Alexander J. Marshall

[6] The canal consisted of a series of concrete and stone locks and gates enclosing ponds which bypassed the non-navigable sections of the Rappahannock river.

Although parts of the project had begun at the Fredericksburg end by 1829, that had fallen into disrepair before further construction began in earnest in November 1847,[7] The canal allowed farmers' produce from Fauquier, Culpeper and Rappahaannock Counties access to the markets in Fredericksburg (with ready links to Richmond, Washington D.C. and Baltimore, Maryland), as well as allowed imported or manufactured goods to travel upstream more cheaply than by wagon teams.

[citation needed] Isham Keith and John Baker were prominent investors and the Virginia General Assembly granted a $100,000 loan to finish the canal in 1848.

[9] Two years later, money was sought to complete a tow path (previously boatmen on bateaux poled their craft through the ponds to the locks), but gross receipts had barely sufficed to keep the Canal navigable, even though no dividends had been paid to shareholders.

The canal business ended after about four years of operations with Alexander Marshall as its president, although Major Chancellor leased it 1855-57.

Alexander John Marshall assumed his seat in the Virginia Senate and represented Fauquier and Rappahannock Counties part-time til the war's end.

The Fredericksburg Water Power Company purchased the Rappahannock Canal's assets at some time after the Civil War, seeking to help bring water-powered industry to the city (like in Lowell, Massachusetts), but later the canal became one of the intakes for the city's drinking water filtration plant.