Page:Historic highways of America (Volume 14).djvu/167

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been validated.
LOCAL INFLUENCES OF THE CANAL
163

ing to America he would tend to seek a region of somewhat similar characteristics. He found these conditions with the exception of an overcrowded population in the densely settled country immediately along the Erie canal and the Hudson.

"In turning to the New Englander in New York we find a people of an entirely different education and character from that of the foreigner. This is seen most strikingly in the choice of their location. They were shrewd, frugal, and hardworking farmers who left their New England homes because they failed to supply their wants. In seeking a new home in the west they naturally followed their old occupation and for this reason we find the larger part of them in the rural region. In Class I of Section A, 4.1% was of New England birth; in Class II 2.7%, and in Class III, 5.2%; in Class I of Section B, 5.7%, in Class II, 9.7%, and in Class III, 10.1%; in Class I of Section C, 10.1%, in Class II, 10.3% and in Class III, 11.7%. The New Englander also tended to shun the large cities. In Albany 5.1% was of New England birth, and in Utica 7.8%, while in Class I of Sec-