For starters, much gratitude to the Todd and Connie Weseloh estate for this letter in the CSNY collection.  An equal portion of gratitude to Anita M for transcribing this artful cursive penmanship from the quill of Benjamin Caryl, canal boat inspector in Buffalo at the time complaining that he is overworked. 

Here’s the transcription.

Note the 1828 map of the area here Inspector Caryl worked at the time he wrote the letter.

Below is a circa 1828 camera lucida view of Buffalo by Basil Hall.  The Buffalo that Hall portrays was about to change dramatically.  

Little did Inspector Caryl know what was to come.  In the years ahead it is likely ten times as many boat would be coming through.  The city of Buffalo would grow from around 9000 people in 1830 to over half a million 120 years later.

This letter is one of  hundreds of 19th-century canal-related manuscripts received from the Weseloh’s and ultimately to be transcribed by our volunteers.  Making these materials accessible to researchers is a huge but satisfying undertaking.  Many thanks for the wonderful work of the volunteers transcribing them.

Many thanks to Craig Williams for sharing these materials.