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His detention must not have been too confining as when Merritt returned to Canada in March of he brought with him a bride, the daughter of Dr. Jebediah Prendergast, a New York Senator. The young war veteran built his bride a large house at Shipman's Corners and bought a farm on Twelve Mile Creek upon which he soon constructed a power dam. Later he built a flour mill, a distillery, a potashery, a coop- er shop and a smithy, apparently mostly on credit. As if this wasn't business enough, he also began drilling for salt and en- tered into a partnership with his brother-in-law in a general stere. Merritt's mills were not the on- ly ones on swift-flowing Twelve Mile Creek. One problem facing all of the millers was a short age of water durins the summer. In September, of 1818, after an unusually dry summer, Merritt decided todo something about the problem. With the aid of a borrowed water level he surveyed the land between the head of Twelve Mile Creek and the Chip- pewa (Welland) River and found that, according to his calcula- tions, it was only 2% miles bet- ween the two and the land rose only 30 feet. If a ditch could only be dug to connect the two streams, the millers of Twelve Mile Creek would have plenty of water the year around. Within a month, Merritt formed a citizens group which met at Niagara to discuss not merely a ditch to connect the two streams but a canal which could carry barges as well. Me Oct. 14, 1818, the group sent a petition to the Legislature of Upper Canada requesting that the Government construct such a can- al. The Legislature referred the petition to a committee which in due time replied to the effect that although such a canal was a good idea, no money was avail- able and maybe private enter- prise should undertake the job. But by now, Merritt faced more pressing problems. A recession had set in and creditors were hard on his heels. For the next few years he walked on the edge of financial bankruptcy which threatened to topple his commer- cial enterprises. Although he had little time to do anything about a Canal, Merritt's private writings during this period show that he hadn't forgotten his ream. By 1823 Merritt's personal af- fairs had stabilized sufficient- ly so that he could once more take up active agitation for a canal. Again he started by ral- lying the local citizens who soon raised funds for a more ac- curate survey of the area. With- in a year the merchants, millers and farmers of the area received from the Government a charter for the Welland Canal Company, a private company authorized to build a canal. Although the lo- cal citizens were investing what money they could, they had coun-— ted upon heavy financial support of Lower Canada merchants who stood to gain much from the can- al. It was Merritt who was sent to Lower Canada but who came back with only a fraction of the funds needed. He then went to New York City and met with con- siderably more success. Although the charter did not prohibit foreign capital from investing in the canal, it restricted ef- fective control to Canadians. So it was Merritt and his neighbors who built the First Welland Can- al, mainly with New York funds although later money was to come from London and finally the Can- adian Government. On Nov. 20, 1824, a simple cere- mony near the present town of Allenburg marked the beginning of construction on the canal. From then until the schooners ANNIE AND JANE and R.H. BOUGHTON passed from Lake Ontario into e