ROCHESTER, N.Y. – Life on the Erie Canal in the 19th century is being kept alive by a local historian.
Victoria Schmitt, a local independent culture historian, has studied the Erie Canal and Rochester history for 50 years. Schmitt volunteered at the Rochester Museum and Science Center and worked at the Genesee Country Village and Museum.
Through this experience she learned about the life of people who worked on the Erie Canal and shared what gives her the most fulfillment when sharing the knowledge of 19th-century canal life.
“Reenacting. I read it because it makes it come alive. It makes it real,” Schmitt said.
Schmitt also helped write scripts for a community theater group and took on the character of an Erie Canal cook named Lydia Mattoon and used
“These boys, once they got to be nine or ten, they were old enough to look for work on the Erie Canal, and they got jobs,” Schmitt said. “We call them hoggees.”
The Erie Canal took eight years to complete with tens of thousands of laborers. Over the years, those working around it developed their own lingo, adding to Rochester’s rich history.
Rochester residents and visitors gave their best guesses when quizzed about canal slang from the 19th century.
Chris Fortune, News10NBC: “We’re going to play a game where I give you a canal term from the 1800s. You’re going to guess what it means. So your term is grog. What is a grog?”
Katie Lambright: “A grog, I’m going to guess, is one of the supports to hold up a bridge for the canal.”
Chris Fortune: “That sounds legit, but it’s a tankard of ale.”
Chris Fortune: “Alright, Ed, your word is hoggee.”
Edward Thomas: “Hoggee probably means transporting hogs from a farm area.”
Chris Fortune: “It does involve transport, but it’s a mule driver who was paid pitifully low wages.”
Edward Thomas: “Oh, very good. I can understand that.”
Events celebrating the Erie Canal Bicentennial continue throughout the year. Events can be found on the Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor website.
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Local historian shares slang used in 19th-century Erie Canal life WHEC.com.
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