I am currently researching to write a history of the Washington County Poor
House (1828-1900). Over the past few days I have been reviewing the
certificates of registration which the state began requiring to be kept as
Poor House  inmates were admitted starting in 1875. I am appalled at the
number of entries for men who were admitted with the notation "one arm" or
"one hand" as the reason for admission. All of these are accompanied with
the notation that they were canal workers -- usually "drivers". I am
beginning to think that these dates of admission (i.e. a whole bunch of them
in the Spring of 1876) were not the dates of injury, but were the dates of
seasonal unemployment for all canal workers. [No, wait ... this bunch was in
April. I think the canals closed down during the ice time of the winter.
sigh] I am trying to figure out if there was some big disaster that disabled
several men at the same time...or if there was just a hugh rate of
amputation as an occupational hazard among canal workers. Can someone refer
me to good sources of information about the "nitty-grittys" of work on the
canals? Thanks, Linda