Holmes Hutchinson was born at Port Dickinson near Binghamton, on January 5, 1794, but was brought up at Genoa, on Cayuga Lake, New York. A biographer wrote, “He was possessed of stirring enterprise and energy; his perceptions were clear and his judgment careful. Without rashness, he was far seeing, and confident of the resources and progress of the country. In his discrimination of men and their capabilities he was accurate and knew how to choose the best. When Chief Engineer he drew into his service such competent assistants as Orville W. Story, Squire Whipple, John B. and Frederick C. Mills, Edward Huntington, J. Platt Goodsell, Aurelian Conkling, Henry S. Dexter, Edward H. Tracy, John C. Hoadley, Francis F. Curry, &c. In his office on Bleecker Street, were drawn up all the plans and specifications for the whole line of the enlarged Erie Canal. Quiet in demeanor, courteous in speech with a friendly smile and a cheerful word for everyone, Mr. Hutchinson attracted all with whom he came in contact, who when they knew his integrity and his sense, were brought to accord him their respect and esteem.”
Hutchinson was self-educated and came to work as an surveyor on the construction of the original Erie Canal in 1819 at the age of 25. After the canal opened, he was an engineer on the following projects.
1824 Surveyed, designed, and estimated the cost of the Oswego Canal (New York), running from the head of the falls on the Oswego River to Lake
Ontario.
1825 As Chief Engineer of the Connecticut River Navigation Company, he surveyed the entire 219-mile length of the Connecticut River from Barnet, Vermont to Hartford, Connecticut and designed a river/canal system to permit the use of canal boats. The plan called for a series of dams at suitable points with locks to allow the passage of canal boats around the dams. He called for dams at the rapids of the West River and at the Oxbow in Newbury. He estimated that the entire work could be completed for somewhat in excess of $1,000,000.
1826 Submitted a report on a canal to connect the Shinnecock and Peconic Bays on Long Island, New York. This was to be a salt-water canal with guard locks at each end. This canal was not built until 1884, and Hutchinson’s plans of over half-a-century before were used.
1827 Surveyed a route for the Chenango Canal (New York). The route had previously been surveyed by Owen Foreman and Nathan S. Roberts and would be surveyed later by David Bates and was finally built under the supervision of John B. Jervis in 1833.
1829 Surveyed, designed, and estimated the cost of the Chemung Canal (New York). Proposals for construction were requested in 1829, but the bids were not considered until 1830 when construction started.
1830 Surveyed, designed, and estimated the cost of the Crooked Lake Canal (New York) with work beginning in 1831 and being completed in 1833.
1831 Surveyed, designed, and estimated the cost of the Black River Canal (New York), using inclined planes similar to those used in New Jersey on the Morris Canal, which he had visited. The canal was built later with fewer inclined planes.
Hutchinson returned to the Erie Canal in 1832 and completed what were known as Hutchinson’s surveys and plans (the Blue Line plans), covering the length of the canal between Canastota and the Hudson River. New York State had passed a law which stated in part “A complete manuscript map and field notes, of every canal that now is, or hereafter shall be completed, and of all the lands belonging to the State adjacent thereto, or connected therewith, shall be made, on which the boundaries of every parcel of lands...” Jacob Trumpbour was awarded a contract to survey the western end of the canal. Hutchinson hired Edwin Ferry Johnson, another early giant in the field, to work with him. Later, Hutchinson was ordered to redo Trumpbour’s work, and he worked on them until 1835.
In 1835, Hutchinson also made a study of the relative merits of a Ship Canal between Lake Ontario and the Hudson River and an enlargement of the Erie Canal. He, along with Jervis and Mills, recommended an enlargement of the Erie.
He along with Jervis and Mills again were charged to prepare a report to the New York Legislature on the “relative cost of transportation on canals and railroads” in 1835. They concluded after a long study, "We are therefore led to the conclusion that in regard to the cost of construction and maintenance, and also in reference to the expense of conveyance at moderate velocities, canals are clearly the most advantageous means of communication. On the other hand, where high velocities are required, as for the conveyance of passengers, and under some circumstances of competition, for light goods of great value, in proportion to their weight, the preference would be given to a railroad."
As Chief Engineer, Hutchinson was given charge of the enlargement of the section of the Erie Canal between Rome and Jordan between 1835 and 1841. His plans for double locks were accepted by the Canal Commissioners over those of John B. Jervis, Nathan Roberts, and Fredrick Mills as were his dimensions for the enlarged canal. He recommended a canal with a bottom width of 42 ft, a top width of 70 ft, and a 7 ft depth. His locks were 115 ft by 17 ft to pass canal boats with loads of 169 tons. These dimensions were accepted by the Canal Commissioners and over time, 1835-1862, were built on the Erie Canal enlargement.
After his canal work, Hutchinson surveyed for several early railroads, including a line between Ogdensburg and the Chazy River to connect Lake Ontario with Lake Champlain in New York State. He was elected President of the Oswego and Syracuse Railroad in 1851 on the line that had opened in 1848. He was also involved with the Hudson River Railroad and the Syracuse and Utica Railroad.
Hutchinson, like John B. Jervis and Benjamin Wright from the Erie, went on to be a pioneer in the early building of railroads. He died on February 22, 1865, and was buried in Utica, New York where he had settled in 1819.
References History of the Canal System of New York, Volume 1. 1906, by Noble E. Whitford
