C&O Canal documents

This collection of Chesapeake and Ohio Canal items was made available by Michael and Linda Marmer of Maryland. Particularly of interest are the canal boat registrations from 1857, and a payment slip for an assistant clerk of the company, signed by Alfred Spates, president of the Canal Company.  Two letters written by combatants during the Civil War tell of the attack on Dam 5 by Confederates and the use of the canal towpath as a route west.