FIRST ANNUAL REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT TO THE STOCKHOLDERS OF THE JAMES RIVER AND KANAWHA COMPANY, 1835

From the archives (ed. note: I did add the boldness to resolution 2):

FIRST ANNUAL REPORT
OF THE
PRESIDENT TO THE STOCKHOLDERS
OF THE
JAMES RIVER AND KANAWHA COMPANY,
TOGETHER WITH THE
PROCEEDINGS OF THE STOCKHOLDERS
At their first Annual Meeting in December 1835.
TO WHICH IS PREFIXED,
AN INTRODUCTION,
CONTAINING THE
PROCEEDINGS OF THE STOCKHOLDERS
At their first General Meeting, commencing on Monday the
25th of May, 1835.

page vii

TUESDAY, May 26th, 1835.
The stockholders met pursuant to adjournment.
Present as on yesterday, and stockholders and proxies representing
704 additional shares of stock.
Mr. Johnson, from the committee appointed on yesterday,
reported in part the following resolutions :
1. Resolved, That of the three plans of improvement specified
in the 22d section of the act, entitled, “an act incorporating
the stockholders of the James river and Kanawha com.
pany,” and by one or the other of which, to be selected at its
discretion, the company is charged with the duty of connecting
the tide water of James river with the navigable waters of
the Ohio, the stockholders deem it expedient and proper to
prefer, and do hereby elect, the first in the order of specification
set forth in said section; that is to say, “by a continuation
of the lower James riverĀ· canal to some suitable point on
the river not lower than Lynchburg, a continued rail-road
from the western termination of that canal to some convenient
point on the Great Kanawha river, below the great falls
thereof, and an improvement of the Kanawha river from
thence to the Ohio, so as to make it suitable for steam-boat
navigation.”
2. Resolved, That, with the exceptions herein after speci-
fied, the canal shall have a breadth at the bottom of not less
than 35 feet, and at the surface of not less than 50 feet, and
a depth of water of not less than 5 feet, with a suitable towpath
and guard-bank.

3. Resolved, That the breadth of the canal may, within
the minimum limit prescribed by the charter, be modified,
where local circumstances require it; and more especially in
the cases of deep cutting, steep side cutting, embanking, and
also where it is supported by walls; but a depth of 5 feet shall
be preserved throughout the line.

One thought on “FIRST ANNUAL REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT TO THE STOCKHOLDERS OF THE JAMES RIVER AND KANAWHA COMPANY, 1835

  1. These are the specifications that Venture Richmond claims were used in building the canal below Oregon Hill in 1785 by the James River Company, but you can see that they are actually the recommendations presented 1n 1835!

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