Description: THIS 29-YEAR RECORD begins in 1861 with Bartley's purchase of a new sailing canal boat in Whitehall, NY, and traces his adventures with his wife and son aboard two additional canal boats on the canals and waterways of the Northeast. His daily entries and observations are one of the best records ever found of life onboard a canal boat. Theodore Bartley lived during an era of extraordinary expansion of the American economy and rapid technological development. He operated his canal boats along the main commercial arteries linking resource supplies to the new industries of a growing nation. Journal entries range from dramatic tales of near sinkings during gales on Lake Champlain to descriptions of the lives of ordinary people during the late 19th century. The journals of Captain Bartley provide an intimate portrait of the life of a canal boat family crisscrossing America during a period of extraordinary change.

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