he
prudent farmers of the State opposed the enterprise as something beyond
their strength. It was Myron Holley who went to the legislature year
after year, and argued it through. His winning demeanor, his persuasive
eloquence, his intimate knowledge of the facts involved, his entire
conviction of the wisdom of the scheme, his tact, good temper, and,
above all, his untiring persistence, prevailed at length, and the canal
was begun.

He was appointed one of the commissioners to superintend the
construction of the canal at a salary of twenty-five hundred dollars a
year. The commissioners appointed him their treasurer, which threw upon
him for eight years an inconceivable amount of labor, much of which had
to be done in situations which were extremely unhealthy. At one time, in
1820, he had a thousand laborers on his hands sick with malaria. He was
a ministering angel to them, friend, physician, and sometimes nurse. He
was obliged on several occasions to raise money for the State on his
personal credit, and frequently he had to expend money in circumstances
which made it impossible for him to secure the legal evidence of his
having done so.

In 1825 the work was done. A procession of boats floated from Lake Erie
to New York Harbor, where they were received by a vast fleet of
steamboats and other vessels, all dressed with flags and crowded with
people. In the midst of this triumph, Myron Holley, who had managed the
expenditures with the most scrupulous economy, was unable to furnish the
requisite vouchers for a small part of the money which had passed
through his hands. He at once gave up his small estate, and appealed to
the legislature for relief. He was completely vindicated; his estate was
restored to him; but he received no compensation either for his services
or his losses.

He returned to his garden, however, a happy man, and during the greater
part of the rest of his life he earned a modest subsistence by the
beautiful industry which has since given celebrity and wealth to all
that fertile region. He remained, however, to the end of his days, one
of those brave and unselfish public servants who take the laboring oar
in reforms which are very difficult or very odious. After the abduction
of Morgan, he devoted some years to anti-masonry, and he founded what
was called the Liberty Party, which supported Mr. Birney, of Kentucky,
for the presidency.

One of his fellow-workers, the Hon. Elizur Wright, of Boston, has