch family would take a ferry powered by horses as shown in the above photo. The local Clinton-Kalamazoo Canal running from Mount Clemens towards Kalamazoo was a failure and ended near Yates Cider Mill. This was not useful to immigrants. Transportation to a new home was very challenging and sometime dangerous. But they had the will and strength and courage and they made Romeo their new home. Richard Beringer, Romeo Historical Society Curator

Covering the villages of Armada and Romeo as well as the townships of Addison, Armada, Bruce, Oakland, Ray and Washington

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